Naomi Campbell Testimony Authorised by Charles Taylor Trial Chamber

Judges have authorised the Prosecutor to reopen her case in the Charles Taylor trial, so as to call new evidence concerning whether the accused gave a rough diamond to model Naomi Campbell while visiting Nelson Mandela in South Africa, according to a decision issued yesterday. The idea, it seems, is to prove that Charles Taylor lied when he said he never was in possession of rough diamonds. Naomi Campbell has a volatile personality, and it should be interesting to see her testify. If she clams up, maybe the Prosecutor will call Mia Farrow to say that Campbell is a lier. Then they can call Woody Allen to say that Farrow is a lier. This trial ain't over yet!

Positions with Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law

The Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law a peer-reviewed academic journal on international human rights and international humanitarian law, is now accepting applications for the position of Managing Editor. Interested candidates must be graduate students or young professionals, available to work online from their present location, part-time, with a commitment through January 2011.
Qualifications: A successful candidate should have a strong background in a field related to the subject of human rights and a keen understanding of academic publishing, including peer review procedures and journalistic ethics. Impeccable writing skills and familiarity with various style guides–especially the Harvard Blue Book and Chicago Manual of Style–are essential.
Duties: Under direction and supervision of the Editor-in-Chief, the Managing Editor is responsible for helping produce all aspects of the journal, which will be published in late December/early January. Submissions come in through an electronic submission service as well as through e-mail. The Managing Editor is responsible for responding to submissions, corresponding with staff regarding assignments, updating staff and submission database tables, distributing a Call For Papers, securing additional submissions, and setting all internal deadlines in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief. The Managing Editor enacts the vision of the Editor-in-Chief, serving as a bridge between the EIC and other editorial and review staff, and keeps all projects on schedule.
Address inquiries to ijhrl@americanstudents.us.

Lumumba’s Son to File Criminal Prosecution in Belgian Courts

The son of Patrice Lumumba, who was the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first democratically elected president, and who was murdered in 1961, plans to launch criminal proceedings in Belgian courts against the alleged perpetrators. According to a Reuters report: ‘The complaint will assert that the Belgian government and military officials were involved in the transfer of Lumumba from the capital to the region of Katanga, and that they failed to prevent him being tortured and killed.’ A Belgian parliamentary inquiry in 2001 concluded Belgium was ‘morally responsible’ for the murder of Lumumba, and since then Belgium has officially apologised.

Lumumba's son has apparently not directly implicated the United States, but according to Wikipedia, in a declassified interview the then National Security Council minute-keeper Robert Johnson said that President Eisenhower had told CIA chief Allen Dulles ‘something to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated’. Dulles himself described the murder of Lumumba as ‘an urgent and prime objective’. The Senate intelligence committee’s inquiry on covert action found that the CIA had conspired to murder Lumumba, but that it was not actually involved in the assassination. Recently released CIA records confirm the plan.

Thanks to Hilde Laeremans.

Banking as a Human Right

An interesting article about banking as a human right, from the OECD blog.

Extraterritorial Use of Force Against Non-State Actors, by Noam Lubell

Last week at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, in conjunction with our annual summer course on the International Criminal Court, we launched Dr Noam Lubell's book Extraterritorial Use of Force Against Non-State Actors, which is published by Oxford University Press.
Noam has been a member of our faculty for three years. The book is based on the doctoral thesis he defended at the University of Essex.
It is divided into three parts, each devoted to a distinct body of law: the law of the use of force, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. It explains how each area of law contributes its own perspective and its own solutions to this issue, which is of great contemporary significance. As Noam explains, the issue goes right back to the famous Caroline case, which involved Canadian rebels (today we would call them non-state actors) who were fighting the British colonists from the American side of the Niagara River. As I told Noam at the launch, I went to high school literally around the corner from where the rebels actually met to organize their struggle, at Montgomery's Tavern in North Toronto.
Today, the manifestations of this complex problem include the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Gaza flotilla and the Lord's Resistance Army in Sudan and the DRC, to mention only a few examples. Hat's off to Noam, for this very significant book. It immediately takes its place as the standard work on the subject.

Wikipedia Admitted in Evidence at the Yugoslavia Tribunal

Some time ago, the Wikipedia entry on 'Ustasha' was admittted in evidence before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Gotovina trial. According to the transcript of 25 April 2008, pp. 2271-2274, the defence produced the entry without objection from the Prosecutor, who said only: 'Wikipedia is the freeencyclopedia from which sources can be uploaded from anywhere. We do not consider it in general to be a reliable source of information.' It is exhibit D142 in the case.
Thanks to Yvonne McDermott.

Same-Sex Marriage Claim Rejected by European Court of Human Rights

In Schalk and Kopf v. Austria, the European Court of Human Rights has rejected an application seeking a right to same-sex marriage within the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 12 of the Convention, which is derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states: 'Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.' The applicants argued that under a dynamic interpretation, this provision should now be read as protecting a right to same-sex marriage. The Chamber said that 'the institution of marriage has undergone major social changes since the adoption of the Convention, the Court notes that there is no European consensus regarding same-sex marriage' (para. 58). Three of the seven judges dissented. According to Judges Rozakis, Spielmann and Jebens, same-sex relationships are accepted by society, and require an adequate legal framework. The absence of such a framework constitutes a violation of articles 8 (right to privacy, family, etc.) and 14 (non-discrimination).
Thanks to Christopher Ryan, who has written about this on his own blog.

Lisbon Treaty and Human Rights

My colleague Laurent Pech, with Prof. Goussot de l’Université de Lund, has produced a policy paper on the protection of fundamental rights following entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Human rights positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

There are several vacancies at the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the human rights and rule of law sphere.
Human Rights Officers
Legal Adviser, Judicial and Legal Reform  (this one has a deadline of end of the week).
Thanks to Stephanie Barbour.

Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy Summer School

We've still a few places left in the summer course on Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy being delivered here by the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the Huston Film School, at the end of August. The course is essentially the same as the one delivered in Venice for several years. The only thing missing here are the gondolas, but we make up for that in other ways. The programme is directed by Nick Danziger, and has an experienced team of filmmakers, academics and activists to deliver a very stimulating course. Here are the details.
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