Creating the EAC in Senegal

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
Ben Kioko
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Union ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Political Drama ◽  
African Soil ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Many ◽  
Important Milestone

This chapter assesses how Judge Ben Kioko, former Director of the Legal Department of the Commission of the African Union, led the AU's early efforts to construct a court to try those responsible for atrocities committed in Chad from 1982–1990. The creation of the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) in Senegal for the Hissène Habré trial was an important milestone for the AU. It gave a real meaning to the principles contained in the Constitutive Act that affirm the Union's commitment to fighting impunity and protecting human rights. The chapter then describes the many twists, turns, and challenges that the AU faced in the establishment of the EAC, providing insights as to the political drama surrounding the court's creation. Ultimately, Africans must continue to interrogate how international crimes committed on their continent can be prosecuted on African soil while ensuring that the interests of the victim are at the centre of all these efforts.

scholarly journals Human Rights Half Measures: Avoiding Accountability in Postwar Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Cronin-Furman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Veto Points ◽  
Do So

AbstractWhy do repressive states create human rights institutions that cost them money and political capital but fail to silence international criticism? The academic literature assumes that states engaging in disingenuous human rights behavior are hoping to persuade (or deceive) liberal Western states and international advocates. But if human rights promoters in the West are the target audience for the creation of these half measures institutions, the strategy appears puzzlingly miscalculated. It reveals that the repressive state is sensitive to international opinion, and often results in increased pressure. The author argues that states engaging in human rights half measures are playing to a different, previously overlooked audience: swing states that can act as veto points on multilateral efforts to enforce human rights. The article illustrates these dynamics with a case study of Sri Lanka’s response to international pressure for postwar justice. The author shows that although the creation of a series of weak investigative commissions was prompted by pressure from Western governments and ngos, it was not an attempt to satisfy or hoodwink these actors. Instead, it was part of a coalition-blocking strategy to convince fellow developing states on the UN Human Rights Council to oppose the creation of an international inquiry and to give them the political cover to do so.

Some Notable Developments in the Practice of the UN Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties: Reservations and Declarations

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palitha T. B. Kohona
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
The Political ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Many ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

This Note will examine developments in the practice of the United Nations secretary-general on reservations and declarations to treaties, particularly since 1994 when the Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties was last updated. This period was marked by some notable developments in the previous practice, especially in connection with human rights treaties.The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 (Vienna Convention) provides the framework for the functions of the secretary-general in his role as depositary of multilateral treaties. Most aspects of the law relating to reservations and declarations to treaties are also codified in the Vienna Convention.Over five hundred multilateral treaties are deposited with the secretary-general. The complex requirements relating to these treaties and the concerns of the many disparate states that may undertake treaty actions with regard to them have significantly influenced his practice. He is also conscious of the political sensitivities surrounding his decisions and the need to protect his own integrity and impartiality.

Recent Developments in the African Human Rights System 2011/12

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-172
Author(s):  
Gina Bekker
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
African Union ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Welfare Of The Child ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
African Commission

A number of important developments have taken place in the African regional human rights system. This article surveys some of the key developments with respect to human rights within the African Union covering the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 January 2012. Consideration in this regard is given to a number of matters including the extension of the jurisdiction of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights to try international crimes, the issue of lack of individual access to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the promotional and protectional work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

scholarly journals Quo Vadis Pembaharuan Hukum Pertanahan Nasional: Urgensi Pembentukan Peradilan Khusus Pertanahan dalam Penyelesaian Konflik Agraria yang Berkeadilan

Lentera Hukum ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Muhammad Busyrol Fuad
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Space ◽  
Land Law ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
Plantation Company ◽  
The Military ◽  
Settlement Areas

The rise of national agraria conflicts that occurred seem to have been in the point is quite worrisome. Because he has a slice of various forms of human rights dimensionless violations. Various discourses in the effort to resolve the conflict continue. The discourse on the creation of a special court of land seems to have begun to gain a lot of attention. The reason, he is present in the situation of national agraria conflict that never ends, besides the passage of this discourse is full of momentum, which coincides with the draft Land Law Bill which is now entered the political space of legislation in parliament. A special court of land will certainly be a topic of discussion is quite fierce considering the issue will reach the settlement areas of national agraria cases that include land tenure by the plantation company (onderneming), PT. Perkebunan Nasional (PTPN), to the control of land by the military. This paper would like to discuss that the establishment of a special land court in the draft national land law is a necessity in solving a just national agrarian conflict. Keyword: Agraria Conflict, Violations of Human Rights, Special Court of Land

scholarly journals The ICC’s Appeals Chamber Judgments in the Jordan Case Regarding Al Bashir and Ntaganda Case: Victories for the Fights against Impunity and Immunity for Serious Crimes

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 150-156
Author(s):  
Aghem Hanson Ekori
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations

The creation of the ICC was a turning point in the fights against impunity for serious international crimes affecting mankind. Accordingly, the ICC does not recognise any form of immunities before its jurisdiction. Consequently, individuals and senior state officials cannot rely on any form of immunities if accused of any of the crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. In the Jordan case regarding Al Bashir’s immunity, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber held that by ratifying the Rome Statute, states parties have consented to waive the immunity of their officials regarding proceedings before the Court. As a result of this, there is no immunity between the Court and states parties and between states parties themselves, and Sudan was bound by the Statute of the Court based on the United Nations Resolution 1593. In the Ntaganda case, the Court held there is no impunity for serious international crimes before its jurisdiction. This article examines both cases and concludes that while in the Jordan case there is victory for serious international crimes and the fights against human rights violations over immunity before the ICC, there is also victory for serious international crimes over impunity before the Court as seen in the Ntaganda case.

