In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Jessica Dorsey

22 Apr

The Syrian opposition is reporting the slaughter of at least 80 people by government troops in a town south of Damascus. Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in Myanmar of conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Heavy fighting between the Nigerian military and the Boko Haram insurgents has cost almost 200 lives over the weekend. An Afghan girls' school may have been victim...

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19 Apr

If you haven't been able to keep up with all of our posts on Wednesday's Kiobel decision, An has a great round-up post here. Don't forget that unsolicited submissions are still welcome for consideration.  In other Kiobel news, ASIL has posted Curtis Bradley's Insight here (.pdf). A judge in the Guatemalan case against former president Efrain Rios Montt has suspended his genocide trial on procedural grounds. Following briefings on the bleak humanitarian...

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18 Apr

In case you missed it, the US Supreme Court ruled on Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum affirming the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' dismissal. We have an insta-symposium (scroll down to related links to see all posts so far) going on with contributions from many prominent voices. As Roger noted yesterday, if you'd like to post on Kiobel, please contact us. SCOTUS Blog also...

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17 Apr

Yesterday, the ICJ reached its judgment in the frontier dispute between Burkina Faso and Niger. The BBC has more here. According to a bipartisan report by the Constitution Project (.pdf), the US has engaged in torture at the highest levels. Human Rights Watch also offers a statement here. The New Zealand parliament has passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Privacy International has sued the United...

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16 Apr

Oral arguments began yesterday at the ICJ in the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute about land surrounding the Temple Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Syrian warplanes have launched further attacks in Damascus in addition to a handful of other rebel-held Syrian cities. Heads of the World Health Organization and UNICEF made a rare political plea to the international community yesterday stating that intervention...

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15 Apr

As North Korea celebrated the 101st birthday of the country's founder, the US has said it is ready to "reach out" if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear aspirations after warning North Korea that a nuclear missile launch would be a "huge mistake."  Foreign Policy offers a way to solve the North Korea nuke problem, opining that the road to Pyongyang goes...

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14 Apr

Calls for papers In case you haven't seen it yet, we have launched our own call for papers aimed at LL.M, Ph.D and S.J.D. students as well as those practitioners/academics within the first five years post-degree to participate in our New Voices symposium starting in July. The deadline for 200-word abstract submissions is May 1, 2013. Vermont Law School will host the fourth-annual Colloquium on...

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12 Apr

The US says with "moderate confidence" that North Korea does in fact have a nuclear weapon that they would be capable of mounting to a ballistic missile, but that such a weapon would likely be unreliable. At the G8 summit in London, leaders were "appalled" by the violence and number of casualties in Syria and urged humanitarian assistance from all countries. During...

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11 Apr

Human Rights Watch has published a new report entitled Death from the Skies alleging that Syrian forces have killed over 4,300 civilians by targeting places like bakeries and hospitals, and calls these air raids war crimes.  Concerns about Syria and North Korea top the agenda of the G8 summit taking place this week in London. The EU has informed North Korea that...

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10 Apr

South Korea has increased surveillance and asked China to rein in North Korea after Pyongyang moved a long-range missile in preparation for a possible launch. North Korea has warned foreigners to evacuate South Korea and said the area is headed for "thermo-nuclear war." Germany and France express growing concerns that Washington-backed EU sanctions on North Korea could negatively affect aid groups. Amnesty International...

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09 Apr

Global leaders have paid their respects to Margaret Thatcher, the UK's first female prime minister, after her death yesterday. Thousands of North Korean workers have failed to show up for work at a shared industrial complex with South Korea after the North Korean leadership said it would withdraw workers and suspend work.  With more on the North Korea situation, Foreign Policy asks...

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08 Apr

There are reports stating that North Korea is preparing to carry out a fourth nuclear test based on intelligence coming out of South Korea.  In the face of the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, Foreign Policy offers advice about how to stop a nuclear war. Without directly naming North Korea, China has been critical of its recent actions to escalate tension on...

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