March 10th, 2010 by Deirdre Montgomery
Last week, a group called ‘Keep America Safe’, led by Elizabeth Cheney, released a video questioning the loyalty of Obama administration lawyers who have represented suspected terrorists. The group criticises Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for not releasing the names of seven of the nine lawyers appointed to the DoJ, asking “Who are these government officials?” “Whose values do they share?” and dubbing them the “Al Qaeda Seven”. In the background of the video hangs a headline “DoJ: Department of Jihad”. A subsequent investigation by Fox News revealed the names of the lawyers.
These events have sparked a series of debates on the rule of law, the right to counsel, to role of lawyers, and the right to a zealous defence. There have been cries of “McCarthyism”, claims that prisoners of war are not entitled to representation, and allegations that habeas lawyers in the US were using the federal courts as a tool to undermine the military’s ability to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield in a time of war.
On the role of defence counsel, a group of prominent lawyers, including conservatives and former Bush administration officials, signed a letter denouncing the “shameful series of attacks on attorneys in the Department of Justice who, in previous legal practice, either represented Guantánamo detainees or advocated for changes to detention policy.” It goes on to say “as attorneys, former officials, and policy specialists who have worked on detention issues, we consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications,” and concludes “to delegitimize the role detainee counsel play is to demand adjudications and policymaking stripped of a full record. Whatever systems America develops to handle difficult detention questions will rely, at least some of the time, on an aggressive defense bar; those who take up that function do a service to the system.”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also denounced the video, stating “A defense attorney who is making the government do their job regardless of the nature of the case is making this whole country a better place.”
For more debate, commentary and reactions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/opinion/08mon1.html?ref=opinion
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/us/politics/10lawyers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/attacking-lawyers-from-the-right-and-left/?ref=politics
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/03/exclusive-unknown-doj-lawyers-identified/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNZukOOrDTM
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34143.html#ixzz0hlHJzl10
March 10th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
Last week the Prosecutor at the ICC provided Judges with a list of 20 suspects in the 2007-2008 Kenyan election violence. On 3 March 2010, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo provided Judges at the ICC with a list of 20 names of persons alleged to bear the gravest responsibility for the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007 and early 2008.
This follows the request by Pre-Trial Chamber II on 18 February 2010, for the Prosecutor to provide clarification and additional information in the process of assessing whether or not to authorise the Prosecutor to commence a formal investigation.
“At this stage, the names are indicative only” said the Prosecutor. “The allegations concerning the named individuals will have to be measured against the evidence gathered independently by my office. If the Judges authorize the investigation, I will engage those who wish to clarify their role or provide further information”.
Among the list of 20 names given to Judges by the Prosecutor are senior Kenyan politicians and businessmen accused of organising and financing ethnic attacks after the country’s 2007 election during which around 1300 people were killed in the ensuing violence. The leaders, motivated by “political objectives to retain or gain power”, were associated with the main political parties of the PNU, the government at the time of the violence, and the ODM, the main opposition party.
The Prosecutor has requested an expedited decision by the Judges on whether or not to open a formal investigation because of the need for justice.
See the ICC Press Release here
March 8th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
Today is International Women’s Day. The UN’s Theme for this year is ‘Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All‘.International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s and annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements.
A directory of events to celebrate the day in your town is available here.
March 4th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
On Wednesday, 24 March, from 19:30, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Leiden University, Campus The Hague), the T.M.C. Asser Institute and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court invite you to the Supranational Criminal Law Lecture Series - the lecture topic is :
Making Sense of the STL: step forward or step backward for International Criminal Justice
The speaker will be Mr. Dov Jacobs, PhD candidate at the T.M.C. Asser Institute.
Venue: Grotius Centre, Lange Houtstraat 5, room 404/405 (4th floor), The Hague
Attendance is free of charge.
