Even I thought the Court of Military Commission Review couldn't reach such an absurd conclusion. I was wrong: The Government has made a “substantial showing" that the conduct alleged, including appellant’s (an AUEC’s) agreement with bin Laden and others to commit the object offenses, with knowledge of and intent to further the unlawful purposes of that agreement, and commission of the...
Where Gaddafi should be tried -- if and when he is captured -- has become quite the hot-button issue recently. Personally, I'm with David Kaye: he should be tried by the ICC, but the trial should be held in Libya. I'm also not opposed to Libya asserting its right under the ICC's complementarity regime to try Gaddafi domestically, although I'm...
Against my better judgment, I read the 11th Circuit's opinion in Mamani v. Berzain, the Bolivian ATS case. I say against my better judgment because reading American judges on international law is kind of like listening to Kevin Costner play Robin Hood -- you vaguely recognize the referent, but it is still painful to the ear. It's bad enough that...
The Globe & Mail has a blockbuster report today concerning China's willingness to supply weapons to Gaddafi's regime during the rebellion: China offered huge stockpiles of weapons to Colonel Moammar Gadhafi during the final months of his regime, according to papers that describe secret talks about shipments via Algeria and South Africa. Documents obtained by The Globe and Mail...
In her typically graceful and accessible style, Prof. Anne-Marie Slaughter has a series of posts at The Atlantic defending a redefinition of state sovereignty under international law (especially in the wake of Libya). A taste of her thoughts can be seen in this graph. So it is international law itself -- or rather the governments that bring it into being --...
That's the most disturbing line from another invaluable WikiLeaks cable about Israel and the Palestinians. As the cable makes clear, Israel is willing to use force -- of the non-lethal variety, fortunately -- to disrupt even completely peaceful protest against its policies: US government officials have been well aware of Israel's harsh methods of dealing with peaceful protests in the occupied...
A February 2010 cable from the US embassy in Tel Aviv to the State Department concerning a discussion with the IDF's Military Advocate General about the Palestinian Authority's request for the ICC to investigate Operation Cast Lead contains the following remarkable paragraph (emphasis added): Summary: IDF Military Advocate General Mandelblit updated the Ambassador on February 17 on the progress of investigations...
David Bernstein has a pointless "gotcha" post at Volokh Conspiracy today in which he argues that the Palmer Report somehow contradicts my claim that blockade is only permissible in international armed conflict (IAC), whether between states or between a state and an insurgent group recognized as a belligerent. Here it is in full: Kevin Jon Heller of University of Melbourne and...
As Julian noted earlier today, the UN's Palmer Committee has released its report on the Mavi Marmara incident, concluding that Israel's actions regarding the ship were were excessive and unreasonable, but that the blockade of Gaza itself is legal. I have questioned the legality of the blockade before, leading two readers to claim that the Palmer Committee's report contradicts my...
It's not every day that a state enacts a law that blatantly authorizes crimes against humanity, so I feel obligated to give a special shout-out to China, who intend to make the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance official government policy: Chinese police will gain new legal powers to detain suspects for up to six months without telling their families...
Time has an interesting article up about Saif's reappearance in Tripoli. The whole thing is well worth a read, but I was struck by these paragraphs about the ICC: The rebels were not the only ones whose credibility was in doubt on Tuesday. So too was that of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which has indicted...
So says Saif Gaddafi, who apparently has not been captured by the rebels after all: Muammar Gaddafi's once powerful son, Saif al-Islam, made a defiant appearance in Tripoli last night to disprove the revolutionaries' claim to have arrested him and to proclaim ultimate victory. Saif al-Islam, 39, arrived in an armoured vehicle waving two fingers in a victory sign...
