In the comments to my post below on the BBC story, Mark C has kindly provided a link to the "formal request" allegedly submitted on behalf of "millions" of Sudanese who oppose arresting Bashir. (The request also opposes arrest warrants for the rebel leaders, although perfunctorily -- protecting Bashir is its primary objective.) I hope to address the request's numerous...
Regular readers no doubt know that I am obsessed with the media's seemingly congenital inability to grasp the law and politics of the ICC. My new favorite comes via the BBC, in an article about the impending arrest warrant for Bashir: Two Sudanese groups have formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to issue an arrest for President Omar al-Bashir. He...
ICC silliness doesn't just affect the media. States and NGOs suffer the malady, as well. Case in point: the recent, repeated calls for the ICC to prosecute Israel for war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza. First up, Bolivia: "The Andean state says it is intended to make regional allies take a unified stance against "the Israeli political and military leaders responsible...
It’s an absurd question, of course, to ask why the environment is more important than human rights. But it’s actually true: protecting, say, endangered sea turtles is far more important than protecting against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of individuals. At least that is the conclusion if one is examining the question from an international trade perspective. The...
Earlier today, the SFRC voted 16-1 in favor of Senator Hillary Clinton's nomination to be the next U.S. Secretary of State. That result is not surprising, nor was her generally well-regarded performance before the SFRC on Tuesday. Indeed, it's worth remembering on the second point that Clinton worked not only with transition officials and her own advisers to get ready,...
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in the terrorism victim asset attachment case of Iran v. Elahi. (Transcript here). The case is extraordinarily complicated but it boils down to a question of statutory construction. Elahi was one of a handful of terrorism victims who received payment from the United States government under the 2000 Victims...
One of the take-aways from Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing was the rise of the term "smart power." Sen. Clinton said: "I believe that American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted," she said. "We must use what has been called smart power, the full range of tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural...
I have not been following the work of the Cambodia special chambers, which is probably why I found these views by James Bair (blogger, loyal OJ reader and soon-to-be JD from Northeastern Law School) all the more informative and interesting. Bair is a former legal intern at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and has followed the...
[Susan Benesch is a Fellow at the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown Law Center and a former guest blogger here at Opinio Juris.] Simon Bikindi, the Rwandan pop star whose two-year trial at the ICTR was apparently the first attempt to criminalize music in international law, was just convicted of incitement to genocide but not, after all, for his...
My favorite Darfur blogger, Michelle at Stop Genocide, has asked me to post the following plea. I am, of course, happy to oblige. If you want to vote, vote soon -- the deadline is January 15 at 5 pm EST. And please pass Michelle's request on to anyone else you think might be interested. I am writing today to seek your...
Look closely at this photo of a parachute containing ransom money landing on a hijacked vessel in Somalia. Taken by the U.S. Navy, the photo, and this unusually insightful Time piece, details what I sort of predicted a couple of weeks ago. The ballyhooed international effort, sanctioned by the UN Security Council, to suppress Somali pirates is going nowhere, mostly...
Hold the presses! President-elect Obama will issue an executive order in his first week in office requiring the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay to be closed...
