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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

12 Jul

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...
12.07.12 | |

12 Jul

...generals provided strategic advice to Hezbollah in the Israel-Lebanon 2006 war, though apparently, even Israeli military officers did not believe Hezbollah was acting on the instructions of Iran even then. If Iran’s overall control over Hezbollah could be established, Israel would have the right to attack military targets in Iran. While Iranian combatants and Hezbollah members were at the consulate in Damascus, there was no armed conflict between Israel and Syria or attribution between these groups and Syria allowing for the use of force against Syrian territory. Conclusion Derek Bowett,...
12.07.24 | |

03 Sep

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...
03.09.13 | |

13 Aug

...less-than-force measures designed to put pressure on the Assad regime. These measures include ‘a ban on the import of arms and related material from Syria, export restrictions on equipment that could be used for repression, an import ban on crude oil and petroleum products from Syria, the freezing of the Syrian central bank’s assets, asset freezes on a number of entities and persons, and travel restrictions for a specific list of individuals associated with repression.’ At the same time as utilising these less than force measures (intercession), through its EU...
13.08.14 | |

21 Apr

[Shannon Raj Singh is a Visiting Fellow of Practice at Oxford University, where she is researching the duty to prevent atrocity crimes with the Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict’s Programme on International Peace and Security. Shannon is also an Associate Legal Officer at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the STL.] It is difficult to talk about the survival of a doctrine aimed at human protection in contexts like Syria and Libya....
21.04.20 | |

22 May

...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...
22.05.20 | |

16 Feb

and to secure the safe release of hostages, and reaffirms the need for all Member States to cooperate closely during incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups.” In so doing, it attempts to cut off funds derived from ransom, and reaffirms that UN sanctions prohibit ransom payments to UN listed groups. Fourth, the resolution was drafted by Russia. While Russia’s opposition to intervention in Syria and is well known, this is an example of positive engagement with the situation in Syria. Although the resolution does not authorize intervention,...
16.02.15 | |

13 Nov

...to stem rocket attacks from the Gaza strip. Israeli Defence Forces also fired into Syria for the second day in a row in retaliation over mortar shells from Syria spilling over into Israeli territory. Over at Armed Groups and International Law, Dan Saxon offers an analysis of the ethical and legal obligations of journalists covering the conflict in Syria. The UK has ordered the provisional release of Abu Qatada instead of his deportation to Jordan. The UN has elected 18 new countries, one of which is the United States, to...
13.11.12 | |

28 Aug

On the day we mark 100 years of the Peace Palace in The Hague, the US and its allies are readying for a military intervention in Syria with Australia saying it would back military action, even without a Security Council resolution. Action may come within days. China’s top paper accused the US of wanting regime change in Syria and likened any military action the US might take to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein 10 years. The Long War Journal reports that jihadists in the area are also concerned about US...
28.08.13 | |

14 Feb

In December, Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s prime minister and Rafik’s son, met with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, acceding to the reconciliation between his own political sponsor, Saudi Arabia, and Damascus — making Lebanon less likely to point the finger at Syria for the killing. But the more significant problem actually lies within the United Nations investigation itself. While it has been upgraded to a special tribunal, sitting near The Hague, it has suffered from questionable leadership, lost key members and last year had to release suspects for lack of formal indictments....
14.02.10 | |

08 Sep

...operation notwithstanding the absence of authorization, and that the backing down was at his discretion. But in this context, actions speak louder than words. Asking for the authorization effected a constitutional giveaway; there’s no chance of a constitutional clawback, at least not for now. This is of course not to say that a Syria strike on unilateral presidential authority would have solved the Syria situation. But it would have left the US in a far better position internationally than we’re likely to find ourselves a couple of weeks from now....
08.09.13 | |

08 Sep

It looks like President Obama learned his lesson. Last summer he decided to seek Congress’s advance approval for a strike against Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities. Political support for the operation evaporated. Obama looked weak and waffly (the decision was taken on a dime after a 45-minute South Lawn stroll with chief of staff Denis McDonough, almost certainly not vetted through the legal chain of command). Even though the ISIS operation will probably be more significant than what he had in mind for Assad, he won’t be looking for a formal...
08.09.14 | |