International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

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 …

New Ebola Outbreak In Africa Is A Major Test For The Who, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

On May 8, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a confirmed outbreak of Ebola in Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumba in Équateur Province. Ebola in the DRC is not unexpected. The first-ever identified Ebola outbreak occurred in the DRC—then Zaire—in 1976. This is the ninth of DRC’s outbreaks, which until now have been confined mainly to rural areas. With high fatality rates, earlier outbreaks quickly burned out due to the natural firewall of remoteness.

Bikoro and a nearby village, Ikoko-Impenge, are rural, but on May 16, the WHO confirmed spread to …

Submission To The United Nations Universal Periodic Review Of Yemen, Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies, Human Rights Clinic, George Warren Brown School

Human Rights Institute

The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (Sana’a Center), Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic (the clinic), and the George Warren Brown School, Washington University, jointly submit this report to inform the examination of The Republic of Yemen (Yemen) during its 3 rd Universal Periodic Review. This submission focuses on international human rights and humanitarian law concerns related to Yemen’s obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil the right to mental health.

Implementing The Ahafo Benefit Agreements: Seeking Meaningful Community Participation At Newmont’S Ahafo Gold Mine In Ghana, Benjamin Boakye, Maggie M. Cascadden, Jordan Kuschminder, Sam Szoke-Burke, Eric Werker

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In 2008, ten communities in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana entered into agreements with Newmont Ghana to govern company-community relations, ensure local job creation, and share the benefits of the company’s mining operations. Ten years later, this report, co-authored by Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI), African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), CCSI, and ISP, looks at the communities’ experience of those agreements and suggests how the agreements might be improved. Though the agreements were celebrated for their attempts to include all stakeholders in decision-making, challenges remain around representation, consultation, and participation. New entities established to facilitate multi-stakeholder …

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 …

Re-Victimization And The Asylum Process: Jimenez Ferreira V. Lynch: Re-Assessing The Weight Placed On Credible Fear Interviews In Determining Credibility, Alana Mosley

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

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 …

Missing: Where Are The Migrants In Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plans?, Kolitha Wickramage, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman, Phusit Prakongsai, Rapeepong Suphanchaimat, Charles Hui, Patrick Duigan, Eliana Barragan, David R. Harper

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Influenza pandemics are perennial global health security threats, with novel and seasonal influenza affecting a large proportion of the world’s population, causing enormous economic and social destruction. Novel viruses such as influenza A(H7N9) continue to emerge, posing zoonotic and potential pandemic threats. Many countries have developed pandemic influenza preparedness plans (PIPPs) aimed at guiding actions and investments to respond to such outbreak events.

Migrant and mobile population groups—such as migrant workers, cross-border frontier workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and other non-citizen categories residing within national boundaries—may be disproportionately affected in the event of health emergencies, with irregular/undocumented migrants experiencing even greater …

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 Syrian Crisis: Violations Of Basic Human Rights And Particularly Children's Rights, Ranee K.L. Panjabi

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

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.