International Humanitarian Law and Video Games: a conversation with Christian Rouffaer

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 30 May 2014

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

W341, 3rd Floor

UQ Location:

Forgan Smith Building (St Lucia)

URL:

Event category(s):

Full Description:: The Centre for Public and International Comparative Law and Australian Red Cross are pleased to welcome guest speaker Christian Rouffaer, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) international humanitarian law and video games project.

Christian is a co-author of ‘Beyond the Call of Duty: why shouldn’t video game players face the same dilemmas as real soldiers?’ published in the International Review of the Red Cross (Summer 2012), and has been an advisor with the ICRC Unit for Relations with the Armed Forces.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has publicly stated its interest in the implications of video games that simulate real-war situations and the opportunities such games present for spreading knowledge of the law of armed conflict. The Movement is suggesting that as in real life, these games should include virtual consequences for people's actions and decisions – including breaching the rules on the use of force in armed conflict. These rules should be applied to video games that portray realistic battlefield scenes, in the same way that the laws of physics are applied.