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19 May

The U.S. government often exhibits a silly kneejerk hostility to international institutions. But sometimes, its suspicions and skepticism is totally justified. The latest example of unhelpful U.N. overreach: the U.N. Committee Against Torture's recommendation that the U.S. stop detaining individuals at Guantanamo Bay (which Roger noted below). Here is the Committee's key conclusion: 22. The Committee, noting that detaining persons...

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19 May

This is very disturbing news. As reported here, "the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments." The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to...

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19 May

A recent poll published by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland shows strong support for international adjudication of U.S. compliance with its treaty obligations. Among the other findings are strong support for changing the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo to conform with requests by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, support for the ICC...

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19 May

It seems international law scholars with a philosophical temperament will no longer be forced to troll the library stacks in search of the latest articles bearing on their interests but not searchable on Lexis or Westlaw. Starting next week, the Editorial Board of the web-based International Political Theory Beacon promises to periodically select the finest articles, essays, and book reviews...

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19 May

The UN Committee Against Torture has released their report and recommendation for the United States. It includes a statement that "The State party should cease to detain any person at Guantanamo Bay and close this detention facility." The report is available here. I franky am somewhat surprised that the U.N. Committee flatly called for the closure of...

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19 May

Sounds like a personal ad on Craigslist. But it’s actually the demographic of the readership of Opinio Juris. Or at least it is based on the recent informal survey I conducted last week. According to the results of the survey as of yesterday, 83% of our readers are men, 92% are highly-educated (and therefore intelligent, no?), and...

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18 May

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has dismissed a lawsuit by Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen who alleged he had been kidnapped by the CIA in an "extraordinary rendition" in Macedonia and Afghanistan. I can't find a copy of the opinion online, but the basis of the dismissal appears to be the "state secrets" privilege...

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18 May

Last year, there was lots of grousing on this blog and elsewhere about U.S. objections to an ICC referral for Sudan. Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, among others, claimed that an ICC referral "would start saving lives tomorrow." The U.S. relented and ...

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18 May

Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner have posted an article responding to the recent criticism regarding their book The Limits of International Law. It is available for download here. Here is the abstract: This essay replies to criticisms advanced at a conference on our book, The Limits of International Law. We criticize the critics for mostly complaining about our methodology,...

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17 May

My colleague Rick Kirgis recently published a history of the American Society of International Law, from 1906-2006. It's a very interesting institution - one that started with optimism and gaudy names on the masthead (Elihu Root was the first president, three Supreme Court justices were vice presidents, as were two former secretaries of state, and William Howard Taft, then...

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