Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons)

@niaolainf.bsky.social

3.4K followers 110 following 530 posts

Regents Law Professor, Minnesota Law + Professor QUB Law School (Belfast)+ Director Human Rights Centre. ICJ Commissioner. RIA. FBA. Former UN SR Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights (2017-23). Irish, Gaeilgeoir, Mom, Loves Yoga & Hiking. .. more

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Fionnuala Ní Aoláin is an Irish academic lawyer specialising in human rights law. She was the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism for the United Nations Human Rights Council from August 1, 2017 - November 2023. .. more

Political science 67%

Sociology 15%

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Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 2h

appreciate you!

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 2h

Thanks my friend.

Reposted by Luke Moffett, Matthew Bodie

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4h

Honored to serve on the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Human Rights Council President appoints Members of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

GENEVA - The President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Jürg Lauber (Switzerland), has appointed Monia Ammar (Tunisia) and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (Republic of Ireland) to serve as members of the U...

www.ohchr.org

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 12h

Courage so rare, lives saved as a result - every one and his own a miracle.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

‘It was a matter of conscience’: Ahmed al-Ahmed’s family reveal why he risked his life to disarm alleged Bondi shooter

Family say al-Ahmed ‘doesn’t discriminate’ and would have done anything to save lives during the attack

www.theguardian.com

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d

Glad to be a part of CAJ’s Annual Lecture with PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, exploring the NCND policy and its impact on legacy investigations.

You can read the full transcript here: caj.org.uk/publications...

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d

When I first started researching lethal force killings in NI —1991, Patrick Rooney’s case was one of the first I encountered. The horror of his death, sheltering from machine gun fire by police. Hiding in a bedroom and shot in the head surrounded by his fearful family. A kind of vindication today.

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d

Seamus Heaney is the antidote to all that is out of kilter (new edited collection of published and unpublished poems).

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d

Ní Aoláin said that …

“On every single measure, the UK is out of step with its partners, including its security partners globally.”

www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-face...

UK faces mounting pressure to repatriate British nationals held in Syria

Mother of Jack Letts, held by Kurds since 2017, says clock is ticking as experts warn refusal to repatriate detainees, including young children and some stripped of citizenship, is untenable

www.middleeasteye.net

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 4d

Glad to chair the CAJ Annual Lecture last night. A full house and tremendous lecture by PSNI Chief Constable John Boutcher.

CAJ @cajni.bsky.social · Nov 6

🚨CAJ Annual Lecture 🚨

"‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’ Policy and Legacy Investigations” delivered by PSNI Chief Constable, Jon Boutcher

📅 Wed 10 December
🕢 7:30pm | Drinks Reception 8:30pm
📍 Riddel Hall, QUB Belfast, Stranmillis Road

📌 RSVP required: lnkd.in/ef4HyAvB

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 5d

It was a privilege to take part in the @Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence’s 20th Anniversary commemoration in Iveagh House yesterday.

The discussion highlighted elevating the voices of women-led and grassroots organisations at the centre of effective prevention and response.

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 5d

«Micheál Martin, [said] the report was “very clear about the unacceptable nature of state involvement and utilisation of this agent, which led to so many deaths, …also very clear about the campaign of terror the Provisional IRA waged within their own communities”

www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

IRA spy Stakeknife ‘well rewarded financially and taken on holiday’ by handlers, report reveals

Kenova investigation lays bare how double agent and murderer was repeatedly protected at the expense of his victims

www.irishtimes.com

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Minnesota Law @umnlawschool.bsky.social · 7d

Congratulations to @niaolainf.bsky.social, elected a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, for Trinity Term in 2027. Her research there will build on the policy work she has undertaken this past year with @unwomen.bsky.social and @prioresearch.bsky.social. z.umn.edu/axkf

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin KC (Hons) with the Twin Cities skyline in the background

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 8d

Children are the target ….

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Deadly attack on kindergarten reported in Sudan

Drone strikes on a town in South Kordofan on Thursday are said to have killed at least 50 people.

www.bbc.com

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 9d

Ran into someone involved in the torture program at a social event recently.

The lack of accountability for the RDI program helped bring about our current moment.

Accountability is a choice.

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 9d

The fine is about accountability and vindicating that the law applies to tech companies.

techpolicy.press/the-eus-fine...

