International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

Lost Paradise: Colombia’S Failed Promise To Protect Human Rights Defenders, Yessenia Gonzalez

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

On November 24, 2016, Colombia ended a half-century civil war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) with the signing of the Peace Accord. While there was hope that there would be a new era of peace and reconciliation, Colombia is consistently ranked as the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders. As a party to core international human rights treaties that protect the rights to life, physical integrity, and the right to defend human rights, Colombia is obligated to protect these rights and take the necessary preventative measures to protect human rights defenders. Accordingly, Colombia …

Embracing The End: A Comparative Analysis Of Medical Aid In Dying In Canada And The United States, Joel Krinsky

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since the late nineteenth century, debate has unfolded over the use of euthanasia and physician-assisted death to alleviate the suffering of individuals with medical illnesses. The controversy surrounding the issue persists and its implications are significant. While most countries prohibit Aid in Dying (AID), legalization of the practice has expanded globally in recent years. Canada and the United States (US) are two such jurisdictions that have expanded access to AID. Canada has federally legalized the practice, which the country refers to as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), and in 2021, the country expanded the eligibility criteria for individuals seeking access …

Recommended Amendments To The Truth And Reconciliation Act As The Government Of Nepal Considers Prosecuting 65,411 Human Rights Cases From The Armed Conflict (1996- 2006), Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The bloody Armed Conflict in Nepal (1996-2006) left an estimated 16,729 dead, 78,689 displaced, and 2,506 victims of enforced disappearance. In the seventeen years since the resolution of the Conflict, none of the 65,411 complaints brought by Conflict victims and their families have been resolved. This article argues that the Truth and Reconciliation Act (the Act) can be blamed for the stalled justice process. The Act, which created two commissions charged with the investigation and prosecution of Conflict crimes—Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP)—must be amended so that victims and …

Bittersweet: A Potential Avenue To International Tort Liability For American Companies In The Cocoa Supply Chain, Sara Leonhartsberger

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is "Guatemalan Women" A Viable Particular Social Group For Asylum Petitions? Circuit Split Between The United States Courts Of Appeal For The Ninth And Third Circuits, Jazmin Moya

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

The Distinction Between Refugee Populations In Lebanon: A Look Into Lebanon's Treatment Of Palestinian Refugees Since 1948 Versus Its Treatment Of Syrian Refugees Since 2011, Mia Bodell

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

The European Union Agency For Asylum: A Promising Improvement Or Vestige Of The European Asylum Support Office?, Alexandra Tarzikhan

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

Local Human Rights Governance To Advance Migrants' Rights, Camilo Mantilla

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Isabella Zink

Refugee Law & Migration Studies Brief

No abstract provided.

Ministerial Decision On The Trips Agreement (Wto), Ana Santos Rutschman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Toward Recognizing An International Human Right To Claim Innocence, Brandon Garrett, Laurence R. Helfer, Jayne C. Huckerby, Mark Godsey, Luca Lupària

Judicature International

No abstract provided.

Weathering The Storm: Establishing Internally Displaced People’S Right To Affordable Housing In The Wake Of Natural Disasters, Raina Hasan

Journal of Law and Policy

In 2020, natural disasters caused more internal displacement than war; floods, storms, and wildfires caused thirty million new displacements globally, and 1.7 million in the U.S. alone. The data and history suggest that masses of people will be displaced every year and will face housing insecurity without any formal acknowledgement of their unique plight or a guarantee that internally displaced persons (“IDPs”) will have protected rights. This Note proposes that, considering the worsening climate crisis leading to more frequent and severe natural disasters, the U.S. should codify the rights of internally displaced people as laid out in the United Nations’ …

Comments On The International Criminal Court Office Of The Prosecutor's Draft Policy On The Crime Of Gender Persecution Under The Rome Statute, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

The Draft Policy promises to be a seminal contribution not only to the Office of the Prosecutor's (OTP) policy and practice and the International Criminal Court's (ICC) jurisprudence on gender persecution, but also to the development of international criminal law generally. Building on its prior work, including the 2014 Policy Paper, the OTP is well placed to develop policies and procedures that protect historically marginalized and oppressed groups, deliver justice that accurately reflects the depth and breadth of the gender persecution suffered, and shed light on a crime that has to date received only limited attention.

