Law Commons^™

The Gaza War Of 2009: Applying International Humanitarian Law To Israel And Hamas, Justus Reid Weiner, Avi Bell

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article explores the many international legal issues raised by the Palestinian-Israeli tension along Gaza's borders. It first examines legal issues raised by Palestinian conduct and then turns to legal issues raised by Israeli conduct. As will be demonstrated, criticisms of Israeli behavior ... lack any basis in international law. By contrast, Palestinian behaviors that are rarely criticized constitute severe violations of international law.

Targeted Killing In U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy And Law, Kenneth Anderson

Working Papers

Targeted killing, particularly through the use of missiles fired from Predator drone aircraft, has become an important, and internationally controversial, part of the US war against al Qaeda in Pakistan and other places. The Obama administration, both during the campaign and in its first months in office, has publicly embraced the strategy as a form of counterterrorism. This paper argues, however, that unless the Obama administration takes careful and assertive legal steps to protect it, targeted killing using remote platforms such as drone aircraft will take on greater strategic salience precisely as the Obama administration allows the legal space for …

International Terrorism: The Legitimization Of Safe Harbor States In International Law, Carol A. Bahan

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Treason In The Age Of Terrorism: An Explanation And Evaluation Of Treason's Return In Democratic States, Kristen E. Eichensehr

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Treason is an ancient crime, but it fell into disuse in most Western democratic states after World War I. Now it is making a comeback with prosecutions or threatened prosecutions against a new type of enemy--accused terrorists--in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. In the postwar period, commentators wrongly argued that treason would no longer be prosecuted because it is antiliberal, too difficult to prove, unnecessary because modern democracies are stable and secure, and premised on an extinct sense of loyalty to the state. This Article begins by debunking these claims and explaining treason's recent reappearance. First, democratic …

Notice Otherwise Given: Will In Absentia Trials At The Special Tribunal For Lebanon Violate Human Rights?, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

On March 1, 2009, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) commenced operations in the Netherlands. The mandate of the STL is to try those allegedly responsible for the 2005 bombing in Beirut which killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. A collaborative effort between Lebanon and the United Nations, the STL is to be of “international character based on the highest standards of justice.” However, the STL’s in absentia trial provisions are based on a far different, and lower, standard. This article posits that the STL’s in absentia trial provisions violate human rights norms, indeed the U.N. expressly rejected such …

The Precarious Situation Of Human Rights In The United States In Normal Times And After September 11, 2001 (La Situación Precaria De Los Derechos Humanos En Estados Unidos En Tiempos Normales Y Después Del 11 De Septiembre De 2001) (Spanish), Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

The paper criticizes the impact of U. S. American criminal law and procedure on the human rights of U. S. citizens in normal times and the changes that have occurred since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It deals with racial profiling, the death penalty, Draconian prison sentences in normal times, and the use of unlimited detention, torture and expanded powers of wiretapping and evidence gathering since the attacks of 9-11.

Note: downloadable document is in Spanish

The United Nations, The European Union, And The King Of Sweden: Economic Sanctions And Individual Rights In A Plural World Order, Daniel Halberstam, Eric Stein

Articles

In the last decade, economic sanctions have become a major instrumentality of the UN Security Council in the struggle against terrorism and lawless violence endangering peace. It is not surprising that innocents would be ensnarled, along with culprits, in the nets of the so-called "smart" or "targeted" sanctions, which are directed against named individuals and groups (as opposed to delinquent States). In such rare cases, as the individual concerned searches for a legal remedy, significant issues of fundamental human rights may arise at the levels of the international, regional, and national legal orders. This essay explores these issues. After examining …

International Standards For Detaining Terrorism Suspects: Moving Beyond The Armed Conflict-Criminal Divide, Monica Hakimi

Articles

Although sometimes described as war, the fight against transnational jihadi groups (referred to for shorthand as the "fight against terrorism") largely takes place away from any recognizable battlefield. Terrorism suspects are captured in houses, on street corners, and at border crossings around the globe. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the high-level Qaeda operative who planned the September 11 attacks, was captured by the Pakistani government in a residence in Pakistan. Abu Omar, a radical Muslim imam, was apparently abducted by U.S. and Italian agents off the streets of Milan. And Abu Baker Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Qaeda-affiliated group responsible for …