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Call For Proposals 2019: The Social Practice Of Human Rights, University Of Dayton

Content presented at the Social Practice of Human Rights Conference

2019 marks 30 years since the end of the Cold War and the beginning of an era pregnant with promise and potential for human rights, democracy, and global governance.

Yet today, global capitalism drives widening and deepening inequalities. Its dependence on natural resource extraction and exploitation is hastening ecological collapse. Authoritarianism and populism have risen from the rubble of liberalism’s inability to deliver on its pledges. Technology, once promoted as a panacea for transnational boundary breaking and democratization, further empowers the powerful to reshape politics and upend notions of privacy, social life, information, employment, and even biology.

Critics have questioned …

Peacekeeping Operations In West Africa: Mechanisms Of Cooperation Between The United Nations And Ecowas With The Case Studies Concerning The Crises In Liberia And The Gambia, Serigne Cheikh Modou Kara Cisse

Dissertations and Theses

The African continent has significantly suffered from a great number of civil wars and armed conflicts since the beginning of the independence era in late 1960s. On May 28, 1975, the creation of a regional The African continent has significantly suffered from a great number of civil wars and armed conflicts since organization in West Africa called the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) took place. The intent was to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by building a full economic and trading union. In the late 1990s, the maintenance of peace and security in the region was …

Armed Conflict At The Threshold, Deborah Pearlstein

Articles

Seventeen years into the United States’ engagement in what America has controversially understood as a global, non-international armed conflict against a shifting set of terrorist groups, a growing array of scholars has called for a reassessment of the significance of the “armed conflict” classification under international humanitarian law (IHL). The existence of an “armed conflict” has long been understood as a proxy on/off switch of inescapable importance. When an “armed conflict” exists, lethal targeting—without regard to particular self-defensive need or immediacy of threat—is permitted as a first resort. When an “armed conflict” does not exist, it is not. Challenging the …

Who Owns The Rules Of War In Today's Post-Post-Cold War?, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Professor Gabriella Blum's The Paradox of Power observes that international humanitarian law (IHL) has been in a long. term evolution toward putting the principle of "humanitarianism" and civilian protection at its normative and legal center. The Lecture (on which this essay is a commentary) identifies several reasons for this, in particular (within and across liberal democratic societies) social acceptance of IHL as law but also as socially internalized norms that give IHL broad moral legitimacy. Accepting The Paradox of Power's main propositions as cor rect, this Commentary extends its account in several ways. First, The Paradox of Power's combination of …

The Bemba Appeals Chamber Judgment: Impunity For Sexual And Gender-Based Crimes?, Susana Sacouto, Patricia Viseur Sellers

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

On June 8, 2018, a majority of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reversed the conviction of former military commander Jean-Pierre Bemba for the crimes against humanity of rape and murder and the war crimes of rape, murder, and pillaging committed by his troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) between October 2002, and March 2003. The decision was clearly a disappointment for the victims of the crimes committed by Bemba’s troops, who have been waiting for more than fifteen years for a measure of justice. Significantly, the acquittal also means that sixteen years after the Rome …

Use Of Force In Humanitarian Crises: Addressing The Limitations Of U.N. Security Council Authorization, Paul Williams, Sophie Pearlman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The original 2001 United Nations (UN) codification of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) granted the UN Security Council exclusive control over authorizing use of force in sovereign states. Unfortunately, as demonstrated over the past 20 years, the need for humanitarian intervention has not changed and the use of force in the name of humanitarian intervention has not always occurred even when the need for such intervention was dire. When the UN Security Council is deadlocked, and a humanitarian crisis is at hand, it is necessary to have a means of using low-intensity military force to prevent mass atrocity crimes. In …

October 1, 2019 Broadcast: 'The Rohingya Genocide', Rebecca Hamilton

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

It Takes A Village: An Analysis Of Multilateralism And The Legal Mechanisms Designed To Prevent Violence Against Women, Madison Ivey

Scripps Senior Theses

Treaties and international organizations work together to create a global environment that protects the rights of a person and actively promotes the well-being of society. However, they do not necessarily guarantee the rights of everyone. Since women are not explicitly named in human rights documents, they are often not granted equal human rights. Therefore, it takes more than just international legal instruments to guarantee women's rights as human rights. A combination of civil society (NGOs), International organizations (IOs), and domestic government creates a perfect coalition to beat the barriers that must be overcome to fully protect women from violence.

Armenia And Azerbaijan's Struggle With Occupation In Nagorno-Karabakh, Carolyn Morway

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The corrupt occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas has resulted in displaced civilians, chaotic military violence, poor judicial law-making, and hostile international relations. Analyzing the international law of occupation’s purposes and its humanitarian requirements illustrates that there is a need for change. Set against the backdrop of Nagorno-Karabakh’s precarious situation, the international community should take this opportunity to reformulate the international law of occupation with sovereignty and humanitarian principles guiding the change. The effort could prevent another such “frozen conflict.”

