A report published last week by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission paints a bleak picture of the challenges facing post-conflict justice in that country. According to the report, 70 percent of survey respondents said they had been victims of what could be called a crime against humanity. Interestingly, however, only 40 percent of survey respondents favored prosecution of war...
I wanted to return, briefly, to last week's discussion of Darfur. As Julian noted, the UN report concluded that, while crimes against humanity have occurred and should be referred to the ICC, the atrocities do not meet the definition of genocide under international law. Lay observers are scratching their heads over the legal distinction between certain criminal "acts committed with...
It was reported today that the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq was unable to account for $8.8 billion -- yes, that's BILLION -- in assistance money spent in the first year following the US invasion. To put the dollar amounts in perspective, that's more than twice the annual operating budget for the UN and almost $2 billion more than...
James Traub published this excellent essay in yesterday's NYTimes magazine discussing military involvement in humanitarian activities, an issue I addressed in this previous post. His main point is a riposte to Joseph Nye's theory of "soft power," the notion that the United States projects it power not simply through the "hard power" of coercive military and economic strength, but also...
Andreas Paulus has a fair point that Judge Green's decision can be read as a significant defeat for the government's core arguments on the legality of the Guantanamo detentions and the government's own reading of the Rasul case. But there are elements of the decision that may deflate the hopes of lawyers planning on further tort cases on behalf of...
Julian -- What we don't know -- about the full extent of the United States' abuse and/or torture of detainees and rendition of detainees to third countries -- is a lot. For this reason, I have specifically avoided weighing in on some of the broader questions about compliance with the Torture Convention, at least until I have read the government reports...
As we solemnly commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, it is worth noting that earlier this week the United Nations General Assembly -- for the first time in the history of that organization -- held a special session in remembrance of the Holocaust. For an organization that three decades ago passed a resolution equating Zionism with racism,...
Larry Helfer and Allison Danner are hosting an International Law Roundtable this weekend, January 28-29, at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville. Here's the schedule: Friday January 28, 2005 8:30-9:40 am ...
Julian noted Jack Goldsmith's op ed in yesterday's Washington Post arguing that the US should support a Security Council referral of the Darfur genocide to the ICC, a position which Human Rights Watch and others support. I admire Goldsmith's attempt to bridge the gap between the ICC supporters and opponents, but I have a slightly different take on what US...
Criticism of the humanitarian response to the tsunami in South Asia has shifted from early accusations of inadequate relief flows to concerns that donor nations, rebel groups, and affected governments are playing politics with relief efforts. Reports that the US is (and arguments that it should be) using its relief effort to prosecute the war on terror can be found...
We plan to publicize important academic colloquia on international law as we learn about them. To get us started, I am including a link to the Northwestern Law School's International Law Colloquium for Spring 2005. Thanks to Ken Abbot and John McGinnis for the information. A permanent list of upcoming symposia and events will be added to the right side...
This week the Legal Affairs Debate Club hosted an interesting discussion between Eric Posner and Oona Hathaway on the value of international law. The central issue explored: If international courts and tribunals have been such a failure, why do states keep creating and joining them? ...
