Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

I agree with Jens’ excellent post on the importance of the “unwilling or unable” standard to the US justification for legal strikes on non-state actors in Syria. I agree this action may reveal state practice supporting (or rejecting) this legal justification. I am curious whether the UK, France, or other states that may be participating in Syria strikes will embrace this theory. (I already know the Russians have roundly rejected this US justification). I also wonder whether this legal justification will weaken, as a policy matter, the ability of the...

...(par. 228), and that economic sanctions are not covered by prohibited intervention (par. 245). Kohen provides a few other examples (at 161, another article of relevance can be found here), but the spectrum of policy measures that have been considered as part of R2P is very diverse. Does the prohibition of intervention prohibit the setting up of ‘safe zones along the Turkish-Syria and Jordan-Syria border with humanitarian corridors leading up to them’, as proposed by some European politicians? Does it prohibit support to NGOs who campaign for freedom? Does it...

...Third, the chapter examines the relationship between the veto power and certain foundational treaties.  In particular, the chapter focuses on the obligation to “prevent” genocide found in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (“Genocide Convention”) and the obligation to “ensure respect for” the Geneva Conventions found, for instance, in the 1949 Geneva Conventions.  Subchapter 4.3 concludes that a veto cast in instances where there is ongoing genocide or war crimes (at least those war crimes covered in the 1949 Geneva Conventions), or the “serious...

[Stephanie Barbour is the Senior Sexual and Gender-based Violence Adviser at the Commission for International Justice & Accountability. This is a post in our joint blog symposium building on the discussion focusing on accountability for conflict-related sexual violence crimes associated with slave trade, slavery and trafficking , held as part of the Digital Dialogue Series , hosted regularly by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict .] The innumerable crimes in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are among the most documented...

...Lanka committed genocide. International Accountability for Other Adopters of the “Sri Lanka Solution” Does this fact pattern sound familiar? That’s because in the nearly 17 years since the “Sri Lanka solution”—an abusive “counterterrorism” strategy that conflates civilians with legitimate targets—has been a roadmap for other States, like Syria , Myanmar, and Israel, to commit mass atrocities. It’s seen as a useful tactic because, when done well, only impunity follows. Syria’s armed conflict began less than two years after Sri Lanka’s ended and provided Bashar al-Assad’s regime an opportunity to test...

Syria’s president Al-Assad has praised the government forces, but is keeping a low profile. US president Obama has signed a secret order to provide support to rebel forces in Syria. A video has emerged of men, allegedly loyal to the Syrian regime, being lined up in Aleppo being shot point-blank by rebel forces. In a recent report, Amnesty International has accused members of Syria’s government of committing crimes against humanity in the current conflict. Reuters offers an analysis proffering that there is no good outcome to the conflict in Syria...

...State coalition and the use of German Tornado aircrafts in Syrian airspace. Germany stated that ISIL’s armed attacks, for example in France, are sufficient to activate the collective right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. This position implicitly assumes that the right to self-defense also applies against non-state actors and that the affected state’s consent – here, Syria – is not necessary because it previously lost control over parts of its territory to ISIL. The declaration is extremely short, and Germany has avoided explaining how the terrorist...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Kenya plans to launch a military offensive against Islamist militants who have set up bases in a remote forest at the northern tip of its Indian Ocean coastline bordering Somalia, a police official said on Monday. Middle East and Northern Africa Iran’s president has said his country is ready to hold talks with the United States and Saudi Arabia on ways to resolve the Syrian civil war. Several Turkish soldiers have been killed and others...

The UN chemical weapons inspection team in Syria is set to begin transferring samples that it has collected from the country to the laboratories for testing. More than 2 million refugees have now fled Syria’s civil war, piling pressure on neighboring host countries according to the UN. Sweden is set to change its asylum law and grant permanent residency to those approved from Syria instead of three-year temporary permits. Another sampling of the discussion happening around the web with regard to Syria: a post on Lawfare about how the 9/11...

Syria has been hit by a wave of defections, with the latest–that of the ambassador to Iraq–coming yesterday. Kofi Annan has urged the UN to “reunite” regarding plans moving forward with Syria, suggesting “consequences” were Syria not to comply with the latest ceasefire calls. A human rights group, Women Under Siege, has reported that sexual violence is being used in Syria as a weapon in the conflict. Tensions between Japan and China are escalating ahead of an ASEAN summit over the islands dispute in the East China Sea. The Special...

...has remained in power despite committing numerous atrocities against the Syrian people. At the early stages of the Syrian civil war in 2011 and 2012, several states, the U.N. Secretary General, and numerous scholars and commentators concluded that Assad and his government had lost its legitimacy and no longer represented the will of the Syrian people. In turn, numerous governments called for Assad to resign and recognized the Syrian Opposition Council (SOC) as the true representative of the Syrian people. However, in 2015 the Russian government intervened in Syria at...

one French soldier has been killed in the ongoing conflict in Mali. A scud-type missile has killed at least 20 people in Syria’s Aleppo, showing evidence that the army is turning to longer-range weapons to battle rebels in Syria’s second-largest city. The UN warns of a “humanitarian tragedy” in Syria as more than 4 million people are in need of assistance. Qatar’s PM has criticised the EU extension of the blanket arms embargo on Syria. The government of Bulgaria has resigned this morning amid mass protests. China’s Defence Ministry has...