United Nations

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden addressed the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, laying out his vision of the global challenges facing the United States and the world. Biden, as expected, used his speech to announce a pivot by the United States away from its 20-year “war on […]

Afghanistan

UN Rights Body Needs to Investigate Grave Taliban Abuses in Afghanistan

Human Rights Watch

By Patricia Gossman | Associate Asia Director | – ( Human Rights Watch) – As reports mount of grave human rights abuses by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session this week. It should immediately mandate the strongest possible monitoring mechanism. Before their takeover of Kabul on […]

International Criminal Court

Gaza Hostilities Underscore Role of Int’l Criminal Court

Human Rights Watch

By Balkees Jarrah | – Associate Director, International Justice Program | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Israeli forces have launched relentless airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have fired rockets at Israeli population centers. At least 227 people, including 64 children have been killed in Gaza, […]

Apartheid

From Myanmar to Israel, what are the Offenses of ‘Apartheid’ and ‘Crimes Against Humanity?’ and How can we Make sure they are Prosecuted?

Human Rights Watch

By Clive Baldwin | Senior Legal Adviser | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The use of the word ‘apartheid’ in its legal meaning can sometimes, but not always, generate considerable power and attention. The related crime against humanity of persecution never seems to attract the same interest. Our finding in 2020 that the Myanmar […]

International Criminal Court

Lifting Trump’s sanctions on the Int’l Criminal Court doesn’t go Far Enough: The US must uphold International Law

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – When the loony right gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference back in February, the theme of the Trump-heavy gathering was “America Uncanceled.” Speaker after speaker railed against “political correctness” in American culture, from “woke mobs” to “censorship” in the mainstream news media. Incredibly, they tried to transform so-called […]

International Criminal Court

Biden lifts outrageous US Sanctions on Int’l Criminal Court; now it should Join Treaty of Rome on Human Rights

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Washington, DC) – US President Joe Biden’s cancellation of punitive sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) removes a serious obstacle to the court’s providing justice to the victims of the world’s worst crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 2, 2021, Biden revoked a June 2020 order by then-President […]

European Union

Over objections of Dem Hawks, Biden agrees to indirect Talks with Iran in Vienna to return to the 2015 Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that an arrangement was reached at Friday’s teleconference in Vienna between the current signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to mediate indirect talks between Iran and the United States next week. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the US had agreed to participate in the discussions […]

European Union

UN Security Council to meet with Iran without the US in quest to Restore 2015 Nuclear Deal breached by Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Union announced yesterday that today, Friday, Iran will meet by video with the current signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal or Joint Collective Plan of Action (JCPOA) with a view toward returning the parties to compliance. The US under Trump withdrew in May, 2018. The Biden administration welcomed […]

Climate Crisis

Pandemic Pivot: The Pandemic is a Wake-up Call for Truly Global Action

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus ) – If the current pandemic is a test of the global emergency response system, the international community is flunking big time. It has done just about everything wrong, from the failure to contain the virus early on to the lack of effective coordination thereafter. As the predicted second wave begins […]