CWRU Law alum Duncan Gaswaga (LAW ‘13) was elected in July 2024 as a Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. Like the European Court of Human Rights in France and the Inter-American Court for Human Rights in Costa Rica, the Africa Court in Tanzania serves as the supreme human rights judicial institution for the African continent. Justice Gaswaga is one of eleven judges on the Court, serving for a six-year term (renewable once).
Justice Gaswaga has held a variety of high profile judicial positions in the Seychelles and Uganda. A decade ago, he presided over a series of trials of Somalia pirates and most recently he tried the groundbreaking case of Thomas Kwoyelo, a former child abductee who rose to be a commander of the Lords Resistance Army. Charged with crimes against humanity, Kwoyelo was the first case of its kind in Africa to be conducted under the complementary principle of the International Criminal Court.
“We are incredibly proud of our alum Duncan Gaswaga,” former Dean (2013-2024) Michael Scharf said. “He has done so much for international justice and is sure to emerge as a leader of the African Court of Human Rights.”
Justice Gaswaga joins a number of CWRU Law alums who have attained prominent positions in human rights across the globe, including Andres Perez (Law ‘04), Senior Legal Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva; Chris Rassi (Law ‘03), Chief of Staff of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva; and Margaux Day (LAW ‘09), Executive Director of Accountability Counsel in DC. “Duncan’s election to the African Court of Human Rights will inspire the next generation of our students who seek to leave their mark in the field,” Scharf said.
In its fall 2024 issue, PreLaw Magazine ranked CWRU School of Law as one of the top programs for Human Rights Law in the nation with an A+ grade. The Program includes the Klatsky endowed lecture in Human Rights, two annual internship positions at Human Rights Watch, 25 annual Cox Center summer internship grants, the Yemen Accountability Project which is preparing cases for eventual international prosecution, the endowed Asylum and Refugee Clinic, and the War Crimes Research Office which provides assistance to international tribunals prosecuting crimes against humanity throughout the globe.