Justia columnist Joanne Mariner, an attorney and the head of Hunter College’s Human Rights Program, comments on the end of Muammar Qaddafi’s rule, and reminds readers that for much of the past decade, the United States actually saw Qaddafi as a friend, rather than an enemy. Mariner points out that during the Bush years, Qaddafi’s human rights violations were not simply overlooked but actually exploited, as Condoleezza Rice, in 2006, encouraged others to see Libya’s leadership as a model to follow. Mariner covers the connection between Libya and the CIA, and Libya and the practice of rendition, and explains how statements, made under torture, from a man who was detained in Libya and elsewhere led to the claim of a relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.
Justia columnist and U. Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry explains some of the options for Libya’s transitional government, when it comes to the country’s oil resources. Ramasastry explains both the traditional premise that successor regimes need to honor previously negotiated sovereign agreements, and the new trend for sovereigns to renegotiate deals entered into by previously corrupt officials—and the legal basis for such renegotiation. She also argues that the transitional government, and its future governments, should opt for greater transparency in any new oil concessions that are granted, in order to instill confidence in the new government, especially among Libya’s citizens. In addition, she compares the situation relating to contracts to those that have occurred in Iraq and, especially, Liberia.
Justia columnist Joanne Mariner, an attorney and the head of Hunter College’s Human Rights Program, comments on the memoir of David Hicks, an Australian who was incarcerated at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention facility for five-and-a-half years. Mariner notes that Hicks’s Guantanamo memoir is now one of many such works that detail interrogation practices and detention conditions at the facility. She also points out the book has recently made headlines due to the Australian government’s attempt to confiscate the royalties Hicks earned from his publisher, citing Australia’s Proceeds of Crime Act. Mariner notes the parallel between that Act and the United States’ “Son of Sam” laws, which the U.S. Supreme Court has occasionally held to be in violation of the First Amendment, and she explains other troubling aspects of the attempt to apply Australia’s Act to Hicks.
Justia columnist and U. Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry focuses on a scandal that shows how posts on social networking sites may lead to much-needed reforms. As Ramasastry explains, the Facebook page of an anonymous person who goes by “Spider Truman” has played a key role in focusing public attention on the lavish lives of Italian Members of Parliament (MPs), and their alleged corruption. With Italy now in a severe financial crisis, disclosures on the site of “Spider Truman” concerning MPs’ many perks and alleged misconduct have enraged many, Ramasastry points out. Examples include the MPs’ menu of gourmet food at heavily subsidized prices, and their alleged fraudulent expense claims. Noting that UK MPs previously were part of a similar scandal that led to reform, Ramasastry contends that social networking may be a catalyst for greater governmental openness in Italy and elsewhere.
Justia columnist Joanne Mariner, an attorney and the head of Hunter College’s Human Rights Program, discusses the ongoing humanitarian emergency in Somalia. Mariner explains that with tens of thousands of people having already died of starvation, and half a million children now at risk of dying, the situation is dire and pressing. She sets forth some of the key reasons that aid organizations are finding it difficult to provide assistance in the country—from fighting in the capital; to the aggressive tactics of the militant group that controls much of Somalia, Al Shabaab; to U.S. federal laws that that bar material assistance to that group (which is categorized by the United States as a terrorist group). Mariner details the substance and effect of the U.S. laws at issue, and the conundrum of attempting to get humanitarian aid into an area where it may be siphoned off by armed groups, and where even non-Americans can face U.S. prosecutions under the U.S. “material assistance” law. Finally, Mariner explains a new U.S. interpretation of the law at issue, which may somewhat improve the situation—but she also urges the U.S. to go further, in order to alleviate fears that humanitarian aid will be miscategorized as aid to terrorism.
Justia columnist and U. Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry provides important background on the United States’ debt ceiling debate, explaining exactly why the United States—unlike other countries—has only one option when the risk of sovereign default looms: self help. Ramasastry first considers how other countries typically handle sovereign default or distress, then covers the reasons why the United States’ situation is very different, and concludes by examining why there has been such a great need for Congress and President Obama to reach a resolution of this issue.
Justia columnist and Cardozo law professor Marci A. Hamilton urges that the Catholic Church urgently needs to take responsibility—and foster an ethic of accountability—regarding clergy child-sex-abuse cases. In describing the path that she argues the Church must take, Hamilton compliments a recent speech by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, and a book by Jason Berry on money and the Church. As she explains, these writings, too, call for responsibility and accountability from the Church, and for the enforcement of civil law by the courts, in clergy child-sex-abuse cases.
Justia columnist Joanne Mariner, attorney and director of Hunter College’s Human Rights Program, discusses the situation in Somalia, which is experiencing a famine in the midst of armed conflict—leading refugees to flee the country for Kenya and Ethiopia. The situation, as Mariner explains, has created a humanitarian emergency and has led to a horrifyingly high death rate of both refugees and those still in Somalia. Though the Somali regime’s ban on foreign aid has been lifted, Mariner explains that extremely broad U.S. restrictions on “material support to terrorist organizations” have made innocent humanitarian groups wary of providing aid in areas controlled by Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist group that controls most of Somalia’s territory. Mariner calls for expedited licenses ASAP, so that humanitarian groups can operate free of fear, and calls for legal reform for the future.
