In very welcome news on the humanitarian law front, the signatory states of the Geneva Conventions voted yesterday (98 in favor, 27 against, 10 abstentions) to adopt a Third Optional Protocol, adding the red crystal symbol to the red cross and red crescent as a permissible emblem. This clears the way for membership into the movement of Isreali relief...
Secretary of State Condi Rice appears to have shifted or at least clarified U.S. administration policy over whether the Convention Against Torture's prohibition of "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" treatment extends to U.S. government personnel operating overseas. In a news conference with the Ukraine Premier, she stated (emphasis added):As a matter of U.S. policy, the United States’ obligations under the CAT...
The United States is currently bound by over 10,000 treaties and other international agreements. That’s a big number. But as Detlev Vagts noted seven years ago (subscription required), the United States has done a poor job of making these treaties publicly available. In terms of publications, the situation has only deteriorated in the interim. If you are hoping to find...
A Chilean court has just stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of his immunity so that he may face human rights charges in the disappearances of 29 people. While this may be a good decision from the perspective of retributive justice (see my earlier post on this), it has some troubling implications for international politics. Not the least of...
Last week, US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton claimed that the UN was demonstrating its irrelevance by adopting several resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Bolton argued that the resolutions were undermining the real progress being made in the peace process, and only served to advance one narrow position and...
An international survey of nine countries reveals that in no surveyed country except two do a majority of respondents maintain that torture is never justified. A majority in four countries maintain that it rarely, sometimes, or often is justified. In response to the question, “How do you feel about the use of torture against suspected terrorists to obtain...
There are weeks when the irony level in the news is almost too much to bear. This is one of those weeks. In the city where the U.S. led and won the long battles against fascism and communist totalitarianism, a city that is now a vibrant center of democracy, the capital of one of the world’s largest economies...
While on the subject of Islamic radicalism, I thought it worthwhile to point you to an important article published by Professors Shaheen Sardar Ali and Javaid Rehman in Oxford's Journal of Conflict & Security Law entitled The Concept of Jihad in Islamic International Law. Particularly important is the discussion of differing interpretations of jihad. The authors identify three current...
As I mentioned earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice is currently in Europe trying to build transatlantic ties, while at the same time fending off complaints about the CIA's activities in Europe. One of her statements defending the legality of "extraordinary renditions" is a useful pushback against the growing chorus of criticism against the CIA. She points out (and...
In this month's issue of Foreign Affairs, Niall Ferguson -- one of the best gifts Glasgow has bestowed upon the world in recent times -- has an interesting article entitled Sinking Globalization. Essentially the article presents a possible doomsday scenario that draws parallels between the perils of today and those of the 1910s. One aspect of his thesis that is...
As the fighting over the U.S. military's conduct of the war on terrorism, particularly its conduct in Guantanamo Bay, may be heading toward some resolution as a result of new legislation, attention is now turning to the CIA's activities in the war on terrorism.The CIA certainly seems busy. Recently, an alleged Al Qaeda leader was mysteriously blown up in Pakistan,...
Hello! First, thanks to Julian and the rest of the Opinio Juris team for inviting me to guest blog here for a while. I'm very excited to represent the IR perspective, and hope that I can bring something interesting to the table.I'd like to start off by addressing one of the more interesting and relevant questions: How is...
