Latest news
4 June 2013
Mauritanian officials confirmed on Saturday 1 June that Younis al-Mauritani, a prisoner suspected of being a senior Al-Qaeda member, was transferred by the United States from the infamous Bagram military base in Afghanistan to his native Mauritania, an important Western ally against Al-Qaeda in the Sahel region.
Al-Mauritani was originally captured in Pakistan in 2011 in a joint US-Pakistani operation and was then suspected on planning attacks on US economic interests in Pakistan as well as European and Australian targets. Mauritania had issued an international arrest warrant against him pursuant to a deadly attack on an army base in 2005 and a police shootout in 2008.
Source: The New York Times | Mauritania Says U.S. Sent Prisoner From Afghan Base
4 June 2013
Ethiopia’s unilateral action to construct a dam on the Nile river, with potentially significant impact on water flow in the river, has caused a long-standing dispute between Ethiopia and the other Nile basin states that have been unable to agree on the use of the trans-boundary river and its environment.
Ethiopian officials said on Saturday 1 June that an independent panel of experts considering the effects of the dam has concluded that the construction follows international standards and will not significantly affect Egypt and Sudan that have expressed concerns over diminished water shares and the environmental impact of the dam that, upon completion, would be Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant. All sides have been committed to a negotiated solution, but failing that, the matter could be brought before the ICJ.
Source: The Washington Post | Ethiopian official: Report finds Nile dam won’t significantly affect Egypt, Sudan
Source: The Japan Times | Ethiopia builds giant dam on Nile, sparking Egypt fear
Source: Ahram Online | International arbitration could be option for Ethiopia's Blue Nile dam: Govt source
31 May 2013
On 28 May 2013, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, presented his report on the management of the external borders of the European Union (EU) and the impact on the human rights of migrants to the UN Human Rights Council.
In his report, he warned that the increasing competence of the European Union in the field of migration has not always been accompanied by a corresponding guarantee of rights for migrants themselves, and in particular irregular migrants.
Mr. Crépeau also stressed there has been an ‘externalization’ of border control, through which countries of departure or transit bear all the responsibility for preventing irregular migration, and underlined that the EU must share this responsibility among its member states.
Source: United Nations Human Rights | News | EU border management: “More attention must be given to the human rights of migrants” - UN expert
27 May 2013
In the next few days, a shared symposium entitled Symposium on the Law of the Sea and the Law of Responsibility will be held together with Opinio Juris, exploring the intersection between the law of responsibility and the law of the sea.
Blog posts and commentaries of Natalie Klein, Irini Papanicolopulu, Ilias Plakokefalos, Tim Stephens, Yoshinobu Takei, Anastasia Telesetsky and Seline Trevisanut will be cross posted on Opinio Juris and our SHARES website.
For more information on the symposium see here.
Source: Opinio Juris | Symposium on the Law of the Sea and the Law of Responsibility
22 May 2013
Eight states (Thailand, China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda and Viet Nam) which have been identified as primary source, import and transit countries affected by the illegal trade in ivory, have submitted national action plans to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The plans contain among others specific activities in the areas of international and national enforcement, legislation and regulations, and were requested by the CITES Standing Committee because of the huge rise in the number of elephants that were poached for their ivory.
The eight countries that have submitted action plans are urged to take urgent measures to put their plans into practice before July 2014, when the CITES Standing Committee will review their implementation. The Secretariat will then provide the Standing Committee with its evaluation of the activities that have been conducted by each state, and will recommend potential further measures to intensify efforts in critical areas.
Two additional groups of states which need to adopt measures shortly have also been identified. First, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Mozambique and Nigeria will need to develop and begin implementing similar national action plans in order to combat illegal trade in ivory this year. Second, the Secretariat will be seeking clarification from Angola, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on how they control trade in ivory.
For some background on this topic, see here.
Source: CITES | Press Release | Eight countries submit national action plans to combat illegal trade in elephant ivory