In association with the International Commission of Jurists

May 2012

14 May

My recent post on PhDs calling themselves "Dr." led one of my e-friends, Martin Holterman, to remind me that I had promised to post about my dissertation defense -- called a "viva" in the Netherlands -- at Leiden University last year.  The viva was one of the greatest academic experiences of my life, so I'm happy to rectify my omission. I'll...

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13 May

Walter Olson at Cato has a sharp observation here at the Daily Caller, on the revolving door between U.S. international law professoriate and various UN bodies. Mr. Anaya, the U.N. rapporteur, was sent on his mission by none other than the U.N. Human Rights Council, notorious, as Doug Bandow has written, for being “dominated by human rights abusers and their enablers.” (Fidel...

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13 May

Following on Ken’s most recent post on autonomous battlefield robots, I came across the short story Malak by Peter Watts (you can read it here). What jumped out at me was a short story that beginning with epigrams such as these: “An ethically-infallible machine ought not to be the goal. Our goal should be to design a machine that performs better...

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13 May

Last week’s announcements can be found here. If you are organizing a conference or other event and would like to see the call for papers or the program announced on Opinio Juris, please contact us. Calls for Papers Tel Aviv University is hosting a conference entitled: Migration and Well-Being: Research Frontiers, to take place January 8-10, 2013. Up to 500-word abstract submissions must be in no later than...

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13 May

[Leila Hanafi works as regional coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. This contribution is cross-posted at the Middle East Monitor.] The ongoing post-conflict reconstruction process in Libya is reigniting a crucial debate among transitional justice advocates as to the role the International Criminal Court (ICC) can play in delivering justice and...

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12 May

This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller posted on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s refusal to participate in his Military Commission trial, on the censored time-delayed video and audio feed from the trial and on the irony of an op-ed complaining about "false information about the detention" in the media coverage. Deborah Pearlstein addressed the question whether things might have gone...

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11 May

Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA officer who describes the Bush administration's systematic torture regime as people "putting their big boy pants on" and who personally destroyed 92 videotapes documenting the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah because "out of context they would make us look terrible," has an op-ed for CNN today complaining about media coverage of the...

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11 May

[Doug Cassel is Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on April 30 directed his Council of State (a policy advisory body) to study Venezuela’s “withdrawal” from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.  He asked for their recommendation within days, not weeks.  This is the latest move in the Bolivarian Republic’s long record of denouncing the Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as tools of US imperialism, supposedly biased against socialist Venezuela. But the real reason for Chavez’ pronouncement, say human rights groups – in my view correctly – is that the Commission and Court hold the Chavista regime accountable for its systematic violations of the independence of the judiciary (1, 2), and of freedom of the press, (3, 4), as well as other serious violations of human rights (5, 6). Chavez’ call was promptly cheered by other high officials in Caracas.  It seems a foregone conclusion that the Council will recommend withdrawal.  Since Chavez has already declared that Venezuela should have withdrawn a long time ago, he is all but certain to heed such a recommendation. Withdrawing from the Commission, however, is not so simple.
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11 May

My friend at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, offers a fairly convincing critique of the effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S. Agency for International Development as its budget is taken up this week by Congress. Take branding: Throughout the Middle East, especially in areas where anti-American sentiment is especially strong, the USAID refuses to put the USAID logo on its...

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11 May

Here's yet another long-ish story in the NY Times on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, and how it's cramping American citizens abroad.  (How many tax stories get this kind of play? NYT must have some reader traction on this.)  Remember: the US is the only country other than Eritrea that taxes its external citizens. Dueling takeaways: More AmCits abroad...

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11 May

Responding to a letter to which we linked yesterday, US Trade Representative Kirk has rejected criticism that the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement have not been transparent. The Greek left leader has asked the EU to re-examine its commitment to austerity. In talks to normalize bilateral relations, Zimbabwe has asked the EU to lift all remaining sanctions on Mugabe and senior...

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10 May

The standoff between China and the Philippines over the Huangyan Island/ Scarborough Shoal (see the island marked 黄岩 on the Chinese map to the right) has continued to fester over the past few weeks. CFR's Asia Unbound blog has a nice summary here of the latest. The bottom line: The Philippines has been calling for restraint in recent days, but the...

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