Alfred de Zayas and Adriel Kasonta*
(20 November 2021) The U.S. regained its seat on the UN Human Rights Council in an uncontested vote in the UN General Assembly on October 14, 2021, after the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump quit the 47-member body in 2018 citing the "chronic bias" against Israel.
by Alfred de Zayas*
(3 October 2021) Ed. This analysis was presented by the author on 22 September during an expert conference conducted as a side event to the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, held from 13 September to 8 October 2021. Among the experts Professor Dr. Alena Douhan, the current UN Special Rapporteur on Unilateral coercive measures, made a presentation based on her report to the Human Rights Council 2021
The theory and practice of “Unilateral coercive measures” (UCM) is characterized by fake news, fake law, false flags, and double-standards. As far as the legal basis for the imposition of sanctions, only those imposed by the Security Council under article 41 of the UN Charter can be termed legal.
by Vera Lengsfeld*
(29 May 2021) Ed. In this article, Vera Lengsfeld warns of a dangerous dismantling of the law in Germany. A keen, lifelong observer of law and democracy, she was already known for her astuteness, courage and sincerity in the former GDR, thanks to her civil engagement under very difficult conditions.
by Alfred de Zayas*
(12 May 2021) Worse than the Dreyfus Affair, UN Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer denounces the Assange Affair as an international scandal of judicial misconduct, and breakdown of the Rule of Law in the USA, UK, Sweden and Ecuador.
by Alfred de Zayas and Richard Falk*
(3 May 2021) The misuse of the word «genocide» is disdainful toward relatives of the victims of the Armenian massacres, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide – and as well a disservice to both history, law, and the prudent conduct of international relations.
We already knew that we were adrift in an ocean of fake news. It is far more dangerous to discover that we are also at risk of being immersed in the turbulent waters of “fake law”. We must push back with a sense of urgency. Such a development is not tolerable.
Germany
by Kurt Scherrer
(15 February 2021) For the first time, due to a lawsuit in Thuringia, a German district court has taken a position on the measures against covid-19 that have been adopted so far. At the centre of the proceedings, the Weimar District Court had to assess the legal basis of the measures imposed to combat covid-19 adopted in spring 2020 and thus their legality and proportionality. The judgement was eagerly awaited, as it was the first time that various officially decreed measures and restrictions, up to national directives of the German federal government, were subject to legal scrutiny following a citizen's complaint. It was therefore a matter for the court to assess the extent to which the decisions of the authorities were compatible with the freedoms and rights of citizens constitutionally guaranteed in a liberal and democratic constitutional state. The landmark judgment was published on 11 January 2021 and aroused a great deal of interest among the persons concerned because of its detailed justifications and unusually clear language. Is it any wonder that it has so far had little coverage in the major private and public media?