Tom Dannenbaum
@tomdannenbaum
Professor @law.stanford.edu | @stanfordcisac.bsky.social | @fsi.stanford.edu International Law: IHL, ICL, IHRL, use of force, ethics Editor, Just Security: Bio: Book:
Key case recently reported: Admin Review Tribunal of 🇦🇺 correctly determined that a risk of imprisonment for refusing IDF mil. service entails a well-founded fear of persecution (key for refugee status) given credible allegations that 🇮🇱 ops in Gaza violate IHL (per ICC warrants & UN CoI report) 1/2
Nonetheless, it is striking that 🇻🇪’s purported justification (left 👇) directly contradicts 🇺🇸’s (right👇). Needless to say, the incoherence won’t bother the latter. The point is to destroy the Court by any means. @eliavl.bsky.social & I responded to Rubio here: www.justsecurity.org/147437/inter... 2/2
PHRI warning and call to action regarding imminent danger to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya's Life
For details on the customary IHL rule: ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary... Water deprivation is a component of the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant www.icc-cpi.int/news/situati...
Appalling. But to be clear, this campaign is murderous whether narcotics are present or not. These are crimes against humanity. (👇 excerpts from the ICC decision confirming charges against Rodrigo Duterte for murder as a crime against humanity in his so-called “war on drugs”)
On Ryan’s Q (whether these killings meet the crimes against humanity threshold), some relevant paragraphs from the ICC decision confirming charges against Rodrigo Duterte for murder as a CAH in his “war on drugs” (NB only one of “widespread” or “systematic” is needed) www.icc-cpi.int/sites/defaul...
Regardless of the specialized rules, the requirement of proportionality obtains. Any attack entailing expected civilian harm that would be clearly excessive in relation to the military advantage anticipated would be a war crime. 3/3
Reported Israeli attacks near the Qaraoun Dam are extremely alarming. Relevant here: - specialized IHL rules on dams, the environment, & indispensable objects (discussed in a post linked below on the Nova Kakhovka disaster) - core IHL rules (esp. proportionality) 1/3 www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/w...
Hungary’s new government has reversed the country’s withdrawal from the ICC, which had been set to enter into effect on the 2nd of June. Hungary will remain an ICC State Party.
For one month (until 17 June), this chapter on Forever War and the Jus Ex Bello can be downloaded for free using the following link: academic.oup.com/book/62588/c...
The ICC has unsealed an arrest warrant for senator & former Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa for the crime against humanity of murder in relation to at least 32 killings in Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs” Initially issued as secret on 6 Nov 2025 www.icc-cpi.int/news/situati...
Perpetual War and International Law is now out. Edited by Brianna Rosen. My contribution "Forever War and the Jus Ex Bello" explores the dimensions of international law that bear on whether and when a state must cease contributing to the perpetuation of an armed conflict. Links👇
Calling on Lebanon to invoke Article 12(3) of the ICC Statute: www.hrw.org/news/2026/02... euromedrights.org/publication/... 5/5
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I has confirmed all charges against Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He will now stand trial for murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity in the context of his so-called “war on drugs.” www.icc-cpi.int/sites/defaul...
This is a threat to commit an atrocity crime of extraordinary proportions. The statement appears to be designed to spread terror among the Iranian population, which would render the threat itself a violation of international law, as recognized in the DoD Law of War Manual.
“Military-aged male” is not a legal category. The categories are “civilian” & “combatant”. In case of doubt, a person is presumed civilian. Age & gender are not close to sufficient to dispel such doubt. Speculative beliefs about threats are also insufficient. 1/2
I join Michal Feldon, Ahmed Alfarra, Eyad Amawi, Barry Danino, Feroze Sidhwa, and Ruth Gibson to make the case for reopening the humanitarian corridor from Gaza to the West Bank for medical evacuations in @thelancet.com: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
It’s been a privilege to write with @eliavl.bsky.social in this effort to think through the normative underpinnings of IHL on the protection of objects: Making Sense of International Humanitarian Law's Protection of Objects papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Such attacks would entail war crimes and crimes against humanity, as is exemplified by the reference to parallel practices in Gaza in the ICC’s announcement of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Declaring that no quarter will be given is straightforwardly prohibited under international humanitarian law. When done to threaten an adversary, the declaration itself amounts to a war crime. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...
For an earlier discussion of related practice in Gaza see www.justsecurity.org/109263/gaza-...
A water desalination plant is presumptively a civilian object & it is an object indispensable to survival. Targeting a civilian object is a war crime. Targeting an object indispensable to survival can implicate the starvation war crime. NB: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...