Labeling a person according to her gender highlights difference—really, ongoing hierarchies of power. Two recent incidents, both referencing sub-Saharan Africa, insert ‘women’ (as social category) into the world of universal jurisdiction.
In South Africa, sexualized violence in Zimbabwe is under investigation thanks to the logic of universal jurisdiction: mass rape, defined as a crime against
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In London and Kathmandu, Progress without Illusions
If two wrongs don’t make a right, one right isn’t always enough. The UK’s recent use of universal jurisdiction against a Nepali colonel, for torture committed during his country’s civil war in 2005, has received a great deal of attention. Kumar Lama, who was serving on a peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan, was on holiday
Insecure Safe Havens
Last month, Amnesty International issued the latest set of reports as part of its “No Safe Haven” series on universal jurisdiction. The human rights organization began the multi-year project in 2008, with the goal of reviewing each country in the world. Ten lengthy reports have been produced so far, with the most recent ones
Piracy and Economics
No one seems to have much of a problem applying universal jurisdiction to piracy. Last month’s ruling by Kenya’s Court of Appeals confirmed this, effectively reversing a 2010 judgment by the country’s High Court. Whereas the earlier decision emphasized crimes occurring in the national territory, the appellate court championed the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Post-Conflict Accountability in Nepal
Earlier this month the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a 233-page report, Nepal Conflict Report, detailing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law between 1996 and 2006.
As a follow-up to the report, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a hard-hitting brief, calling on Nepal’s
“Exceptional and Supplementary”
For the fourth year in a row, the Legal (Sixth) Committee of the U.N. General Assembly took up the issue of universal jurisdiction this month, debating its scope and application. One of the central themes to emerge was the idea that universal jurisdiction should be exceptional and supplementary. These criteria apply to both
WikiLeaks 101: Extradition Isn’t Universal Jurisdiction
I asked for the extradition of Pinochet, who had been investigated and charged with… genocide, torture, serious breaches of human rights… Assange is having a fundamental right breached too — freedom of expression — and that is why he has been granted political asylum. (Judge Baltasar Garzón)
The paths of Julian Assange and Baltasar Garzón
Judicial Diffusion in Africa
Aiding and Abetting in Kiobel
In gearing up for Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum at the U.S. Supreme Court this fall, debates are raging about the scope of the Alien Tort Statute. Among key claims is the argument that universal jurisdiction doesn’t extend to secondary wrongdoers like corporations, charged with aiding and abetting. (See, for example, Prof. Michael Ramsey’s thought-provoking