Explainer: The Philippines-China Maritime Dispute and International Law
Through 2023, tensions in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines have escalated, marked by such significant escalations as the removal of a floating barrier by the Philippines near the Scarborough Shoal and the deployment of its Coast Guard amid increased activity by the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) near Julian Felipe Reef (or [...]
Red Cross delegate: Guantanamo inmates show signs of 'accelerated aging'
A top International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate Friday said that inmates held by the US at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center are experiencing “symptoms of accelerated .” Patrick Hamilton, the head of the ICRC’s US and Canada delegation, visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in March and says that the inmates’ symptoms are consistent with [...]
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Violations of International Law
On February 24, 2022, Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Russian forces have attacked different parts of Ukraine using both ground troops as well as air strikes. So far, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have died as a result of Russian attacks. By so blatantly attacking Ukraine, another sovereign country, Russia has [...]
Americans were shocked by Wednesday’s storming of the US Capitol by the Proud Boys and other rightwing mobs and militia. International observers and some U.S. politicians began referring to the country as a “banana republic” – a derogatory statement referring to banana-producing countries in Central America with histories of unstable and corrupt governments. Latin Americans [...]
The world has seen shocking videos of U.S, police officers, and private citizens perpetrating crimes against African Americans. Relentlessly, the socio-legal system brings about the death, imprisonment, torture, and degradation of African American men, women, boys, girls, households, and communities. The four-hundred years of atrocities comprised of slavery, separation of families, non-citizenship, segregation, and lynching [...]
In the late 1920s scratch farmers and loggers were facing an unseen threat in the isolated forests of the inland Pacific Northwest of America. Crops were scarred and charred. They had stunted timber yields. The culprit turned out to be a huge zinc smelter In Trail, British Columbia that bellowed sulfurous fumes from across the [...]
June 26 is a day designated by the United Nations as International Day in support of victims of torture. The General Assembly resolution creating the date imagined this as a day stakeholders – member states and their citizens – would unite in support of those that have endured torture and cruelty and recommit to ending [...]
While transgender people have existed since the dawn of time, the last decade has seen an increasing spotlight on the community and transgender people’s right to recognition and protection. While this has taken on many different angles, federal and state administrations have come under scrutiny in the last few weeks for choices to exclude transgender people [...]
June 26th is the United Nations’ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Its purpose — to denounce the crime of torture and proclaim solidarity with its survivors — is in stark opposition to the policy of my government. As a former Chief Prosecutor of an international war crimes tribunal in West Africa, I walked [...]
Here's the domestic legal news we covered this week: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Christmas Day bomber, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Colorado alleging violations of his constitutional rights. Abdulmutallab,...