Directions to the Grotius Centre – here
March 4th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
Amnesty International is urging the Lebanese authorities to go beyond the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s narrow mandate of investigating the killing of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri and 22 others on 14 February 2005.
Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme for Amnesty stated:
“The Special Tribunal alone cannot provide sufficient response to the long pattern of impunity that has persisted in Lebanon,” said . The establishment of the Tribunal is a positive step that could help ensure justice for the serious crimes it is to investigate. But if it is to gain credibility and public confidence, it must be accompanied by complementary measures that address the grave human rights abuses of the past, as well as those that continue in the present.”
He continued: “The resolve to ensure justice in the case of Rafiq al-Hariri contrasts markedly with the repeated failures of the Lebanese system to deliver justice for other political killings and human rights abuses.”
“This creates a perception that some are considered more deserving of justice than others and presents a clear challenge to the credibility of the Special Tribunal.”
Established by the UN Security Council in 2007, the Special Tribunal is also investigating a series of other assassinations and attempted killings since October 2004, to see if they are linked to the case of Rafiq al-Hariri. Amnesty International has called on the Lebanese authorities to open prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of serious human rights violations of recent years not covered by the mandate. These include the killings of civilians at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp amid armed clashes there in 2007 and ongoing reports of torture and abusive detention.
Amnesty is also calling for the Lebanese authorities to tackle the human rights abuses of the past, especially those committed during and following the Lebanese civil war of 1975 to 1990, including the killing of tens of thousands of civilians and the enforced disappearance of thousands more. Amnesty International has called on the Lebanese authorities to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the abuses of the civil war period and to repeal the amnesty laws of 1991 and 2005 so that those responsible can be prosecuted.
“Having invested so heavily in the Special Tribunal, the international community needs now to press the Lebanese authorities to focus their attention on delivering truth and justice for the full range of victims of human rights abuses in Lebanon, regardless of the profile of the victims or the presumed identity of the perpetrators,” said Malcolm Smart.
See the Amnesty website here
March 3rd, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
An international court to prosecute crimes against humanity committed by communist regimes should be created by the European Union (EU), the participants of the Prague Crimes of the Communist Regime Conference said in a joint statement last Friday .
The participants in the conference also called for the erection of a memorial to the victims of communism in Europe and the dedication of European-wide Day of Remembrance of the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes on August 23.
For the full article see here:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/europe-officials-urge-new-international.php
For the official statement see here:
http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/international-conference-crimes-of-the-communist-regimes
For details on the conference see here:
http://www.crimesofcommunism.eu/home.html
Thanks to Barrie Sander Legal Advisor, Ministry of Justice, Monrovia, Liberia
March 3rd, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
It was reported yesterday that the widow of Rwanda’s former President Juvénal Habyarimana, Agathe, was arrested in France on the basis of an international arrest warrant seeking her extradition to Rwanda to stand trial for charges related to genocide. Agathe Habyarimana is accused by the current Rwandan government of helping to plan the 1994 genocide, and has long been sought by prosecutors there.
The BBC reported that Mrs Habyarimana, who was flown out of Rwanda by the French military in the early days of the violence, has been seeking political asylum in France, without success. Her arrest follows a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he admitted that France – and the wider international community – had make “mistakes” over the genocide.
There remains a question over whether she will indeed be extradited to Rwanda. The French courts have previously refused to extradite to Rwanda on the grounds that there are no satisfactory guarantees of fairness to an accused. However, in May 2009 the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled in favour of extraditing Sylvere Ahorugeze (a suspect wanted for the alleged killing of 25 Tutsis in a suburb of Kigali during the first day of the genocide) to Rwanda and on 9 July 2009, the Swedish government decided to sanction the extradition. Ahorugeze appealed this decision before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 13 July 2009 claiming that he would not receive a fair trial before the ICTR. On 16 July 2009 the Swedish government indicated that it would abide by the ECHR order not to deport Ahorugeze until the ECHR had examined the case. This is still pending before the ECHR.
