Israel versus Hamas: Proportionality, Perfidy and the Law of War
“It must not be forgotten that it is perhaps more dangerous for a nation to allow itself to be conquered intellectually than by arms.” -Guillaume Apollinaire, The New Spirit and the Poets (1917) Whenever Israel finds itself in the midst of major conflict with Hamas, each side seeks to defend itself in military and legal [...]
In 2006 as the Human Rights Council was being set up, I wrote an opinion piece on this website in which I shared, among other aspects, my impressions as to how the Council would shape up. Experience thus far produced mixed assessment. The transition from the Commission to the Council took a couple of years, [...]
A Miscarriage of Justice: The Pleaing of Tony DeDolph and the Elusion of Accountability
On January 23, 2021, Chief Petty Officer Tony DeDolph of the U.S. Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) was sentenced to ten years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar of the U.S. Army Green Berets. DeDolph, “pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit assault, involuntary manslaughter, hazing, and obstruction of justice,” [...]
It has been almost 12 years since the civil war in Sri Lanka came to an end after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Since 2009, there has been a concerted effort to hold perpetrators accountable for the mass killings against Tamil citizens, there has also been a governmental committee set [...]
I. Introduction Much of U.S. governance is held together by goodwill, unwritten norms, and the ideals that “that would never happen” and “no one would ever do that.” Every hope of continued reliance on these norms was “shattered” on January 6, 2021, when armed insurrectionists invaded the U.S. Capitol. Under the direction of the President, [...]
On leafing through Indian Family Law readings in law school, one can’t help but feel disgruntled with the ubiquity of sexism making its way into legislative enactments. The difference in the minimum marriage age for men and women in India is a testimony to that fact. Currently, several personal laws prescribe ages 18 and 21 [...]
The Abolitionist Law Center published a report Tuesday highlighting racial disparities in Pittsburgh policing. The report shows that in 2019, Black people accounted for 43.6 percent of traffic stops and 71.4 percent of all frisks, though Black people only account for 23.2 percent of the city’s population. The report also shows that Black people also [...]
The US Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld an Arkansas law setting prescription drug reimbursement rates for pharmacies. The decision in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association was made 8-0, with Justice Clarence Thomas issuing a concurring opinion and Justice Amy Coney Barrett not taking part in the decision. The 2015 Arkansas law requires pharmacy [...]
On November 25, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an emergency opinion in the case of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, v. Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York (Application No. 20A87) ostensibly to protect the freedom of religion. The 5 to 4 decision appealing denials of a stay from [...]
Tanzania authorities forcibly disappeared and returned Burundi refugees: HRW report
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday accused Tanzanian authorities of violating the rights of Burundian refugees. The report states that at least 18 refugees and asylum seekers have been abused since 2019, while also mentioning that the location of some who were forcibly disappeared remains unknown. “Between October 2019 and August 2020, Tanzanian police and intelligence [...]
