In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Human Rights Law

20 May

[Jonathan Horowitz is writing in his personal capacity. He is the Associate Legal Officer at the Open Society Justice Initiative’s National Security and Counterterrorism Program.] When assessing the legality of drone strikes, attention is often focused on the State that carries out the strike—usually the United States.  On May 8th, for example, the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Taskforce...

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18 May

I want to call readers' attention to a remarkable new report on international criminal justice authored by Daniel McLaughlin, a former legal officer at the ECCC, for Fordham's Leitner Center for International Law & Justice. As the introduction states, the report is an attempt -- a very successful one -- to visualize information about the criminal tribunals: There is wide awareness,...

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16 May

Armenian-American groups are up in arms over the U.S. government's decision to file an amicus brief against a California law allowing claims against insurance companies by "Armenian genocide victims."  But they shouldn't be. The law really involves an ongoing constitutional powers debate between the states and the federal government over foreign affairs, and the U.S. government is siding (not surprisingly)...

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15 May

As Peter noted yesterday, the recent tragedies in Bangladesh factories have resulted in a major breakthrough with the signing of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Thus far, leading retailers such as H&M, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Benetton, and Calvin Klein are on board. Notably absent from the list are leading U.S. retailers such...

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15 May

In my previous post, I expressed my skepticism that the OTP will open a formal investigation into the situation -- loosely defined -- involving Israel's attack on the MV Mavi Marmara. In this post, I want to raise two issues concerning Comoros' referral that I find particularly troubling. First, why is Comoros being represented by Turkish lawyers, the Elmadag Law Firm...

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12 May

Ever since my friends at Wronging Rights flagged the upcoming NBC series Crossing Lines, which is about an ICC police unit, I've been scouring the internet for more information about what will no doubt be an absolute train-wreck of a TV show. Tonight I found this: Set in exotic locations around Europe, “Crossing Lines” follows a disgraced New York cop, played...

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11 May

The Kenyan government has asked the Security Council to pass a resolution deferring the prosecution of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, the newly-elected President and Deputy President of Kenya. That's not surprising; the Kenyan government has been doing everything in its power to undermine the ICC. What is surprising, though, is that Ruto has explicitly disavowed the request: Through lawyer Karim Khan, Ruto...

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10 May

Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), has flagged a very interesting ATS case that is due to be re-argued in light of the Supreme Court's recent -- and much discussed here at Opinio Juris -- decision in Kiobel. Here is CCR's description of the case, Al Shimari v. CACI: Al Shimari  v. CACI was originally...

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09 May

[Ingrid Wuerth is Professor of Law and Director of International Legal Studies at Vanderbilt University Law School.  You can reach her at:  Ingrid.wuerth@vanderbilt.edu.] This post examines two aspects of the Fourth Circuit’s 2012 decision on remand in Yousuf v. Samantar.  Samantar has petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari again, and the initial briefing on the cert. petition should conclude soon.  Now is...

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