Search: self-defense
03 Feb A Native American Mutual Defense Treaty Against Tar Sands Projects
...as sovereign nations, call upon the Canadian and United States governments to respect our decision to reject tar sands projects that impact our sacred sites and homelands; to call upon the Canadian and United States governments to immediately halt and deny approval for pending tar sands projects because they threaten the soil, water, air, sacred sites, and our ways of life; and, confirm that any such approval would violate our ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities. Article VII then goes on to establish a mutual defense commitment of sorts, wherein the...22 Mar Defense Attorney Problems at the Anfal Trial — and Other Saddam News
Mohammad Al-Oraibi, the presiding judge at the Anfal trial, has ordered the arrest of one of the defense attorneys, Badie Arif Ezzat, for criminal contempt of court. The charges stem from Ezzat’s criticism of the Dujail trial on Iraqi television, which Judge Al-Oraibi apparently believed was directed at the Anfal trial. Ezzat could face seven years imprisonment if convicted. Interestingly, the U.S. seems to have openly taken Ezzat’s side in the dispute: The Sunday session of the trial of six Saddam Hussein officials accused of crimes against humanity was canceled...
27 Oct Lafarge on Trial: Cementing Accountability
...will be most contested? And why would it be a mistake to frame this case solely through the lens of countering terrorism? Key Claims by the Defense Against Charges of Financing Terrorism in this Case The French Criminal code provides in article 421-2-2 “The act of financing a terrorist enterprise also constitutes an act of terrorism when it involves the provision, collection, or management of funds, assets, or any kind of property, or the offering of advice for such purposes, with the intention that these funds, assets, or property be...15 Dec Why I Am Advising Radovan Karadzic (Updated)
...case was met during my few days at the Austrian Human Rights Film Festival with either stony silence or (more commonly) open hostility. It hasn’t been a pleasant response — so why do I do it? There are many answers. The first is the one that defense attorneys always use, which is no less true for that fact: every defendant, even one accused of committing horrific international crimes, needs a good defense. Indeed, the more horrific the accusations, the greater that need. Everyone involved in the criminal justice system knows...06 Mar ICTR Defense Attorney Wanted for Genocide
A dispute is brewing between the Rwandan government and the ICTR over the fact that one of the Tribunal’s appointed defense attorneys is himself on Rwanda’s “most wanted” list of genocide suspects. The attorney, Callixte Gakwaya, is counsel for Yusuf Munyakazi, a former businessman who is accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Cyangugu and neighbouring Kibuye in 1994. The Rwandan government’s representative to the ICTR, Aloys Mutabingwa, claims ignorance of how Gakwaya’s ended up employed by the Tribunal: “We are surprised because the ICTR was aware that...10 Jan Israel’s Shifting Defense of Its Attack on the UN School (Updated Again)
...military (violent) measures these social movements have resorted to as a result of the long-standing denial of the international legal right to collective self-determination possessed by Palestinians. For not only are such characterizations self-defeating, they serve to hide and distort more than reveal and inform. Patrick S. O'Donnell The last sentence should have read: "For whatever truth they contain and feebly express, such characterizations are, in the end, self-defeating, as they serve to hide and distort more than reveal and inform. David Bernstein leaders and members (e.g., Professor Bernstein’s telling...
07 Sep BHR Symposium: Global Supply Chains–Where Art Thou in the BHR Treaty?
defense is qualified by Article 8.8, a new provision stating that ‘Human rights due diligence shall not automatically absolve’ a business from liability. Rather, a court (or competent authority) will decide on liability ‘after an examination of compliance with applicable human rights due diligence standards.’ What does this mean? That a business whose HRDD complies with applicable standards has an automatic defense? Or not? And what are those applicable HRDD standards? Article 8.8 is indicating that the mere fact of conducting HRDD cannot be used as a safe harbour for...31 May VJIL Symposium: Jason Webb Yackee Responds to Bjorklund/Litwin and Wong
...is already a viable “corruption defense,” and also that it might be useful to better specify the contours of the defense through explicitly corruption-related treaty language. Where we primarily differ is on the desirable contours of the defense. My scheme is self-consciously pro-state. It imposes serious consequences on the investor who engages in corruption. It is, as Professor Bjorklund accurately points out, supply-side in its focus, just as are the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and its non-U.S. equivalents. This supply-side focus bothers Professors Wong and Bjorklund. It seems unfair...
16 Mar Possible Draft of a Framework Agreement on the Restoration of Peaceful Relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation
...powers of local self-government at municipal level within Luhansk and Donetsk, to be established in Ukrainian law. Units of local self-government may exercise their powers in cooperation with one another if they so choose, subject to compliance with the Organic Law on the Special Status. (8) As provided in Annex III, the drafting process of the Organic Law on the Special Status of Luhansk and Donetsk shall be conducted by a Commission, consisting of five representatives of the government of Ukraine and five representatives each of the two principal language...