International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

Arbitrary Arrest And Detention Of Human Rights Defenders In Iran: Subduing The Voices Demanding Rights, Sachchi Karki

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Arbitrary arrest and detention, oftentimes used to curtail the freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the right to association and peaceful assembly, has continued to characterize Iranian regimes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Such arrest and detention of human rights defenders (HRD)–who individually or with others act to protect and promote human rights—has demonstrated the repressive nature of the Iranian regime. Human rights lawyers, civil society representatives, journalists, and women’s rights movements and trade union activists are among the most commonly targeted HRD.

Imagining A More Humane Immigration Policy In The Age Of Obama: The Use Of Plenary Power To Halt The State Balkanization Of Immigration Regulation, Kristina M. Campbell

Journal Articles

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been grim for immigrants to the United States—both legal and undocumented—and the lawyers and advocates who work on their behalf. Following the failure of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level, states and municipalities have seen fit to take matters into their own hands and pass a patchwork of local ordinances, statutes, and ballot initiatives ostensibly designed to do what the federal government had failed to do—regulate the flow of immigration into their cities and towns. As the economy continues to spiral downward into what may very well be the next Great …

Steve C. Ropp On Human Rights In Latin America: A Politics Of Terror And Hope. By Sonia Cardenas. Philadelphia, Pa: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. 256pp., Steve C. Ropp

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope. By Sonia Cardenas. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. 256pp.

Is The Wedding Of Trade And Human Rights A Marriage Of Convenience Or A Lasting Union?, Susan Ariel Aaronson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Forced to Be Good: Why Trade Agreements Boost Human Rights. By Emilie Hafner-Burton. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009. 220pp.

“Revolution By Eradication:” On The Khmer Rouge’S Making Of The Tragedy Of Cambodia, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space . By James A. Tyner. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. 209pp.

Introduction: Human Rights In The Middle East And North Africa (Mena), Raslan Ibrahim

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The wave of revolutions and popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the dawn of 2011 highlights the inescapable relevance and impact of human rights on the region’s politics and security. The Arab regimes’ violations of human rights and lack of respect to the human dignity of their citizens are in fact the seeds of the Jasmine revolution in Tunisia, the rebellion of the Egyptian people against Mubarak regime, as well as the ongoing uprisings across the rest of MENA. The women and men who are protesting in the streets of Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Yemen, …

The Abuse Of Child Domestic Workers: Petites Bonnes In Morocco, Joanna Miller

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The International Labor Organization (ILO) classifies child domestic labor as a “worst form of child labor” for a very good reason. Driven by dire poverty and lack of access to education, children are sent away from their homes, often moving to large and unfamiliar cities to work for wealthier families. Morocco has one of the worst child domestic labor problems in Northern Africa with an ILO estimated 66,000-88,000 children between the ages of 7 and 15, 70% of whom are under age 12, working in Morocco today (Rinehart 2007). Many of these child laborers are young girls working as maids, …

The Object Of Torture Is Torture: Extraordinary Renditions To Jordan And Human Rights In The War On Terror, Kat Mitchell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Hassan Saleh bin Attash, a Yemeni national, was just seventeen at the time of his September 2002 arrest in Pakistan. The young man spent four days in a Karachi prison before being taken to a United States-run prison in Kabul, where he was held and allegedly tortured through the middle of September. He was then rendered to Jordan.

Persecution Of Coptic Christians In Modern Egypt, Alla Rubinstein

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Christian community of Egypt dates back to the seventeenth century and comprises 12 per cent of the population today. As one of the oldest churches of the world, the Coptic Christian Church, first formed in Alexandria, has stood resilient and faithful to its traditions against intolerance, siege and persecutions. Having been present in most institutions of the state among the overwhelmingly Sunni-Muslim population, Copts are not new to the slow process of Islamization that Egypt has been undergoing for the last twenty years. What has been unique to the recent Coptic experience is the forced integration of Shari’a law …

Dying For Love: Homosexuality In The Middle East, Heather Simmons

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today in the United States, the most frequent references to the Middle East are concerned with the War on Terrorism. However, there is another, hidden battle being waged: the war for human rights on the basis of sexuality. Homosexuality is a crime in many of the Middle Eastern states and is punishable by death in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran (Ungar 2002). Chronic abuses and horrific incidences such as the 2009 systematic murders of hundreds of “gay” men in Iraq are seldom reported in the international media. Speculation as to why this population is hidden includes the …

Bedouin Women In The Naqab, Israel: Ongoing Transformation, Marcy M. Wells

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since its inception in 1948, the state of Israel has based development plans on an agenda of nation-building that has systematically excluded Palestinian Arab citizens such as the indigenous Bedouin. Policies of relocation, resettlement, and restructuring have been imposed on the Bedouin, forcing them from their ancestral lands and lifestyle in the Naqab (or Negev, as it is called in Hebrew) desert of southern Israel. The rapid and involuntary transition from self-sufficient, semi-nomadic, pastoral life to sedentarization and modernization has resulted in dependency on a state that treats the Bedouin as minority outsiders through unjust social, political, and economic structures. …

