In association with the International Commission of Jurists

International Human Rights Law

16 Oct

According to Stephanie Maupas, in late July the chair of the Committee on the Election of the Prosecutor (CEP), Sabine Nölke, said the following concerning the Committee's vetting of candidates long-listed for Prosecutor: "I made the statement very clearly to the States Parties, the vetting process did not disclose any disqualifying information,” she said. The Canadian diplomat also asserted, not without...

|
12 Oct

In past decades, Latin American countries witnessed violent conflict and serious human rights abuses at the hands of state and non-state actors. In these contexts, conflict-related sexual violence was widespread, perpetrated in order to advance military goals and as a tactic of repression against political opponents and communities. But as the region has grappled with the past through efforts toward...

|
12 Oct

[Malcolm Wu is an LL.M. candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science.] Introduction Ioane Teitiota is from the sinking island nation of Kiribati. In 2013, he made a historic application for refugee status in New Zealand on the grounds of risk of life due to the adverse effects of climate change in his home country. Nonetheless, the rejection of his application and appeal by the New...

|
05 Oct

[Lena Trabucco is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She is also a PhD candidate at Northwestern University and the University of Copenhagen.] On September 16, 2020, the US Defense Department (DoD) announced the launch of the AI Partnership for Defense – a multi-national partnership which will “engage military and defense organizations from more than...

|
02 Oct

[Kai Ambos is the Chair for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law, International Criminal Law and Public International Law, at the Faculty of Law of Georg August Universität Göttingen and a Judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. The author thanks...

|
02 Oct

[Yasmine Nahlawi is an independent researcher specialising in R2P and its applicability to the Syrian and Libyan conflicts. Sana Sekkarie is a Security Studies master's candidate at Georgetown University and a researcher of the Syrian conflict.]   On 18 September, The Netherlands announced its decision to ‘hold Syria responsible under international law for gross human rights violations and torture in particular’. It appears prepared...

|
30 Sep

[Lena Holzer is a PhD Candidate in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and affiliated with the IHEID Gender Centre.] On 8 September 2020, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFC) published its highly anticipated decision in the Caster Semenya case. Unfortunately, but not entirely surprisingly, it rejected Mokgadi Caster Semenya’s appeal against the Award by the Court of Arbitration...

|
30 Sep

[Bede Sheppard (@BedeOnKidRights) is the children’s rights deputy director at Human Rights Watch, where he specializes in the issue of attacks on students, teachers, and schools. He has conducted investigations in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Japan, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand, South Africa, Ukraine, and Yemen.] The European Court of Human Rights found on 19 September that Finland violated its positive...

|
29 Sep

[Jing Min Tan is a Research Assistant at the Centre of International Law, National University of Singapore.]  Things have been moving relatively quickly in the case(s) against Myanmar, and it finally is beginning to look like international law might have a holistic solution to the Rohingya Crisis. The ICJ issued a Provisional Measures order against Myanmar in January 2020 to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, while the...

|
29 Sep

On 18 September, the Netherlands announced that it was initiating legal proceedings against Syria, based on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).  This move by the Netherlands brings many issues to the fore: the first is the scale and magnitude of torturebeing committed in Syria, documented in many reports and most recently in a court cases in Germany (under the aegis of...

|
28 Sep

[Marissa Kardon Weber is a prosecutor in New York City and serves as a Legal Consultant for the Seychelles Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission on matters regarding grants of amnesty under international human rights law. The views expressed herein are entirely her own. Part I can be found here.]  C. Step 3: Dialogue Now, the citizenry is better equipped to generate...

|
28 Sep

[Marissa Kardon Weber is a prosecutor in New York City and serves as a Legal Consultant for the Seychelles Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission on matters regarding grants of amnesty under international human rights law. The views expressed herein are entirely her own.]  Introduction “This is not a tidy world of tyrannical men and victimized women, but a messier realm of oppressive social...

|