From Discretion To Law: Rights-Based Concerns And The Evolution Of International Sanctions, Christopher Roberts

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This Article considers the manner in which rights-based concerns have increasingly impacted upon the nature of international sanctions regimes. First, this Article considers two better-known instances of this impact—the manner in which general sanctions became more targeted, and the manner in which due process concerns came to receive greater respect in the context of targeting decisions. Following these investigations, this Article turns to explore a third, under-recognized development—the gradual evolution of a sense that sanctions may be required in certain instances. It explores this development by highlighting the growing scope of understandings of responsibility within various bodies of public international …

Moving From Management To Termination: A Case Study Of Prolonged Occupation, David Hughes

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In 2017, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories reached a half-century in duration. This reignited a conversation amongst legal scholars. In articles and books, lawyers questioned the efficacy of occupation law. They asked whether it had become an anachronism. Across Israel and the Palestinian territories, those that directly invoke the law of occupation sought a more effective means of adapting the law to meet the exigencies of a fifty-year-old occupation. The accompanying debates recalled questions concerning the legal treatment of prolonged occupation. This article seeks to fundamentally alter the recurring discourse. Built around a detailed case study of Israel’s …

Venezuela: A Uniquely Senian Insight Into A Human Rights Crisis, Andrea I. Scheer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

For over twenty decades, Venezuelan political leaders have blatantly disregarded their citizens’ human rights, leading to the downfall of Venezuela’s economy and democratic institutions, including severe food and medicine shortages, as well as staggering inflation rates. As a result, Venezuela provides a unique affirmation of the Capabilities Approach introduced by Professor Amartya Sen, which focuses not only on the freedoms that individuals possess, but also on what individuals are capable of doing as possessors of these freedoms. This Note seeks to use Sen’s Capabilities Approach to understand the nature and scope of Venezuela’s multidimensional crisis, arguing that a Senian approach …

International Humanitarian Law And The Targeting Of Data, Tim Mccormack

International Law Studies

The 2013 publication of the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare confirmed the view of the majority of the international group of experts that data was not an object and therefore not subject to the rules of targeting during an armed conflict. Intuitively, a number of scholars reacted negatively to this view, and instead were drawn to the Tallinn Manual minority position that data did constitute an object. The significance of data, particularly personal data, is only increasing, and the purpose of the law of armed conflict is to reduce the deleterious impact of armed conflict …

Moral Disarmament: Reviving A Legacy Of The Great War, James D. Fry, Saroj Nair

Michigan Journal of International Law

In short, this Article examines the concept of moral disarmament using a broad-spectrum definition of humanity rather than the traditional IHL perspective. Rather than referring to human rights that are impacted by armaments, this Article looks at methods through which human initiative can create a society that truly hungers for disarmament. In other words, this Article points out that the extent of change that society can bring about through education, intellectual cooperation, peace initiatives, international affairs awareness, and intercultural communication can be reflected in the economic growth, social growth, and development of states. The aim is to help the reader …

Weapons Review Obligation Under Customary International Law, Natalia Jevglevskaja

International Law Studies

Under Article 36 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, States are required to review new weapons for their compliance with international law. While recent discussions on the regulation of lethal autonomous weapons systems under the auspices of the UN Certain Conventional Weapons Convention increasingly emphasize the importance of national weapons review mechanisms, Article 36 is known to be implemented only by a handful of States. Some legal scholars have nonetheless argued that the Article 36 obligation has attained customary international law status. Remarkably, substantive analysis of State practice and opinio juris required to evidence that certain …

Are Enhanced Warfighters Weapons, Means, Or Methods Of Warfare?, Rain Liivoja, Luke Chircop

International Law Studies

Advances in science and technology have made it possible to improve the physical and cognitive capabilities of warfighters by biomedical interventions, such as the administration of drugs, the implantation of devices, and the magnetic stimulation of the brain. These advances raise the question as to whether enhanced warfighters ought to be considered weapons, means of warfare, or methods of warfare, for the purposes of the law of armed conflict. An affirmative answer to this question would make human enhancement subject to various restrictions arising from the law of armed conflict as well as arms control law. This article disagrees with …

The Updated Icrc Commentary On The Second Geneva Convention: Demystifying The Law Of Armed Conflict At Sea, Bruno Demeyere, Jean-Marie Henckaerts, Heleen Hiemstra, Ellen Nohle

International Law Studies

Since their publication in the 1950s and 1980s respectively, the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 have become a major reference for the application and interpretation of those treaties. The International Committee of the Red Cross, together with a team of renowned experts, is currently updating these Commentaries in order to document developments and provide up-to-date interpretations of the treaty texts. Following a brief overview of the methodology and process of the update as well as a historical background to the Second Geneva Convention, this article addresses the scope of applicability of the …

