Since the UN’s establishment in 1945, the body has been pivotal in maintaining global peace and security. A critical instrument in its arsenal is the ceasefire resolution, primarily used by the UN Security Council (UNSC) as a vehicle for showing the overriding will of the Council in times when tensions are high. These resolutions often [...]
Search Results for: bosnia civil war
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution last week establishing a commemoration day for the 1995 killings of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica and to formally recognize the event as genocide. Proposed by Germany and Rwanda, two countries with a unique history dealing with genocide in the 20th century, and [...]
Explainer: The Israel-Hamas War and the International Criminal Court
The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II). With both courts located in [...]
Germany among 7 countries with downgraded civic space ratings in CIVICUS Monitor report
Germany’s civic space was rated as “narrow” in a new report from global rights watchdog CIVICUS Monitor. Germany was one of seven countries downgraded in the People Under Attack 2023 report, which analysed how governments protect citizens’ freedom of expression in 198 countries. The report found that over 30 percent of the world’s population now [...]
In 2013, the United Nations (UN) established the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to address conflict in the Sahel region. Support for MINUSMA, the deadliest UN mission, has declined, especially after Western leaders have increasingly focused on the Russian intervention in Ukraine. In fact, several Western countries have announced their withdrawal from MUNUSMA, [...]
When International Legal Obligations Are Contradictory: America’s Dilemma in Ukraine
Ongoing Russian crimes against Ukraine are egregious and overlapping. Most conspicuous of these crimes are Vladimir Putin’s acts of aggression and of genocide. Jurisprudentially, even if Putin lacks any confirmable “intent to destroy” specific Ukrainian populations, Russia’s law-breaking behavior would still rise to the level of other relevant criteria or standards. Most recognizable, in this [...]
The US Treasury Department Monday imposed sanctions on two senior officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina for allegedly threatening the stability of the region and democratic processes. Under Executive Order 14033, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina President Marinko Cavara and Republika Srpska Minister of Health and Social Welfare Alen Seranic have been sanctioned. Both Cavara and [...]
The other day, when I woke up in the morning, I thought that I should go to Kyiv and do my part by remembering George Orwell and the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, and paying homage to Catalonia. My 66 year old body shortly thereafter said that the Ukrainians are not asking for [...]
Abstract: For Israel, core issues surrounding Iran’s still-accelerating nuclear weapons program have been strategic and political, rather than legal. Nonetheless, if Israel should ever decide that it no longer has any reasonable alternative to launching a preemptive attack against certain Iranian military/industrial targets, this defensive first-strike would need to be justified under international law. In [...]
Bosnia and Herzegovina's Legal Responsibility for Failing to Procure COVID-19 Vaccines
Bosnia and Herzegovina (3.2 million citizens) is according to Worldometer in 5th place in the world by the number of deaths from COVID-19 per 1 million population. It tops the list in the region of South-East Europe with 212 deaths per 100.000 people. In the state that has struggled with a dysfunctional political system since [...]