International & Foreign Law Community International Rule of Law

Looted Resources in Global Supply Chains

thomas.stadnik@lexisnexis.com (Thomas J.R. Stadnik, Esq.) — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:54:00 -0400

Exclusive from LexisNexis France/Semaine Juridique, General Edition: Looted Resources in Global Supply Chains: Asking the Right Questions[1]

Elise Groulx, Ad.E., LL.M., Attorney at law[2], Of Counsel, Washington office, Boyle Litigation, District of Columbia, United States of America and for Hincker & Associés, Strasbourg & Paris, France

Lew H. Diggs, MA (Oxon), MBA, Strategic management consultant and expert on conflict economies with the participation of David Levy, Director of the "legal" division at the Conseil national des barreaux - CNB (National Council of Bars)

Le cas des ressources pillées en amont des chaînes d'approvisionnement mondiales

thomas.stadnik@lexisnexis.com (Thomas J.R. Stadnik, Esq.) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:22:00 -0400

Exclusif à LexisNexis France/Semaine Juridique, Edition Générale :

Le cas des ressources pillées en amont des chaînes d'approvisionnement mondiales :

Poser les bonnes questions

The Future of Tibet and the Rule of Law

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:32:00 -0400

To many in the Western World, Tibet brings to mind the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gayatso, a humble man who has achieved celebrity status primarily through news reports showing him meeting with heads of state and famous actors who are Buddhists. Relatively few understand that the Dalai Lama lives in exile while his fellow Tibetans suffer many human rights violations imposed by the Chinese government.

Perhaps exile is a blessing in disguise. For to criticize the regime for its misuse of the rule of law to crush Tibetan dissent is a sure path to incarceration. For example, school teacher Dolma Kyab wrote an unpublished manuscript using the pen name Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso. Because the manuscript criticized Chinese oppression of Tibet, the teacher is serving a 10 ½-year prison term.

Unfortunately, this Dolma Kyab's case is not unique. Tibetans who expose human rights violations through writings, film and photography are beaten, imprisoned, and

UN says Congo's army committed rapes in east

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:24:00 -0400

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Preliminary investigations by the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo indicate that Congolese army soldiers committed rapes, looting and other human rights violations after they retreated from the key city of Goma following its capture by M23 rebels, the United Nations said Friday. The U.N. mission could Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Pressure grows on Salvador to prosecute massacre

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:16:00 -0400

SAN SALVADOR El Salvador (AP) - Rights groups are calling on El Salvador to investigate the 1981 army massacre of about 1,000 people at El Mozote. Judiciary officials say cases could be opened despite a 1980s amnesty law. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights says El Salvador should Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Innocent verdicts in Argentine sex slave trial

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:11:00 -0400

BUENOS AIRES Argentina (AP) - Judges found all defendants innocent Tuesday in a high-profile case of an Argentine woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution a decade ago. The 13 people on trial in the province of Tucuman had Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

ICC prosecutor: Sudan may face more Darfur charges

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:07:00 -0400

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Sudan may face more charges for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Thursday. Fatou Bensouda told the U.N. Security Council that crimes continue to be committed under Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Chile apologizes to lesbian denied custody of kids

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:02:00 -0400

SANTIAGO Chile (AP) - Chile's government has apologized to a lesbian judge who was denied custody of her three daughters because she is gay. The apology was issued Friday during a ceremony led by Justice Minister Teodoro Ribera. Chile says it will pay Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

The Cyrus Cylinder, International Human Rights Day and the Rule of Law

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:48:00 -0400

As many celebrate International Human Rights Day today (December 10^th), a 2500-year-old inscribed stone, the Cyrus Cylinder reminds us that human rights are a complex issue with which humankind has struggled with throughout history. In 2013, the British Museum will lend the clay cylinder for a tour of five major United States museums in the District of Columbia, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

To some, the cylinder represents the perennial and seemingly inherent desire and longing for human rights and a truly civilly organized society, a desire reflected in the efforts of Hammurabi, Cyrus, Ashoka, Septimus Severus/Ulpian

Can Syria’s Rebels Restore the Rule of Law?

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:44:00 -0400

Syrian Attorney Mohammed Haj Hussein is attempting to create an impartial legal system in territory held by rebels. The goal is to provide justice that has been lacking in President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian regime.

On a positive note, the new system relies upon an impartial judiciary and evidentiary standards for both military and civilian cases. In other words, it is more likely to provide a fair trial than al-Assad's corrupt judiciary.

However, Attorney Hussein's system for bringing justice is based upon Sharia law. As such, it is inherently flawed when it comes to protecting fundamental human rights for women and non-Muslims. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty also appears to be lacking.

