The NYT recently ran an interesting article discussing how the Bush administration's policy of cutting military aid to countries that refuse to sign Article 98 agreements with the U.S. has undermined the war against terror in Africa: Last year, the United States cut off $13 million for training and equipping troops in Kenya, where operatives of Al Qaeda killed 224...
Former Khmer Rouge Military leader Ta Mok died this past Friday, July 21, in a Cambodian military hospital. Although I spent one of my most memorable evenings ever having drinks with Dith Pran, I’m no expert on Cambodia or recent efforts at bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice. But, one of my new colleagues, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, is an...
It may not be officially dead, but today the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations moved onto life support. In what effectively appears to be its death knell, the WTO suspended negotiations on all fronts, and press reports quote some negotiators as suggesting that it will be months, if not years, before they resume. But, as I mentioned...
I find Kevin's post to be quite illuminating as it focuses proportionality on the question on whether Israel's conduct is clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated. Which raises the question of whether we should view this conflict as narrowly focused or part of a broader struggle. The question of proportionality cannot...
Professor Edward Swaine at the University of Pennsylvania has just posted a great article on treaty reservations entitled Reserving. It is available for download here. His central thesis is that treaty reservations benefit non-reserving states, often in ways that are unappreciated. Here is the abstract: The law of treaty reservations - which enables states to ask that their...
I followed the recent discussion about proportionality jus in bello with great interest — and reluctantly agree with Professor Anderson that Louise Arbour’s position is inconsistent with Article 51 of Protocol I. It is also worth noting that her position is even less defensible in terms of the Rome Statute, because there are two critical differences between Article...
As discussed previously, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton will probably be renominated this fall, and at least one key Republican Senator has already said he'll switch his position to support him. This does not mean Bolton has clear sailing, though. In an extraordinary piece of anonymous backbiting, this NYT story suggests all or most of Bolton's...
As I mentioned recently, the Bush Administration has long had a reputation for disdaining treaties. And, there’s some pretty substantial anecdotal evidence to back up that perception: e.g., withdrawing from the ABM treaty, dissing the Kyoto Protocol, announcing an intention not to ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, not to mention its more recent efforts...
As mentioned yesterday, my colleague Naomi Goodno has just returned from Kenya where she was training Kenyan, Ugandan, and Zambian lawyers with the human rights organization International Justice Mission. IJM is an unusual among human rights organization in that it focuses on partnering with attorneys in countries throughout the world to help enforce human rights norms reflected in domestic...
The chance for major immigration reform during this session of Congress has apparently passed, according to this Reuters item here and an editorial in yesterday’s Times. Although I teach and write in immigration law, I have found this year’s high-profile debate on the subject pretty unedifying. This is in part because it has been mostly about politics rather...
On Wednesday, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour warned of criminal responsibility that may arise from the war in the Middle East (HT: Dave Hoffman at Concurring Opinions). Here is the key language from her statement: The High Commissioner recalled that parties to a conflict have the obligation to exercise precaution and respect the principle of proportionality in all...
