The surge of attention to accountability for war crimes in Ukraine is leading journalists to work on translating the legalese of international criminal law for a mainstream audience. I spoke to Reuters for this explainer of the nuts and bolts of a war crimes prosecution.
‘They Keep Killing Us’: Violence Rages in Sudan’s Darfur Two Decades On
March 22, 2022 by Leave a Comment
I spoke with Abdi Latif Dahir, who deserves credit for getting this major story on Darfur reported out as media attention focuses squarely on Ukraine. As I told him: “The world has forgotten about Darfur once again.”
Prosecuting Putin for Going to War
March 17, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Co-authored with Ryan Goodman — Russian President Vladimir Putin bears responsibility for many international crimes committed by his forces in Ukraine. But one of these crimes preceded all the others: the crime of aggression. Aggression is the resort to war in violation of the United Nations Charter. And it is a crime that can be […]
Prosecutor v. President Vladmir Putin
March 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Co-authored with Prof. Ryan Goodman. What follows is a model of a criminal indictment against President Vladimir Putin for the crime of initiating and executing a war of aggression against Ukraine. The indictment represents the type of document international war crimes prosecutors or national prosecutors could file before an international or national court. Continue reading […]
Bringing context to the Russia-Ukraine War
March 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Humanitarian corridors? Sanctions? No-fly zones? Military intervention? On March 10, two weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pulitzer Center will offer an opportunity to better understand the war and its implications beyond the headlines. The webcast of my discussion with journalists Sarah Topol, Rachel Oswald & Dimiter Kenarov, who all have deep reporting experience […]
The Int’l Criminal Court’s Ukraine Investigation: A Test Case for User-Generated Evidence
March 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim A.A. Khan QC, announced Monday that he is opening an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. This will present a test case for the ICC’s ability to absorb and analyze massive amounts of user-generated evidence – evidence recorded on a smartphone by an ordinary citizen – […]
Supporting Democracy in Hard Places
December 5, 2021 by Leave a Comment
It was wonderful to join this event, hosted by The Carnegie Endowment, with Under Secretary Zeya, Scott Worden, Aarya Nijat & Patrick Quirk, moderated by Frances Brown. I underscored that the one non-negotiable aspect of Sudanese democracy is the Sudanese people themselves – but that the international community’s actions put a thumb on the scale […]
Sudanese Democracy is Hanging in the Balance
December 5, 2021 by Leave a Comment
On Oct. 25, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, seized power from Sudan’s transitional government, established after mass protests in 2019 ousted longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Sudanese people and the international community promptly condemned Burhan’s coup. Now, an agreement between Burhan and the prime minister of the transitional government, Abdalla […]
Sudan’s Coup is a Gamble That Nobody Will Care
October 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment
The Sudanese military seized power expecting not to face resistance at home or abroad. That’s wishful thinking. On Monday, the Sudanese military seized power from Sudan’s transitional government. Announcing the coup on state television, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s commander in chief, dissolved the civilian-military power-sharing arrangement in place since the Sudanese people overthrew Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year dictatorship […]
__________________كم من الدماء سيهدرها الشعب السوداني للحصول على الديمقراطية؟
October 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Tambal Hamilton (Arabic version)
