Human Rights Law Commons^™

Victims Of Peace: Current Abuse Allegations Against U.N. Peacekeepers And The Role Of Law In Preventing Them In The Future, Alexandra R. Harrington

ExpressO

This article addresses the increasingly prevalent and horrific allegations of sexual abuse made against U.N. peacekeepers. The primary allegations addressed are those from the Congo, as the most plentiful and readily available evidence of these abuses comes from the region. The goal of this paper is not merely to critique the U.N. and its handling of the current peacekeeper abuse allegations, as such a critique would only serve half of the problem. Rather, this paper will use the past and current understandings of the U.N. Charter, peacekeeping, international law, and military justice to suggest several options for handling both the …

Sita's Trousseau: Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence, And South Asian Culture, Rashmi Goel

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This article focuses on the particular cultural factors that affect South Asian women who are abused and immigrant South Asian women who are abused, in particular, in the restorative justice process. By exploring cultural practices and the icon of Sita, the mythological heroine of the Ramayana, this article demonstrates how the South Asian ideals of womanhood and wifehood help to create a mind-set whereby South Asian women are reluctant to advocate for themselves and are reluctant to leave. Such a condition is contrary to the conditions and abilities assumed by the restorative justicemovement for dispute resolution, inside or outside of …

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 …

David P. Forsythe On The United States And The Rule Of Law In International Affairs By John F. Murphy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 367pp., David P. Forsythe

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The United States and the Rule of Law in International Affairs by John F. Murphy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 367pp.

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 …

The New Deterrence: Crime And Policy In The Age Of Globalization, Patrick Keenan

ExpressO

Globalization has made it much easier for criminal activity to cross borders, but deterrence theory has not kept up with this changed reality. I draw insights from both law-and-economics and criminology literature to enrich our understanding of deterrence. I ground my theoretical discussion in the real-world problem of sex tourism as an example of the kind of unwanted activity that now crosses borders and has complicated our understanding of deterrence. I focus on two issues central to deterrence that have not gotten sufficient scholarly attention: the phenomenon of displacement and the role of status. I argue that informal sanctions, as …

The Role Of Courts In Preventing International Child Abduction, Deborah M. Zawadzki

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that international child abduction is a growing issue exacerbated by globalization, with existing legal frameworks like the Hague Convention and the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (IPKCA) proving insufficient to address the problem. It advocates for a more proactive role for U.S. courts in preventing abductions through legislative support and comprehensive preventative measures, emphasizing the need for state-level reforms, such as Texas’s H.B. 1899, to fill gaps in current laws and protect children at risk

Neo-Colonial Relationships Gone Wrong: French Leaders Should Be Held Legally Responsible For Their Role In The Rwandan Genocide, Kirsten T. Bowman

ExpressO

This article explores the role of outside government intervention in civil war conflicts and the ability of these government actors to be held responsible for crimes committed by association and assistance to war criminals. By using the example of the French/Rwandan relationship and the criminal responsibility that France may have for its association and assistance to the Hutu majority government, it looks to the pitfalls that many western countries could find themselves in by assuming similar roles with other repressive and unstable regimes. This analysis proves particularly timely as lawyers for six Rwandan citizens recently filed a lawsuit with the …

Pluralizing International Criminal Justice, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

This Review Essay of Philippe Sands' (ed.) From Nuremberg to the Hague (2003) explores a number of controversial aspects of the theory and praxis of international criminal law. The Review Essay traces the extant heuristic of international criminal justice institutions to Nuremberg and posits that the Nuremberg experience suggests the need for modesty about what criminal justice actually can accomplish in the wake of mass atrocity. It also explores the place of one person's guilt among organic crime, the reality that international criminal law may gloss over criminogenic conditions in its pursuit of individualized accountability, the possibility of group sanction …

From Indifference To Engagement: Bystanders And International Criminal Justice, Laurel E. Fletcher

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article contributes to the scholarship on transitional justice by examining how the legal architecture and operation of international criminal law constricts bystanders as subjects of jurisprudence, considering the effects of this limitation on the ability of international tribunals to promote their social and political goals, and proposing institutional reforms needed to address this limitation.

Collective Violence And Individual Punishment: The Criminality Of Mass Atrocity, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

There is a recent proliferation of courts and tribunals to prosecute perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The zenith of this institution-building is the permanent International Criminal Court, which came into force in 2002. Each of these new institutions rests on the foundational premise that it is appropriate to treat the perpetrator of mass atrocity in the same manner that domestic criminal law treats the common criminal. The modalities and rationales of international criminal law are directly borrowed from the domestic criminal law of those states that dominate the international order. In this Article, I challenge this …

Law And Atrocity: Settling Accounts In Rwanda, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Ten years ago, genocide ravaged the tiny African nation of Rwanda. In the wake of this violence, Rwanda has struggled to reconstruct, rebuild, and reconcile. Law-in particular, criminal trials for alleged perpetrators of genocide- has figured prominently among various policy mechanisms in postgenocide Rwanda. Criminal trials for Rwandan genocidaires' aspire to achieve several goals. These include exacting retribution, promoting reconciliation, deterring future violence, expressing victims' outrage, maintaining peace, and cultivating a culture of human rights.2 In this Lecture, I examine the extent to which these trials attain these multiple, often competing, and largely overwhelming goals. Part I begins by setting …

