Dr Fikire Tinsae Birhane

Dr Fikire Tinsae Birhane is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Children's Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape. He is a legal scholar and practitioner with over a decade of experience in international humanitarian law (IHL), children's rights, socio-economic rights, disability rights, and human rights law in general, with a specialized focus on the African regional human rights system.

He holds a Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Pretoria, where his doctoral thesis examined the rights to life and freedom from torture of children associated with non-state armed groups. Dr. Birhane also holds two Master’s degrees, an LLM in Human Rights Law from Addis Ababa University and a prestigious Master of Advanced Studies (LLM) in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy, where he also served as an Online Casebook Intern for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Prior to joining the Dullah Omar Institute, Dr. Birhane served as an Assistant Professor of Law at Hawassa University in Ethiopia, where he combined teaching and research with active human rights advocacy and public interest litigation. His academic leadership includes experience as an Associate Dean of a law school, Managing Editor of a peer-reviewed law journal, and contributor to an amicus curiae brief before the International Criminal Court in the Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda case.

His extensive publication record includes peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Conflict and Security Law (Oxford University Press) and the Journal of Ethiopian Law, as well as policy papers for the Centre for Human Rights, and multiple ICRC online case studies on contemporary armed conflicts. His research interests span IHL, post-conflict justice, transitional justice, and the rights of children affected by armed conflict.

Dr Birhane is fluent in English, Amharic, and Kambatissa, and has basic proficiency in French.

Email: fbirhane@uwc.ac.za