Australian Lawmaker Introduces Gay Marriage Bill; Free Vote Blocked

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — A maverick lawmaker broke from conservative government ranks on Monday to introduce legislation that would legalize gay marriage in Australia. The historic, cross-party bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Australia is expected to be defeated after Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ruling coalition blocked their respective MPs from having a free vote.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott. (Photo Courtesy of Irish Independent)

The private member’s bill comes amid heated debate among government MPs about whether to change the law or put the matter to a plebiscite.

The government’s official position is that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

Warren Entsch, who has been dubbed a progressive redneck by the Australian media, introduced a private member’s bill that would allow same-sex marriage throughout Australia. Entsch conceded that his bill has little chance of reaching a vote, because the ruling coalition decided last week that government lawmakers should be bound by the party line opposing gay marriage.

“A divided nation is what we will be if we continue to allow discrimination in relation to marriage on the basis of a person’s sexuality,” said Entsch.

The opposition party would allow its MPs a free vote on same-sex marriage, and most would be expected to support the bill. The coalition however, is expected to prevent the bill from proceeding to a vote and has already resolved to prevent its MPs being allowed a free vote. Mr. Abbott last week convened a coalition party room meeting on the issue and subsequently announced that the government would oppose any change until the next election but would then support a national vote.

In explaining his rationale, Prime Minister Abbott was quoted by the Irish Independent, saying: “The important thing is that it’s got to be a people’s choice. The decision that came very strongly out of our party room last week was that this should not be the politicians’ decision, it should be the people’s decision, and that’s what will happen in the next term of parliament.”

Several of Mr. Abbott’s Liberal party colleagues attacked the prime minister, saying the party was traditionally in favor of free choice and individual’s rights.

Australia’s Marriage Act specifies marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Officially, the ruling Liberal-National coalition does not support gay marriage. The Opposition Labor party endorses gay marriage, but allows its MPs a conscience vote on legislation.

According to data obtained from BBC World, numerous polls conducted within Australia over the past year show anywhere from 60% to 72% of Australians support gay marriage.

For more information, please see:

Independent — Australian PM shoots down same-sex marriage bill by blocking free vote — 18 August 2015

BBC News — Gay marriage bill introduced to Australian parliament — 17 August 2015

CNN — Australian PM’s gay sister: Marriage equality is a human right — 16 August 2015

NY Times — Australian Government Lawmaker Introduces Gay Marriage Bill — 16 August 2015

Airstrikes Kill 65 People, Exiled Yemen President Proposes Cease-fire

By Brittani Howell

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Saudi-led airstrikes and shelling by Houthi rebels have killed more than 65 people according to a report from Doctors Without Borders on Friday. Among those killed included at least 20 women and 17 children. According to reports, the airstrikes killed 17 people from one family.

Many gather on rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes. (Photo courtesy Reuters)

Five of the Saudi-led coalition bombs struck the residential area of Sala. “Those who survived the bombings are searching through the rubble with their bare hands in hope of finding survivors, as well as the bodies of victims of the attack” Salah Dongu’du, a project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Tiaz.

Many victims have been unable to reach hospitals. Doctors Without Borders are attempting to provide first aid kits to doctors and nurses so that those who are less critically injured can make it to the hospital receive treatment. Doctors Without Borders admits that this is not enough.

​The United Nations has reported that the death toll has risen to more than 4,500​ deaths, half of which are believed to be civilian deaths. Amnesty International reported earlier this week that war crimes are likely being committed in this conflict.

According to the World Food Program, Yemen is on the brink of famine. Nearly 10 million children are in need of immediate aid according to UNICEF, the United Nations children agency. As much as, 80% of the population is in immediate need of aid.

Taiz, the cultural capital of Yemen, is the gateway to Sana’a, Yemen’s capital. Many fear an even bloodier confrontation in Sana’a, between the Saudi led coalition and the Houthi rebels, as forces allied with exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi continue to push north. The capital of Sana’a was seized by Houthi rebels almost a year ago.

​Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is preparing a 15-day cease fire. The proposal was given to a United Nations envoy for Yemen in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Friday.

The proposal requires that ​the Houthi rebels and troops loyal to Ali Abduallah Saleh, the former president, end all violence and resume peace talks led by the United Nations.

The ceasefire is to begin when the Shi’ite rebels withdraw their militias from all government and military institutions as well as from all cities and provinces, including Sana’a and Sa’alah.

The proposal also calls for sanctions administered by the United Nations including an arms embargo on Houthi leaders, Saleh, and his sons. The Houthi rebels are also not to interfere with humanitarian aid.