The French court may decide to extradite Mrs Habyarimana to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which has recently had its mandate extended by the UN to 2012. Although, it has been reported in recent months that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Hassan Jallow, suggested that the problems with Rwanda’s justice system are in the course of being resolved.
See also:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8545120.stm
http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/legal-procedures/sylvere_ahorugeze_476.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2010/03/02/agathe-habyarimana-veuve-du-president-rwandais-assassine-en-avril-1994-interpellee-dans-l-essonne_1313193_3212.html#ens_id=1265770
http://opiniojuris.org/2009/07/23/sweden-decides-to-extradite-and-then-changes-its-mind/
March 2nd, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
An initiative of the McGill Faculty of Law, the new blog site Legal Frontiers - http://www.legalfrontiers.ca/ - is a forum where students can develop and improve their research and writing skills while contributing to international legal discourse in English and French. The project is interdisciplinary with contributors exploring a wide variety of international issue areas.
Welcome to the blogosphere!
March 2nd, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo today announced the appointment of leading international law expert Tim McCormack as his Office’s Special Advisor on International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“Professor McCormack has a worldwide reputation for his scholarship and expertise in International Humanitarian Law,” said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo. As Special Adviser to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Professor McCormack will focus on the application and interpretation of international humanitarian law in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court, as well as on general principles of criminal law and legal issues related to military structures.
Professor McCormack is Professor of Law at the Melbourne Law School and the Acting Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law (having served as the Founding Director from 2001 – 2009). He served as the Foundation Australian Red Cross Professor of International Humanitarian Law at the Melbourne Law School (1996-2010) until he recently stepped down from that position. He is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania Law School.
For the last decade Professor Tim McCormack has worked closely with Australian Red Cross and with the Australian Defence Force. In particular he has collaborated with the Australian Defence Force Legal Service to establish the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law at the University of Melbourne Law School and has been involved in research and training programs with military officers particularly from the Asia Pacific Region.
Professor McCormack acted as amicus curiae on international law matters before the ICTY for the trial of Slobodan Milošević; he provided expert Law of War advice for the Defence of David Hicks before the US Military Commission in Guántanamo Bay. He has also been a National Vice-President of the Australian Red Cross and chaired the Australian Red Cross National Advisory Committee on IHL. He was editor-in-chief of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law published by the TMC Asser Press in The Hague from 2003-2009 and is also a member of editorial boards of numerous leading international academic journals. Additionally, Professor McCormack has co-edited and contributed to numerous books, studies and articles.
See the ICC press release - here
Image Courtesy of University of Melbourne website.
March 2nd, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
Slavery as the Powers Attaching to the Right of Ownership
The Project
Does ‘slavery’ exist today? If so, what is to be considered slavery an what is not; in other words what are the legal parameters of this notion of slavery? The Project seeks to answer that question and establish what is to be considered slavery in law.
A group of twenty scholars, experts in their fields will meet on two occasions to give presentations and exchange ideas as to what the legal term ‘slavery’ means. These presentations will then be collected and published in an edited book and disseminated through concise ‘International Guidelines’ meant to assist judges and legislators in holding people account for modern cases of slavery. This Research Network will seek to establish the outer limits of the definition of slavery which hinges not on the concept of ‘ownership’ of human beings, but on the ‘powers attaching to the right of ownership’ that is: de facto ownership.
Beyond its main objective, the Research Network comprises a number of early career academics and postgraduate students who will benefit from their interaction with leading scholars. The Network will also comprise individuals from outside the research community, working for the leading anti-slavery NGOs in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
Call for Papers
Leading academics in the field of the law of property and slavery studies extend an invitation for two postgraduate students (LLM, LLD, Masters or PhD) to join their inter-disciplinary Network.