Criminalizing Hate Speech: A Comment On The Ictr’S Judgment In The Prosecutor V. Nahimana, Et Al., Diane F. Orentlicher

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Criminalizing Hate Speech In The Crucible Of Trial: Prosecutor V. Nahimana, Diane F. Orentlicher

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Private Military Contractor Liability And Accountability After Abu Ghraib, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1237 (2005), Mark W. Bina

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

American Courts Are Drowning In The "Gene Pool": Excavating The Slippery Slope Mechanisms Behind Judicial Endorsement Of Dna Databases, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 115 (2005), Meghan Riley

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Global Sex Trafficking And The Trafficking Victims Protection Act Of 2000: Legislative Responses To The Problem Of Modern Slavery, Rosy Kandathil

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Human trafficking is becoming the fastest growing criminal activity in the world. Generally, trafficking is defined as the transportation of persons across international borders for labor purposes, by means of force, fraud, or coercion. Commerce directly related to human slavery yields approximately $7-$10 billion a year, trailing only behind drugs and weapons trade for international profit. According to recent congressional findings, over 700,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders each year, including approximately 50,000 women and children into the United States. Women and girl children are the primary targets for sexual exploitation into prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, and other …

Lessons Learned: Building On The Success Of The Current International Tribunal Framework To Develop The Next Era Of War Crimes Tribunals , Aryeh Neier

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pornography As Trafficking, Catharine A. Mackinnon

Michigan Journal of International Law

In material reality, pornography is one way women and children are trafficked for sex. To make visual pornography, the bulk of the industry's products, real women and children, and some men, are rented out for use in commercial sex acts. In the resulting materials, these people are then conveyed and sold for a buyer's sexual use. Obscenity laws, the traditional legal approach to the problem, do not care about these realities at all. The morality of what is said and shown remains their focus and concern. The injuries inflicted on real people to make the materials, or because they are …

Updates From The International Criminal Courts, Nicolas M. Rouleau, Annelies Brock, Daisy Yu, Anne Heindel, Mario Cava, Tejal Jesrani

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Review Of Conference: “International Criminal Tribunals In The 21st Century”, Tim Curry

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

De Facto V. De Jure Equality In The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Brianne Mcgonigle

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International Criminal Courts, Mariam Ahmedani, Christina Barba, Brianne Mcgonigle, Anne Heindel, Leslie Thompson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Plea Bargaining At The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Ralph Henham, Mark Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) increasingly has turned to plea bargains to resolve the cases before it. A number of factors motor this trend. One is administrative: the ICTY has been subject to considerable pressure from the United Nations Security Council and donor states to accelerate its work. Another is the desire to obtain acknowledgements of responsibility from perpetrators. Moreover, there is concern that, as time passes, the memories of witnesses dim. The rigours of direct and cross-examination may retraumatise those who have survived mass atrocity. ICTY judges also have expressed their understanding that guilty pleas …

The Anti-Prostitution Pledge: Limiting Speech And Development , Rachael Moshman

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Making Work Pay: Promoting Employment And Better Child Support Outcomes For Low-Income And Incarcerated Parents, Ann Cammett

Scholarly Works

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice prepared this report in response to concerns about child support debt—in particular as it creates a barrier to employment for low-income parents and works at cross-purposes with the goals of the child support program. Drawing on examples from other states, this report identifies a range of policies that inform child support practice in New Jersey and offers administrative, legislative, and programmatic solutions to address child support arrears owed by low-income and incarcerated parents.

The Ictr And Justice For Rwandan Women, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

In this article, I hope to spring from the discussion of the ICTR's gender jurisprudence to a broader conversation that touches on the relationship between this jurisprudence and life for Rwandan women today. In particular, I'd like to consider three questions: What do both the gender jurisprudence and the jurisprudence at large of the ICTR mean to women, individually and collectively, in Rwanda? How do other modalities of accountability that operate in postgenocide Rwanda respond to gender violence and promote gender equality? What is the situation of Rwandan women today?

Return Of The Great Writ: Judicial Review, Due Process, And The Detention Of Alleged Terrorists As Enemy Combatants, Benjamin Priester

Journal Publications

The federal government's reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, included a wide range of statutes, policies, and strategies for aggressively pursuing, capturing, detaining, and punishing not only the individuals directly responsible for the attacks, but also those who seek to carry out future attacks. The objective was no less ambitious than the elimination of the entire terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda, from its leaders like Osama bin Laden to its agents in the field. To accomplish this aim the government invoked the full range of its powers in foreign and domestic affairs: military force abroad, foreign …

State Legislation And Human Trafficking: Helpful Or Harmful?, Stephanie Richard

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Human trafficking is the modern day form of slavery. Despite the fact that thousands of people are trafficked into the United Sates each year, the majority of U.S. citizens are not aware of the nature and extent of this problem. In 2000, the U.S. government passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTVPA) to combat this grave human rights abuse. This federal legislation takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem of human trafficking in the United States by acknowledging that effective prosecution cannot occur without safeguards and benefits for trafficking victims. To this end, the VTVPA enumerates …

Reflections On The Essential Role Of Legal Scholarship In Advancing Causes Of Citizen Groups, Nadine Strossen

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.