Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 30 of 32
Full-Text Articles in Law
Corporate Complicity In International Criminal Law: Potential Responsibility Of European Arms Dealers For Crimes Committed In Yemen, Marina Aksenova
Corporate Complicity In International Criminal Law: Potential Responsibility Of European Arms Dealers For Crimes Committed In Yemen, Marina Aksenova
Washington International Law Journal
This article examines the question of corporate complicity within the framework of international criminal law and, more specifically, at the International Criminal Court (ICC). It does so by referencing a communication to the ICC filed by several non-governmental organizations, inviting the prosecutor to examine potential criminal responsibility of several European corporate officials who are knowingly supplying weapons to the United Arab Emirates/Saudi-led coalition currently engaged in a military offensive in Yemen. This submission raises an important legal question of whether the ICC’s Rome Statute provides for the possibility to hold corporate officials accountable in cases of complicity in gross human …
Race And Representation: The Legislative Council In Hong Kong During The Reign Of Queen Victoria, Dongsheng Zang
Race And Representation: The Legislative Council In Hong Kong During The Reign Of Queen Victoria, Dongsheng Zang
Washington International Law Journal
Black Americans need not be told that racism is not accidental, nor is it marginal in their lives. The rest of the American society does. In fact, race is a foundational consideration in the development of democracy in Anglo- American history. This article attempts to demonstrate, through colonial history of Hong Kong, how white supremacy played a central role in shaping the British colonial policy during the nineteenth century—the reign of Queen Victoria. Hong Kong was ceded to the British Empire when two ideas in Victorian England were competing to dominate its colonial policy: one was anti-slavery, and the other …
American Judicial Rejectionism And The Domestic Court’S Undermining Of International Human Rights Law And Policy After Human Right Violations Have Occurred In The State, Jessika L. Gonzalez
American Judicial Rejectionism And The Domestic Court’S Undermining Of International Human Rights Law And Policy After Human Right Violations Have Occurred In The State, Jessika L. Gonzalez
Washington International Law Journal
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd’s executions ignited protests across the world. These protests raised debate over the United States Supreme Court’s creation of qualified immunity for police misconduct. This in turn creates an appropriate opportunity to stop and take stock of United States law surrounding protections and immunities afforded to law enforcement officials, relative to international law and policy on law enforcement accountability and oversight. In doing so, this article uncovers how the American judiciary carries out a new form of American rejectionism powered by its use of qualified immunity doctrine, which in practice, results in a lack …
Criminalization Is Not The Only Way: Guatemala’S Law Against Femicide And Other Forms Of Violence Against Women And The Rates Of Femicide In Guatemala, Sydney Bay
Washington International Law Journal
Femicide in Guatemala has not decreased over the past twelve years, despite government efforts to curb the practice. In 2008, Guatemala passed the Law Against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence Against Women, which defined and criminalized femicide. The Law also created regulatory agencies and courts focused on stopping femicide and other forms of violence against women in the country, including physical, sexual, emotional, and economic violence. But because the government lacks resources and it has received resistance from the agencies’ local levels, femicide and the violence against women has not diminished. Additionally, recent Supreme Court cases have weakened aspects …
Reckoning: A Dialogue About Racism, Antiracists, And Business & Human Rights, Erika George, Jena Martin, Tara Van Ho
Reckoning: A Dialogue About Racism, Antiracists, And Business & Human Rights, Erika George, Jena Martin, Tara Van Ho
Washington International Law Journal
Video of George Floyd’s death sparked global demonstrations and prompted individuals, communities and institutions to grapple with their own roles in embedding and perpetuating racist structures. The raison d’être of Business and Human Rights (BHR) is to tackle structural corporate impediments to the universal realization of human rights. Yet, racism, one of the most obvious of such barriers, has been a blind spot for BHR. While the field has contended with gender inequality, there have only been tokenistic nods to intersectional harms caused by business activities. The failure to address racism seriously undermines both the promise of BHR generally and …
The "People's Total War On Covid-19": Urban Pandemic Management Through (Non-)Law In Wuhan, China, Philipp Renninger
The "People's Total War On Covid-19": Urban Pandemic Management Through (Non-)Law In Wuhan, China, Philipp Renninger
Washington International Law Journal
Although COVID-19 was first detected in the People’s Republic of China, the pandemic now appears contained there. Western and Chinese media attribute this apparent success to the central level of the Chinese state and the Communist Party. However, this article reveals that local entities provided critical contributions to China’s COVID-19 management, particularly in the pandemic’s first epicenter: Wuhan city in Hubei province. Chinese cities like Wuhan can fight public health emergencies through legal and nonlegal instruments. Although Wuhan had prepared for possible pandemics, its existing plans, institutions, and warning systems initially failed against COVID-19. The city did not contain the …
