Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

...given that there was a Review Conference less than two years ago. Adopting the amendment would require 2/3 of States Parties to vote in favour of it, pursuant to Art. 121(3). I will be surprised if the amendment is not taken up and adopted. Even acknowledging that states do not like to tie their hands against internal threats, there is no justification for starving civilians as part of a counterinsurgency. And, of course, NIACs regularly feature the intentional starvation of civilians — most obviously in Syria and Yemen. To be...

...Africa Any Israeli-Palestinian peace deal must lead to improved living conditions for Palestinians to prevent violence between the two from erupting again, Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said on Sunday. Fighters pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have released a video purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. The United States and its coalition partners conducted three air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and eight in Iraq since Saturday, according to the U.S. military. Thousands...

...the COVID-19 virus. In Syria, where there is credible evidence to demonstrate that Syrian and Russian forces have targeted hospitals and ad hoc medical facilities, the risk of large numbers of infected persons receiving no treatment is clear, particularly where there are tens of thousands in detention facilities. Yemen has been forced to contend with a devastating attack by the military might of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and has been ravaged by disease and starvation. An outbreak of COVID-19 would devastate an already fragile state. Bangladesh –...

...proven to be a critical international justice tool. In the past few years, it has allowed governments to address some of the asymmetry in international justice by creating new – albeit limited – paths to justice where other avenues are blocked. For example, in light of the inability of the UN Security Council to refer the situation of Syria to the ICC given Russia’s veto, investigations and prosecutions in third countries are currently the only option for individual criminal justice for Syrian victims and survivors.  The landmark first trial for...

The UN Security Council prepares for a new vote on Syria today, amidst raging battles in Damascus and tension between Russia and the West. Among the battles, a suicide attack in Damascus has killed the Syrian Minister of Defense. Foreign Policy looks in-depth into whether it matters that the ICRC has labeled the violence in Syria a non-international armed conflict. For more from Lawfare on the discussion surrounding the label of NIAC, click here and here. The European Court of Human Rights has asked Poland hand over secret documents detailing...

...operative language — emphasis mine throughout. First, Rep. Frank Wolf’s: SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF ARMED FORCES. (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized, with the close consultation, coordination, and cooperation with NATO and regional allies, to use all necessary and appropriate force against those countries, organizations, or persons associated with or supporting terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and its regional affiliates, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al Shabaab, Boko Haram, and any other emerging regional terrorist groups that share a common violent extremist ideology with such terrorist...

Violent clashes in China’s western Xinjiang province, home to the Uighur minority, have killed 27 people. President Obama gave his long-awaited speech on climate change yesterday, but it fell short of environmentalists’ expectations. During his visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Kerry has been pressed by Saudi leaders to respond to the “genocide” in Syria. US officials are hoping to stage peace talks over Syria as soon as possible, but US peace envoy Brahimi is doubtful that they will take place in July. What do roses and...

...Rwanda’s female football revolution–football is helping Rwandan women overcome the trauma of the 1994 genocide. Middle East and Northern Africa Iraqi security forces say they have struck the convoy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, in an air strike near the country’s border with Syria. Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes have advanced against fighters in the centre of the country as Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Moscow’s intervention in the conflict, saying it would aid efforts to...

...in the Security Council’s authorization of military intervention. Nonetheless, within weeks, critics suggested that the intervention had gone beyond the intended Security Council mandate and had become a convenient cover for regime change. Not long after, as is well known, the situations in Bahrain and Syria began to spiral downwards, and many argued that intervention was again needed and appropriate. Nonetheless, the Security Council has not garnered enough support to invoke the doctrine since Libya. China and Russia have used their veto to block Security Council resolutions on Syria with...

killed in cross-border gunfire near the Lebanese border, the Israeli military has said. Syrian government air raids using barrel bombs on rebel-controlled areas of Syria’s second city of Aleppo killed at least 76 people, including 28 children, activists said. Asia Japan and Southeast Asian nations have called for freedom of the high seas and skies, amid heightened tensions over China’s new air defense zone in the East China Sea. China’s first moon rover has touched the lunar surface and left deep traces on its loose soil, state media reported, hours...

serve justice to the victims of atrocities. Similarly, countries hosting large numbers of Yazidi victims and witnesses, as well as significant numbers of asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq, such as Germany and Sweden, are at the forefront of accoutability efforts in relation to the genocide against the Yazidis and international crimes committed against other groups in Syria and Northern Iraq. Establishing a fully operational war crimes unit, which will be able to exercise universal jurisdiction over violations of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, is therefore a crucial step...

...prepare any development thereof”. It is also a prominent feature of humanitarian discussions that, in different fora, NGOs advocate for new rules or the modification of existing ones. In describing this phenomenon, however, it is also necessary to consider the role of NSAGs in shaping, interpreting, and making the law, for instance through the conclusion of special agreements between the parties to the conflict or via the adoption of action plans with the UN. In 2019, two NSAGs from the Central African Republic, and one from Syria, signed the latter,...