15 January 2013

SHARES News Items Overview: 1-15 January 2013

The SHARES Project has been closely following and collecting news items that are linked to the issue of shared responsibility (see: www.sharesproject.nl/news). We hereby introduce the ‘SHARES News Items Overview’, a new category of blog posts consisting of a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility.

• France conducted air-strikes in northern Mali at the request, and in support, of the Malian Government, while other States have announced to provide logistical assistance.
• The United Kingdom settled a rendition claim of a Libyan dissident who was forcibly transferred together with his family from Hong Kong to Gaddafi’s Libya in 2004, where he was imprisoned and tortured.
• The United States announced they would accelerate the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in the coming months.
• A research fellow at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute argued that lessons from Afghanistan need to be applied before thinking about Canada’s involvement in mission in Mali, and notably that contributed troops ‘need to be protected against their misuse by our allies or against poor strategic decision-making.’
• The Washington Post reported that renditions continue under the Obama administration, despite due-process concerns.
• Smart defense — or “pooling and sharing” — is considered a way to deal with reduced financial resources. In practice, this would mean that NATO and EU members, the majority of whom belong to each other’s organization, would cooperate much more on defense.
• Robert Mazur argued that making bankers more easily punishable under U.S. law would help in the fight against professional money laundering.
• The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the Dutch Sanction regulation, which was intended to give effect to UN Security Council Resolution 1737, violated the prohibition of discrimination under Article 26 ICCPR.
• A call for papers has been issued for a conference on the Consequences of the Responsibility of Non-State Actors in International Law, which will be held on 27-28 June 2013 in Vancouver.