#Double standards in international criminal justice

[alewaanewspaper1960]

الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية

الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية �� الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية الكاتب : أحمد بشارة موسى الملخص: الحقيقة أن المعايير الإنسانية لا يتم اتخاذها إلا في مواجهة الدول الصغيرة والضعيفة، في حين نجد أن هناك العديد من الانتهاكات الجسيمة ضد الإنسانية ترتكب في أماكن أخرى من العالم، لم تحرك الأمم المتحدة فيها ساكنا ولم تطالب فيها بإنشاء محاكم جنائية دولية لمن ارتكبوا هذه الانتهاكات. كما أن…

[amereid1960]

الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية

الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية   الانتقائية في العدالة الجنائية الدولية الكاتب : أحمد بشارة موسى الملخص: الحقيقة أن المعايير الإنسانية لا يتم اتخاذها إلا في مواجهة الدول الصغيرة والضعيفة، في حين نجد أن هناك العديد من الانتهاكات الجسيمة ضد الإنسانية ترتكب في أماكن أخرى من العالم، لم تحرك الأمم المتحدة فيها ساكنا ولم تطالب فيها بإنشاء محاكم جنائية دولية لمن ارتكبوا هذه الانتهاكات. كما أن…

[news4dzhozhar]

[girlactionfigure]

The #ICJ targeting Israeli leaders—no matter who they are—is a dangerous precedent. Here’s why:

 No Jurisdiction: Israel isn’t a party to the Rome Statute, and the ICJ doesn’t prosecute individuals. Using international courts this way undermines their credibility and legal integrity.

 Selective Justice: Why focus on Israel while leaders of other nations commit atrocities without consequence? This double standard weakens trust in global justice.

 Head of State Immunity: Prosecuting a sitting leader breaks with international norms, risking a dangerous politicization of the legal system.

 Impact on Peace: Criminalizing Israeli leadership won’t bring peace—it will harden divisions, destabilize the region, and derail negotiations.

 Asymmetric Warfare: Israel operates in a complex reality where nonstate groups like Hamas hide behind civilians while launching attacks. The full context matters.

I am a vocal critic of Netanyahu and his government, and I can also recognize that justice should never be weaponized for hateful and sinister agendas. Let’s uphold fairness and focus on real paths to peace. Call this out as it’s a threat to justice everywhere.

Hen Mazzig

[mariacallous]

Turkey’s recent effort to join South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip highlights a double standard that is all too common when it comes to the politics of genocide.

The Turkish state has little credibility being an arbiter of what constitutes genocide when it has spent the last 100 years denying the role of the Ottoman Empire in the 1915-16 Armenian genocide, during which more than 1 million Armenians were killed or died of starvation or disease, according to genocide scholars, as they were pushed by the Ottoman Turks out of Anatolia. Turkey refuses to acknowledge or apologize for these events to this day, despite recognition of the genocide by countries such as the United States, France, and Germany.

Ankara’s participation undermines the intent and moral seriousness of South Africa’s charges and highlights the unfettered hypocrisy that characterizes genocide allegations made by many governments. Turkey formally denies that the events of 1915-16 constitute genocide; its participation in many ways weakens the current ICJ case by giving Israel an opening to question the legitimacy of the charges.

For far too long, various governments, from the United States to Turkey to Israel, have leveled (or downplayed) genocide allegations in pursuit of various political objectives. But genocide is not a political football to be tossed around. It is a serious allegation that should never be used for political expediency. But sadly, that is what it has become.

Since the founding of NATO, Turkey has exploited its membership in the alliance to both curry favor with the West and avoid any culpability for its actions. It has used its crucial role within NATO as a bargaining chip to its advantage.

It is one of the reasons why U.S. presidents from both political parties have turned a blind eye to Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide by arguing that the country’s proximity to the Soviet Union was strategically valuable to the national interests of the United States. When the Cold War ended, the argument turned to Turkey’s importance as a “free” and “democratic” society in a sea of Islamic fundamentalists.

And over the last 20 years, U.S. presidents have largely overlooked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rising authoritarianism and egregious regional behavior on the grounds that having Ankara as an ally is strategically important for Washington. This type of transactional diplomacy not only is dangerous but also gives cover to leaders like Erdogan, who feel that they can say or do whatever they want with impunity.

It is unconscionable that Israel, a country founded in the wake of genocide, would deny the Armenian genocide. But that is largely what Israel has done for years—and it is politically motivated. Despite maintaining extensive ties with Turkey, until recently when trade between the countries was suspended, Israel has used the Armenian genocide to needle Ankara when they clash, as they are now over the conflict in Gaza.

Opportunistically referencing a genocide to shame a rival—as Israeli officials did for the first time regarding the Armenian genocide after Turkey decided to support the ICJ case—has no place in international relations. Governments either support a policy of denial or oppose it. There should be no equivocation.

Cherry-picking what represents genocide also sends the wrong message to would-be aggressors who see such vacillation as a green light to act with impunity and evade legal accountability.

It is how former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was able to direct the killings of hundreds of thousands of people in the Darfur region in the early 2000s and escape justice—despite being indicted and wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Because various governments did not recognize his acts as genocidal or failed to abide by the ICC indictment, Bashir was for years able to travel freely around the world to visit countries including China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia as well as Rome Statute signatories such as Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria and, most notably, South Africa—all of which failed to arrest him.

It is how China continues to persecute Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang with few repercussions, even from many Muslim-majority nations, such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates—all of which have rejected a U.N. motion to hold a debate about China’s human rights abuses for political and economic reasons.

