Lagos, Nigeria. Photo: Stefan Magdalinski/Wikimedia Commons
تعرض [بالعربية] أربعة طلاب بجامعة بورت هاركورت إلى الضرب والحرق حتى الموت يوم 5 من أكتوبر/ تشرين الأول، 2012 من قبل أشخاص يطبقون عدالة الغوغاء أي بدون محاكمة أو وجه حق، زاعمين أن الطلاب الأربعة سرقوا هاتف بلاكبيري وحاسوب محمول. تسببت الوفاة المحزنة للطلبة – تعرف الآن بآلوو 4 – بإثارة الغضب وسط المناقشات على الإنترنت حول مشكلة عدالة الغوغاء الخطيرة في نيجيريا. وقد أتاحت أيضاً الفرصة أمام المواطنين لرفع وعي العامة واقتراح حلول للمشكلة. [جميع الروابط بالإنجليزية]
مع ملاحظة غياب القانون فيما يتعلق بعدالة الغوغاء، نشر المدون أوكيشوكوا أوفيلي عريضة يوم 18 من أكتوبر/ تشرين الأول لقانون يمنع عدالة الغوغاء قام بتوقيعها بنفسه بالإضافة إلى “نيجيريون يحاربون من أجل التغيير” (يمكنكم قراءة مسودة القانون الكاملة هنا) قام بتوقيعها أكثر من 3,500 حتى الآن.
Lagos, Nigeria. Photo: Stefan Magdalinski/Wikimedia Commons
On October 5, 2012, four students of the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria were beaten and burnt to death by a lynch mob, for allegedly stealing a Blackberry phone and a laptop. The tragic deaths of the students now known as the Aluu4 have caused outrage and plenty of online discussion about the serious problem of mob justice in Nigeria. It has also created opportunities for citizens to raise public awareness and propose solutions.
Noting the absence of legal provisions against mob justice, blogger Okechukwu Ofili posted a petition on October 18th for a mob justice prohibition bill signed by himself and “Nigerians Fighting for CHANGE” (read the full draft bill here) that has so far gathered more than 3,500 signatures.
The MAS ETH SPCM is offered in cooperation with leading academic partner institutions (Photo: ETH Zurich)
Our colleagues at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) recently hosted the “Security and Resources” module of their Master of Advanced Studies in Security Policy and Crisis Management program. Practitioners and scholars from around the world traveled to Zurich to discuss issues such as grand strategy, security policy development, crisis leadership and risk management. Given the fertile nature of these discussions, ISN staff members took the opportunity to speak to the lecturers and a Swiss course participant about five security-related issues currently on their minds. The following podcasts present their personal preoccupations and opinions.
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in the first presidential debate. Photo: VOA/Wikimedia Commons
On 8 November, our parent organization – the Center for Security Studies – hosted a colloquium on the recently completed Presidential and Congressional elections in the United States. The guest speaker, Professor Andreas Falke, not only analyzed the election data for his audience, he also speculated on how the election’s outcomes might impact US domestic and foreign policies over the next four years, to include its influence on transatlantic relations.
Hosting Professor Falke also provided us with the opportunity to put some questions of our own to this keen observer of American politics. In the following podcast, we ask him whether he thought there was anything surprising about the election results, what the future holds for the US Republican Party, and what else we might expect from President Obama in his second term.
As the United States enters the twelfth year of the War on Terror, the counterterrorism effort has challenged the premises of international law. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) armed with Hellfire missiles with targeting capabilities have replaced special forces and manned aircraft as the U.S. tactic of choice against militants. According to the American Security Project, the U.S. military operates UAVs in declared combat zones—Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya—while the CIA operates covert UAV programs in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. These programs raise concerns about oversight, international human rights, and international laws governing warfare. If the White House doesn’t address concerns regarding the most recent UAV attacks in Yemen, the U.S. risks setting a dangerous precedent for UAV warfare worldwide.
The Long War Journal estimates that the U.S. has carried out three times as many strikes this year as it has in previous years against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The increase of covert UAV activity in Yemen raises many important questions: How are the targets decided? Who authorizes the strikes? Are the strikes legal?
John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, argued that UAV warfare is legally justified under Article 51 of the UN Charter and militarily advantageous because it is low cost and limits casualties on both sides. He argues that capturing insurgents is impossible due to AQAP’s asymmetric tactics and Yemen’s difficult terrain. The U.S. military contends that UAV warfare is a moral necessity. UAVs are more precise and efficient than military alternatives like bombs, air strikes and ground troops. In April John Brennan stated: “there is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft, or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat.”
