The winning 2009 Jessup International Moot Court Competition team from the Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia sent me photos to post and additional information about the team. El equipo de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de los Andes, Colombia me envió fotos para enviar y obtener información adicional acerca del equipo. More

According to Texas authorities, Mexican national José Ernesto Medellín Rojas has exhausted all available legal remedies and will be executed by lethal injection after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 for his role in two murders fifteen years ago. His planned execution brazenly defies the July 16, 2008 order by the International Court of Justice requiring that the United States "shall take all measures necessary" to prevent the execution of Mr. Medellín and four other Mexican nationals on death row pending Mexico's request for interpretation of the Avena Judgment. In Avena, the ICJ concluded that the United States violated its international legal obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to inform 51 Mexican nationals, including Mr. Medellín, of their right to consular notification. Texas officials maintain that Mr. Medellín's due process rights were not prejudiced by the failure to adhere to the Vienna Convention, that he failed to raise the claim in a timely manner, and that Texas legal and political actors are not bound by the decisions of the International Court of Justice. Subsequently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas state courts are not bound by the ICJ judgment because the right to consular notification was not directly enforceable as domestic law and thus requires Congressional legislation for effectuation. Given that his appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has proven to be politically ineffective, his remaining hope is for the U.S. Supreme Court to order a stay of execution to allow time for Congress to adopt a law conferring a justiciable right by individuals to a remedy for the harm done by the treaty violation. His latest petition to the Supreme Court, filed on July 31, 2008, likely will be unsuccessful given the Court's earlier holding and the speculative nature of future Congressional action. This latest confrontation of international and domestic frameworks promises to yield legal and political repercussions for the fair treatment of foreign nationals domestically and U.S. nationals abroad. More

Attorneys and law students from three continents gathered in Washington, D.C. for the film screening of "State of Fear: The Truth About Terrorism," the award-wining human rights documentary about Peru's struggle with terrorism 1980-2000. The film traces the rise of the Maoist Shining Path guerilla movement (Sendero Luminoso) in the 1980s under the leadership of Abimael Guzmán and the ensuing two decades of conflict that resulted in 70,000 deaths and disappearances. A major focus of the film is the period of "fear" under former President Fujimori (1990-2000) after the government arrested the top eight rebel leaders in an apartment in Lima in 1992. The film asserts that the arrests effectively suppressed the violent revolution. Nevertheless, Fujimori persisted to transform delusory internal threats to national security into justifications to disregard democracy and to trample human rights. Riding on a political wave of popularity, Fujimori suspended the constitution, dissolved the parliament, and enacted authoritarian anti-terrorism laws. The film's producer, Paco de Onís, led an engaging discussion on how societies struggle to maintain democracy, defend human rights, and preserve justice in a world engaged in a "global war on terrorism." More

Fourteen years after a secret military tribunal sentenced Maoist Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán to life imprisonment in October 1992, a Peruvian civil court on Friday handed down the same life sentence. Guzmán's year-long retrial resulted from a 60-page ruling by the Peruvian Constitutional Court in 2003 that declared secret military tribunals unconstitutional and in violation of international human rights standards. Guzmán's lawyer, Manuel Fajardo, unsuccessfully argued that Guzmán should be granted amnesty or the charges dropped based on due process violations. Fajardo also argued that the charge of terrorism should be lessened to rebellion. Guzmán can appeal the guilty verdict in national courts and, if unsuccessful, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In 2003, the Peruvian Truth Commission attributed 54 percent of the estimated 70,000 deaths and disappearances between 1980 and 2000 to the Shining Path rebel movement. More

The Chilean Supreme Court justice who will decide whether to extradite former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori said he will interview Fujimori once or twice more before rendering his decision. Fujimori faces extradition to Peru to stand trial on twelve criminal counts: ten charges of political corruption and two charges of human rights abuses. If extradited, Fujimori would face trial before the Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Peruvian Supreme Court only for those extraditable crimes approved by the Chilean government.

To contest his extradition, Fujimori must contend with the 1932 extradition treaty, domestic Chilean law, a political shift within Chile, and international treaties. The political exception of the 1932 extradition treaty and the higher burden of proof to indict under Chilean law work in Fujimori's favor. Working against Fujimori is a recent political shift in Chile focusing attention on corruption and human rights abuses. Chilean President-elect Michelle Bachelet, who will be sworn in 11 March 2006, ran on a platform against public corruption and state-sponsored human rights abuses. International treaties against corruption and human rights abuses stand the strongest chance of requiring Chile to extradite Fujimori. In the past, Chile has been reluctant to extradite fugitives to Peru. New treaties, especially the UN Convention against Corruption, focus on holding public officials accountable for corruption and mandate greater cooperation among countries. That treaty could serve as the primary legal force to extradite Fujimori to stand trial in his native country. More