Foreign Policy Blogs

Human Rights

Charles Taylor appears in court.

BBC: Liberia's former President Charles Taylor has appeared at his war crimes trial in The Hague for the first time. Wearing a blue suit and a yellow tie, Mr Taylor, 59, turned up after the judge had explained why his trial would again be delayed – until 20 August. The delay is to appoint a […]

read more

U.S. explores legislation if GITMO closed; Case in Madrid train bombing concludes.

As part of the path to close the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, senior advisers to the Bush administration are exploring the legal options for the detention of foreign terrorist suspects in the U.S. civilian prison system.  Officials are proposing legislation that would create three legal categories for the estimated 375 detainees; one […]

read more

The Children of AIDS

The Children of AIDS

HIV/AIDS is a true pandemic, and unless we take serious action, it will continue to plague us for generations, and generations to come. AIDS has taken more than 20 million lives, and HIV has infected more than 60 million people worldwide. But the virus doesn't stop there, it continues to devastate families and villages around […]

read more

News roundup: Croatia, GITMO, and LRA trials develop.

CROATIAN TRIAL DELAYED A decision by a U.N. war crimes tribunal delays the proceedings for three Croatian military and police officials on trial for atrocities. The appeals court for the U.N. system upheld the disqualification of the defendants lawyers for conflicts of interest. The defendants are alleged to have run a joint criminal operation with […]

read more

Allegations against U.S. military mount in Iraq

Two U.S. soldiers were charged with premeditated murder in two separate incidents.  On Saturday, the U.S. military cited Staff Sergeant  Michael Hensley and Specialist Jorge Sandoval  were charged with murder and wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of the deceased.  Hensley is charged with three counts of murder, while Sandoval faces one conviction.  The charges […]

read more

Supreme Court reverses; opts to hear GITMO cases: Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court said on Friday it would hear appeals by Guantanamo prisoners on their right to challenge their confinement before federal judges, a test of President George W. Bush's powers in the war on terrorism. The court in April had denied the same appeals by the prisoners, but the justices in […]

read more

Are Children Really Better Off In Rich Countries?

Are Children Really Better Off In Rich Countries?

“The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children , their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.” -UNICEF What is really a better life for a […]

read more

Death toll from Bosnian war announced.

An independent commission has reached an official death toll from the Bosnian war in the 1990's.  The study from the Norwegian Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo – called the “The Bosnian Book of the Dead”  – has reached a figure of 97, 207, far less than United Nations estimates.  UN estimates cite a figure […]

read more

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. -John F. Kennedy

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. -John F. Kennedy

 

read more

The Voice of the Child

Children so often suffer unjustly, just because they are children, for the world too often sees them as less worthy to have a voice. However all children have the right to be heard, and they have so much to say and contribute to the world. With age and power we so often forget the wisdom […]

read more

Iraqi tribunal to investigate Shi'ite massacres.

The tribunal established to investigate allegations of war crimes for members of Saddam Hussein's former regime has stated it will begin prosecuting individuals accused of launching a campaign against a Shi’ite uprising following the liberation of Kuwait in 1991.  Following the defeat of Iraq in the first Gulf War, Shi’ites in southern Iraq and Kurds […]

read more

UN prosecutor demands Serbia hand over war crimes suspects.

The chief war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations, Carla del Ponte, said that the European Union should not proceed on negotiations with Serbia until all war crimes suspects have been arrested.  Del Ponte has stated that, despite positive assessments by the EU, Serbia should not be perceived as meeting its full obligations to join […]

read more

Children Enslaved In The Name of Sport

Children Enslaved In The Name of Sport

This past year the media brought one particular issue of child trafficking and slavery to the public’s attention, camel jockeys. This year alone 43 children have already been recovered in the Middle East. Many of the children have been taken from poorer areas of Pakistan and many with the consent of their parents, as traffickers […]

read more

"That's enough", new French premier says at Darfur conference

Five weeks into his presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy – the new French premier – hosted an international conference on Darfur in Paris.  Among those in attendance was U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeeza Rice, who spoke of the need for a renewed effort at the crisis in the troubled region in Sudan and its regional effects.  The […]

read more

Taylor skips trial; Alan Johnston appears in new video

Charles Taylor once again boycotted his trial at The Hague today.  He is claiming that he is not given fair representation for his trial after sacking his legal consul, claiming he was ‘outgunned’ by the prosecution.  He is charged with 11 counts of war crimes for atrocities committed during the civil conflict in Sierra Leone […]

read more