International and U.S.-based civil liberties and human rights groups are urging Ambassadors on the United Nations Security Council to take action to support Yemeni civil society, in the face of recent attempts by the government of Yemen to silence and intimidate renowned Yemeni human rights advocates.… continue »
Only a few weeks into his tenure as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has been under pressure to fix the UN’s efforts to deal with terrorism and violent extremism. The programs he inherited are badly disorganized, while the threats are increasingly undermining not only international peace and security, but also the development goals at the top of his agenda.… continue »
Why did President Bashar al-Assad use sarin gas earlier this month after years of refraining? Was the U.S. response legal? How should international lawyers think about the future use of military force for humanitarian purposes with our without United Nations? I asked Bob Taylor who served the U.S.… continue »
Without Security Council authorization, any U.S. military force to respond to Assad’s chemical weapons attack would be a violation of international law, but …
Policymakers would be well advised to know the relatively long list of cases in which states have engaged in humanitarian intervention without Security Council approval, and not paid the same political costs that would come with predatory uses of force.… continue »
A new United Nations report on sexual exploitation and abuse at the UN, along with its high profile media launch, may signal “a new approach” by the organization. It also reflects the seriousness with which the new secretary-general, António Guterres, views the matter, which has plagued the UN for years.… continue »
All parties to the war in Yemen, including the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni government, and the Houthi-Saleh forces, are implicated in “widespread violations” of international law, according to a new and damning report from a panel of independent U.N. Security Council-mandated experts.… continue »
With all the news around President Donald Trump taking office, and the mass protests, controversial executive orders, and pending lawsuits that followed, it may have escaped notice that Ukraine filed suit against the Russian Federation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 16 (the official Application is here). … continue »
What should President Donald Trump do if ISIS crashed a plane into the Freedom Tower next September 11, 2017? After 16 years of a so-called “war on terror,” would experts be able to provide the new President with a clear and effective strategy to confront international terrorism?… continue »
In a recent post on Just Security (available here), Chris Ford raises the issue whether the Syrian government may or may not have ‘implicitly’ or ‘tacitly’ consented to US-led coalition operations in Syrian territory, precluding wrongfulness of the operations under the jus contra bellum (“law against war”) framework.… continue »
Burundi, South Africa, and the Gambia are not violating international law merely by announcing their withdrawal from the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court. In accordance with Article 127 of the Rome Statute, they have every right to go.… continue »
