Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
13 Nov The Responsibility to Protect
...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...12 Oct Weekly News Wrap: Monday, October 12, 2015
...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...26 Jun Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
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...10 Sep Is the AUMF Limited to the United States Armed Forces?
...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...18 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
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...25 Mar Does the Tallinn Manual Allow States to Kill Hackers? Not Really.
...a party to the conflict (members of the armed forces or members of an organized armed group) would suffice, while other insist that the act must be intended to further the hostilities. All agree, however, that some real connection is required. Taken together, the armed-conflict requirement and the nexus requirement make it extremely unlikely that a state could legitimately use lethal force against members of a hacker collective like Anonymous. There are currently no international armed conflicts, although Syria constantly threatens to become one. And hackers don’t tend to work...25 Apr Weekly News Wrap: Monday, April 25, 2016
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...11 Sep Is it Legal? No.
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 Apr Blurring the Lines – Non-State Actors as Perpetrators of Enforced Disappearance
...are the instances where the de jure State is absent due to having lost control over a territory, with disappearances through non-State actors occurring under such circumstances. This may, for instance, be the case during a non-international armed conflict, where civilians find themselves living under the control of armed non-State actors. One only has to think of the time when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gained effective control over large parts of north-western Iraq and Eastern Syria, exercising control over 10 million people, with many individuals disappearing...
17 Jul The Coming Kerfuffle over the Next ICC Prosecutor
...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...