Amnesty calls for UN sanctions, ICC prosecutions in Libya News
Amnesty calls for UN sanctions, ICC prosecutions in Libya

[JURIST] An Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF] released Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions and encourage accountability through International Criminal Court (ICC) [official websites] indictments and prosecutions to end the cycle of human rights violations and war crimes being committed in Libya. The report focuses in particular on the situation in Benghazi [AI report], which has been devastated since May by fighting between the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (SCBR), a coalition of Islamist extremist groups, and the Operation Dignity Coalition, composed of anti-Islamist forces loyal to ex-general Khalifa Haftar [BBC profile]. AI claims that both parties are guilty of human rights abuses, and in order to re-establish the rule of law in Libya and deter further abuses, the Security Council must impose targeted sanctions against groups violating international humanitarian law, pursuant to resolution 2174 [press release], which was adopted by the Security Council in August.

Libya remains politically unstable nearly four years after the 2011 uprising [JURIST backgrounder] and subsequent civil war that deposed Muammar Gaddafi. In December the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Support Mission in Libya [official websites] released a joint report [JURIST report] describing civilian populations in Libya being subjected to shelling, abduction, torture, execution and deliberate destruction of property. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] attributed the potential war crimes to a feud between two Libyan governments and several military groups. In November Chief Prosecutor for the ICC Fatou Bensouda [official profile] warned that increasing violence and political instability in Libya are impeding measures to end impunity [JURIST report]. Earlier that month the Supreme Court in Libya declared the UN-backed elected parliament unconstitutional [JURIST report]. In October AI released a report accusing rival militias in Libya of committing serious human rights abuses [JURIST report], including war crimes.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.