II. Ethiopia's Military Action Against the Union of Islamic Courts and Others in Somalia: Some Legal Implications

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 666-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Warbrick ◽  
Zeray W Yihdego

Somalia has been without government since 1991. A transitional government was established in 2004 under the presidency of Abdullahi Yusuf, with the backing of the United Nations, the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Inter-governmental Agency for Development (IGAD). The Government sat in Baidoa in southern Somalia from June 2005 until December 2006. In June 2006 the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) took control of much of southern and central Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu, but not Puntland and Somaliland. They declared and tried to establish an Islamic State. Somalis were told to comply with stringent Islamic rules or face harsh punishment. In the meantime, efforts to achieve national reconciliation were ongoing under the auspices of IGAD, though without much success. It was reported that on 20 July 2006 Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia. Ethiopia only admitted to having military trainers to help the Somali Government (estimated to be 400 military personnel). On 21 July, the UIC declared a ‘holy war’ against Ethiopia. In September 2006 the Somali interim President survived an assassination attempt in Baidoa. On 25 October 2006 Ethiopia said that it was ‘technically at war’ with the Islamic Courts. After few days the UIC claimed to have ambushed and killed Ethiopian troops near the Ethiopian border.1

Subject Outlook for Islamic State group-related terrorism in Malaysia. Significance The Islamic State group (ISG) threat is a growing Malaysian security concern. In May, police warned of domestically planned and executed ISG attacks in Malaysia; on July 9, the police's inspector general reportedly expressed concern over attack orders originating from ISG in the Middle East directed overseas. Currently, at least 80 Malaysians are believed to have joined ISG in Syria and Iraq, of whom eleven, including six suicide bombers, have died. As of April, police reportedly suspected some 70 Malaysian military personnel of having ISG connections. Impacts The government needs to reassess its use of Islam for political goals, and support for Salafi doctrine. It will face increased pressure to strengthen its online counterterrorism presence. Meanwhile, social media will be key to youth radicalisation and terror recruitment.


Author(s):  
Retselisitsoe Phooko

On 2 August 2002 South Africa signed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Tribunal and the Rules of Procedure Thereof, thus effectively recognising and accepting the jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal. Among the cases received by the SADC Tribunal was a complaint involving allegations of human rights violations by the government of Zimbabwe. It ruled that the government of Zimbabwe had violated human rights. Consequently, Zimbabwe mounted a politico-legal challenge against the existence of the Tribunal. This resulted in the review of the role and functions of the Tribunal in 2011 which resulted in the Tribunal being barred from receiving new cases or proceeding with the cases that were already before it. Furthermore, on 18 August 2014, the SADC Summit adopted and signed the 2014 Protocol on the Tribunal in the SADC which disturbingly limits personal jurisdiction by denying individual access to the envisaged Tribunal, thus reducing it to an inter-state judicial forum. This article critically looks at the decision of 18 August 2014, specifically the legal implications of the Republic of South Africa’s signing of the 2014 Protocol outside the permissible procedure contained in article 37 of the SADC Protocol on the Tribunal. It proposes that South Africa should correct this democratic deficit by introducing public participation in treaty-making processes in order to prevent a future situation where the executive unilaterally withdraws from an international treaty that is meant to protect human rights at a regional level. To achieve this, this article makes a comparative study between South Africa and the Kingdom of Thailand to learn of any best practices from the latter.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wade Mansell ◽  
Karen Openshaw

