Introduction In a groundbreaking move, Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands have announced their intention to take Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over gender discrimination, following the Taliban’s brutal repression of women and girls. This would be the first time the ICJ has been used by a state to challenge another under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women for gender discrimination. Since the Taliban seized control in August 2021, Afghan women and girls have faced what many activists, scholars, and policymakers are calling gender apartheid—a regime of systematic oppression that affects virtually every aspect of their lives. The Taliban’s decrees have barred women from education beyond the sixth grade, mandated that they travel only with a mahram (male guardian), and imposed punishments for women who raise their voices in public. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, these measures, coupled with increased surveillance by morality inspectors and restrictions on the media,…
Crimes Against Humanity
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Peru at a Crossroad: The New Impunity Law
In the last decades, Peru has undergone two significant transitions: one following the internal armed conflict of the 1980s and 1990s, initiated by the terrorist organisation Peruvian Communist Party Shining Path (SL), and another after the authoritarian rule from 1992 to 2000. While the SL was the main perpetrator of violence, state-led counter-subversive measures were…
Applications for Arrest Warrants in the Situation in Palestine: In Defence of the Legal Process
The recent announcement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking arrest warrants for leaders of both Israel and Hamas has sent shockwaves through the region. Unlike last year’s similar action against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, which received widespread approval from Western states, the ICC Prosecutor’s application…
Does it Make Sense to Promote the Application of International Criminal Law to Animals? If Yes, Why and How?
My instinctive reaction to this question is: “No, that does not make sense! International criminal law (ICL) is mainly about the protection of human dignity in specific contexts of crisis that usually threaten peace and security. The contribution of this branch of international law to the safeguarding of non-human interests should, at best, be minimal and incidental.”…
Karim Khan’s Dubious Characterization of the Gaza Hostilities
In his 20 May 2024 press statement announcing his intent to seek arrest warrants for Palestinian and Israeli figures, Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court says, “My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a…