According this report out of Australia, in early July Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks was granted UK citizenship only to be stripped of the status the very next day. The British courts had confirmed Hicks' claim to the British tie through his London-born mother. Hicks apparently hoped that British citizenship would lead to his release (as has been...
On behalf of all of us at Opinio Juris, I am delighted to announce that Professor Peter Spiro has accepted our invitation to become a permanent contributor to the blog. As anyone who followed his (remarkably prolific) guest stint knows, Peter brings a wealth of experience and insight to blogging and has expertise in areas of law that complement...
Reuters has a short but fascinating article on Nazi techniques for disseminating coded messages during WW II, including hiding morse code in drawings of fashion models:Nazi agents relayed sensitive military information using the dots and dashes of Morse code incorporated in the drawings. They posted the letters to their handlers, hoping that counterespionage experts would be fooled by the seemingly innocent...
The Australian is reporting that Tanzanian police have arrested Callixte Gakwaya, a defence attorney at the ICTR, on suspicion of involvement in Rwanda's 1994 genocide."He was arrested yesterday. He is now in custody,'' regional police commander Basilio Matei said. According to the arrest warrant, Gakwaya - who leads the defence team of a genocide suspect whose case comes up before the...
According to these stories from the New York Times and the Washington Times, the US is finding that international assistance to Lebanon (including American) almost always ends up going through the hands of Hezbollah because Hezbollah effectively controls all services in south Lebanon. Both stories speak about the issue as a political inconvenience. However, if, indeed, it is true that...
Professor Ken Anderson has an interesting short piece in the New York Times magazine. He argues that regardless of your political persuasion, there is merit in having counterterrorism policy made through Congressional legislation. Irrespective of where you come down in the debate on the war on terror — including whether it should even be conceived of as a...
The Daily Yomiuri Online is reporting that Japan intends to join the ICC in 2007. The article quotes a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying that the government made the decision "partly because the government aims to participate in the review of the treaty and an election of judges to be held in 2009." If the report is correct, it's...
That thud you hear is the collapse of Security Council Resolution 1696 (2006). Resolution 1696, adopted July 31, specifically invoked Chapter VII in order to demand that Iran stop uranium enrichment and other worrying aspects of its nuclear program, and warned in paragraph 8 of the resolution that the Security Council would impose economic and/or diplomatic sanctions in the event of...
It is sad to see that Professor Heller, like HRW's employees, is unwilling to acknowledge any HRW misteps. It is even sadder to see that Professor Heller, like HRW's employees and other supporters, is willing to distort the facts in order to excuse HRW's and Kenneth Roth's inexcusable behavior. (a) Contrary to Professor Heller's contention, HRW's philosophy has never been...
According to the Associated Press, a U.S. Army officer investgating the murder of three Iraq men near Samarra has recommended that the four accused soldiers should receive the death penalty if convicted. To be sure, the crime is a horrible one:Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett and Spc. Juston R. Graber have claimed they...
It was wonderful to be in Philadelphia to participate in the APSA Roundtable on International Tribunals. The presentations by Allison Danner, Kal Raustiala, Larry Helfer, Jeff Dunoff, Julian Ku, Tom Lee, and Tomer Broude were all superb. I wish each of the speakers had twice as much time. And, of course, drinks at the Continental were a...
