Human Rights Committee Report on Israel

As we will discuss this coming week, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the most important human rights treaty, requires each party to submit periodic reports on the country's compliance with its obligations under the treaty. The Human Rights Committee, the institution charged with overseeing compliance with the ICCPR, issues "concluding observations", which are assessments of the state party's reports, and its compliance with its obligations.

The Human Rights Committee this week released a draft of its Concluding Observations on Israel's most recent report. A blog post on the issue is on Just Security, and for those interested there is a link there to the Human Rights Committee's report.

We will examine excerpts from past U.S. periodic reports and the HRC's concluding observations in relation thereto.

Sandel's "Justice" and Theories of Rights

As discussed in class, Prof. Michael Sandel's course entitled "Justice" at Harvard is a fantastic introduction to theories of rights and perspectives on moral philosophy, illustrating each with great dilemmas drawn from our current public discourse. Each class is just 25 minutes, and they are both entertaining as well as informative and thought provoking.

You can watch the classes as well as find introductory notes, questions, and reference to the detailed readings, at course website. You can also access and download the video/audio podcasts for each class on iTunes. Below is the first class.

Compound vs. Simple Interest

Further to our discussion of damages and costs in litigation, and the difference between compound and simple interest, here is a link to a spreadsheet that illustrates the power of compound interest. It includes the formulas you can use to calculate straight-forward compound interest.

Important to note is that an investment of $15,000 in an account earning compound interest, calculated and paid monthly, at a rate of 6% per annum, will earn $31,653.07 more in interest over a 20 year period, than an account earning simple interest at the same rate over the same period.

Compound interest is even more powerful when the principal is increasing with each period. So, if you took $2 each week (the amount you might be tempted to spend on lottery tickets), and invested it in an account earning 6% per annum compounded monthly (admittedly impossible to find in the current environment), at the end of 40 years your account (in which you would have only invested $4,160 over the 40 years) would be worth $15,953, or close to four times your investment. Make that $20 instead of $2, and the amounts become more interesting.

You can find a straight compound interest calculator here, and one which includes the addition of monthly contributions to principal  here.

The Response to Terrorism

This is a brilliant short essay on how we should think about responding to terrorism, which we will think about when we discuss both human rights and the use of force.

The Cuba Embargo

A few classes ago there was some discussion about the embargo on Cuba, during which I mentioned that there had recently been some interesting discussion on the issue, including a detailed argument by the New York Times editorial board, which may be found here. Fidel Castro actually respond to the New York Times editorial here.

There was also a rather startling revelation last month, from recently unclassified documents, that Henry Kissinger had developed plans for the invasion and "smashing" of Cuba in the mid-1970s due to Castro's military and political assistance in the conflict in Angola!

Interpretations and Reservations to the Convention Against Torture

We will come back to this issue when we get to Human Rights. But yesterday the New York Times reported that lawyers for the U.S. military and intelligence agencies are pressing the Obama Administration to affirm a George W. Bush era interpretation of the International Convention Against Torture (CAT) that limits the prohibitions against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (CID) to the territory of the state party. President Obama had himself rejected that interpretation as a Senator, and an Executive Order he issued in his first term prohibits torture and CID both at home and abroad.

There were excellent blog posts on Just Security both yesterday and today analyzing the purpose and intent, language, context, and drafting history of the CAT, as well as the reservations declared by the U.S. at the time of ratification. The posts explain that the treaty is clearly intended to and does impose obligations with respect to conduct in any territory under the jurisdiction of the state party, and that the reservations do not alter this fact. As well, one of the posts discusses why American government lawyers might be pressing for this restrictive interpretation.

Aside from the importance of the substantive issue of torture, it is an excellent review of the issue of treaty interpretation, the operation of reservations, and even some aspects of jurisdiction. Please take the time to read these.

Public International Law Visualized!

Posted from:  InternationalLaw Blogger

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We've just received a link to "International Law Visualized."  And we're impressed.

There are charts for these subjects:

• Three Types of International Law (Public, Private, and Supranational)
• Sources of [International] Law (Customary Law, Silence as Consent, Codifications, and Enforcement by the United Nations)
• The International Court of Justice
• The International Criminal Court
• Who is Affected by International Law (and for that matter, who isn't!!!)

Click here to have a look at the charts.

Historical Treaties

Have you wondered what the actual text was of the treaties that established the Peace of Westphalia, in 1625? Now you can read them for yourself, in a new on-line data base of historical treaties. Check some of them out!

U.N. Security Council Elections

For those who missed it, last week saw the elections to the U.N. Security Council. This is obviously tied to our discussion of the structure and operation of international organizations. This New York Times report will fill you in on both the process, and the big winners (Venezuela) and losers (Turkey).

ECHR Decision in Al-Skeini

Hazim Al-Skeini

As we will discuss in class this week, the European Court of Human Rights in July of 2011 handed down a judgment with respect to the same case that we examined today, the House of Lords decision in Al-Skeini v. Secretary of State for Defence, holding that the Iraqi nationals could make claims under the Convention, and finding that the UK had, among other things, violated the claimants' Art. 2 right to life. There is a summary and commentary on the judgment on the Lawfare blog here, and the decision itself is here.

Please take a look at the decision, and consider whether you still think that the House of Lords got it right (or wrong), and which decision you think better accords with international law principles on jurisdiction, and the rationale underlying those principles.

Russia Begins Restricting Dual Nationals

As we have wrapped up our discussion of nationality and in particular dual nationality, you may be interested in this article on steps Russia is taking with respect to dual nationals within Russia. Is this a violation of international law?

ILSA Quarterly

The International Law Students' Association quarterly magazine is available on-line here. Last year a Washburn student was one of the editors. You might find it both interesting, and potentially a medium in which to publish a short essay.

Sweden to Recognize Palestinian State

Further to our discussion of state recognition, and self-determination, Sweden announced last week that it would formally recognize the state of Palestine. Previous governments of Sweden had declined to do so primarily because, in its view, Palestine failed to satisfy one of the criteria for statehood in the Montevideo Convention, namely an effective government with control over its territory.

In related news, the Palestinian "Unity Government" - the reconciliation government that purports to represent both Gaza and the West Bank, will meet this week in Gaza. If this government, the legitimacy of which is opposed by Israel, is successful, it will eliminate one of the objections to the recognition of the Palestinian state.

Over 100 countries already recognize Palestine as a state, but Sweden is the first Western European state to do so.

UPDATED: Today the New York Times reported that Israel has formally protested the Swedish move.