Lest anyone think last week’s pair of hearings were Congress’ last word on the question of military commission trials, the House Armed Services Committee has already scheduled it own hearing on reforming the Military Commissions Act. The July 16 witness list features the head lawyer from each of the armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines). Also, in keeping...
This according to Newsweek: Holder, 58, may be on the verge of asserting his independence in a profound way. Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in...
Yesterday the Obama Administration released the report of the Intelligence Community Inspectors General. It is an important and interesting story about the Bush Administration's Presidential Surveillance Program (PSP). Jack Balkin has more here and here and Andy McCarthy here. The most gripping story in the report is the fight between the White House and the Department of...
PBS will be airing an important documentary about the ICC, The Reckoning, on July 14. Here is PBS's description of the film, which is directed by Pamela Yates, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008: Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) — the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of...
Thanks, Eugene, for the thoughtful reply. I look forward to your subsequent posts and will leave a more substantive reply until then. For now, I just wanted to offer a few thoughts. 1. I don't think anyone should feel "better" if removing the settlers qualified "only" as a crime against humanity, instead of as genocide. Both are incredibly grave crimes, and...
I thank Kevin for his extensive and thoughtful response to my post. You touched on many issues which I hope to address systematically in subsequent posts, such as the illegality of the settlers presence. I'm going to try to avoid getting into those issues right now, since this post (like yours before it) is already quite long. I apologize in...
[Cross-posted at Balkinization] While Congress has held two lengthy hearings this week ostensibly on the use of military commissions to try detainees for war crimes, the only item that seems to be getting any significant play is this statement by Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson regarding the administration’s view on its authority to hold detainees even if they are ultimately acquitted...
[Rene Uruena is Assistant Profesor and Director of the international law program at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. He is also a Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research, University of Helsinki.] Last year, Colombian armed forces bombed a guerrilla camp a couple of miles into Ecuadorian territory. After some diplomatic tension at the OAS, everyone made...
First of all, welcome back! I always enjoy your contributions to OJ (and your scholarship generally), even when I disagree with you. So I hope you won't think me too ungracious a host if I raise some (pointed) questions about your most recent post. I would be genuinely curious to hear your responses. I am, as I have pointed out ad...
The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, has signed the act of Parliament ratifying the Rome Statute, thus completing the Czech Republic's accession to the ICC. All of the members of the EU have now joined the Court. Congrats, Czech Republic!...
I am going to be on lite-blogging status for a while, due to a pinched nerve and muscle tear caused - everyone please take careful note - not by my athletic and extreme sports lifestyle, but by bad ergonomic habits at the keyboard. Let me assure you, at this moment you do not want to be me. However, while spending my...
The U.S. and Europe have been vigorously insisting that Israel stop all "settlement growth," including "natural growth." There has been some question as to what those terms mean. In a June 16 press briefing, Sen. George Mitchell said that Israel must stop “natural growth” in settlements, and specified that he means “births” as well. Here is the State Department's transcript...
