The CBC Corporation
The Clara Barton International Humanitarian Law Competition (CBC) was born in 2013 when Eric Sigmund (former IHL advisor, American Red Cross) and Anne Quintin (International Committee of the Red Cross) came up with the idea of creating a simulation-based, experiential learning competition to introduce law students and military academy cadets in the US and Canada to real-world challenges facing IHL practitioners during armed conflict. Eric had participated in the Jean-Pictet Competition while in law school, and wanted to create a similar contest in the US. Eric and Anne recruited others to form an initial Competition Committee.
Under Eric's leadership, the American Red Cross organized the first three Competitions (Silver Spring, MD; Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington). In 2016, in response to some funding and personnel shortages, the Clara Barton Competition Corporation was created and ran the fourth and fifth Competitions, both held at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Official management of the Competition switched over from the American Red Cross to the Clara Barton Competition Corporation in 2016 and was transferred back to the American Red Cross in 2019. The Clara Barton Competition Corporation continues to assist the American Red Cross's competition efforts in a variety of ways.
Its members are:
Rich DiMeglio, President
Rich DiMeglio is the Director of Seminars for the Virginia Law Foundation / Virginia CLE where he supervises a section devoted to the development and execution of legal seminars for attorneys. Rich retired from the U.S. Army in 2013, after over 20 years of service as both a Military Intelligence Officer and a Judge Advocate. He served in a wide variety of operational assignments around the world, including deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, and Haiti, and served as the lead attorney for a 3500-member Airborne Brigade Combat Team during a 14-month combat deployment to Iraq in 2006-2007. Rich’s final assignment was as Professor and Chair of the International and Operational Law Department at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS), in Charlottesville, Virginia. In that capacity, he oversaw international and operational law instruction for the Army JAG Corps.
Rich has been involved with the Clara Barton Competition since its inception in 2014, and has participated in every CBC, including overseeing the competition in 2017 and 2018. In his role as President of the Clara Barton Competition Committee, he provides advice and assistance to the American Red Cross IHL Team on the CBC.
Rich is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, with a B.S. in Russian and French Languages. Rich has also earned a J.D from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, and an LL.M. in Military Law from TJAGLCS.
Keith Petty, Secretary
Keith A. Petty is a Major in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, currently serving as Legal Liaison Officer for U.S. Army Europe at the U.S. Embassy, Berlin. He began his legal career as an intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, after which he co-taught the War Crimes Prosecution Seminar at Case Western Reserve University, School of Law.
As a Judge Advocate, Keith has advised commanders during combat operations and humanitarian missions. He also served as a trial attorney at the Office of Military Commissions, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and later as Senior Defense Counsel at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Keith's scholarly works focus on international law, national security law, and legal ethics.
He has published in the Michigan Journal of International Law, Utah Law Review, Georgetown Journal of International Law, and Seattle Law Review, among other law journals. He received an LL.M. with distinction in human rights law from Georgetown University Law Center and an LL.M. in military law from The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. He earned his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he served as the editor-in-chief of Case Western's Journal of International Law. He earned his B.A. in English and Germanic Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. (@Petty_KeithA)
Giovanna Quiroz, Treasurer
Giovanna Quiroz G. is a Human Rights Specialist based in Washington, DC. She has a Law Degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and Adv. LL.M, Public Int'l Law from Leiden Universiteit. She has litigated Human Rights cases before the Inter-American System of Protection of Human Rights and has conducted field & academic research particularly in the subjects of IHL, ICL, Transitional Justice & Indigenous Peoples' Rights. She has been a Human Rights consultant to the Ministry of Justice of Peru and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on Human Rights of the OAS. She was the recipient of the Gilbert Apollis Award at the Jean Pictet Competition 2012. G
Chad Austin
Chad Austin is a Professor of Law in the Department of Law at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. He currently teaches Negotiations; Law for the Air Force Officer; and Advanced Topics in the Law of Armed Conflict. His scholarship has focused on teaching pedagogy and International Humanitarian Law. He has presented on a wide variety of topics throughout the world.
Professor Austin served as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Warsaw Faculty Law School during academic year 2017-2018 in which he taught a War Crimes, Genocide and Human Rights course to over eighty students from throughtout the word. He also serves as a Judge Advocate General in the Air Force Reserve and holds the rank of Colonel.
Military highlights include deploying to Iraq in 2008-2009 to negotiate with Iraqi entities to help restore judicial capacity and his subsequent recognition as the Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate of the year for 2008-2009.
Lia Lindsey
Lia Lindsey is the Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor for Oxfam America, advocating for an end to inequality in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and as it relates to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh and Myanmar. Prior to joining Oxfam, she served as a legal advisor with the American Red Cross’ International Humanitarian Law team and engaged in rights-based advocacy with Crisis Action, the American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International USA and the American Civil Liberties Union. Lia received her B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin, holds a J.D. from New England Law | Boston, and is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia, New York (inactive), and Massachusetts (inactive).