Students from Turkmenistan triumphed in the the 23rd edition of the International Competition on International Humanitarian Law named after F.F.Martens, which was organized between 3-7th of October, 2022 by Regional Delegation of ICRC in the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, and Moldova. The capital city of Russia – Moscow hosted the event. The tournament contingent consisted of law students from 21 higher educational establishments from 7 countries of CIS members, namely from Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Our country was represented by the students of International Law and International Relations faculty of IUHD Novruz Nurberdiyev, Dovlet Gurbanov, and Zohre Geldyyeva. The students were prepared for the competition by Vekil Vekilov, instructor at the International Law Department of at the International University for the Humanities and Development.
In the contest, students challenged each other’s experience and knowledge on the International Humanitarian Law, guided by the principles of humanism. The competition consisted of 7 rounds. In each round, there was given cases, and 1-1,5 hour for preparation to the oral hearing. Students from IUHD masterfully used the theory gained in the practice and shined with brilliance among other participants. Role-play, time-management and teamwork were the main factors that led our team to the pedestal of the contest.
The competition is held in the format of a role-playing game under the auspices of the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for students of law schools and faculties. When determining the best team, professional knowledge, the ability of the team to argue their statements, defend their point of view, the ability to present themselves, discuss and respond to the situation are taken into account. It should be noted that it is quite difficult to get into the number of contestants. This international student competition is considered to be one of the most prestigious and largest in the field of international humanitarian law.
The jury members consisted of the representatives of International Committee of the Red Cross, Academia, specialists in international Humanitarian Law. They were more than content with our performance and graded the team with best points possible.
Far ahead from the other participants, the team from Turkmenistan topped the pedestal and got the 1st place, being awarded with the Crystal Cup and Certificate of the F.F.Martens Competition. This victory of turkmen students was an unprecedented accomplishment as it was the first time not only in the history of Turkmenistan, but also in the history of Central Asia since the launching of the competition in 1997.
During the competition the students made new friends with each other, shared the history, culture of our country with students from other countries, exchanged with contacts and created a network platform of F.F.Martens alumnus. They were invited to the further activities and events organized by International Committee of Red Cross.
