Oxfam reports that hundreds are being raped and killed in Eastern Congo as the army's deployment to fight rebels has created a security vacuum. The International Criminal Court announced its decision on providing reparations to victims in the case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. IntLawGrrls offers two posts (here and here) with commentary about the decision. Foreign Policy offers more insight into the...
Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab has defected from what he terms the "terrorist regime" of President Bashar al-Assad, while violence rages on in Aleppo. IPS offers an insight into what these high-level defections mean for Syria's future. Syria is also losing support of its ally Iran, whose Foreign Minister will visit Turkey today to discuss the situation in Syria and the capture of...
Rebels have reported that they are coming under heavy attacks in Syria's Aleppo. Chinese media have told the United States to "shut up" about the dispute in the South China Sea and accusing the US of exacerbating tensions in the region. 19 people are dead after Kurdish rebels attacked military outposts in Turkey over the weekend. Israel barred the envoys of four state...
Call for Papers The University of Liverpool is hosting a conference December 6-7, 2012, on Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law and is seeking abstract submissions of maximum 500 words before September 1, 2012. The University of Amsterdam's Center for International Law has issued a call for papers for a two-day seminar on Interfaces between International and National Legal Orders: An International Rule...
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has quit as Syria's peace envoy after becoming frustrated with "finger-pointing" at the UN while the battle in Syria rages on. IPS offers more context here. China has expressed its regret. Meanwhile, a UN resolution on Syria goes to the General Assembly today, criticizing the Security Council for failing to take action and denouncing the use of...
Syria's president Al-Assad has praised the government forces, but is keeping a low profile. US president Obama has signed a secret order to provide support to rebel forces in Syria. A video has emerged of men, allegedly loyal to the Syrian regime, being lined up in Aleppo being shot point-blank by rebel forces. In a recent report, Amnesty International has accused members of...
Fighting rages on in Syria's Aleppo, trapping many citizens inside the embattled city. The tens of thousands who have managed to escape have become refugees, many struggling to find shelter and food. Libya's Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is seeking a trial in The Hague at the ICC, rather than in Lybia. His lawyers say a fair trial in his home country is...
Syrian forces have intensified their attacks on the crucial Aleppo, while rebel fighters say that they are holding firm in the city they expect will become the "regime's grave." Russian president Vladimir Putin has ratified a stricter adoption agreement with the US, wherein foreign adoptions will be subject to tighter restrictions and families wanting to adopt will be vetted more thoroughly. An...
Participants from around the world failed to agree on a UN arms-trade treaty last Friday, eliciting disappointment from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Foreign Policy has a post on Friday's decision of the US to back away from supporting the Arms Trade Treaty. The landmark intellectual property case between global leaders in smartphone technology, Apple and Samsung, is slated to begin. Apple is demanding...
The skies over Somalia have become so congested with drones that the UAVs pose a threat to air traffic and potentially to an arms-embargo. In a shift from the past, the Egyptian president, Mohamed Mursi, met with the leader of Hamas, Ismael Haniyeh. The Netherlands suspended $6.15 million in aid to Rwanda yesterday, following a similar move by the US a day...
The UN Security Council has lifted travel bans and asset freezes on 17 Liberians, including at least two of Charles Taylor's ex-wives. A special assembly met in Somalia to set up a new government. Using drones for surveillance and then shooting from helicopters, Turkey has killed 15 Kurdish rebels near its border with Iraq. EJIL: Talk! has more on the Belgium v. Senegal case,...
Ghana's President John Atta Mills has died, though details are unclear as to the cause of death. Foreign Policy has more here. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has succeeded him, taking the oath of offices a few hours after the announcement of Mills' death. Fighting has intensified in Syria's Aleppo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has joined the chorus of warning Syria against...
