Search: extraterritorial sanctions

...ultimately complement the existing legal order, and is therefore “unlikely to undo the rules, norms, and structures that exist today.” Yet China’s greater legal role arguably now enables rather than constrains incentives to carve out zones of non-law in the maritime domain that are insulated against legal sanctions. Increasing geolegal power manifests as pressure on states to accede to China’s will, including its preference to resolve disputes bilaterally rather than through legal institutions. In 2012 the Philippines deployed navel assets to protect the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which provoked Chinese economic...

...group of experts appointed by the security council, said it had “found substantial evidence attesting to support from Rwandan officials to armed groups operating in the eastern DRC”, including shipping weapons and money to M23 in breach of a UN arms embargo and other sanctions. “Since the earliest stages of its inception, the group documented a systematic pattern of military and political support provided to the M23 rebellion by Rwandan authorities,” it said. The report said the Rwandan government gave “direct assistance in the creation of M23 through the transport...

...armed conflict with Al Qaeda and associated forces. Rather, he explained, the ICRC characterizes the situation as a “multifaceted fight against terrorism,” a fight whose methods range from financial sanctions, on one end of the spectrum, to the use of armed force, at the other. While there may be localized armed conflicts in places where military force is used, Kellenberger warned against the overly promiscuous application of international humanitarian law (IHL). He noted pointedly that IHL rules are less protective than the rules that would otherwise apply (which, I should...

...The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 reads: Art. 146. The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention defined in the following Article… Art.147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious...

...by his recent and vocal bout of almost paranoid hysteria. He has admonished the ICC as “anti-Semitic” which is both unhinged and non-sensical, as evidenced by a complete lack of evidence backing up this assertion and his own cozying up with anti-Semitic political leaders to undermine the Court. He has encouraged citizens of democracies to pressure their governments to issue sanctions against the Court, “its officials, its prosecutors, everyone.” Along with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Netanyahu stooped to the depths of politicizing the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and...

...African Constitutional Court in a landmark universal jurisdiction case involving alleged crimes against humanity committed in Zimbabwe in 2007. Tyler Cullis, meanwhile, reviewed to what extent the US would be legally and politically able to ease sanctions against Iran as part of a nuclear deal. In the last guest post of the week, Gabor Rona commented on the recent Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence case on detention in a non-international armed conflict. Finally, Deborah shared her views on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearings on the AUMF, and as...

...attacks. The US will move cautiously to ease some of its economic sanctions on Myanmar. The CIA reports that Iran has expanded its nuclear work in 2011. No venue has been decided yet for the Iran nuclear talks due to start on April 13, with Iran now suggesting that the talks could take place in Beijing, Beirut, Baghdad or even Damascus. Violence has erupted in Athens, after a pensioner committed suicide near the Parliament. The WTO Appellate Body held that the US ban on clove cigarettes is discriminatory because menthol...

...is a growing emphasis on the management of natural resources like oil, timber and diamonds. In Iraq, oil been a key issue in the constitutional debate; in many African countries it has been the source of increasingly sophisticated Security Council sanctions regimes that have resulted in market regulation schemes (which I will discuss in a forthcoming post). This emphasis on regulation is affecting the core content the right to permanent sovereignty over natural resources, which many non-OECD countries have claimed is a jus cogens norm. Third, because economic development helps...

...the countries that offer near-universal healthcare. Cyprus has denied media reports that it had briefly arrested Iran’s foreign minister for violation of an EU travel ban when he arrived at Nicosia International Airport to meet with the Cypriot President. The US has granted exemptions to China and Singapore from financial sanctions over oil trade with Iran. The EU has signed a free trade agreement with Peru and Colombia. Following difficult negotiations, the eurozone leaders have agreed on a deal to bailout banks and develop a eurozone supervisory regime for banks,...

...objectives are all valid and important. But is questionable whether they can be achieved best through a broadening of the options for military force. International law offers alternative paths to the use of force to achieve rationales, such as accountability, deterrence or sanctioning of jus in bello violations, i.e. preventive diplomacy, lawful countermeasures, international criminal justice, sanctions etc. Broadening the categories of the use of forces has trade-offs. It weakens these options and their underlying regimes (e.g. non-coercive and non-violent response measures under Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter,...

...African Union, the country had made significant progress toward political pluralism, but parties were still “not able to operate freely” and faced legal sanctions if accused of engaging in divisive acts. The government’s continuing campaign against divisionism discouraged debate or criticism of the government and resulted in brief detentions and the holding of one political prisoner, former minister Ntakarutinka. All political organizations were constitutionally required to join the Forum for Political Organizations, which continued to limit competitive political pluralism, according to the 2006 APRM report. Despite a June 2007 law...

The US and Israel are set to hold a joint missile exercise later this month, displaying their close cooperation in the face of Iran’s nuclear program development. Both Uganda and Rwanda have denied involvement with rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and call recent allegations by the UN “rubbish.” Russia has criticized the European Union for the recent sanctions it placed on Iran and called for a fresh round of talks as soon as possible. In a rare show of unity, Iran and Turkey have expressed support for...