And it is how Azerbaijan, one of Turkey’s staunchest allies, has brazenly followed Ankara’s lead in denying the Armenian genocide while seeking to ethnically cleanse Armenians today following its 2023 military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Taking a page out of the Turkish playbook, Azerbaijan has been able to leverage political expediency to its benefit by using its vast natural resource wealth, namely oil and gas, to essentially buy a seat at the world’s table as it did when it was named the host country for this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference.

It is also one of the reasons why Azerbaijan has been able to avoid any punishment from the international community for its mistreatment of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh. While Turkey has deftly used the cover of geopolitics to hide from its genocidal past, Azerbaijan is using global energy demand to obfuscate its own crimes today.

This lack of accountability gives authoritarian leaders and bad actors the wherewithal to ignore international organizations and human rights groups seeking to hold criminals accountable and prevent these types of crimes from happening in the future.

Playing politics with genocide sets a dangerous precedent. It denies victims justice and distracts from the actual merits of the crime. If the international community wants to take genocide seriously, then it must be consistent in its application of the law and its meaning.

[thomasce]

Autopsy Reference Page

A little intro:

I worked in a morgue for about a year as an autopsy assistant / intern. I have a portfolio and a certificate and everything. I've seen a lot of character designs with autopsy scars in them and stories with autopsies featured as a major event and wanted to provide some information on how autopsies through the justice system work, specifically FROM MY EXPERIENCE. This will not apply to private autopsies, though I will include a little bit of what I know about those at the end of this post.

If you are sensitive to gore, go ahead and skip this page. If you like writing gore or learning more about this stuff, welcome!

First thing's first: Who approves an autopsy?

Generally, it is the District Attorney. A DA will approve an autopsy for the following reasons:

It's a suspicious death

It was caused by the victim (self-inflicted)

It was an obvious homicide

It falls under the conditions stated in the state's constitution or laws

What conditions could those be?

This is going to sound really morbid, but most states have a clause that dictates any deaths in which the decedent is under 12 months of age must be autopsied. That's the biggest reason cited in laws outside of criminal justice cases.

Who performs an autopsy?

The people performing the actual evisceration are called Medical Examiners. In order to be a medical examiner, you must have a Medical Doctorate and be board certified in Forensic Pathology.

The Medical Examiner will also have a team of Forensic Pathology Technicians that help them before, during, and after evisceration. They often consist of both Dry Techs and Wet Techs. The difference between the two is that Dry Techs do not dress out in personal protective equipment (PPE) and will log things in whichever system the lab utilizes. Wet Techs assist in the autopsy by taking x-rays, removing organs, and weighing the organs.

What is PPE?

Standard PPE consists of a plastic gown, double disposable gloves to the wrist, disposable gloves to the elbow, boot covers, a surgical mask, a face shield, and what is known as a bouffant cap (the hair net / cap things you see surgeons wear in tv shows and movies).

The order I always put my PPE on was: boot covers, gown (with thumbs through the thumb holes), gloves #1, face mask, bouffant cap, gloves #2, face shield, elbow gloves.

Let's get into what you guys are really here for:

What does a standard autopsy look like?

So I like to make a distinction between these three stages: pre-autopsy, autopsy, post-autopsy.

Pre-autopsy is everything that happens before the body is open. This includes:

Weighing the gurney with the body bag on it

Moving the body bag from the gurney to the autopsy table

Taking pictures of the body bag BEFORE the seal is opened

Cutting the seal

Taking pictures of the body in the bag

Moving the body out of the bag

Taking more photos of the front, side, back, arms, and hands

Drawing toxicology (blood, urine, vitreous)

Taking fingerprints

The autopsy is when the Y-incision is created and the following occurs:

The organs of the thoracic cavity are taken, weighed, and eviscerated

The organs of the abdominopelvic cavity are taken, weighed, and eviscerated

The head is opened and the brain is taken, weighed, and eviscerated

The pituitary gland is removed

The esophagus and tongue are taken, weighed, and eviscerated

All organs are placed into a plastic bag

Post-autopsy includes:

Moving the body back to the bag

Placing the bag inside the thoracic cavity

Stitching the Y-incision closed

Cleaning any instruments used

Cleaning all surfaces, including the autopsy table and sink

Mopping the floor

In my experience, some of the things done during pre-autopsy, such as drawing toxicology and fingerprinting, can be done during the actual autopsy.

Why is toxicology important?

Toxicology is how we gain DNA and fluids for testing. Vitreous (fluid from the eyes) and Urine (fluid from the bladder) can be tested for metabolism of ethanol (alcohol) and other substances. Blood is used in testing for things like ethanol (alcohol) and CO (carbon monoxide) as well as DNA for identification.

Why do we need blood for identification?

In homicide cases, two forms of scientific identification are necessary. The order of importance / credibility of DNA collection is:

Visual identification - if they have an ID on them and we can tell that they are the person on the ID

Blood - a blood stain card is taken to test for identity

Fingerprints

Dental - if we have NOTHING ELSE, a forensic odontologist is called in to compare dental records to the teeth of the decedent

Little facts:

We do the Y-incision specifically for the funeral homes

Anything that you die with that the police doesn't collect for the family before the autopsy is put in holding until your body is released to the funeral home - including money

When blood has CO in it, it becomes a dark cherry red

Different needle sizes are used for drawing toxicology. The smallest size used is a 25-gauge. The largest is a 16-gauge.

Blood is drawn in this order: femoral (thigh), pericardial (around the heart), cardiac (in the heart)

Private autopsies are costly, ranging from $3000 to $5000

i think that's everything important. If you have any questions, have any additions, or find that this helped, send me an ask and let me know!

Be free!!!

[eretzyisrael]

by Akiva Van Koningsveld

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday denounced Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris as an antisemite, speaking a day after Jerusalem announced the closure of its embassy due to Dublin’s hostile stances.

“Last night, the prime minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, the antisemite, said in an interview, ‘Ireland is not anti-Israel, but Ireland categorically opposes the starvation of children, and opposes categorically the killing of civilians,'” Sa’ar told reporters at a meeting of his New Hope Party.

“Israel starves children? When Jewish children died of hunger in the Holocaust, you were at best neutral in the war against Nazi Germany. Winston Churchill, during the war, in his speech on V-Day in Europe, noted how Ireland had carried on a love affair with Nazi Germany,” Jerusalem’s top diplomat said at the party faction meeting in the capital.

“And you call Israeli soldiers war criminals? You accuse the Jewish state, that was attacked on all fronts?” Sa’ar concluded while highlighting the Israel Defense Forces’ efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.

JNS reached out to the embassy of Ireland in Ramat Gan for comment.

On Sunday, Sa’ar ordered the closure of the embassy in Dublin. Israel’s envoy, Dana Erlich, had already been recalled to Jerusalem in May after Dublin became one of three European nations to recognize “Palestine.”

In announcing the embassy closing, Sa’ar cited Ireland’s “antisemitic actions and rhetoric,” charging that they were based on “delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards.”

Harris later condemned the “deeply regrettable” move in a post on X, saying he rejects the assertion that Dublin is anti-Israel. “Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law,” he claimed.

Ireland has for years criticized Israel and its policies in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, but the rhetoric has escalated since Jerusalem responded to the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered a multi-front war.

The shuttering of the diplomatic mission was announced after the Irish government approved a proposal to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s deputy premier and minister for defense and foreign affairs, admitted that by seeking to intervene in the case, Dublin was essentially asking the top U.N. court to broaden its interpretation of “genocide” that falls within the framework of the Genocide Convention.

On Oct. 29, Harris called on the European Union to “review its trade relations” with the Jewish state, following what the Irish leader called a “shameful” vote by the Knesset on a law banning the activities in the country of UNRWA, the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians.

[sevenoctober7]

Who is behind global terrorism?

When injustice is the controlling legal rule - and not anomalies - this heralds the destruction of the world and the coming of resurrection. When the oppressed turns into an oppressor and the criminal into a judge - the world stands before a dangerous slide. It will either struggle against the forces of injustice or disappear and commit collective suicide. It is strange that global Judaism and the powers of European civilization have never tried to recognize truth and justice. For a period of (five centuries and the invasion continues...) this is how Noam Chomsky gives the title of his book... It is a title that clearly indicates that we are confronted in different ways - secret and public - A crusade war several centuries ago... The apparent crusade war did not end until the Europeans - through the writings of orientalists and the vanguards of modern colonialism - rushed to change their plans and start another war of a special nature (!!)... It is a permanent conflict with different methods... annihilation of others and no Something other than this..!! · Britain had the honor of destroying and exterminating millions of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. As for France, in Algeria alone it had the honor of exterminating eight million Muslims within one hundred and thirty years. · Thus, we find that the conflict orientation is a continuous, almost constant line in the position of Euro-American civilization towards the Muslim other... and based on the ancient pagan religious thought based on (the struggle of the gods) in Greece, and the philosophical thought based on the sayings of (Nietzsche and Hegel), and the economic thought based on (the class struggle). And (the brutality of capitalism) for the benefit of the rich in order to achieve the rule of the globalization of poverty to annihilate four-fifths of humanity... passing through (the end of history) for the benefit of capitalism according to Fukayama, and (the clash of civilizations) according to (Huntington) and his teacher (Bernard Lewis), the permanent (British-American Jewish) theorist. Because Muslims must be exterminated by all means. Based on this violent racist vision against Muslims, the West always applies double standards in favor of the Jews, constantly obstructs the effectiveness of the United Nations and the Security Council, and creates forms of terrorism through rented, deformed, or ignorant individuals in order to justify its genocide of Islamic peoples in exchange for... Individual mistakes. What is surprising is that he was condemned without a trial or legal procedures. Even today, the events of September 11 are still far from being subject to a fair international court in which the facts are known as they are, not as one party portrayed them.

[jordanianroyals]

7 September 2024: Queen Rania called on the global community to uphold international humanitarian law and demand accountability for injustices, explaining that Western double standards on Israel’s war on Gaza have contributed to a “loss of faith in the rules and moral standards meant to govern our world.”

“The people of the world deserve a global system they can trust – free of prejudice, moral loopholes, and deadly blind spots. And trust in that system has become intrinsically tied to the fate of the Palestinian people,” she said, urging European countries to weigh their responses to this conflict against their proclaimed values

Speaking at the 50th edition of the European House – Ambrosetti (TEHA) Forum in Cernobbio, Italy, Queen Rania noted that in the aftermath of brutal wars and bloodshed in Europe, the international community established a number of global institutions meant to prevent similar violence.

“From the United Nations, to the International Court of Justice, to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the world came together to establish norms for a future better than its past—a future based on the values of the UN Charter: peace, justice, and human rights.”

However, many around the world are struggling to believe in the integrity and impartiality of these norms, Queen Rania explained at the annual forum titled ‘Intelligence on the World, Europe, and Italy.’

“Looking at Israel’s war in Gaza, they see a glaring double standard…or worse yet, a seeming abdication of any standards at all,” she said.

Her Majesty stated that, over the past 11 months, the Gaza Strip has been hit with an estimated 70,000 tons of bombs, “more than all bombs dropped on London, Hamburg, and Dresden throughout all of World War II.”

Her Majesty noted that almost the entire population of Gaza is facing acute food insecurity, decrying Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid as Palestinian children starve.

She also highlighted the war’s high toll on Gaza’s children, explaining that this war has produced the largest cohort of child amputees in history.

“Doctors describe the horror of amputating on children too young to walk,” she said. “According to Save the Children, over 20,000 children are estimated to be lost, detained, buried under the rubble, or in mass graves.”

Recalling that it has been nearly eight months since the world’s highest court determined it was plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Queen Rania said that Israel has also recently launched a wide-scale military assault on the West Bank.

“For decades, beginning before last October, Palestinians have been subjected to a crushing, criminal occupation,” she said. “Palestinians, too, have the right to live in security and peace. And yet, here we are – still.”

Asking if any Western population would be expected to tolerate life under a similar violent occupation, Queen Rania stressed that injustice in Palestine “has been rationalized and allowed to go on” for decades.

“Is the world saying that Israel’s security is more important than anyone else’s – and, therefore, nothing is off limits in its pursuit? That no level of Palestinian suffering is too high a price to pay?” she asked.

“This devaluation of life must be called out for what it is: anti-Palestinian racism,” she declared. “This failure cannot stand.”

Explaining that Europe has long positioned itself as a champion of international law and human rights, the Queen said: “What is the Global South supposed to think when they see the West stand up for the people of Ukraine, while leaving innocent civilians in Gaza to unprecedented collective punishment?...What conclusions are people to draw about who matters, who doesn’t, and why?”

“More than hypocritical, the double standard is dehumanizing. It is cruel. And if it isn’t racist, I don’t know what is,” Her Majesty said.

The Queen explained that the selective application of international law and belittling of international courts has ushered in “a new era of global disorder,” in which no one is truly safe.

“That’s why rejecting double standards, demanding accountability, and finding a common path to peace are necessary to create the future Palestinians, Israelis, and all of us deserve,” she said.

Queen Rania went on to detail a number of basic “indisputable” principles that can provide a shared foundation for warring parties, and which must be upheld in order to achieve mutual, sustainable peace for both sides.

First, Her Majesty stated that “international law must prevail without exception.” Pointing out that law is reason devoid of passion, the Queen explained that deferring to the law ensures impartiality.

“That means enforcing legally binding UN Security Council resolutions, and respecting the opinions and rulings of international courts, even when they’re politically inconvenient,” she said.

Second, the Queen stressed that autonomy, dignity, and human rights are universal and unconditional, and that human rights do not need to be earned.

“Peace cannot be created by strong-arming a weaker party into unequal terms. Palestinians and Israelis have an equal right to security and self-determination,” she said.

For her third principle, Her Majesty put forward that, for justice to be achieved, there must be first accountability.

“The flipside of accountability is impunity – and a sense of impunity does not develop overnight,” the Queen said. Citing Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and its expanding settlements, she cautioned that global words of condemnation are not enough.

“Without accountability, talk of international law, of justice, and of human rights is reduced to hollow rhetoric.”

Fourth, Her Majesty asserted that “security is not zero-sum,” and that only a just peace can provide mutual safety for all.

“For decades, Israel has sought to ensure its citizens’ safety by denying Palestinians’ right to the same. But that route is unsustainable; it has brutalized Palestinians, and failed to keep Israelis safe,” she said. “Neither side’s insecurity serves the other.”

Describing the fifth principle as a simple one, Her Majesty rejected the most extreme voices dictating the conversation.

“The future cannot be held hostage to those who advocate for mass starvation, extermination, and expulsion, applaud collective punishment, and defend the indefensible. They must be called out and shut down,” she said.

Organized by think tank The European House – Ambrosetti (TEHA) Group, the TEHA Forum in Cernobbio, also known as the ‘Intelligence on the World, Europe, and Italy Forum,’ brings together Italian and international decision-makers to examine different geopolitical, economic, technological, and social scenarios.

In addition to Her Majesty, this year’s forum is attended by a number of heads of states and prominent political and media figures, including Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.

[padawan-historian]

Repost from @gazangirl

——

🚨 🚨 🚨 URGENT - SHARE WIDELY 🚨 🚨 🚨

On 8 November 2023, three leading Palestinian Human Rights organisations, Al Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR, represented by Emmanuel Daoud, Attorney at the Paris Bar and the International Criminal Court (ICC), have filed a lawsuit with the ICC under the authority of Article 15 of the Rome Statute.

In this submission to the court, the claimants call for urgent attention to the continuous barrage of Israeli airstrikes all over Gaza, the suffocating siege imposed on this territory, the forced displacement of its population, the use of white phosphorus on civilians, and the near total denial of necessities for life, such as food, water, fuel, and electricity. These actions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and incitement to genocide.

“There is no place for double standards in International Justice,” said Emmanuel Daoud, who also filed a lawsuit with the ICC against Russian leaders for their war crimes against Ukrainians and obtained the issuance of an arrest warrant against President Putin.

“Whether war crimes are committed in Ukraine or Palestine, the culprits should be held to account.”

The file submitted to the ICC strongly urges the Office of the Prosecutor to:

INVESTIGATE crimes against humanity, notably apartheid, and the crime of genocide, in the ongoing investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine, and

ISSUE arrest warrants expeditiously for those suspected of these crimes within the Israeli political, military, and administrative apparatus, especially President Isaac Herzog, prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant and others.

Over the past month, the relentless reports of more than 10,000 Palestinian civilian victims in Gaza, predominantly women and children, highlight the urgent need for swift action. The UN has called Gaza “a graveyard for children” and the stakes are higher than ever. Gaza is home to 2.3 million people of which 1 million are children.

“We implore the ICC to acknowledge its moral and judicial responsibilities and act decisively upon our communication,” said Daoud.

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Israel lobby’s attack on Kostakidis threatens everyone’s right to free speech

以色列遊說團體對科斯塔基迪斯的攻擊威脅到每個人的言論自由權

By Greg Barns Jul 17, 2024

☆ Greg Barns SC 他是澳洲律師聯盟國家刑事司法發言人

Greg Barns SC is National Criminal Justice Spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance

👆 📣 Well said 👍

這正所謂言論自由和公平正義都不應該以「雙重標準」狡猾的方式進行運作 ，當然所有言論也必要受法律之約束下；不可無限上綱。為什麼看著全世界各地專搞民主、民權和民運之士，多數走到最後幾乎都如出一轍、千篇一律的教人心寒和唾棄與失望，人性的醜陋。 😣😔 所以我欽佩這位律師，敢於言，匡正大眾視聽而盡一己之力。謝謝! Lan~*

This is what the so-called freedom of speech and fairness and justice should not operate in a cunning way of "double standards". Of course, all speech must be subject to the constraints of the law; it cannot be unlimited. Why do people all over the world who specialize in democracy, civil rights and democratic movement, most of them are almost the same in the end, causing people to feel chilling, despised and disappointed? This is the ugliness of human nature. 😣😔 So I admire this lawyer who dares to speak out and do his part to correct the public’s hearing as well. Thanks! Lan~*

瑪麗·科斯塔基迪斯是澳洲最優秀的記者之一，但更重要的是��她也堅決反對壓迫和不公義。

Mary Kostakidis is one of Australia’s finest journalists, but more than that, she also resolutely stands against oppression and injustice.

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加薩衝突顯示澳洲的言論自由和表達自由是多麼脆弱。這再次暴露出，如果沒有憲法保障的言論自由權，我們的法律和政策就可能被想要封住對手嘴巴的利益集團所顛覆。

The Gaza conflict has shown how fragile freedom of speech and freedom of expression is in Australia. It has exposed yet again that without a constitutionally protected free speech right, our laws and policies can be subverted by interest groups who want to tape the mouths of their opponents.

═════════

在本分析中，我不會對卡蘇托投訴提出任何法律觀點，特別是據稱使用《聯邦種族歧視法》第18C 條，該法禁止做出合理可能「冒犯、侮辱、羞辱或恐嚇」的行為“基於種族或民族的人。”

I am not, in this analysis, offering any legal views on the Cassuto complaint, particularly the purported use of s18C of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits the doing of an act that is reasonably likely to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” someone on the basis of their race or ethnicity.”

順便說一句，雖然具有諷刺意味，但考慮到這個國家的極右翼的嚴重虛偽，他們沒有為科斯塔基迪斯女士辯護，這並不奇怪。極右翼人士討厭第 18C 條，因為他們說該條對他們進行審查。但當適合他們的時候，他們很高興看到以色列遊說團體和他們支持的其他事業訴諸這一條款。

As an aside however it is ironic, but not surprising given the gross hypocrisy of the hard right in this country, that they are not coming to Ms. Kostakidis’ defence. The hard right hates section 18C because they say it censors them. But when it suits them they are happy to see the Israel lobby and other causes they support, resorting to this provision.

═════════

但首先，我們要對針對言論自由和表達自由的攻擊進行一些一般性觀察，這種攻擊隨著加薩衝突在澳洲的上演而不斷發生。

But first some general observations about the attack on freedom of speech and freedom of expression which is coming thick and fast the way the Gaza conflict is playing out in Australia.

☆ 呼籲消滅以色列並不比聲稱對巴勒斯��人進行種族清洗是可以接受的更加可憎。然而媒體似乎更關注後者而不是前者。

To call for the eradication of Israel is no more odious than statements that ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is acceptable. Yet it seems the media focuses on the latter rather than the former.

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雖然媒體「追捕」像科斯塔基迪斯女士和該國其他知名人士這樣的人，他們從反對以色列及其行動的角度出版和轉載材料，但對那些支持以色列的人卻很少或根本沒有同樣的抗議。屬於國際刑事法院程序和國際法院裁決主題的犯罪行為。

我們什麼時候看到澳洲媒體或政治機構騷擾這些人？絕不。

但我們從澳洲當權者那裡聽到和讀到的是，批評者是「反猶太主義」的。這是一個使用如此頻繁的誹謗，它重新定義了“過度使用”一詞。它旨在進行審查。總理阿爾巴尼斯先生通過將納稅人的資金花在特別專員身上來迎合澳大利亞的親以色列團體，從而推動了這一進程？為什麼不設立一個專員來保護亞裔澳洲人或來自非洲國家的人呢？

While the media ‘goes after’ people like Ms. Kostakidis and other high profile individuals in this country who publish and republish material from the perspective of those opposed to Israel and its actions, there is little or no equivalent outcry over those who are endorsing Israel’s crimes. Crimes which are the subject of the International Criminal Court process and rulings from the International Court of Justice.

When do we see the Australian media or political establishment harass these people? Never.

But what we do hear and read from the Australian establishment is that critics are ‘antisemitic’. This is a slur which is so frequent in its use, it redefines the term ‘over used’. It is designed to censor. And the Prime Minister Mr Albanese has given it a boost with his pandering to the pro Israel groups in Australia by spending taxpayers funds on a special commissioner? Why not a commissioner to protect Asian Australians or those from African countries?

[humanrightsupdates]

EU Should Reaffirm Support for ICC Arrests

Use Existing Policies to Ensure Effective Strategies for Executing Arrests

After the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and a Hamas official on November 21, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell immediately made clear that ICC “decisions are binding on all States party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States.” His response is a reminder of the EU and its member states’ firm policy of supporting the ICC, especially when it comes to enforcing arrest warrants.

Over the years, the EU and its member states have developed several policies and practices building on their obligations to the court to support arrests before the ICC. This includes EU governments affirming their obligation as ICC members to carry out ICC arrests within their borders and supporting other ICC member countries to uphold their obligations.

Despite this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has already invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is subject to one of the warrants, to visit Hungary and said he will not enforce the arrest warrant. Some other EU countries have not explicitly committed to enforcing the warrant, despite confirming their support for the ICC. This deepens perceptions of double standards in support of justice before the ICC.

To ensure EU member countries stand firm for justice across all the ICC’s cases, we outline the EU’s obligations and policies as they relate to arrest strategies in a new briefing paper. Firm state support can yield progress. Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted by the ICC on allegations of serious crimes in Ukraine, recently stayed away from the G-20 summit in Brazil, an ICC member. But challenges for ICC arrests will likely remain. While Putin did not go to Brazil, he did visit Mongolia, also an ICC country, without facing arrest. This was rightfully challenged by the EU and before the court’s judges.

[bwhitex]

Equal Justice Under Law: Reevaluating the Mar-a-Lago Documents Case in Light of Rule 12(b)

Let's cut to the chase, the government needs to drop the Mar a Lago classified documents case against Trump. In recent discourse surrounding the handling of classified documents has put a spotlight on the actions of high-profile political figures. In an environment where the scales of justice must remain balanced, the case against former President Donald Trump concerning classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago takes on a new light when juxtaposed with the treatment of President Joe Biden under similar circumstances.

The Case of Double Standard

According to the report crafted by Special Counsel Robert K. Hur (2024), which includes a specific focus on page 200, it's alleged that Joe Biden risked serious damage to America's national security through his interactions with a ghostwriter. The report details an incident involving a substantial monetary deal and the mishandling of sensitive information, which was ultimately found to be discarded in a computer's recycle bin in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The implications of this report should not be understated, yet the response has been markedly different from the fervor directed at Trump. This discrepancy calls into question the application of justice and whether political bias is influencing the course of these investigations.

The recent revelations by South Carolina Representative Adam Morgan have further cast a shadow on the integrity of Washington politics. Morgan's whistleblowing claims that dark money entities are targeting conservative representatives, pushing elected officials to disregard their constituents. He asserts that international corporations and lobbyists are prioritized by bureaucrats in the Commerce Department, advocating policies that serve those with deep pockets over American voters. This kind of influence peddling suggests a system where globalist agendas and non-governmental organizations hold sway over national policy.

When we consider these allegations in the context of former President Trump's case, the principle of equal justice under the law comes into stark relief. Federal Criminal Procedural Rule 12(b) allows for a defense against selective or vindictive prosecution, which seems increasingly relevant. If indeed the system is swayed by unelected bureaucrats and long-term representatives with vested interests, then the question arises as to whether Trump is being targeted for his political stance rather than any genuine legal transgression.

The evidence, as laid out in Hur's report and corroborated by the testimony regarding the Biden incident, strongly supports the notion of selective prosecution. The dual standards applied to Trump and Biden demand scrutiny, and adherence to Rule 12(b) should compel those in power to reevaluate the pursuit of Trump.

In other words, if we are to uphold the principles of fairness and impartial justice, the case against Donald Trump regarding the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago must be reconsidered in light of the treatment of similar cases. Without consistency in the application of the law, faith in the justice system and the democratic processes it protects cannot be sustained.

The Law

In Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the terms "selective" and "vindictive" prosecution refer to two types of claims that a defendant can raise before trial as a part of pretrial motions to challenge the legitimacy of the prosecution.

“Selective prosecution” claims arise when a defendant believes they have been targeted for prosecution based on forbidden reasons, such as race, religion, sex, or other arbitrary classifications. The defendant argues that the prosecutor has enforced the law in a discriminatory manner, selecting them for prosecution while others who have committed similar offenses are not prosecuted.

“Vindictive prosecution” claims, on the other hand, occur when a defendant asserts that the prosecutor's decision to charge them was in retaliation for exercising a legal right, such as the right to a fair trial, the right to appeal, or the right to free speech. The essence of a vindictive prosecution claim is that the prosecutor is punishing the defendant for doing something that the law fully allows, thereby deterring the defendant and others from exercising their legal rights.

Both types of claims are serious allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. If a defendant can successfully prove either selective or vindictive prosecution, it may result in a dismissal of the charges. These claims must be brought up before trial through a pretrial motion, as specified in Rule 12(b). The defendant must provide evidence supporting the claim, and if the claim is substantial, the burden may shift to the prosecution to show that the decision to prosecute was not based on an impermissible factor (in the case of selective prosecution) or was not intended to punish the defendant for exercising a legal right (in the case of vindictive prosecution).

Conclusion

In contrast between the handling of classified document cases has raised substantial questions about the consistency of our justice system. While the scrutiny on former President Trump has been intense, the revelations from Special Counsel Robert K. Hur's report suggest that President Joe Biden may have engaged in similarly serious mishandling of sensitive information. What's more, Hur's report has drawn attention not only for its contents but for the actions of the Special Counsel himself.

The selective nature of prosecutions, as seen in the disparate treatment of cases, undermines confidence in the rule of law and suggests a need for immediate re-evaluation. If our justice system is to embody the principles of fairness and impartiality, actions like those alleged against Hur must be scrutinized with the same rigor as those of the subjects of his investigations.

It appears that in the course of his investigation, Hur may have crossed into territories beyond his expertise. I don't recall Robert Hur asserting that he possesses a medical degree with a specialty in psychiatry or neuroanatomy. Yet, reports indicate that he offered a medical opinion on Joe Biden after a single meeting. If this is the case, such conduct would not only be inappropriate but also potentially worthy of an ethics charge. It is crucial for investigators to remain within the scope of their professional competencies, especially when the stakes involve the reputation and privacy of individuals under scrutiny.

As we demand transparency and accountability in the handling of classified documents, we must also insist on the same from those who conduct the investigations. Professional boundaries exist for a reason, and when they are overstepped, the integrity of the entire process is called into question. The pursuit of justice, especially in the political arena, must be above reproach to maintain public trust. Thus, it is incumbent upon the legal and ethical oversight bodies to evaluate Hur's conduct in this matter and ensure that the investigation was carried out within the bounds of professional standards.

Reference:

Hur, R. K. (2024, February). Report from Special Counsel Robert K. Hur. Retrieved from https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24414147/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf

United States. (2023). Federal rules of criminal procedure (2023 ed.). Rule 12. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_12

[news4dzhozhar]

A recap of the past few days

[mariacallous]

Two months ago, Lin Rui-siang, a young Taiwanese man wearing black-rimmed glasses and a white polo shirt, stood behind a lectern emblazoned with the crest of the St. Lucia police, giving a presentation titled “Cyber Crime and Cryptocurrency” in nearly fluent English to a roomful of cops from the tiny Caribbean country.

The St. Lucia government would later issue a press release lauding the success of Lin's training course, which had been organized by the Taiwanese embassy, where Lin worked as a diplomatic specialist in IT. The statement boasted that 30 officers had learned “nuances of the dark web" and cryptocurrency tracing skills from Lin, who had “used his professional background and qualifications in the field" to teach them how to better combat cybercrime.

Only earlier this week did it become clear exactly what Lin's “professional background and qualifications in the field” allegedly entailed, seemingly unbeknownst to either his Taiwanese employers or his St. Lucian law enforcement trainees. For nearly four years, according to the US Justice Department, 23-year-old Lin ran a dark-web drug market called Incognito that authorities say enabled the sale of at least $100 million worth of narcotics, ranging from MDMA to heroin for cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and monero. That was before Lin's alleged theft of his own users' funds earlier this year and then his arrest last week by the FBI in New York's JFK airport.

Over his years working as a cryptocurrency-focused intern at Cathay Financial Holdings in Taipei and then as a young IT staffer at St. Lucia's Taiwanese embassy, Lin allegedly lived a double life as a dark-web figure who called himself “Pharoah" or “faro”—a persona whose track record qualifies as remarkably strange and contradictory even for the dark web, where secret lives are standard issue. In his short career, Pharoah launched Incognito, built it into a popular crypto black market with some of the dark web's better safety and security features, then abruptly stole the funds of the market's customers and drug dealers in a so-called “exit scam” and, in a particularly malicious new twist, extorted those users with threats of releasing their transaction details.

During those same busy years, Pharoah also launched a web service called Antinalysis, designed to defeat crypto money laundering countermeasures—only for Lin, who prosecutors say controlled that Pharoah persona, to later refashion himself as a crypto-focused law enforcement trainer. Finally, despite his supposed expertise in cryptocurrency tracing and digital privacy, it was Lin's own relatively sloppy money trails that, the DOJ claims, helped the FBI to trace his real identity.

Among all those incongruities, though, it's the image of Lin giving his cryptocurrency crime training in St. Lucia—which Lin proudly posted to his LinkedIn account—that shocked Tom Robinson, a cofounder of the blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, who has long tracked Lin's alleged Pharoah alter ego. “This is an alleged dark-net market admin standing in front of police officers, showing them how to use blockchain analytics tools to track down criminals online,” says Robinson. “Assuming he is who the FBI says he is, it's incredibly ironic and brazen.”

Pharoah the Kingpin—and Extortionist

Lin has been charged with not only narcotics conspiracy and money laundering but also running a “continuing criminal enterprise,” the so-called “kingpin statute” reserved for organized crime leaders who allegedly oversaw at least five employees. For that charge alone, he faces a potential life sentence.

In the DOJ's criminal complaint against Lin, it points to a handwritten document the FBI pulled from his email, which appears to sketch out a flow chart for a dark-web market's mechanics. The complaint's FBI affidavit says Lin emailed himself the sketch in March 2020 when he was at most 19 years old. It describes functionality such as how “vendors” and “buyers” would register, make purchases, and encrypt shipping addresses. Seven months later, Lin would allegedly launch Incognito Market.

According to the FBI, the market took nearly a year to catch on, with virtually no sales during that time. But by late 2021, Incognito had started to attract users, and by the middle of 2022, the market had drawn enough vendors and sellers to generate more than $1.5 million a month in sales.

A 2022 Twitter thread about Incognito posted by Eileen Ormsby, an author of several dark-web-focused books including The Darkest Web, shows how the market by that time had added features that may have helped it to catch the attention of security- and safety-conscious users. It required that new users demonstrate they could use the encryption tool PGP before entering the market, prompted them to take a security quiz, allowed buyers to spend the more privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero as well as bitcoin, encouraged dealers to post results from a fentanyl test to certify their product was “fent free,” and even experimented with democratic voting for market-wide decisions.

By the summer of 2023, Incognito had spiked in popularity and was approaching $5 million a month in sales. Then in March of this year, the site suddenly dropped offline, taking all the funds stored in buyers' and sellers' wallets with it. A few days later, the site reappeared with a new message on its homepage. “Expecting to hear the last of us yet?” it read. “We got one final little nasty surprise for y'all.”

