Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
Search Results for: military commission
The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF) disclosed Friday the testimonies of two former high-ranking military officials who said that former president Jair Bolsonaro summoned them to discuss a potential coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 presidential elections to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The testimonies of Marco Antonio Freire Gomes, a [...]
Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, does not shy away from tough questions. Though many in a position such as his might shy away from argument, Rae seems to relish the opportunity to engage in some intellectual sparring. It was in this context that I requested an interview as Canada grapples with multiple [...]
Peru Congress commission advances bill protecting alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity
The Constitutional Commission of the Peruvian Congress approved Tuesday the report of Bill No. 6951/2023-CR, which establishes that no one can be prosecuted, sentenced or punished for crimes against humanity or war crimes committed before July 1, 2002. As a result, emblematic cases from the period of internal violence in Peru between 1980 and 2000, [...]
UN report urges immediate action as Syria confronts escalating violence
The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry released a report Monday concerning the most severe escalation of violence in the country since 2020. Explosions during a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs triggered the escalation, which began in October, leading to a series of indiscriminate attacks by Syrian and Russian forces on opposition-held areas. The commission [...]
Nicaragua launches ICJ proceedings against Germany for aiding Israel in ongoing Gaza war
Nicaragua filed an official application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday instituting proceedings against Germany. Nicaragua claimed that Germany has been complicit in the genocide of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, contrary to the Geneva Conventions. Nicaragua also applied for provisional measures. Nicaragua’s application was made on [...]
Lessons from Oppenheimer: The Imperative of Nuclear Conflict Avoidance
“Where there were great military actions, there lies whitening now the jawbone of an ass.” Saint-John Perse (French poet, 1887-1975) As film, the core importance of “Oppenheimer” lies in its messages on human survival. The personal, emotional and romantic aspects of the film are captivating, to be sure, but they are less consequential than any [...]
An investigation published by Reuters on Friday revealed that a secretive committee of high-ranking officials in Ethiopia has been committing human rights violations in order to eliminate the Oromo Liberation Army- Oromo Liberation Front (OLF-OLA) insurgency group. Reuters interviewed over 30 sources, revealing the committee’s existence for the first time on record. The committee, called [...]
The Legal Framework of Extradition and the Case of Julian Assange
Julian Assange is among the most polarizing public figures of the 21st century thus far. In the nearly two decades since he established WikiLeaks, a website that gained infamy in the aughts for its release of millions of classified documents and related analyses, Assange has galvanized free speech advocates, incensed national security stalwarts, and fostered [...]
Pakistan dispatch: unraveling the fallout of political turmoil after the general election
Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on events in that country impacting its legal system. Mashal Asim Khan is an LLB student in the University of London External Programme at The Institute of Legal Studies (TILS). She files this from Islamabad. Pakistan conducted its 12th general election on 8th February in [...]