International Law

In Gaza, International Law Is Up In Flames

August 2, 2014 Phyllis Bennis, www.original.antiwar.com Educate! Gaza, International Law, Israel, Palestine, Wars and Militarism

As Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip rages on, ceasefires come and go. Most last just long enough for Palestinians to dig out the dead from beneath their collapsed houses, get the injured to overcrowded and under-resourced hospitals, and seek enough food and water to last through the next round of airstrikes. “There is nothing left but stones,” Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer quoted an old woman saying as she searched desperately through the rubble of what had been her home. Casualties are soaring. By late July, Israel had killed more than 1,100 Palestinians – at least 73 percent of them civilians, including hundreds of children. Fifty-six Israelis, almost all of them soldiers, have died too. A July 28 poll shows that 86.5 percent of Israelis oppose a ceasefire. Yet we continue to hear that Israelis want peace. It’s true that at least some of them do. An Israeli protest in Tel Aviv brought 5,000 people into the street. That’s good – though a far cry from the 400,000 who poured into the streets to protest Israel’s invasion of Lebanon back in 1982. And when a young Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and tortured to death – burned alive – in Jerusalem after the bodies of the three kidnapped young Israeli settlers were found, many Israelis tried to distance themselves from the horrific crime. “In our society, the society of Israel, there is no place for such murderers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed.

Bolivia Shows How To Dismantle Corporate Sovereignty

July 17, 2014 Glyn Moody, www.techdirt.com Resist! Bolivia, Foreign Investment, International Law, Water

As Techdirt has reported, corporate sovereignty chapters in TAFTA/TTIP and TPP have emerged as some of the most controversial elements in those agreements. Meanwhile, countries that already have bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms are looking for ways to get rid of them in order to avoid the loss of sovereignty they imply. One nation that already has considerable experience in this area is Bolivia. A new report provides fascinating background information on exactly how it has gone about this (pdf), with valuable lessons for others looking to do the same. Things began back in 2000, during what was called the "Water war." After Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of the US company Bechtel, had taken control of water supplies in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, it raised prices to such an extent that the poorest citizens struggled to pay for drinking supplies. This led to demonstrations in the streets, with many people injured (original in Spanish.) Control of the water company was removed from Bechtel, which demanded $50 million compensation for the loss of its investment. The case was finally settled in 2006, when Bechtel agreed to sell its shares in the water company to the Bolivian state -- for 2 Bolivianos (then about $ 0.30).

Global Campaign Rises To Dismantle Corporate Power

June 29, 2014 Diana Aguiar and Richard Girard, www.occupy.com Resist! International Law, Transnationals, UN

Starting June 23, on the occasion of the 26th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, a week of mobilization has been organized by social movements and civil society organizations from around the world to shine a spotlight on the systematic lack of access to justice for victims of abuses committed by transnational corporations (TNCs). The week of mobilization is also supporting an unprecedented initiative by 85 member states of the UNHRC to establish a legally binding international instrument to stop corporate impunity and provide access to justice for victims of corporate crimes. This reaffirms a long-term demand by social movements and victims that are, in this context, reaffirming the call for the establishment of an intergovernmental working group by the UNHRC mandated to draft and negotiate such instrument. As part of the week of mobilization, the global Dismantle Corporate Power & Stop Impunity campaign will be convening a number of events designed to amplify the voices of victims of human rights abuses and environmental crimes perpetrated by TNCs. The campaign and its members believe that in order to halt the abusive power of TNCs and to provide effective remedies to victims, an international binding instrument is a crucial necessity.

UN Votes Transnationals Cannot Violate Rights, US Refuses

June 28, 2014 Thalif Deen, www.ipsnews.net Educate! Corporatism, International Law, Transnationals, UN

The United States and the 28-member European Union (EU) have assiduously promoted – and vigourously preached – one of the basic tenets of Western multi-party democracy: majority rules. But at the United Nations, the 29 member states have frequently abandoned that principle when it insists on “consensus” on crucial decisions relating to the U.N. budget – or when it is clearly outvoted in the 193-member General Assembly or its committee rooms. "The division of the votes clearly shows that the countries who are host to a lot of TNCs, such as the EU, as well as Norway and the U.S., are against this proposal." -- Anne van Schaik That’s exactly what happened Thursday at the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva which adopted, by majority vote, a proposal to negotiate a legally-binding treaty to prevent human rights abuses by transnational corporations (TNCs) and the world’s business conglomerates. But following the vote, the United States and the EU, have warned they would not cooperate with an intergovernmental working group (IGWG) which is to be established to lay down ground rules for negotiating the proposed treaty. Stephen Townley, the U.S. representative in the HRC, told delegates: “The United States will not participate in this IGWG, and we encourage others to do the same.”

Worldwide Protests Erupt Over Racist, Failed War On Drugs

June 28, 2014 Owen Poindexter, www.alternet.org Resist! International Law, Mexico, Protests, War On Drugs

“There is complete ignorance of the dynamics of the phenomenon and the most convenient ways to fix it,” said Torres of the drug war and its social costs. (Prof. Torres’ quotes are translated from Spanish.) “One ton of cocaine impounded at the international airport is an achievement that will benefit the government in power politically, but it will not solve the underlying problem of drug trafficking in the long term.” These politically popular but ultimately meaningless victories in the war on drugs are hardly restricted to Peru. Niamh Eastwood, an organizer at Release, a London-based drug reform advocacy group, said in a press release: “In the UK…the two main parties – the Conservatives and Labour – are reluctant to engage in the debate preferring a ‘tough on crime, tough on drugs’ stance. That is why it is the job of civil society in the UK to highlight the damage the current criminal justice approach does and why, especially the Labour Party, needs to consider how our drug laws are interconnected with issues of social justice.” Organizers in Mexico City found that the sheer number of street protests and demonstrations in Mexico makes people tune them out, so instead they are using the June 26 day to launch a microsite (a small, targeted website) packed with interviews, infographics and op-eds on why Mexico’s drug policies are detrimental to every one of its citizens.

Airstrikes Against Syria Lack Legal Justification

September 6, 2013 John Quigley, www.opiniojuris.org Educate! International Law, Syria, Wars and Militarism

It is hard to find a basis for justifying air strikes against Syria. The British Government has said that humanitarian intervention would be a lawful basis[...]Even if Hollande and Cameron are correct that humanitarian intervention has somehow entered into customary law, thereby trumping the UN Charter, the requisites do not seem to be present. One requisite – which Cameron omitted – is that a plan for intervening on humanitarian grounds must be rationally calculated to secure protection for the presumably endangered population. Chemical weapons cannot safely be bombed[...]Air strikes would result in deaths. One would need a very strong case that those deaths are justifiable.

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