In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Foreign Relations Law

12 Sep

Here it comes: President Obama is exercising his Commander-in-Chief powers, a la Durand v. Hollins: The U.S. responded to the assault by dispatching two Navy destroyers, dozens of Marines, federal investigators and intelligence assets to Libya to protect Americans and hunt the suspected religious extremists who carried out the attack late Tuesday. U.S. officials described the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher...

|
12 Sep

Amidst the memorials to 9/11 yesterday came more tragic news with mob attacks on the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the consulate in Benghazi, including the deaths of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.  My condolences go out to the victims' families and the U.S. Foreign Service community, the Marines who guard them, as well as the local...

|
11 Sep

Just another day in America's own gulag: A special Obama administration task force review found in 2009 that Latif, who had been held at Gitmo since early 2002 and had waged a long legal battle for his freedom, could be released, a conclusion that could only be reached by a unanimous vote of all U.S. intelligence agencies. That finding was buttressed a...

|
13 Aug

As I noted last week, I have just finished a long chapter critically assessing the work of the Human Rights Council-created International Commission of Inquiry on Libya (COI).  My basic conclusion is that although the COI generally did an excellent job, particularly in terms of its fact-finding methodology, it seems clear that it was less interested in holding the rebels...

|
25 Jul

Although clearly a step up from its genocidal predecessor, Kagame's government in Rwanda is anything but progressive. According to the State Department, the government is responsible for -- inter alia -- illegal detention, torture, enforced disappearance, attempted assassinations of political opponents, restrictions on the freedom of speech and press, violence toward journalists and human rights advocates, discrimination against women/children/gays and...

|
18 Jul

It looks increasingly likely.  Mali has formally self-referred the situation in the country to the ICC and the OTP has already opened a formal preliminary investigation.  Here is yesterday's statement from Fatou Bensouda: Today I received a delegation from the Government of Mali led by the Minister of Justice, H.E. Malick Coulibaly. The delegation transmitted a letter by which the Government...

|
18 Jul

I want to call readers' attention to David Frakt's excellent essay on direct participation in hostilities as a war crime.  Here is the abstract: This article addresses, in part, the question of what to do with civilian direct participants in hostilities who are not killed by opposing armed forces, but are captured. Specifically, the article address the potential criminal prosecution of...

|
16 Jul

Two quick research-related items.  First, I'm pleased to report that the 2011 Digest of United States Practice is now available on the State Department website.  Here's the description from today's press release: The digest provides the public with a record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. The official edition...

|
13 Jul

A recurring criticism of the ICC is that it has little to show for its first 10 years -- just one conviction -- and has cost an inordinate amount of money.  Here, for example, are the opening paragraphs of Eric Posner's recent attack on the Court in the Wall Street Journal, entitled "The Absurd International Criminal Court": Ten years ago, on...

|
05 Jul

Polls show that President Obama's handling of foreign policy is one of his advantages over Republican challenger Mitt Romney.  And it will indeed be difficult for Romney to challenge President Obama on his war on terror policies.  Not only are they seen by the public as successful, they are also not that different from policies Romney himself would pursue. Is there...

|
02 Jul

At one time in the mid-1990s, it seemed like a week couldn't go by without some large gathering of States seeking to hammer out the terms of a new multilateral treaty with aspirations for universal membership.  Such treaty negotiations have become a rarer phenomenon today with most meetings now emphasizing implementation of, and compliance with, existing treaties.  And where new...

|