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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

12 Jun

...weapons to Syria rebels would constitute complicity in resulting crimes. Thus, individuals wishing to interact with these rebel groups would be put “in an impossible situation,” such that they “cannot provide the organization with any assistance at all.” But at least two basic features of accomplice liability and one component of blame attribution writ large, expose both these statements as serious hyperbole. On a robust account of complicity, American and British governments could assist the Gestapo, the Interahamwe, the Taliban, Syrian rebels and any other bloodthirsty armed group without becoming...
12.06.13 | |

19 Jun

support within Syria - one rebel commander saying, dejectedly, that 70% of the Sunni city of Aleppo supported Assad, not because they liked him but because he is regarded as better than the alternative) to create an Islamic State of one kind or another. It is hardly in the west's interests to see that end come about. Do we protect the rebels who are jihadists? How do we distinguish and influence matters on the ground? 3. Military intervention will be an act of war, requiring attacks against Syrian missile installations,...
19.06.13 | |

02 Oct

KC I wonder what the US would make of this in context of the President's earlier assertion that it would act in defense of the "new U.S.-backed fighting force in Syria if it is attacked by Syrian government forces or other groups". Obviously, I doubt that the President intends for this statement to drag him into another Cold War era style proxy war with Russia, but it would be interesting to see how all these things connect together in the minds of US officials). Ref: http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-to-defend-new-syria-force-from-assad-regime-others-1438549937 Jordan First, what section...
02.10.15 | |

03 Oct

...security reasons to block their purchase of four wind farm projects near a US naval base in Oregon. Syria’s President Bashir al-Assad rejected demands for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria from many of his staff after some of his top aides were killed in July. JP Morgan has been sued by the New York Attorney General for its involvement in the global financial crisis, a lawsuit the US Government supports. Amnesty International reports that in South Sudan, police forces are shooting and raping civilians. Iranian President Mahmoud...
03.10.12 | |

29 Aug

...at this time, despite mention in Parliament of the related R2P doctrine. A more sophisticated claim might involve use of the concept in connection with a policy-serving and textually correct reading of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter in the context of a civil war in Syria and substantial outside recognition of the "rebels" as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people -- that only three types of force are proscribed, that none pertain under special circumstances re: Syria, etc. -- especially if the "rebels" consent to use of force....
29.08.13 | |

13 Feb

...and now, they have become more suspicious ,concerning , biased western court . 3.Beyond that : they are now seriously implicated and engaged in Syria , in their fight against Daesh ( IS ) . Here, we deal with strict and direct involvement, huge devastation, huge amount of refugees, and much more brutal war (without any accusations right now). Now : 4.One may wonder , what jurisdiction has the ICC on Syria ? yet , Fatou Bensouda, already declared in the past , that she may seek jurisdiction , on...
13.02.16 | |

02 Sep

Just as Syria has been our main focus the last few days with our Insta-Symposium, there has been a lot written elsewhere on the developing situation. Just a sampling of a couple other articles of note: one from William Schabas on intervention as aggression and one from Charli Carpenter urging us not to use the term “humanitarian” for this intervention. Foreign Policy urges Congress to think hard about Obama’s plan. Additionally, Reuters covers Syria’s request to the Security Council to intervene on the potential US intervention. In other news, A...
02.09.13 | |

27 Apr

This week on Opinio Juris, we continued last week‘s Kiobel Insta-Symposium. Quoting from his and John Yoo’s Forbes contribution, Julian argued that the rejection of universal civil jurisdiction is common sense because it leaves the decision on foreign policy consequences of extraterritoriality to the political branches. He also drew our attention to two positive assessments of the opinion, by John Bellinger and Eugene Kontorovich. Austen Parrish offered an alternative narrative about the meaning of Kiobel, seeing it as a welcome retreat from US unilateralism towards more multilateralism. The many unanswered...
27.04.13 | |

10 Mar

...The dilemma is not really a dilemma. It is the result of the fact that the powerful want to commit their crimes with impunity. Otherwise we would have had the means by now to prevent abuse during humanitarian interventions. Imagine for instance that U.S. wants to put her own dictator in Syria and succeeds. After a while the documents of this policy might get declassified or leaked. The Syrians should be able to sue U.S. in an international court. Another possibility is that U.S. goes to ICJ and sues Syria...
10.03.12 | |

29 Jun

...country to a trickle. The sound of whirring helicopter blades fills Syrians with fear that “hell and fire” is about fall in a barrel bomb, a rescue worker told the United Nations Security Council on Friday as pressure mounts for the body to take action to stop civilian killings in Syria. United Nations human rights experts appealed to the United States on Friday to impose a moratorium on the death penalty for federal crimes, including the sentence imposed on the Boston Marathon bomber, with a view to abolishing the practice....
29.06.15 | |

22 Aug

...that the sexual allegations against Assange would not constitute a felony in Latin America. Rebels have claimed new victories in Syria’s Aleppo, while heavy fighting continues. Russia has warned the West with unilateral action after US president Barack Obama threatened the use of military force, were Syria to engage with use of chemical weapons. At talks in Moscow, Syria’s Depute Prime Minister has indicated that although Assad’s resignation cannot be a condition for starting talks, it could be on the table during negotiations if necessary to reach a settlement. Japan...
22.08.12 | |

29 Jan

...Syria? Jordan Well, my last question nearly made the news -- with an Israeli strike on a target in Syria. But there is still a question whether a weapons research lab was struck or a conveoy of trucks carrying weapons. Perhaps the prior Syrian armed attack on Israel justified this measure in self-defense? Or did it initiate an armed conflict with Syria, the law of war paradigm, and the permissibility of targeting lawful military targets? If the latter, will Israel destroy the chemical weapons and biologic weapons stashed in Syria?...
29.01.13 | |