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University of San Diego

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Full-Text Articles in Military, War, and Peace

A Matter Of National Security: Whistleblowing In The Military As A Mechanism For International Law Enforcement, Roslyn Fuller Jan 2014

A Matter Of National Security: Whistleblowing In The Military As A Mechanism For International Law Enforcement, Roslyn Fuller

San Diego International Law Journal

[T]his article examines the impact that external whistleblowing can have on a state’s compliance with international law. Part III looks at some of the complications that disclosing international law violations raises for the broader legal system, in particular, the expertise that a whistleblower of this type should be expected to have in the area of international law, and judicial reactions to defences related to the exposure of international law violations. Part IV identifies some trends based on this analysis and what they might mean for external whistleblowing on international law violations in the future.

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The Judicialization Of International Atrocity Crimes: The Kharkov Trial Of 1943, Michael J. Bazyler, Kellyanne Rose Gold Nov 2012

The Judicialization Of International Atrocity Crimes: The Kharkov Trial Of 1943, Michael J. Bazyler, Kellyanne Rose Gold

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article analyzes the Kharkov trial, the first trial of Nazi war criminals undertaken by any Allied Power, as well as the first trial of the Holocaust. It is written on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Kharkov trial. Part II, as background, describes the Holocaust as experienced in Kharkov, Ukraine. Part III discusses the trial that took place in Kharkov: the defendants, the prosecution, the setting, and the testimony. Part IV looks at the Kharkov trial as a typical Stalinist “show trial,” where guilt has been predetermined and a trial is used merely as a show to …

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Cyberterrorism In The Context Of Contemporary International Law, Yaroslav Shiryaev Nov 2012

Cyberterrorism In The Context Of Contemporary International Law, Yaroslav Shiryaev

San Diego International Law Journal

The present Article addressed the legal issues surrounding cyberterrorism. In the first chapter, the author explains why cyberterrorism should be described as “the use of electronic networks taking the form of a cyber-attack to commit a) a substantive act criminalized by the existing legal instruments prohibiting terrorism, or b) an act of terrorism under international customary law.” Further, with a special emphasis on existing anti-terrorism conventions and customary international law, it was demonstrated which actors are likely to engage in acts of cyberterrorism (non-state actors, corporations and individuals), as well as which targets are protected by law and which aims …

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The Obligation To Use Force To Stop Acts Of Genocide: An Overview Of Legal Precedents, Customary Norms, And State Responsibility, Joshua M. Kagan May 2006

The Obligation To Use Force To Stop Acts Of Genocide: An Overview Of Legal Precedents, Customary Norms, And State Responsibility, Joshua M. Kagan

San Diego International Law Journal

Though the Genocide Convention was created to "liberate mankind from [the] odious scourge" of genocide, the dreams of its drafters have still not come to fruition. The commission of genocide, widely considered the most appalling of all crimes, did not end with the signing and ratification of the Convention in 1948. Genocide continues in the world today. While its sentiments were noble and its aims commendable, the Genocide Convention as it is interpreted and applied today is insufficient to stop the commission of genocide in the world. In order to rid the world of this crime, a new interpretation of …

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Conflicts Diamonds: U.S. Responsibility And Response, Edward R. Fluet Nov 2005

Conflicts Diamonds: U.S. Responsibility And Response, Edward R. Fluet

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article will examine U.S. and international efforts to combat the trade in conflict diamonds. Specifically, this article will detail their failures and examine the need for U.S. backed legislation to prevent the conflict diamond trade more effectively. This article proceeds as follows: Part I will examine the effect of the conflict diamond trade on those caught in the grip of civil war and terrorism. Part II will analyze international efforts to curtail conflict diamonds trade, specifically examining international support of the Kimberley Process. Part III and IV will examine the United States'efforts to regulate conflict diamonds and the inherent …

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Countering Terrorism: From Wigged Judges To Helmeted Soldiers - Legal Perspectives On America's Counter-Terrorism Responses, Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto May 2005

Countering Terrorism: From Wigged Judges To Helmeted Soldiers - Legal Perspectives On America's Counter-Terrorism Responses, Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article aims to evaluate the international legal perspectives attendant to U.S. counter-terrorism measures and policy and the attendant strictures an implications. Part II commences by grappling with the uneasy relationship that legal and political complexities have foisted on the UN's ability to address terrorism and the difficult issue of the definition of terrorism. Within the context of this part, the Article also addresses the two dominant counter-terrorism paradigms-law enforcement and conflict management. Part III oves on to evaluate the law enforcement paradigm which treats terrorism as a crime engaging domestic law enforcement. This part offers a discussion of the …

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"When Caterpillars Kill": Holding U.S. Corporations Accountable For Knowingly Selling Equipment To Countries For The Commission Of Human Rights Abuses Abroad, Zaha Hassan May 2005

