A safer place for all

Article Abstract:

On his eighty-third birthday, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was informed by the highest court in Britain that he had no immunity from English courts for his crimes against humanity under international law. Passing a law against torture, as the United Nations did with their Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, is different from enforcement. Nations have been reluctant to prosecute people for human rights abuses in cases other than crimes associated with World War II. Current heads of state benefit from statutes respecting state sovereignty and laws.

United Kingdom, Investigations, Cover Story, Pinochet, Augusto, United Nations

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Is there a right of humanitarian intervention?

Article Abstract:

International law allows limited intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state for humanitarian purposes. Traditionally, unilateral action by the UN was thought to be unjustified and in violation of the prohibition in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. However, intervention in northern and southern Iraq following its defeat in the Gulf War as well as in Liberia and Somalia when their governments succumbed to anarchy has met with widespread acceptance. The situation in the former Yugoslavia is more complex and how UN law will evolve there remains to be seen.

Intervention (International law), Military intervention

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Rights and wrongs

Article Abstract:

Issues are discussed regarding the rights of European union states to intervene in Austria's government, even when the government is headed by someone with Nazi sympathies such as Jorg Haider. The EU cannot expel a member state but can try a mixture of low-level sanctions to ensure that Austria behaves in conformity with European norms.

Austria, European Union, Self-determination, National, National self determination, Public opinion

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