A federal judge in Argentina has overturned a presidential pardon given to Jorge Rafael Videla, one of the leaders of the junta that led Argentina during the Dirty War. Videla was convicted in 1985 on charges of abduction, torture, and murder, but was pardoned by former President Menem in 1990. Last year, Argentina's Supreme Court overturned amnesty laws protecting...
Breaking news: Chile's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that stripped Pinochet of his immunity in a case involving Chile's infamous Villa Grimaldi prison, paving the way for him to face dozens of charges of torture and kidnapping. Here is Wikipedia's description of Villa Grimaldi:Villa Grimaldi was a complex of buildings used for the interrogation and torture...
Regardless of whether we support or oppose the Castro's regime, I think we should all be able to agree that paying journalists to shill the Bush administration's line is not the brightest idea:At least 10 Florida journalists received regular payments from a U.S. government program aimed at undermining the Cuban government of Fidel Castro, The Miami Herald reported on Friday. Total payments...
According to the well-connected Steve Clemons at the Washington Note:Several well-placed sources close to the Bolton nomination process have reported to me that the Bolton confirmation process is now dead. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is "highly unlikely" to reconsider Bolton's confirmation again as things now stand. One insider reported, as far as the Committee is concerned, "we consider the confirmation over....
During one of his campaign stops yesterday, President Bush touted his administration's supposed success in combating al-Qaeda. One of his examples was Pakistan:We've kept the terrorists from achieving their key goal, to overthrow governments across the broader Middle East and to seize control. Instead, the governments they targeted -- such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- have become some...
A nice counterpoint to Peter's discussion of the Administration's contempt (my word, not his) for international law: Arianna Huffington has a new post that says John Bolton's nomination may be in serious trouble:Item: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar abruptly pulls the plug on today's scheduled vote on John Bolton. Speculation: Lincoln Chafee wouldn't play nice and was ready to...
Following up on my earlier post, the ICTR isn't happy that Tanzanian police have arrested Gakwaya. The Tribunal's Registrar has released the following statement:Following the arrest of Defence Counsel Callixte Gakwaya, Lead Counsel for the accused Yusuf Munyakasi, on Friday 1 September 2006, the Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Mr Adama Dieng, expressed his strong...
On behalf of all of us at Opinio Juris, I am delighted to announce that Professor Peter Spiro has accepted our invitation to become a permanent contributor to the blog. As anyone who followed his (remarkably prolific) guest stint knows, Peter brings a wealth of experience and insight to blogging and has expertise in areas of law that complement...
Reuters has a short but fascinating article on Nazi techniques for disseminating coded messages during WW II, including hiding morse code in drawings of fashion models:Nazi agents relayed sensitive military information using the dots and dashes of Morse code incorporated in the drawings. They posted the letters to their handlers, hoping that counterespionage experts would be fooled by the seemingly innocent...
The Australian is reporting that Tanzanian police have arrested Callixte Gakwaya, a defence attorney at the ICTR, on suspicion of involvement in Rwanda's 1994 genocide."He was arrested yesterday. He is now in custody,'' regional police commander Basilio Matei said. According to the arrest warrant, Gakwaya - who leads the defence team of a genocide suspect whose case comes up before the...
The Daily Yomiuri Online is reporting that Japan intends to join the ICC in 2007. The article quotes a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying that the government made the decision "partly because the government aims to participate in the review of the treaty and an election of judges to be held in 2009." If the report is correct, it's...
According to the Associated Press, a U.S. Army officer investgating the murder of three Iraq men near Samarra has recommended that the four accused soldiers should receive the death penalty if convicted. To be sure, the crime is a horrible one:Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett and Spc. Juston R. Graber have claimed they...
