Search: extraterritorial sanctions

...of Genocide; (c) Cease aiding or assisting in the commission of violations of international law, including by reviewing all relationships with Israel, such as trade, aid and assistance and arms transfers, and ending direct and indirect financial support for illegal settlements, including through tax-deductible donations; (d) Conduct investigations under domestic law or universal jurisdiction to hold accountable the perpetrators of crimes under international law, grave human rights violations and abuses in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including those identified in the present report, including through criminal prosecutions and sanctions....

UN is examining claims that China broke sanctions against North Korea. South Sudan has become the International Monetary Fund’s 188th member. Sudan has threatened war against South Sudan. Spain wants the EU to file a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint against Argentina for nationalizing 51% of Spain’s Repsol’s stake in oil company YPF. The US has condemned the nationalization. Colombia has sent a letter to the WTO complaining about Argentina’s import restrictions. The ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is in Libya to investigate war crimes. The UK is chairing a conference...

...on the international plane may be categorized as a unilateral act.” Moreover, a unilateral declaration must be issued by authorized officials explicitly and publicly. As established in international law, foreign ministers’ statements, by virtue of their functions, may create obligations for their respective countries. The US Secretary of State has explicitly maintained in the letter that: “we remain fully committed to the sanctions lifting provided for under JCPOA.” Giving assurance to his Iranian counterpart, John Kerry affirmed the US intention to JCPOA commitments. In another part of the letter, he...

...non grata. Interestingly, Belgium can’t expel the Syrian ambassador, because he is also ambassador to the EU and there is no agreement on diplomatic sanctions against Syria within the EU. Foreign Policy has more on what expelling a diplomat entails and the five worst atrocities of the Syrian uprising. Two Danish brothers of Somali origin have been arrested in Denmark connected with allegedly planning an al-Shebab terrorist plot. A former Rwandan school teacher living in Canada pleaded not guilty yesterday to involvement in the Rwandan Genocide; his charges are one...

...argued elsewhere, and despite the fact that, in my view, coups d’etat can never be attributed to the states because authors of coups cannot be acting in the capacity of an organ of the state, one cannot turn a blind eye to the contemporary systematic practice whereby putschists almost always fail to secure recognition — unless they commit themselves to organize free and fair elections — and undergo a wide range of sanctions. Putschists most of the time fall short of being recognized and are subject to sanctions, but that...

...action — such as imposing the sanctions that were finally put in place last night — pending the evacuation from Libya of U.S. citizens, U.S. diplomats in particular. As always, safety of U.S. citizens is said to be the highest priority in such unstable situations. Apparently, the U.S. embassy compound in Tripoli is poorly secured, with no Marine guards in place to defend. (Vulnerability of nationals in Libya is also now being floated as a reason why other countries are not yet on board with UN sanctions.) That’s a tough...

...sanctions on the enhanced individuals under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the UN Charter would have achieved the same (or even better) result – the writers could even have written in a wholly new enjoyable sanctions regime. But going down this rabbit hole, while immensely entertaining to lawyers, betrays an expectation that popular culture must accurately reflect the world – and by extension, the legal system it inhabits. Other commentators on this topic have correctly identified that works of popular culture are produced mainly to entertain mass audiences, make a...

...Follow-up to the Commission’s Report The Commission’s report is far from gathering dust. Upon its receipt, the Human Rights Council denounced the violations and resolved that the General Assembly should consider submitting the report to the Security Council for “appropriate action”, including possible referral of North Korea to “the appropriate international criminal justice mechanism, and consideration of the scope for effective targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible for crimes against humanity”. The General Assembly has also paid attention to the Commission’s report. It was discussed during...

Georgia’s President Mikhal Saakashvili has conceded defeated in Monday’s parliamentary elections. Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have softened his stance on military action against Iran, allowing more space for sanctions to take effect until at least mid-2013. The territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands is blamed for the decision of major Chinese banks to pull out of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings that are scheduled to take place in Tokyo next week. Ralls Corp, a company owned by two Chinese nationals, has sued President Obama after he invoked national...

...9/11 caused outrage among intellectuals precisely because it proved so successful: preventing further attacks on the United States, eliminating Osama bin Laden and the al Qaedaleadership, and beginning the overthrow of vicious authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. The Bush administration rejected the ineffectual internationalnetwork of activists, rights groups and courts in favor of a robust unilateral response that drew upon the traditional sources of state power, including diplomacy, economic sanctions and military force. Funny thing is, I don’t know who supposedly argued that the U.S. must never act unilaterally...

...threat of effective sanctions (article 6.2.).  There is an opportunity in this development: whereas the weight of large corporations in an increasingly globalised world is often seen as a threat, it could potentially become a force for the good, if the most influential of these actors effectively must use their leverage on suppliers and business partners and within the multinational groups they belong to to improve human rights compliance.  But there is also a risk. Due diligence should not degrade into a box-ticking exercise, shielding companies from any form of...

...universal jurisdiction mechanisms to pursue accountability through judicial means have been, as noted by Azarova and Mariniello, “thwarted by political pressures and legislative amendments to ensure political vetting.” In particular, ongoing pressure from the United States has undermined the viability of domestic courts as vehicles for international justice for Palestinians. It would appear that the US intends to continue to shield Israeli perpetrators from accountability, as evidenced by continued US sanctions on key members of ICC staff, including the Prosecutor, through the widely-condemned Executive Order 13928. This is the landscape...