Crimes Against Humanity
405 Articles

Appeals Judges Turn the ICC on its Head with Bemba Decision
Reversing Bemba's conviction turns the ICC's procedures upside down, with extremely negative consequences for the institution.

Germany’s Research Report on the Syria Strikes: Unlawful Acts of Reprisal
Just hours after the United States, United Kingdom and France launched the first series of coordinated strikes against targets related to Syria’s chemical weapons program, Germany’s…

When Claims of “Fake News” Hide Ethnic Cleansing
References to “illegal Muslim immigrants,” accusations of “fake news,” leaders manipulating the threat of terrorism. Where does this take place? It isn’t Donald Trump’s…

UPDATE: Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018
Fifty percent more states are added to this database on global reactions to the US, UK, France strikes on Syria last month. What were the international community's true views on…

Mapping States’ Reactions to the U.S. Strikes Against Syria of April 2018–A Comprehensive Guide
[First version, May 7, 2018 with 79 States and 2 intergovernmental organizations] This is the permanent page for the Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018…

What the Law of Military Obedience Can (and Can’t) Do–What Happens if a President’s Orders are Unlawful?
A proposal to bring back waterboarding and a “hell of a lot worse.” The possible suggestion that members of the military should intentionally target terrorists’ civilian…

Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018
Statements, Chart, and Map for every state in the world that has taken a public position on the legality and justification of strikes in Syria conducted by the US, UK, and France.

Bad Legal Arguments for the Syria Strikes
There is no apparent domestic or international legal authority for the airstrikes conducted in Syria on April 14.

Syria, Chemical Weapons, and a Qualitative Threshold for Humanitarian Intervention
An improved legal framework using a qualitative threshold—legitimizing humanitarian intervention against regimes that use chemical and biological weapons (CBW) on civilians—can…

UN Releases Guidelines for Team Investigating ISIS Crimes in Iraq
Back in September, we covered the establishment by the U.N. Security Council of a novel "Investigative Team" to investigate international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity…

Crime of Aggression Activated at the ICC: Does it Matter?
The International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties agreed late last week that the ICC can now prosecute crimes of aggression, making it the fourth crime (after war…

The Long Arm of Justice: Ratko Mladić’s Conviction Should Keep Perpetrators of Atrocities Awake at Night
Today Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb General, was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, crimes against humanity…