Luke Moffett
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lukemoffett.bsky.social
Luke Moffett
@lukemoffett.bsky.social

Prof of Human Rights and #IHL researching on redress, civilian harm, OSINT and AI, working on rewilding the north coast

Political science 61%
Sociology 17%

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Important investigative work by Palestinian journalist, Zareefa Abo Qoura for @arijnetwork.bsky.social, combining testimonies with open-source verification on when military tanks targeted the incubators of hope at the Al-Basma Medical Center.
Destruction of the Largest Embryo Bank in Gaza... When Military Tanks Target Incubators of “Hope” | ARIJ
This report documents the destruction of the largest embryo bank in the Gaza Strip, which stored around 90 percent of embryos in the Strip. Our investigation draws on the testimony of people living in...
arij.net

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Reposted by Luke Moffett

The administration's lawless killing spree at sea continues with another maritime strike in the eastern Pacific.

Real killing in a make believe armed conflict against unidentified enemies.
New Bellingcat investigation: Made in the USA: How American-Built Weapons Have Wrought Destruction in Gaza.
The article examines how US-made weapons have been used in Israeli strikes and the civilian harm linked to their use.

www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...
Made in the USA: How American-Built Weapons Have Wrought Destruction in Gaza - bellingcat
Bellingcat has identified scores of incidents where remnants from munitions made in the US have been found after Israeli strikes in Gaza.
www.bellingcat.com

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Prof. @edswaine.bsky.social looks at the difficult threshold questions in the new case brought by family members of two Trinidadian men killed in US boat strikes – before the court reaches the merits.

www.justsecurity.org/130038/can-t...
Can the U.S. Government Be Sued for Wrongful Death in a Caribbean Boat Strike?
In Burnley v. United States, Trinidadian families sue over deadly Caribbean boat strike, challenging legality of Operation Southern Spear.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett, Dunlap

BREAKING: Family of Boat Strike Victims Sue U.S. for “Manifestly Unlawful” Killings

A lawsuit aims to hold the Trump administration accountable for killing two Trinidadian men in an airstrike in the Caribbean.

theintercept.com/2026/01/27/b...
Family of Boat Strike Victims Sue U.S. for “Manifestly Unlawful” Killings
A lawsuit aims to hold the Trump administration accountable for killing two Trinidadian men in an airstrike in the Caribbean.
theintercept.com
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

Reposted by Luke Moffett

With ICJ hearings ongoing in the Gambia v. Myanmar genocide case, @adhaque.bsky.social highlights technical burden of proof issues that have arisen in the case and offers a framework for the Court to consider in its final judgment:

www.justsecurity.org/129532/provi...

#ICJ #Gambia #Myanmar
Proving Genocide: The Burden of Proof
The Gambia has not shifted the burden of proof in the Gambia v. Myanmar ICJ case; rather, Myanmar faces a tactical choice in its response.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

JOB ALERT!

If you want to strengthen human rights protections in Northern Ireland, come work with us (I'm on the Board) at the Human Rights Consortium in a new role of Human Rights Advocacy and Research Officer.

Info: www.humanrightsconsortium.org/job-advertis...
Is there a risk that the dynamics of military technology hype enroll us all into a war hype? I argue yes in this piece just published by @techpolicypress.bsky.social. www.techpolicy.press/tech-venture...
Tech, Venture Capital and the Hype of War
The more of the world that is enrolled into the VC war-tech hype machine, the more we must ask where this leaves the possibility for peace, writes Elke Schwarz.
www.techpolicy.press
Greenland is home to the Inuit, an Indigenous people with the right to self-determination under international law.

JØRGEN NYBERGET analyses what this means for a possible annexation.

verfassungsblog.de/inuit-greenl...

Reposted by Luke Moffett

An expert international law analysis of the insurmountable legal obstacles of any US acquisition of Greenland, from the non-use of force to the right of self-determination.

By @mikeschmitt.bsky.social and @tessbridgeman.bsky.social

www.justsecurity.org/129374/legal...
Legal Obstacles to U.S. Acquisition of Greenland
Any acquisition of Greenland by the United States would directly violate fundamental principles of international law.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Do disasters facilitate child recruitment by armed groups? 🧐

📘 New JOGSS research by @dafnikalatzi.bsky.social & Yun Jung Yang uses a mixed-methods approach to show how disasters boost rebels’ demand for child soldiers.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jogs...
3 years into the war, Ukrainians' resistance territorial concessions has weakened slightly (compared to 07/2022 when we first ran this experiment), but they STILL categorically resist Russian control.

