by Alfred de Zayas,* Geneva
(11 June 2022) It is no secret that the UN Human Rights Council essentially serves the interests of the Western developed countries and does not have a holistic approach to all human rights. Blackmail and bullying are common practices, and the US has proven that it has sufficient “soft power” to cajole weaker countries.
by Daniel Kovalik,* USA
(30 May 2022) In the case of Russia's military intervention in its neighbouring country, the argument can be made that Moscow exercised its right to self-defence – because the conflict with Ukraine did not just break out on 24 February this year.
by Wolfgang van Biezen
(22 May 2022) (Red.) Russia's military deployment in Ukraine is generally described as contrary to international law. But the situation is not as clear-cut under international law as it appears at first glance. The International Court of Justice's 2010 opinion on the secession of Kosovo plays a decisive role in the assessment, as the author shows in his insightful study.
by Alfred de Zayas,* Geneva
(4 April 2022) “Fake news” is a widespread phenomenon – not only in wartime, but also in daily political and economic relations. Fake news are not only disseminated by governments and its proxies, but also practiced by the private sector, by media conglomerates, by individuals in their correspondence, gossip, social media and through the internet.
by Alfred de Zayas,* Geneva
(28 March 2022) AdZ. This article draws on the research of other scholars including Jeffrey Sachs and Mark Weisbrot and encourages further research by UN agencies including UNICEF, WHO, FAO to quantify the concrete harm done by economic sanctions, in particular the nexus between sanctions and famine, sanctions and scarcity of medicines (the ECWAS study on Syria is very revealing) and suggests that because of the tens of thousands of deaths caused by sanctions world-wide, they should be considered under article 7 of the Rome Statute as crimes against humanity.
by Johannes van Aggelen*
(14 February 2022) Alfred de Zayas’s “Building a Just World Order” is fascinating and erudite book that encompasses in fourteen sections the spectrum of human rights issues dealt with by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, where the author worked as a senior lawyer for over two decades, and which he also served as a consultant and UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (2012–2018).