For further information, please see:

Associated Press – Yemen’s President Calls for Ceasefire and Rebel Withdraw – 21 August 2015

Los Angeles Times – Dozens Killed Amid Airstrikes and Fighting in key Yemen City – 21 August 2015

New York Times – Saudis Said to Kill More Than 65 Civilians in Yemen Bombing – 21 August 2015

Reuters – Dozens Killed in Saudi-led Air Strikes in Yemen-aid Group, Houthis – 21 August 2015

ICTJ | World Report August 2015 – Transitional Justice News and Analysis

In Focus
Youth Working for Justice: Key Agents of ChangeYouth Working for Justice: Key Agents of ChangeOn International Youth Day, ICTJ reaffirms the importance of engaging youth in efforts to reckon with the past in societies grappling with repressive and violent histories.Read More…

World Report

AFRICADespite the post-war boom in Côte d’Ivoire, justice remains elusive, but the country’s presidential election on October 25 is seen as a first important step toward overcoming the past. In Senegal, the unprecedented trial of former Chadian dictator, Hissène Habré – who is accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture – began on July 20, but was adjourned the next day until September 7 so court-appointed lawyers could prepare his defense. Peace talks have resumed in South Sudan, as the warring sides have come under immense international pressure to reach a deal by August 17 or suffer sanctions. Delegates from Namibia traveled to Germany this summer hoping to present President Joachim Gauck with a petition signed by 2,000 German public figures, which calls on the government to accept responsibility for the genocide committed in the African nation at the turn of the nineteenth century. Despite the short delay, those who have been seeking justice for 25 years still feelconfident that justice is at hand. At a conference on Zimbabwe, there was a push for reparations program and talkof adopting new transitional justice principles. This all comes at a time the government is about to operationalize the Peace and National Healing Commission.

Read More…
AMERICASAt the ongoing peace talks in Cuba between the Colombian government and FARC rebels, top negotiators contend that the rebel group must first agree to submit to transitional justice and its disarmament before the government can agree to a bilateral ceasefire. Meanwhile back in the country, Colombian authorities have begun exhuming a mass grave at the La Escombrera landfill, which will hopefully provide families with closure and an end to impunity. In Peru, government soldiers rescuedaround 40 men, women and children who had been kept prisoner in “production camps” for three decades by the Shining Path, the country’s Communist rebel group. In Chile, thirteen soldiers connected on the 1988 attack on democracy activists, Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana, were arrested. One of the conscripts, who identified those involved, revealed that there was indeed a “pact of silence” in the army to keep truth from the public. There are two exhibits on display in Canadathis summer related to the history of residential schools and missionaries to Indigenous communities, one is a large “witness blanket” and the other is a collection of artifacts. In addition, a petition with 1,200+ signatures as of late July calls on the government to make the Truth and Reconciliation Commission an election issue.

Read More…
ASIAIn Nepal, victims and civil society organizations are not happy with the recent draft regulations framed by the two truth-seeking bodies, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), because they don’t adhere to the verdicts of Supreme Court.. The TRC, meanwhile, is preparing to set up a women-only private hearing facilities, in order to encourage rape and sexual assault victims to speak out. The Myanmargovernment pardoned 6,966 prisoners in July, among those released where 210 foreigners and some military intelligence officers.In Indonesia, victims of an armed conflict in the Indonesian province, Aceh, have demanded the country’s authorities set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, promised to them in a peace agreement signed in Helsinki ten years ago. Meanwhile in Bangladesh, two Razakars a part of the armed militia group during the 1971 Liberation War were found guilty of genocide and war crimes. The beginning of August marked the 70th anniversary of the days nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the survivors continue to tell their stories to the new generation. In other news, Sri Lanka pledged to act on a UN war crimes report that will be released within the following weeks, detailing Sri Lanka treatment of Tamils during the country’s guerrilla war.

Read More…
EUROPESerbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, will officially propose a Remembrance Day, commemorating all the victims of the 1990s war, to leaders of leaders of former Yugoslav countries at the end of August. This proposal has already been rejected by Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thac. In Croatia, thousands celebrated the 20th anniversary of ‘Operation Storm,’ an operation in which Zagreb’s forces defeated rebel Serbs and regained control over 18 per cent of the country’s territory. Days before the anniversary, three NGOs launched an interactive site called the ‘Storm of the Hauge,’ which presents the findings of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY. In Kosovo, the country’s parliament voted to change the constitution and create a special war crimes court. However, opposition parties have argued that the establishment of the special war crimes court violate Kosovo’s sovereignty. Spain’s University of Barcelona has set up the projectThe DNA of memory: the UB DNA Bank of Spanish Civil War victims with the hopes of being able to identity victims of the Spanish Civil War.