The Research Network, established with the assistance of a United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council Grant entitled: ‘Slavery as the Powers attaching to the Right of Ownership’ seeks two postgraduate students to join, based on a successful one-page abstract, the Network and participate in two symposia (the first in the summer of 2010 in Europe; the second in the summer of 2011 in the United States), developing a chapter-length piece on the parameters of either de jure or de facto ownership as may be applicable to human beings.
The successful candidates will have their travel and accommodations paid; will be full members and participants in the activities of the Research Network; and will develop their research as a chapter to be included in an edited volume of the work of the Network.
The Research Network consists of, inter alia: Kevin Bales, Seymour Drescher, Stanley Engerman, Paul Finkelman, Richard Helmholz, Antony Honoré, Orlando Patterson and Rebecca Scott.
The Research Networks seeks to give content to the ‘powers attaching to the right of ownership’ which is the basis of the accepted international definition of slavery, by determining the parameters of both de jure and de facto ownership of human beings. The Network is thus looking for Papers which will consider different elements of ownership as they may manifest themselves in situations of historical or contemporary slavery. The Network would welcome Papers which had an Asian dimension.
The deadline for submissions of one-page abstract is 15 March 2010. Abstracts should be sent to Jean Allain at: j.allain@qub.ac.uk.
For more information see the Queen’s University Website – here
February 26th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
The trial of Zdravko Tolimir, former high ranking official of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) is set to begin today, Friday 26 February, at 14:15 at the ICTY. He is the last Accused in the Tribunal’s custody to be put on trial. Tolimir is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed between July and November 1995 against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and Žepa, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The indictment alleges that Tolimir committed genocide when more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica were summarily executed.
The initial indictment against Tolimir was confirmed on 10 February 2005 and made public on 25 February 2005. He was arrested on 31 May 2007 and transferred to into the custody of the Tribunal on 1 June 2007.
Full text of the indictment can be found at:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/tolimir/ind/en/091104.pdf
Courtroom proceedings can be followed via the ICTY website at www.icty.org.
February 26th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
KHRP Joint Statement Concerning Arrest of Mr Muharrem Erbey, IHD Vice President
KHRP together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and The Law Society of England and Wales have issued the following co-signed statement expressing grave concern over the arrest and detention of Mr Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (İHD), and President of the İHD’s office in Diyarbakir.
Statement:
In the very early hours of the morning on Christmas Eve 2009, lawyer Mr. Muharrem Erbey – Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (İnsan Hakları Derneği or İHD) and President of the İHD’s branch office in Diyarbakır, was detained by Anti-Terror Units of the Diyarbakır Security Directorate as part of an operation launched simultaneously in 11 provinces of Turkey, in which more than 80 people were detained. The stated reason for Mr. Erbey’s detention was his alleged membership of the Kurdish Communities Union (Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan or KCK), which is said to be a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was subsequently arrested the following day and is currently being held in Diyarbakır D-Type prison awaiting trial.
Mr. Erbey’s house was searched while he was in detention and his request that a lawyer be present during the search was refused. During the search of İHD’s offices police confiscated computers and documentation including archives documenting 21 years of human rights abuses. These include information on cases that are currently at the European Court of Human Rights and in which Mr Erbey is representing the applicants.
Mr. Erbey is highly regarded both in Turkey and internationally for his work as a human rights lawyer and defender, recently working on cases of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the region. İHD has been a partner organisation of the Kurdish Human Rights Project for many years together they have gained redress for hundreds of victims of human rights abuses in Turkey in cases at the European Court of Human Rights.
During his interrogation, Mr. Erbey was asked extensively about his work with the İHD, including several international visits he’s conducted in order to draw attention to human rights abuses in the region. Mr. Erbey completely rejects the charges against him. His arrest, raises concerns about the freedom of human rights defenders in Turkey to work without intimidation and harassment and potentially violates numerous principles of international human rights law including the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
We the undersigned are gravely concerned about the arrest and detention of Muharrem Erbey and the human rights violations he has suffered on account of being a human rights defender. We therefore call on the Turkish authorities to investigate and monitor prosecution of this case and of all human rights defenders according to domestic and international law and for this case to be dealt with expeditiously.
