Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
12 May States Are Failing Us in Syria — Not International Law
UHI. There is no easy solution for states concerned about Syria, such as a Kosovo- or Libya-style airpower campaign. If they want to end the crisis, they will have to invade Syria and destroy the large and generally well-equipped Syrian army — a task that would make the invasion of Iraq look positively economical by comparison. And the sad truth is that the US is not going to spend billions of dollars and accept thousands of dead American soldiers to save a bunch of defenceless Syrian civilians. Nor is the...
02 Oct We’ll See You in Court: How the Netherlands May Finally Bring Syria to The Hague
[Yasmine Nahlawi is an independent researcher specialising in R2P and its applicability to the Syrian and Libyan conflicts. Sana Sekkarie is a Security Studies master’s candidate at Georgetown University and a researcher of the Syrian conflict.] On 18 September, The Netherlands announced its decision to ‘hold Syria responsible under international law for gross human rights violations and torture in particular’. It appears prepared to formally submit a case before the ICJ for Syria’s violation of the Convention Against Torture (CAT) if, as per Article 30 CAT, diplomatic routes fail and...13 Dec Do Attacks on ISIS in Syria Justify the “Unwilling or Unable” Test?
...want to rely on Syrian consent to justify their attacks. But it seems likely that Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE are relying on Syrian consent rather than Syrian unwillingness or inability to justify their attacks on ISIS in Syria — particularly given their traditional narrow understanding of Art. 51. Finally, it is important to note what Deeks says immediately after claiming that “[i]In view of these developments, the ‘unwilling or unable’ test is starting to seem less controversial and better settled as doctrine”: Whether other European states ultimately commit...30 Mar Statement Regarding Syria
adopted two important Resolutions, 1970 and 1973. The proposed Security Council resolutions on Syria have differed substantially from 1970 and 1973 in their terms. Moreover, from a practical perspective, it is by no means clear that the type of actions taken to protect Libyan civilians would have the same effect in Syria. But that does not mean that the international community has turned away from the Syrian people or ignored the responsibility of the Syrian government to protect its civilian population. The Syrian government has been condemned for committing human...01 Jun An Alternative Justification for Israel’s Attacks on Hezbollah in Syria
operations on the Bashar al-Assad regime’s behalf and trains pro-regime militias, coordinating operations across Syria with the Syrian military high command and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. On some occasions, Hezbollah commanders have even been given tactical control over Syrian army units. Hezbollah arms shipments and the like would make eminently justifiable targets in the context of the Syrian-Israeli state of war if Hezbollah qualified as a de facto organ of the Syrian government, especially for purposes of attacks on Israel. But it is not clear that Hezbollah meets the...22 Mar US House of Representatives Overwhelmingly Calls for War Crimes Tribunal for Syria (with Jurisdiction to Try Americans, Apparently)
on his website concerning his advocacy on the issue). After recalling some of the horrendous violations of international law that have doubtless occurred in Syria—and specifically pointing the finger at the Government of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran, ‘Iran’s terrorist proxies including Hezbollah’, the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front—the House: strongly condemns the continued use of unlawful and indiscriminate violence against civilian populations by the Government of Syria, its allies, and other parties to the conflict; urges the United States and its partners to continue to demand and work...12 May Guest Post: Strong Words, Weak Arguments – A Response to the Open Letter to the UN on Humanitarian Access to Syria (Part 1)
Jordan One can disagree with your first premise regarding IHL that all that has occurred in Syria is an Art. 3 conflict (i.e., an insurgency). In 2012, several states recognized the Syrian coalition as the legitimate leader of the Syrian people. There is also de facto support by outside fighters on both (or all) sides. It may be that a "belligerency" is occurring in Syria to which all of the customary laws of war apply. See http://ssrn.com/abstract=2272291 Customary laws of war relevant to relief shipments during a belligerency would be...