Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons)
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niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons)
@niaolainf.bsky.social
3.4K followers 100 following 510 posts

Regents Law Professor, Minnesota Law + Professor QUB Law School (Belfast)+ Director Human Rights Centre. ICJ Commissioner. RIA. FBA. Former UN SR Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights (2017-23). Irish, Gaeilgeoir, Mom, Loves Yoga & Hiking. .. more

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Fionnuala Ní Aoláin is an Irish academic lawyer specialising in human rights law. She was the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism for the United Nations Human Rights Council from August 1, 2017 - November 2023. .. more

Political science 67%
Sociology 15%
Posts Replies Media Videos

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10h
“Eli describes an incident in which a senior officer ordered a tank to demolish a building in an area designated as safe for civilians. “A man was standing on the roof, hanging laundry, and the officer decided that he was a spotter. He’s not a spotter.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10h
One thing I really admire is the long UK tradition of independent review of terrorism powers. Shows the strengths of a democracy.

“Legal experts, former government ministers and an ex-MI6 director have criticised the process used to ban Palestine Action”.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Legal experts and politicians criticise process used to ban Palestine Action
Independent commission says definition of terrorism relied on by ministers is too broad and more parliamentary oversight is needed
www.theguardian.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 2d
“Prisoners told the lawyers they faced regular physical abuse including beatings, assaults by dogs with iron muzzles, and guards stepping on prisoners, in addition to being denied adequate medical care and given starvation-level rations”

Torture.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israel’s underground jail, where Palestinians are held without charge and never see daylight
Exclusive: Detainees at Rakefet include nurse deprived of natural light since January, and teenager held for nine months
www.theguardian.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d
Drones and civilian harm …

www.justsecurity.org/123474/drone...
Drones are Changing How Wars Harm Civilians
Drones are rapidly changing war. Without global action, their use will lead to greater civilian harm and expand human suffering in conflict.
www.justsecurity.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 5d
Talking about a resolution …

www.justsecurity.org/124043/unsc-...
U.S. Draft Security Council Resolution on Gaza: Initial Concerns
The draft has fundamental legal problems and ambiguities that harm the potential for peace in Gaza and hinder a more sustainable future.
www.justsecurity.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 5d
Big move to protect biodiversity on the High Seas.

dialogue.earth/en/digest/ch...
China approves the High Seas Treaty
On 28 October, China achieved a major legislative step towards ratifying the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. Also known as the High Seas Treaty, it is hailed as a landmark ...
dialogue.earth

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

whatthewomensay.bsky.social
ICAN (International Civil Society Action Network) @whatthewomensay.bsky.social · 5d
🗣️ #WPSWednesday: @niaolainf.bsky.social urges a bold rethink of the #WPS agenda: centering women’s lived realities, structural injustices, & colonial legacies—not just presence in #peace processes. @prioresearch.bsky.social Read the paper: www.prio.org/publications...
The relevance and reinvigoration of the Women, Peace and Security agenda – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
The Missing Peace Series: Understanding Conflict-related Sexual Violence through Research, Policy and Practice
www.prio.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 6d
Drones change war … but maybe to say concretely that they also specifically change war for women …

www.justsecurity.org/123474/drone...
Drones are Changing How Wars Harm Civilians
Drones are rapidly changing war. Without global action, their use will lead to greater civilian harm and expand human suffering in conflict.
www.justsecurity.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 6d
potential core crimes violations on the high seas …

www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Unprovoked lethal strikes by the United States against vessels at sea may amount to international crimes: UN experts
GENEVA – Repeated and systematic lethal attacks by the United States military on boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific raise grave concerns about the commission of potential international crimes,...
www.ohchr.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 6d
Join us @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social Law School to launch this new report on civilian harm. November 5.

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 7d
“Belarusian authorities purchased a surveillance program over a decade ago that leaves no digital traces and has since been used in at least 100 countries, an international investigation has found.”

tvpworld.com/89501866/bel...
Belarus purchased untraceable spy software
The software’s developer has quietly built a phone-tracking empire.
tvpworld.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 7d
Glad to be a part of this very excellent collection addressing women and the law and practice of counter terrorism @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social
@umnlawschool.bsky.social
@uofmhrc.bsky.social
@justsecurity.org

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10d
so sorry to miss it.

