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Washington University Global Studies Law Review
Number of Followers: 8

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 1546-6981
Published by Washington University in St. Louis

[4 journals]

MANDATE INTERRUPTED: THE PROBLEMATIC LEGACY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
- Authors: DAVID PETTIGREW
  Abstract: The mandate of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was founded in 1993, was "to bring to justice those responsible for serious violations of international and humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991 and thus contribute to the restoration and maintenance of peace in the region." However, this essay will argue that the proceedings and Judgements of the ICTY have not contributed to the restoration of peace in the region, and in certain respects, have rather bred disappointment and cynicism. This analysis does not deny the virtues of certain aspects of the operations of the Tribunal nor does it refute the Tribunal's claim that it "irreversibly changed the landscape of international humanitarian law, provided victims an opportunity to voice the horrors they witnessed and experienced, and proved that those suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during armed conflicts can be called to account."2 The Tribunal's Indictments and Judgements have indeed provided extensive documentation of the atrocities that were committed. Through the testimony of the survivors, the proceedings gave a profoundly important voice to those who the perpetrators attempted to erase from the world and memory. However, in spite of those procedural bring to justice those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991 and thus contribute to thevirtues and outcomes, the disappointment by survivors concerning the limits of justice has also been expressed and documented: '"How can you measure justice against all I have suffered'' asked a witness whose husband and two sons had perished during the 1993 assault on Ahmići. 'It’s just a word. It means nothing.'"3 The current analysis seeks to emphasize that the disappointment felt by survivors of the genocide and other war crimes has been compounded, for example, by short prison sentences, early releases of the convicted perpetrators, and the failure to achieve convictions for genocide. The disheartening outcome of the legal proceedings seems to have enabled the rise of hate speech,4 genocide denial,5 the glorification of convicted war criminals,6 and the suppression of memorials for the victims in Republika Srpska.7 Such divisive rhetoric, far from restoring peace, has served to destabilize Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has led some to reflect that the region may be on the brink of another conflict, if not another genocide.8
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:33:57 PST
STRUGGLING FOR THE RIGHT TO REMEMBER: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL
FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA (ICTY) AND THE COMMEMORATION OF GENOCIDE IN
PRIJEDOR
- Authors: JOHANNA PAUL
  Abstract: The large-scale atrocities committed in the Prijedor municipality of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 have featured prominently in the ICTY’s development—from its establishment, its first trial (Duško Tadić), to its final verdict (Ratko Mladić). As a result, the ITCY has produced a lasting historical record of crimes committed in Prijedor and significantly contributed to the shrinking of the space for their denial, but it did not qualify these crimes as genocide. This article addresses civil society activities aimed toward facing the past and memorialization in Prijedor and the question of how the ICTY has influenced the bottom-up mobilization of survivors and returnees for the right to remember civilian victims in an unfavorable environment. Inspired by previous work on the ICTY’s indirect influence on democratization by sparking civil society activism, I review events in 2012, the 20th anniversary of the heinous war crimes in Prijedor, and analyze how the court has influenced the mobilization of activists locally and abroad and how these activists have sought to influence the court’s work. To discuss this bi-directionality, I first consider how two important ICTY cases—those concerning Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, both of whom were indicted for genocide in Prijedor and other municipalities in 1992—encouraged the activists to mobilize and demand from local authorities a process of confronting the recent past, and gave legitimacy to the activists’ decision to use the word ‘genocide’ in public commemorations. Second, I address how concentration camp survivors addressed the Tribunal in an on-going process by filing an amici curiae request following a Trial Chamber decision to drop the count under which Karadžić was indicted for genocide in Prijedor and other Bosnian municipalities. The analysis shows how the ICTY has influenced the bottom-up mobilization of survivors and returnees for the right to remember in an unfavorable environment and the lasting impact of that year on local memory politics.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:33:48 PST
BORDERS AND INTEGRATION: BECOMING A BOSNIAN-AMERICAN
- Authors: ADNA KARAMEHIC-OATES et al.
