In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Jessica Dorsey

12 Oct

The European Union has won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for uniting the continent in the face of the ongoing economic crisis. The 10th anniversary of the Bali bombings is being remembered in Bali, Indonesia, and in Australia. The NY Times reports how Indonesian counter-terrorism forces still battle local militant groups. Human rights activists in Iran are reportedly beaten, raped and sleep deprived, according to a...

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11 Oct

Royal Dutch Shell Plc., faces a lawsuit today in a district court in The Hague that seeks to make Shell and other corporations responsible for pollution resulting from three oil spills in 2004, 2005 and 2007 in the Niger Delta. Russia has said it will not renew the expiring 1991 arms agreement with the US requiring the dismantaling of nuclear and chemical weapons, as it...

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10 Oct

Abu Hamza al-Masri has pleaded not guilty in a US federal court, after recently being extradited by Britain. A US drone attack has killed five in Northwest Pakistan, close to the border with Afghanistan. Xinhua reports that Japan has shown signs of a willingness to compromise and is planning to acknowledge China's claims on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands without however giving up on its own position. Nevertheless, the...

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09 Oct

Libya will challenge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in order to try him on Libyan soil. Mark Kersten at Justice in Conflict has more analysis about the battle of where the trial will be held. Police in Sierra Leone have arrested an investigator employed by former Liberian President Charles Taylor's defense team on charges he attempted...

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08 Oct

Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for yesterday's Israeli strikes in the Gaza strip. Amnesty International has reported that Rwandan military intelligence services have engaged in torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances of civilians. Sudanese state media reports that the border between Sudan and South Sudan will reopen today, after a security agreement was reached last month. Turkish forces fired across the border...

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05 Oct

Russia is considering offering Western companies oil licenses in its Arctic waters. Reuters has an exclusive that the European Union is ready to ban imports of Iranian gas as a part of new sanctions in order to increase the pressure over the nuclear program in the Islamic Republic. A UN representative has told the Security Council there is little time to deal with rebels...

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04 Oct

Turkey has struck back at Syria, after a mortar attack killed five Turkish civilians in a city close to the Syrian border. In an urgent meeting, NATO has urged Syria to respect international law. Turkey has also requested a response by the UN Security Council, but Russia asked for a day delay. Four UN Peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in West...

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03 Oct

Georgia's President Mikhal Saakashvili has conceded defeated in Monday's parliamentary elections. Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have softened his stance on military action against Iran, allowing more space for sanctions to take effect until at least mid-2013. The territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands is blamed for the decision of major Chinese banks to pull out of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings that are...

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02 Oct

Oral arguments were heard yesterday for the second time before the US Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum; the transcript can be found here. You can already read the preliminary thoughts from a few of our regulars Roger, Deborah and Peter, and as Julian mentioned, starting today, we will have a roundtable discussion from a variety of guest...

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01 Oct

The US Supreme Court begins its new term today and will hear re-argumentation in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. SCOTUS Blog offers insight into what is at stake and for whom in this case. After 10 years’ imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr was repatriated to Canada, where he will serve the rest of his sentence. At the UN General Assembly, several leaders of the Muslim...

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30 Sep

Upcoming Events The Levin Center of Stanford University is hosting the International Public Interest Lawyering Symposium: Advancing Gender Equality through Human Rights, October 11-13, 2012. To register, click here. The American Bar Association (in cooperation with ASIL) will host the 2012 Fall Meeting from October 16-20, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. More information found here. The American Society of International Law has its third-annual Midyear...

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28 Sep

Since June 2012, there has been a new addition to the international legal blogosphere: Armed Groups and International Law. The blog is edited by Katharine Fortin of Utrecht University and Rogier Bartels at the Netherlands Defence Academy and the University of Amsterdam. The blog's two main purposes are information sharing and community building between individuals and organizations working on issues related to armed groups....

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