The Need to Reform the Political Role of the African Union in Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in Domestic States: Making States More Accountable and Less Able to Avoid Scrutiny at the United Nations and at the African Union, Using Swaziland to Spotlight the Issues

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Sarkin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Union ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Universal Periodic Review ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Do So

This article examines how effective the African Union (AU) has been in pushing states to be more democratic in nature and to respect, protect, fulfil and promote the human rights of their inhabitants. It reviews the political role of the AU in this regard using the situation in Swaziland to do so. The article also examines Swaziland at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process as a comparative tool.

‘Saddling’ the New African Regional Human Rights Court with International Criminal Jurisdiction: Innovative, Obstructive, Expedient?

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent O. Nmehielle
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
African Union ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Recent Initiative

Abstract This article examines the recent initiative of the African Union (au) to amend the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights that initially merged the African Court of Human Peoples’ Rights with the African Court of Justice of the African Union and to now create a new and holistic regional court – the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights – and endow it with jurisdiction for international crimes. The article principally interrogates three issues: (1) the legality and novelty of the au initiative, (2) the question whether the plan is in any way obstructive or a distraction, and (3) whether the initiative is actually necessary when considered against the wider scheme of effective functioning of the au and its human rights protection regimes. The article finds that while the au’s desire to establish an international crimes chamber within its human rights court may have largely been influenced by the politicisation of the international criminal justice system and its concerns about the icc’s nearly exclusive focus on Africa, there is nothing in international law that prevents the au from embarking on such initiative. However, it is essential for the au to conduct a necessity test, taking a number of issues into account such as adequate resources, credible legal and political commitment, and the opportunity available to member states in the complementarity principle of the Rome Statute of the icc. It is submitted that since Africa, as a regional block, has accepted the Rome Statute regime in large numbers, the au needs to engage with that system in ways that give African states parties credible ownership of justice, as addressing atrocity crimes would largely be achieved within the domestic systems of member states.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 447-452
Author(s):  
Beth Van Schaack
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
The Political ◽  
Domestic Institutions ◽  
World War ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
Bright Spots ◽  
The Many

The book’s conclusion offers a number of overarching observations about the prospects of justice for Syria and highlights a few bright spots on an otherwise rather bleak landscape. These grounds for cautious optimism include the fact that we now have a robust and comprehensive international jus puniendi of international crimes, even if we lack sufficient institutions in which to apply it. Although the repeat failures of the U.N. Security Council have eroded our faith in the post–World War II system of collective security, other multilateral, regional, and domestic institutions have—to a certain extent—stepped in to fill the breach. This multilateral paralysis has thus spurred creative thinking about new jurisdictional theories, generated multiple and varied institutional proposals, and re-enlivened the principle of universal jurisdiction after a period of decline. The enhanced sophistication of international crimes documentation ensures that future transitional justice efforts will have the evidence needed to hold those most responsible for abuses to account. While the many accountability proposals have yet to bear fruit, it is now clear that they suffer from no legal impediments; all that is needed is the political will and resources to bring them to fruition. All of these developments are the work of an epistemic community of justice entrepreneurs—representing multilateral institutions, sovereign nations, and global civil society—who refuse to take “no” for an answer.

The Manner in which I went to Worship Mañjuśrī’s Realm, The Five-Peaked Mountain (Wutai), by Sumba Kanbo (1704–1788)

Inner Asia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenton Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Road ◽  
Mount Wutai ◽  
The Creation ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Sacred Mountain ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Way

Abstract This essay provides a translation of the travelogue of the eminent Oirat Buddhist lama Sumba Kanbo Yeshe Baljor (1704–1788) as he made his way to the sacred Mount Wutai. Among the many details this candid account reveals is the fact that Buddhists from the Tibetan Plateau did not travel to the sacred mountain of Wutai in China for the sake of pilgrimage, but in order to foster established relationships with Mongol patrons along the way. Sumba Kanbo spent seven months on the road in 1774 en route to Wutai (compared with only one month at the mountain itself), and during that time he was received by Mongol nobility for whom, in exchange, he contributed to the creation of ‘surrogate’ pilgrimage sites in Mongolia and more generally to the ‘Buddicisation’ of Mongolia. Sumba Kanbo’s account provides a unique window into the emergence of Buddhism in Mongolia and the manner in which this phenomenon depended upon both the political and religious bonds formed between lamas such as Sumba Kanbo and Mongol nobility, commoners and landscape that these lamas encountered on their peregrinations.

scholarly journals Między polityką a prawem. Problem „upolitycznienia” tworzenia prawa

2017 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 115-132
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Biernat
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
Law Making

BETWEEN POLITICS AND LAW. THE PROBLEM OF “POLITICIZATION” THE CREATION OF LAWThe purpose of this article is to analyze the phenomenon of “politicization” of the law making process. Astrong form of politicization is the political instrumentalization of law when the law is treated as the implementation of particular interests of the political power; when is created in violation of the legality of the law-making activities; when it violates the rights of individuals human rights. The weaker but more common form of politicization the creation of law is related to the violation by apolitical authority, legislative body, additional restrictions imposed on it, which are supposed to guarantee ahigh level quality of the law. Three of the most characteristic limitations will be the basis for analyzing the phenomenon of politicization of law making. They are related to: the legitimization of law-making, the democratization of law-making process, and the standards of legislation that are characteristic of lawmaking in ademocratic state under the rule of law. To some extent, these phenomena are interconnected, one can say that they are involved in shaping the pat­tern of the proper legislation by preventing or reducing the politicization of the lawmaking process and its key decisions.

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