Finding A Voice: Using The Internet For Free Speech And Expression In Iran, Chelsea Zimmerman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In July 2009, many Iranians took to the streets to protest the results of the presidential election in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won with a reported 62% of the vote. The protests, stemming from allegations of electoral fraud, quickly exposed the government's limited tolerance for dissent. In addition to street demonstrations, protestors utilized social networking websites to express their opposition to the election results. The world, following Internet feeds, witnessed the restrictive mechanisms Iran’s government placed on expression and speech. People throughout the world admonished Iran for the government's interference with cell phone and Internet networks. Iran’s free speech and expression …

Human Rights Education In Peace-Building: A Look At Where The Practice Has Come From, And Where It Needs To Head, Tracey Holland

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The world’s peace-building and development organizations increasingly are incorporating human-rights frameworks into the myriad of activities now under their purview. Slower to develop, however, are the capacity-building programs designed to impart knowledge about human rights to citizens and communities. Field-workers throughout the world indicate that the lack of such guidance-giving education hinders them when it comes to monitoring activities, helping to rebuild public institutions, setting up and organizing electoral politics, building an unfettered media, protecting human security, setting up transitional justice mechanisms, and the myriad of other peace-building activities and democratization challenges they face in post-conflict situations. This paper not …

Beyond The Brink: Somalia’S Health Crisis, Bryson Brown

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Somalia is approaching a daunting anniversary: in 2011, the country will begin its twentieth consecutive year without an effective centralized government. The fall of the Soviet supported Siad Barre government in 1991 created a power vacuum that was filled by warlords, clans and, most recently, Islamists. Fourteen interim governments have failed to supplant those forces. Health infrastructure and the general health of the population have been devastated as a result. Precious few organizations are still providing health-related services. Unfortunately, recent events suggest that this crisis is going to get worse before it gets better.

On Visibly Dangerous Silliness, Anthony Chase

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“Silly” is what Ramadan calls the Swiss minaret referendum. He urges, in response to its passage, that Swiss Muslims be more rather than less visible. Each point is worth reflection. How and why does silliness transform itself into danger? And how and why is visibility the correct response to such danger—even if it leads in directions Ramadan may not suspect?

The Ethics Of Letting Civilians Die In Afghanistan: The False Dichotomy Between Hobbesian And Kantian Rescue Paradigms, 59 Depaul L. Rev. 899 (2010), Samuel Vincent Jones

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Time Has Come For The United States To Ratify The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women, 9 Wash. U. Global Stud. L. Rev. 195 (2010), Michael G. Heyman

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Is The Failure To Respond Appropriately To A Natural Disaster A Crime Against Humanity - The Responsibility To Protect And Individual Criminal Responsibility In The Aftermath Of Cyclone Nargis, 38 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 227 (2010), Stuart K. Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

On May 2 and 3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, devastating large portions of the Irrawaddy Delta and creating the potential for a massive humanitarian crisis. Yet, the Myanmar government rejected aid from some countries, limited the amount of aid entering the country to a fraction of what was needed, and strictly controlled how that aid was distributed The United Nations and many governments criticized Myanmar's response to the Cyclone as inadequate and inhumane, and senior politicians from a number of countries discussed whether the situation justified invoking the "responsibility to protect" doctrine This article explores several questions, including: (1) …

Prosecution Of Genocide V. The Fair Trial Principle: Comments On Brown And Others V. The Government Of Rwanda And The Uk Secretary Of State For The Home Department, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The article examines the 2009 decision of the United Kingdom High Court of Justice to deny the extradition of four genocide suspects to Rwanda owing to fair trial and partiality concerns with the Rwandan judiciary. It begins by reviewing the relevant UK extradition legislation, the pertinent facts and the rationale for the judgment and proceeds to situate this decision within the broader transnational judicial scepticism about the extradition or transfer of genocide suspects to Rwanda. While this scepticism arises from valid concerns regarding the contemporary state of human rights in Rwanda, it nevertheless contributes to the perpetuation of impunity surrounding …

Gas Smalls Awful: U.N. Forces, Riot-Control Agents, And The Chemical Weapons Convention, James D. Fry

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article takes a comprehensive look at the use of riot-control agents (RCAs) by U.N. forces and the legal issues that arise as a result. This Article is the first to look at these legal issues from a practical perspective, not merely a theoretical one, because prior publications have questioned what would happen if U.N. forces used these weapons, whereas this Article analyzes forty instances of actual use. This Article is designed to spark debate within the areas of peacekeeping law, collective security law, the responsibility of international organizations, and arms control law relating to RCAs, and provides compelling legal …

