Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Category: Auslaw

  • The killing of Osama bin Laden: his right to life and the new torture debate

    The killing of Osama bin Laden: his right to life and the new torture debate

    Sarah Joseph Osama Bin Laden’s killing at the hands of US Navy SEALS on 1 May gives rise to some interesting international law issues. Here, I address some of those issues from a human rights perspective, concerning freedom from torture (regarding the intelligence used to find Bin Laden) and the right to life (regarding his…

  • Swaziland, where it’s good to be the king

    By Marius Smith If you’ve been keeping up with the news about Kate and Will’s royal wedding, you may have noticed the kerfuffle over the invitation extended to King Mswati III.  The leader of Swaziland rules his tiny African nation with an iron fist.  Political parties are banned, emergency laws have been in place for…

  • Humanitarian Intervention in Libya

    by Sarah Joseph This morning, Melbourne time, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973/2011, which authorises the taking of “all necessary measures” including a no fly zone but short of occupation, to protect civilians and “civilian populated areas” from Colonel Gaddafi’s government. The UN has essentially authorised “humanitarian intervention” against Gaddafi’s regime. “Humanitarian intervention” refers…

  • Chris Mitchell should put up rather than shut up

    by Sarah Joseph Followers of the Castan Centre Blog would know of the #twitdef imbroglio, ostensibly between the Editor-in-Chief of “the Australian” newspaper, Chris Mitchell, and University of Canberra journalism academic Julie Posetti. It is an interesting tale for the uninitiated, involving threats of a defamation suit over a series of tweets. For background, see my…

  • Tweeting human rights and two Revolutions (so far)

    Sarah Joseph The Castan Centre’s twitter account (@castancentre) is intended to disseminate news of relevance to human rights, usually consisting of a short descriptor (very occasionally with attempted wit) followed by a link to a story.  To give a sample of its flavour, many of the links below are to our twitter feed (and you…

  • Debunking a scare campaign: an exchange between a US Senator and his US constituent over the Gitmo trials

    By Erica Contini Like any good citizen, I voice my opinion on issues that are important to me by writing to my elected representatives in congress. Lucky for me, I am a US citizen and therefore have the constitutionally protected right to do just that. Even luckier, I generally think I can do so without…