Human Rights
973 Articles
Forum on the Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties: Analyzing the State Department Memos
The New York Times, in a must-read story by Charlie Savage, provides the full text of two significant memos written by Harold Koh during his time as Legal Adviser of the State…
Key Findings in New UN Special Rapporteur Report on Drones
The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson, has now released the final report on…
The State Department Human Rights Reports and National Security
Last Thursday U.S. Secretary of State Kerry presided over the release of the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. This marks the 37th year that the…
RightsCon, March 3-5, San Francisco
Further to all our coverage of the use and abuse of digital technologies, I commend RightsCon to our readers—a gathering of the Silicon Valley (and beyond) tech community, digital…
Disturbing Findings of the North Korea Commission of Inquiry
The Commission of Inquiry (COI) focused on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) released its first report this week. The report is a monumental depiction of the…
Yemen Immunity in Jeopardy?
The Yemeni press last week published a fascinating interview with Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi, the Minister of Legal Affairs of Yemen, who suggests that notwithstanding the existence…
Trials in Absentia Under International, Domestic and Lebanese Law
As a follow on to our backgrounder on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, one additional feature of the current proceedings is worthy of note: the trials are proceedings in absentia. …
More Breaking News: Adjournment Sought for the Kenyatta Proceedings
We’ve covered in the past (here, here and here) the legal and extra-legal efforts by Kenya and the Kenyan defendants before the ICC to get their case stayed or dismissed.…
The Parallels Between South African and U.S. Law On Universal Jurisdiction
The Parallels Between South African and U.S. Law On Universal Jurisdiction In an earlier post, we noted that the South African universal jurisdiction (UJ) statute is not particularly…
The Unexceptional Nature of the South African Universal Jurisdiction Law
In the wake of the moving funeral of Nelson Mandela, we have reported on the recent ruling of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal mandating that the National Prosecution…
Preview — Hassan v. UK
Tomorrow (December 11, 2013) the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR) will hear the case of Hassan v. United Kingdom (Application No. 29750/09). The…
Is the Draft UN Resolution on the Right to Privacy a Trojan Horse for Libertarians?
In response to recent revelations of NSA foreign surveillance programs, the UN General Assembly appears poised to adopt a Resolution on the international right to privacy. Because…