In a rare interview with Western journalists, Ugandan rebel leader Vincent Otti, one of four individuals named in an ICC arrest warrant, accuses the ICC of hypocrisy for failing to pursue Ugandan government officials for war crimes. This is not really a surprising argument and Otti is hardly a credible accuser. Indeed, he does not appear to know the...
Over at NPR's Justice Talking blog, I have a post trying to tie together some ideas relating to Fourth Generation Warfare and the rule of law. Here's the opening:One of the tropes of the current Administration is that the Global War on Terror is a new kind of war and a new kind of war needs new rules. This has...
Post-conflict reconstruction strategies today emphasize economic reconstruction measures as a matter of course. Measures have included commercial law reform to attract FDI, natural resource management, and the issuance of new currencies. This emphasis on the economic dimensions of peace maintenance draws from research by Paul Collier and others showing that states with higher levels of economic growth are...
With the new academic year upon us, I thought it might be useful to update you on all new and lateral international law professor hires. If I have missed anyone, or made any errors in description, please email me or add a comment to the post. Special thanks to our Opinio Juris intern Louis Froelich for his assistance. Lateral...
Info Ops or “IO” has been a hot topic of late. In April and May 2007, Estonia claimed to have become the first victim of cyberwar, as denial of service attacks on its computer networks, disabled not just government websites, but those of its banks, universities, telecommunication companies, and hospitals. Estonia blamed the attacks on the Russian government,...
Thank you for this opportunity to guest blog on Opinio Juris. I would like to start with some comments on post-conflict reconstruction - an issue that now tops the UN's security agenda, and is one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the US. In less than 2 decades, multilateral intervention in post conflict zones has shifted from short...
Opinio Juris is pleased to welcome Professor Kristen Boon, who will be guest blogging with us for the next week. Professor Boon teaches international law at Seton Hall University Law School, where her research focuses on post-conflict legal reform, international criminal law and the ICC. Her professional experience includes stints at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, the...
I want to (belatedly) thank Eugene Kontorovich for his guest blogging stints (parts one and two). It was terrific having him join us. Stay tuned for more summer guest bloggers and a full slate for the new academic year. ...
Remember that Charles Taylor trial in the Special Court for Sierra Leone, hosted at the ICC in the Hague? Well, things aren't going so well, according to this NYT report. The trial itself is following the Milosevic model, which means that it is pretty much going nowhere. Various interesting tidbits: The ICC, which is hosting the trial, wanted to...
The European Union last week urged Texas to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. Here is the statement in full: The European Union notes with great regret the upcoming execution in the State of Texas which would be the 400th since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. Therefore, the European Union strongly urges Governor Rick Perry to...
One of the first countries to refer an investigation to the ICC may also be one of the first to seek a withdrawal. This week folks in Uganda are observing the first anniversary of a tentative cease-fire in the 20-year civil war in northern Uganda. As this interesting article from The Monitor reports, northern Uganda is more peaceful than...
Or so says a U.S. district court sitting in Miami in rejecting former Panamian leader Manuel Noriega's attempt to block his extradition to France. As Kevin noted back in January, Noriega has enjoyed POW status ever since he was captured by U.S. forces in Panama and he was scheduled to be released in September. But France has requested his...
