In association with the International Commission of Jurists

November 2008

09 Nov

The Butare trial is the ICTR's largest and longest -- it began in June 2001, involves six defendants accused of genocide, and shows no signs of ending anytime soon.  The trial is likely to go on even longer because two of the defendants, former Governor Alphonse Nteziryayo and ex-Mayor Elie Ndayambaje, are ill.  And that comes not long after one...

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09 Nov

Last month, I noted that the ICTR had formally reprimanded its Prosecutor for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense in the Military II trial.  Now Jerome Bicamumpaka, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the interim government who is accused of genocide, has made similar allegations: Inspired by this sanction inflicted to the prosecution by another formation of judges, Bicamumpaka...

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08 Nov

Amidst all the global celebration regarding the election of Barack Obama there is stark news that Moscow is emerging as a serious resurgent threat to the United States. Within hours of Obama's election Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the redeployment of missiles on the Polish border. A few United States papers are covering the story, but this report...

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07 Nov

All the really cool people in the world are at SMU in Dallas today, at a conference called The Rise of Transnational Networks.  Professor Jenia Turner is the organizer, and she and her colleagues and the SMU students have done a fantastic job of getting great speakers and panelists.  This is a very smart meeting.  The videos will be posted...

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07 Nov

The General Assembly and Security Council have just announced the election of two current and three new members of the International Court of Justice. Here is the key excerpt of the press release: The General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations yesterday elected five Members of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a term of office...

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07 Nov

The celebrations in Africa (in particular in Obama's father's homeland of Kenya, where scores of newborns have been named Barack or Michelle) have left some introspective:  Why has democracy continued to evolve and progress is the U.S., but not here?  Mark Leon Goldberg at UN Dispatch links to this letter to the editor from the Guardian in Lagos, Nigeria:   What has happened in United States...

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07 Nov

This past September, I was a speaker at a conference on Law, Ethics and the War on Terror that was organized by Geoff Corn at the South Texas College of Law. The conference is now available as a video-stream. Part one is here and part two is here. The other panelists were incredibly impressive including senior military officials, prominent defense attorneys, and academics...

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06 Nov

Remember the halcyon days of the election when Obama was a socialist and a marxist?  Well, funny thing. According to the RNC, he's actually a moderate Republican: In all, with Barack Obama's promises to cut taxes, merit pay for public school teachers, and renewed offshore drilling, I would say he simply ran the most successful moderate Republican presidential campaign since Dwight...

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06 Nov

While Peggy, Peter and Ken have provided more overarching views of the impact of Obama's election and his coming presidency, those readers ready to get into the weeds of what Obama will do when it comes to international law should check out his responses to an ASIL survey done back when the primaries were still in full swing.  You can access...

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