Alannah Travers

I'm a British-German PhD researcher at the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, focusing on algorithmic warfare and civilian harm. My work connects international humanitarian law and the impact of emerging technologies. Before this, I was based in Iraq, where I remain interested in politics, personal stories and the human impact of a heating climate.

Drop Site News •

Massacre at Minab: The School That Became a Grave

An eviscerating article, and for what it explores on intent - how Minab is seen, and framed, away from "algorithmic warfare" - which removes even further the power and the capacity of civilian populations to be heard, and to understand. Technology creates deniability, it enables militaries to avoid accountability by blaming machines for atrocities, or saying nothing. But the scariest thing is that it is making this unbearable violence more inevitable, but less conceivable to others.
United Nations Report •

UNSR report (A/HRC/63/25) on Denialism, Negationism and Revisionism of Serious Violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Transitional Justice Contexts

Professor Kieran Mcevoy, Ron Dudai and myself supported the UNSR on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Bernard Duhaime, with research and discussions for this timely report on how denialism, negationism and revisionism threatens TJ, truth and accountability processes.
Access Now •

Access Now - Joint statement on AI in warfare

As AI-accelerated warfare is rapidly becoming a means of rubber-stamping killing at unprecedented speed and scale, Access Now, Amnesty International, and more than 200 civil society organizations and individuals are calling attention to the militarization of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and to halt the use of AI systems in the military kill chain. Companies and governments must cease the provision and use of technologies which undermine adherence to international law in armed conflicts.
LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series •

Women, law and climate resilience: closing the gap in Iraq's legal framework

Iraq is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable states, facing severe heat, desertification, dust-storms, rising salinity and water scarcity. These harms also serve to deepen existing gender inequalities in the country, with women, particularly those from rural and displaced communities, carrying disproportionate burdens – from lost livelihoods and health risks to early marriage, violence and exclusion from decision-making.
Spotify •

Islamic law and the right to life in armed conflict (Audio on Spotify)

Islamic legal traditions and the modern framework of international humanitarian law (IHL) emerged from different contexts and traditions, but they share many underlying values – such as restraint, humanity, and the protection of those not (or no longer) participating in hostilities. Islamic law therefore offers a distinct but complementary perspective to IHL on the sanctity of life (ḥurmat al-nafs), particularly in contexts where international legal frameworks lack traction, understanding, or perceived legitimacy.
Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog •

Islamic law and the right to life in armed conflict

In this post, and as part of our Emerging Voices series, legal researcher Alannah Travers explores how Islamic law, as its own coherent and longstanding legal tradition, offers a parallel framework of moral constraint during armed conflict. She argues that better understanding these Islamic legal norms can provide stronger grounds for compliance with protective norms, deepening our collective understanding of the right to life in war.
LSE Middle East Centre •

ELEVATE: Early Career Researchers’ Initiative for Strengthening Women's Climate Resilience

Thanks to the support from the British Council's Researcher Challenges Grant and in collaboration with Moja Iraq, the ELEVATE Initiative awarded funding to four teams of early-career researchers in the UK and Iraq to explore the main challenges and weaknesses in women’s resilience, and the most urgent areas for resilience-building, to then develop and implement research projects addressing these challenges.
JusticeInfo.net •

Rendez-vous à Bagdad

Entre 2013 et 2019, environ 40 000 citoyens de pays autres que l'Irak et la Syrie ont rejoint le groupe armé État islamique (EI), en provenance d'Europe, d'Afrique subsaharienne, d'Asie du Sud-Est et d'Asie centrale, et même des États-Unis et d'Australie. Lorsque des milliers d'entre eux ont été capturés sur le dernier territoire du califat vaincu, un cauchemar juridictionnel a été créé, que les États ont pour la plupart passé des années à essayer d'ignorer. Mais au moment où le Commandement...
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