In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Kevin Jon Heller

21 Jul

As frustration with the Bush administration's War on Transparency continues to mount, scholars and pundits are beginning to suggest that the U.S. should think about creating a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the administration's many crimes.  Nicholas Kristof is one example. Richard Clarke is another.  And a third is Katherine Tiedemann, writing in The American Strategist: The South...

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19 Jul

It's been a while since I wrote about Luis Posada Carriles, former CIA asset and admitted terrorist, who currently walks the streets of Miami as a free man due to the Bush administration's disinterest in punishing terrorism committed against countries the US doesn't like. Fortunately, Posada Carriles may not be free much longer, thanks to a decision by the Panamanian Supreme...

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18 Jul

I noted a few days ago that the Security Council is unlikely to pass a resolution deferring the Prosecutor's investigation of Bashir, given the number of non-permanent and permanent members of the Council who are supporters of the ICC.  I think that position is even more sound in light of the European Union's promise today -- on the 10th anniversary...

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17 Jul

The following is a guest post by Aaron Zelinksy, a member of the Yale Law School Class of 2010. Wednesday marked the historic transfer of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners at the Lebanese border. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, proclaimed that he was “very much encouraged by the exchange of prisoners” and that he hoped it would be...

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16 Jul

Here's a surprise -- China opposes indicting Bashir: China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing maintains friendly relations with Sudan and is deeply concerned and worried about the charges. He says the situation in the Darfur region is at a sensitive and critical moment. He says China hopes all sides can resolve their differences through consultation and avoid adding complications...

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16 Jul

This is a fascinating story: the State Department, the Iranian government, and the NBA have joined forces to arrange for the Iranian men's basketball team to train and play next week against NBA teams in Salt Lake City: Iran will take part in the Rocky Mountain Revue, the Utah-hosted summer league and will play four games. The team will also observe...

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16 Jul

Okay, I really, really hate the Wallabies.  But not this much: The United States planned to gas Australian troops in experiments with two of the most lethal nerve gases ever devised, newly declassified files have revealed. Previously top secret documents have shown that even as the world was outlawing chemical weapons at the height of the Cold War, Washington sought Canberra's permission...

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14 Jul

The Sudanese government is not very happy with the Prosecutor's decision to indict Bashir.  Indeed, Sudan's ambassador to the UN has said that the government intends to ask the Security Council to block the prosecution, describing any attempt to arrest Bashir as "an act of war." Such belligerent rhetoric is expected from such a belligerent regime.  Many opponents of the Sudanese...

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14 Jul

I have been going back-and-forth with myself about the wisdom of indicting Bashir for genocide.  I continue to believe that the move is a risky one in the short term, given the likelihood that the Sudanese government will respond to the indictment with violence against the peacekeepers and the humanitarian workers in the country.   Nevertheless, I find the following defense...

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13 Jul

I am grateful to be associated with this blog in so many ways: personally, because of my wonderful co-bloggers and our many invited guests; intellectually, because the blog allows me to try out new ideas and forces me to keep up with what is happening in the world; and -- yes -- professionally, because the blog exposes my ideas, often...

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11 Jul

I mentioned last month that the ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, was considering bringing genocide charges against Sudanese officials far more senior than Ahmed Haroun, the country's "humanitarian affairs" minister. Well, he's now decided to do exactly that — and his target is no other than Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the President of Sudan himself:The chief prosecutor of the Internationals Criminal...

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10 Jul

Every week, an Australian show called The Gruen Transfer asks two advertising companies to compete with each other to sell the unsellable. This week's challenge: create a TV ad to whip up support in Oz for a military invasion of New Zealand. One of the ads is okay — but this one had me laughing so hard there...

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