La Comisión de Derecho Internacional en su 64° período de sesiones

Del  7 de mayo al 1 de junio y del 2 de julio al 3 de agosto de 2012, la Comisión de Derecho Internacional se reúne en Ginebra por su 64° período de sesiones.

La Comisión trabaja sobre los siguientes temas:
-    Expulsión de extranjeros
-    La obligación de extraditar o juzgar (aut dedere aut judicare)
-    Protección de las personas en casos de desastres
-    Inmunidad de jurisdicción penal extranjera de los funcionarios del Estado
-    Los tratados en el tiempo
-    La cláusula de la nación más favorecida

Gender Justice and the Charles Taylor Judgement

At 11 a.m. on Apr. 26, the long-awaited trial judgment in the case of Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, was announced at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor faced an 11-count indictment with charges covering a wide variety of atrocities: murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity, and the war crimes of committing acts of terror, murder, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, pillage, and conscripting or using child soldiers. Taylor was convicted on all counts in a unanimous judgment.

The Taylor judgment made headlines all over the world. Taylor was the first former head of state to be convicted by an international criminal tribunal since the post-Second World War Nuremberg trials. As well, he was convicted for crimes committed in Sierra Leone from 1996-2002, despite not having set foot in the country during that time. The judges found that he had aided and abetted the infamous Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels while across the border in Liberia. He was also convicted of planning attacks with rebel leader Sam Bockarie (who was also indicted by the Special Court, but died in unclear circumstances in Liberia in 2003).

Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) - Conclusion of the public hearings

Court to begin its deliberation
THE HAGUE, 9 May 2012. The public hearings in the case concerning the Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) were concluded on Friday 4 May. The Court will now begin its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on Monday 23 April 2012 at the Peace Palace, seat of the Court, the delegation of the Republic of Nicaragua was led by H.E. Mr. Carlos José Argüello Gómez, Ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as Agent and Counsel; and the delegation of the Republic of Colombia was led by H.E. Mr. Julio Londoño Paredes, Professor of International Relations, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, as Agent and Counsel.

The Court’s Judgment will be rendered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course.

von Bogdandy & Venzke: International Judicial Lawmaking: On Public Authority and Democratic Legitimation in Global Governance

Armin von Bogdandy (Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht) & Ingo Venzke (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have published International Judicial Lawmaking: On Public Authority and Democratic Legitimation in Global Governance (Springer 2012). Contents include:

SPEECH COMPETITION: The Rights and Responsibilities of Global Interdependence

There is a growing consensus concerning our global interdependence. What is less clear is what sort of a global civics is necessary and feasible for us to navigate our growing interdependence.

Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines everyone's right to an international order where inherent dignity and rights of all are fully realized. Brookings Institution and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) invite university students from around the world to ponder these vital questions, and to imagine a speech that would be made by the Secretary-General to the opening of the next session of the General Assembly.

Guatemala: Holding the World Bank Accountable for Human Rights Violations

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) together with Rights Action and the International Human Rights Clinic at Western New England University School of Law has filed a Petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in an attempt to hold the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) accountable for human rights violations that occurred during the construction of the Chixoy hydroelectric dam in Guatemala.

In May 2012, the same organizations filed a Supplemental Brief to the Inter-American Commission that addressed various admissibility issues including jurisdiction over the Member States of the World Bank and IDB that have human rights obligations within the inter-American human rights system.

UN concerned over Venezuela’s possible withdrawal from human rights body

4 May 2012 – The United Nations today voiced concern over Venezuela’s announcement that it is establishing a committee to evaluate the possibility of withdrawing from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

“Regional human rights bodies play a very important role in the promotion and protection of human rights mechanisms and reinforce universal human rights standards and treaties,” stressed Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Coordinated global action crucial to defeat terrorism, Ban tells Security Council

4 May 2012 – Stressing the need for an integrated response to terrorism, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he hoped Member States will decide to create the position of a UN Counter-Terrorism Coordinator to promote better coordination, collaboration and cooperation among all players.

