I argued below that "good faith reliance" on OLC opinions does not justify promising CIA interrogators that they will not be prosecuted for their criminal acts. With regard to waterboarding, it is important to note that it seems clear some of the interrogators cannot even argue good faith reliance. Consider the following footnote from Bradbury's May 10, 2005, memo, discussing...
Having criticized Obama somewhat regularly as of late, it's important to give him partial credit where partial credit is due -- he has released the four OLC torture memos with a minimum of redaction. You can find the memos here. That could not have been an easy decision, given the CIA's opposition to having its systematic criminality (further) exposed. Nevertheless, Obama...
I mentioned a couple of days ago that the case against the Bush Six was likely to go forward. Unfortunately, rumors of the case's survival turn out to be somewhat exaggerated: Spain's attorney general said he'll seek dismissal of an investigation of Bush administration officials for alleged torture of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prisoners. Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido said Thursday the claim against...
I in no way believe that Deb exhibits “virtually pathological level of tribal loyalty and monumental intellectual dishonesty,” and I doubt that Glenn does either. That said, I am not sure that Deb's (clearly initial) thoughts on the Obama administration avoids Glenn's basic critique -- that Obama supporters justify his increasingly Bush-like policies by de-emphasizing substance in favor of personality...
In his new book Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror, Mahmood Mamdani claims that, "in its present form, the call for justice is really a slogan that masks a big power agenda to recolonize Africa." There is more than a grain of truth to that; I think my friend Tony Anghie's seminal work Imperialism, Sovereignty, and...
This according to the ever-reliable Scott Horton: Spanish prosecutors have decided to press forward with a criminal investigation targeting former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five top associates over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo, several reliable sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Beast. Their decision is expected to be announced...
Many thanks to Derek Jinks for his kind words on the article and deeply incisive comments. I will do my best to reply sequentially to the provocative issues he’s raised. 1. I agree that conceptual overlap of ad bellum and in bello does not necessarily pose a problem for IHL. Indeed, as Jinks says, some discrepancy based on the nature of the...
Thanks to the editors of Yale Journal of International Law and the hosts of Opinio Juris for the opportunity to comment on Rob Sloane’s terrific article, The Cost of Conflation: Preserving the Dualism of Jus ad Bellum and the Jus in Bello in the Contemporary Law of War. The piece is, in my view, essential reading for law of war...
In the first place, I want to express my thanks to the hosts of Opinio Juris and to the editors of the Yale Journal of International Law for the opportunity to discuss this piece in a public forum—and, above all, to Derek Jinks for kindly taking the time to read and comment on it. What animated this article is my...
The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is pleased to continue its partnership with Opinio Juris in this third online symposium. Today, Friday, and Monday we will feature three Articles published by YJIL in Vol. 34-1, which is available for download here. Thank you very much to Peggy McGuinness and the other Opinio Juris bloggers for hosting and...
Homework, people, homework: Bangladesh may request the International Criminal Court to put on trial Pakistani forces for alleged war crimes, a top official said Tuesday. 'We will take the matter to the International Criminal Court and seek the trial of the members of the Pakistani occupation forces who committed crimes against humanity during our liberation war,' State Minister for Liberation War...
Our colleagues at International Law Observer asked me to write a post for them in honor of the blog's second anniversary. I was delighted to do so, and the post is now up. It's a long reflection on the pros and cons of international law blogging -- a timely subject, I think, given that I have been cited twice by...
