International Law Archive

U.N. PROSECUTOR TAKES AIM AT FORMER KOSOVO LEADER — Prosecutors summed up their case against former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj Jan. 21, arguing he was responsible for torture, murder, rape and deportation during the Serbian’s province’s battle against Serbian rule in 1998-1999. Haradinaj, a regional commander for the Kosovo Liberation Army, was legendary in the province for his fierce control over the area under his command. “There was a saying: ‘God in heaven, Haradinaj on earth.’ His degree of control was such . . . that the murders, tortures and rapes could not have occurred without his approval,” prosecutor […]

CHINA UNDER FIRE FOR ACTIVIST DETENTION — While Hu Jia is not the only human rights activist to face detention in recent months, his Dec. 27 arrest has garnered special attention from human rights groups and governments, which are attempting to use the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to press China to improve its human rights record. The European Parliament and U.S. State Department have joined calls for Hu’s immediate release. Chinese authorities maintain Hu is being investigated for subversion in accordance with Chinese law. Hu, a longtime environmental and rights activist, rose to prominence due to his advocacy on behalf […]

TAYLOR TRIAL RESUMES — At the Hague Jan. 7, prosecutors began presenting their case against former Liberian President Charles Taylor. A Canadian “blood diamond” expert was called as the first of 144 expected witnesses for the prosecution. Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role trading weapons for diamonds in the brutal 1991-2002 Sierra Leone war. Additionally, the prosecution alleges that the diamond trade through Liberia that earned the Revolutionary United Front — which was responsible for much of the war’s violence — $125 million a year could not have happened without the […]

During the past year, the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), established by the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in December 2006, has provided essential support for international efforts to prevent biological terrorism. Unlike the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the BTWC lacks the large institutional structure to help administer convention-related activities as well as monitor and enforce compliance with its provisions. The three-person ISU, which started work in April 2007 and became fully operational in August 2007, attempts to help fill that gap from its office at the Geneva branch of the […]

BAHRAIN PASSES LAW ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING — Bahrain’s legislature Dec. 31 signed off on a law to combat human trafficking, which has particularly victimized the country’s migrant workers. Bahrain’s king is expected to approve the law. The law provides for the establishment of a new Human Trafficking Victims Assessment commission to provide medical and psychological assistance to trafficked persons and a new Human Trafficking Authority to create strategies to combat the scourge. It also sets up financial penalties of up to $265,000 for those convicted of trafficking. Fines are subject to doubling in cases where the victims are below 15 […]