Search: crossing lines
22 Mar SCSL Symposium: The Important Contributions of the Special Court for Sierra Leone on Amnesties and Immunities–Reinforcing Foundational Principles of International Criminal Law, Part I
...lines of the ICTY or the ICTR) nor an entirely domestic court. Instead, it was established sui generis, via a bilateral agreement between the United Nations and Sierra Leone. The agreement establishing the Court was signed on January 16, 2002, and entered into force on April 12, 2002, with the Statute of the Court annexed thereto. The manner of the Court’s creation became important in the Taylor case when the question of Charles Taylor’s possible immunity as a Head of State was raised as a bar to his prosecution. The...05 Apr The Syria Attacks: Haven’t We Had These Debates Already?
Reports of another horrific use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria seems to have affected President Trump. In comments today, President Trump said the chemical attacks against civilians “crossed a lot of lines for me” and changed the way he views Syria and leader Bashar al-Assad. Although it is always hard to interpret the President’s comments, he did cite his “flexibility” to change his policies. One might interpret this to mean that the U.S. my change course and directly use military force against the Assad government in Syria. As...27 Mar New Documents Reveal Kissinger’s Support of 1976 Coup in Argentina
...and the disappeared.” The documents also reveal that the U.S. had advance knowledge of the impending coup: More than a week before the coup, Ambassador Robert Hill sent Assistant Secretary Rogers a secret cable reporting that the commander of the Navy, Admiral Emilio Massera, had requested that the U.S. embassy “indicate to him one or two reputable public relations firms in the U.S. which might handle the problem for a future military government.” Massera, according to the cable, promised that the Argentine military would “not follow the lines of the...
02 Dec For the Biden Presidency, Promoting Human Rights in Asia Aligns Well with US Strategic Interests
...policy would be problematic. Nowhere is this more evidently true than in the strategic hub of Asia. The far-flung continent was a priority of President Barack Obama, whose famous “pivot to Asia” included “six key lines of action”: strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening our working relationships with emerging powers, including with China; engaging with regional multilateral institutions; expanding trade and investment; forging a broad-based military presence; and advancing democracy and human rights. Clearly, promoting human rights was considered integral to a broader, and interconnected, nucleus of US strategic interests in...02 May A Hallmark Day on the Calendar of History
The best lines in President Obama’s speech last night were at the beginning: It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction....09 Nov I Wasn’t Paying Attention When the Wall Came Down
...away again. It was very hard for me to believe that this was actually real and tangible, and not something so fragile that a little puff could bring the house of cards down. (I’m not sure if Philip Alston remembers, but we had a conversation on almost exactly those lines, at a human rights conference organized by Philip and Henry Steiner, with me as administrative assistant, on Crete earlier that summer, sitting out on the beach of a Cretan monastery and positively slathered with sunblock.) So I wish I had...
05 Oct ‘Barbie’: How a Film has Reignited the Debate About China’s Claims to Sovereignty in the South China Sea
...South China Sea,’ stating that: ‘[We Hereby] Reaffirm our respect for and commitment to the safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.’ Momentarily, however, China-ASEAN negotiations on a ‘Code of Conduct in the South China Sea’ have stalled; nevertheless, guidelines to accelerate them were agreed on 13 July 2023. ‘Blurred Lines’ Meanwhile, the Philippines has approved the release of ‘Barbie.’ The Philippine Movie and Television Review and Classification Board has concluded that the film does...05 Aug Medellin: Did Texas Cut a Deal With Mexico?
...by state law quirks that deprive Governor Rick Perry of the final say. On the other side, for all its bluster along the lines of “we didn’t sign no treaty,” Texas understands that the Avena controversy hasn’t been good for the state’s global image. So this represents the putative compromise. A slender reed of evidence for a deal: the Mexican government is MIA in all the press reports on Medellin’s impending execution. It appears not to be complaining publicly about the clear violation an IL obligation. If there were some...27 Aug Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About TWAIL (But Were Afraid to Ask)
...significant, both for the TWAIL movement and international law reformers in general. In the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas agreement (ALBA) we find a platform from which TWAIL might transcend its reactive nature and develop a proactive character. Building on a practical prototype that produced a participatory model of democracy and a progressive model of social relations, we argue that ALBA’s philosophy and substantive workings present the structure needed for the reinvention of international law along similarly equitable lines; from a formal regulatory regime to a substantive emancipatory paradigm, from...02 Nov Assessing the ICJ: Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round
...to take an oath to “believe in the ICJ” (as Julian also implied) or anything along those lines. And I am somewhat amazed that Julian could read my post and think that. Nice straw man maneuver, but let’s stick to the actual issues. My question remains: to what end are Julian’s arguments? There are many possible criticisms of the ICJ from the left, right, and center. For example, some may argue that the ICJ takes on too many politically contentious issues (like the Israeli Security Barrier case), while others criticize...