In association with the International Commission of Jurists

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31 Dec

According to the UK's Herald: US special forces snatch squads are on standby to seize or disable Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the event of a collapse of government authority or the outbreak of civil war following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The troops, augmented by volunteer scientists from America's Nuclear Emergency Search Team organisation, are under orders to take control of an...

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31 Dec

A federal district court in Los Angeles has rendered an important decision dismissing claims for alleged victims of the Armenian Genocide. At issue in Deirmenjian v. Deutsche Bank is a California statute, Code of Civil Procedure § 354.45, which extended until December 31, 2016 the statute of limitations for, inter alia, looted assets claims brought by victims of...

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30 Dec

As I have written before, the US has done much to minimize the unfairness of the Iraqi High Tribunal. Unfortunately, it has done exactly the opposite regarding Bilal Hussein, the Pulitzer-Prize winning AP photojournalist who has been imprisoned by the US military since April 2006 — most of the time without charge — and is only now facing prosecution...

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29 Dec

I'm normally loathe to link to stories most readers will likely find themselves, but I'm making an exception for The Bush Administration's Top 10 Stupidest Legal Arguments of 2007, put together by my friend and law-school classmate Dahlia Lithwick. Here are the headings, arranged by increasing stupidity:10. The NSA's eavesdropping was limited in scope. 9. Scooter Libby's sentence was commuted...

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28 Dec

Matt Yglesias picks up on this piece in yesterday's LA Times by UN Dispatch blogger, Mark Leon Goldberg. Seems part of the problem in Darfur is a lack of helicopters: On Nov. 27, Reuters reported that shortages of helicopters are hobbling U.N. missions all over the world. "A shortage of top-end machines needed for tropical conditions plus a reluctance of...

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28 Dec

Someone at the UN thinks so. Marvel Comics is collaborating with the UN on a series of Spider-Man and other superhero stories that will show "the international body working with superheroes to solve bloody conflicts and rid the world of disease . . . . The comic, initially to be distributed free to 1 million U.S. schoolchildren, will be...

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27 Dec

There are too many fast-breaking reactions and early analyses of today's assassination of Benazir Bhutto to summarize adequately at this stage. But I was struck that Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued his own statement, focusing on the connection between New Yorkers -- in particular the 100,000 Pakistani-Americans who call New York home -- and the violence and threats to democracy...

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27 Dec

Foreign Policy has compiled a series of short descriptions of important but often-overlooked stories from the last year. Here’s FP’s lead in:In 2007, the surge in Iraq, Ahmadinejad’s antics, and the chaos in Pakistan dominated the news. But behind the front pages, a number of important stories flew under the radar. From Osama’s fall from grace to the rise of...

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27 Dec

I often wonder, as I sit happily ensconced in my ivory tower, what the world of international criminal law looks like to the average American. I now have my answer, courtesy of Rush Hour 3, perhaps the first Hollywood movie since Judgment at Nuremberg to revolve around the fast-paced, sexy world of ICL. The opening scene of the film takes...

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26 Dec

NPR (radio, how quaint!) is running a terrific series on their morning show marking the tenth anniversary of blogging. Check out this timeline of the blog, which includes details of how the word "weblog" morphed to "we blog," to just "blog," both a noun and a verb. The part airing this morning (listen here) focuses on blogs and...

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25 Dec

This story by Robert Carroon provides the historical background of the 1863 poem “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (pictured left). This poem is especially appropriate for any Christmas celebrated in the midst of war. Happy Holidays to all! In March 1863 a seventeen year old native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, slipped away...

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24 Dec

Since 1955 NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has tracked Santa's each Christmas Eve and has answered questions for boys and girls about his progress. NORAD's Santa tracking services have uses interactive maps updated every few minutes at www.noradsanta.org. As Santa stops in each location, you can click an icon to learn more about that part of the world....

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