Search: Complementarity SAIF GADDAFI

...The Hague between the ICC and the Libyan authorities, including their attorney-general, were very constructive.” But he said the release of Taylor, who has been accused of carrying a pen camera and attempting to give Saif Al Islam a coded letter from his former right-hand man, Mohammad Esmail, and her colleagues was some way off. “I think, and I regret to have to say it, that they (Libyan authorities) will need some time to work this through their political system,” he said. Could Carr have handled the situation any worse?...

...from the Saif case and posted about a new law passed by Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) granting blanket amnesty to pro-revolution rebels. The (aspiring) Law Professors or Law PhDs/JSDs amongst our readers will undoubtedly be interested in Kevin’s post on Doctors, Professors and (North) American exceptionalism. The ongoing tensions around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea were often featured in this week’s news wraps. Julian Ku analysed what the US’ reaffirmation of its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines entails. He argued that the treaty’s obligations...

...seal products. We also had many posts on the ongoing Chevron/ Ecuador saga (such as this one), including a roundtable discussion on Chevron/Ecuador and the rise of arbitral power with the American Lawyer’s Michael Goldhaber. International criminal law was also consistently discussed throughout the year, particularly in Kevin’s posts. Examples include posts concerning Seselj (1, 2), Ruto and Kenyatta (1), and the continuing story of Libya, the International Criminal Court and Saif (see, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We also had an ongoing discussion concerning specific direction (such as:...

...Pre-Trial Chamber to reject Libya’s admissibility challenge against Saif, because his domestic case has seen more systematic due process violations. Kevin was critical of the Obama administration’s decision to no longer list the MEK, aka the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, as a terrorist organisation, noting that the group was found to be involved in plots to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists only recently. Peter Spiro pointed to the ground-breaking creation of three privatized cities in Honduras, and Robyn Curnow contributed a guest post on the Pussy Riot sentencing, in which...

...In Egypt, the occupation of Tahrir Square led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak, while in Libya, civil war ended in the capture and assassination of Muammar Gaddafi. Not long after, protests spread far beyond the Arab world. In Kyiv, thousands filled Maidan Square to oppose President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to suspend an EU Association Agreement in favour of closer ties with Russia, triggering the pro-European Euromaidan movement. In the West, discontent took other forms. The Occupy Wall Street movement denounced growing inequality, corporate influence, and political unaccountability in the...

...rarity of capture operations overseas, but outlined other concerns with this approach to counterterrorism. Julian pointed out how China’s understanding of the peaceful settlement of disputes excludes international adjudication. Despite finding much to like in the PTC’s decision in al-Senussi, Kevin was troubled by the inconsistency with the Gaddafi decision on the right to counsel. He also was not impressed by the PTC invoking Libya’s security situation. Finally, Jessica wrapped up the news and listed events and announcements . Many thanks to our guest contributors and have a nice weekend!...

...to replace the murderous Assad regime. Regime change is not the same thing as regime improvement. Moreover, even if a new regime would be generally better than the Assad regime, that does not mean it would not do terrible things to certain disfavored groups. That is a lesson we should have learned in Libya: although no one is shedding tears for the Gaddafi regime, the new Libyan government has proven all too willing to commit atrocities against groups such as the Tawerghans. Indeed, as I discuss in this essay, there...

...personal immunity. In 2001, the French Court of Cassation ruled against an order by the Court of Appeal of Paris in relation to the Libyan head of state, Muammar Gaddafi’s complicity in the commission of ‘crimes, regardless of [their] gravity’. The Court of second instance further characterized the decision to recommend the investigation of the complaint as a ‘disregard’ of the ‘customary law on the immunity granted to foreign heads of state […] consistently recognized by international society’. Some two years later, when a complaint was lodged by a civil...

Interesting: Today FIDH and LDH filed a criminal complaint, together with an application to join the proceedings as a civil party against persons unknown before the Court in Paris concerning the responsibility of the company Amesys, a subsidiary of Bull, in relation to acts of torture perpetrated in Libya. This complaint concerns the provision, since 2007, of communication surveillance equipment to Gaddafi’s regime, intended to keep the Libyan population under surveillance. Up until now, there has been very little activity in foreign courts seeking to sue or hold companies legally...

Syrian troops are battling rebels around Damascus, trying to halt their advance on the capital. The ICC has demanded the extradition of Libya’s Abdullah al-Senussi to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity under Gaddafi’s regime. A UN survey has found that more than $3.9 billion was paid out in bribes in Afghanistan in 2012, amounting to more than double the nation’s domestic revenue. President Obama’s nominee for the director of the CIA, John Brennan, was questioned heavily yesterday during Senate confirmation hearings about drones and torture. As...

...approach to hate speech is not a prerequisite to functioning democracy. On the contrary, our European friends would argue that democracy is better served by banning such material. Either way, our exceptionalism on this score doesn’t serve us very well. This isn’t any sort of apology for the killing (especially ugly given Stevens’ dedication to the rebel effort against the Gaddafi regime). In the first instance, it’s a recognition of international realities: do we want to take hits like this so that films like that can be made? In the...

...that Palestine has secured the support of the Non-Aligned Movement, Arab and Islamic states. Poland has given information over to judges from the European Court of Human Rights regarding the investigation into secret prison sites, allegedly used to interrogate and sometimes torture al-Qaeda suspects, operated by the US on Polish soil. Human Rights Watch has come out with a report detailing US torture and rendition of opponents of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime (report found here), including using the waterboarding technique on suspects. Columbia has named its team for...