International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? The Search For Accountability For Alleged Wartime Atrocities Committed In Sri Lanka, Aloka Wanigasuriya

Pace International Law Review

During the final stages of its nearly three-decades-long civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka attracted considerable international attention due to the allegations of international crimes that were said to have been committed both by the Sri Lankan government Armed Forces, the Guerilla Force, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to United Nations (UN) experts, an estimated 40,000 civilians were killed during the final offensive, which lasted from January to May 2009. However, the Sri Lankan government has set this figure at 9,000 with no civilian casualties. Several UN bodies found credible allegations that international crimes were committed …

The Language Of International Human Rights Law As A Foundation For The Prevention, And Peaceful Resolution Of Ethnic, And Political Conflicts In Bolivia, Yuri Mantilla

Pace International Law Review

Since the Spanish conquest of the New World, the systematic dehumanization of indigenous communities has been part of a culture of economic exploitation and ethnic discrimination against indigenous peoples such as the Aymara, Quechua, and Guarani. In Bolivia, indigenous people successfully resisted the efforts to undermine their cultural identities. As a result, Bolivia is one of the most indigenous countries in the world and its indigenous cultures are one of its greatest assets. Despite this reality, indigenous people have been marginalized and discriminated against in a country that has embraced ethnic stereotypes regarding the supposed “superiority” of people of Spanish …

Italy And The Aquarius: A Migrant Crisis, Alexandra Larkin

Pace International Law Review

Italian journalist Indro Montanelli once wrote, “[w]e Italians are tolerant and civil with all those who are different. Black, red, yellow. Especially when they are far away, at a telescopic distance from us.” In recent years, Italy had a resurgence of nationalist and far-right political leaders, who have taken an anti-immigration stance. Public interest in migration of refugees and asylum seekers is due both to media coverage of their stories and to litigation before international courts. One high-profile story that made headlines in the summer of 2018 was Italy’s treatment of the Aquarius, a rescue vessel operated by the …

Leahy—Sharpening The Blade, Nandor F.R. Kiss

Pace International Law Review

Over the course of the last 20 years, the Leahy Law has become one of the cornerstones of foreign and human rights policy. Yet, despite its largely unchallenged importance, field practitioners and other stakeholders have identified a number of substantive and practical deficiencies that greatly diminish the law’s ability to achieve the desired effect, and worse, may pose a risk to the United States’ interests. In reflecting on these deficiencies, and armed with decades of data and anecdotal evidence, this Article proposes adjustments focused on better aligning the law’s intent and effect. These recommendations range from semantic edits to substantive …

Federalism: Necessary Legal Foundation For The Central Middle Eastern States, Issa Al-Aweel

Pace International Law Review

The Central Middle East—comprising of Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan—is in need of a legal foundation defined by a constitutional umbrella that governs it as a whole. This is a proposed broad structure of such legal foundation that serves regional legal and economic needs and includes recognition of human rights.

The need for such restructuring is evident from the persistence of regional conflict and instability. Conflict and instability have been constants in the region in general and certainly in the listed five states. The issues include political instability, terrorism, continuous threats of fundamentalism, and pervasive disregard to human life …

The Consideration Of Male Victims Of Sexual Violence As A Subset Of The Particular Social Group “Homosexual” In Adjudicating Asylum Claims, Christiana Desrosiers

Pace International Law Review

This Article analyzes the difficulties African male victims of sexual violence experience when seeking asylum in homophobic host countries and the lack of attention they receive from international and national governments and organizations. It concludes by recommending that male victims of sexual violence be able to seek asylum in host countries due to lack of medical care that they receive in their countries on account of imputed homosexual status.

Humanitarian Islam, Engy Abdelkader

Pace International Law Review

In the aftermath of mass shootings by violent extremists and amid increasing anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination, many Muslim Americans have responded to these and other social, legal, and political developments with philanthropic initiatives inspired by orthodox Islamic teachings. This humanitarian impulse in Islam, which has shaped the religion since its founding, is relatively unknown to non-Muslim Americans. Humanitarian Islam is defined here in largely oppositional terms to so-called the “radical Islam.” In contrast to the violence, aggression, death, and destruction commonly associated with “radical Islam,” selfless volunteerism, benevolence, altruism, and charitable giving in service to others are characteristic of humanitarian …

Between Light And Shadow: The International Law Against Genocide In The International Court Of Justice’S Judgement In Croatia V. Serbia (2015), Ines Gillich

Pace International Law Review

This Article identifies and critically analyzes the contributions the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made to the international law against genocide via the judgment in Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia) of February 3, 2015. This Article elaborates on the concept of genocide—a term that has originally been coined after the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust—and the protection against this “crime of crimes” under international law. The analysis section of this Article refers to the historical and procedural context of the dispute between Croatia and Serbia in the case, …

Fleeing Cuba: A Comparative Piece Focused On Toro And The Options Victims Of Domestic Violence Have In Seeking Citizenship In The United States And Canada, Kiersten M. Schramek

Pace International Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided a case on February 4, 2013 that has undoubted international implications. Toro v. Sec’y dealt with the language of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 (CAA) and the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

This article focuses on how and why the court reached its decision. It analyzes the conflict between the “plain language” of the CAA and its statutory construction to rebut the court’s assertion that the VAWA self-petition was irrelevant in this case, and ultimately, offer an alternative analysis to this case.

This article …

International Humanitarian Law From Nuremberg To Rome: The Weighty Precedents Of The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu

Pace International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Draft Charter Of The International Tribunal For Violations Of International Humanitarian Law In The Former Yugoslavia

Pace International Law Review

No abstract provided.