International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

The Olympic Spotlight: The Beijing Games And China As A Future World Leader, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

According to Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s article, if the Chinese think they can censor the Olympics, and the political showcasing that will almost certainly accompany them, they are sorely mistaken. I am persuaded by the thrust of this argument. I just hope that as China vies for global leadership and influence, whatever truths the Olympic spotlight reveals about its potential in this regard are more farcical than tragic.

Administration Of Territories By The United Nations: Is There Room For International Humanitarian Law?, Steven R. Ratner

Articles

The fundamental starting point of this conference is that peace operations represent a challenge to the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) for the simple reason that IHL was developed for states conducting hostile military operations against other states or non state actors.

Administration of territories represents one subset of peace operations – continuation of second-generation peacekeeping (PK) where parties, typically prodded by outsiders, formally delegate to the United Nations (UN) authority for the implementation of a peace agreement – though it has also been extended to situations where final status and outcome are not sure, as with East Timor …

Slavery: From Public Crime To Private Wrong, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight against slavery was the first international human rights movement, and the elimination of legalized bondage represented a hallmark of Western civilization. But the persistence and revival of this ancient evil shows that in an era of globalization, a prohibited public crime has morphed into a massive private wrong.

Slavery And "Abuse Regeneration", Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Skinner’s depiction of modern day slavery is graphic and challenging. Anyone viewing prohibitions on slavery, or abolition, as historical anachronism, or requiring reinterpretation for modern-day practices, must think again. Skinner persuades us that slavery in its most old fashioned sense is alive and well and, worse than that–on the rise.

Judging Sex In War, Karen Engle

Michigan Law Review

Rape is often said to constitute a fate worse than death. It has long been deployed as an instrument of war and outlawed by international humanitarian law as a serious-sometimes even capital-crime. While disagreement exists over the meaning of rape and the proof that should be required to convict an individual of the crime, today the view that rape is harmful to women enjoys wide concurrence. Advocates for greater legal protection against rape often argue that rape brings shame upon raped women as well as upon their communities. Shame thus adds to rape's power as a war weapon. Sexual violence …

War Tales And War Trials, Patricia M. Wald

Michigan Law Review

In this foreword, I will compare my experiences as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the work of war crimes tribunals generally, with a few of the recurrent themes in epic tales of war. Books and trials strive to educate and to persuade their audiences of the barbarity of war and its antipathy to the most fundamental norms of a humane society.3 War crimes tribunals began with Nuremberg and have proliferated in the past fifteen years. These tribunals were established to try and to punish individuals for violations of international humanitarian law ("IHL")-the so-called …

Deconstructing International Criminal Law, Kevin Jon Heller

Michigan Law Review

After nearly fifty years of post-Nuremberg hibernation, international criminal tribunals have returned to the world stage with a vengeance. The Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ("ICTY") in 1993 and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ("ICTR") in 1994. Hybrid domestic-international tribunals have been established in Sierra Leone (2000), East Timor (2000), Kosovo (2000), Cambodia (2003), Bosnia (2005), and Lebanon (2007). And, of course, the international community's dream of a permanent tribunal was finally realized in 2002, when the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ("ICC") entered into force. This unprecedented proliferation of international …

Combating The Slave Trade: Why Governments Are Not Good At Governing, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is difficult to read Benjamin Skinner’s revealing piece on the international slave trade and not feel revolted that we still live in a world where so many people live in bondage. What is particularly disturbing is that much of the modern-day slave trade takes place with the full knowledge, and even acquiescence of, state governments.

Myths And Realities Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem: Reframing The Right Of Return, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

The essay discusses elements of the Palestinian refugee problem that are found in numerous mass refugee situations in Africa, Central America, Asia and Europe. What remains unique about the Palestinian refugee problem is the persistent and severe denial of international protection, the lack of access both to a durable solution and to the mechanisms for implementing a durable solution -- minimum protection guarantees that are available to other refugee populations. This paper describes the main legal issues underlying the Palestinian refugee question, examining and deconstructing several of the key arguments surrounding the rights and principles involved in the refugee problem. …

The Dominican Republic And The Un Human Rights Treaty System, Luis Pomares

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

March Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Waving Goodbye to Hegemony” by Parag Khanna. New York Times Magazine. January 27, 2008.