Failing The Grade: How The Use Of Corporal Punishment In U.S. Public Schools Demonstrates The Need For U.S. Ratification Of The Children’S Rights Convention And The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Alice Farmer, Kate Stinson

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Domesticating International Law Through Truth And Reconciliation Commissions: The Case Of The Liberian Trc, Jeremy I. Levitt

Journal Publications

African states actively domesticate international law through judicial capacity-building in, for example, Botswana’s Industrial Court’s use of the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and International Labor Organization conventions in the Moatswi v. Fencing Center case; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana’s creation of the Human Rights Division of the Ghana High Court; and the institution of a sexual crimes division—Liberia’s Court ‘‘E’’—by the Liberian legislature. Moreover, high courts in Africa have demonstrated their willingness to adjudicate cases using regional and international law. For instance, in Kaunda v. President of the Republic of …

Panacea Or Pathetic Fallacy? The Swiss Ban On Minarets, Lorenz Langer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On November 29, 2009, Swiss voters adopted a ballot initiative introducing a constitutional ban on the construction of minarets. This Article provides a thick description of the minaret vote's context. A legal analysis addresses the implications of the ban under national, regional, and international normative frameworks. The Article argues that the ban is irreconcilable with the Swiss constitutional bill of rights and several international human right provisions. In Switzerland, however, respect for the vox populi potentially trumps any concern over conflicting international obligations, and there is no effective judicial review of initiatives. This lack of judicial review is partly a …

Introduction: Challenging The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Deborah N. Archer

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming The Right To Food As A Normative Response To The Global Food Crisis, Smita Narula

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In 2009, the number of hungry in the world crossed the one billion mark, a dubious milestone that has been attributed in large part to consecutive food and economic crises. Over ninety-eight percent of these individuals live in the developing world. Ironically, a great majority are involved in food production as small-scale independent food producers or agricultural laborers. These facts and figures signal a definitive blow to efforts to reduce global hunger and lift the world's poorest from abject and dehumanizing poverty. They also bring to light the deep imbalance of power in a fundamentally flawed food system. Responses to …

Honor Killings And The Construction Of Gender In Arab Societies, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article discusses the regulation and adjudication of honor killings in the Arab world and traces the distributive and disciplinary impact of such regulation/adjudication on Arab men and Arab women's sexuality. In the afterword, the Article outlines the transformative effect of Islamicization of culture in the Arab world in the past twenty years on the practice of honor and killings committed in its name.

A Model Copyright Exemption To Serve The Visually Impaired, Patrick Hely

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Copyright law presents visually impaired persons with serious barriers to access of the written word. A recent international effort seeks to remove these barriers to access, in limited instances, by allowing the creation of accessible formats of copyrighted works. While bodies like the World Blind Union--through several South American states--have presented draft treaties to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to date the interested parties have not found a mutually agreeable solution. This Note surveys international intellectual property law as it relates to the problem, draws a comparison to the humanitarian concerns entangled with international patent law, and tracks the …

A Chance For Redemption: Revising The "Persecutor Bar" And "Material Support Bar" In The Case Of Child Soldiers, Kathryn White

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Armed groups in conflicts around the world frequently exploit child soldiers. Despite the unique experience of child soldiers, who are frequently recruited by means of force and deceit, immigration law as it is currently applied may bar former child soldiers from receiving asylum in the United States. In particular, the prevailing agency interpretation of the "persecutor bar" and the "material support bar" equates child soldiers with adults who have committed serious atrocities. This Note argues that the application of these asylum bars to former child soldiers runs against social values and standards of moral culpability in the United States. Child …

On Being Accountable In A Kaleidoscopic World, Edith Brown Weiss

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this lecture, the author explores the concept of accountability in the changing world in which international law operates, and to draw upon my own recent experience chairing the Inspection Panel at the World Bank. In doing so, I want especially to recognize the concerns of poor people and bring their plight into the discussion of accountability.

The world today differs sharply from that when the United Nations was formed, some 65 years ago. In that world, there were only 51 states, few international organizations, a nascent global civil society, only 2 billion people, many of whom lived under colonialism …

"With Faces Hidden While The Walls Were Tightening": Applying International Human Rights Standards To Forensic Psychology, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

Although there are now robust bodies of literature in both Alaw and psychology and in international human rights law, there has been remarkably little written about the specific relationship between forensic psychology and international human rights standards (and about the relationship between mental disability law and such standards in general). Attention is paid when it appears that state psychiatry or psychology is used as a tool of political oppressions e.g., in the former Soviet Union or in China, but the literature is strangely silent on questions dealing with the extent to which forensic psychology practice comports withinternational human rights norms. …