Amnesty: Islamic State armed due to ‘reckless arms trading’ with Iraq News
Amnesty: Islamic State armed due to ‘reckless arms trading’ with Iraq

Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said [press release] Tuesday that the Islamic State (IS) is in possession of a “large and lethal” arsenal due to decades of reckless arms trading and the poorly regulated international flow of weapons into Iraq. AI reports that the IS military campaign has relentlessly targeted civilians with small arms, artillery, huge numbers of improvised explosive devices, and possibly with chemical weapons. After analyzing thousands of verified videos and images, Taking Stock: The arming of Islamic State [AI report] reveals that IS fighters are using arms mainly looted from Iraqi military stocks which were manufactured and designed in more than 25 countries, including Russia, China the USA and EU states. The report calls for stricter controls from supplier states and the Iraqi authorities to avoid the further armament of IS and to prevent continued abuses of human rights.

The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has perpetrated war crimes on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria. Earlier in December, Iraqi government officials ordered Turkey to withdraw hundreds of troops [JURIST report] deployed near Mosul, the largest city currently controlled by IS militants. Iraqi President Fouad Massoum stated that the deployment was a “violation of international norms and law” and may be considered a hostile act. IS recently claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks in Paris [JURIST report] that killed more than 120 individuals. Last month President Obama ordered [JURIST report] an assessment of whether intelligence reports from US Central Command were changed before formal submission to present a more optimistic picture of the American military campaign against the IS. In September members of Iraq’s Yazidi community met with International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and urged the court to open a genocide investigation [JURIST report] into IS actions in Northern Iraq. Also in September France launched its first airstrikes [JURIST report] against an IS training camp in Syria and acknowledged that combating IS is now the main objective in both Iraq and Syria.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.