On May 31, 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted a report to the Security Council in which he recommended the deployment of an additional 2,529 peacekeepers to MINUSMA, the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali. The additional peacekeepers would include 2,049 military personnel, raising the overall authorized strength of the military force to 13,289. According to the Secretary-General’s report, these soldiers would enhance MINUSMA’s capabilities by improving intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, force protection, explosives disposal, logistic supply, tactical...
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 May 19, 2016, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security issued a joint statement on implementation of sanctions relief for Iran. The statement recalls the implementation in January 2016 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA, negotiated between Iran, the “P5+1” (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany), and the European Union, lifted economic and financial sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran’s agreement to curtail its...
On May 30, 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, Senegal sentenced former Chadian President Hissène Habré to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture. The charges concerned crimes committed in Chad during Habré’s tenure as president from 1982–1990. Chad’s National Commission of Enquiry estimated that Chadian security forces killed as many as 40,000 people during Habré’s rule. According to a human rights report, he was charged with crimes against humanity and torture as a member of a joint criminal enterprise and of war crimes based on command...
On May 28, 2016, an Argentinian court (decision available in Spanish) convicted Reynaldo Bignone, former head of the military junta of Argentina from 1982–83, and fourteen of his associates for their participation in Operation Condor. The co-accused included fourteen military officers, thirteen from Argentina and one from Uruguay. According to a news report, Operation Condor was a conspiracy in the 1970s and 1980s between the right-wing military dictatorships of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Brazil. It focused on eliminating government opponents and suspected communists...
On May 25, 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2288 terminating sanctions against Liberia. According to a summary of the meeting at which the resolution was adopted, the thirteen-year-old sanctions regime originated in the aftermath of the 1999–2003 Liberian civil war. Sanctions consisted principally of a ban on arms imports into Liberia and a prohibition on exports of timber and diamonds from Liberia. According to a news report, sanctions were intended to support peacebuilding efforts and prevent the resumption of violence. Since their establishment,...
On May 24, 2016, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in Biao v. Denmark, ruling that Danish immigration laws on family reunion were discriminatory. The complaint centered on the refusal of Danish immigration authorities to grant a married couple a residence permit for family reunion on the grounds that they did not comply with a provision of the Danish “Aliens Act” requiring that they not have stronger ties with another country (the so-called “attachment requirement”). The applicants claimed that this refusal constituted a violation of their...
On May 24, 2016, the United Nations Security Council condemned the May 23 terrorist attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Syrian coastal cities of Jableh and Tartous. The attacks killed or injured over 100 people. In a press statement, the Council reiterated its concern over the continued operation of ISIL, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and related terrorist groups in Syria and “condemned the negative impact of their presence, violent extremist ideology and actions on the stability of Syria, neighbouring countries and the region.” Council members...
On May 23, 2016, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. will fully lift the arms embargo on Vietnam. According to this news report, this step follows the 2014 revision of the embargo, which eased restrictions and allowed Vietnam to purchase maritime surveillance and security-related equipment. While the lifting now allows Vietnam to purchase the full range of weapons, Obama stressed that the sale of arms in practice would depend on Vietnam’s human rights commitments.
On May 17, 2016, the United States Senate passed a bill allowing family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for any involvement in the terror attack. According to this news report, previous attempts to hold Saudi Arabia liable through various lawsuits alleging financial support of terrorism have been unsuccessful due to laws that grant foreign nations immunity from suits in U.S. courts. The new bill creates an exception to the immunity laws if foreign states are determined to be responsible for terrorist attacks that kill American citizens on U.S. territory. The Saudi Arabian...
On May 17, 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Hungary violated the freedom of expression of members of parliament when it fined them for their conduct in parliament. According to the press release, the case concerned the fines imposed on several Hungarian members of parliament (MPs), who had protested bills by placing signs and banners near members who supported the proposed legislations and used a megaphone to present their views during the parliamentary sessions. The Court noted that while freedom of expression and parliamentary debate are “of fundamental importance in a...