That would be Richard Falk, whose talk on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hosted by “Students for Palestinian Equal Rights, Stanford International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, the Advanced Degree Students Association, & the Stanford Association for Law in the Middle East.” One can’t hold Stanford responsible for the activities of its student groups, but […]
Archive | International Human Rights Law
Cyberwar: Iran Counterattacks?
By Stewart Baker on September 11, 2011 1:07 pm in Freedom of Speech, International Human Rights Law, Iran, War on Terror
Iran is to cyberwar what 1930s Spain was to airwar – contested ground where everyone tries out new technology and tactics. After being on the receiving end of Stuxnet, which sabotaged the Natanz enrichment plant and showed that cyberweapons could replace cruise missiles, it looks as though the Iranian government has gone on the offensive. […]
“Plausibility” and Legal Claims about the Gaza Blockade
By David Bernstein on September 3, 2011 2:07 pm in Gaza Ship Incident, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Israel
Kevin Jon Heller of University of Melbourne and Opinio Juris: “Insofar as Israel insists that it is not currently occupying Gaza, it cannot plausibly claim that it is involved in an IAC [International Armed Conflict] with Hamas” (and thus the blockade of Gaza is unlawful). U.N.’s Palmer Committee Report on the Mavi Marmara incident (and […]
Federal Female Genital Mutilation Ban
Here’s the text of the federal female genital mutilation ban, together with the factual findings: (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years shall […]
Debate on Libya and the War Powers Act
By David Kopel on June 9, 2011 12:56 am in Constitutional Law, Global Governance/World Government, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Russia
Featuring British NGO representative Leslie Vinjamuri (pro-intervention, sees no legal problem), American peace activist Robert Naiman (anti-intervention, considers the intervention unconstitutional), and me (pro-intervention, but opposed to Obama doing it in violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Act). On the RT (formerly, “Russia Today”) television program “Crosstalk.” 27 minutes.
Egypt Opens Border with Gaza
I’m not going to discuss the moral, legal, or diplomatic implications of this move. But I do recall (though I don’t have links handy) that various “human rights” activists have been claiming since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza that Israel was nevertheless “occupying” it via a blockade. Moreover, even if the blockade didn’t amount to an […]
International Law and Bin Laden
Some common sense from Yale Professor Jed Rubenfeld. I’d pick out an excerpt, but it’s too good. Read the whole thing. H/T: Instapundit.
Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch on Bin Laden: “Not Justice”
The Cult of International Law Revisited
Back in 2006, I wrote: “I’ve noticed in a variety of contexts that there are some rather well-educated, articulate individuals out there who have what seems to me to be a fanatical, quasi-religious belief in ‘international law’, and the idea that it should trump any other conflicting consideration.” This analysis from Der Speigel, with the […]
Human Rights Watch (and Amnesty International) on Goldstone Retraction
By David Bernstein on April 6, 2011 8:17 pm in International Human Rights Law, International Law, Israel
As I noted a few days ago, Justice Richard Goldstone wrote a Washington Post op-ed last week in which he states that contrary to the implications of his eponymous report, Israel did not deliberately target civilians in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Human Rights Watch contributed heavily to the content of the Goldstone Report, and […]
Richard Goldstone: Chief Kangaroo
Ronald Radosh, commenting on Justice Goldstone’s bizarre “just kidding” op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post about the eponymous Goldstone report on Israel’s conduct in Operation Cast Lead (despite the dateline, it’s not, near as I can tell, an April Fool’s joke): In a stunning and unexpected turn of events, Judge Richard Goldstone has essentially reversed himself […]
When the Anticooperative Effect of Law Can Lead to Many Thousands Dead
I’ve long been interested in the occasional anticooperative effect of law — the tendency of the threat of criminal punishment to sometimes discourage cooperation with the legal system (even though the deterrent effect usually tends to encourage following the law). Max Boot points to the same effect of international criminal prosecution (a topic that international […]
Ecstatic crowds in Libya celebrating imminent use of U.S. military force against Gaddafi
By David Kopel on March 17, 2011 7:08 pm in Genocide, International Human Rights Law, International Law
U.N. Security Council Resolution passes 10-0. Live feed from Benghazi on Al Jazeera English. The Resolution authorizes “all necessary measures” except military occupation of Libya. By my reading, the authorization includes destruction of Gaddafi’s anti-aircraft defenses, and of his air force and its mercenary pilots. As President Reagan once said, “We begin bombing in five […]
Text of U.N. Security Council draft resolution on Libya
By David Kopel on March 17, 2011 5:28 pm in Genocide, International Human Rights Law, International Law
Right here, provided by the Inner City Press, which has long been the best English-language media covering the United Nations. The resolution authorizes member states–acting either through regional organizations or nationally–to “take all necessary measures” to establish a no-fly zone over Libya. It further authorizes the member states to enforce the arms embargo against Libya […]
Wall Street Journal Mistaken About the Obama Administration and Protocol I?
(Update: Pleased to see that the Journal has appended the following correction to the online edition:) An earlier version of this story mistakenly reported that the Obama Administration is sending Additional Protocol 1 for Senate ratification. It is treating Article 75 of Protocol 1 as legally binding, though it has not been ratified by the […]