Principles for Responsibility Sharing: Proximity, Culpability, Moral Accountability, and Capability

In this Essay, we explore how responsibility based on culpability, moral accountability, and capability can improve the current regime that rests on responsibility by proximity. In doing so, we draw on the 2017 Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC), a model convention drafted by a commission of independent experts and currently supported as a project of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs

Afghan Mass Displacement: The American Response in Light of Interna-tional Human Rights and Refugee Law, and the Need for International Co-operation to achieve a Satisfactory Solution

Dieser Beitrag behandelt Probleme im Zusammenhang mit dem Rechtsstatus und der Behandlung von Evakuierten aus Afghanistan, von denen viele mit Aussicht auf Aufnahme in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika (USA) vorübergehend in Drittländern untergebracht werden. Dies betrifft sowohl Drittländer, die mit den USA Vereinbarungen über die vorübergehende Aufnahme getroffen haben, als auch „Lily Pad Countries“ in Europa und im Nahen Osten, in denen Evakuierte in US-Militärstützpunkten untergebracht sind. Darüber hinaus hat die Massenevakuierung aus Afghanistan Fragen über die Rechte und den weiteren Aufenthaltsstatus der afghanischen Evakuierten nach ihrer Ankunft in den USA aufgeworfen. Schließlich wird in dem Beitrag der für die Evakuierungspraktik der USA einschlägige völkerrechtliche Rahmen aufgezeigt und (potenzielle) Schutzdefizite erörtert, was auch Erkenntnisse im breiteren Kontext der humanitären Aufnahme und für internationale Bestrebungen im Flüchtlingsschutz bringt. Letztlich sind auch die EU-Mitgliedstaaten, inklusive Österreich, angehalten, einen Beitrag zu leisten, denn eine humanitäre Krise kann nicht von den USA im Alleingang bewältigt werden.  This contribution addresses issues relevant to the legal status and treatment of evacuees from Afghanistan, many of whom are destined to the United States (US), but temporarily hosted in third countries. This concerns third countries having agreed on temporary hosting arrangements with the US, and lily pad countries in Europe and the Middle East, where evacuees are located in US military bases. Beyond, the future residence status of evacuees paroled in the US remains uncertain. Against that backdrop, the contribution’s overall aim is to map out the pertinent international legal framework and apply it in the context of the US response to Afghan mass displacement, which also provides lessons for the broader subject of resettlement and humanitarian admission, and underscores the essential role of international cooperation for the protection of refugees and other vulnerable individuals on the move

After Switzerland Comes Austria - Why the ECtHR could soon grant individual standing in a climate mitigation case for the first time

The KlimaSeniorinnen judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been the subject of intense debate for several weeks. One focus was on the question of standing, i.e., who can bring a lawsuit connected to climate change and human rights before the ECtHR. However, less attention has been paid to the question of the impact of the judgment on currently pending climate change cases before the ECtHR. This blog post sheds light on “climate change case number four”, a case against Austria primarily challenging the shortcomings of the Austrian Climate Protection Act

Principles for Responsibility Sharing: Proximity, Culpability, Moral Accountability, and Capability

In this Essay, we explore how responsibility based on culpability, moral accountability, and capability can improve the current regime that rests on responsibility by proximity. In doing so, we draw on the 2017 Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC), a model convention drafted by a commission of independent experts and currently supported as a project of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs

Calcyphosine-like (CAPSL) is regulated in Multiple Symmetric Lipomatosis and is involved in Adipogenesis

Little is known on the causes and pathogenesis of the adipose tissue disorder (familial) Multiple Symmetric Lipomatosis (MSL). In a four-generation MSL-family, we performed whole exome sequencing (WES) in 3 affected individuals and 1 obligate carrier and identified Calcyphosine-like (CAPSL) as the most promising candidate gene for this family. Screening of 21 independent patients excluded CAPSL coding sequence variants as a common monogenic cause, but using immunohistochemistry we found that CAPSL was down-regulated in adipose tissue not only from the index patient but also in 10 independent sporadic MSL-patients. This suggests that CAPSL is regulated in sporadic MSL irrespective of the underlying genetic/multifactorial cause. Furthermore, we cultivated pre-adipocytes from MSL-patients and generated 3T3-L1-based Capsl knockout and overexpressing cell models showing altered autophagy, adipogenesis, lipogenesis and Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) expression. CAPSL seems to be involved in adipocyte biology and perturbation of autophagy is a potential mechanism in the pathogenesis of MSL. Downregulation of CAPSL and upregulation of UCP1 were common features in MSL fat while the known MSL genes MFN2 and LIPE did not show consistent alterations. CAPSL immunostainings could serve as first diagnostic tools in MSL clinical care with a potential to improve time to diagnosis and healthcare options