Heather Heckel On Child Soldiers: From Violence To Protection By Michael Wessells. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. 284 Pp., Heather Heckel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection by Michael Wessells. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. 284 pp.

I Can't Get No (Just) Satisfaction? An Analysis Of Monetary Awards At The European Court Of Human Rights, Karl Christopher Procaccini

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Karen E. Woody, Putting Pandora On Trial, 98 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 699 (2008) (Reviewing Mark A. Drumbl, Atrocity, Punishment, And International Law (2007)), Karen E. Woody

Scholarly Articles

In the wake of increasing globalization over the past fifty years, international criminal law has transformed from a toothless shadow into a concrete reality; the International Criminal Court is the most recent and impressive institutional accomplishment. Unfortunately, international criminal law has enjoyed this progress on the heels of increasingly horrific international crimes. International adjudicatory institutions have taken many forms and the sentences they deliver have varied widely. In Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law, Mark Drumbl reviews the strides made in international criminal law from the Nuremberg trials through present-day trials, particularly those related to the crimes committed in Rwanda and …

Mitigating Disaster: A Communitarian Response, Robert M. Ackerman

Law Faculty Research Publications

In this essay, I present a communitarian view as to how we might best respond to disaster, and in particular, to losses suffered by the direct victims of disaster. My focus will be on financial compensation to disaster victims, which admittedly occupies only a small part of the spectrum of disaster response. Emergency "first responder" activities are matters about which I have no expertise; volunteering at my local food bank hardly qualifies me to advise FEMA or the Red Cross. The blunders for which these organizations have recently been responsible are apparent, and so are some of their causes, but …

Prostituting Peace: The Impact Of Sending State's Legal Regimes On U.N. Peacekeeper Behavior And Suggestions To Protect The Populations Peacekeepers Guard, Alexandra R. Harrington

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Aid For Trade: A Roadmap For Success, Phoenix X.F. Cai

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Aid for trade has tremendous potential. It is an area that merits all the attention it has recently receiving from the leadership of the WTO. Opportunities abound in the shaping of aid for trade to benefit many constituencies, including the WTO, developing nations, donors, and the aid and trade legal communities. The international trading system has much to gain from the effective use of aid for trade as a tool for fulfilling the promise of the Doha Development Agenda, alleviating global poverty, and giving developing nations a well-deserved placed at the table in the global trade regime. However, each group …

What To Do With Omar Khadr? Putting A Child Soldier On Trial: Questions Of International Law, Juvenile Justice, And Moral Culpability, 41 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1281 (2008), Christopher L. Dore

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Happened To Africa?, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair—A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith. New York: Public Affairs, 2006. 752 pp.

Human Rights And Contemporary Slavery, Kevin Bales

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The anti-slavery movement will welcome this important compilation of work on debt bondage slavery. In the academic and policy analysis of contemporary slavery, many of the fundamental areas of enslavement are yet to be explored and brought into systematic presentation. This work by the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver helps to build up our understanding of debt bondage, as well as adding to the emerging discipline of contemporary slavery studies. Debt bondage slavery is one of the oldest forms of slavery that continues into the present day. The date of the establishment of hereditary debt …

Forced Child Labor In El Salvador: Contemporary Economic Servitude, Michelle Doherty

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In 2005, over half of the rural population in El Salvador was living on less than U.S. $2 dollars per day (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo 2003: 42). The harsh reality of economic subsistence obligates children in El Salvador to contribute to their family’s survival. Employers providing this frail economic lifeline inevitably acquire control over the children. This economic control is a prominent aspect of contemporary slavery and is manifested through violence or exploitation. The enslavement of children in El Salvador not only steals their youth and opportunity to receive an education, but it also places innocent …

