Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

A top UN envoy, Leila Zerrougui, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, has warned officials and anti-government fighters in Syria risk prosecution as war criminals for atrocities against children. The US House Intelligence Committee says it is now willing to supply weapons to Syrian rebels despite the risk of their ending up with al-Qaeda allies. Additionally, top US military officials have outlined a range of intervention option plans in Syria, from instituting no-fly zones to conducting limited attacks on military targets. Iran condemned the EU’s decision...

...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...

...the weapons the neocons have in their arsenal these days. The first, as Heilbrunn notes, is Barack Obama, or more precisely discontent with his apparently reactive and hesitating approach to foreign and security policy, exemplified by situations such as Ukraine, Syria and the rise of ISIS. If you read the fine print, to the extent there is any, the neocons like Cheney and Bill Kristol don’t have any master plan or worked out strategy of their own for dealing with these problems. They appeal to the heartwarming (for some Americans)...

...returnees, who ‘as wives of ISIL fighters’ solely took care of the home and family life without being engaged in any activities of the organization. The German national Sibel H. had traveled to Syria with her husband Ali S. in 2013. After he was killed, she returned to Germany. She moved back to Iraq with her second husband, Deniz B. They received an allowance of approx. 100$ and an apartment in an area controlled by ISIL. She looked after their child and he worked as a nurse in an ISIL-hospital....

...international organisation (he currently heads two investigative teams, in Myanmar and Syria, for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability). Lenayapa’s comments suggest that Kenya thinks neither African candidate is viable, given that Fatou Bensouda is from an African country. And he clearly believes that Roy’s election is precluded by the Rome Statute. (I think that’s wrong — as I’ve suggested on Twitter, the ASP could elect Roy if the current Deputy Prosecutor, James Stewart, was willing to resign.) Let me start by saying that I think any of the...

...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...

...the meantime. Examples include the International Independent and Impartial Mechanism (IIIM) for Syria, and the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. At the current session of the Human Rights Council, the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar has called for establishment of an IIIM pending referral to the ICC or an ad hoc tribunal. Opening Remarks were given by Ambassador Monique T.G. van Daalen, Permanent Mission of the Netherlands. The Moderator was Saman Zia-Zarifi, Secretary General, International Commission of Jurists. The panelists included Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head, International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism...

Opinio Juris is pleased to welcome Professor Neomi Rao of George Mason University School of Law as guest-blogger for the next week. With the Syria crisis re-emerging as a possible flashpoint for military intervention, we thought it would be interesting for Professor Rao to discuss her recent work on the status and impact of the “Responsibility to Protect” principle that is forthcoming in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. Professor Rao teaches both constitutional and comparative law classes, and she has had wide experience at all levels of the U.S....

...in the African state. Meanwhile, the EU has pledged to organize an international donor conference in mid-May to help with Mali’s reconstruction. The EU has eased sanctions on Zimbabwe and pledged to lift sanctions on a state-owned diamond company once fair elections have been held. North Korea on the other hand has to face increased sanctions from the EU, going beyond those already imposed by the UN Security Council. The EU has decided not to lift the arms embargo on Syria, but will increase direct support to the rebels. Meanwhile,...

...it off, according to Foreign Policy. Argentina has filed another request for WTO consultations with the US, this time regarding restrictions on the importation of fresh lemons from its north-western region. China and the US have agreed to disagree on a variety of issues such as Syria and the South Chinese Sea. The US has been accused of backtracking after calling for a “flexible” treaty at climate change negotiations in Bangkok, Thailand. The NYTimes reports how Iran has been supplying the Syrian military via Iraqi airspace. Japan’s government will purchase...

Picking up on Jens’ post about the Administration’s apparent lack of plans for holding detainees picked up in Iraq/Syria, I too found the Times report troubling. In part I suspect it was because I was immediately reminded of one of the findings of the many Pentagon investigative reports issued after the revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib and other U.S. detention facilities in Iraq. All apart from criticisms of changes in policy and legal interpretation, some of the harshest blame for the widespread nature of the abuse was the total...

...Russian passenger plane in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board on Oct. 31. Asia Chinese oil major Sinopec is building a filling station on an island in the South China Sea, as China continues to expand its civilian infrastructure in the disputed waterway, entrenching its reach in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Europe Russia on Sunday warned Turkey to stop staging what it called provocations against its forces in or near Syria after one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean...