International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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War Crimes without a War Crimes Statute? The Shajareh Tayyebeh Minab School Attack and the Possibility of Domestic Prosecution of Serious Violations of IHL in Iranian Courts

June 18, 2026

Introduction The initiation of criminal complaints concerning the attack by the US armed forces on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab has brought a doctrinal issue of direct practical relevance before Iranian prosecutorial authorities. The complaints filed by victims’ families transform what would otherwise remain an abstract question of international humanitarian law (IHL) into a concrete problem of domestic adjudication: how to address allegations amounting to serious violations of IHL within a legal system that does not contain a specific statutory offence of “war crimes”? This problem reflects a structural tension between the principle of legality in domestic criminal law and the position of international law that grave breaches of IHL may entail individual criminal responsibility. Domestic courts, however, typically require offences to be clearly defined in national legislation as a precondition for criminal liability. Against this background, the central question is whether the absence of an explicit domestic war crimes offence prevents Iranian courts from characterising and addressing conduct as war crimes under international law, and what legal basis—if any—may…

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Sovereign Darkness: Iran’s Internet Blackout and the Four-Body Problem of International Law

May 20, 2026

By 21 April 2026, Iran’s internet blackout had entered its fifty-third consecutive day, the longest nationwide internet disruption ever recorded (NetBlocks; IODA Iran shutdown report). Connectivity remained at approximately one per cent of pre-war levels. The shutdown was costing the economy an estimated $35–40 million per day in direct losses, rising to $70–80 million when indirect…

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Individual Justice Cannot Be Streamlined: Some Reflections on Special Procedures Reform

February 4, 2026

In a recent article published on Universal Rights Group, Professor Alice Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, has offered a thoughtful and provocative proposal to reform the Special Procedures system. Observing that the system faces genuine challenges — inadequate funding, growing caseloads, inconsistent State cooperation, and what she describes as "a digital wasteland of lost hope…

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The subtle erosion of democracy in Latin America: the case of Lula in the Human Rights Committee

June 3, 2022

On 12 March 2022, the Human Rights Committee delivered its views on the complaint filed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of the Federal Republic of Brazil who was imprisoned in 2018 in the context of the anti-corruption operation known as ‘Operation Car Wash (in Portuguese, ‘Operação Lava Jato’). The representatives of Lula asked the…

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Prosecuting Atrocity Crimes Committed in Northern Ethiopia: The Need for Special National Prosecution Mechanism

April 4, 2022

Over the last four years, serious human rights violations and abuses, have been committed in Ethiopia in and outside of the context of an armed conflict. These violations may constitute international crimes, such as crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. The situation particularly worsened and garnered international attention after an armed conflict broke out in Tigray on…

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