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Tags: Human Rights

Rights of Due Process and the Post-Arab Spring: Paradigm Shift from International to Domestic Court Jurisdiction

Kichere Mwita draws attention to the precedent-setting role of the Arab Spring from an international law perspective. Highlighting the shift from international to domestic court jurisdiction over high-level crimes committed during the Arab Spring uprisings, Mwita argues for the implementation of a sub-international criminal court based on the model of the ad hoc tribunals created for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

The Rise of Private Military Companies and the Legal Vacuum of Regulation

This paper discusses the rise of the private military industry as a challenge to contemporary international law. In recent times, the privatization of activities preserved by governments have been proposed and implemented;, such as communication facilities, garbage collection, electricity supply, immigration services and much more. Military operations have not been left out. The increasing privatization of military activities is proving to be a major challenge to international law. The literature on Private Military Companies (PMCs) is mind-boggling, but neither extensive nor exhaustive. As a new phenomenon, it receives situational attention. For example, when the operations of Executive Outcomes and Sandline International were unearthed by the press in the 90s,’ numerous scholarly material was written, but with distinct themes like the efficiency of the corporations and the human rights violations carried out, as well as the legal vacuum created by ex-professional soldiers banding up to create and legally incorporate a mercenary outfit. The issue of PMCs being present in weak states and ravaged war-torn zones is an understatement, yet these corporations are registered mostly in the U.S., U.K. and South Africa. The articles on this issue are usually highly polarized; opponents verses proponents of these corporations, as the activities of these outfits do not fit within any conventional classification as actors of war in the law of war.
This paper describes the history and definition of PMCs and analyses how the operations of these corporations affect human rights, sovereignty and states´ monopoly of violence. The paper also focuses on the legality of PMCs and proceeds to discuss how to regulate the industry. The paper concludes in favor of tougher regulatory controls through new international legal framework and national legislation to deal with mercenaries as decisively as with other non-state actors who wield violence.

To Drive, or Not to Drive; Not a Question for Saudi Women

The Wahhabi state of Saudi Arabia is the holy gem of Islam and the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving. Saudi women must wait for months at a time to do basic communal things, until their husbands, fathers, brothers or uncles are available to drive them around. The Kingdom’s chauffeur system is not a pampering luxury; it systematically defies and denies women from earning equal rights as men, via mobilization and transportation. However, protests and petitions demonstrated and signed by Saudi women, prove they are not giving up their fight to drive. But before this right can be granted, the environment must be ready for it. This essay will explore this misunderstood and confusing Saudi law, by weaving through the reasons of why women cannot drive, personal stories and scenarios on how the ban affects everyday life, and suggest recommendations as to how the Kingdom might consider going about changing its ways.

Press Freedom in Tanzania

Press Freedom in Tanzania Author: Jaffar Mjasiri Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 09/16/2005   In this era of globalization the world is engaged in promoting freedom of expression.  But this is often more easily said than done.   Today freedom of expression is embedded in the constitution of every democracy around the world, […]

The Creation of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala: Miscalculation by a ‘Corporate Mafia State’?

This paper traces the development of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). A UN affiliated hybrid International-National quasi-judicial entity, CICIG was mandated to help investigate and prosecute organized crime groups in Guatemala and was heralded as an important step forward in the fight against impunity. This paper explores the often heard narrative that human rights groups successfully convinced first the Portillo administration and then the Berger government to agree to support CICIG, and analyzes alternative rationales. The paper suggests that the Portillo government sought to derive short term benefits from supporting the agreement but may have miscalculated in its assessment of long term risks. The Berger administration clearly derived benefits from the agreement, including the reinstatement of certain US military aid, as did the Colom administration. The paper also suggests that despite its mandate to strengthen national investigations and the judiciary system, some of CICIG’s greatest successes were achieved through public actions and the eventual resignation of the founding Commissioner Castresana. The paper concludes that even though CICIG’s institutional reform efforts have been piecemeal, they are significant nonetheless.

Addressing Past Violence: The New Brazilian Truth Commission

Leonard Ghione argues that the Brazilian truth commission has a strong legal mandate to achieve the goal of creating an authoritative historic account of the country’s violent past. Its main challenge will be coping with the limited number of staff and the long period of time it must cover. The goal of national reconciliation in Brazil will require not only the unearthing of the truth but also the unearthing of a conflict that has been systematically negated until now and is part of Brazil’s culture of violence. If the commission succeeds in unearthing this underlying negated conflict, it will increase public pressure against the amnesty law, which may eventually lead to its revocation in the long term, contributing to a less violent society.

Democracy in the Arab World

Majid Ahmed Salih discusses the major obstacles to democracy in the Arab world and why they should be overcome.

Darfur Humanitarian Crisis: The Need for an Integrative Approach

Despite of the involvement of the international community in the Darfur conflict a decade ago, there has been no indicator of a workable agreement despite the diversity and multiplicity of interventions undertaken both at the political and non-governmental levels. And as the attention shifted to a different region, there is an urgency to revisit the approach to its resolution in order to reach a viable accord between the conflicting parties for the purpose of preventing further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the province, at a time where oblivion seems to prevail. In this essay I contend that an integrated strategy is needed to permanently resolve the conflict and put an end to the long lasting human tragedy. In order to, I will reexamine the main causes which lead to the worsening of the humanitarian condition while providing the necessary adjustments required for sustainable peace.