19 April 2021
Diego Ruiz Gayol is a Mexican diplomat working at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva where he is in charge of human rights issues. He is following the work of the UN Human Rights Council and of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His main areas of expertise are civil and political rights and gender equality.
Previously, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Mexico in Haiti and consular and protection officer at the Embassy of Mexico in Peru.
Diego completed our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict in 2020
I was looking for a programme that would help me to deepen my understanding of international law, in particular international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL), while pursuing at the same time my diplomatic career as a delegate of my country to the UN. The Geneva Academy, at the heart of international Geneva, and with a long tradition in the study of these subjects, was the ideal place to do it.
Yes, this master programme fulfilled my expectations and was a great investment of my time. I really appreciated the very high quality of the faculty and the rich mix of students in terms of cultures, backgrounds, fields of expertise and worldviews.
The programme gave me the legal theoretical knowledge that allowed me to perform better as a diplomat at different multilateral fora dealing with human rights and IHL. It opened the possibility of reaching positions in the future that require strong legal specialization.
Yes, I would recommend it to professionals that are at the beginning or at the middle of their career, and who may need to strengthen their understanding of international law, in particular in the fields of human rights, IHL and international criminal law. Balancing professional and academic responsibilities can sometimes be challenging, but the rewards and satisfactions that come during the programme and at the end of it, make the journey worthwhile.
Geneva Academy / Sandra Pointet
At our recent graduation ceremony, 104 students from our masters programs were honoured in the presence of faculty, staff, friends and family.
Applications for the upcoming academic year of our Online Executive Master – MAS in International Law in Armed Conflict - are now open. They will remain open until 30 May 2025, with courses starting at the end of September 2025.
ICRC
Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.
ICRC
This online short course discusses the extent to which states may limit and/or derogate from their international human rights obligations in order to prevent and counter-terrorism and thus protect persons under their jurisdiction.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.
The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts project (RULAC) is a unique online portal that identifies and classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law (IHL). It is primarily a legal reference source for a broad audience, including non-specialists, interested in issues surrounding the classification of armed conflicts under IHL.
Geneva Academy ICRC