Search: extraterritorial sanctions

...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,...

...Kingdom, defense minister Michael Fallon said on Tuesday, as he defended the killing of a British Islamic State fighter; Prime Minister Cameron told parliament on Monday that he had approved an air strike against a vehicle carrying a British jihadist in Syria who he said was plotting attacks against Britain. The European Commission announced a 500 million euro ($557 million) package of measures on Monday to provide relief for farmers stung by slumping prices, triggered partly by the loss of exports to Russia due to EU sanctions against the country....

...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,...

...Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to a natural law approach, with all the attendant problems associated therewith. I argue that: “The Court’s references to comparative experiences are best understood as objective signposts in the Court’s search for constitutional limits grounded in natural law…. If Glucksberg defines the objective limitations on substantive due process, Roper defines the objective limitations on cruel and unusual punishment. It prohibits excessive sanctions based on the “objective indicia of [a national] consensus” confirmed by “fundamental rights” affirmed by “other nations.”… The difference of course is that Glucksberg looks...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East Iran and six world powers clinched a deal to curb the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider Middle East war, though a “tough road ahead” awaits those working to turn the interim accord into a comprehensive agreement. Duncan weighed in with his thoughts here. Rebels led by al Qaeda-linked fighters have seized Syria’s largest oilfield, cutting...