Legal Responses to Genocide and Other Massive Violations of Human Rights

The international community could halt the proliferation of genocides by arresting them before, or at least while they are happening, by any means necessary. Instead, the focus is on actions after the fact

Institutions and Practices for Restoring and Maintaining Public Order

In the wake of the atrocities committed in Cambodia, southern Sudan, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Haiti, many in the international community have called for the creation of ad hoc or standing international criminal courts to deal with some types of international delicts. Courts are indispensable institutions in many domestic criminal and civil systems, and any polity, no matter how structured, must have arrangements, of varying degrees of institutionalization, to apply the law to concrete cases. But lest we fall victim to a judicial romanticism in which we imagine that merely by creating entities we call courts we have solved major problems, we should review the fundamental goals that institutions designed to protect public order seek to fulfill. Goal clarification is especially important when our passions are engaged, as indeed they should be, upon encountering atrocities such as those of Rwanda. Indignation can be a powerful and productive source of political energy, but only if we tap it to stimulate the design of institutions that protect, restore, and improve public order

When Are Economic Sanctions Effective? Selected Theorems And Corollaries

Economic sanctions may take many forms and may be applied unilaterally or multilaterally, but like all uses of the economic instrument, they involve the purposive threat or actual granting or withholding of economic indulgences, opportunities, and benefits by one actor or group of actors in order to induce another actor or group of actors to change or adjust an internal or external policy

Access to essential technologies for safe childbirth: a survey of health workers in Africa and Asia

Background: The reliable availability of health technologies, defined as equipment, medicines, and consumable supplies, is essential to ensure successful childbirth practices proven to prevent avoidable maternal and newborn mortality. The majority of global maternal and newborn deaths take place in Africa and Asia, yet few data exist that describe the availability of childbirth-related health technologies in these regions. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of health workers in Africa and Asia in order to profile the availability of health technologies considered to be essential to providing safe childbirth care. Methods: Health workers in Africa and Asia were surveyed using a web-based questionnaire. A list of essential childbirth-related health technologies was drawn from World Health Organization guidelines for preventing and managing complications associated with the major causes of maternal and newborn mortality globally. Demographic data describing each birth center were obtained and health workers reported on the availability of essential childbirth-related health technologies at their centers. Comparison analyses were conducted using Rao-Scott chi-square test statistics. Results: Health workers from 124 birth centers in 26 African and 15 Asian countries participated. All facilities exhibited gaps in the availability of essential childbirth-related health technologies. Availability was significantly reduced in birth centers that had lower birth volumes and those from lower income countries. On average across all centers, health workers reported the availability of 18 of 23 essential childbirth-related health technologies (79%; 95% CI, 74%, 84%). Low-volume facilities suffered severe shortages; on average, these centers reported reliable availability of 13 of 23 technologies (55%; 95% CI, 39%, 71%). Conclusions: Substantial gaps exist in the availability of essential childbirth-related health technologies across health sector levels in Africa and Asia. Strategies that facilitate reliable access to vital health technologies in these regions are an urgent priority