  Abstract: For Bosnian and Herzegovinians fleeing the conflict in their homeland in the 1990s, the process of finding a safe haven was a tumultuous experience. Despite the protections outlined in the 1951 Geneva Convention, the response of former Yugoslavia’s neighboring countries to the humanitarian crisis was a tightening of borders and restrictive reception policies. These experiences are in contrast to the reception policies Bosnian refugees encountered in the United States, whose permanent resettlement program at that period in time offered opportunities for ‘normal life,’ as discussed by Jansen1.‘Border work,’ using Jones and Johnson’s2 term, has implications for practical forms of integration. This paper reviews and contrasts the ‘border work’ of European nations and the United States in relation to Bosnian refugees and discusses the integration of Bosnian-Americans in the United States, using St. Louis, Missouri, as an example. With the focus on the Bosnian community in the United States, particularly in cities with many Bosnians, studying the US Bosnian diaspora makes for an interesting case study provided that in terms of social, cultural, and economic adaptation, the Bosnian story is considered an immigration success story.The paper has implications for practical forms of integration, resettlement, and adaptation.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:33:39 PST
DIANE ORENTLICHER
- Authors: Diane Orentlicher
  Abstract: As the title of this symposium reflects, a critically important dimension of the Tribunal’s legacy is its role in understanding the war and genocide in Bosnia. In my remarks, I want to drill down on the word “understanding,” one of the most complex facets of the ICTY’s legacy.In brief, I will make four points. The first is that the ICTY’s expected contribution to understanding the 1990s conflict in Bosnia and the atrocities associated with that conflict was deeply important to many individuals whom I have interviewed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as in Serbia, about the ICTY’s impact in their countries.Second, the hard facts and legal conclusions established through court procedures, however impartial and rigorous, do not automatically translate into general knowledge or understanding, particularly in polarized societies. On the contrary, despite the work of the ICTY, denialism about wartime atrocities has been on the rise in the former Yugoslavia.Third, the rise in denialism in Bosnia and its neighbors despite the ICTY’s work highlights a significant challenge for human rights champions everywhere, as well as for citizens of Bosnia, Serbia, and other Western Balkan countries.Finally, I will conclude with several thoughts about how we can honor the sacred duty of remembrance in a way that enriches our understanding of the past in the challenging context of polarized societies.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:33:31 PST
UKRAINE, SELF-DETERMINATION, AND EMERGING NORMS FOR UNILATERAL SECESSION
OF STATES
- Authors: Rocky Esposito
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:09:44 PST
RELIGION AS LAW: THE ISRAELI NATION- STATE LAW AND THE PALESTINIANS
- Authors: Alexandria Buettner
  Abstract: Yousef Munayyer had to travel 6,000 miles to meet his wife, who had lived 30 miles from him their entire lives.1 When the couple decides to visit their families, they cannot fly into the same airport in Tel Aviv, although it is the closest to their hometowns. Instead, she must land in a different country, while her husband is permitted to fly into Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport.2 Should they choose to land in the closest possible airport for Munayyer’s wife, Israeli law still requires the couple take different bridges, located two hours apart, and answer a series of questions in order to be permitted to return to their childhood home together.3Munayyer is an Arab Israeli citizen. His wife is not.4 Their realities represent the sharp divide between Israelis and Palestinians. Although Munayyer is an Arab, he was fortunate enough to obtain Israeli citizenship by virtue of his birth in the city of Lod, instead of in the occupied West Bank.5 Not all Palestinians are as lucky. Aside from the nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees eligible for aid from the United Nations, there are many more Palestinians living in the occupied territories of Israel who are subject to Israeli laws.The passage of the Israeli Nation-State Law and the actions of current United States President Donald Trump will deeply impact the Palestinians and Palestinian refugees. 6 This note will first address the background of the Palestinian Refugee crisis and the creation of the State of Israel. I will then address the impact of Israel’s Nation State law in conjunction with the growth of Israeli nationalism as well as address some, possible consequences, and steps to minimize these negative effects.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:09:35 PST
THE STATELESSNESS PROBLEM OF THE ROHINGYA MUSLIMS
- Authors: Shehmin Awan
