Books Accountability of armed opposition groups in international law | ||
Vredeslezing door liesbeth zegveld 19 sep 2013
Liesbeth Zegveld (born 14 January 1970, Ridderkerk) is a Dutch lawyer, legal expert and professor.
Zegveld grew up on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee. After her law studies at the University of Utrecht she obtained a doctoral degree cum laude in 2000. She received several awards for her doctoral thesis Accountability of Armed Opposition Groups in International Law.
In 2000 she was sworn in as a lawyer and in 2005 she became a partner at Prakken d'Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers. At this law firm Zegveld works in the field of International Law & Human Rights, where her research is focused on International Humanitarian Law, in particular restoration of rights for war victims.
She was the lawyer for two Bosnian families. The Bosnian families brought charges against the The Netherlands for the death of family members during the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. Zegveld asserted before the court in The Hague that the 'Dutch Blue Helmets' deliberately exposed Muslims to the enemy with the government's knowledge. In 2013 the Dutch Supreme Court allowed the claim.
Between 2006 and 2013 Zegveld professor at Leiden University, where she lectured on International Humanitarian Law, in particular the rights of women and children during armed conflict. She has been professor of war reparations at the University of Amsterdam since the end of 2013.
In 2011 and 2013 Zegveld reported Jorge Zorreguieta (the father of Queen Maxima) to the Public Prosecution Service for his role in the Videla-regime in Argentinië.
In 2011, she assisted as counsel for nine surviving widows who held The Netherlands liable for lost maintenance income due to the Rawagede massacre of 9 December 1947. Not until 64 years afterwards did this lead to the result that in accordance with the agreed settlement, the Netherlands offered its full apologies to the survivors and paid compensation of 20.000 per person.
On behalf of the Dutch trade union FNV (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging) and a Bangladeshi migrant worker she is holding the FIFA accountable for the mistreatment of migrant workers who prepare the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Zegveld is currently representing the families of the Moluccan train hijacking in 1977 at the Punt in a case against the Dutch Government.
She is a member of the Dutch Human Rights Watch committee.