There is also the matter of war crimes committed by both sides of the current civil war. Will the perpetrators of these human rights violations be brought to justice regardless of which side they fought for in the current

Venezuela judge on trial refuses to enter court

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:58:00 -0400

CARACAS Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan authorities began trying the country's most famous judge in absentia Wednesday while she refused to enter the courtroom alleging violations of her rights. Coming nearly three years after her arrest, the trial of Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni started amid a scandal generated by Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Cuban dissidents denounce threats

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:53:00 -0400

HAVANA (AP) - A leading Cuban opposition figure said Thursday that he and another dissident were threatened, and in one case attacked, by people they took to be intelligence agents in separate incidents on the same day. Elizardo Sanchez said two plainclothes officials Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Probe finds abuse in Guatemala mental hospital

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:51:00 -0400

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Human rights groups say they found hundreds of women and children subjected to sexual and physical abuse at a public psychiatric hospital in Guatemala's capital. The Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala led an investigation by Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Nigerian Sex Trafficking, Witchcraft, and the Rule of Law

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:06:00 -0400

Imagine you are a young woman living in Nigeria. Living in poverty without an education or vocational skills, your choices are limited.

How will you survive?

If you're a single mother, a popular option is to work as a prostitute. Don't expect child support from your kid's biological father.

Even if you didn't plan to do this, odds are that you will be duped into the sex trade by someone offering you a good job.

In Nigeria, Ghana, and other nearby African countries, you will earn less than U.S. $3 per customer. The chances of contracting the HIV virus through unprotected sex are high.

If you're a victim of international human trafficking, you may end up in Europe planning to work in a good job. Instead, you work in a European brothel after being gang raped by your traffickers. After several years, if you survive, you may be "lucky" to earn enough to buy your freedom from your traffickers

UN criticizes Russia over torture allegations

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:00:00 -0400

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Committee Against Torture strongly criticized Russia in a report for failing to investigate widespread allegations of torture and stepping up intimidation and reprisals against human rights advocates and journalists. The panel of 10 independent experts expressed concern at the discrepancy between Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Europe mulls banning 'boxes' for abandoned babies

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:53:00 -0400

BERLIN (AP) - German pastor Gabriele Stangl says she will never forget the harrowing confession she heard in 1999. A woman said she had been brutally raped, got pregnant and had a baby. Then she killed it and buried it in the woods near Berlin. Stangl wanted to Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

UN Security Council puts sanctions on Congo rebels

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:06:00 -0400

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to sanction the leaders of Congo's M23 rebel force, which hours earlier occupied the eastern Congolese city of Goma as U.N. peacekeepers stood by without resisting. But it did not name two Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

US judge: Somali colonel responsible for torture

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:02:00 -0400

COLUMBUS Ohio (AP) - A former military colonel with a Somali security force dubbed the "Gestapo of Somalia" by its critics was responsible for the torture of a human rights advocate in the 1980s, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a decision that opens the door for a hearing on Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Egypt arresting kid protesters, rights groups says

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 23:58:00 -0400

CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian authorities arrested more than 300 children during protests in Cairo over the past year, beating and torturing some and trying many as adults, a leading international rights group said Tuesday. Human Rights Watch said in a report that the arrests and treatment of detained children Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Chavez foes hope for 'political prisoner' amnesty

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:08:00 -0400

CARACAS Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's opposition leaders are calling on President Hugo Chavez to grant amnesty to the country's self-proclaimed political prisoners. Opposition congressman Edgar Zambrano said he was optimistic after presenting a proposed bill amnesty bill to the Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

2nd Tunisian detainee dies after hunger strike

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:05:00 -0400

TUNIS Tunisia (AP) - A second suspect in the attack on Tunisia's U.S. embassy died Saturday after months on a hunger strike, his lawyer said. Mohammed Bakhti, a prominent member of the ultraconservative Muslim Salafi movement, was admitted to intensive care days earlier following complications resulting from Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Pakistan court acquits Christian girl of blasphemy

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:59:00 -0400

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A Pakistani court on Tuesday acquitted a Christian girl accused of blasphemy over the burning of the Muslim holy book, her lawyer said. The ruling was the final chapter in a case that caused an international outcry over Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, which are very Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Amnesty International workers start strike

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:54:00 -0400

LONDON (AP) - Amnesty International workers in London walked off the job on Tuesday as the second strike in as many months raised questions about the organization's ability to remain one of the world's pre-eminent human rights advocates. Workers from Amnesty's international and local British operations picketed their Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Jamaica to abolish slavery-era flogging law

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:02:00 -0400

KINGSTON Jamaica (AP) - Jamaica is preparing to abolish a slavery-era law allowing flogging and whipping as means of punishing prisoners, the Caribbean country's justice ministry said Thursday. The ministry said the punishment hasn't been ordered by a court since Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)

Rights group alarmed over Morocco's underage maids

IFLROLStaff@placeholder.com (I&FL Community Staff (Rule of Law & Human ) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:56:00 -0400

RABAT Morocco (AP) - Morocco has made progress in reducing the number of girls working as domestic servants but much more needs to be done, Human Rights Watch reported Thursday. Tens of thousands of girls under the age of 15 are still working as domestic servants in Morocco, and they are subject to Full version (available to lexis.com subscribers)