  Abstract: After finding that approximately ten million people worldwide are stateless, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”) launched the #IBelong Campaign, which seeks to end the global crisis of statelessness within a decade of its launch in November 2014, by identifying and protecting populations of stateless people and preventing further statelessness.1 The UNHCR is working with other UN agencies, state governments, civil society, and regional organizations to carry out a ten-part Global Action Plan to End Statelessness (“GAP”).2The #IBelong Campaign addresses the problem of statelessness by building off of the UN’s previous efforts, which began in 1954 with the passage of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (“1954 Convention”) and further developed in 1961 with the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (“1961 Convention”) and in 1995 withthe UNHCR’s Global Mandate on Statelessness.3 These measures, taken as a whole, attempt to reverse the significant challenges arising out of a stateless status, such as a lack of basic identity documentation; a diminished access to education, healthcare, and employment; and general exclusion, marginalization, discrimination, poverty, and fear.4Of the estimated ten million people who the UNHCR has identified as stateless, 75% are from minority groups within the state in question.5 One such minority is the Rohingya Muslims in the state of Myanmar (formerly Burma).6 Although previously recognized as citizens, the Rohingya Muslims have been systematically denied citizenship and other rights since 1962, beginning under an anti-Muslim military regime and continuing under the current democratic regime.7 Systematic oppressionhas resulted in the Rohingya refugee crisis, where more than 671,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled their homes in the Rakhine State since late August 2017 in an attempt to save themselves from ethnic cleansing, mass killings, and other crimes against humanity.8First, this note will explain the UNHCR provisions and guidance on statelessness and the citizenship laws in Burma that create a stateless status for the Rohingya Muslims. Second, this note will discuss how Burma’s state actions have resulted in a refugee crisis for the Rohingya Muslims. Finally, this note will propose possible remedies for the problem of statelessness for Rohingya Muslims in Burma and additional solutions for the current refugee crisis.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:09:27 PST
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ASTANA INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER IN
KAZAKHSTAN
- Authors: Horace Yeung et al.
  Abstract: This article investigates the most recent instance of the transplantation of English corporate and financial law into a different legal environment. The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) in Kazakhstan was launched in 2018. The AIFC has largely built on the institutional model pioneered by the Dubai International Financial Center . This key institutional innovation is the transplanting and operation of laws based on the English common law, independent of their national legal systems (civil law systems, heavily influenced by Islamic tradition, and, in the case of Kazakhstan, also Soviet socialist principles). This article seeks to contribute to the understanding of the system of Kazakhstan, a strategically located but well under-investigated country, and a potentially viable institutional model for other aspiring financial centers. To the best knowledge of the authors, this work is the first ever English academic literature on the development of the AIC.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:09:18 PST
DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER GENETIC TESTING: EMPOWERING EU CONSUMERS AND GIVING
MEANING TO THE INFORMED CONSENT PROCESS WITHIN THE IVDR AND GDPR
FRAMEWORKS
- Authors: SARA A. MAHMOUD-DAVIS
  Abstract: Consumer genomics is an industry that is undergoing exponential growth. Although consumers in the United States (U.S.) currently purchase the bulk of online direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests, the DTC industry’s business model depends on exploiting markets worldwide. DTC genetic testing companies increasingly seek to market and sell their services throughout the European Union (EU), which is one of the world’s largest economies and is home to a digital, educated, and wealthy consumer base. Since May 2018, the EU General Data ProtectionRegulation (GDPR) provides EU consumers with enhanced data privacy protections and places stricter controls on genetic data. When EU consumers purchase online DTC genetic tests, they exercise two distinct fundamental rights—the right to data privacy and the right to informed medical consent. The article explores the intersection of these rights by examining relevant EU and other legislation, mainly the GDPR, the InVitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation, and the Council of Europe’s Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. Additionally, the discussion highlights the challenges associated with protecting consumers’ autonomy and freedom to purchase online DTC genetic tests, while also safeguarding the bioethical standards of informedconsent.The analysis explains that the online purchase of a DTC genetic testinvolves two distinct consent processes—one for data processing and the other for informed consent. These two consent processes are highly dependent upon each other to protect consumers adequately. Yet, the status quo reveals that informed consent is severely lacking in the purchase of online DTC genetic tests. This results in consumers’ loss of control over health and medical decisions, as well as over personal data. Consequently, as the DTC genetic testing industry continues to grow, there is a critical need for more robust online informed consent procedures. The article concludes that current EU regulations fail to sufficiently address the issues specific to online DTC genetic tests. Furthermore, an EU regulation on informed consent, in general, is not feasible. Thus, the article considers opportunities for the EU and its Member States, consumers, and industry to work together to both empower and protect consumers who purchase online DTC genetic tests. Finally, the article discusses methods for industry to improve the online informed consent process.
  PubDate: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:09:09 PST

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