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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

25 May

...Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. Saudi forces and Yemen’s Houthi militia traded heavy artillery fire which destroyed part of the main border crossing between the two countries overnight, residents said on Sunday, an escalation of the two-month war. Hezbollah is fighting across all of Syria alongside the army of President Bashar al-Assad and is willing to increase its presence there when needed, the leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite movement said on Sunday. Asia A group...
25.05.15 | |

12 Feb

...international involvement to protect people’s vote. To this end, the Security Council Resolution 1975 (2011) installed Alassane Ouattara as the President of Ivory Coast and the Security Council Resolution 2337 (2017) endorsed the recognition of Adama Barrow as the President of Gambia. Prioritizing “democratic legitimacy” over “effective control” by the Security Council is an important practice to consider. Security Council’s complete disregard for the decisions made by the electoral authorities in the Ivory Coast and Gambia over the election results, provides further evidence to support Thomas Franck argument that elections...
12.02.20 | |

29 Jan

...a ransom. Of course, paying the ransom wins the release of the individual hostage. However, it also emboldens and encourages ISIS and other terrorists to perpetrate more kidnappings. It is precisely for this reason that the U.S. refuses to negotiate and pay money to ISIS. The ransom payments are bankrolling the ISIS war in Iraq and Syria. So the European countries that are paying the ransoms are providing (indirectly and under duress) the resources for ISIS to fight the military coalition that is trying to stop them from carving its...
29.01.15 | |

02 Apr

...the daily number of civilian casualties in Syria. Al Jazeera has an exclusive about the UN’s plans should the Syrian regime fall–a plan that includes deploying peacekeeping forces, a move beyond its normal role as no others in the international community are interested in getting involved. The mood in the Malian city of Timbuktu is tense in the wake of deadly clashes between rebel and Malian forces over the weekend. Relatives of approximately 90 Yeminis held at the US Guantanamo Bay prison are protesting their “very poor” conditions at Gitmo...
02.04.13 | |

21 Mar

Mauritania has agreed to extradite ex-Libyan chief-of-intelligence Abdullah al-Senussi to Libya. The Economist outlines the world’s biggest arms exporters based on a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. US President Barack Obama is slated to visit the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea today ahead of his upcoming visit with South Korean president, Lee Meyung-Bak. Western powers diluted the language of a U.N. Security Council resolution regarding Syria in order to garner Russian support; in response, speaking from Jakarta, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once again...
21.03.12 | |

11 Apr

...Syria. Foreign Policy outlines the options for Syria, in case the plan does not succeed. According to its Foreign Minister, William Hague, the UK may seek a Security Council decision referring Assad to the ICC. In a Reuter’s exclusive, China’s ZTE trading firm had planned on selling $10.5 million (€8 millon) worth of embargoed computing equipment to Iran, shedding some light on how Iran is able to get American tech products despite sanctions. The Philippine Navy is in a standoff with Chinese ships. Colombia’s foreign minister reports that Venezuelan President...
11.04.12 | |

09 Sep

...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...
09.09.19 | |

11 Sep

Let’s start with the Administration’s newly minted theory (h/t Marty Lederman for posting the operative statement) that the statutory 2001 AUMF authorizes the President’s announced campaign to use force against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The AUMF does not plausibly extend to ISIL. In addition to the reasons my friends Jens Ohlin, Jen Daskal and others have already highlighted, let me add this: ISIL is not an “associated force” of Al Qaeda by the Administration’s own definition. In May 2013, former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh gave a speech...
11.09.14 | |

25 Jul

Ghana’s President John Atta Mills has died, though details are unclear as to the cause of death. Foreign Policy has more here. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has succeeded him, taking the oath of offices a few hours after the announcement of Mills’ death. Fighting has intensified in Syria’s Aleppo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has joined the chorus of warning Syria against the use of chemical weapons. Israel’s foreign minister has stated that it will get involved in the Syrian conflict if the Syrian army loses control over its chemical...
25.07.12 | |

26 Apr

...this tragedy is unlikely to spur reform. North Korea has rejected the demands from South Korea to reopen the joint industrial zone and warned its neighbors to the south of “grave measures.” As the discussion intensifies about Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons, which the US suspects has happened on a “small scale,” a few articles are of note. First, Julian points out an editorial in the LA Times about possible ramifications and Obama’s “red line,” Lawfare also opines about this red line and Foreign Policy asks what Syria is...
26.04.13 | |

04 Mar

By now, many readers -especially those who follow me on Twitter, will have figured out that I have a weird hobby: I like keeping track of who says what about international law in times of crisis. I’ve done it for the Syria strikes of 2018, the Venezuelan elections of 2018, the recognition of Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela in 2019, the attack on Qasem Soleimani in 2020, and now, of course, the crisis in Ukraine. In the beginning, I tracked the reactions to Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk...
04.03.22 | |

25 Apr

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Zambia’s government is trying to send hundreds of refugees back to camps after two people were burned to death in anti-immigration riots in the country’s capital, Lusaka. Heavy fighting between a local militia and Ethiopian paramilitary militia known as the Liyu Police broke out in Galgadud region of central Somalia, residents said on Saturday. Middle East and Northern Africa The UN special envoy for Syria has estimated that 400,000 people have been killed throughout...
25.04.16 | |