Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
20 Feb Tertium datur: A Step Towards Squaring the Circle on the Current Meaning of Self-defence?
...of the territory of Syria and Iraq has been admitted by the Security Council (Resolution 2179), governments (see, for instance, Germany, S/2015/946; Belgium, S/2016/523) and scholars (such as Chaumette and Corten). There is however a strong resistance to assimilate ISIS to a subject of international law. Nonetheless, it has been argued with regard to non-recognized States that “[a]n international wrongful act does not prevent the creation of a State which is a question of fact, and a State which exists in fact attains its legal status solely on the basis...
19 Feb Justice for the Yazidis in the Ishaq Case by the Stockholm District Court – Part I
...convicted for having committed genocide, crimes against humanity and gross war crime against women and children belonging to the Yazidi community in Syria. It will expand on the summary in English issued by the district court. This was actually the second trial for Ishaq; the same court had in a judgment of 4 March 2022 convicted her for complicity in the war crime of recruiting child soldiers in Raqqa, Syria. Thus, at the time of her second trial she was already serving a six-year prison term. This post is only...
09 Sep The Case of the Istanbul Bar Association: Justice on Trial in Türkiye?
...in Istanbul a day later. It was made in a context in which Türkiye’s active involvement in the armed conflict in Syria, particularly its support to armed Islamist groups and military operations targeting predominantly Kurdish areas in the north, had repeatedly drawn international criticism for serious human rights abuses (here and here). Both journalists had reported extensively over the past decade on the war in Syria, as well as armed clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Türkiye and were reportedly targeted with criminal charges...03 Oct Weekly News Wrap: October 3, 2013
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East The Security Council has urged the Syrian government to allow cross-border aid deliveries, calling on all parties to Syria’s conflict to agree on humanitarian pauses in fighting and key routes for aid convoys. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems optimistic about Syria, saying global powers were “on the right track” with a plan to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons and could avert military intervention in the conflict if they worked together. US Secretary of State, John...06 May Guest Post: Stephen W. Preston on ‘The Legal Framework for the United States’ Use of Military Force since 9/11’ (ASIL Annual Meeting 2015)–Old Wine in New Bottles
...partners. Preston also referred to a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in May 2014, during which he had listed the groups and individuals against which the US were taking military action (in the sense of capture or lethal operations) under the 2001 AUMF, namely: al-Qa’ida, the Taliban and certain other terrorist or insurgent groups in Afghanistan; al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Yemen; individuals who are part of al-Qa’ida in Somalia and Libya; (since 2014) the Nusrah Front and the Khorasan Group in Syria; and “the group...09 Aug Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, August 9, 2012
According to the UN, Afghanistan civilan deaths are down for the first time since it started counting in 2007, though officials say that this is due to an extremely harsh winter rather than improved security. The United Nations also reports that targeted killings in Afghanistan have risen 53%. Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed his deep concern that the UK will leave the European Union in a referendum. In other statements from former heads of state, France’s Nicholas Sarkozy has called for a humanitarian intervention in Syria. Syrian troops...
24 Feb The ICJ Ruling on Ensuring Access to Evidence of the UN-mandated Investigative Bodies
...be partly attributed to this inconvenience. Recently, the Court has ordered the prevention of destruction and guarantee of preservation of evidence in a case where such a measure was warranted by its circumstances. For example, it was ordered in The Gambia v. Myanmar, Canada and the Netherlands v. Syria, and South Africa v. Israel while it was rejected in the Armenia / Azerbaijan cases. However, nothing in these cases related to granting access to evidence by the adverse parties. However, the request to provide access to evidence to the UN-mandated...01 May Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, May 1, 2013
weapons in Syria, with President Obama stating that depending on how the weapons were used, the US might have to rethink its strategy in Syria. Foreign Policy has a post about why those wanting intervention in Syria are wrong. The UN International Labor Organization released a report with one major finding that the key to ending child labor is to advocate social protections. May Day protests, meant to demand better workers’ rights, are occurring around the world, in places such as Indonesia, The Philippines, Turkey, Cambodia and several European cities....14 Oct Carsten Stahn Guest Post: On Intervention, Narratives of Progress, Threats of force and the Virtues of Case-by-Case Assessment–A Rejoinder to Koh (Part III)
...ripe for this. There may simply not be enough trust in proper handling. 2. The relationship between threat of force and use of force What is the role of the Syrian precedent in this context? Koh is right to claim that Syria produced some positive spin-offs. But is there a need to change the rule because of these effects? I am not convinced. In any legal system, there are cases in which illegal conduct may sometimes produce good results. But this does not necessarily mean that one has to abolish...27 Aug Will the U.S. Move to Citizenship-Strip ISIS Fighters?
It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing proposals to take away the citizenship of Americans fighting for ISIS/ISIL forces in Syria and Iraq. They have drawn renewed attention in the wake of James Foley’s beheading (apparently by a British citizen) and the death, reported at length today in the NYT, of American Douglas McCain in Syria. Several hundred individuals with Western citizenships are thought to be fighting with the extreme Sunni group. A proposal to expatriate terrorists associated with entities hostile to the United States went nowhere...