Accountability
Responsible AI Symposium – The AI Ethics Principle of Responsibility and LOAC
Editor’s note: The following post highlights a subject addressed at an expert workshop conducted by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy focusing on Responsible AI. For a general introduction to this symposium, see Tobias Vestner’s and Professor Sean...
Ukraine Symposium – Reparations for War: What Options for Ukraine?
On 14 November, the UN General Assembly received a resolution calling for international support and cooperation on reparations for Ukraine. For thousands of years, reparations have attempted to settle grievances and secure peace between warring nations. However, the...
Ukraine Symposium – The Complicity of Iran in Russia’s Aggression and War Crimes in Ukraine
In recent days Russia has attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities using Iranian-made “kamikaze drones” or loitering munitions. While the EU is looking for “concrete evidence” that Iran has sold these weapons to Russia, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has...
Türkiye’s Threats against Greece: A Violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter?
On September 5-6, 2022, the Greek Foreign Minister Mr. Nikos Dendias sent letters to the EU, NATO, and the UN to bring to their attention public statements made by Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whose “openly threatening nature and tone are more than...
Ukraine Symposium – Russian Crimes Against Children
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, there has been evidence that indicates Russian political and military leaders, as well as ordinary members of the military, have committed numerous international crimes, including...
Assuming Risk – Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield
Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) have promising potential to bring faster, more accurate analysis to enable holistic decision-making on the battlefield. With the exponential increase of data from numerous battlefield sensors, AI/ML are expected by...
“Reason to Know” in the Law of Command Responsibility
During the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) collaborated with coalition forces to overcome the Taliban, secure peace in large portions of Afghanistan, train Afghan National Army soldiers and officers, complete...
Alleged UK War Crimes in Afghanistan
The Alleged Crimes and the Australian Parallels An investigation by the BBC television news program Panorama has reported that U.K. “SAS operatives in Afghanistan repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men.” Intentionally killing detained persons or those hors de...
A New Political Declaration on Civilian Harm: Progress or Mythical Panacea?
On June 17, against a backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has now killed or wounded over 11,000 civilians in a little more than four months, a group of States, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)...
Ukraine Symposium – Rebel Prosecutions of Foreign Fighters in Ukraine
On 1 July 2022 Russian state media reported that two British nationals captured by the “Donetsk People’s Republic” in eastern Ukraine would be prosecuted for “mercenary activities,” in violation of the laws of Donetsk. This comes a few weeks after two British men and...
Ukraine Symposium – Documentation and Investigation Responses to Serious International Crimes
The armed conflict in Ukraine dates to 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. Since that time, a number of important documentation and investigation efforts began, both nationally and internationally. These included efforts undertaken by civil society organizations like...
How Human Rights Law Bodies Handle Situations of Armed Conflict and Human Rights Law
This is the second of two posts dealing with aspects of the relationship between the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and Human Rights Law (HRsL). HRsL bodies have long dealt with cases arising out of situations of armed conflict, even though the applicability of LOAC was...