Small Arms Control and Management in Cambodia
This article raises the growing concerns over the production, accumulation, and availability of illegal small arms around the world and points out negative effects of small arms misuse on post-conflict societies like Cambodia. It further acknowledges and illustrates small arms control efforts of the Cambodian government such as: (1) establishing the National Commission on Weapons Management and Reform (NCWMR); (2) enacting the Law on the Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition; (3) collecting Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) nationally; and (4) initiating and developing public awareness campaigns. In-depth analysis of these small arms control efforts follows, and concluding remarks are emphasized at the end.
South Africa: The Good News
An interview with Cyprian Mkhuseli CyprianVimba, a South African human Rights Lawyer, portrays some of the issues that face his country, that only last week has celebrated a decade of democracy and liberation. He finds that black South Africans responses to white role are fundamentally conciliatory.
Challenging International Law: Israeli attack on Iraq´s Osiraq Nuclear Reactor
Frankin Murianki analyzes the legality of “Operation Babylon,” an Israeli attack on Iraq´s Osiraq nuclear reactor in 1981. The article scrutinizes the attack by examining customary international law, the legal reasoning of involved parties and the position of the United Nations Security Council.
Key words = international law, self-defense, Israel attack
Intolerably Inferior Identity: How the Social Construction of Race Erased a Rwandan Population
The creation of racial identity in Rwanda, which predated the days of the genocide, may very well have been socially constructed. Aside from considering the dominant roles that the church and media played, this essay seeks to particularly explore how the Belgian inspired identification cards were used as policy instruments, serving as one of the primary tools that aided in the genocide. Racial differences were distinctly classified between the hierarchical Hutus and the inferior Tutsis. The cards said it all; they decided the fate of who would survive the 100 days of violence and who would not.
International Humanitarian Law Violations Committed by the Nkundan Rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
University for Peace Great Lakes Program Fellow, Philippe Tunamsifu Shirambere, comments on violations of International Humanitarian Law committed by the Nkundan rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, understood within the larger context of political violence in Africa’s Great Lakes Region.
Prosecution or Impunity? Is there an Alternative?
Marco Fanara analyzes the justice and peace relationship between prosecution and impunity, weighing the costs and benefits of both, seeking answers to the questions of whether states should seek ‘justice’ and prosecute, or grant impunity in the name of ‘reconciliation’? Are there alternatives? Utilizing the case study of Uganda and the ICC’s involvement therein, Fanara’s essay presents arguments for and against both camps, working to answer the question of whether impunity acts as a barrier to lasting peace, or is it a crucial prerequisite?
The Criminality of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Energy: From Hiroshima to Fukushima
Key Terms: International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), public health, crimes against humanity, nuclear energy, weapons of mass destruction, International Atomic Energy Agency, abolition, phaseout, International Law, peace, security.
The Absence of Women in the Development of International Law: A Critical Women’s Rights Issue
Jerry M’bartee Locula sheds light on the development of international law from a gendered perspective, emphasizing the lack of women’s involvement in the patriarchal global system. Highlighting ways to strengthen the international women’s rights movement, he calls on men to become advocates of gender equality by being outspoken in demanding the inclusion of women’s rights at all levels of international lawmaking.
Kenya’s New Constitution
In the following article, John Onyando comments on the new constitution in Kenya. He argues, “Overwhelming endorsement for the new constitution could be a major turning point. But only if an ambitious long-term process made by the people for the people can protect itself from sectarianisms old and new.”
Record of Our Struggle: Atomic Bombing-Induced Illnesses and Class-Action Lawsuits
Kenji Urata, Vice-President of the International Association Of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), reviews a recent publication that records the legal struggle of those who have suffered illnesses induced by exposure to atomic weapons. This article is an English translation of the original Japanese, published 2012 in the journal Law and Democracy.