Rollercoasters are not for everyone. Some celebrate the speed, courage, and maybe even fright that accompanies the ride; the thrill is exhilarating. Others, like my cousin Ahmed, sneer at the foolishness of their counterparts (me). He does not hide his glee when I stumble out of the car, confident he made the right decision when I turn varying shades of...
[Shamik Datta, a student at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad, is interested in human rights law, gender studies, and public policy.] Photo credit: Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images Amidst the rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe, the French Senate seeks to impose a ban on minors wearing headscarves and veils- the burqa and the niqab. This recent development...
Summer School Al-Haq International Law Online Summer School Program: Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law is pleased to announce its Seventh International Law Summer School for professionals, legal researchers, post-graduates and academics in the fields of international law and human rights. The 2021 program will run entirely online through ten days from 31st May – 12th June 2021. The summer school aims to assist professionals...
[Clive Baldwin is a senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch.] The use of the word ‘apartheid’ in its legal meaning can sometimes, but not always, generate considerable power and attention. The related crime against humanity of persecution never seems to attract the same interest. Our finding in 2020 that the Myanmar authorities were committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against ethnic Rohingya...
One year ago, I accepted the role of Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies. I did not act on a whim. Throughout my academic career, I’ve held many management roles from Director of Postgraduate Studies to Director of Internationalisation and plenty of others in between. A deanship was the natural—and, frankly, desirable—next step. Over...
By Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ's Middle East and North Africa Programme Since the start of Syria’s uprising in March 2011, Russia and China have vetoed 16 Draft United Nations Security Council (SC) Resolutions aimed at addressing the plight of the Syrian population and ending the scourge of armed conflict. As a result, the SC has failed to: Establish the UN Independent Mechanism of Investigation to...
[Alexander Wolffenbuttel is a Ph.D. student in International Law at the Graduate Institute Geneva. He is a former legal consultant at the International Criminal Court and a former apprentice at Sjöcrona van Stigt advocaten defending Oleg Pulatov. The opinions and comments expressed in this publication are those of the author.] Photo credit: BBC MH-17 Trial: U.S. Satellite Imagery and Foreign Confidential Intelligence...
[Parisa Zangeneh is a PhD student at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, where she is a recipient of the Hardiman Scholarship.] Photo: Parisa Zangeneh Monique Cormier’s recent book focuses on a problem that has plagued the International Criminal Court (ICC, Court) since its inception: its potential (in)ability to exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-States Parties (NSPs)...
[Stephen A. Lamony (LL.M) is an International Lawyer, Ex-Senior Foreign Policy Advisor, Ex-Senior United Nations Advocate for Africa-Amnesty International and Ex- Head of Advocacy and Policy, Coalition for the International Criminal Court.] Introduction The United States has long had the reputation as the world leader and has prided itself on leading the world in support of human rights. A longstanding stain on the United States’ record, however, has been its...
[Rashmi Dharia is a doctoral candidate at Sciences Po Law School, Paris.] As of 2nd April 2021, the Biden administration rescinded the sanctions that had been imposed by Executive Order 13928 of 11th June 2020 and its follow-up on 2nd September 2020 on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Co-operation Division Mr Phakiso Mochochoko. The US-ICC relationship looks all set to ‘go back’ from...
Tanveer Jeewa is the Legal and Communications Officer at the International Commission of Jurists, Africa Regional Programme. She works mainly on issues of international human rights law and constitutional law. She has recently completed her LLM in Public Law at the University of Cape Town and was previously a law clerk at the South African Constitutional Court for Justice Theron. During...
[Satang Nabaneh is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, and the Founder and Executive Director of Law Hub Gambia. She currently pursues research interests including international human rights law and monitoring mechanisms, democratization in Africa, and Gambian constitutional law.] On September 2, 2020, the Trump administration announced that the United States had designated the International Criminal Court (ICC)...