MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law: What our Students Say

My name is Tong Li, and I am from Beijing, China.

I hold an LLB degree from the East China University of Political Science and Law, and I am also a graduate of the Advanced LLM in Public International Law programme of Leiden University. As a law student who has specialized in international criminal law and jus ad bellum for many years, I always wanted to learn more about how we could react to mass atrocities, and help those people who suffered from mass atrocities.

I worked as a protection intern at the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, and as a rule of law intern at the UN Department of Peace Operations. I was also involved in several moot courts and MUN events.

Apart from being a boring law student, I enjoy hanging out with friends, watching a good movie, or enjoying the ‘ninth art’ – video games.

After taking a course on transitional justice (TJ) given by Dr Giulia Pinzauti at Leiden University, I was fascinated by this concept and idea. The MTJ at the Geneva Academy is one of the very few programmes that specifically focus on TJ, and the Geneva Academy also has close relationships with TJ practitioners – which could help us learn more about experiences from the field and start a career in TJ.

What I enjoy the most about the MTJ programme is the diversity among our classmates, as well as the valuable experiences and insights that come from their backgrounds.

This programme has also helped me know more about the sociological and psychosocial approaches in TJ, which were barely touched upon in my previous legal study.

Of course. I would recommend this programme to anyone who is interested in TJ, has some previous knowledge or experience about it, and wants to use TJ to help others.

In the future, I would like to apply what I have learnt in practice and help those in need, to address humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. The MTJ programme has not only equipped me with TJ knowledge but also made me capable of working with a TJ mind set/lens in the future.

The photo is taken on the Mont-Blanc Bridge when the flags of the Geneva Academy were flying on the bridge for the 15th anniversary. This reminds me of the history of the Geneva Academy, but also about how young the Geneva Academy, as well as transitional justice, are.