“By working together – from strengthening law enforcement to tackling the underlying drivers of extremism – we can greatly reduce this major threat to peace and security,” Mr. Ban told the Security Council, during its debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

Work remains to realize rights of indigenous peoples, says deputy UN chief

7 May 2012 - Five years after the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted, a great deal remains to be done to realize the objectives contained in that landmark document, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

“We continue to hear stories of struggles and exploitation of indigenous peoples around the world. It is time for those stories to change,” Ms. Migiro said at the opening of the 11th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, at UN Headquarters in New York. “Let us instead move towards the day when indigenous peoples are heard, listened to and empowered.”

Indian judge elected to serve on UN International Court of Justice

Dalveer Bhandari of India was elected today, during simultaneous balloting in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, to a seat on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Mr. Bhandari’s term at the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court and is based in The Hague in the Netherlands, begins immediately and runs through 5 February 2018.

Sierra Leone: Landmark Conviction of Liberian Ex-President

(The Hague) – The conviction on April 26, 2012, of Charles Taylos, the former president of Liberia, for serious international crimes during Sierra Leone’s brutal armed conflict provides justice for victims and shows that no one is above the law, Human Rights Watch said today. Taylor was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity before the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges that stemmed from his support for rebel groups there.

No todo el Estatuto de Roma hace parte del bloque de constitucionalidad

La aplicación del Estatuto de Roma como parámetro de control de constitucionalidad no es absoluta, reiteró la Corte Constitucional. El alto tribunal explicó que el instrumento internacional se circunscribe a los crímenes de competencia de la Corte Penal Internacional.

El preámbulo del Estatuto y los artículos referidos a los crímenes de genocidio, lesa humanidad y de guerra; la relativización del principio de cosa juzgada y los relacionados con los derechos de las víctimas han sido tenidos en cuenta como parámetros para ejercer dicho control.

Índice Universal de Derechos Humanos

Esta base de datos ofrece fácil acceso a información sobre derechos humanos específica de cada país derivada de los mecanismos internacionales de derechos humanos del sistema de las Naciones Unidas: los Órganos de tratado, los Procedimientos Especiales y el Examen Periódico Universal (EPU).

El objetivo de esta herramienta es concienciar sobre las recomendaciones en materia de derechos humanos contempladas en esos mecanismos y prestar asistencia a los países, instituciones nacionales en el ámbito de los derechos humanos, organizaciones de la sociedad civil y socios de las Naciones Unidas en su aplicación. El Índice permite encontrar información sobre cuestiones de derechos humanos en todo el mundo y ver cómo ha evolucionado durante los últimos años la interpretación jurídica del Derecho internacional en materia de Derechos Humanos.

Enlace al Índice

Nicaragua insiste en soberanía de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina

Este miércoles (25 de abril) Colombia empieza su defensa ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia.
La delegación de Nicaragua continúo defendiendo la soberanía del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina en el pleito que sobre esos territorios en el mar Caribe mantiene Managua contra Colombia ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ).
El embajador de Nicaragua en Holanda, Carlos José Argüello Gómez, ha seguido trazando su argumentación y explicando mediante mapas y otros documentos gráficos cuál debe ser la delimitación marítima correcta según Managua y que otorgaría a su país la soberanía de los territorios en conflicto.
Nicaragua, que defendió este lunes durante su primer turno de palabra la nulidad del tratado de 1928 sobre el dominio colombiano de San Andrés, dado que el país se encontraba bajo ocupación de Estados Unidos, ha explicado que ese acuerdo no fijó límites marítimos claros.

ICC Prosecutor goes to Libya on Gaddafi son case

War crimes prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday (18 April) as part of an investigation into charges against Muammar Gaddafi's detained son, Saif al-Islam, sought for trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam last year, after prosecutors accused him and others of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt that eventually toppled his father.
Libya says he will be tried in his home country but it has been unable to prize him out of the hands of the militia fighters who caught him in the southern desert in November.