Research Interests
• International criminal justice and transitional justice
• TWAIL (Third World Approaches to International Law)
• Peacebuilding and human rights
Nestor Nkurunziza is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. His doctoral thesis critically analyses the role of international human rights law as an advocacy tool for transitional justice in Burundi. While writing his thesis, he participated in various research and education projects in Canada and globally. One of his recent articles on transitional justice was published in the Quebec Journal of International Law in December 2017. At the same time, he contributed to several research and education projects as research and/or teaching assistant at the University of Ottawa. Abroad, he attended the series “International criminal justice in Africa." As his contribution to the project, he published two articles:
- Le régime de complémentarité sous le protocole portant amendement du protocole portant statut de la cour africaine de justice et des droits de l’homme (2018);
- Les aspects hybrides de la justice transitionnelle au Burundi (2019).
Before enrolling for the doctoral programme at the University of Ottawa, he had years of research and teaching experience at university level. Between 2010 and 2015, he lectured full time at the Faculty of law of the University of Burundi where he had acquired his law degree with distinction in 2009, after completing 4 years of studies. In 2012, he obtained his M. Phil. in International Peace Studies at the University of Dublin-Trinity College. He also holds a Specialised Graduate Diploma (DESS), specializing in Human Rights and Conflicts resolution, obtained with distinction in 2013 from the University of Burundi (UNESCO Chair in Peacebuilding and Human Rights Education). While teaching at the University of Burundi, Mr. Nkurunziza was involved in international and collaborative research projects. He was part of a research team on The Rule of Law in the Great Lakes Region of Africa (Burundi, The DRC and Rwanda). Aimed at promoting rule of law based norms in East Africa, the project is financially supported by The Rule of Law Program for Sub-Saharan Africa of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. To fulfill the project’s requirements, he published articles yearly from 2010 to 2014.
Finally, he has an extensive experience in the human rights field. He occupied several key positions within NGOs focusing on human rights issues in Burundi. He also offered consultancy services to local and international NGOs on issues related to peacebuilding and human rights.