Economic Sanctions And Protection Of Fundamental Human Rights: A Review Of The Icj's Ruling On Alleged Violations Of The Iran-U.S. Treaty Of Amity, Seyed M.H. Razavi, Fateme Zeynodini
Economic Sanctions And Protection Of Fundamental Human Rights: A Review Of The Icj's Ruling On Alleged Violations Of The Iran-U.S. Treaty Of Amity, Seyed M.H. Razavi, Fateme Zeynodini
Washington International Law Journal
This article studies the unilateral regime of sanctions and their impact on two fundamental human rights: the right to food and the right to health. This article argues that international tribunals will set the level of obligation required to protect these human rights by observing the empirical correlation between economic sanctions and the deterioration of these rights in target states. By reviewing the elements that contribute to the strength of punitive economic measures, this article shows how sanctions have a greater impact on a population. This article concludes that the more powerful the economic sanctions, the higher the level of …
Sustainable Development And Social Inclusion: Why A Changed Approach Is Central To Combating Vulnerability, Joshua Castellino, Sarah Bradshaw
Sustainable Development And Social Inclusion: Why A Changed Approach Is Central To Combating Vulnerability, Joshua Castellino, Sarah Bradshaw
Washington International Law Journal
The United Declaration of Human Rights established the fundamental basis of international human rights law, Unfortunately, the over emphasis on civil and political rights within this agenda restricted greater engagement with questions concerning development. The focus on individual rights and antagonistic relations between states has led to a human rights practice that fails to achieve social inclusion for many and allows vulnerable groups io fall by the wayside. Equally unfortunately, the practice has too often focused on international level actors such as states and other entities, thus failing to take notice of national level policies and initiatives that do help …
Human Rights, Environmental Protection, And The Sustainable Development Goals, John H. Knox
Human Rights, Environmental Protection, And The Sustainable Development Goals, John H. Knox
Washington International Law Journal
In recent years, international human rights tribunals and other bodies have identified ways that environmental harm can interfere with the enjoyment of human rights, and have clarified that States have obligations to protect human rights against such interference. For example, States have duties to provide access to environmental information, to protect rights of free expression and association in relation to environmental issues, and to provide for participation in environmental decision-making. This article examines how well the draft Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) proposed by the United Nations Open Working Group reflect the human rights obligations relating to environmental protection. It concludes …
Human Rights Education For All: A Proposal For The Post-2015 Development Agenda, Gillian Macnaughton
Human Rights Education For All: A Proposal For The Post-2015 Development Agenda, Gillian Macnaughton
Washington International Law Journal
The Millennium Development Goals (“MDGs”) have been highly successful in bringing commitment, expertise and funding to key human development targets in education, health, gender equality and other poverty reduction measures. Yet, the MDGs failed to integrate, or even align with, the international human rights laws to which states have committed themselves. Many commentators argue that linking the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals with human rights would bring greater participation by people living in poverty in creating the agenda intended for their benefit, higher levels of accountability from governments and international organizations, greater attention to marginalized groups and economic inequality, and a …
Who Leads The G-Zero World? Multi-Nationals, Sustainable Development, And Corporate Social Responsibility In A Changing Global Order, Avi Sharma
Washington International Law Journal
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) aim to create a more peaceful, just, and environmentally sustainable global community. The SDGs target seventeen areas that demand immediate action by the international community, including the eradication of poverty, gender equality, climate change mitigation, and resilience building. Unfortunately, the world’s most powerful nation-state actors are unlikely to make the costly investments required to achieve the goals laid out in this ambitious UN document. In fact, this article argues that nation-state actors have powerful disincentives to play a leadership role in advancing the SDGs. The question then becomes: if nation-states are unable or unwilling …
The Sustaintable Development Goals (Sdgs) As Drafted: Nice Idea, Poor Execution, Thomas Pogge, Mitu Sengupta
The Sustaintable Development Goals (Sdgs) As Drafted: Nice Idea, Poor Execution, Thomas Pogge, Mitu Sengupta
Washington International Law Journal
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is scheduled to adopt its 2015-2030 development agenda in September 2015: the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) on the SDGs set a draft of this agenda before the UNGA in September 2014. Despite clear positives, this draft fails to take advantage of the SDGs’ non-binding and aspirational nature to encourage global leaders to set aside short-term gain in order to invest in a sustainable future. Specifically, the draft ought to identify actors responsible for specific achievements, to envision structural reforms in the global institutional order, to provide for objective …
