European Parliament condemns Iran for human rights violations in nonbinding resolution
The European Parliament Thursday resolved to condemn the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for human rights violations in the wake of protests against the state after the death of Mahsa Amini. The nonbinding resolution calls for “the expansion of restrictive measures” against Iran. The resolution describes the “detention, arrest, and abduction” of over 20,000 protestors, [...]
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday stated that Germany refused to pay reparations and compensation for war losses that Poland incurred during World War II and that that the German government has no intentions to participate in negotiations regarding the matter. On October 3, 2022, Poland sent a diplomatic note to Germany. In the [...]
Israel condemns UN approval of International Court of Justice probe
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday called a vote by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to refer Israeli occupation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) a “disgraceful resolution.” Prior to the vote, Israel Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called the resolution “outrageous, and a moral stain on the UN” and said, “no international [...]
Energy Imperialism: How the Law of the Sea Facilitated Russia’s Weaponization of Natural Gas
The Demand and Supply Paradigm Fossil fuels remain the greatest global source of energy and are subject to the same demand and supply forces that govern all other resources. However, there is a growing imbalance between the two. In terms of demand, in the last three centuries, there has been an exponential increase in world [...]
Netherlands and Germany environmental groups challenge gas project in North Sea
NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH), Dutch cooperative Mobilisation for the Environment, and citizens’ initiative Clean Air East Frisia Friday filed a lawsuit in the Court of Justice in The Hague challenging planned gas drilling in the Dutch North Sea. The Dutch government has approved plans by Dutch exploration and production company ONE-Dyas to develop a gas field 1.5 [...]
Freedom House report accuses Rwanda of transnational repression
Freedom House released its complete report on transnational repression Thursday where it accused Rwanda of being one of the worst offenders. Transnational repression is a phenomena where a country will suppress dissent and target dissidents outside of its borders. The report documented the anti-repression policies of nine countries: Canada, Germany, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, [...]
International organizations and bodies like the United Nations, European Union, etc. have been tested time and again since their inception. Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing war and failed deliberations hint at a potential Third World War despite the strong presence of such organizations. Conflicts like these pose a larger question on the effectiveness of international law [...]
After the Second World War, the International Committee of the Red Cross created new treaties to constrain the methods and means of warfare—a stark acknowledgment that armed conflict would continue to exist and that the world needed updated legal limits on the waging of war. The Geneva Conventions (1949), Additional Protocols (1977) and customary international [...]
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 [...]
Russian forces, in an act of breathtaking barbarity, have invaded Ukraine, an independent, sovereign nation that has in recent years looked to the West for its inspiration and guidance. And with this military move, several deeply embedded international laws have been violated by Russia in what can only be described as a “criminal war of [...]
