Is U.S. Cooperation with the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Unconstitutional?

by Paul Magnarella Factual Background On December 17, 1997 US Magistrate Marcel Notzon in Laredo, Texas stunned the US State Department and human rights advocates around the world by ruling that the congressional legislation enabling the US government to surrender or extradite indicted fugitives to the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was unconstitutional (1). […]

Can the US State Department Surrender Rwandan Fugitives to the U.N. Criminal Tribunal?

by Paul J. Magnarella INTRODUCTION In an Order filed on 7 August 1998 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division, Judge John D. Rainey ruled that Rwandan fugitive Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is properly extraditable to the UN International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (1). Judge Rainey’s Order reversed a 17 December […]

The U.N. Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Concludes its First Case: A Monumental Step Towards Truth

by Paul J. Magnarella Introduction Over the past year, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has made significant progress in apprehending and prosecuting high ranking persons responsible for the 1994 genocide of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda (1). The first case to be concluded at the ICTR, the case against Rwandan ex-premier […]

Women’s Human Rights in Africa: Beyond the Debate Over the Universality or Relativity of Human Rights

by Diana J. Fox Introduction In the fifty years following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, anthropology as a discipline has embraced a predominantly ethical relativist stance toward the idea of human rights as a legitimate universal concern for all cultures. In the past […]

The Wilsonian Conception of Democracy and Human Rights: A Retrospective and Prospective

by Korwa G. Adar Introduction The principles of democracy and human rights have been persistent, if at times secondary, themes within the rhetoric of American foreign policy toward Africa since the end of World War II. The linking of such Wilsonian precepts with foreign policy practice, however, has been an altogether different story. US policy […]

Achieving Human Rights in Africa: The Challenge for the New Millennium

by Paul J. Magnarella Introduction Fifty-one years after the United Nations adopted the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and almost nineteen years after the Organization of African Unity (OAU) adopted its own African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the human rights situation on the African continent is decidedly bleak. Indeed, achieving genuine respect […]

From Genocide to Regional War: The Breakdown of International Order in Central Africa

by Christian R. Manahl Introduction The 1999 crisis in Kosovo has been interpreted as the end of an era of international relations ruled by the UN Charter and the Security Council, and the beginning of a new world order [1]. NATO’s air raids against Yugoslavia in order to halt ethnic cleansing and oppression of the Kosovars […]

Domestic, Regional and International Protection of Nigerian Women Against Discrimination: Constraints and Possibilities

by Mojbol Olfnk Okome Introduction Discrimination against women is defined by Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women of 1979 (heretofore referred to as the 1979 Convention or CEDAW) as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose […]

Changes in Official Attitudes Towards Urban Agriculture in Accra

by Kwaku Obosu-Mensah Introduction Urbanization is increasing in African countries. In 2000 the United Nations reported that 38% of Africans lived in urban areas. This figure is expected increase to 55% by 2030. [1] Urbanization presents both opportunities and challenges, but indications for Africa are that the challenges outweigh the opportunities. Unlike many other parts of the […]

Gender, Household Composition, and Adoption of Soil Fertility Technologies: A Study of Women Rice Farmers in Southern Senegal

by Amy J. Sullivan Introduction If as claimed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations women grow up to eighty percent of the food produced in Africa, then targeting them during research, technology development and dissemination makes sense. In order to do so, it is necessary to recognize that not all women farmers […]

African Studies Quarterly

Tag: United Nations