In 2008 the Ecuadorian government received a report on the legitimacy of the country's sovereign debt from an international audit commission appointed by Ecuador's current president, Rafael Correa. This concluded that much of the debt was tainted by illegality and illegitimacy and consequently did not merit repayment. Citing the report's findings as justification, the government stopped making interest payments on certain of the country's bonds, but, rather than repudiating them altogether, engineered a successful buyback at a large discount. Having thus reduced Ecuador's external commercial debt burden by about a third, the government is now planning to address multilateral and bilateral loans also adjudged unlawful by the commission.This article examines the robust approach adopted by the Correa administration to tackling Ecuador's public debts, placing it in the context of the country's troubled economic history and contrasting it with previous defaults and debt workouts which largely worked to Ecuador's disadvantage. In doing so, it considers the use which the government has made of the increasingly prominent concepts of odious and illegitimate debt as a means of combating the indebtedness of the South. The conclusion reached is that, regardless of the final position suggested by international law, the realities of international relations are likely to limit the practicality of legal remedies. Nevertheless, the case of Ecuador provides a new chapter in the continuing academic debate regarding unlawful debt.These, of course, are the legal aspects of Ecuador's endeavours to curtail expenditure desperately needed for other purposes. Underlying the legal implications is the reality of an impoverished nation called upon to continue to service or redeem 'debt' that brought no obvious benefit to the overwhelming majority of its people. Debt repayment has promoted impoverishment and also, if indirectly, facilitated devastating environmental degradation.


1980 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fay Gadsden

This paper discusses the African press in Kenya in the years between 1945 and 1952. The growth of an extensive vernacular press was caused by the political frustrations suffered by Kenya's Africans and the political, social and ethnic divisions which separated them. The press can be divided into three major categories: moderate nationalist, regional vernacular and populist newspapers. The moderate nationalist newspapers were edited by members of the educated elite who campaigned for constitutional change and social reforms. The regional vernacular papers were concerned more with local than national issues. The populist press was edited by semi-educated men active in politics at the grassroots level who came to reject the moderate leadership. All these papers publicized the activities of the Kenya African Union and demanded an improvement in the political and social position of Africans in Kenya. But they also expressed the ethnic, political and social hostilities which divided their editors. The decline of moderate leadership was reflected in the closure of their newspapers. The radicals who seized power in K.A.U. in 1951 were supported by the populist press and began new newspapers in 1951 and 1952.Some of the African newspapers achieved quite large circulations, were distributed by agents throughout the towns of Kenya and attracted some advertising revenue. But they all suffered from lack of money and found it difficult to find and pay a printer, and they suffered also from the lack of experience of their editors. Many newspapers lasted only a short time. But throughout these years there were always a number of newspapers published. These were widely read and were politically influential. The populist press played a direct role in stimulating militant resistance. Government attempts to curb the African press and to replace it with government newspapers were not successful. Only in 1952 when a State of Emergency had been imposed and the government had assumed powers to refuse printing licences and to suppress newspapers could the African press be silenced.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Martin ◽  
Hussein Solomon

The Islamic State (IS) took the global stage in June 2014 and since has become one of the greatest threats to international peace and security. While initially closely affiliated with Al-Qaeda, the IS has proved itself to be a distinct phenomenon of horror—more dangerous than Al-Qaeda. The group essentially established itself in the volatile Middle East, but has infiltrated many parts of the world with the aim of expanding Islam’s Holy War. What certainly makes the IS different from its predecessors is that the group has been labeled the wealthiest terrorist group in the world today. By the fall of 2015, IS generated an annual income of US$2.4 billion. The question for many analysts observing the situation in Syria is: where does the IS gets its money? The aim of this article is to critically observe the nature of IS and its funding requirements and the measures pursued in curtailing the group’s funding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Sujan Chandra Paul ◽  
Md Harun Or Rosid ◽  
Mohammad Rakibul Islam ◽  
Refat Ferdous

This study investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and some macroeconomic variables such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Capital Formation (GCF), Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF), Industry, Import, Export, Inflation and Unemployment rate. Panel Data of 14 regional alliances countries from 1990-2018 were collected from The World Bank website. Robust regression models are used in this study. This research found that GDP had significant positive relationship with FDI in all regions except Arab League, EU and G7 countries. GCF had significant positive relationship with FDI in Arab League, BRI, GATT, NAFTA countries & negative relationship in APEC, G7 countries. AFF had significant positive relationship with FDI in BRICS, GATT countries & negative relationship in African Union, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, BRI, BRICS, SAFTA countries. Industry had significant positive relationship with FDI in African Union, BRI, NAFTA, OECD countries and negative relationship in BRICS, G7, G20 countries. Import had significant positive relationship with FDI in African Union, APEC, Arab League, ASIAN, BRI, G7, G20, GATT countries and negative relationship in BRICS countries. Export had significant positive relationship with FDI in BRICS countries and negative relationship in African Union, ASEAN, BRI, G20, GATT, OECD, SAFTA countries. Inflation had significant positive relationship with FDI in GATT, SAFTA countries and negative relationship in African Union, APEC countries. Unemployment rate had significant positive relationship with FDI in African Union, BRI, BRICS, EU, G20, GATT, OECD, SAFTA countries and negative relationship in ASEAN countries.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Kasaija Phillip Apuuli

