Media

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta was in New York recently asking the United Nations Security Council to extend its mission in the fledgling nation.

The U-N will make that decision today but it will do so amid a cloud of doubt surrounding the legitimacy of its police presence in the troubled nation. A 1,500-strong international police force was given authority over East Timor's internal security force in 2006, after tensions between the police and military led to deadly violence. However, a recent decision by East Timor's highest court has found the the agreement between the East Timorese government and the United Nations Police non-binding and unconstitutional. East Timor's Opposition says the court's decision is alarming, and could lead to a culture of impunity within the fledgling police force.

A transcript and recodring of the interview can be found here.

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta was in New York recently asking the United Nations Security Council to extend its mission in the fledgling nation.

The U-N will make that decision today but it will do so amid a cloud of doubt surrounding the legitimacy of its police presence in the troubled nation. A 1,500-strong international police force was given authority over East Timor's internal security force in 2006, after tensions between the police and military led to deadly violence. However, a recent decision by East Timor's highest court has found the the agreement between the East Timorese government and the United Nations Police non-binding and unconstitutional. East Timor's Opposition says the court's decision is alarming, and could lead to a culture of impunity within the fledgling police force.

A transcript and recodring of the interview can be found here.

Hilary spoke to the Jeremy Gilling from the Campus Review Weekly about the growing number of students studying internationl law and the reasons behind the increase.

International law, once an underexplored and unappreciated minor specialisation in Australian law faculties, has emerged as a necessary part of a complete law degree, says Charlesworth.

The full article can be found here.

"The UN Conference to review the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism will be held in Geneva in April. As it draws closer, the pressure on Australia to withdraw from the conference increases. Some commentators have argued that Australia should join Canada and Israel in boycotting the conference on the basis that it will simply be a forum for anti-Semitism..."

You can read the full article on the Canberra Times website.

"In Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II, a pretender to the throne outlines the Utopia that will come when his unruly mob helps make him king. The unruliest of them all, Dick the Butcher, leers in an aside to the audience, ''The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'' Wherever and whenever it is staged around the world, Dick always brings the house down.

Steven Spielberg uses much the same technique in the movie Jurassic Park, when the venal lawyer is eaten by the T rex while on the toilet. Guffaws all round.

Now I'm not here to naysay lawyer jokes. Keep 'em coming, I say. I am just here to alert you to the reflex ex-NSW Premier Bob Carr is hitting when he calls any attempt to legally protect human rights in a piece of legislation as leading to a ''lawyer's picnic''."

The full article is availble on the Canberra Times website.

"Releasing an important 310-page government report on December 23 is always cause for alarm. On Tuesday the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, released the Clarke Inquiry Report which had been waiting on his desk for a month.

The new Rudd Government announced an inquiry early this year into the ''arrest, detention, charging, prosecution and release of Dr Mohamed Haneef, the cancellation of his Australian visa and the issuing of a criminal justice stay certificate'', all of which occurred in late 2007. The inquiry was headed by former NSW Supreme Court judge John Clarke QC."

The full article is abvailable here in pdf format.

"Bangladesh celebrates its birth on 16 December 1971 – now celebrated as Victory Day, a day of reminiscence for citizens of the new nation. But many memories are troubling, especially those of the ‘war babies’ – children born during or after the War of Liberation, as a result of the often-planned and systematic rape of Bangladeshi women. If we turn back the pages of Bangladesh’s history, we can get some rare glimpses of the marginalised; but there is still complete silence when it comes to the babies of war."

The full article can be found here.

Hilary Charlesworth talks on the history of the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on ABC Radio National's Rear Vision program, 7 December 2008

You can listen to the full interview or read the transcript at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/.

"When a government is about to make a new law, the last thing that is on their mindis how it's going to affect some marginalised individual. This is a way of making sure thoes people get a chance to have their issues talked about. It's not perfect but it would be more democratic than the system we have now."

The article is abvailable here in pdf format.

Will the date October 30 mark the last best chance for justice for survivors of occupation in East Timor? Two crucial reports may mark a turning point for justice Susan Harris-Rimmer writes. Read the full article here.

Hilary speaks to Philp Adams from the Late Night Live program on ABC Radion National about the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21st Century. The Interview also features Richard Gowan from New York University.

You can listen to the full interview at the ABC News Radio website.

"Sixty years after the UN's declaration, its principles are still under threat..."

Read Hilary's opinion piece online at The Age website. The article was also reprinted in The Brisbane Times.

Genocide charges against Sudan's president over Darfur - even if it brings justice, will it prevent peace?
Jennifer Byrne talks with Professor Hillary Charlesworth, an expert on international law and the United Nations.

Audio of the interview can be downloaded from the ABC News Radio website

The International Criminal Court asked judges in The Hague to seek the arrest of Sudan's president, Omar al Bashir. Prosecutors say the President is guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. With some observers now fearing a violent backlash from the government, will the charges against the President, help, or harm the Sudanese people.