Myanmar's Democracy Struggle: The Impact Of Communal Violence Upon Rohingya Women And Youth, Engy Abdelkader
Myanmar's Democracy Struggle: The Impact Of Communal Violence Upon Rohingya Women And Youth, Engy Abdelkader
Washington International Law Journal
Since the end of its military rule in 2011, the international community has rewarded Myanmar for perceived political and economic reforms. Still, Burma’s transition to democratic governance is beset by an unfortunate human rights record and marred by state-sanctioned violence against members of its minority Rohingya Muslim population. This article explores the conflict’s impact upon Muslim women and children. It argues that the group is experiencing human rights violations that are specific to its identity and have yet to be adequately recognized and addressed. These violations emanate from discriminatory population control regulations, gender based violence, human trafficking, hard labor, and …
The Slow-Burning Genocide Of Myanmar's Rohingya, Maung Zarni, Alice Cowley
The Slow-Burning Genocide Of Myanmar's Rohingya, Maung Zarni, Alice Cowley
Washington International Law Journal
Since 1978, the Rohingya, a Muslim minority of Western Burma, have been subject to a state-sponsored process of destruction. The Rohingya have deep historical roots in the borderlands of Rakhine State, Myanmar, and were recognized officially both as citizens and as an ethnic group by three successive governments of post-independence Burma. In 1978, General Ne Win’s socialist military dictatorship launched the first large-scale campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine State with the intent first of expelling them en masse from Western Burma and subsequently legalizing the systematic erasure of Rohingya group identity and legitimizing their physical destruction. This on-going process …
Gender-Specific Prison Reform: Addressing Human Rights Violations Against Women In Russia's Prisons, Courtney M. Skiles
Gender-Specific Prison Reform: Addressing Human Rights Violations Against Women In Russia's Prisons, Courtney M. Skiles
Washington International Law Journal
Russia currently incarcerates women in conditions that amount to human rights violations. Women incarcerated in Russia’s prisons experience not only oppression and abuse common to all those incarcerated in Russia, but also gender-specific harms. While Russia has signed on to many pivotal human rights treaties, it also has a long history of mass incarceration of its people. Today, the prison conditions for women in Russia reveal a need for reform. Reformers are challenged by a powerful State that has not prioritized the type of reform necessary to eliminate further harms done to incarcerated women. To ensure the rights of women …
Disability Rights In Cambodia: Using The Convention On The Rights Of People With Disabilities To Expose Human Rights Violations, Ulrike Buschbacher Connelly
Disability Rights In Cambodia: Using The Convention On The Rights Of People With Disabilities To Expose Human Rights Violations, Ulrike Buschbacher Connelly
Washington International Law Journal
In Cambodia, the percentage of the population living with disabilities is one of the highest in the world. At least 650,000 Cambodians live with a disability, and the exact count may be as high as 1.4 million. The incidence of disability is also expected to increase in the future. Despite the fact that many Cambodians have at least one disability, the country does not have adequate legal provisions to protect the human rights of people with disabilities. There are no comprehensive laws that address disability issues. The few existing laws provide only implicit protections and some directly discriminate against people …
Australia's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act: Addressing Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Inequities At The Expense Of International Human Rights?, Jenna Gruenstein
Australia's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act: Addressing Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Inequities At The Expense Of International Human Rights?, Jenna Gruenstein
Washington International Law Journal
In 2007, Australia passed the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act (“NT Emergency Response Act”), ostensibly reacting to a recent report detailing exceedingly high levels of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. This Comment argues that the NT Emergency Response Act likely violates Australia’s obligations under the United Nations’ (“U.N.”) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“Racial Discrimination Convention”). The NT Emergency Response Act provides an opportunity for the Racial Discrimination Convention’s enforcement body, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”), to extend its application of the specialized guidelines for indigenous peoples beyond the …
The Human Rights Costs Of China's Arms Sales To Sudan—A Violation Of International Law On Two Fronts, Stephanie L. Kotecki
The Human Rights Costs Of China's Arms Sales To Sudan—A Violation Of International Law On Two Fronts, Stephanie L. Kotecki
Washington International Law Journal
As an emerging world power, China has a crucial need for oil to meet its growing fuel consumption. It has invested heavily in Sudan, a country with extensive and productive oil reserves. However, this partnership has an ugly side. Sudanese militia groups, as well as government troops, have been committing gross human rights violations against residents of the Darfur region. Meanwhile, Chinese arms manufacturers have continued to export weapons and military equipment to Sudan, with the full knowledge of the Chinese government. Many of the weapons used to raid villages in Darfur were manufactured in China. International norms have evolved …
