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International Law

Timber From Illegal Logging In Amazon Discovered In US, European Markets

A new investigative report, Tricks, Traders and Trees, by international NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals widespread illegal logging, corruption and fraud in the Brazilian Amazon. The investigation traced illegal timber that had originated from five logging sites in Pará state to the United States and European Union, despite laws that prohibit the importing of illegal timber and require due diligence from companies. “Our investigation shows how illegal Amazon timber is flooding EU and U.S. markets, fueling unfair competition for legitimate companies despite laws banning the trade in illicit wood.

Yemen Is Acting Responsibly To Stop Genocide; The US Is Bombing Them For It

The U.S. is bombing Yemen because Yemen is acting, as required by international law, to stop the genocide and unlawful siege in Palestine. This is not an editorial opinion. It is a statement of both law and fact. Neither of these facts has been featured in the reporting or commentary of Western media corporations, let alone in the statements of perpetrator governments like the U.S. Because to perpetrate a genocide in plain sight requires the suppression of the truth and the obscuring of the law. But international law is clear.

Legal Coalition To Pursue Israelis Accused Of War Crimes

Lawyers have launched a global coalition to pursue legal action around the world against Israelis and Israeli dual nationals accused of involvement in suspected war crimes in Gaza. At a launch event in London on Tuesday, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said the Global 195 initiative would seek to use domestic and international legal mechanisms to seek justice against Israeli soldiers and others “spanning the entire Israeli military and political chain of command”. Speaking at a press conference, Tayab Ali, director of the ICJP, began his remarks by paying tribute to the hundreds of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes after it broke the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

International Law’s Fight For Relevance

International law is fighting for relevance. The outcome of this fight is likely to change the entire global political dynamic, which was shaped by World War II and sustained through the selective interpretation of the law by dominant countries. In principle, international law should have always been relevant, if not paramount, in governing the relationships among all countries, large and small, to resolve conflicts before they turn into outright wars. It should also have worked to prevent a return to an era of exploitation that allowed Western colonialism to practically enslave the Global South for hundreds of years.

Israeli Soldiers Face Arrests And Travel Bans Worldwide

On January 5, 2025, Yuval Vagdani, an Israeli army reservist, fled Brazil while on vacation after a federal judge in the country opened a war crimes investigation into Vagdani over his alleged involvement in demolishing homes in the besieged Gaza Strip. The Brazilian judge used a legal tool called “universal jurisdiction” to pursue Vagdani. Universal jurisdiction allows governments to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, regardless of where they’ve been committed. The case itself was the result of a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based legal group pursuing action against perpetrators, accomplices, and inciters of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine.

Hold Israel Accountable Under The UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child

A so-called “ceasefire” has done nothing to halt the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Israel’s government is escalating policies that jeopardize the very lives of Palestinian children, and powerful nations are complicit through their silence or direct endorsement. Even now, terror and bloodshed continue in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while the U.S. administration signals tacit support for what amounts to ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Under the Biden administration, sanctions were imposed on extremist Israeli settlers—17 individuals and 16 entities over 11 months—to curb violence against Palestinians.

The United Kingdom Must Push Back Against Trump’s ICC Plan

Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC), placing financial and visa sanctions on individuals and their immediate family who assist ICC investigations against Israelis and Americans. The Executive Order comes after last week’s efforts to pass a bill entitled the ‘Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act’ in Congress. The bill hit a stumbling block when it received 54 votes in favour and 45 against, falling short of the 60 votes required for it to go ahead to a final vote. Instead, Trump has issued an Executive Order to implement the sanctions.

US Senate To Vote On Sanctions Against ICC Over Israel War Crimes Warrants

The US Senate is set to begin voting on Tuesday on a bill that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a report by The Washington Post. The move has reportedly sparked concerns among some prominent European allies who warn it could undermine international law. “U.S. lawmakers are moving to pass a law that some of Washington’s top European allies fear will ‘cripple’ the world’s preeminent international court, enable war criminals to act with impunity, and degrade the West’s moral authority,” the Washington Post reported.

