That's my basic reaction to the release of the full judgment in the Taylor trial, which checks in at an utterly absurd 2,499 pages. (The judgment is downloadable, assuming you have a very fancy computer, here.) 2,499 pages is clearly a new record for a judgment of an international tribunal, especially in a case with one defendant. By way of...
Earlier today, Russia called on the ICC to investigate possible war crimes committed by NATO forces during its bombing campaign in Libya: The International Criminal Court should look into all cases of NATO airstrikes in Libya that resulted in civilian deaths, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "We welcome the decision of ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to consider alleged violations of international humanitarian...
As readers know, Dapo Akande, Jens Ohlin, and I have been having a friendly debate over whether Article 95 of the Rome Statute requires Libya to surrender Saif to the ICC pending the Pre-Trial Chamber's resolution of its admissibility challenge. (See here and here.) Two organs of the Court have now weighed in on the issue, with a rather ironic...
[Leila Hanafi works as regional coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. This contribution is cross-posted at the Middle East Monitor.] The ongoing post-conflict reconstruction process in Libya is reigniting a crucial debate among transitional justice advocates as to the role the International Criminal Court (ICC) can play in delivering justice and...
Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA officer who describes the Bush administration's systematic torture regime as people "putting their big boy pants on" and who personally destroyed 92 videotapes documenting the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah because "out of context they would make us look terrible," has an op-ed for CNN today complaining about media coverage of the...
More follies from the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed military commission: The video and audio feed from the war court at Guantanamo Bay is on a time delay so as to prevent accidental or deliberate disclosure of classified information during proceedings. As Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 plotters were being arraigned last Saturday, the feed abruptly cut out. Reporters and observers...
So reports Mark Kersten in a blockbuster post at Justice in Conflict. You have to read the whole thing; here is a taste: While haggling between the ICC and Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) over the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi continues, Libya quietly, but controversially, passed a blanket amnesty for pro-Revolution rebels. According to Lawyers for Justice in...
Things are getting ugly at the ICC. The Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, which has been appointed to protect Saif Gaddafi's interests at the Court, has now moved to disqualify Moreno-Ocampo from Saif's case on the ground that he "lacks the requisite impartiality to direct the investigations and prosecutions" because of his "repeated failure to respect the presumption...
So reports the media. I, for one, am shocked: it's almost as if KSM has concluded, having been waterboarded (read: tortured) 183 times in one month, that the U.S. might not actually be committed to the highest standards of fairness and justice now. Come on, KSM. Can't bygones be bygones? Heed Obama's injunction: now is the time to look forward, not...
The Nuremberg defense pops up in the strangest places. As the NFL fans among our readers know, Commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended four New Orleans Saints players for their role in Bountygate -- a program whereby Saints players would get financial bonuses for intentionally injuring other players on the football field, essentially the most heinous crime a football player can...
Libya has now brought a formal admissibility challenge under Article 19 of the Rome Statute. The motion, written by Philippe Sands, Payam Akhavan, and Michelle Butler, is a brilliant piece of work and stands a good chance of success. I'll have much to say about the motion in the next few days, but in this post I want to focus...
Of course, that means it's been a much better week for anyone who isn't so keen on the prospect of attacking Iran. I'm not sure the nails are in Netanyahu's political coffin quite yet, but the carpenters are certainly gathering their supplies. First up, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Chief of Staff of the IDF, rejecting the notion that Iran is...
