Last October, the Lancet released a report by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health that estimated 655,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the Iraq war. Right-wingers immediately denounced the report, calling it a "fraud," and even lefty types suggested that the report's methodology was flawed, leading to inflated figures. Politicians — particularly those with a...
On Monday, Canada began its first prosecution under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act 2000, which gives Canadian courts conditional universal jurisdiction -- jurisdiction predicated on the perpetrator being present in Canada -- over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed anywhere in the world:A war crimes trial is underway in Canada for the first...
Thanks, Crooks & Liars, for this gem: ...
SSRN-bashing — most of it justified — has become something of a cottage industry lately. (See here, here, and here, for example.) My own gripe is a bit different: what annoys me the most about SSRN is the interminable delay between uploading a new version of an essay and having it actually replace the old one. As...
Wow. Big news:Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty to a charge of supporting terrorism on Monday before a US military tribunal. Looking somber with his hands clasped in front of him, Hicks, 31, stood beside his military lawyer who told the judge his client would not contest the charge of providing "material support for terrorism. The plea came at a hastily arranged...
Is there a war that harmed his party that Tony Blair doesn't support?British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday that going to war over the Falklands Islands against Argentina 25 years ago was the "right thing to do." Blair praised the "political courage" shown by former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in assembling a task force to fight a war with...
Mohammad Al-Oraibi, the presiding judge at the Anfal trial, has ordered the arrest of one of the defense attorneys, Badie Arif Ezzat, for criminal contempt of court. The charges stem from Ezzat's criticism of the Dujail trial on Iraqi television, which Judge Al-Oraibi apparently believed was directed at the Anfal trial. Ezzat could face seven years imprisonment if...
I have posted a substantially rewritten version of my essay "Retreat from Nuremberg: The Leadership Requirement in the Crime of Aggression," which has been accepted by the European Journal of International Law. Any comments or criticisms would be most appreciated, as the final draft is due to the journal relatively soon. The abstract of the essay, which can be downloaded...
A promising new blog has joined the international-law blogosphere. Here is AIDP Blog's self-description, edited for length:The AIDP Blog is the official blog of the American National Section of the AIDP (L’Association Internationale de Droit Penal/The International Association of Penal Law). The AIDP Blog will provide a forum for expert debate and thought-provoking commentary on contemporary issues of...
Der Spiegel has an interesting article today about Germany's decision to forward to Interpol arrest warrants for 10 CIA agents involved in the kidnapping and extraordinary rendition of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen. Not surprisingly, the U.S. is unhappy about the decision, which means that the agents will now be hunted internationally:The German investigation into what exactly happened to...
I know absolutely nothing about intellectual property, but Bolivia's current efforts to trademark "coca" strike me as rather odd:Companies such as Coca-Cola Co. could be barred from using the word "coca" in their brand names under a measure endorsed by a panel that is helping rewrite the Bolivian constitution. The coca committee of the assembly that is overhauling the constitution has...
As has been widely reported, Chiquita Brands International has been fined $25 million for paying designated terrorist groups in Colombia not to attack its workers:US authorities charged Chiquita Wednesday with paying 1.7 million dollars between 1997-2004 to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group on the US list of terrorists. Chiquita, through its subsidiary C.I. Bananos de...
