Search Results for: 2017-08-01

The ongoing conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine continues to raise significant issues of international law and policy. My earlier contribution focused on the jurisdiction and substantive law of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Here I address the ongoing litigation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court). Because the crime of genocide can be [...]

Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]

The plight of women’s rights in various countries reflects a complex interplay of legal, cultural and societal norms that significantly disenfranchise women and girls, threatening their human rights and dignity. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Nigeria present challenging environments where women’s rights [...]

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday, in conjunction with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s announcement of sanctions against Zimbabwe, that terminated the 2005 national emergency declared in respect to Zimbabwe. Those sanctioned include Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife and First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, and other government officials.  In the [...]

The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II).  With both courts located in [...]

A group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocates and NGOS expressed deep concerns Friday about the mistreatment of children in youth prisons in an open letter to the Victorian government. The advocates called out the Victorian Government’s failure to meet Australia’s obligations to implement safeguards expressed in the UN’s the Optional Protocol to the [...]

Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim held a pre-election international press conference on Tuesday where Lai asserted that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state, criticizing Beijing’s intention to intervene in the election. “If China’s intervention succeeds, and whoever China appoints and supports will be elected, then [...]

Spain’s National High Court on Tuesday decided to close a probe into three people, including the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president.  Carmelo Ovono Obiang, son of President Teodoro Obiang, was accused of kidnapping four members of the Movement for the Liberation of Equatorial Guinea (MLGE3R) who opposed Obiang’s government, in 2019. The Spanish court stated [...]

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification Monday that declared Canada-based Satwinder Singh, alias Goldy Brar, as an “individual terrorist” under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA). This designation occurred due to his alleged associations with Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International which is a recognized terrorist organization. The notification stated that [...]

Tokyo’s High Court found the government of Japan not liable Tuesday for damages related to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and associated mass evacuations, leaving responsibility solely with plant operator the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). The ruling also reduced the damages amounts of a previous court order from $414,400 to $165,000 for 44 of [...]