Brava … will be a tour de force I am sure

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10d
“For Ni Aolain, the response needs to ‘hold two things at the same time: we need to remember what was great about the radical peace that was achieved here in Northern Ireland – and we need to recall that a better peace is possible”.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/10/16/r...
How can we build on the ‘radical peace’ made in Northern Ireland?
Among the UK and Ireland’s greatest successes of the last century has been the achievement of peace in Northern Ireland. Almost three decades on, Larry Attree asked five key experts how peace and s…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 11d
Grim, undulating and mostly ignored … the lost lives of Sudan …

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan
Emergency security council session criticises killings of civilians in El Fasher and external supply of arms to RSF
www.theguardian.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 12d
#hospitalsarenottargets

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social
Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 16d
Looking for something to read this weekend?
Try this...
(And if you get to the end there’s a related video.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/u...
A Curious Collaboration Between Prisoners and the Military at Guantánamo
www.nytimes.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 17d
Glad to be publishing this piece at the Morrigan Blog to mark 25 years of
the WPS Agenda #UNSCR1325

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

justinhendrix.bsky.social
Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 18d
"But buried amid the A.I. division layoffs was a different set of cuts. The company laid off more than 100 people in its risk review organization, according to three people familiar with the move and internal memos viewed by The Times."
Meta Layoffs Included Employees Who Monitored Risks to User Privacy
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Colin Murray, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

aoifemod.bsky.social
Aoife O'Donoghue @aoifemod.bsky.social · 18d
Over the next week at The Morrigan Blog we will be publishing pieces on 25 years of #UNSCR1325 - Women Peace and Security #WPS dflw.ie/women-peace-...

1st up is @niaolainf.bsky.social on the protection of maternity in wartime

dflw.ie/centering-th...
Centering the Protection of Maternity in Advocacy for Gendered Protections in Wartime - Doing Feminist Legal Work
In recent years, attacks on maternity hospitals, fertility clinics, and women’s medical centers in sites of armed conflict are visible and undulating. In
dflw.ie

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit , and 29 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18d
Trump: "I don't think we're necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like dead."

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 20d
Oh how the tables do turn …

techcrunch.com/2025/10/21/a...
Exclusive: Apple alerts exploit developer that his iPhone was targeted with government spyware
A developer at Trenchant, a leading Western spyware and zero-day maker, was suspected of leaking company tools and fired. Weeks later, Apple notified him that his personal iPhone was targeted with spy...
techcrunch.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 21d
Judges ringing alarm bells …

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 21d
The fight against impunity… my interview on International Victims Rights podcast …

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Mark A. Lemley, Brendan Nyhan , and 10 more

60minutes.bsky.social
60 Minutes @60minutes.bsky.social · 22d
“We found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again," says Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University.

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 23d
This has to be one of the best titles ever … (insider international law baseball) …

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 23d
Let’s see it this works —

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Egypt expected to lead global stabilisation force in Gaza, say diplomats
Decommissioning Hamas weapons seen as major stumbling block, with British diplomats advising on process
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Luke Moffett, Robert C. Richards

tessbridgeman.bsky.social
Tess Bridgeman @tessbridgeman.bsky.social · 24d
In brief, this is simple:

The military has no authority to detain the survivors of its latest strike for the same reasons it had no authority to target them in the first place:

No armed attack = No viable self defense claim = No targeting or detention authority

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...
U.S. Detains 2 Survivors of Latest Military Strike in Caribbean
www.nytimes.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 25d
“Most countries have a legal mandate to carry out domestic phone network surveillance.The First Wap archive demonstrates .. how phone network connections can be leveraged to allow tracking all over the world, without authorisation from the targeted networks

www.lighthousereports.com/methodology/...
How First Wap Tracks Phones Around the World
From telecom protocols to a 1.5 million row dataset, here’s how we uncovered the reach and tactics of a mercenary phone-tracking company
www.lighthousereports.com

niaolainf.bsky.social
Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 26d
Glad to join this conversation @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social last week exploring the new Legacy Framework published by Irish and UK governments. Given global backsliding on TJ, there is much to be positive about, though implementation will be key.

sharedfuture.news/the-potentia...
Exploring the UK-Ireland Joint Framework on Legacy
Discover the implications of the UK-Ireland Joint Framework on Legacy, a pivotal policy document shaping future relations and addressing historical issues.
sharedfuture.news