Also featured in story are Alex Bellamy- lecturer in peace and conflict studies, University of Queensland, Alpha Lisimba- Vice President Darfur Australia Network.

The podcast of the interview can be downloaded from The Wire website.

Tara Gutman, an ANU Law SJD Student, was interviewed on ABC's Asia Pacific TV network last week on the trial of Ieng Sary. NewsHour's Thom Cookes reported on the first trial of a surviving Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia, which is meant to get underway in September.

The interview can be viewed on the ABC News website.

Tara is supervised by Professor Hilary Charlesworth

Jo Ford comments on the continuing political drama in Zimbabwe, read his opinion piece "Justice aside, Zimbabwe must give peace a chance," at the Canberra Times website.

The full article is also available here in pdf format.

Professor Hilary Charlesworth speaks to ABC Radio's PM Program about the UN Security Council's vote to classify rape as a weapon of war.

For a transcript of the interview please go to this link which also has links to audio files of the interview.

Jo Ford comments on the call for UN sanctions on Zimbabwe in the Canberra Times opinion piece "It's best to play the waiting game on Zimbabwe."

The full article is available here.

Dr Jeremy Farrall, Research Fellow at CIGJ, was invited to speak to "The World Today" radio program regarding the US envoy's call for UN sanctions on Zimbabwe.

"America's top diplomatic envoy to Africa says the UN should consider imposing sanctions against the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. The call has come as Zimbabwe's electoral commission prepares to release the final results of last month's presidential and Parliamentary elections."

The recording of the program is available here for download,

or please see The World Today website at: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/indexes/2008/twt_20080428.htm

Megan David, CIGJ PhD Scholar, and Sarah Maddison's article appeared in the SMH on 24 April 2008. The piece, "The gains must not be squandered" reflects on the Minister's dismissal of the key theme of constitutional reform in the 2020 discussion of the Indigenous stream.

The full article can be found at: http://www.smh.com.au

Jo Ford, CIGJ PhD Scholar, together with Max du Plessis, comment on the current situation in Zimbabwe in "When the time arrives for Zimbabwe to start over." The piece, from the South African Daily newspaper Business Day, can be found here, or please visit the Business Day website at: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A750188

Professor Hilary Charlesworth blogs about a Human Rights agenda for the Rudd Government on the Lowy Institute Weblog The Interpreter.

Please follow the link to the article at: http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2008/04/A-Human-Rights-Agenda-for-the-Rudd-Government.aspx#continue

Professor Hilary Charlesworth and Gabrielle McKinnon discuss the amendments to the ACT Human Rights Act currently being considered by the Legislative Assembly.

The full article can be viewed at The Canberra Times website.

The suspected al Qaeda plot to detonate car bombs in London and Scotland has assumed international ramifications. An Indian doctor has now been detained in Australia. This takes the total number of people held for the terror plot to eight. At least three of them are doctors. One of the doctors had trained in Iraq and another trained in Jordan in 2004. 938IVE's Tamal Mukherjee speaks to anti-terrorism and strategic affairs expert Dr Brett Bowden at the Australian national University, to know more about the threats posed by well educated people planning death and destruction.

For full interview and podcast please follow this link:
http://www.938live.sg/programming.aspx?Editorial_Id=7047

Dr Brett Bowden, CIGJ Research fellow, was interviewed by China Radio International about the nomination of Robert Zoellick as President of the World Bank from a political perspective.

For the podcast of the full interview please follow this link:
http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/06/01/269@233734.htm

CIGJ Research fellow Dr Brett Bowden was interviewed by 938LIVE's Tamal Mukherjee asking about the situation in which Paul Wolfowitz has finally agreed to resign as president of the World Bank and if the whole episode raises several questions about governance and ethical issues at the World Bank. Mr Wolfowitz was embroiled in a controversy for weeks for helping to promote his partner. Mr Wolfowitz, a former US deputy defence secretary, had led an anti-corruption drive in countries which receive bank assistance. But analysts believe his anti-corruption stance has been severely undermined by his own questionable behaviour.

For the podcast of the full interview please follow this link:
http://www.938live.sg/ListDetail.aspx?SubCategoryID=3&Diff=0&Catgrp=CA#19585

Professor Hilary Charlesworth's article titled Working charters open door to better governance, as published in the Australian Financial Review, shows evidence from the ACT counters popular concerns about a federal bill of rights. The full article can be viewed here

Professor Hilary Charlesworth's article on David Hicks and how the outcome of his trial has left an enduring legacy can be read in full at http://www.australiansall.com.au/

Read the Law Council Australia's media release and the advice, co-authored by Hilary Charlesworth.

Read more in his article "The War on Terror and the Terror of War" from Counterpunch [Pdf available] or view the original online at http://www.counterpunch.org/bowden03012007.html

Read more in his article from The Canberra Times [Pdf available]