Africa

[David Arita is a finalist LLB student at Kabarak University and former Peer-Review Editor of the Kabarak Law Review, an Afrocentric law review.] European colonial powers used pseudo-scientific racial underpinnings to justify their conquest and the exploitation of African lands and peoples. This racial ideology served multiple purposes including providing a moral justification for colonisation, facilitating the exploitation of African labour,...

[Mohsen al Attar is Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University as well as a Contributing Editor to Opinio Juris. Nciko wa Nciko is an Amnesty International Climate Justice Advisor in East and Southern Africa and its lead advisor on human rights in Madagascar.] African peoples and states have long stood in solidarity with the liberation struggle of Palestinians....

Note: although I serve as Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes, I was not involved in the Al Hassan case. The Trial Chamber released its 822-page (!) judgment in the Al Hassan case yesterday. Al Hassan was convicted of a number of serious crimes, including the crime against humanity of torture and the war crimes of torture and...

[Gerhard Kemp is Professor of Law at UWE Bristol and Extraordinary Professor of Public Law at Stellenbosch University.  Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham School of Law.] The Republic of South Africa deposited its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (‘Apartheid Convention’) on...

A forthcoming symposium coordinated by Mohsen al Attar and Nciko wa Nciko African peoples and states have long stood in solidarity with the liberation struggle of Palestinians. Following each proclamation of independence across the continent, African leaders demanded the same for Palestine, a place that encapsulated anti-colonial resistance to Western (racial) imperialism. As Nelson Mandela powerfully declared: ‘our freedom is incomplete...

[Kudakwashe Zvikomborero Mapako is a Research Officer at the African Center for Science and International Security (AFRICSIS) in the Arms Control and Nonproliferation program.] Introduction  Although nuclear weapons have only been used in warfare twice, approximately 13,080 are said to remain in our world today, and over 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted to date. Disarmament is the best defense against such...

[Captain Peter S. Konchak is a Judge Advocate in the United States Army who is currently assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate for III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos, and whose academic work is focused on matters of national security law and policy.] [The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do...

[Captain Peter S. Konchak is a Judge Advocate in the United States Army who is currently assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate for III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos, and whose academic work is focused on matters of national security law and policy.] [The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent...

[Beth S. Lyons is an experienced criminal defence attorney who has represented defendants before the ICTR and ICC. She is currently one of the counsel representing Dominic Ongwen.] Introduction Let me say from the start that I believe that victims of crimes have a right to redress and to reparations which are proportionate to the harms caused by these crimes.  This right...

[Margaret Ajok is currently the Transitional Justice Advisor at the Governance and Security Programme Secretariat (formerly JLOS), at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Uganda. She is a lawyer and advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda and is also a task force member for the African Union Women for Transitional Justice Network representing Africa.] Introduction The over two decades...

[Sylvia Acan is a survivor; abducted at 13 years, Sylvia lived in captivity for almost 8 years. Following her repatriation, Sylvia returned to school and completed tertiary level education. In 2011, she founded Golden Women Vision Uganda to provide support to women and children victims of the LRA war, including many victims of Dominic Ongwen.] I am a survivor of the atrocities...