Kurdish Human Rights Project
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
The Law Society of England and Wales
February 25th, 2010 by Cathy Mac Daid
The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) has announced that it will be interviewing applicants to its International Fellowship Programme in mid-March 2010, with the successful candidate to start work in our London office in the second half of April or the beginning of May 2010. The fellowship programme offers an excellent opportunity to selected advocates from the Kurdish regions or candidates of Kurdish origin who have a demonstrated commitment to working on human rights issues within the regions, to gain experience of involvement with international legal processes. The successful applicant will collaborate with KHRP’s Legal Team on cases before the European Court of Human Rights and on complaints to UN and other international human rights mechanisms. He or she will also contribute to KHRP’s biannual Legal Review.
The programme aims to empower local advocates to bring about lasting change in the human rights climate across the Kurdish regions through an exchange of legal and professional expertise and skills. It also promotes cultural understanding between advocates within the regions and internationally.
Click here for more information, including eligibility criteria and details of how to apply.
February 25th, 2010 by Deirdre Montgomery
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will deliver the opening lecture of the Supranational Criminal Law Spring lecture series on Wednesday 3 March. He will speak on “Policies and prosecutorial strategy of the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC” :
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court consulted widely with States, international organizations, NGO and academics in preparing its Prosecutorial Strategy for 2009-2012. The final version of the Strategy, taking into consideration the comments received during the consultations, was adopted early February 2010. The strategy outlines its plans for the coming three years, aiming to ensure predictability of the work of the Office and to facilitate the planning by others.
The Office is also updating and completing policy papers on key issues such as: a) the selection of situations and cases; b) positive complementarity; c) The interests of justice; d) victims’ participation; e) witness protection; f) disclosure of evidence; e) gender crimes. The Office is aiming to ensure a consistent approach in all its cases, thus enhancing efficiency.
The Supranational Criminal Law Lectures are organised by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Campus The Hague, Leiden University), the T.M.C. Asser Institute and the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court. The lectures are free off charge, so everyone who is interested is welcome to attend.
Time: starting at 19.30 hrs
Location: Campus Den Haag, Lange Voorhout 44 in The Hague
Registration not needed, seats available on a first come first serve basis.
February 25th, 2010 by Deirdre Montgomery
Public Lecture on “The Commonwealth and Global Challenges”, by HE Mr.Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General, on Monday, 1 March 2010 , 6.30pm at Auditoire Jacques Freymond (AJF – The Graduate Institute) – Rue de Lausanne 132, Geneva.
February 25th, 2010 by Deirdre Montgomery
The European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with Linköping University, University of Amsterdam’s Centre for International Law and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect will host a research conference on ‘The Responsibility to Protect: From Principle to Practice’ in Linköping, Sweden, from 8 to 11 June 2010. See below, and click here, for more information:
The aim of the Conference R2P: From Principle to Practice is to discuss selected aspects of R2P with a view to identify the added value of R2P as well as the challenges for the practical application of R2P.
While there is considerable general support for R2P along the three pillars suggested by the UN Secretary-General (responsibility of states to protect their own populations, assistance and capacity building and timely responses), fundamental questions remain. For instance: what does R2P add to the already existing obligations of states and to the substantial arsenal of instruments at the possession of the international community to prevent and respond to mass atrocities? Does R2P entail a risk of opening the door to external intervention? And how can R2P be operationalised and implemented in concrete circumstances?
Knowledge of the impact of the principle is limited. Recent practice shows both instances of where the international community succeeded (Kenya) and failed (Darfur) to prevent mass atrocities, but in neither of these cases it is obvious that success or failure could be attributed directly to the use, or lack of use, of the concept of R2P.
The Conference will bring together experts, academics, and policy-makers, from all regions of the world, and from various disciplines, including political science, international law and moral philosophy.
