19 April 2021
Diego Ruiz Gayol is a Mexican diplomat working at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva where he is in charge of human rights issues. He is following the work of the UN Human Rights Council and of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His main areas of expertise are civil and political rights and gender equality.
Previously, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Mexico in Haiti and consular and protection officer at the Embassy of Mexico in Peru.
Diego completed our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict in 2020
I was looking for a programme that would help me to deepen my understanding of international law, in particular international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL), while pursuing at the same time my diplomatic career as a delegate of my country to the UN. The Geneva Academy, at the heart of international Geneva, and with a long tradition in the study of these subjects, was the ideal place to do it.
Yes, this master programme fulfilled my expectations and was a great investment of my time. I really appreciated the very high quality of the faculty and the rich mix of students in terms of cultures, backgrounds, fields of expertise and worldviews.
The programme gave me the legal theoretical knowledge that allowed me to perform better as a diplomat at different multilateral fora dealing with human rights and IHL. It opened the possibility of reaching positions in the future that require strong legal specialization.
Yes, I would recommend it to professionals that are at the beginning or at the middle of their career, and who may need to strengthen their understanding of international law, in particular in the fields of human rights, IHL and international criminal law. Balancing professional and academic responsibilities can sometimes be challenging, but the rewards and satisfactions that come during the programme and at the end of it, make the journey worthwhile.
Geneva Academy
Applications for the 2022–2023 academic year of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights are open. They will run until 28 Janllmuary 2022 for applications with a scholarship and until 25 February 2022 for applications without a scholarship.
On International Women's Day, meet the women who work and teach at the Geneva Academy.
Brill
This event marks the launch of our LLM alumna Jelena Plamenac’s award-winning book ‘Unravelling Unlawful Confinement in Contemporary Armed Conflicts’ published by Brill.
Alexander Jawfox, Unsplash
This IHL Talk aims at clarifying the relevant frameworks of responsibility for the crimes committed by the Wagner troops.
ICRC
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, provides an overview of the evolution of the rules governing the use of force in international law, focusing on military intervention on humanitarian grounds and the creation of the United Nations collective security system. It then addresses the concept of the responsibility to protect.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
orihaus
This project aims at staying abreast of the various military technology trends; promoting legal and policy debate on new military technologies; and furthering the understanding of the convergent effects of different technological trends shaping the digital battlefield of the future.
The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts project (RULAC) is a unique online portal that identifies and classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law (IHL). It is primarily a legal reference source for a broad audience, including non-specialists, interested in issues surrounding the classification of armed conflicts under IHL.
Canva