On May 16, 2016, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations announced that the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) will enter into force on June 5, 2016, after thirty member states submitted their instruments of adherence. According to the press release, the PSMA’s will target illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing (IUU fishing), which “is responsible for annual catches of up to 26 million tonnes, with a value of up to USD 23 billion [and] undermines efforts to ensure sustainable fisheries and responsible fish stock management around the world.” The PSMA’s main...
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 16, 2016, the Stockholm District Court sentenced a sixty-one-year-old man to life in prison for his participation in the Rwandan genocide. According to this news report, Claver Berinkindi, a nationalized Swedish citizen, was found to have participated in five massacres in 1994, both rallying people to join in the killings and taking an active part in them himself. The case marks the first time a Swedish court has awarded damages to victims of genocide, imposing payments to fifteen people who had lost relatives due to Berinkindi’s actions. According to this news report, Sweden...
On May 13, 2016, The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) released its Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Israel, in which it expressed concern over allegations of excessive use of force by Israeli security forces in the Palestinian territories. According to the report, the Committee is concerned with the use of administrative detention where detainees “can be held in detention without charge indefinitely on the basis of secret evidence that is not made available to the detainee or his/her lawyer.” In addition, the Committee announced that “there...
On May 13, 2016, the Supreme Court of India upheld in Subramaniam Swamy v. Union of India a set of criminal defamation laws to be constitutionally valid. Three politicians had challenged the laws, arguing that they endangered universal and constitutional free speech and free expression rights. In its judgment, the Court noted that reputation is a right protected under the Indian Constitution and that “the objective of the law of defamation, civil or criminal, is to protect the reputation and dignity of an individual against scurrilous and vicious attacks.” The Court determined...
On May 3, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2286 condemning attacks on medical facilities and personnel in situations of armed conflict. According to the press release, the resolution was co-sponsored by more than eighty UN member states and was adopted unanimously by the fifteen-member Council. The resolution demands an end to impunity for those responsible for attacks on protected medical personnel and facilities. According to reports, the resolution came in response to a number of recent attacks on medical facilities and personnel in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan...
On May 3, 2016, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its ruling in Abdi Mahamud v. Malta. The Court held that Malta violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)—which prohibits degrading treatment—as well as provisions of the Convention’s Article 5 right to liberty and security. The compliant was based on Malta’s prolonged detention of Abdi Mahamud while she awaited decisions on her asylum application and her request for provisional release from immigration detention based on ill-health and her status as a vulnerable person. According to the...
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. ...
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...