Opinio Juris » weekday news wrap w09/13

Weekday News Wrap: Friday, March 1, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

Ex-Yugoslav army leader Momcilo Perisic was acquitted on appeal at the ICTY yesterday.
After the sentencing to death of Jamaat e-Islami in Bangladesh, deadly clashes broke out, where at least 30 were killed and more than 200 injured.
The UN is accused of a cover-up in a humanitarian mission for a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe in 2008 that cost some 4,000 lives; the information was allegedly held back in order not to upset President Robert Mugabe.
Major Western donors have stepped up efforts to increase aid to Somalia and have also praised recent rebuilding efforts.
Despite the most recent nuclear test by North Korea, China is moving ahead with its plans to establish a North Korea trade zone.
The ruling on compelling the United States to hand over evidence against Kim Dotcom, accused of mass copyright infringement, money laundering and internet piracy, has been overturned by the court of appeal in New Zealand.
In case you were hoping to submit public comment to proposed changes to the IAHCR, the deadline is today.
In light of Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, Esquire has a post about why the drones used by the US are just a sideshow.

March 1st, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/03/01/weekday-news-wrap-friday-march-1-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, February 27, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

Western powers have said that Iran is considering their offer of lifting some financial sanctions in return for a scaled-back nuclear program from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia has purchased a large amount of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to rebel forces in Syria.
Fighting rages on in Syria, with battles nearing a 12th-century mosque in Aleppo, threatening to further damage the historic structure.
Symantec Corp researchers have found that the Stuxnet virus that was deployed against Iran began in November 2007, two years earlier than previously thought.
An Egyptian court has ruled that all tunnels between Egypt and Gaza must be destroyed, removing a route for smuggling weapons but also a lifeline for Palestinians as an estimated 30% of the goods that come into Gaza arrives via these tunnels.
A district court in The Hague approved the extradition of al-Qaeda suspect Sabir Khan to the United States.
The British government sought to restrict KGB inquest disclosures in the case of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned in London in 2006. Ben Emmerson, the lawyer for Litvinenko’s family, has accused the UK government of a cover-up of evidence in order to improve British-Russian ties.
In an open letter, a group of UK MPs and Lords have called on the UK government, the G8 and the UN to take action on the human rights abuse in Congo.
The WTO has released the Panel decision on Chinese anti-dumping duties on EU X-ray scanners.
Justice in Conflict has a post about the relationship of R2P and the ICC.

February 27th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/27/weekday-news-wrap-wednesday-february-27-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, February 26, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

The Associated Press has released a translation of a jihadist instruction manual (.pdf) of how to avoid being a victim of a drone strike found in a pile of garbage in Timbuktu, Mali.
As thousands mourn the death of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, fears of a revolt grow. The U.N. has called for an investigation into the death reportedly caused by torture.
A rocket has been sent from the Gaza strip into Southern Israel.
Syria’s Foreign Minister has said in Moscow that the Syrian government is willing to talk, even to armed opposition groups while the rebels meanwhile have reportedly changed their tune, and are now willing again to participate in talks in Rome.
US Senators have written to Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the EU Council, asking to do more to prevent use of European Central Bank accounts by Iran’s regime to circumvent US and EU sanctions.
If Iran will curb its nuclear program, major powers will offer reduced financial santions later this week in talks in Kazakhstan.
The BBC reports that its English-language radio broadcasts are being jammed in China, suggesting the Chinese authorities are behind the disruption.
Polish prosecutors dropped charges against the former Polish intelligence chief connected with allegaions of the CIA’s secret prison in Poland used for al-Qaeda suspects.
The trial against BP and other companies connected with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began this week.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reiterated his desire for a global moratorium on the death penalty yesterday.
UK newspapers are challenging the decision of the government to invoke national security and international relations reasons when withholding evidence from the inquest into the 2006 polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
China’s new leader has promised to aim for peaceful relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
Cuba’s President Raul Castro has been re-elected for his final term, and has appointed a political heir who will most likely become the first Cuban leader born after the revolution.
Over at the Armed Groups and International Law blog, the authors have posted another Legal Roundup.

February 26th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | 1 Comment » http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/26/weekday-news-wrap-tuesday-february-26-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Monday, February 25, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

South Korea has inaugurated its first female president, Park Guen-Hye, who now faces regional tensions amid North Korea’s nuclear testing. In one of her first moves as president, she demanded an end to nuclear ambitions by North Korea.
Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, has expelled US special forces from the key battleground Wardak province, because, according to Karzai’s spokesperson, some US soldiers were found to have recently tortured or killed innocent people.
African Union leaders signed a UN brokered agreement over the weekend aimed at peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Syrian opposition has decided to boycott international talks, saying that the world has turned its back on the war-torn nation and calling the lack of international action “shameful.”
The US has sent 100 troops to Niger to construct a drone base from which Predator drones will operate.
In other drone news, a recent study found that drone pilots are susceptible to the same bouts of depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety as pilots of manned aircraft deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Dozens of people have been killed in renewed tribal battles in North Darfur.
Palestinian officials have accused Israelis of torturing a Palestinian prisoner held in Hebron to death; Israeli officials have said the autopsy results were preliminary and inconclusive to tell. Around 3,000 Palestinian inmates have gone on a one-day hunger-strike in protest.

February 25th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/25/weekday-news-wrap-monday-february-25-2013/ |