Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
03 Dec UNSC Veto Power Symposium: Mass Atrocities and the Security Council–The Limits of the Law
...the Assad regime, but also because States beyond Russia and China have concerns about more ambitious measures in terms of both the implications for State sovereignty, and the possibility that such assistance could strengthen the hand of different non-State armed actors. As Trahan acknowledges, accountability and humanitarian measures are unlikely to halt mass atrocities by themselves. In a situation such as Syria, it is difficult to see how that could be achieved absent a use of force. Military intervention in Syria has of course been only fleetingly considered: I’d argue...04 Oct Aryeh Neier Calls for Syria No-Fly Zone
Aryeh Neier, recently retired president of the Open Society Institute (and former head of Human Rights Watch and the ACLU), has an opinion piece in Project Ricochet this week calling for a no-fly zone over Syria. He calls for it to be imposed by a regional force and NATO. The US would not lead the effort, though presumably it would participate via NATO – while providing backup, both material and political, another exercise in deliberately “leading from behind.” He is cautious about the US intervening militarily directly, and frames the...10 Mar The Growing Tension Surrounding Humanitarian Intervention in Syria
[Claude Bruderlein is the director of the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research] The deteriorating security situation in Syria has had dramatic consequences on the civilian population. While the international community debates different ways to respond to the violence against civilians and the rising humanitarian needs, a growing tension has emerged around the means and methods to provide humanitarian protection. On the one hand, protagonists of traditional humanitarian access, such as the ICRC, hope to establish consensual arrangements to provide relief to populations in need on the basis...
26 Aug Rohingya Symposium: From Rhetoric to Justice–Ensuring a Gender Perspective in Accountability Proceedings for the Rohingya Genocide
...the way there were carried out, even where they vary significantly in the details; the separation of men and women, the subsequent fast killings of men and boys, and systematic sexual violence against women and girls. In 2016, in its analysis of the Yazidi genocide, “They Came to Destroy,” the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (“Syria COI”) found that “ISIS fighters systematically rape Yazidi women and girls as young as nine.” In 2018, in its analysis of the Rohingya genocide, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission...27 Sep HILJ Symposium: Ozan Varol Responds
[Ozan Varol is Assistant Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School.] This post is part of the Harvard International Law Journal Volume 53(2) symposium. Other posts in this series can be found in the related posts below. I would like to thank David Landau, William Partlett, Brad Roth, and Joel Colón-Ríos for their kind words and insightful comments about my article, The Democratic Coup d’Etat, 53 Harv. Int’l L.J. 291 (2012). These scholars have been instrumental in enhancing our knowledge of constitutional transitions, and I very much appreciate...04 Jun Targeted Killings Symposium: Introduction
...Whack-A-Mole Without a Mallet?” In lieu of a response from Maxwell, who is currently unavailable, John Dehn provides a response to some of the issues raised by Meyer. Finally, the symposium ends with a comment by Andrew Altman on Fernando Tesón’s chapter, “Targeted Killing in War and Peace: A Philosophical Analysis,” followed by a response from Tesón. Thank you to the editors at Opinio Juris for this opportunity. All Opinio Juris readers are welcome to use the comment section to respond to any of the arguments raised in the symposium....08 Nov The Oxford Guide to Treaties: An Opinio Juris Symposium
I’m extraordinarily pleased to be able to announce that today marks the start of the Opinio Juris symposium on my recently-edited volume, The Oxford Guide to Treaties (you can buy your copy here and there’s even a discount for Opinio Juris readers!). The Oxford Guide provides a current and comprehensive guide to treaty law and practice. It does this in two parts. First, it presents 25 chapters written by the world’s leading treaty-experts, exploring the world of treaties in five areas: (i) what a treaty is and who can make...
11 Sep Contemporary International Criminal Law After Critique Symposium: After Critique – Rescuing the Anti-Impunity Norm Before Moving Forward
[Rocío Lorca is Associate Professor and Director of Research at the University of Chile Law School] The papers in the recent ‘After Critique’ symposium move between critique and possibility regarding the role of international criminal law as an instrument of justice. Natalie Hodgson, for example, gives us good reasons to value international criminal law. Not as a grandiose mechanism that will deliver on the promise of holding power to account but as a tool that could help in this endeavor by creating awareness of the crimes of the powerful and...26 Feb Symposium: The Assumptions of Koh’s Transnational Legal Process as Counter-Strategy
[Craig Martin is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, and is Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center at Washburn Law.] This post will bring to a close the formal part of the virtual symposium on Harold Koh’s recent article The Trump Administration and International Law. As moderator, I would like to begin by thanking all those who contributed (including a couple of announced contributors who we unfortunately lost along the way to illness and crises). I think that each of the essays has raised...