Belligerent Obligations Under Article 18(1) Of The Second Geneva Convention: The Impact Of Sovereign Immunity, Booty Of War, And The Obligation To Respect And Protect War Graves, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg

International Law Studies

Article 18(1) of the Second Geneva Convention requires parties to an international armed conflict, “after each engagement” and “without delay,” to “take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.” This article focuses on the latter obligation: the duty to search for and collect the dead. It assesses this obligation in light of the International Committee of the Red Cross 2017 Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention, the first such commentary completed by …

Duty To Render Assistance To Mariners In Distress During Armed Conflict At Sea: A U.S. Perspective, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

In 2017, the International Committee of the Red Cross published an updated Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention. One question left unanswered by the new Commentary is the relationship between international humanitarian law and other international treaties applicable to the maritime domain, such as the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and treaties adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Second Geneva Convention establishes a legal framework for the humane treatment and protection of victims of armed conflict at sea—the wounded, sick and shipwrecked. There are circumstances, however, in which the belligerents do not have the …

Prosecuting U.N. Peacekeepers For Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In The Central African Republic, Sophia Genovese

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Women and children living in armed conflict are amongst the most vulnerable populations at-risk of sexual and gender-based violence. When U.N. peacekeepers arrive to help dispel conflict; these populations believe that the soldiers in blue helmets will protect them. Instead; hundreds of women and children in the Central African Republic have reported being raped and sexually violated by U.N. peacekeepers. Despite compelling evidence to validate these claims; U.N. peacekeepers who commit these crimes are seldom held accountable. This Note discusses how to hold U.N. peacekeepers accountable for their human rights violations. This Note argues that troop-contributing countries should retain responsibility …

Pull And Push'- Implementing The Complementarity Principle Of The Rome Statute Of The Icc Within The Au: Opportunities And Challenges, Sascha Dominik Dov Bachmann, Eda Luke Nwibo

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The complementarity principle of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international legal principle that governs the relationship between two; sometimes; contrasting international principles of law; namely sovereign equality of States and the international community’s duty to end impunity for international core crimes. Article 17 of the Rome Statute envisages that States maintain primary jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute international crimes; while the ICC’s jurisdiction to prosecute when States are unwilling or genuinely unable to carry out such investigations or prosecutions constitutes the exception. This article provides an analysis of this principle in the context of …

The International Legal Implications Of Military Space Operations: Examining The Interplay Between International Humanitarian Law And The Outer Space Legal Regime, Dale Stephens

International Law Studies

In the contemporary period, many military forces rely heavily on space-based assets to conduct operations across a wide spectrum of contexts. Such reliance necessarily exposes a correlative vulnerability that such assets may be degraded or destroyed, especially in a time of armed conflict. However, the legal framework that governs military action in space during a time of armed conflict is not well explored. This article examines the interaction between International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Outer Space legal regime. Harmonization of legal regimes is a goal of any reconciliation project, although such harmonization may not always be readily possible. In …

Armed Conflict-Related Detention Of Particularly Vulnerable Persons: Challenges And Possibilities, Sandesh Sivakumaran

International Law Studies

Persons detained for reasons related to an armed conflict are in a vulnerable position. Deprived of their liberty, they are at the mercy of their captors. Certain groups of detainees are particularly vulnerable. Additionally, the way in which non-international armed conflicts are fought can make it difficult for some parties to the conflict to comply with the rules benefiting particularly vulnerable detainees. This Article identifies groups of particularly vulnerable detainees and analyzes the general and special protections that are afforded to them under the conventional and customary international law of armed conflict. It then considers the realities of detention in …

The Updated Commentary On The First Geneva Convention--A New Tool For Generating Respect For International Humanitarian Law, Lindsey Cameron, Jean-Marie Henckaerts, Bruno Demeyere, Eve La Haye, Heike Niebergall-Lakner

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

This Article was originally published in 97 Int’l Rev. Red Cross, no. 900, 2015, at 1209– 26. It is reprinted with permission.

Conference On The 2016 Icrc Commentary On The First Geneva Convetion: Afternoon Rapporteur Session Three, Jamie Mcdowell, Hannah Ponders

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conference On The 2016 Icrc Commentary On The First Geneva Convention: Afternoon Rapporteur Session Two, Dana Lohrberg, Ethan Morris

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conference On The 2016 Icrc Commentary On The First Geneva Convention: Afternoon Rapporteur Session One, Michael Baker, Nichole Novosel

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conference On The 2016 Icrc Commentary On The First Geneva Convention: Public Panel Rapporteur Session, Matthew Coutreau, William Ogden

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Contorting Common Article 3: Reflections On The Revised Icrc Commentary, Michael A. Newton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

A Critique Of The Icrc's Updated Commentary To The First Geneva Convention: Arming Medical Personnel And The Loss Of Protected Status, Nicholas W. Mull

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.