Accountability
352 Articles
Continued Fight for Accountability in Liberia: Another Landmark U.S. Court Decision
For the second time in less than a year, evidence of war crimes in Liberia have been presented in a federal courtroom in Philadelphia. On July 3, Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, former…
What Makes the Lawsuit against Trump’s Foundation Very Different
Last week, the New York Supreme Court set an October date to hear motions in state attorney general Barbara Underwood’s civil suit against Donald Trump, his eldest children,…
Time to Dust Off the War Crimes Act?–for an American ex-soldier now in command of UAE forces
Former members of the U.S. military are present in armed conflicts across the globe. Working for private military contractors, they are typically tasked with training and advising…
The Int’l Criminal Court’s Case against the United States in Afghanistan: How it happened and what the future holds
What happens when a global criminal court takes on the world’s dominant military power? That was the question earlier this month when the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor…
The “Leahy Law” Prohibiting US Assistance to Human Rights Abusers: Pulling Back the Curtain
With almost weekly news reports of US support for foreign governments with track records of gross human rights abuse—think torture in Yemen by Emirati security forces, violations…
U.S. Secrecy and Transparency in the Use of Lethal Force
Much of the news in the first few months of the Trump administration has been dominated by the Russia scandal, James Comey, and the President’s Twitter feed. Falling below…
Protecting Civilians through Wartime Investigations: Applying the 2016 Minnesota Protocol When it Matters Most
It is highly important to have internationally recognized standards in investigating and prosecuting “potentially unlawful deaths”—an issue that is well recognized in the…
U.S. Military Justice and “Operational Mishaps”: A Primer
As the tempo and intensity of United States military operations increases, the likelihood of operational mishaps increases as well. These mishaps – an anodyne term that cannot…
San Francisco Sets an Example of How to Resist Surveillance in Trump Era
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) suspended its participation in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) last month. JTTFs are counterterrorism-focused intelligence-sharing…
The General Assembly & Accountability for International Crimes
Further to Alex Whiting’s post on Russian objections to the U.N. General Assembly’s formation of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in…
Whistleblower Reinstated in Job in Test Case for NSA and Intelligence Community
In a case that has been closely followed as a test for new whistleblower protections put in place by President Obama, it can now be reported that the whistleblower received restitution…
Russia Maintains Objection to General Assembly’s Mechanism for Syria
On 21 December 2016, the General Assembly (GA) adopted Resolution 71/248, creating a new body to collect evidence of international crimes in Syria (formally known as “the International,…