Transnational network theory is a very hot topic these days. Part of it is the crossover effect of a new organizing tool from another discipline - we law professors are great hunter-gatherers across many fields - and part of it is a drive to account for new and rising forms of transnational organization and coordination. I have been working fitfully...
More than 150,000 civilians under daily bombardment, with an estimated 2800 already dead (including 500 children) and more than 7000 injured. Water and medicine running short. The advancing forces rejecting a cease fire. And the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights raising concern about potential violations of international human rights and humanitarian law...
At their most recent meeting, the judges of the ICC rearranged the composition of the Court's three Divisions. The new composition is as follows: The judges assigned to the Pre-Trial Division are: Judge Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany), Second Vice-President of the Court; Judge Sylvia Steiner (Brazil); Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova (Bulgaria); Judge Fumiko Saiga (Japan); Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Botswana); and Judge Cuno...
I have been reading Roger's fascinating missives from Rwanda with great interest and agree with much of what he has to say. But I have to demur from the claim that "Kagame is personally invested in making Rwanda a country that is committed to reconciliation, human rights and self-sufficiency." Self-sufficiency, perhaps -- there is no question that Rwanda has experienced...
In its application for the arrest warrant, the Prosecution argued that the Sudanese government's genocidal intent could be inferred from, inter alia, the slow-death conditions in the IDP camps. As part of that claim, the Prosecution pointed out the numerous ways in which Bashir's regime had hindered international efforts to provide the Darfuris in the IDP camps with humanitarian assistance. One...
That is the conclusion of the most comprehensive study of the issue to date, "Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars' Initiative," conducted by Purdue University. From the New York Times, which held follow-up interviews with some of the sources cited in the study: Charles W. Ingrao, the study’s co-editor, said that three senior State Department officials, one of them retired, and...
Alex de Waal criticizes Moreno-Ocampo''s decision to appeal the genocide issue today at his blog Making Sense of Darfur. It's a nasty and remarkably patronizing post. It also exhibits not even a shred of understanding of the Rome Statute or the Prosecution Application. Here is what de Waal writes: I was surprised to learn that the Prosecutor of the ICC is seeking leave...
In public, Sudanese government officials have uniformly defended Bashir against the supposed depredations of the ICC. According to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, however, they tell a different story in private: A minister with the president’s National Congress Party, NCP, said that members were left reeling by the announcement of an arrest warrant issued against Bashir by ICC judges...
I am happy to report -- though some readers will no doubt be unhappy to hear -- that the OTP has requested leave to appeal the Pre-Trial Chamber's decision on the genocide charges. The appeal cites my recent post on the majority's misunderstanding of the "reasonable grounds" standard, which is both a tremendous honor and a testament to the ever-increasing...
Speaking of what Obama should do about Darfur, The New Republic is currently hosting a fascinating roundtable discussion on precisely that question. Contributors include Alex de Waal, Eric Reeves, my former professor Alan Wolfe, Elizabeth Rubin, and Andrew Natsios. Not surprisingly, I agree with Eric Reeves, who both justifiably calls Darfur a genocide and defends the ICC arrest warrant. Sadly, though,...
Although Julian and I continue to disagree about the merits of the arrest warrant against Bashir, we agree on one thing: Obama's response to the expulsion of the humanitarian-aid groups has been appallingly weak. I'm not surprised -- I never bought into the cult of Obama, particularly its naive belief that his foreign policy and national-security policy would be fundamentally...
The UN Human Rights Council is holding its 10th session this month in Geneva. The agenda and program of work are useful guides to the issues under discussion, and the open Council sessions are being aired at this webcast link. (Tomorrow's session is an all-day plenary on the rights of the child.) All this transparency is a good thing. And...
