On August 21, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for one year, until August 31, 2016. According to the press release, the Security Council determined “the situation in Lebanon continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security” and “urged further international support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, in areas where they are most critically in need of support, including counter-terrorism and border protection.” In the resolution, the Security Council also...
International Law in Brief
International Law in Brief (ILIB) is a forum that provides updates on current developments in international law from the editors of ASIL's International Legal Materials.
On August 19, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the U.S. to stay the execution of Bernardo Abán Tercero, a Nicaraguan citizen who was sentenced to be executed on August 26. According to the press release, the IACHR issued a report that concluded, among other findings, that the U.S.’s failure “to inform Bernardo Abán Tercero of his right to consular notification and assistance deprived him of a criminal process that satisfied the minimum standards of due process and a fair trial required under the American Declaration” and that “his court-appointed counsel...
On August 19, 2015, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (Appeals Chamber) reversed the Trial Chamber’s decision to reject the Prosecutor’s “application for a finding of non-cooperation against the Kenyan Government, alleging that the Government had failed to comply with a request to produce records relating to Mr Kenyatta.” According to the press release, the Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber “erred by failing to address whether judicial measures had been exhausted to obtain the Kenyan Government's cooperation, as well as by assessing in an inconsistent...
On August 19, 2015, the European Commission and Greece signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to financial assistance for Greece from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) in exchange for fiscal reforms. According to a press release, the ESM “will be able to disburse up to EUR 86 billion in loans over the next three years, provided that Greek authorities implement reforms to address fundamental economic and social challenges, as specified in the MoU.” Greece also signed a Financial Assistance Facility Agreement with the ESM to detail the terms of the loan. Within the MoU,...
On August 7, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department released new guidance on sanctions for Iran in the wake of the July 14, 2015 announcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. According to the Treasury Department, “the JCPOA will provide Iran with phased sanctions relief upon verification that Iran has implemented key nuclear commitments” and the U.S. Government will release detailed guidance on sanctions relief after receiving such verification from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The information released, which includes...
On August 7, 2015, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that will allow for the creation of a Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify those using chemical weapons in Syria. The resolution reiterated the Security Council’s “condemnation in the strongest terms of any use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in the Syrian Arab Republic” and stressed that “that those individuals, entities, groups, or governments responsible for any use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any...
On August 5, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report titled “Towards the Closure of Guantanamo.” The report is meant to address the matter of detainees held at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay and focuses on the human rights of the detainees. According to the press release, the “report concludes that the main human rights violations at the Guantanamo detention center are indefinite detention; the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; limited or no access to judicial protection; lack of due process; a discriminatory...
On August 3, 2015, U.S. DC District Court Judge Royce Lamberth held in Al Warafi v. Obama that Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo may still be detained under the authority of the domestic 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) because fighting continues in Afghanistan. In his renewed habeas petition, al Warafi argued that “the Government cannot detain a person captured during a conflict once the conflict has ended” and because President Obama has stated that the U.S. and Afghanistan are no longer in an armed conflict with one another, the government no longer has...
On August 3, 2015, Kosovo’s Parliament voted to amend the state Constitution to create a war crimes court that would allow for the trial of ethnic Albanians accused of war crimes during the 1998–99 guerrilla war against Serbian rule. According to a news article, the Court itself will be based in The Hague with a panel of international judges to try war crimes, including accusations that guerilla groups harvested and sold organs from murdered Serbs. The United States and European Union have pressed for a court to address accusations of war crimes as a means of promoting regional...
On July 30, 2015, the British Court of Appeal held in Serdar Mohammed v. Secretary of State for Defence that U.K. armed forces violated Afghan law and Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining a suspected Taliban commander in Afghanistan in 2010 for nearly four months. The Court found that “[t]here was no authority to detain [Serdar Mohammad] for longer than 96 hours under any of the three bases advanced by the Secretary of State” as Afghan law and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) policy required any person...