Dr. Ganna Yudkivska is a force to be reckoned with in the world of international law and human rights. Her impressive career trajectory originated in a newly independent Ukraine and has since spanned continents and venerable institutions. She is a partner at Equity Law Firm, Vice-Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, [...]
Search Results for: Nazi trial
Recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC or Red Cross) has been accused of facilitating payments to accused terrorists captured and held by Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. The ICRC denies this claim. The ICRC has a blemished record, disturbingly far from its professed humanitarian mandate. A journalistic investigation conducted by ProPublica [...]
Mengele-Like Logic Underpins Alabama’s Plan to Gas a Man to Death
Barring the unlikely success of last-minute litigation, today, at 6 p.m. CST, Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to become the first person in history to be executed by forced nitrogen gas inhalation. In Smith’s final minutes, personnel at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama will strap an industrial-grade mask to his face. Secured [...]
Trump's Wrongful Pardons for Crimes Against International Law
“So far from it being unjust to punish him, it would be unjust if his wrongs were allowed to go unpunished.” Nuremberg Tribunal (1946) At the beginning of 2024, former President Donald J. Trump’s most conspicuously unsupportable legal claim has been his personal immunity from criminal prosecution. With this claim, Mr. Trump and his lead [...]
Donald Trump and Capital Punishment: Sounding the Death Knell for American Democracy
During every execution in the United States, Death Penalty Action* holds a virtual vigil simultaneously with local death penalty abolitionists protesting outside the prisons and state capitals or governor’s mansions where the state-sponsored killing is taking place. When these gatherings are in person, those in attendance toll the same massive bell at the time the [...]
Human Rights Day in Ukraine: Advocacy, Resilience, and Lessons for the World
Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]
German police search properties of suspects linked to far-right movement
German police announced Thursday that they searched 20 apartments of suspects linked to the far-right Reichsbürger movement. The movement has been accused of attempting to destabilize the Federal Republic of Germany and its state institutions. This latest series of raids took place in eight of Germany’s 16 states and was initiated in 2021 after police [...]
Portugal anti-racism activist fined for defaming prominent neo-Nazi
A Lisbon, Portugal court issued a verdict on Friday that directed Mamadou Ba, a prominent advocate against racism in Portugal, to pay a significant fine of 2,400 euros, as reported by local media. The judgment found Ba guilty of defaming Mario Machado, a well-known neo-Nazi activist in the country. In his social media posts, Ba [...]
A UN Tribunal for Aggression in Ukraine Would Be a Global Game-Changer for Peace and Security
In the harrowing days of 1945, the world lay bleeding and breathless after years of all out war. It was a time of uncertainty regarding what happens next. Could mankind survive another world war? What was the pathway towards a more stable world, a world that would turn to dialog and discussion versus recrimination and [...]
Honoring Nuremberg: The Legal Obligation to Prosecute Vladimir Putin Under ICC Jurisdiction
Nullum crimen sine poena, “No crime without a punishment” The ICC Warrant Against Vladimir Putin The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for committing egregious war crimes in Ukraine. With this law-enforcing issuance, the ICC acknowledges inter alia the continuing validity of the Nuremberg Principles under international law. [...]