North Korean Links to Building of a Nuclear Reactor in Syria: Implications for International Law
The Bush administration has alleged that North Korea provided assistance to Syria’s efforts to build a nuclear reactor, which Israeli warplanes attacked and destroyed on September 6, 2007. The U.S. allegations, made in cooperation with Israeli intelligence, have serious implications for the stagnating North Korean nuclear disarmament process, the security situation in the Middle East, and international efforts against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. This Insight analyzes the implications of this development for international law on nuclear weapons and on the use of force.
Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj et al.: The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Threshold of Non-International Armed Conflict in International Humanitarian Law
On April 3, 2008, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia delivered the judgment in Prosecutor v. Haradinaj et al.. The Prosecutor had charged the accused, former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, with war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Western Kosovo. The Trial Chamber had to decide whether an armed conflict existed in Kosovo between the KLA and Serbian forces. The situation on the ground in the early part of the indictment period was close to the threshold that distinguishes internal disturbances from non-international armed conflict. This Insight analyzes the Trial Chamber’s findings on the existence of non-international armed conflict and, thus, the applicability of international humanitarian law to this type of conflict.
