It appears that there may have been some progress regarding the Prosecutor's ability to disclose the potentially exculpatory information to the defense -- progress that is not reflected in yesterday's decision. According to a recent motion, the Prosecutor has received permission to turn over all of the disputed documents to the Trial Chamber in unredacted form, so that the judges...
The Lubanga fiasco continues. Earlier today, the Appeals Chamber upheld the Trial Chamber's indefinite stay of the proceedings, but refused to order his immediate release, instead remanding the case to the Trial Chamber for further consideration of the issue. I have not had a chance to read the two -- typically lengthy -- decisions in any great detail, but these are...
Hope springs eternal in the Sudan -- at least on the part of the government. Apparently, Khartoum has managed to convince itself that the Pre-Trial Chamber's recent request for additional information concerning the charges against Bashir means that it intends to dismiss those charges: The Sudanese government hailed a decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requesting more...
That's the situation with the Sudanese government's latest contribution to the "peace" process: The United States, Darfuri rebels and Sudanese opposition parties have greeted a new initiative to solve the Darfur crisis with scepticism and boycotts, while Khartoum, the Arab League and the UN say it’s the region’s best hope. Widespread doubts about the credibility of the process prevail ahead of deliberations...
For the last several years, I have been watching with fascination and admiration as my friend and Washington College of Law colleague, Daniel Bradlow, has been developing more or less from scratch an innovative tool in development finance for his native South Africa, what he has titled "Reconciliation and Development Bonds." Professor Bradlow heads the international legal studies program at...
That's the headline of today's New York Times article about Ali Kushayb, the janjaweed militia leader who has been indicted by the ICC. According to the article, the "[t]he move is widely being interpreted as a way for Sudan to improve its image abroad and attempt to head off the possible genocide prosecution of the country’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir." Honestly,...
Ladies and gentlemen, your peacemaker: Al-Bashir who rarely gives interviews told the British Channel 4 News from Khartoum that rape claims are made up by Darfuri women. “The women inside the camps are under the influence of the rebels and some are even relatives of the rebels. That’s why they make these claims” Al-Bashir said. “We are fully convinced that no rape took...
The Christian Science Monitor ran an important story on Darfur a few days ago, detailing how Bashir is using the claim that his indictment will derail the peace process as a smokescreen for continuing to wage war against the Darfurians. The title says it all -- "Sudan Makes Case Abroad While Still Bombing Darfur": "How will the ICC hamper the peace...
The Daily Monitor Online, the web presence of one of Uganda's leading independent newspapers, has an interesting article today suggesting that the newly-enacted Child Soldiers Accountabilty Act could be used against senior officials in the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF) -- the armed forces of Uganda -- if they traveled to the US: While no senior officer in the UPDF has...
One small item in the Biden-Palin debate that has gone largely unremarked in the press is Senator Biden's comment on the US commitment on foreign assistance. From the CNN transcript: IFILL: [...
Who would have thought that the US would emerge as the most committed supporter of the ICC in Darfur? From the "Hague Invasion Act" to protecting the Court from the spinelessness of its erstwhile supporters, the UK and France: "If asked—if forced to vote today—the United States, even if it was 191 countries against one, would veto an Article 16 [resolution],"...
The following post was written by Chimène Keitner, an Associate Professor at Hastings. Our thanks to her for contributing it. The Ninth Circuit issued a panel opinion this week in Abagninin v. AMVAC Chemical Corp., a corporate Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case that had largely been flying under the radar screen of many of us who follow these cases, myself included....
