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1571. Disrupting the Supply Chain for Mass Atrocities

Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
Mass atrocities are organized crimes. Those who commit genocide and crimes against humanity depend on third parties for the goods and services—money, matériel, political support, and a host of other resources—that sustain large-scale violence against civilians. Third parties have supplied military aircraft used by the Sudan Armed Forces against civilians, refined gold and other minerals coming out of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ensured a steady flow of arms into Rwanda. Governments seeking to prevent atrocities cannot afford a narrow and uncoordinated focus on the perpetrators of such violence. Rather, an effective strategy must include identifying and pressuring third-party enablers— individuals, commercial entities, and countries—in order to interrupt the supply chains that fuel mass violence against civilians.
Topic:
Political Violence, Crime, Ethnic Conflict, Genocide, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda

1572. Converging Africa: The 21st Century Development Dilemma

Author:
Rosa Whitaker
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the cornerstone of a U.S. policy that seeks, through a market-based approach, to integrate Africa into the global economy. Over the past ten years, AGOA has made tangible contributions on the continent and has helped to shift the global discussion from Africa as aid-dependent to Africa as a destination for investment. Capitalizing on Africa's opportunities and momentum requires policy tools acutely tuned to private sector needs.
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

1573. Sudan Between Peace and War

Author:
Jon Temin
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
In a historic referendum that took place in January, the people in southern Sudan voted whether to remain part of a united Sudan or to secede. Possibilities of creation of the first new state in Africa since 1993 were high. The article discusses the events leading up to the scheduled vote, possible outcomes, and responses to the post-referendum situation in the region.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

1574. Muslim Family Law in Sub-Saharan Africa: Colonial Legacies and Post-colonial Challenges

Author:
Muhammed Haron
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
Shamil Jeppie, Ebrahim Moosa and Richard Roberts (Eds.), Muslim Personal Law in Sub-Saharan Africa: Colonial Legacies and Post-Colonial Challenges. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978 90 8964 172 4, 388 pp.
Topic:
Islam and Law
Political Geography:
Africa

1575. Corruption and the Rule of Law in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Stuart S. Yeh
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
The World Bank and IMF attribute underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa to the practice of directing economic activity through centralized planning. They prescribe privatization and economic liberalization to restructure African economies, promote competition, reduce the scope for corruption, and promote good governance. However, inadequate checks on political power permit African elites to subvert these reforms. This article reviews the political economy of sub-Saharan countries as well as a case study of Sierra Leone to illustrate the problem. The analysis suggests the need for an international agency such as the UN to provide the capacity to investigate, expose and check corruption by employing UN inspectors who are immune to pressure from powerful African elites. This type of check on corruption is necessary to promote the rule of law in sub-Saharan Africa.
Topic:
Economics, United Nations, and Law
Political Geography:
Africa

1576. Preventing and Responding to Atrocity Crimes in Africa: Interrogating the African Response in Darfur

Author:
Vincent O. Nmehielle
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
There has been much scholarly and public debate regarding whether the ongoing atrocities in Darfur constitute “genocide”. This article posits that, irrespective of the description given to the mass atrocities taking place in the Sudan, there needs to be a more formidable response and intervention by the world community. As part of this, the author examines the African Union (AU) engagement with the Darfur crisis, within the context of Sudan's membership in the AU. Contending that Darfur is the first litmus test of how the AU is different from its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, he argues that Darfuris would only realize the benefits of the new regional body if perpetrators of egregious human rights violations are brought to justice.
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

1577. Editorial

Author:
Charles C. Jalloh
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
On behalf of the Editorial Board, I am pleased to present issue 4.1 of the African JournalofLegal Studies (AJLS) under a new and exciting partnership with Martinus Nijhoff, the renowned Dutch publisher. On the occasion of our first print edition, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to all the authors who have submitted manuscripts to A]LS for publication consideration. This special issue on international criminal law aims to contribute to, and to further stimulate, the growing debate on the place and nature of international criminal accountability for all those bearing the greatest responsibility for international crimes in Africa's numerous contemporary conflicts. While unable to accept every submission, the three peer-reviewed articles selected for this first print issue of the journal confirm the original thinking and high quality we are confident will continue to be this journal's hallmark. Consistent with our new partnership, the journal is pleased to announce that we will publish three issues. We also inaugurate a new look both in our electronic and print formats. Electronically, arrangements are now in place for all the journal's back issues as well as our new content to be available on our new website at brill.nl/ajls. We hope that the many databases associated with Martinus Nijhoff will give our published contents and authors truly global circulation in this age of Internet, Facebook and Twitter.
Topic:
Law
Political Geography:
Africa

1578. Assessing the African Union Concerns about Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Author:
Dapo Akande, Charles C. Jalloh, and Max du Plessis
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
This article assesses the African Union's (AU) concerns about Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It seeks to articulate a clearer picture of the law and politics of deferrals within the context of the AU's repeated calls to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC, or the Council) to invoke Article 16 to suspend the processes initiated by the ICC against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan. The Council's failure to accede to the AU request led African States to formally withhold cooperation from the ICC in respect to the arrest and surrender of the Sudanese leader. Given the AU's continued concerns, and the current impasse, fundamental questions have arisen about the Council's authority to exercise, or not exercise, its deferral power. This culminated into a November 2009 African proposal for an amendment to the Rome Statute to empower the UN General Assembly to act should the UNSC fail to act on a deferral request after six months. Although ICC States Parties have so far shown limited public support for the AU's proposed amendment to the deferral provision, this article examines its merits because a failure to engage the “Article 16 problem” could impact international accountability efforts in the Sudan, and further damage the ICC's credibility in Africa. This unresolved issue also has wider significance given that the matters underlying the tension ‐ how ICC prosecutions may be reconciled with peacemaking initiatives and the role and power of the Council in ICC business ‐ will likely arise in future situations from around the world.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

1579. "Rounding Up the Usual Suspects": Exclusion, Selectivity, and Impunity in the Enforcement of International Criminal Justice and the African Union's Emerging Resistance

Author:
Ifeonu Eberechi
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
Despite the overwhelming ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by African states, recent attempts to prosecute the perpetrators of egregious crimes in the region have come under a sustained opposition from its regional body, the African Union (AU). In fact, the blunt accusation is that international criminal justice has become an instrument of colonization. Within the context of the AU's claim, this article engages the question of selective enforcement of international criminal accountability, ironically beginning with the Nuremberg trial. Without necessarily justifying the senseless perpetration of heinous crimes in Africa, this article argues that an international justice regime complex that is perceived to be skewed in favour of the West engenders a crisis of legitimacy and ultimately robs it of the much needed cooperation from the region.
Political Geography:
Africa

1580. Law, Anthropology, and the Global Village

Author:
Dianna Shandy
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Globalization is characterized by crosscutting flows and networks of people, goods, ideas, and capital across the globe. These processes are both facilitated and constrained by yet emerging infrastructures and institutions. Within this shifting context, it has been observed that while we live in a global village, there is no rule of law. Here, I reflect upon this observation in relation to the unfolding development of the International Criminal Court (ICC), with particular consideration of African contexts.
Topic:
Human Rights and Law
Political Geography:
Africa