On 20 July 2022, a man who had recently lost a parliamentary election was appointed President of Sri Lanka. A closer look at what led to Ranil Wickramasinghe’s presidential reign highlights an array of Constitutional quirks that threaten to continue to undermine democracy in the island nation. Wickramasinghe was hoisted into the presidency after obtaining [...]
Search Results for: 1994-09-14
How Belarus’ Migrant Controversy Reveals a Weakness in International Law
At the end of May, Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, announced that his government would no longer prevent migrants from illegally entering Lithuania through Belarus. Throughout July, evidence emerged that Belarus had even taken active measures to encourage the flow of migrants, such as using government vehicles to escort migrants over the border. From [...]
When considering the comments in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with the perspective of thirteen years since their landfall, I’ll paraphrase Mark Twain’s comment about an erroneously pre-mature 1897 obituary: “the reports of death are greatly exaggerated.” The perspective of time and the restoration of many services to the Hurricane Katrina and Rita-stricken Gulf Coast reveal that matters [...]
UN SG: only way to prevent future genocide is to take responsibility now
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the only way to prevent future atrocities like the Rwandan genocide is to take shared responsibility and shared action to prevent them. Speaking at the General Assembly commemoration of...
Rwanda ex-military officers convicted over comments criticizing government
The Military High Court of Kanombe in Rwanda on Thursday sentenced Colonel Tom Byabagamba and retired Brigadier General Frank Rusagara to 21 and 20 years in prison respectively on charges of inciting insurrection and tarnishing the government's image....
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) formally closed Thursday after issuing 45 judgments. The ICTR, established in 1994, was the first international tribunal to deliver verdicts against those guilty of committing genocide. Within...
A Paris court on Friday convicted former Rwandan intelligence chief Pascal Simbikangwa of genocide and crimes against humanity for his participation in the 1994 Rwandan genocide . After a six-week trial , in which Simbikangwa maintained his...
Supreme Court hears arguments on warrantless blood alcohol tests
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Missouri v. McNeely on whether the Fourth Amendment allows a police officer to take a warrantless blood sample to test...