Human Rights Law Commons^™

The Admissibility Of Confessions Compelled By Foreign Coercion: A Compelling Question Of Values In An Era Of Increasing International Criminal Cooperation, Geoffrey S. Corn, Kevin Cieply

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article proceeds on a simple and clear premise: a confession extracted by torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment should never be admitted into evidence in a U.S. criminal trial. Whether accomplished through extending the Due Process or Self-Incrimination based exclusionary rules to foreign official coercion, or by legislative action, such exclusion is necessary to align evidentiary practice regarding confessions procured by foreign agents with our nation's fundamental values as reflected in the Fifth Amendment and our ratification of the CAT. This outcome is not incompatible with Connelly. Rather, this Article explores the limits of the Court's language in …

State Actors, Humanitarian Intervention And International Law: Reopening Pandora's Box, H. Scott Fairley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

And Then There Were Two: Why Is The United States One Of Only Two Countries In The World That Has Not Ratified The Convention On The Rights Of The Child?, Mark Engman

International Human Rights Law Journal

Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly (‘U.N. General Assembly’) unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter the “CRC”), which became the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history. Today, every nation in the world is a party to the CRC – except for two: Somalia, and the United States. This article will analyze the politics behind America’s failure to ratify this treaty. That may seem a little out of place in a law journal, but in reality the United States’ (‘U.S.’) acceptance or rejection of international law is as much a matter of …

Principled Humanitarian Organizations And The Use Of Force: Is There Space To Speak Out?, Scott Paul, Elizabeth Holland

International Human Rights Law Journal

Humanitarian organizations are fundamentally concerned with addressing the suffering of civilians. The decision by an armed actor to resort to force can result in greater protection or greater harm, and has at least as significant an impact on civilian lives as any decision made during the conduct of hostilities. Yet, humanitarian organizations rarely publicly advocate for or against the use of force. This article explores the perceived and actual limitations that humanitarian principles place on the public advocacy of humanitarian organizations regarding the recourse to force. It begins with a discussion of the relevant legal framework and explication of the …

Transitional Justice In Sri Lanka: Rethinking Post-War Diaspora Advocacy For Accountability, Mytili Bala

International Human Rights Law Journal

Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came to a bloody end in May 2009, amidst allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides. Since then, Tamils in the diaspora, long accused of funding the war, have become vocal proponents for war crimes accountability. Some might label certain forms of diaspora advocacy as “lawfare” or “long-distance nationalism.” However, these labels fail to account for the complex memories and identities that shape diaspora advocacy for accountability today. In order for Sri Lanka to move forward from decades of conflict, transitional justice mechanisms to …

Public Acknowledgement And Investigations Of U.S. “Targeted Killings” And Drone Strikes, American Civil Liberties Union (Aclu), Amnesty International, Center For Civilians In Conflict (Civic), Center For Constitutional Rights, European Center For Constitutional And Human Rights, Human Rights Clinic, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Foundations, Reprieve

Human Rights Institute

The United Nations, local and international human rights organizations, and journalists have investigated and reported numerous cases in which there is credible evidence of harm to Yemeni, Pakistani, and other civilians from U.S. strikes carried out in secret, often using drones. The families of those individuals are still seeking redress and accountability, and the continued refusal of your administration even to officially acknowledge their losses compounds their suffering

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies? The Current State Of Sexual Assault Reform Within The U.S. Military And The Need For The Use Of A Formal Decisionmaking Process In Further Reform, Danielle Rogowski

Seattle University Law Review

Who protects those who protect the nation? In the United States, these responsibilities are levied upon the U.S. Congress, which has Constitutional authority to “make rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.” As such, the U.S. military currently has a robust and well-developed judicial system governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Yet critics have attacked this system during the past two decades by alleging that it fails to adequately prevent and prosecute sexual assault within the ranks. Following scandals at the 1991 Tailhook Convention, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and the United States Air …

Internal Colonialism And Humanitarian Intervention, M. Sornarajah

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conscientious Objection To Military Service: A Report To The United Nations Division Of Human Rights, Jonathan M. Engram

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Practices In The Arab States: The Modern Impact Of Sharī’A Values, James Dudley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Displaced Persons: "The New Refugees" (The Dean Rusk Award Recipient), David Hull

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Iii: General Discussion, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Problems With The Application Of Norms Governing Interstate Armed Conflict To Non-International Armed Conflict, Waldemar A. Solf

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Coping With Non-International Armed Conflicts: The Borderline Between National And International Law, Bart De Schutter, Christine Van De Wyngaert

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Humanitarian Law And Internal Armed Conflicts, G.I.A.D. Draper

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Ndaa, Aumf, And Citizens Detained Away From The Theater Of War: Sounding A Clarion Call For A Clear Statement Rule, Diana Cho

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In the armed conflict resulting from the September 11 attacks, the executive authority to order the indefinite detention of citizens captured away from the theater of war is an issue of foreign and domestic significance. The relevant law of armed conflict provisions relevant to conflicts that are international or non-international in nature, however, do not fully address this issue. Congress also intentionally left the question of administrative orders of citizen detainment unresolved in a controversial provision of the 2012 version of the annually-enacted National Defense Authorization Act. While plaintiffs in Hedges v. Obama sought to challenge the enforceability of NDAA’s …

