A lawyer assisting Ukrainian authorities with investigating war crimes cases in that country, Aonghus Kelly, will visit Indiana University from Oct. 7 to 10 as a visiting fellow at the IU Institute for Advanced Study.
The visit will include a panel discussion and film screening at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at IU Cinema. The event will be open to the community, and no tickets are required to attend.
“The IU Institute for Advanced Study is delighted to support the visit of Mr. Aonghus Kelly,” said Patricia Ingham, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English at IU Bloomington and director of the institute. “The opportunity to meet Mr. Kelly will give colleagues and students across the university the chance to engage in vital matters of urgent concern. The inherently interdisciplinary topics under discussion during his visit can only be illuminated through this kind of dynamic exchange.”
An Irish lawyer and resident of Kyiv, Ukraine, Kelly was appointed by the Irish government in September 2022 to the European Union Advisory Mission to Ukraine and later worked as head of the International Crimes Prosecution Unit. He now serves, after an expansion of the organizations’ mandate, as the head of the International Crimes Legal Unit, whose responsibilities include supporting the capacities of Ukrainian agencies and institutions to investigate and prosecute international crimes, including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Kelly has also worked on criminal justice issues in Libya, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. Past appointments in the field of human rights and war crimes include providing representation for Iraqis tortured by British forces, prosecuting war crimes in Bosnia and Kosovo, and serving as a defense lawyer in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia — commonly known as the Khmer Rouge court. He has a particular focus on international crimes affecting the environment.
On Oct. 7, Kelly will participate in a panel discussion following a screening of “20 Days in Mariupol.” The film follows a team of Associated Press journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, as they struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion, including mass graves, dying children and the bombing of a maternity hospital.
“I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting and discussing a wide variety of issues with Indiana University over recent years,” Kelly said. “I’m very much looking forward to visiting Bloomington in the coming weeks for my first visit to the campus and indeed the Hoosier State. In these challenging days there is much to discuss.”
A member of the bar in Ireland, England-Wales, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and Cambodia, Kelly has previously served as former executive director of the Irish Rule of Law International, a charitable organization that promotes the rule of law in international development by the bars and law societies of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In addition to the public event, Kelly will participate in class visits with IU students studying business, poverty and alleviation, and climate law and policy at the IU Kelley School of Business. He will speak with Kelley’s research faculty on issues such as treatment of veterans and the proliferation of drones in military strategy.
He will discuss energy law and policy and corporate accountability at the IU Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, followed by a reception with the Environmental Law Society. Kelly will also meet with College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of History undergraduate students studying the history of genocide.
Following a panel discussion at the Maurer School on atrocity crime investigations, Kelly will close his visit with an event at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies hosted by the Ukrainian Students Organization.
“Aonghus’ visit is an opportunity for a diverse range of students and faculty to connect to the events in Ukraine in a way that addresses core concerns for human rights, the environment and corporate responsibility,” said Kelly Eskew, a clinical professor and the director of education and outreach at the Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability at the Kelley School of Business. “He is a thoughtful messenger for the importance of placing human rights at the center of our business activities, politics and personal engagement with our communities and the world.”
