A number of years ago, I visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The museum was strangely deserted; the only other visitors my friend and I saw were a young African-American family. Social animals that humans are, the four of us wandered the museum near to each other, although we never spoke. After about an hour,...
For those of you who don't read Balkinization -- and you should! -- Brian Tamanaha has a wonderful post on the Wizard of Oz, which, it turns out, is actually a political allegory about the debate over gold and silver. Who knew? ...
Last week, Julian criticized Hamdan for its failure "to defer to the executive's reasonable interpretations of the relevant statutes, treaties, and customary international law of war." Julian's use of the term "reasonable" implies that, at least in principle, the executive could offer an unreasonable interpretation of a statute, treaty, or customary rule — one that, accordingly, would not require...
Ordinary citizens greet the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, as "Helen." ...
Although evidence that Bush and Blair lied about Saddam's WMD capabilities has been accumulating for the past couple of years, this latest revelation is still shocking:In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiate several UN security resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair must have known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He...
The Iraqi government's assault on the independence and objectivity of the IHT continues. The trial court was its first target: not only did Iraqi President Jalal Talabani tell reporters on the eve of the Dujail trial that Saddam had signed a written confession and "deserve[d] to be executed 20 times a day for his crimes against humanity," high-ranking officials...
Ethiopia's former dictator, Mengistu Haile Marian, has been convicted in absentia of genocide following a 12-year trial involving 72 defendants. All but one were found guilty; 34 defendants were present in court, while 25 were tried in absentia. Sentencing, which will almost certainly result in a death sentence for Mengistu, is set for December 28. Regardless, the exercise...
I have just posted a short essay on SSRN critiquing the ICTR's recent decision in Prosecutor v. Karemera et al. Here is the abstract: The Appeals Chamber of the ICTR recently held in Prosecutor v. Karemera et al. that the existence of a nationwide campaign of genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is a “fact of common knowledge” of which Trial...
Eric Muller, a UNC law professor and WWII historian who blogs at Is That Legal?, has posted an "open letter" to the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Foreign Ministry of Iran that recounts the fate of his great-uncle at the hands of the Nazis. It's a powerful, moving letter (with amazing photos). The letter is...
As some of you may know, voting for the best law blog of 2006 is in its final week. Shamefully, Opinio Juris was not nominated — yet another example of the profession's bias against us international law types. That said, the other blog to which I contribute, The Grotian Moment, was nominated. If you used the blog...
Say what you will about the Independent's politics, the paper knows how to make a point. Today's cover: ...
Steve Clemons of The Washington Note has a number of interesting thoughts on the winners, losers, and implications of Bolton's resignation:1. John Bolton's resignation reflects a loss of ground by Jesse Helms' inspired 'pugnacious nationalists'. It is also a clear loss for Vice President Cheney and his loyal followers. Jim Lobe captures this quite well in a piece he has...