The message explained that Incognito was now essentially blackmailing its former users: It had stored their messages and transaction records, it said, and added that it would be creating a “whitelist portal” where users could pay a fee—which for some dealers would later be set as high as $20,000—to remove their data before all the incriminating information was leaked online at the end of this month. “YES THIS IS AN EXTORTION!!!” the message added.

In retrospect, Ormsby says that the site's apparent user-friendliness and its security features were perhaps a multiyear con laying the groundwork for its endgame, a kind of user extortion never seen before in dark-web drug markets. “Maybe the whole thing was set up to create a false sense of security,” Ormsby says. “The extorting thing is completely new to me. But if you've lulled people into a sense of security, I guess it's easier to extort them.”

In total, Incognito Market promised to leak more than half a million drug transaction records if buyers and sellers didn't pay to remove them from the data dump. It's still not clear whether the market's administrator—Lin, according to prosecutors, whom they accuse of personally carrying out the extortion campaign—planned to follow through on the threat: He appears to have been arrested before the deadline set for the victims of the Incognito blackmail.

An Expert in ‘Anti Anti-Money Laundering’

At the same time the FBI says Lin was laying the groundwork for this double-cross, he also appears to have briefly tried engineering an entirely different scheme. In the summer of 2021, during Incognito Market's relatively quiet first year, Lin's alleged alter ego, Pharoah, launched a service called Antinalysis, a website designed to analyze blockchains and let users check—for a fee—whether their cryptocurrency could be connected to criminal transactions.

In a post to the dark-web market forum Dread, Pharoah made clear that Antinalysis was designed not to help anti-money-laundering investigators, but rather those who sought to evade them—presumably including his own dark-web market's users. “Our goals do not lie in aiding the surveillance autocracy of state-sponsored agencies,” Pharoah's post read. “This service is dedicated to individuals that have the need to possess complete privacy on the blockchain, offering a perspective from the opponent's point of view in order for the user to comprehend the possibility of his/her funds getting flagged down under autocratic illegal charges.”

After independent cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs wrote about the Antinalysis service in August 2021, describing it as an “anti anti-money laundering service for crooks,” Pharoah posted another message complaining that Antinalysis had lost access to its blockchain data source, which Krebs had identified as the anti-money-laundering tool AMLBot, and that it would be going offline. “Stay posted and fuck LE," Pharoah wrote, using the abbreviation LE to mean “law enforcement.” Antinalysis eventually returned, however, and pivoted last year to acting instead as a service for swapping bitcoin for monero and vice versa.

Meanwhile, Lin appears to have maintained his obsession with cryptocurrency tracing and blockchain analysis: His final LinkedIn post last week before his arrest in New York announced that he had become a certified user of Reactor, the crypto tracing tool sold by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. “I'm excited to share that I've completed Chainalysis's new qualification: Chainalysis Reactor Certification (CRC)!” Lin wrote in Mandarin. His last X post shows a Chainalysis diagram of money flows between dark-web markets and cryptocurrency exchanges.

It's not clear whether Lin obtained his Chainalysis certification to bolster a new career training law enforcement in blockchain analysis or, if US prosecutors are to be believed, to advance his previous alleged career as a dark-web criminal. But it raises the troubling possibility that a former dark-web kingpin—one who was still extorting his own users—was perhaps playing both sides of the crypto tracing game, says Elliptic's Tom Robinson.

“There’s a larger issue here about bad actors accessing blockchain analytics tools,” says Robinson. “That is a potentially risky situation, where someone who’s in the process of laundering proceeds of crime can check in commercially available tools whether they have laundered them such that they can get away with it.” Running certain checks in those tools might even allow someone to determine if they're being actively investigated by law enforcement, Robinson says.

WIRED reached out to Chainalysis to ask about Lin's Reactor certification and what sort of safeguards prevent criminals from using the company's software, but the company declined to comment.

If Lin did hope to evade law enforcement by becoming an expert in crypto tracing himself, he was far too late to avoid creating his own blockchain trail of evidence: In January of this year, the FBI says it somehow identified a central Incognito server and obtained a search warrant for its contents. That allowed investigators to identify a bitcoin wallet stored there, which the FBI says Lin had also carelessly used to pay web registrar Namecheap for four web domains—including one that tracked which dark-web markets were online or down—and register them under his own name.

Although the FBI says Lin tried to swap his bitcoins for harder-to-trace monero before cashing out the cryptocurrency at an exchange, the criminal complaint points to timing and amount correlations that nonetheless allowed the FBI to follow his funds to a crypto exchange where he allegedly liquidated the dirty funds. That exchange account, too, was registered in Lin's real name, according to the DOJ.

The operational security mistakes the FBI describes suggest that, regardless of which side of the cryptocurrency cat-and-mouse game Lin intended to end up on, he was far from a criminal mastermind. His brief, strange journey from alleged kingpin to crypto crime expert ultimately provides plenty of lessons to criminals and law enforcement alike—though probably not the ones he intended.

[submalevolentgrace]

"Amnesty International described Australia's track record as "embarrassing", and said the report had revealed a "double standard".

"We welcome the principled stance that the Australian government has taken on a range of human rights abuses and encourage the Australian government to apply the same attention and standards to all human rights abuses including the over-representation of First Nations children and adults in the criminal justice system, and offshore processing of refugees and asylum seekers," Amnesty International Australia national director Sam Klintworth said.

"While we've seen improvements in some areas such as the Justice Reinvestment package for First Nations communities and the federal government's acceptance of New Zealand's offer to resettle 150 refugees a year, we need only look at the horrific experiences of young people in youth detention, allegations of systemic abuse, the continued use of tools of torture like spithoods, and the hundreds of First Nations people who have died in custody to see that there are serious problems that require independent scrutiny.""