Transitional Justice In Korea: Legally Coping With Past Wrongs After Democratization, Kuk Cho
Transitional Justice In Korea: Legally Coping With Past Wrongs After Democratization, Kuk Cho
Washington International Law Journal
For more than a decade, Korean society has taken various legal steps to rectify past wrongs perpetrated by the old authoritarian-military regime. In 1995, the “Special Act Concerning the May 18 Democratization Movement” was passed in the National Assembly. Under this new legal circumstance, the two former presidents were imprisoned on charges of leading the 1979 military coup and brutally oppressing the May 18 Uprising of 1980. However, because such a transition from the authoritarian-military rule was established through a political compromise, Korean society had to experience a limited transitional justice. As another step to rectify past wrongs, the “Act …
China's Practice Of Procuring Organs From Executed Prisoners: Human Rights Groups Must Narrowly Tailor Their Criticism And Endorse The Chinese Constitution To End Abuses, Joan E. Hemphill
Washington International Law Journal
For the past two decades, human rights groups, medical organizations, and the international media have excoriated China for procuring transplant organs from executed prisoners. This practice was first authorized under China’s 1984 “Temporary Rules Concerning the Utilization of Corpses or Organs from the Corpses of Executed Criminals” and it is widely used by the Chinese government. Reports from Chinese doctors and media sources reveal significant deficiencies both in the text and application of China’s current organ-procurement laws. The lack of clear legal parameters and the absence of enforcement measures have opened the door to problems of interpretation and misapplication, resulting …
The International Law Exception To The Act Of State Doctrine: Redressing Human Rights Abuses In Papua New Guinea, Joshua Gregory Holt
The International Law Exception To The Act Of State Doctrine: Redressing Human Rights Abuses In Papua New Guinea, Joshua Gregory Holt
Washington International Law Journal
In Sarei v. Rio Tinto, the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of Papua New Guinea residents’ alleged human rights violations and environmental tort claims under customary international law and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The Ninth Circuit decided that jus cogens norms precluded application of the Act of State Doctrine. The United States Supreme Court in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino decided that U.S. courts could apply the Act of State Doctrine, absent an unambiguous and controlling international rule of law, to avoid judging foreign sovereigns’ acts within their own territories. This comment argues that crystallized legal norms …
Water Privatization In The Philippines: The Need To Implement The Human Right To Water, Sarah I. Hale
Water Privatization In The Philippines: The Need To Implement The Human Right To Water, Sarah I. Hale
Washington International Law Journal
Water is widely recognized as an essential element to sustain life, yet attaining universal access to clean drinking water remains a perplexing issue throughout the lesser-developed world. In 1997, with backing from private investment and the World Bank, the Philippine government privatized the municipal water utility of Manila in an effort to improve service and promote efficiency. Nearly ten years later, privatization has failed to produce results and instead has engendered a contentious and polemical debate about the merits of privatization. Indeed, for policy makers, the case study of Manila has become a focal point in the debate about whether …
Follow The Leader?: Japan Should Formally Abolish The Execution Of The Mentally Retarded In The Wake Of Atkins V. Virginia, Simon H. Fisherow
Follow The Leader?: Japan Should Formally Abolish The Execution Of The Mentally Retarded In The Wake Of Atkins V. Virginia, Simon H. Fisherow
Washington International Law Journal
Japan is the only industrialized democracy in the world to not explicitly proscribe the execution of the mentally retarded. In the face of opposition from both international bodies and non-governmental organizations, Japan persists in engaging in a practice condemned by both international law and the laws of the vast majority of the world's nations. Even the United States, a nation that remains staunchly pro-death penalty, abandoned its practice of executing the mentally retarded in 2002 due to the emergence of a national consensus against the practice. This Comment examines Japan's use of the death penalty and its imposition on mentally …
The Central Case Approach To Human Rights: Its Universal Application And The Singapore Example, Tai-Heng Cheng
The Central Case Approach To Human Rights: Its Universal Application And The Singapore Example, Tai-Heng Cheng
Washington International Law Journal
Human rights situations are often analyzed and described in binary terms, that is, whether rights have been violated or upheld. This Article argues that it is more meaningful to measure human rights situations in terms of deviations from a central case of key characteristics, and to understand the subtle interplay of social, political, and economic vectors that cause such deviations. Using Singapore as a case study, this Article demonstrates that in any State the real human rights situation revealed by central case analysis can be dramatically different than the traditional binary assessment of that situation. The Article concludes by showing …
