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From the US elections to Israel and Hamas arrest warrants - November 2024
Dear friends and colleagues,
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What a month! It started with the re-election of Donald Trump in the US and it ended with a wave of new arrest warrants at the International Criminal Court. We tried to cover it all, as well as keep focusing on aspects of this world that are not quite so in the display window.
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Just before the US people cast their votes, with Milena Sterio we ran through how the United States is currently playing its role in international criminal law and international humanitarian law (we will have more in January as he takes office). We also added a new piece to our gender series as we discussed gender apartheid with Karima Bennoune, who in September 2023 addressed the UN Security Council about gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
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And we commemorate 30 years since the founding of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda by taking a trip back to 1998, guided by Janet in her first days covering international justice and we hear the voices she collected for Radio Netherlands back then. We also took a real trip this month - all the way to Geneva to record with Gustave Moynier's 'descendants', about the Geneva Convention on trial, in partnership with the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
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As the arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif were finally announced by the ICC judges on November 21, we put together an emergency podcast to discuss what is happening. Sergey Vasiliev explained why the hard part is still to come. And we closed the month looking ahead into December, when the same time as the Assembly of the State Parties of the ICC, the International Court of Justice will have hearings in its largest-ever case (in terms of states' participation) and the first one assessing climate change. It is of course the advisory opinion instigated by Vanuatu and requested by the UN General Assembly and we have the pleasure of commenting on it with Vanuatu’s Special Envoy on Climate Ralph Regenvanu.
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If you aren't exhausted by all that (we are!)...
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Over on Patreon bonus, the War Criminals Book Club, we reviewed "A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Power and discussed what it taught us and what has changed since 2002. Plus of course what role Power is (or is not) playing in ongoing conflicts as part of the current US administration.
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If you have any questions, please reach out to editors@asymmetricalhaircuts.com.
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Have a listen
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This month we read the 2002 book with which Samantha Power won the Pulitzer Prize, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide. In this analysis of America's failure to stop genocides, she looked at different regions of the world, such as Turkey, Germany, Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Kosovo.
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Vanuatu's Special Envoy on Climate, Ralph Regenvanu explains why his small island state has turned to the ICJ for climate justice
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Arrest warrants out of the ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel against Netanyahu, Gallant and Hams leader Deif - what does it all mean?
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Can you put the Geneva Conventions on trial? We tried, with the help of the Geneva Academy, to explore why these 75 year old rules seem to be falling apart.
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It was 30 years ago that the Rwanda Tribunal was established after the genocide. What were the issues and how is it seen now?
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We discuss gender apartheid and how it applies as a legal concept for cases concerning Afghanistan, with Karima Bennoune.
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It's US presidential election time and we consider the american relationship to some of the big justice issues like Israel-Palestine and Ukraine, with Milena Sterio
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What else have we been up to?
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Other suggestions:
- Molly suggests the book Doppelganger by Naomi Klein, Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and leftism; and criticism of capitalism.
- Steph has been listening to BBC Radio 5 show Bad People, about the bad things people do and why.
- Janet is re-reading Jilly Cooper's Rivals and loving the Cotswold setting, which is where she is from in the UK. She also recommends the series adaptation - it's great fun.
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Looking Ahead
Next month on Patreon, we will take a little break from our book reviews to comment this crazy year of international justice, our favourite reads and the funniest moments we had recording together. Thank you all for supporting us and making it possible!
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And on our regular feed we will do an Assembly of State Parties round-up and we will release our series on secondary trauma for those documenting atrocity crimes. And as tradition wants, our Christmas episode will also keep you company during the holidays.
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Thanks a lot for all your support and tune in next month - Happy winter break!
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