The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly, provides a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugees. Their dependency on UNRWA — and consequently the importance of the Agency’s work — is greater than ever before. In spite of this situation, or perhaps because of it, the Israeli Knesset on 28 October 2024 adopted legislation aimed at dismantling the Agency by effectively revoking its privileges and immunities. Under the adopted legislation, UNRWA “shall not establish any representation, provide any services or conduct any activities” in the territory of Israel. No Israeli government agencies or representatives may have any contact with UNRWA. It is also reported that Israeli authorities are evicting the Agency from its premises in Jerusalem. The egregious nature of these breaches is compounded by the fact that they are being carried out in the context of Israel having over the last year physically destroyed numerous UNRWA buildings and killed more than 200 of its personnel.
Responsibility of International Organizations
Page 1 of 5
The IMF, WTO, World Bank, and WHO all come around? Multilateral Unity Against Inequitable Global COVID Vaccine Distribution, but still sans Human Rights
Sometimes, they do come around, albeit so narrowly. Back in February 2021, I argued that international law (specifically based on the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the Right to Development presently being codified in the draft Convention on the Right to Development) compels States and non-State actors to design equitable COVID Vaccine Distribution…
‘Oops, we misplaced the keys…too bad!’: The International Criminal Court and the fiasco of Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba’s compensation claim
Background On 18 May 2020, over a year after Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo filed a claim at the International Criminal Court (the Court) seeking compensation for alleged miscarriage of justice and for alleged destruction and damage caused to his property, the Pre-Trial Chamber dismissed the application. Mr Bemba was charged in 2008 with…
The Myth and Mayhem of ‘Build Back Better’: Human Rights Decision-Making and Human Dignity Imperatives in COVID-19
Human rights were already under siege everywhere around the world before COVID-19. But there is also a dawning race now against reaching the ‘twilight of human rights law’, due to: 1) authoritarian regimes’ dismissal of the relevance of human rights while using this pandemic to expand and consolidate their power, such as to silence speech,…
Jam v IFC before the D.C. District Court: Forget the Floodgates, there won’t even be a Trickle
A year ago, the US Supreme Court in Jam v International Finance Corporation decided that the immunity granted to International Organizations (IOs) under the US International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA), was the same “restrictive immunity” granted to states under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). The latter Act denies immunity for claims that are inter alia…
- Page 1 of 5
- Last