Abstract Since the end of the revolution that toppled the rule of Muammar Qaddafi in October 2011, Libya has never known peace. The country descended into civil war with different factions contending for control. In this milieu, the United Nations attempted to mediate an end to the crisis but its efforts have failed to gain traction partly as a result of other mediation initiatives undertaken by several European actors. Sub-regional and continental organizations, including the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the African Union (AU) respectively, that should have taken the lead in the mediation have been absent. Meanwhile, continued fighting has hampered a mediated settlement, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda have taken advantage of the situation to establish a presence in the country. In the end, rather than ending the crisis, Libya has provided the ground for competing mediation processes which have prolonged the crisis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wilén ◽  
Paul D. Williams

AbstractIn December 2015, the African Union (AU) took the unprecedented step of threatening to use military force against the government of Burundi's wishes in order to protect civilians caught up in the country's intensifying domestic crisis. This article traces the background to this decision and analyses the effectiveness and credibility of the AU's use of coercive diplomacy as a tool of conflict management. After its usual range of conflict management tools failed to stem the Burundian crisis, the AU Commission and Peace and Security Council tried a new type of military compellence by invoking Article 4(h) of the Union's Constitutive Act. We argue that the threatened intervention never materialised because of (1) the Burundian government's astute diplomacy and (2) several African autocrats’ resistance to setting a precedent for future interventions where concerns about civilian protection might override state sovereignty.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ja'far Ja'far

Al Washliyah merupakan satu di antara banyak organisasi Islam yang menolak paham dan gerakan terorisme di Indonesia. Artikel ini mengkaji respons Al Washliyah terhadap terorisme. Kajian ini menarik dilakukan, sebab organisasi ini memiliki pengikut yang fanatik dan mengelola amal usaha yang banyak, tetapi masih relatif jarang diteliti oleh para peneliti. Kajian ini merupakan studi lapangan (library research) dimana sumber datanya diperoleh dari kegiatan wawancara dan studi dokumen. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan metode analisis data menurut Miles dan Huberman: reduksi data, pemaparan data, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Didasari dengan teori Matusitz, Pranawati, dan Golose tentang doktrin terorisme dimana gerakan ini ingin mendirikan negara Islam, memaknai jihad sebagai perang, anti terhadap non-Muslim, dan melegalkan bom bunuh diri, kajian ini akan menelaah respons Al Washliyah terhadap empat persoalan tersebut. Kajian ini mengajukan temuan bahwa Al Washliyah menolak paham dan gerakan terorisme yang muncul dan berkembang di Indonesia, dan para ulamanya menilai bahwa kaum teroris telah salah dalam memahami ajaran Islam. Temuan kajian ini dapat berkontribusi bagi pemerintah dalam upaya menanggulangi gerakan terorisme di Indonesia. Al Washliyah is one of Islamic organizations that rejects the concept of terrorism in Indonesia. This article examines Al Washliyah's responses to terrorism. This study is interesting because this organization has fanatic followers and manages many business charities, but rarely investigated by researchers. This research is field studies where the data sources obtained from the interviews activities and document studies. Data were analyzed by using data analysis method according to Miles and Huberman: data reduction, data display, and conclusion. Based on the theory of Matusitz, Pranawati, and Golose about terrorism doctrine in which the program wants to establish an Islamic state, interpret jihad as war, anti to non-Muslims, and legalize suicide bombings, this study will examine the Al Washliyah's responses to those four issues. This study proposes that Al Washliyah rejects the concept of terrorism which appears and develops in Indonesia, and ulama consider that terrorists have misunderstood on Islamic concept. The findings of this study may contribute to the government in combating terrorism movement in Indonesia.


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