As it finalizes the …

Brief Of Human Rights And Labor Rights Organizations And Experts As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Janie A. Chuang

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

Since Congress first enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, it has expanded and strengthened it through successive reauthorizations. Congress has broadened the scope of the TVPRA in order to impose criminal and civil liability on individuals, corporations, and other legal persons who use, or knowingly benefit from ventures that use, forced labor, as well as those who aid and abet these practices. Through this legislation, Congress has bolstered efforts to hold traffickers accountable, opening the courthouse doors to victims of these egregious crimes.

The Ninth Circuit's decision below undermined the very statutory scheme Congress put in place to …

Speculations On Criminal Justice Mechanisms To Address The North Korean Regime's Human Rights Violations: Icc, Ad Hoc Tribunals, Or Something Else?, Yun Ju Kang

Ohio Northern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Manual On International Humanitarian Law For The Armed Forces Of The Russian Federation (2002)

International Law Studies

A translation of the Manual on International Humanitarian Law for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 2002, by Aleksei Romanovski. This translation was originally published as Appendix 1 in Evan J. Wallach, The Law of War in the 21st Century (2017).

Human Rights Of Conscientious Objectors Vis-À-Vis Armed Non-State Actors And De Facto Authorities, Michael Wiener, Andrew Clapham

International Law Studies

This article aims at elucidating the human rights of conscientious objectors to military service and offers detailed substantive guidance for protecting their rights vis-à-vis armed non-State actors and de facto authorities. Persons who live in territory controlled by armed groups or de facto authorities often face human rights protection gaps, for example their freedom of conscientious objection may not be recognized or fully implemented. This article analyzes the practice by international human rights mechanisms in their engagement with de facto authorities in Afghanistan (Taliban), Cyprus (northern part), the Republic of Moldova (Transnistrian region), and Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh region), along with the …

Some Reflections On The Threshold For International Armed Conflict And On The Application Of The Law Of Armed Conflict In Any Armed Conflict, T.D. Gill

International Law Studies

This essay discusses the threshold of application of international humanitarian law (IHL) in both international (IAC) and non-international armed conflicts (NIAC). In relation to IAC it questions whether the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “first shot” approach is the most appropriate, since it opens the way for the intensification of conflicts beyond what is necessary in relation to relatively minor armed incidents and argues that the humanitarian protection clauses of IHL should be separated from the rules governing hostilities and makes a case for the application of ad bellum considerations of necessity and proportionality to act as a …

Racecraft And Identity In The Emergence Of Islam As A Race, Cyra Akila Choudhury

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Can a religion, over time and through its social and legal resignification, come to be a race? Drawing on Critical Race Theory (“CRT”), Critical Discourse Theory, the work of Karen E. and Barbara J. Fields and Cedric Robinson, this article argues that Islam has emerged as a race and Muslims as a racial group. To support the claim, Part I examines the theoretical basis for the argument. Applying the concept of “racecraft,” the article theorizes that racism produces both the racial group and race. As many have already argued, race is not based in biology; it is not a fact …

Voices From Below—Africa’S Contribution To The Development Of The Norm Of Corporate Responsibility To Respect Human Rights, Akinwumi Olawuyi Ogunranti

PhD Dissertations

The long conversations about corporate responsibility predominantly take place in forums and conferences in the Global North. Yet, the majority of the human rights abuses and their impacts are felt by peasants, farmers, children, and women in local communities in the Global South who do not have a voice in the institutionalized governance systems that animate global affairs. This thesis answers the question of how norms and human rights institutions in Africa can influence the corporate responsibility to respect (CR2R) norm as embedded in pillar II of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Through the theory …

The Legal Requirement For Command And The Future Of Autonomous Military Platforms, Rain Liivoja, Eve Massingham, Simon Mckenzie

International Law Studies

Technologically advanced armed forces extensively use platforms that can be controlled remotely and do not require an on-board crew. Increasingly, these systems have the capacity to function with some degree of autonomy. The use of autonomous functionality is not specifically prohibited or regulated by the law of armed conflict but the use of autonomous functions in military systems remains governed by the general principles and rules of international law.

