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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law
A Dark Descent Into Reality: The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
A Dark Descent Into Reality: The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
Michael W. Lewis
Abstract The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture …
A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
Michael W. Lewis
The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture debate, …
The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, Or Judicially-Constructed “Victor’S Impunity”?, C. Peter Erlinder
The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, Or Judicially-Constructed “Victor’S Impunity”?, C. Peter Erlinder
C. Peter Erlinder
ABSTRACT The U.N. Security Council Ad Hoc Rwanda Tribunal: International Justice, or Juridically-Constructed “Victor’s Impunity”? Prof. Peter Erlinder [1] ________________________ “…if the Japanese had won the war, those of us who planned the fire-bombing of Tokyo would have been the war criminals….” [2] Robert S. McNamara, U.S. Secretary of State “…and so it goes…” [3] Billy Pilgrim (alter ego of an American prisoner of war, held in the cellar of a Dresden abattoir, who survived firebombing by his own troops, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) Introduction Unlike the postWW- II Tribunals, the U.N. Security Council tribunals for the former Yugoslavia [10] …