The Violence of Non-Violence: Law and War in Iraq

The article examines the relation between war making in Iraq and juridical reforms aimed at instituting democracy, or what the article coins juridico-democracy. It is argued that a certain aspiration for global peace, global security, and non-violence to be instituted by juridico-democracy accompanies the war against Iraq. Rather than leave this aspiration intact, the article examines the extent to which this aspiration itself is conducive to the war's violence. The associations between violence and non-violence, war and peace, conflict and security are examined not as oppositions, but as cycles, where nonviolence, peace, and security are performative of more violence.     

The application of dual energy X-ray soil screening in forensic archaeology

The need to forensically search soil for small artefacts at a burial site or traces of evidence in a deposition site is a common task shared by investigators and forensic archaeologists. In forensic casework, the importance of finding small pieces of evidence, such as personal effects or ballistic fragments, cannot be overstated as it can assist in the positive identification of the deceased, give an insight into the manner and cause of death, and identify any perpetrators. The soil search methods known as wet and dry sieving, are cumbersome, time-consuming and have limited success for some soil types. This often leads to the decision not to search, resulting in missed opportunities to identify potential evidence.The primary aim of this study was to investigate if a dual energy X-ray baggage scanner could be used to search for items of potential forensic interest in soil. A trial was conducted using a Smiths Detection ScanTrailer 100100 V-2is mobile X-ray inspection system to establish if it could be used to detect organic, inorganic, and metallic items located within soil. The soil type and natural variables such as water and organic content were adjusted to simulate different environments. The baggage scanner was found to provide a quick and easy way to detect items contained within various soil types, particularly in a sand rich matrix. It is estimated that using this method to search 1 m³ of soil, when broken down into samples that are < 13 cm in depth, would take around one hour to complete, compared with 100 to 150 person-hours by manual sieving. This is believed to be the first use of dual energy X-ray technology for this purpose and shows the potential for further research and use of this method in forensic archaeology.     

伊拉克战争与国际法笔谈会

饶戈平 :按联合国创立者们的设想 ,联合国的首要宗旨就是维护世界和平与安全 ,防止新的战争爆发。为此 ,《联合国宪章》规定了一系列基本原则和制度 ,其中包括国家主权平等、和平解决国际争端、不使用威胁或武力、不干涉内政等原则 ,以及联合国集体安全体制。在这一体制下 ,国际社会的绝大多数国家 ,经由联合国这个世界上最重要的普遍性政治组织 ,共同承担起维护世界和平与安全的责任。而主要的执行机构则是联合国安理会 ,安理会特别是其中的五大国被授权承担了维护世界和平与安全的主要职责。《联合国宪章》规定 ,安理会不但担负着主持和…     

The Legal Characterization of the Armed Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq: Implications for Protection

This article explores the implications for the protection of civilians and other vulnerable persons, of the requalification of a conflict downwards from international to non-international, focusing in particular on the changes in the characterization of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 and 2003 respectively.

Determining the legal character of an armed conflict is rooted in an inherently political interpretation of black letter treaty law. It is generally agreed that when the United States and its coalition allies entered the wars in Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq in 2003, their operations in those countries were initially subject to the laws of international armed conflict. However the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has determined that the conflict in Afghanistan became noninternational with the establishment of the United States’ backed government of Hamid Karzai on 19 June 2002 and that the conflict in Iraq became non-international with the establishment of the Iraqi Interim Government on 28 June 2004. The basis for this requalification is Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions read in conjunction with an interpretation of the meaning of ‘state’ (and of its power to authorize a foreign intervention in its own territory) that is inherently, and possibly inevitably, political.

Changes in the legal characterization of a war have profound implications for the protection of both non-combatants and combatants under international humanitarian law, in particular for humanitarian access; for the protection of non-nationals from deportation; for the protection of detainees; for the conduct of hostilities; and for the protection of persons transferred into the hands of local authorities. The practical consequence of a requalification of an armed conflict downwards to non-international is a marked loss of protection for persons that were protected by the Geneva Conventions in the earlier stages of the conflict.

     

International legal aspects of countering environmental terrorism in the context of modern trends in radical environmentalism

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - Environmental terrorism is a new global threat. The modern period of society's development is characterized by an increase...     

Forensic palynology in Canada: an overview with emphasis on archaeology and anthropology

Palynological analysis is shown from published and unpublished Canadian examples to be a useful tool in forensic investigation, although the technique is almost unknown and therefore under-utilized by forensic investigators. The techniques of pollen and spore identification and interpretation are continually improving, indicating that the potential for forensic applications is real. Focus in this paper is on an updated interpretation of palynological data that was presented during a trial involving a scientific test of oral history as part of a claim for aboriginal title to a large area of British Columbia (BC) (Delgamuukw versus the Queen). Although the original decision in British Columbia Supreme Court was decided in favor of the government defendants, an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the original decision, and established new principles and rights for aboriginal peoples.     

Fragmented power and state-corporate killings: a critique of blackwater in Iraq

Especially given the invasion of Iraq, a growing number of criminologists have been attending to the transformation of state power and security within a neo-liberal political context. Although the capacity and influence of the state is not disappearing altogether there is a discernible erosion of authority within the sovereign state. In the realm of policing, we witness continued fragmentation of authority in which state power is relinquished to expanding commercial markets. The de-coupling of policing and government raises serious questions about the changing architecture of liberal democratic societies, prompting concerns over the waning monopoly of legitimate coercion. The project here explores the controversy over the use of private military firms in occupied Iraq, particularly the recent killings of civilians by Blackwater personnel. While offering specific details of those incidents, the analysis elaborates on state–corporate crime by revealing how state power is dispersed to the private sector; by doing so, the article examines how private military personnel evade prosecution for war crimes and other human rights abuses.