One existing international law concept may constrain the use of autonomous capabilities in military vessels and aircraft. This is the notion that military units must be “under the command” of an …

Armed Groups’ Compliance With International Law: A Study In The Rules Of International Humanitarian Law And The Need To Improve Them- (Part I), Salwa Elekyabi Dr.

مجلة جامعة الإمارات للبحوث القانونية UAEU LAW JOURNAL

(Part I)

While current core rules governing armed conflicts has remained almost the same since the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its two additional protocols of 1977, the nature of non-international armed conflicts has gone under a tremendous development. This poses a question on whether there is a need to develop the rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) applicable to Armed Groups in times of non-international armed conflicts to cope with the changes in the armed conflicts layout. Accordingly, this article is addressing this question and examining ways to improve armed groups’ compliance with the provisions of IHL. …

Free Yezidi Foundation Public Memo – Lafarge Case, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Patricia Viseur Sellers

Online Publications

This memorandum supports the Free Yezidi Foundation’s (FYF) filing in the Lafarge Case concerning allegations of complicity in crimes against humanity, including genocide. The Lafarge Corporation continuously operated its factory and, moreover, financially contributed to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (IS, ISIS, Daesh) between 2013 and 2014, inclusive of the period between 3 August 2014 and 19 September 2014. During those weeks, and represented in a timeline annexed to this memorandum, international and French media, international organizations, and governments extensively reported on and condemned IS acts committed against the Yezidi population that could constitute crimes against humanity under …

International Child Law And The Settlement Of Ukraine-Russia And Other Conflicts, Diane Marie Amann

International Law Studies

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has wreaked disproportionate harms upon children. Hundreds reportedly were killed or wounded within the opening months of the conflict, thousands lost loved ones, and millions left their homes, their schools, and their communities. Yet public discussions of how to settle the conflict contain very little at all about children. This article seeks to change that dynamic. It builds on a relatively recent trend, one that situates human rights within the structure of peace negotiations, to push for particularized treatment of children’s experiences, needs, rights, and capacities in eventual negotiations. The article draws upon twenty-first century projects that …

Minds Circumscribed By Fear. A Review Of Garrisoned Minds: Women And Armed Conflicts In South Asia, Edited By Lazmi Murthy And Mitu Varma, Kushal Srivastava

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Neutral State Access To Ukraine’S Food Exports, James Kraska

International Law Studies

This article originally appeared in Articles of War, the online publication of the Lieber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy, May 18, 2022, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/neutral-state-access-ukraines-food-exports/.

Maritime Exclusion Zones In Armed Conflicts, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

This article originally appeared in Articles of War, the online publication of the Lieber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy, Apr. 12, 2022, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/maritime-exclusion-zones-armed-conflicts/.

The Attack On The Vasily Bekh And Targeting Logistics Ships, James Kraska

International Law Studies

This article originally appeared in Articles of War, the online publication of the Lieber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy, July 11, 2022, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/attack-vasily-bekh-targeting-logistics-ships/.

Subjecting Armed Groups To International Law: A Study On The Rules Of International Humanitarian Law And The Extent Of Their Development(Part Ii), Dr. Salwa Elekyabi

UAEU Law Journal

While current core rules governing armed conflicts has remained almost the same since the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its two additional protocols of 1977, the nature of non-international armed conflicts has gone under a tremendous development. This poses a question on whether there is a need to develop the rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) applicable to Armed Groups in times of non-international armed conflicts to cope with the changes in the armed conflicts layout. Accordingly, this article is addressing this question and examining ways to improve armed groups’ compliance to the provisions of the IHL.

This …

The Long Migration Route: Exploring Social Implications For Asylees In The Us And Policy Creation In Transit Countries As A Result Of Immigration Patterns Of African And Haitian Asylum-Seekers Traveling Through Latin America To The United States, Brendan Rupprecht

Capstone Collection

The number of asylum-seekers from African nations and Haiti traveling from their origin countries, through Latin America, and then to the United States is increasing. This capstone explores why Africans and Haitians are choosing to embark on this journey, what the experience is like for the asylum-seekers (including mapping the physical route taken), and what policies have been developed in transit countries, specifically Panama and Mexico, as a response to this phenomenon. To fulfill the objectives of the study, data was collected by conducting semi- structured interviews with 4 individuals who currently work in the field of international migration and …