Syria and the red lines of international law. CEPS Commentary, 4 September 2013

As the US and its allies France and Turkey dither over whether or not to punish Assad for having used sarin gas to kill his own people, the crucial question is: What response might the outside world legally take without the authority of the UN Security Council, which remains blocked by two veto-wielding members, Russia and China? Sadly, international law provides no clear-cut answers to this dilemma. To respond to what US Secretary of State John Kerry has rightly called a “moral obscenity”, this commentary explores ways in which formal interpretations of international law might give way to a more pragmatic approach to punish the Assad regime for its use of chemical weapons.

Human rights in El Salvador [microform] : hearings before the Subcommittees on Human Rights and International Organizations and on Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, first session, July 26, 1983.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 83 H381-89

Human rights in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador : implications for U.S. policy : hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session, June 8 and 9, 1976.

Includes bibliographical references.

Review of the United Nations 33d Commission on Human Rights : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, May 19, 1977.

Mode of access: Internet.

Human rights in Guatemala : hearing before the Subcommittees on Human Rights and International Organizations and on Inter-American Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, first session, July 30, 1981.

Item 1017-A, 1017-B (microfiche)

Human rights in Haiti : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, first session, November 18, 1975.

"Report of Senator Edward W. Brooke, 'United States foreign assistance for Haiti', April 1974": p. 73-120.

Human rights in Chile : hearings before the Subcommittees on Inter-American Affairs and on International Organizations and Movements of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, second session ...

Subcommittees' names in reverse order in pt. 2.

Religious persecution of the Baha'is in Iran, 1988 [microform] : hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, June 29, 1988.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 89 H381-15

Recent developments concerning foreign agent harassment of people in the United States [microform] : hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, April 21, 1988.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 89 H381-53

Human rights in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union : hearing and markup before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on International Organizations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, on H. Con. Res. 434, September 16 and 24, 1980.

Item 1017.

U.S. policy in El Salvador : hearings before the Subcommittees on Human Rights and International Organizations and on Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety- eighth Congress, first session ... February 4, 28; March 7, 17, 1983.

Mode of access: Internet.

Human rights in Chile : hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations and On Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, first session, March 20, 1985.

Mode of access: Internet.

Human rights in Romania : hearing before the Subcommittees on Europe and the Middle East and on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, first session, May 14, 1985.

Mode of access: Internet.

Human rights and the phenomenon of disappearances [microform] : hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, September 20, 25, and October 18, 1979.

Reuse of record except for individual research requires license from Congressional Information Service, Inc.

Review of the 35th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, April 9, 1979.

Mode of access: Internet.