Awaiting Doe V. Exxon Mobil Corp.: Advocating The Cautious Use Of Executive Opinions In Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation, Brian C. Free
Awaiting Doe V. Exxon Mobil Corp.: Advocating The Cautious Use Of Executive Opinions In Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation, Brian C. Free
Washington International Law Journal
In June 2001, eleven Indonesian villagers filed suit in a U.S. District Court against Exxon Mobil Corporation for its alleged complicity in human rights abuses in the Indonesian province of Aceh. The plaintiffs asserted jurisdiction and a cause of action pursuant to the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act, both of which enable foreign nationals to bring international human rights claims in U.S. federal courts. The U.S. Department of State intervened in the suit, expressing its view that federal court adjudication of the plaintiffs' claims could complicate U.S. foreign policy. The State Department opinion raises concern …
Awaiting Doe V. Exxon Mobil Corp.: Advocating The Cautious Use Of Executive Opinions In Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation, Brian C. Free
Awaiting Doe V. Exxon Mobil Corp.: Advocating The Cautious Use Of Executive Opinions In Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation, Brian C. Free
Washington International Law Journal
In June 2001, eleven Indonesian villagers filed suit in a U.S. District Court against Exxon Mobil Corporation for its alleged complicity in human rights abuses in the Indonesian province of Aceh. The plaintiffs asserted jurisdiction and a cause of action pursuant to the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act, both of which enable foreign nationals to bring international human rights claims in U.S. federal courts. The U.S. Department of State intervened in the suit, expressing its view that federal court adjudication of the plaintiffs' claims could complicate U.S. foreign policy. The State Department opinion raises concern …
The Development Of Human Rights In The Republic Of China On Taiwan: Ramifications Of Recent Democratic Reforms And Problems Of Enforcement, Winston Hsiao
Washington International Law Journal
October of 1995 marks the Republic of China's ("ROC") fiftieth anniversary of occupation in Taiwan. The ROC's impressive democratization in recent years follows a history of autocratic rule. Fear of government reprisal and a non-rights oriented neo-Confucian culture contributed to the people's slow assertion of their constitutional rights. Presently, the ROC's paradoxical international status raises important accountability issues. Though domestic courts now provide a more impartial forum for claims to be heard, international remedies are drastically limited should domestic ones fail. Expelled from the U.N. in 1971 and not officially recognized by most nation states, the ROC remains frightfully independent …
Importing Prison Labor Products From The People's Republic Of China: Re-Examining U.S. Enforcement Of Section 307 Of The Trade And Tariff Act Of 1930, Sarah A. Thornton
Importing Prison Labor Products From The People's Republic Of China: Re-Examining U.S. Enforcement Of Section 307 Of The Trade And Tariff Act Of 1930, Sarah A. Thornton
Washington International Law Journal
Since 1989, the United States has engaged in a heated debate with the People's Republic of China over products manufactured in Chinese prisons which enter U.S. markets. Human rights advocates argue that conditions in China's prisons violate human rights principles, and therefore, the United States should not extend Most Favored Nation trade status to China. Others argue that human rights conditions will only improve if the United States continues to extend MFN privileges. Forgotten is section 307 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1930, which prohibits imports of products made from prison labor. To effectively address the prison labor …
Retroactive Application Of The Torture Victim Protection Act To Redress Philippine Human Rights Violations, Riza De Jesus
Retroactive Application Of The Torture Victim Protection Act To Redress Philippine Human Rights Violations, Riza De Jesus
Washington International Law Journal
The Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) was enacted in 1992 to establish an unambiguous basis for a cause of action in U.S. courts for torture committed in foreign nations. Because the statutory language and legislative history did not address the issue of retroactivity, courts are left with the task of determining whether the TVPA applies to pending cases and pre-enactment conduct. As demonstrated in In re Estate of Marcos Human Rights Litigation, a retroactive application of the statute does not result in manifest injustice. The TVPA does not alter substantive rights and liabilities and merely clarifies existing law prohibiting …
"Comfort Women" From Korea: Japan's World War Ii Sex Slaves And The Legitimacy Of Their Claims For Reparations, Yvonne Park Hsu
"Comfort Women" From Korea: Japan's World War Ii Sex Slaves And The Legitimacy Of Their Claims For Reparations, Yvonne Park Hsu
Washington International Law Journal
During World War II, Japan forced 100,000 to 200,000 women from all over Asia into prostitution to satisfy the sexual cravings of Japanese soldiers. These women thus forced into prostitution were euphemistically called "comfort women". In December 1991, three former Korean comfort women filed suit in the Tokyo District Court, seeking damages for their sufferings. From both legal and moral perspectives, Japan needs to make reparations for violations of these women's fundamental human rights. By meeting the obligations arising from its past abuses of human rights, Japan will take a significant step toward preventing its militant past from re-occurring, fostering …