Alette Smeulers is professor of criminal law and criminology of international crimes at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen as well as the University College Groningen. Her research focuses on international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other gross human rights violations as well as terrorism. The gassings in Auschwitz, the Apartheid in South Africa, the war in former Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, the mistreatment and humiliations in Abu Ghraib, the mass rapes in DR Congo, the rise of the Islamic State and the terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Nice and many other places are all examples of such extreme forms and manifestations of mass violence. They cause immense human suffering and threaten international peace and security. Good and thorough research on the causes of such crimes is crucial in order to be able to effectively fight this type of criminality in the future.

In her research, Alette Smeulers focuses on the causes of international crimes and terrorism, the perpetrators of international crimes and the criminal prosecution of these crimes.