Search: self-defense
19 Sep John Yoo’s Defense of the NSA Program, Part II
...was quite different from what is now being reported in the press. I would argue that there were omissions of consequence.” At his briefing in the White House Situation Room, Daschle was forbidden to take notes, bring staff or speak with anyone about what he had been told. “You’re so disadvantaged,” Daschle says. “They know so much more than you do. You don’t even know what questions to ask.” Moreover, the secrecy defense presumes that the Bush administration kept the NSA program secret because it believed that was the only...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...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...
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...