Is There a Way Out of the Non-International Armed Conflict Detention Dilemma?

Detention in non-international armed conflicts (NIACs, or wars fought between States and non-State armed groups) is a time-honored military and humanitarian necessity. And yet, the principles of sovereignty, the texts of the law of armed conflict and international human rights law and the historical record leave little doubt: international law recognizes no inherent detention power in such wars. As long as NIACs were purely internal civil wars, there was little basis to question the exclusive role of domestic law in regulating detention of the enemy. With the advent of transnational NIACs, such as the war in Afghanistan involving multi-national forces against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the legal playing field becomes more complicated. State practice has lacked coherence. Still, domestic law, as tempered by due process requirements of international human rights law, remains the most rational source of regulation for NIAC detention

Obama Administration’s Position on the Un Torture Convention: New? Yes. Significant? Not So Much

Could it be that American international law experts and human rights advocates are suffering from some form of Stockholm Syndrome — so many defeats and dashed hopes at the hands of our government that we sometimes take excessive comfort in small and imaginary crumbs that it drops for us? For an example of this, look no further than the United States’ appearance last week before the UN’s Committee against Torture in Geneva – the body established by the Convention against Torture (CAT) to monitor State compliance with the Convention

Complaint

On June 11, 2020, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 13,928, Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated With the International Criminal Court, threatening severe sanctions, monetary penalties, and imprisonment on persons who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Executive Order exceeds its legal authority, impermissibly prohibits speech, and fails to provide notice as to who it covers and what for what activities. Those impacted by the Executive Order include U.S. persons, including U.S. entities, as well as foreign persons and foreign entities. The Open Society Justice Initiative and four law professors, all of whom have engaged extensively with the ICC, brought this case seeking a declaration from the U.S. federal court that the Executive Order and its implementing Regulations violate the U.S. Constitution and statutory law. The lawsuit also seeks an order enjoining the Trump Administration from enforcing the Order

A Major Development to End Impunity for Mass Atrocities: The Ljubljana – The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes

https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/flyers-2023-2024/1069/thumbnail.jp

International Law and the Israel-Hamas Conflict

https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/flyers-2023-2024/1030/thumbnail.jp

Full-length human placental sFlt-1-e15a isoform induces distinct maternal phenotypes of preeclampsia in mice

<div><p>Objective</p><p>Most anti-angiogenic preeclampsia models in rodents utilized the overexpression of a truncated soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) not expressed in any species. Other limitations of mouse preeclampsia models included stressful blood pressure measurements and the lack of postpartum monitoring. We aimed to 1) develop a mouse model of preeclampsia by administering the most abundant human placental sFlt-1 isoform (hsFlt-1-e15a) in preeclampsia; 2) determine blood pressures in non-stressed conditions; and 3) develop a survival surgery that enables the collection of fetuses and placentas and postpartum (PP) monitoring.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Pregnancy status of CD-1 mice was evaluated with high-frequency ultrasound on gestational days (GD) 6 and 7. Telemetry catheters were implanted in the carotid artery on GD7, and their positions were verified by ultrasound on GD13. Mice were injected through tail-vein with adenoviruses expressing hsFlt-1-e15a (n = 11) or green fluorescent protein (GFP; n = 9) on GD8/GD11. Placentas and pups were delivered by cesarean section on GD18 allowing PP monitoring. Urine samples were collected with cystocentesis on GD6/GD7, GD13, GD18, and PPD8, and albumin/creatinine ratios were determined. GFP and hsFlt-1-e15a expression profiles were determined by qRT-PCR. Aortic ring assays were performed to assess the effect of hsFlt-1-e15a on endothelia.</p><p>Results</p><p>Ultrasound predicted pregnancy on GD7 in 97% of cases. Cesarean section survival rate was 100%. Mean arterial blood pressure was higher in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (∆MAP = 13.2 mmHg, p = 0.00107; GD18). Focal glomerular changes were found in hsFlt-1-e15a -treated mice, which had higher urine albumin/creatinine ratios than controls (109.3±51.7μg/mg vs. 19.3±5.6μg/mg, p = 4.4x10^-2; GD18). Aortic ring assays showed a 46% lesser microvessel outgrowth in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (p = 1.2x10^-2). Placental and fetal weights did not differ between the groups. One mouse with liver disease developed early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>A mouse model of late-onset preeclampsia was developed with the overexpression of hsFlt-1-e15a, verifying the <i>in vivo</i> pathologic effects of this primate-specific, predominant placental sFlt-1 isoform. HsFlt-1-e15a induced early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms associated with IUGR in a mouse with a liver disease. Our findings support that hsFlt-1-e15a is central to the terminal pathway of preeclampsia, and it can induce the full spectrum of symptoms in this obstetrical syndrome.</p></div

[Photograph 2012.201.B1325.0353]

Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Since last July, when he made his network debut on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," Jerry Van Dyke, Dick's "little brother," has made a spectacular rise from night-club obscurity to TV stardom.