The Constitutionality Of Indefinite Detainment Of United States Citizens As Terrorist Suspects, Spencer Kelly, Tiffany Erickson, Eric Backman

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Big Fish, Small Ponds: International Crimes In National Courts, Elizabeth B. Ludwin King

Indiana Law Journal

The principle of complementarity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court anticipates that perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity will be tried in domestic courts unless there is no state with jurisdiction willing or able to do so. This Article examines the situation where a state might be willing to engage in meaningful local justice but temporarily lacks the capability to do so due to the effects of the conflict. It argues that where the state submits a detailed proposal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) outlining the steps necessary to gain or regain the …

Repatriate . . . Then Compensate: Why The United States Owes Reparation Payments To Former Guantánamo Detainees, Cameron Bell

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In late 2001, U.S. government officials chose Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as the site to house the “war on terror” detainees. Since then, 779 individuals have been detained at Guantánamo. Many of the detainees have endured years of detention, cruel and degrading treatment, and for some, torture—conduct that violates well-established prohibitions against torture and inhumane treatment under both general international law and the law of war. Under these bodies of law, the United States is required to make reparation—through restitution, compensation, and satisfaction—for acts that violate its international obligations. But the United States has not offered financial compensation to any Guantánamo …

Book Review: Nuclear Weapons And Law. Ed. Arthur Selwyn Miller And Martin Feinrider. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984., Dorinda G. Dallmeyer

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Genocide Convention - Intentional Starvation - Ethiopian Famine In The Eritrean War For Independence. The Applicability Of The Genocide Convention To Government Imposed Famine In Eritrea., Jean E. Zeiler

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

National Insecurity: The National Defense Authorization Act, The Indefinite Detention Of American Citizens, And A Call For Heightened Judicial Scrutiny, 49 J. Marshall L. Rev. 69 (2015), Harvey Gee

UIC Law Review

This essay outlines the problems posed by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (“NDAA”) and interprets the Act’s language to answer the question of: whether American citizens can be indefinitely detained under the NDAA?

Sexual Assault And Rape In The Military: The Invisible Victims Of International Gender Crimes At The Front Lines, Stella Cernak

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

In the past several years in particular, intra-military sexual assault and rape in the U.S. armed forces have been the focus of frequent media attention and intense congressional debate. Despite reforms, the rate of intra-military sexual crimes continues to remain high, as does soldiers’ wariness to report instances of sexual violence to military commanders. These problems and others have invigorated the position taken by some that outside judicial review of intra- military sexual crimes is necessary to provide justice to victims and lower the rate of intra-military sexual assault and rape. This Note argues that one of the primary contributors …

Civilian Protection: The Imperative Role Of Civil Society, Collen Kelly

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Contested Spaces During Transition: Regime Change In Myanmar And Its Implications For Women, Amy Barrow

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

This article examines recent political and legal developments in Myanmar to promote and protect Buddhism and their implications for women. Myanmar is currently undergoing political regime change. While periods of transition often present an opportunity to contest stereotypical gender roles and discriminatory cultural practices, a rise in Buddhist ethno-nationalism risks undermining women's "spaces" in society. Drawing on qualitative research interviews with members of civil society and other actors in Yangon, this article discusses the accelerated development of laws on the protection of race and religion alongside the parallel development of Myanmar's first law specifically addressing violence against women, to explore …

Arendt On The Crime Of Crimes, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Genocide–-the intentional destruction of groups “as such”–-is sometimes called the “crime of crimes,” but explaining what makes it the crime of crimes is no easy task. Why are groups important over and above the individuals who make them up? Hannah Arendt tried to explain the uniqueness of genocide, but the claim of this paper is that she failed. The claim is simple, but the reasons cut deep.

Genocide, in Arendt’s view, “is an attack upon human diversity as such.” So far so good; but it is hard to square with Arendt’s highly individualistic conception of human diversity, which in her …

Human Rights Thinking And The Laws Of War, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In a significant early case, the ICTY commented: “The essence of the whole corpus of international humanitarian law as well as human rights law lies in the protection of the human dignity of every person…. The general principle of respect for human dignity is . . . the very raison d'être of international humanitarian law and human rights law.”

Is it true that international humanitarian law and international human rights law share the same “essence,” and that essence is the general principle of respect for human dignity? Is it true that, in the words of Charles Beitz, humanitarian law is …

Civilian Starvation And Relief During Armed Conflict: The Modern Humanitarian Law, Charles A. Allen

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Democracy's Struggle Against Terrorism: The Powers Of Military Commanders To Decide Upon The Demolition Of Houses, The Imposition Of Curfews, Blockades, Encirclements And The Declaration Of An Area As A Closed Military Area, Emanuel Gross

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Laws Of War: An Examination Of The Legality Of Nato's Intervention In The Former Yugoslavia And The Role Of The European Court Of Human Rights In Redressing Claims For Civilian Casualties In War, Robert W. Stannard

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.