Author Archives: Mark Kersten

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About Mark Kersten

Mark Kersten is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, and a Senior Consultant at the Wayamo Foundation in Berlin, Germany. Mark is the founder of the blog Justice in Conflict and author of the book, published by Oxford University Press, by the same name. He holds an MSc and PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hons) from the University of Guelph. Mark has previously been a Research Associate at the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, and as researcher at Justice Africa and Lawyers for Justice in Libya in London. He has taught courses on genocide studies, the politics of international law, transitional justice, diplomacy, and conflict and peace studies at the London School of Economics, SOAS, and University of Toronto. Mark’s research has appeared in numerous academic fora as well as in media publications such as The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera, BBC, Foreign Policy, the CBC, Toronto Star, and The Washington Post. He has a passion for gardening, reading, hockey (on ice), date nights, late nights, Lego, and creating time for loved ones.

Chasing al-Shabaab: Is Kenya ‘Right to Intervene’ in Somalia?

Andrew Jillions joins us once again to consider the legality and justice of Kenya’s incursion into Somali territory last week. This post is the first of two on the subject, so keep your an eye out for the second piece … Continue reading

Posted in al-Shabaab, Famine, Justice, Kenya, Somalia | Leave a comment

The Death of Gaddafi and the “Injustice Cascade”

Many a practitioner, scholar and layman has argued that we live in a world where holding leaders accountable for committing international crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – has become a norm. The world has no place … Continue reading

Posted in International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, NATO, Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden and international law, Slobodan Milosevic, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3) | 8 Comments

Gaddafi’s Death: What now? What Justice?

When Col Muammar Gaddafi said earlier this year that he would “fight to the death” in the face of the revolution taking place in Libya, he wasn’t joking around. Flashing across the screens of virtually every news program today have … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, Middle East, Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden and international law, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3), United Kingdom, United States, War crimes | 8 Comments

Revisiting the Peace-Justice Debate in northern Uganda

Perhaps no nation has witnessed so impassioned a debate on the relationship between peace and international criminal justice as Uganda. Northern Uganda, a case many believed the Court could “cut its teeth” on, sparked a fierce discussion, popularly referred to … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Peace Negotiations, Peace Processes, Peacebuilding, Transitional Justice, Uganda | 8 Comments

US Sends 100 Troops to Uganda to Hunt Kony: Some Thoughts

Late last week, President Obama informed the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, that he had ordered 100 troops to be deployed to Uganda with the mission of “removing” the Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony from the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics of Conflict, Justice, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Uganda, United States | 11 Comments

South Asia’s First War Crimes Criminal Tribunal

JiC is happy to welcome Dawood Ahmed as a guest-poster. Dawood is a Solicitor (non-practicing) and a research associate at the Center on Law and Globalization. In his first post at JiC, Dawood introduces some of the key challenges facing … Continue reading

Posted in Amnesty, Asia, Bangladesh, Human Rights, Justice, War crimes | 2 Comments

Justice and Diamonds in Zimbabwe: Saving Kimberley from Itself

Andrew Jillions joins us again to discuss the Kimberly Process of diamond certification in the context Zimbabwe. As Andrew explains, the case of Zimbabwe risks undermining a process which, for all its faults, remains the best way to prevent the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics of Conflict, Human Rights, Justice, Kimberly Process, Zimbabwe | 2 Comments

No Surprise: Why Libya but not Syria

Despite high rhetoric being flung across the Security Council yesterday, Russia and China’s vetoing of the European-drafted resolution condemning Syria’s brutal crackdown on civilians should come as no surprise. There are a number of political-tuned reasons to explain why this Resolution failed. … Continue reading

Posted in Bahrain, China, Crimes against humanity, Egypt, Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, Russia, Tunisia, UN Security Council, Yemen | Leave a comment

Broadening Horizons: Ecocide, Famine and the “Other” Crimes

If you can’t see it, it can’t and doesn’t really matter that much. That seems to be the attitude of many of us to key issues of international concern. Take for example, a core contradiction in many people’s hesitation to … Continue reading

Posted in al-Shabaab, Burma/Myanmar, Crimes against humanity, Ecocide, Environment, Famine, Human Rights, Justice, North Korea | 4 Comments

Handcuffed by Statehood: Justice and Palestine

Observers have watched with keen interest as Mahmoud Abbas took the politically risky, some say courageous, move to seek UN recognition of Palestine as a state. At the very center of Abbas’ polarizing decision is the International Criminal Court and … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel, Justice, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine and the ICC, United States | Leave a comment