Pro-Palestine Rights Group Urges Italy To Arrest Israeli General

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based rights group, called on 13 January for Italian authorities to immediately arrest Israeli Major General Ghassan Alian for war crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza. According to HRF, Alian is currently in Rome, making this a “critical moment for justice.” The group has filed cases with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Italian authorities, urging his immediate arrest under the Rome statute on charges of “genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.”  As the Head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Alian is responsible for administering the siege of Gaza, including cutting off the supply of water, food, and fuel just days after the war began.

UN Experts Slam US Bill Sanctioning International Criminal Court

A group of UN human rights experts is urging the U.S. Senate to block a bill that seeks to punish the International Criminal Court (ICC) and people affiliated with it after the body issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, condemning the bill as “dangerous” and against international law. “It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a champion of the rule of law trying to stymie the actions of an independent and impartial tribunal set up by the international community, to thwart accountability,” the four experts said in a statement on Friday.

Israeli Soldiers Abroad Targeted By Dozens Of Criminal Complaints

Pro-Palestine organizations have filed at least 50 criminal complaints in courts around the world targeting Israeli soldiers for their role in Tel Aviv's ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza, according to reports in Hebrew media. “About 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers, 10 of which have been investigated without any arrests recorded so far,” Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported on 6 January. Hours after the news was broadcast, Israeli news outlet Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a new complaint against an Israeli soldier vacationing in Thailand.

Archiving As Resistance To Genocide Denial In Gaza

After the war and genocide in southeastern Bosnia in 1993, two very important forces shaped the society that emerged. One was the denial of war criminals and genocidal actors, who smeared and discredited victims to evade accountability. The second was the uphill battle of the survivors to not only deal with the crimes committed against them but also make sure that the truth didn’t get buried by preserving the memory of the events as they happened.  While investigators and other experts flooded Bosnia in the aftermath to collect evidence for the Yugoslavia Tribunal at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, it was grassroots activists and genocide survivors — like the Mothers of Srebrenica — who made the biggest impact.

From Venezuela To Palestine, US-Imposed Sanctions Are A Crime

December 10 is the anniversary of the signing of the United Nations' Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Organizers with the Americas Without Sanctions campaign are holding an event (in-person and virtual) in Washington, DC to raise awareness of the US's illegal economic war on one-third of the world's population on Human Rights Day. See SanctionsKill.org for details. Clearing the FOG speaks with Barbara Larcom of the International Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition and Cheryl LaBash of the National Network on Cuba about the event and the current crises facing Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela as a result of US sanctions on them and how these are connected to the liberation of Palestine.

Without Including Biden And Blinken, International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants Are A Sham

After months of procedural stalling, allegations of sexual harassment against the lead prosecutor and systematic threats from the United States and its Western allies, it did not appear that the International Criminal Court (ICC) would even execute the final phase of the criminal indictment process and Israeli impunity would continue. But on November 20, 2024, six months to the day after Karim Khan, chief prosecutor for the court, submitted his request for the indictments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, the court finally indicted Netanyahu, Gallant and threw in Mohammed Deif who Israel claims to have assassinated, as they did to Sinwar and Haniyeh.

No More ‘Deals’: What Palestinians Want And Will Fight To Achieve

A major problem in American thinking in the Middle East is the utter rejection of the notion that Palestinian rights are fundamental, if at all relevant, to the coveted peace and stability. Long before Donald Trump’s first ‘Deal of the Century’ was officially revealed on January 28, 2020, successive US administrations attempted to ‘stabilize’ the Middle East at the expense of Palestinians. Earlier plans, or deals, rested on the premise of total marginalization of the Palestinian people and their cause. They included the Roger Plan of 1969 and Roger Plan II in the early 70s, which culminated in the Camp David Accords later that same decade.