Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

...calling for this reform for years. In the Al-Khatib trial on state torture in Syria before the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz, this requirement prevented a conviction for enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity, even though it constitutes an emblematic crime of the Syrian regime (see ECCHR). The previously required intention to deprive someone of the protection of the law “for a longer period of time” equally exceeded the ICPPED. It was replaced with the intention to do so “not only for a short time” to clarify that no...

Dioncounde Traore will be sworn in as Mali’s interim president today and is tasked with pulling the nation in turmoil back on the right track. Syria has said it will comply with its truce deadlines today by halting military activity, but reserves its right to combat terrorist attacks. Kofi Annan says that Iran can be part of Syria’s solution. In the wake of the Arab Spring, start-up social media and networking companies are thriving in the Middle East. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu will propose direct talks with Palestinian Leader Mahmud Abbas...

President Obama has offered conditional support to the another round of diplomacy on Syria and called off Congress’ vote on the authorization of military action. Meanwhile, France will put a resolution under Chapter VII on the Security Council’s agenda to force Syria to clean up its chemical weapons stock under international control for destruction. The trial of Kenya’s deputy President, William Ruto, started at the ICC yesterday. North and South Korea have agreed to reopen the jointly-run Kaesong industrial park from next week onwards, in a sign of easing tensions,...

...Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters. Saudi authorities have stepped up their crackdown on online dissidents, Human Rights Watch said, alleging that prosecutors and judges use “vague law” to charge citizens for peaceful tweets and social media comments. Nearly 800 people have been rescued from boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea in the last 48 hours, Italian and Libyan officials said. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said he and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan he had discussed a transition of power in Syria away from President Bashar al-Assad during a...

...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...

...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,...

middle: Algeria (84), Argentina (93), Brazil (70), Paraguay (111), Peru (70), Iran (105), Libya (105), Syria (93). According to the press release by TI’s chair, Huguette Labelle, corruption is “rampant” in half of the countries of the world. He further argues that there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. “Corruption eats away at the economies of poor countries. The perception of endemic corruption scares off foreign investors and has a knock-on effect on economic growth. A corrupt government siphoning off a country’s great mineral wealth, for instance, is...

...US and EU for a comprehensive trade and investment pact are set to kick into higher gear, following a highly-anticipated “political stocktaking” meeting between the two sides’ top trade officials. US prosecutors plan to seek the extradition of Mexico’s most wanted man, drug cartel kingpin Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, to face trial in the United States after he was captured in Mexico. Middle East The UN Security Council achieved rare unity to act on Syria’s civil war when Russia and China supported adoption of a resolution to boost aid access in...

...enormous controversy, with the 2011 military intervention in Libya and the failure to act with regard to Syria, causing bitter divisions between the Council’s five powerful permanent members. The international community also completely failed to halt atrocities in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Yemen. While this is not an exhaustive list, it points to the enormity of the political challenge that currently faces us. So far, the twenty-first century has been plagued by toxic nationalism and resurgent xenophobia. The number of people displaced by persecution, conflict and atrocities is at its...

...the EU rather than be granted it automatically. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, has settled the civil lawsuit with a maid out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. The EU has boosted the status of Syria’s opposition, calling the coalition the “legitimate representatives” of the Syrian people. Over at Lawfare, Ashley Deeks has a post about Syria, chemical weapons and possible US military action. For those who have not seen it yet, the second batch of basic materials for the Jessup Competition is now available....

...she has sole custody. (link) Read more … about Adam Haseeb—in his memory…. He is my son who is now deceased. I blame the abduction—and how the State Department handled this case on his death…. Back in the year 2000 I was not notified that his father had obtained a passport on Adam and then while we were still fighting for custody he abducted four year old Adam to Syria. Hakeem Haseeb (Was a U.S. citizen—converted to ISLAM) and had no relatives in Syria…. Adam Haseeb, R.I.P. (November 9, 1995...

Regular readers of the blog know that one of my hobbyhorses is the “unwilling or unable” test for self-defense against non-state actors. As I have often pointed out, scholars seem much more enamored with the test than states. The newest (regrettable) case in point: my friend Claus Kress, who is one of the world’s best international-law scholars. Here is what he writes in an otherwise-excellent contribution to Just Security about the use of force against ISIL in Syria (emphasis mine): It therefore follows not only from the right of self-defense’s...