India and Pakistan have exchanged more gunfire across the disputed border in Kashmir, as a 10-year ceasefire frays over accusations of killings of soldiers deployed on the frontline. Israel published a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners set to go free within days, some after spending more than two decades behind bars, in the first stage of a deal that led to a...
This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin marvelled at Libya's flexible approach to time. He also posted NASA's visualization of the warming world since 1880, which Chris followed up on with a discussion of a recent report linking climate change to a surge in armed conflicts. In our Emerging Voices series, Gilad Noam discussed three ways of conceptualizing admissibility challenges at the ICC, and the implications for the...
Tensions are escalating at the India-Pakistan border region of Kashmir, with India for the first time directly accusing Pakistan's army of involvement in an ambush that killed five Indian soldiers, and Pakistan's military accusing Indian forces of wounding a Pakistani civilian after opening fire. In other escalating-tensions news, four Chinese ships spent more than 24 hours in what Japan sees as its territorial waters, prompting...
Two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire with Indian troops along the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in the latest flare-up of tensions. The Leiden Law Blog has published an analysis on the Guatemalan genocide case against former president José Efraín Ríos Montt. The recent closures of US and UK embassies around the Middle East and Africa were allegedly prompted by...
Sierra Leone deported Ibrahim Bah, an associate of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, sparing him a trial for crimes committed during the 1991-2002 civil war due to begin on Monday, to the dismay of human rights campaigners. Human Rights Watch has more on Bah here. Five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack on their post along the disputed border with...
Following-up on Kevin's post that illustrated the increasing temperature anomalies of the world's climate, I want to point out a recent study pointing to evidence of a link between increasing global temperatures and a rise in violent crime and larger-scale conflicts, such as wars. Smithsonian.com reports: Now, in the most comprehensive analysis of the work on climate change and armed conflict...
Saudi Arabia denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to cross its airspace for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, but it is unclear as to why. After the swearing in of the new Iranian president, Iran and the United States signaled a fresh will on Sunday to seek to end the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program...
This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin continued his discussion of the al-Bahlul amicus brief started last week. He pointed out how the Prosecution had disclaimed JCE before the trial and the military commission was asked not to consider this mode of liability, making its invocation in the amicus brief unacceptable in his opinion. Kevin pointed out that JCE was also rejected...
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found fresh evidence of "double-tap" strikes by the US in Pakistan; a double-tap is a second drone strike that deliberately targets rescuers at the scene of a previous drone strike. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai has labeled results of the recent presidential election which he lost a "sham" and has accused his opponent, President Robert...
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to meet again within the next two weeks, aiming to seal a final deal in nine months. A military judge has acquitted former US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning of the most serious charge against him, aiding the enemy, but convicted him of espionage, theft and computer fraud charges for giving thousands of classified secrets to...
The verdict in the court-martial of Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, accused of the biggest leak of classified information in US history, will be read today. Taliban fighters armed with mortars and grenades attacked a prison in northwest Pakistan, escaping with about 250 prisoners after a gunfight with security forces. Israelis and Palestinians have resumed direct talks for the first time in three years, with...
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki will visit China this week for talks with senior officials, the latest in an attempt to patch up relations soured by a territorial dispute. Suspected members of Nigeria's armed group Boko Haram shot dead more than 20 civilians when a vigilante group attacked them in the northern Borno state. Israeli and Palestinian teams are heading to Washington for preliminary...