The EU’s Fine Against X is Not About Speech or ‘Censorship’ | TechPolicy.Press

The €120 million fine under the Digital Services Act is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring requirements of its law, writes Stanford's Daphne Keller.

techpolicy.press

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 9d

so right …

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 9d

“And how is the morally serious person supposed to react when the legal theories he advocated to protect American lives get contorted to justify the projection of force against civilian boats?”

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

The Situation: On Shame

What is the morally serious person supposed to feel?

www.lawfaremedia.org

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 9d

“From a moral standpoint, one problem at the outset is the administration's invocation of "war" and related words like "enemy" and "invasion."”

www.ncronline.org/opinion/defe...

Defense Secretary Hegseth's approach to the use of armed force is wrong

For decades Tobias Winright has studied and taught the ethics of the use of force, as well as the just war theory. The moral theologian takes issue with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approach to th...

www.ncronline.org

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 9d

Detention policy rebuff: A federal judge ruled Friday that the government has no statutory authority to hold detainees at Guantanamo Bay on their way to being deported from the United States. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...

Judge Rules Trump Exceeded Authority by Holding Deportees at Guantánamo

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Greg Linden

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 10d

trump admin reaction to EU fine of X is illuminating. it shows a few things:

1. they are trying to distract from its own massive censorship of americans.

2. they are worried about losing a propaganda and disinformation platform to support racist anti-migrant parties in europe.

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you @michelawrong.bsky.social and @niaolainf.bsky.social for selecting Chasing Shadows as your 2025 book of year recce in @thespectator1828.bsky.social (www.spectator.co.uk/article/book...) and @justsecurity.org (www.justsecurity.org/126111/just-...) respectively.

I appreciate it very much!

Books of the Year II – further recommendations from our regular reviewers

Philip Hensher I have a theory that Mick Herron’s Slow Horses novels are an ingenious variation on Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays. If, in a future episode, River Cartwright ascends to his kingdom renoun...

www.spectator.co.uk

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10d

Well written and clearly articulated.

warontherocks.com/2025/12/atta...

Attacking Drug Boats: Bending or Breaking the Law?

U.S. attacks on alleged narcotics trafficking boats continue unabated with little apparent concern for near-unanimous legal condemnation. The Trump

warontherocks.com

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10d

The obvious and non-obvious costs of murder on the High Seas.

www.justsecurity.org/125998/boat-...

Killing Shipwrecked Survivors is Not Just Illegal—It Endangers U.S. Servicemembers

If the United States chooses a path where killing defenseless survivors becomes acceptable, American servicemembers will pay the price for that choice.

www.justsecurity.org

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 10d

So very glad of the news that I will be a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 2026-27, www.asc.ox.ac.uk/news/visitin....
Research on maternal and childcare obstetric harm. A particular thanks to much missed Prof. Conor Gearty who encouraged and supported me to apply.

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

CDT Europe @cdteu.org · 11d

Thanks to the following for their precious help in writing and reviewing this report! @silvperez.bsky.social, @ashaoallen.bsky.social, @aimeedm.bsky.social, @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social aj.bsky.social, @cdt.org, @niaolainf.bsky.social

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 13d

This analysis — never more relevant than now !

www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...

Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder

An expert backgrounder on the reported Hegseth "no quarter" order to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2.

www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Ann Bartow

Oona Hathaway @oonahathaway.bsky.social · 13d

"the combat decisions he has made"

Hegseth is setting up Admiral Bradley to take the blame for killing the survivors--which is just the tip of an immense iceberg of illegal acts.

U.S. military officials beware: Following orders is not a defense to murder or war crimes.

Reposted by Mark Petticrew, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 14d

like big tobacco funding cancer research

Reposted by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Marty Lederman @martylederman.bsky.social · 14d

It's good that Republicans acknowledge this was unlawful. But this framing is problematic. For one thing, it's not a war (or armed conflict), so it's not a "war crime." Moreover, even if there *were* an armed conflict against the (unnamed) cartel in question ... [1]

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...

Lawmakers Suggest Follow-Up Boat Strike Could Be a War Crime

www.nytimes.com

Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 15d

With the National Review
“without congressional authorization, under circumstances in which the boat operators pose no military threat to the United States [acts] — are lawless and therefore that the killings are not legitimate under the law or armed conflict”

www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-in...

‘We Intended the Strike to Be Lethal’ Is Not a Defense | National Review

The laws of war, incorporated in the federal war crimes statute, prohibit the killing of people who have been rendered hors de combat.

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