Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Gulf Arab States are considering arming militant groups in Syria to fend off Assad’s onslaught in Aleppo and elsewhere. There may be an unanticipated benefit to such actions: application of the full enforcement regime of the Geneva Conventions.… continue »
On September 9, the United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Al-Saadoon and Others v. Secretary of State for Defence. This is a case dealing with almost 1,300 outstanding public law claims arising from activities of the UK’s armed forces in Iraq following the 2003 invasion.… continue »
When and where does the law of non-international armed conflict apply? Since most contemporary armed conflicts are fought between states and organized armed groups, or between such groups, these are important questions for both international lawyers and policy makers. The answers may affect the jurisdiction of U.S.… continue »
In 2010, human rights organizations argued in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project that if we want to promote compliance with the law of armed conflict, we cannot punish advocacy groups who help human rights violators comply with the law. If we accept that argument, then why should human rights advocates suggest that the United States is automatically liable “as a matter of law” for unlawful Saudi-led coalition military strikes in Yemen on which the US Defense Department provides targeting assistance?… continue »
Last month, the English High Court issued a judgment in Kontic v. Ministry of Defence, a case that dealt with whether and when the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) applies to UK forces operating in foreign countries. That is obviously an important issue not only for the UK directly, but also for coalitions and allies that fight alongside or depend on the British military.… continue »
I like the idea of Just Security‘s listing questions for the presidential nominees. As you ran them again before last night’s debate, and presumably may run them at subsequent times, I thought you might care for some suggestions:
Veterans Issues
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national security questions we want to see both candidates answer. The list below was originally compiled by a group of Just Security’s editors and contributors ahead the Commander-in-Chief Forum that took place earlier this month.… continue »
A series of posts at Just Security have focused on the rules that apply to U.S. and U.K. support for the Saudi-led coalition’s military operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. A key question is whether supporting States, like the United States and the United Kingdom, avoid becoming a “party” to the armed conflict (and thus being bound by international humanitarian law) by providing assistance that stops short of engaging in direct combat.… continue »
In the United States, concerns over the conduct of the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have grown in intensity in recent weeks amid reports that US-supplied weapons have been used directly in the conflict, including in the bombing of an MSF hospital.… continue »
The past couple of months have been tumultuous in Turkey. In short order, an ill-conceived military coup was followed by popular mass protest, the quick return of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power, and a wave of repression ranging from military and judicial purges, to state restrictions on a panoply of basic human rights protections, to allegations of “widespread human rights abuses” by state actors.… continue »