Poverty’S Captives, Tim Brauhn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today’s manifestations of bondage are a marked departure from those of pre-modern slavery. Now the value of the human “goods” is so low that slavers do not have to worry about damaging them. Two hundred years ago, slaves had to at least be treated with a modicum of safety, if for no other reason than to ensure continued profitability. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, slavers have become less like “hunters” and more like “gatherers,” since their work no longer involves raids and chains, at least in the physical sense. No, today’s raids are the false promises of work …

Under The Iron Thumb: Forced Labor In Myanmar, Anil Raj

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight for human rights in Myanmar goes back to its independence in 1948. The Myanmar military (tatmadaw) has engaged in shocking violations of almost every right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The issue of forced labor, however, is of particular concern. Forced labor is employed primarily in development projects, agricultural enterprises, and the military. It is used to impose collective punishment on civilians, to build highly profitable development that strengthens military rule, and to allow the military access and logistical support in the most remote regions of insurgent-occupied territories. Forced labor is a central means …

Matthew S. Weinert On A Decade Of Human Security: Global Governance And New Multilateralism By Sandra Maclean, David Black, And Timothy Shaw. Aldershot, Uk: Ashgate, 2006. 264 Pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

A Decade of Human Security: Global Governance and New Multilateralism by Sandra MacLean, David Black, and Timothy Shaw. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006. 264 pp.

Eric Pianowski On Trafficking In Humans: Social, Cultural And Political Dimensions Edited By Sally Cameron And Edward Newman. New York: United Nations University Press, 2008. 284 Pp., Eric Pianowski

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Trafficking in Humans: Social, Cultural and Political Dimensions edited by Sally Cameron and Edward Newman. New York: United Nations University Press, 2008. 284 pp.

Intelligence And Human Rights: A View From Venus, Peter Gill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Intelligence and Human Rights in the Era of Global Terrorism. By Steve Tsang (ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Security International, 2007.

and

War by Other Means: An Insider’s Account of the War on Terror. By John Yoo. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006.

Contemporary Slavery And International Law, Jessica Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In this essay, the definition of contemporary slavery is derived from Kevin Bales in his book, Disposable People, which states that contemporary slavery is “The complete control of a person, for economic exploitation, by violence, or the threat of violence.” Contemporary slavery includes the slave labor of men, women, and children, forced prostitution, pornography involving both children and adults, the selling of human organs, serfdom, debt bondage, and the use of humans for armed conflict.

Contract Enslavement Of Female Migrant Domestic Workers In Saudi Arabia And The United Arab Emirates, Romina Halabi

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery was not abolished in Saudi Arabia until 1962, and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) until 1963. It is unsurprising, then, that contract slavery of domestic servants continues to thrive in much of the Persian Gulf, where local economies prosper on the immigration of foreign workers. Economic incentives on the part of the sending and receiving nations encourage the migration of female workers from their home countries to Saudi Arabia and to the UAE. These incentives, coupled with restrictive contract systems, bind the female domestic worker to her employer and create an environment conducive to exploitation and involuntary servitude.

The Dark Side Of Labor In China, Karine Lepillez

Human Rights & Human Welfare

With a population of 1.3 billion and a gross domestic product growing at an impressive rate of 10 percent per year, China has quickly become one of the largest contributors to the global market. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of the late 1970s and early 1980s vastly improved the country’s standard of living and made economic development possible; unfortunately, China’s remarkable growth has a dark side: the forced labor of men, women and children. The country’s unique combination of Communist ideology and decentralized economic power has contributed to the use of both state-sanctioned and unsanctioned forced labor, the latter of which is …

Ditching "The Disposal Plan": Revisiting Miranda In An Age Of Terror, 20 St. Thomas L. Rev. 155 (2008), Kim D. Chanbonpin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.