"When Caterpillars Kill": Holding U.S. Corporations Accountable For Knowingly Selling Equipment To Countries For The Commission Of Human Rights Abuses Abroad, Zaha Hassan

San Diego International Law Journal

With the recent trend towards holding corporations accountable for aiding and abetting human rights abuses abroad, this paper asks the question whether corporations should be held liable for knowingly facilitating human rights abuses abroad by selling equipment widely known to be used in such abuses. To this end, the case of Caterpillar sales to Israel will here be examined. Part II provides an overview of the history of the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and its applicability in United States courts. Part III gives an overview of how corporate liability for human rights abuses abroad developed under the ATCA. Part …

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Securing A Journalist's Testimonial Privilege In The International Criminal Court, Anastasia Heeger May 2005

Securing A Journalist's Testimonial Privilege In The International Criminal Court, Anastasia Heeger

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article argues that given the unique and significant contribution of journalists to uncovering and documenting war crimes, the ICC should amend its evidentiary rules to recognize a qualified journalist's privilege. In doing so, the ICC should clearly identify who may benefit from such a privilege, clarify a procedure for balancing the need of reportorial testimony against prosecution and defense interests, and, lastly provide for mandatory consultations between the court and affected news organizations or journalists before allowing the issuance of a subpoena. Such clarity will benefit not only journalists working in war zones and the ICC, but will provide …

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The Prohibition Of Widespread Rape As A Jus Cogens, Dean Adams May 2005

The Prohibition Of Widespread Rape As A Jus Cogens, Dean Adams

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment explains why the prohibition of widespread rape should be recognized as a jus cogens through analyses of the failure of existing international legal instruments, advances within international law towards the universal prohibition of widespread rape, and policy reasons for classifying widespread rape as a jus cogens. In doing so, this comment will demonstrate the particular timeliness of this topic by reviewing the use of widespread rape in several countries through the 1990s, the widespread rape presently occurring in Kenya, and the emerging reports from Iraq of rape committed at the hands of the Saddam Hussein regime. Finally, this …

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From The Nuremberg Charter To The Rome Statute: Defining The Elements Of Crimes Against Humanity, Mohamed Elewa Badar May 2004

From The Nuremberg Charter To The Rome Statute: Defining The Elements Of Crimes Against Humanity, Mohamed Elewa Badar

San Diego International Law Journal

The purpose of this study is to examine the past and present contours of the prohibition of "crimes against humanity", analyzing and scrutinizing the essential elements of this crime, with a view to obtaining and drawing together basic criteria that could eventually guide the adjudication of this offence. Furthermore, this clarification of "crimes against humanity" is particularly timely with respect to the soon functioning International Criminal Court (ICC).

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Military Detention And The Judiciary: Al Qaeda, The Kkk And Supra-State Law, Wayne Mccormack May 2004

Military Detention And The Judiciary: Al Qaeda, The Kkk And Supra-State Law, Wayne Mccormack

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article touches on the choice of whether to use the language and tools of war or the language and tools of law enforcement in responding to terrorism. The principal focus, however, is on the limited issue of judicial review and military detentions. The Article reviews the case law created on this subject during the Civil War and World War II. Historical considerations are found by the author to be relevant and helpful in solving the incoherency of current legal responses to terrorism. For instance, indefinite military detention is not coherent with either the international law concept of violations of …

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International Law And The Pre-Emptive Use Of Force: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, And Iraq, Christopher Greenwood May 2003

International Law And The Pre-Emptive Use Of Force: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, And Iraq, Christopher Greenwood

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article will review the legal framework on the use of force and suggest that there are cases in which the use of "preemptive force" may be justified, provided that certain important conditions are satisfied. Parts III and IV will then apply this analysis to the two cases that have focused attention on the whole issue of preemptive action, namely, the threat from international terrorism (Part III) and the situation in Iraq (Part IV). The writer's conclusions are summarized in Part V.

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Authorization To Kill Terrorist Leaders And Those Who Harbor Them: An International Analysis Of Defensive Assassination, Brenda L. Godfrey May 2003

Authorization To Kill Terrorist Leaders And Those Who Harbor Them: An International Analysis Of Defensive Assassination, Brenda L. Godfrey

San Diego International Law Journal

The purpose of this Comment is to explore the legal justification for the targeted killing of a terrorist leader as an act of self-defense. In particular, the focus of this Comment will be on the interpretation of the self-defense doctrine under customary international law and the United Nations Charter. First, this Comment will examine the background and common definitions of assassination. Then, the focus will shift to an evaluation of the relevant customary international law and the Caroline doctrine. Next, this Comment will analyze the United Nations Charter, Article 51 as it relates to a claim of self-defense in response …

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