March 28, 2024

Archives for 2017

#metoo

You can read the full article, explaining my relationship to this topic, over at The Washington Post. Here I’d like to draw attention to the challenges for the #metoo movement going forward: ….I study large-scale advocacy movements. I’ve led them, observed them, written about them. Each is a product of its time and place, so […]

State-Enabled Crimes

Rebecca Hamilton, State-Enabled Crimes, 41 (2) Yale J. Intl. L. 102 (2016) International crimes are committed by individuals, but many – from genocide in Rwanda to torture at Abu Ghraib – would not have occurred without the integral role played by the State. This dual contribution, of individual and State, is intrinsic to the commission of […]

The ICC’s Exit Problem

Rebecca J. Hamilton, The ICC’s Exit Problem, 47 N.Y.U. J. Int’l L. & Pol. 1 (2014) The International Criminal Court (ICC) was never meant to supplant the domestic prosecution of international crimes. And yet the Court is now entering its second decade of operations in four African nations, with no plan for exit in sight. This […]

The ICJ’s Genocide Judgment – Bosnia v. Serbia

Richard J. Goldstone & Rebecca J. Hamilton, Bosnia v. Serbia: Lessons from the Encounter of the International Court of Justice with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 21 Leiden J. Int’l L. 95 (2008) (peer reviewed). This article uses the recent judgment of the ICJ in Bosnia v. Serbia to highlight the potential […]

Burundi Quits International Criminal Court

Last week I spoke to the NYT Africa Bureau Chief, the inimitable Jina Moore, about Burundi’s departure from the ICC: “I think there is an ongoing concern about the court’s ability to work in countries in Africa,” said Rebecca Hamilton, an assistant professor of law at American University who previously worked in the International Criminal […]

Hundreds of foreigners are fighting for UAE in Yemen—How war crimes trials may deter them

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen continues to eye a takeover of the Port of Hodeida, which has been under the control of the Houthi rebels since they forced President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee Yemen back in 2014. Experts have warned about the risk of war crimes should the Saudi- and Emirates-led coalition seize […]

Human Rights under the Trump Administration

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has said that human rights is just one value that can be traded off in the service of an “America First” approach. President Trump has praised President el-Sisi in the face of ongoing human rights abuses in Egypt, called President Erdogan to congratulate him for seizing additional power in the […]

Is the Australian government enabling crimes against humanity in its offshore detention centers?

I just spoke with Marco Werman at Public Radio International about why I hope the International Criminal Court will take a look at Australia’s offshore detention facilities and it’s inhumane policies toward asylum seekers. Listen here and read the associated story by Carol Hills.

Tinkering Won’t Save the Immigration and Refugee Executive Order

In a recent post I pointed out the serious flaws in the Trump administration’s claim that the seven countries identified in its Executive Order on immigration were selected on the basis of the Obama administration’s analysis. The different context for the Obama administration’s identification of the seven countries rendered those countries a fairly arbitrary choice for […]

Australia’s Refugee Policy a Crime Against Humanity

Last week, a veritable who’s who of human rights lawyers, coordinated through Stanford Law School’s human rights clinic, lodged a 108-page brief with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to investigate alleged crimes committed by Australian officials and the Australian government’s private contractors. Among an ICC docket stacked with African warlords and […]