Author: Kevin Jon Heller

I have ignored Obama's refusal to take concrete steps to end formal discrimination against gays and lesbians, because it's not really the subject of this blog.  But I have followed his gradual abandonment of his campaign promise to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" with increasing concern.  It seems clear that he has no real stomach for taking on the military...

Botswana has refused to go along with the AU resolution that -- in theory -- guarantees Bashir safe travel around Africa: Botswana says it will not abide by an African Union (AU) decision to ignore an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir. Countries signed up to the ICC have a duty to help arrest...

I expect sloppy reporting from the traditional media, but not from the normally excellent FP Passport. So I was surprised to read the following in a post by Michael Wilkerson implying that the ICC has accomplished almost nothing: But with so much scorn and a suspect arrested for only one of its outstanding warrants -- former Congo rebel commander Jean-Pierre...

Robert Petit, the International Co-Prosecutor, is resigning effective September 1: In a statement, Robert Petit said he would be stepping down as of 1 September for personal and family reasons. “It has been the greatest privilege of my career to have the opportunity to bring some justice to the victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge,” he said. “I remain convinced...

Apparently, that bastion of freedom and human rights didn't get the memo that Holmes' infamous comment in Buck v. Bell -- that "three generations of imbeciles are enough" -- isn't exactly viewed as a shining moment in US constitutional jurisprudence: Rwanda is being urged to drop a draft law which would forcibly sterilise people who are mentally disabled. US-based campaign group Human...

After more than a decade of legal wrangling, Chile has finally ratified the Rome Statute.  Chile's accession means that every country in South America is now a member of the ICC -- a significant accomplishment. Congratulations, Chile!...

I have posted a new essay on SSRN: "Completion Strategies and the Office of the Prosecutor."  The essay is my contribution to a multi-year research workshop at Catholic University Leuven on the history of the prosecutor in international criminal law; the workshop will culminate in a book to be published by Oxford in 2010.  Here is the abstract: With the exception...

A quick update on the OTP's efforts to include genocide charges in Bashir's arrest warrant.  Pre-Trial Chamber I has now granted leave to appeal the issue I've discussed before -- whether it misunderstood Article 58's "reasonable grounds" requirement when it rejected the genocide charges. It's a very defensive decision, almost certainly written by Judge Steiner, who is the only holdover from...

Omri Casspi has become the first Israeli basketball player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft.  Casspi was drafted #23 by the Sacramento Kings, which also feature players from Spain (Sergio Rodriguez), Argentina (Andres Nocioni), and Slovenia (Beno Udrih). Basketball fans know that Casspi's Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, is one of the world's best.  The team...

Saree Makdisi, a professor of comparative literature at UCLA and an old friend from the literature program at Duke, has a superb editorial in today's Los Angeles Times about the media's -- and thus our -- use of language concerning Israel and Palestine.  Here's a taste: In the U.S., discussion of Palestinian politicians and political movements often relies on a spectrum...

With the number of the exonerated now at 240, giving prisoners the right to prove their innocence through DNA testing would risk “unnecessarily overthrowing the established system of criminal justice.” It might lead to a reasonably accurate one....