The question most consequential for civilians is who drones can kill. While civilian casualty figures attract media, little attention is paid to who counts as a "civilian" or non-combatant.

The EU used to be characterized by its 'ambition and contribution' to a strong international climate regime, but here in Bonn they are showing a distinct lack of courage, and as the German's say, when you lose your courage you lose everything.

Obama proffered an attractive vision of a world without nuclear weapons, and a theory -- that if Russia and the U.S. reduce their stockpiles, other nations will be inspired to, too.

Following years of official silence, State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh's statements on the legality of drone strikes last week were welcomed by many. But Koh failed to address serious concerns over the U.S.'s use of drones to kill al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The difference between the Somali pirates and the Israeli ones is the quality of their press releases. The Israeli pirates also happen to have much better uniforms.

"The U.N. simply does not have adequate support of the world powers," Juan E. Mendez told me. Coming from anyone, this might be less important. From...

It is critical to give the Internet a legal status that reflects its universality, so that it will be more difficult for repressive governments to use the sovereignty argument against fundamental freedoms.

It is doubtful Ban's report will have much impact on the controversy over the Goldstone report, which said that both Israel and Palestinian militants engaged in actions that amounted to war crimes.

Will Israel set up any kind of inquiry rather than let the army investigate itself? And would such an independent inquiry leave it open to more criticism or judicial threats than the Goldstone report?

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's appearance at the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War was predictably slick. This was always going to be the ...

If passed, a Ugandan bill on homosexuality will bring the country into a direct collision with established international human rights standards aimed at preventing discrimination.

This month we mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of a key treaty that aims to bring about the abolition of the death penalty.

In recent years, migrants - including individuals who were possibly refugees - have reportedly been shot dead by security forces, or left to die in the desert in their attempts to cross borders in North Africa.

It's a crime against reality for us to carry on pretending that countries like Kazakhstan can hold fair trials.

I fear that we might just see exactly how many barrels of oil a given dictator needs to export in order to flaunt the law.