Read More…
MENAIn Tunisia, the draft national reconciliation bill on economic and financial offences submitted to parliament in mid-July continues to be the subject of intense debate, drawing criticism from human rights organizations and supporters of transitional justice. In Lybia, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Col Muammar Gaddafi, and eight others were sentenced to death over war crimes connected to the 2011 revolution. But these verdicts illustrate revenge rather than justice and the expediency of the justice system rather than its effectiveness. In Syria, the UN special envoy invited Syrians to participate in discussions on how to restart peace talks.

Read More…

Publications

Squaring Colombia’s Circle: The Objectives of Punishment and the Pursuit of PeaceThis paper weighs the possible modes and competing policy objectives of punishing FARC members for serious crimes in the context of Colombia’s ongoing peace negotiations. It argues that punishment has to occur in a way that does not damage one of the underlying objectives of the peace process, transforming the FARC from an insurgent group into a political actor.

The Accountability Landscape in Eastern DRCThis report analyzes the response of Congolese judicial authorities to international crimes committed in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2009 to 2014, with a particular focus on the war-torn East (North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri).

More Publications

Robert H. Jackson Center: Announcing the 9th Annual Law Dialogs
International Humanitarian Law Dialogs
The Wrongs We Seek
August 31st- September 1st
The Law Dialogs are a historic gathering of the current and former prosecutors at international war crimes tribunals and renowned academics and law experts. This unique two-day event allows participants and the public to engage in a meaningful dialogue about issues related to modern international criminal law.

Since the first Law Dialog on August 29, 2007, the conference continues to reach a wider audience allowing for meaningful discussions concerning contemporary international criminal law.  This year’s theme will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre (1995) and the 70th anniversary of the opening commencement of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremburg (1945).

Annually highlights the Law Dialogs include a keynote speaker, lecturers, roundtable discussions, updates from the current prosecutors, student sessions and break- out “porch sessions” on selected topics. The Law Dialogs continue to echo the sentiments of Justice Robert H. Jackson by recognizing international law as “one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason.”
For more information on this annual conference and this year’s speakers please visit ourwebsite event page.
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 Thank you to our sponsors:
The American Bar Association; The American Red Cross; American Society of International Law; Case Western Reserve University School of Law; The Chautauqua Institution; Impunity Watch; International Peace and Security Institute; International Bar Association; intlawgrrls; NYU Center for Global Affairs; The Planethood Foundation; Public International Law and Policy Group ; The Robert H. Jackson Center; SUNY Buffalo Law School; Syracuse University College of Law; Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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2015 Summer Interns
This summer, the Robert H. Jackson Center welcomed six interns; Thomas Campion from Hobart College, Ryan Schutte from Dickinson College, Megan Feeney, Ashley Mulryan and Emily Rajakovich from Allegheny College and 2015 Jackson Fellow, Molly White from Syracuse University College of Law. Meet some our 2015 summer interns and Jackson Fellow as we introduce you to each student and share with you their personal reflection on Justice Jackson’s legacy.

Molly White Portage MI, a rising third year law student at Syracuse University College of Law, was the Jackson Law Fellow this summer.  She worked on organizing and writing descriptions for the International Humanitarian Law Dialogs. As well, she worked on a paper cataloging the relationship between the United States and the International Criminal Court.  Additionally she expanded upon a paper concerning Forum Non Conveniens and whether a U.S. person can sue a company incorporated in the U.S. for a tort committed abroad while aiding or abetting a party in a foreign civil war.  The paper used the Syrian conflict as a case study.

Molly’s reflection: Having read Justice Jackson’s concurrence in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer in the majority of my classes during my first two years at Syracuse, I cannot help but have an affinity for that opinion.  Jackson’s division of the President’s powers into three categories, specifically the zone of twilight where the President acts in absence of a congressional grant or denial of authority, established a framework for analyzing foreign relations, national security powers, and personal liberties issues.
305 E. Fourth Street, Jamestown NY 14701 | info@roberthjackson.org
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The mission of the Robert H. Jackson Center is to advance public awareness and appreciation of the principles of justice and the rule of law as embodied in the achievements and legacy of Robert H. Jackson, US Supreme Court Justice and Chief US Prosecutor at Nuremberg.