MA M.Phil. Ph.D. (Cantab)
Home Department: Centre for Human Rights
Thomas Probert is the Head of Research of the new international collaboration “Freedom from Violence”, initially housed at ICLA, which is an initiative to establish a research network that brings together researchers from across the African continent focussing on evidence-based and human-rights based approaches to the problem of violence.
He acted as a Research Consultant to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2013 – 2016, based from 2015-6 in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. In that connection and since he has also worked closely with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as a range of non-governmental partner organisations, particularly those working on police accountability and violence prevention.
He is also a Research Associate of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights at the University of Cambridge.
Areas of interest: Politics of human rights (in global and regional settings), accountability, the death penalty, trends in interpersonal violence, evidence-based policy-making with respect to violence, the history of human rights.
Publications
Published during the last five years
Books (edited volumes)
National Commissions of Inquiry in Africa: Vehicles to Pursue Accountability for Violations of the Right to Life? (PULP, forthcoming 2020) [edited with Christof Heyns]
Alston & Heyns on Executions: A Compendium of the Jurisprudence of the UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2004-2016 (PULP, forthcoming 2020) [edited with Philip Alston, Christof Heyns & Sarah Knuckey]
Chapters in other books
‘The use of less-lethal weapons in armed conflict’ in Robert Kolb et al. (eds) Research Handbook on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Further Reflections and Perspectives (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2021) [with Stuart Maslen & Christof Heyns]
‘The accessibility of policing in informal settlements around Lilongwe, Malawi’ in Simon Howell (ed.) Policing the Urban Periphery in Africa: Developing Safety for the Marginal (African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2019) [with Dennis Chipao]
‘The right to life and the progressive abolition of the death penalty’ De Guzman, M et al (eds.) Arcs of Global Justice: Essays in Honour of William A. Schabas (OUP, 2017) [with Christof Heyns and Tess Borden]
‘The role of the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures in protecting the right to life in armed conflicts’ in Dan Kuwali & Frans Viljoen (eds.) By all means necessary: Protecting civilians and preventing mass atrocities in Africa (PULP, 2017)
‘Casting fresh light on the supreme right: The African Commission’s General Comment 3 on the right to life’ Dire Tladi et al. (eds) The Pursuit of a Brave New World in International Law: Essays in Honour of John Dugard (Brill, 2017) [with Christof Heyns]
‘Special Procedures in the Digital Age’ in A. Nolan, R. Freedman and T. Murphy, The United Nations Special Procedures System (Brill, 2017) [with Ella McPherson]
Article
‘Investigating Potentially Unlawful Death under International Law: The 2016 Minnesota Protocol’ The International Lawyer vol.52 no.1 (2019) pp.47-80 [with Christof Heyns, Stuart Maslen, Toby Fisher, Sarah Knuckey & Morris Tidbal-Binz]
Policy Briefs/Research Reports
‘Strengthening Policing Oversight and Investigations in Kenya’ (October 2020) [with Mutuma Ruteree & Brian Kimari]
‘Community-Police Dialogue and Cooperation in Somalia: Lessons Learnt’ Danish Demining Group (DDG) (November 2019) [with Sean Tait & Abdirahman Maalim Gossar]
‘Police attitudes and crowd management in Africa: Exploring the impact of soft-law instruments and training in Malawi’ African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum / Danish Institute for Human Rights (August 2018)
‘Vehicles for accountability or cloaks of impunity? How can national commissions of inquiry achieve accountability for violations of the right to life?’ Institute for Justice & Reconciliation Policy Brief No.25 (May 2017)
Blogs/Journalism
‘Definition of an “attack” under the law of armed conflict’ ArticlesOfWar (Lieber Institute of West Point) (3 November 2020) [with Christof Heyns and Stuart Maslen]
‘Ensuring the right of assembly in extraordinary times’ ACHPR Police and Human Rights in Africa Newsletter No.14 (November 2020)
‘Less-lethal than firearms, but only if used appropriately’ JustSecurity (2 July 2020) [with Christof Heyns]
‘Implementation of the Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa: Practical challenges’ ACHPR Police and Human Rights in Africa Newsletter No.11 (April 2018)
‘Securing the Right to Life: A cornerstone of the human rights system’ EJILTalk (11 May 2016) [with Christof Heyns]
Doctoral students supervised
Dennis Chipao (Malawi) is analysing how the Malawi Police Service is impacted by social media
Dumisani Gandhi (Zimbabwe) is exploring the potential impact of body-worn cameras on police accountability in South Africa
Anne Ireri (Kenya) is examining the Kenyan Police Service in terms of their capacity for forensic investigation of child sex abuse
Stephen Ndhlovo (Malawi) is comparing the roles of the criminal justice systems in Malawi and South Africa in responding to sexual and gender-based violence
Lily Oyakhirome (Nigeria) is contrasting the social activism driving accountability processes for police abuses in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
Dagnachew Wakene (Ethiopia) is analysing the international human rights law framework as it relates to violence against persons with disabilities
[last updated 16 Sept 2021]