The more things change, the more things stay the same -- at least with this administration: He had become the most vocal opponent of the trial of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr, taking on a position more akin to politician than lawyer and launching a two-year public and media campaign that landed him on the front pages of newspapers and inside...
It's not exactly international law, but he was my professor at CU -- one of the very best I ever had -- and, in order to rule in his favor, the jury had to find that a majority of the Regents used his infamous 9/11 essay as a "substantial or motivating factor" in the decision to fire him. So I...
I know I shouldn't let mainstream American conservatives' ignorance of international law bother me, but it does. Today's example: The United States is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court, and Spanish judge and prosecutor Baltasar Garzon is a good reason why. He is considering a lawsuit by lawyers for human rights groups seeking the arrest and extradition of six former...
I recently posted an invite to a Chatham House international law discussion group about the new African Court on Human Rights. The event was obviously a rousing success, as the following report by Sonya Sceats indicates: Last Monday night (23 March 2009) at Chatham House we were very privileged to host a fascinating discussion about Africa's new regional human rights court,...
Oy vey iz mir. The blogosphere is positively abuzz (see here and here) with the news that the ICTY Trial Chamber has used my post about meeting Dr. Karadzic to supports its recent decision that he speaks English for purposes of the Statute and Rules of the Tribunal, a decision that relieves the Prosecution of the obligation to translate its...
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting's article today about Darfur is entitled "Darfuris' Mixed Feelings Over Bashir Warrant." When I first saw the title, I thought that the article was going to discuss Darfuris who believe that the warrant will undermine the possibility of a lasting peace in the region. My bad: “We are really very happy about the arrest...
In response to my previous posts on the correct interpretation of Article 58, Alex de Waal asked three lawyers to answer the following two questions: 1. Did the Pre-Trial Chamber misinterpret Article 58's "reasonable grounds" standard? 2. If so, does the Prosecution Application establish reasonable grounds to believe Bashir is responsible for genocide? It's an interesting survey. Two of the three lawyers agreed...
It's called The Reckoning, and although I have not had a chance to see it yet -- like New Zealand, Australia lags embarrassingly behind the Northern Hemisphere in getting movies, especially documentaries -- I've heard nothing but good things. It even made Sundance, a tremendous accomplishment for any documentary. Here is the synopsis: Late in the 20th century, in response to...
I knew I wasn't alone in arguing that Bashir deserves to be punished for his crimes: Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Zawahiri urged the people of Sudan to prepare for guerrilla war and for President Omar al-Beshir to "repent," in an Internet video message released on Tuesday. Zawahiri said Beshir's regime is "reaping what it sowed," in reference to the International Criminal Court...
I have received a number of emails from regulars complaining that their comments are being moderated. They are, but not on the basis of their content. Our comment system automatically flags any comment that contains a hyperlink, because spam comments always contain them. We then have to manually approve the non-spam comments, which we try to do as soon as...
At their most recent meeting, the judges of the ICC rearranged the composition of the Court's three Divisions. The new composition is as follows: The judges assigned to the Pre-Trial Division are: Judge Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany), Second Vice-President of the Court; Judge Sylvia Steiner (Brazil); Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova (Bulgaria); Judge Fumiko Saiga (Japan); Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Botswana); and Judge Cuno...
I have been reading Roger's fascinating missives from Rwanda with great interest and agree with much of what he has to say. But I have to demur from the claim that "Kagame is personally invested in making Rwanda a country that is committed to reconciliation, human rights and self-sufficiency." Self-sufficiency, perhaps -- there is no question that Rwanda has experienced...
