Treaties
274 Articles
The Global Reach of the U.S. Position on Torture
The U.S. government’s public pronouncement that the Convention Against Torture (CAT) applies beyond U.S. borders and in situations of armed conflict—its unequivocal “yes”…
Transcript: The US Appearance Before the UN Committee on the Convention Against Torture
Below is a transcript of all national security issues discussed during the US delegation’s appearance before the UN’s Committee on the Convention Against Torture, prepared…
The United States and the Torture Convention, Part I: Extraterritoriality
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the change in the U.S. government’s position on the application of the Convention Against Torture beyond U.S.…
U.S. Changes Position on Torture Convention–Accepts Ban on Cruelty Applies Abroad
At a session before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva this morning, the Obama administration made a significant shift away from the Bush-era interpretation of the Convention…
Harold Koh’s New “Memo to the President” on the Torture Convention
President Obama must soon decide whether to instruct a US delegation, which will appear before a UN body in Geneva next week, whether to equivocate, reject, or accept that the…
UN Panel: Blackwater Convictions are the “Exception, not the Rule”
Last week’s Blackwater convictions highlight an urgent need for an international treaty ensuring that private security contractors are held accountable if they commit human rights…
Time to Give the Sleeves From Our Vest and Acknowledge the Extraterritoriality of the Convention Against Torture
As David Luban noted yesterday evening, Charlie Savage of The New York Times reported that the Obama Administration likely plans to continue to espouse Bush-era positions on the…
“Just looking for loopholes…”
…is what W. C. Fields supposedly said when someone found him leafing through the Bible. Apparently some lawyers in the Obama administration are following Fields’s lead,…
The Accountability Matrix Widens: Torture, Black Sites and the European Convention
Long awaited decisions by the European Court of Human Rights emerged last week (initially reported here) that substantially address torture and the complicity of European states…
Hearing Begins in New Surveillance Litigation against UK Security Services
The claim brought by Liberty, the British civil liberties’ organisation, against Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Security Intelligence Services and the…
Stepping back from the precipice in Bond
[Also posted on Opinio Juris.] The Supreme Court has finally issued its decision in United States v. Bond. Although it appeared the Court might be on the brink of a momentous…
Governments Conclude First (Ever) Debate on Autonomous Weapons: What Happened and What’s Next
This week at the United Nations in Geneva, the 117 states parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) held the first inter-governmental debate on autonomous…