On December 5, 2017, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a resolution to institute infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan due to the government’s failure to abide by the European Court of Human Rights’ May 2014 judgment in Mammadov v. Azerbaijan. In Mammadov, the Court held that Azerbaijan had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining opposition blogger Ilgar Mammadov in order to punish him for his criticism of the government and ordered his unconditional release. The press release notes that through the resolution the Committee...
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 December 5, 2017, the UN Human Rights Council concluded a special session on the human rights situation of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in the Rakhine state of Myanmar and passed a resolution condemning the alleged human rights abuses taking place there. The Human Rights Council expressed its concern over reports of human rights abuses by security forces and non-state actors, including extrajudicial and summary killing, sexual violence, destruction of property, torture, and large-scale displacement, which very likely amount to the commission of crimes against humanity. The...
On December 1, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun v. Government of Yukon that the Yukon government had acted improperly when it failed to consult any of the First Nations prior to adopting a final plan for the Peel Watershed that made substantial changes to the previously proposed plan and which increased access and development in the area. The Court held that the Yukon government did not act in accordance with the 1993 Umbrella Final Agreement that had created a land-use planning process for agreements between the Yukon government, the...
On November 29, 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued its final judgment in Prosecutor v. Jadranko Prlić et al., affirming nearly all the convictions against the defendants Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Ćorić, and Berislav Pušić. As the press release notes, the case relates to events within Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1994 for which the defendants were “convicted of crimes against humanity, violations of the laws or customs of war, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions,...
On November 28, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Merabishvili v. Georgia that Georgia had violated the rights of former Prime Minister of Georgia, Ivane Merabishvili, by holding him in pre-trial detention that was initially justified, but later deemed to be a means of exerting pressure on him in order to obtain information. Merabishvili argued “that the arrest and the pre-trial detention had aimed to remove him from the political scene, and that the Chief Public Prosecutor . . . had attempted to use his detention as leverage to pressure him to provide information...
On November 27, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Ahmed Salem Bin Ali Jaber v. United States in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a lawsuit brought by the families of two men allegedly killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2012. The families sought “a declaratory judgment stating their family members were killed in the course of a U.S. drone attack in violation of international law governing the use of force, the Torture Victim Protection Act (‘TVPA’), and the Alien Tort Statute (‘ATS’).” The D.C. Circuit Court held that the claims...
On November 24, 2017, the African Court of Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) held that Rwanda violated Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza’s right to freedom of opinion and expression and her right to an adequate defense. Ingabire is a Rwandan national who founded a political opposition party while living abroad from 1993–2010 and intended to register her party and run for president in the 2010 elections. Upon her return to Rwanda in January 2010 she gave a speech at the Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali, where she spoke about reconciliation and ethnic violence, and after which she was charged...
ICTY Convicts Ratko Mladić for Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity (November 22, 2017)
On November 22, 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Ratko Mladić, former Commander of the Main Staff of the Bosnian Serb Army, of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war. The crimes concern acts committed by Serb forces during the 1992–1995 armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). According to the press release, “Mladić was convicted of genocide and persecution, extermination, murder, and the inhumane act of forcible transfer in the area of Srebrenica in 1995; of persecution, extermination,...
On November 20, 2017, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued a formal request to the Pre-Trial Chamber to begin an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the context of the ongoing situation in Afghanistan. According to the press release, the Prosecutor believes there is a reasonable basis to believe the following crimes have occurred: “i. Crimes against humanity and war crimes by the Taliban and their affiliated Haqqani Network; ii. War crimes by the Afghan National Security Forces ("ANSF"), in particular, members of...
On November 6, 2017, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2382, in which they recognize the importance of UN policing and support and discuss implementing strategic guidance framework for police peacekeeping. The Security Council resolved “to include, on a case by case basis, policing as an integral part of the mandates and decision-making structures of United Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions.” The Security Council also agreed “to continue to promote and support the finalization and operationalization of the Strategic Guidance Framework for...