On April 29, 2016, the U.S. government released a report detailing the results of its investigation into the October 3, 2015 bombing of a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by U.S. forces. According to the press briefing, an American AC-130 gunship was attempting to support U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops engaged in a prolonged battle with Taliban forces in Kunduz City when it mistakenly fired upon a hospital. The trauma center was being operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international non-governmental organization also known by its English name, Doctors Without Borders. ...
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 April 29, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued its order on provisional measures in Italian Republic v. Republic of India, the arbitration concerning the “Enrica Lexie” incident. According to the press release, in 2015, Italy sought international arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in regard to an incident where two Italian marines stationed on the Enrica Lexie killed two Indian fishermen approximately 20.5 nautical miles off the coast of India and India exercised jurisdiction over the marines. Italy requested...
On April 28, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution lifting its entire sanctions regime on Côte d’Ivoire. According to a news report, the sanction included “an arms embargo . . . and targeted asset freezes and travel bans on people deemed by the Council’s Sanctions Committee to constitute a threat to the peace and reconciliation process.” The Council “welcom[ed] the progress achieved in the stabilization of Côte d’Ivoire, including in relation to disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR), national reconciliation and the...
On April 26, 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to protect the freedom of religion of followers of the Alevi faith. According to the press release, Turkish nationals of Alevi faith had petitioned the Prime Minister in 2005, arguing “that the Religious Affairs Department (RAD) confined its activities to a single school of Islamic thought while disregarding all other faiths, including the Alevi faith.” They further complained that they suffered from discrimination, including the lack of recognition of...
On April 20, 2016, the British Parliament unanimously voted to declare that the treatment of Yazidis, Christians, and other ethnic and religious minorities by ISIL (also known as ISIS, and referred to as Daesh in the motion) in northern Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide. Parliament also moved to refer the issue to the United Nations Security Council “with a view to conferring jurisdiction upon the International Criminal Court so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.” According to a news article, the United Kingdom Foreign Office instructed its ministers and parliamentarians to...
On April 20, 2016, the Hague District Court in the Netherlands overturned a fifty billion dollar award that Russia had been ordered to pay to shareholders of the now defunct oil company Yukos in a decision from July 2014. In the original case, Yukos brought a claim against the Russian government to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) alleging Russia was liable for expropriating the former Yukos shareholders’ investments through use of tax laws and criminal punishments without providing adequate compensation. The ECT is an international agreement...
On April 20, 2016, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not exceed its legislative powers allowing victims of terrorism access to frozen Iranian assets in Bank Markazi v. Petersen. A group of plaintiffs brought a wrongful death action in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for acts of terrorism sponsored by Iran in the 1983 bombings in Beirut, Lebanon. While the case was ongoing, Congress passed the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act in 2012. The Act includes a section allowing access to $2 billion of frozen Iranian funds kept in a New...
On April 19, 2016, the Russian Constitutional Court issued a ruling rejecting the implementation of Anchugov and Gladkov v. Russia, a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) from July 2013. The ECtHR ruled in Anchugov and Gladkov that the absolute ban on the voting rights of Russian prisoners was in violation of Article 3 of Protocol No.1 (right to free elections) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Two convicted Russian prisoners brought the case to the ECtHR, complaining they were barred from voting in a number of elections. The Russian...
On April 08, 2016, the Human Rights Advisory Panel released its opinion in N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, where they found that the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is responsible for violations of human rights connected with lead poisoning in Roma camps following the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. According to the press release, members of the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian community in Kosovo claimed in their complaints that UNMIK violated their human rights by placing them in IDP camps in lands known to be highly contaminated and failing to relocate them to a...
On April 5, 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed without prejudice its case against current Kenyan Deputy President, William Samoei Ruto, and his co-accused, Joshua Arap Sang, a former radio journalist. According to the press release, the two were charged with three counts of crimes against humanity for murder, forcible deportation or transfer, and persecution. According to a news report, the charges arose in connection with violence that erupted following the contested 2007 elections in Kenya. Supporters of Ruto clashed with those of current Kenyan President, Uhuru...