New paper with @marniehowlett.bsky.social & @carlmc.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-...
German ”assurances” on the Sudetenland. Sound familiar?

Reposted by Luke Moffett

NEW: British ministers ultimately decide whether to accept the findings of the military that British strikes killed civilians.

Five revelations from Airwars’ tribunal against the British Ministry of Defence
airwars.org/how-does-the...
How does the UK determine if it killed a civilian? Five takeaways from Airwars’ tribunal against the MoD
Landmark tribunal found UK's lack of published civilian harm policies may
airwars.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

For more details on the tribunal, see Airwars' five takeaways from the process

airwars.org/how-does-the...
How does the UK determine if it killed a civilian? Five takeaways from Airwars’ tribunal against the MoD
Landmark tribunal found UK's lack of published civilian harm policies may
airwars.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Secrecy around UK military civilian harm ‘risks undermining public confidence’

@theguardian.com reporting on the conclusion of Airwars' freedom of information tribunal against the Ministry of Defence

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Secrecy around UK military civilian harm ‘risks undermining public confidence’
Tribunal ruling follows Airwars investigation into Britain’s conduct in bombing campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Read leading expert @mikeschmitt.bsky.social on whether the Sept. 2 strike on suspected drug traffickers using an unmarked aircraft violated the prohibition on perfidy, or other LOAC rules, had there been an armed conflict:

www.justsecurity.org/129177/unmar...
Unmarked Aircraft to Attack an Alleged Drug Boat: Perfidy?
An analysis of whether the Sept. 2 strike on suspected drug traffickers using an unmarked aircraft violated the prohibition on perfidy.
www.justsecurity.org
TODAY: Israeli authorities demolish the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem.

Join us next Thursday 29th at 2pm when Dr Mais Qandeel will give a talk on 'AI-Enhanced Surveillance in Occupied Palestinian Territory: Limitations and Obligations' at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

Reposted by Luke Moffett

"The slowness of such accountability is an argument in favor of a local, community-based system as more judicial bodies can try more suspects, especially those at lower levels."

Dreaming of Justice Part 3: Alternative Approaches to Accountability in Myanmar justiceinconflict.org/2026/01/19/d...
Dreaming of Justice Part 3: Alternative Approaches to Accountability in Myanmar
The following is the third instalment in a four-part series by Jenna Dolecek on justice and accountability for victims and survivors of atrocities committed in Myanmar. For the first and second par…
justiceinconflict.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

According to Germany’s first “Space Safety and Security Strategy”, outer space is no longer just a potential battlefield – but “the centre of conflict itself”.

FLORIAN KRIENER on what this means for international law, self-defence, and military uses of space.

verfassungsblog.de/germany-spac...

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Attention researchers and practitioners!

The International Review of the Red Cross calls for papers on 'Addressing the Human Cost of Weapons: Past, Present and Future'. Submit by 20 March 2026, and contribute to this vital discussion.

Read more: ms.spr.ly/63327Q6p55

Reposted by Luke Moffett

"families of those executed have been obliged to pay for the rope or the bullet used during executions"

Prof Roja Fazaeli of the Irish Centre for Human Rights writing on protest and repression in Iran.

@uniofgalway.bsky.social @uniofgalwaylaw.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
Opinion: Why does Iran’s regime fear its own people so profoundly that it kills thousands?
Whatever is to come next must be shaped by the democratic aspirations of Iranians, rather than foreign interventionism
www.irishtimes.com

Reposted by Luke Moffett

The U.S. military has a dismal record in Africa.
Failed U.S. Military Effort in Africa is on the Chopping Block
As Trump focuses the military on the Western Hemisphere, AFRICOM and other foreign commands could be consolidated.
interc.pt

Reposted by Luke Moffett

"States complicit in attacks against the foundations of the world order must be called out for it. And this applies to the US, which now stands in opposition to the Nuremberg principles."

80 Years After Nuremberg, Envisioning the Future of International Law www.justsecurity.org/128387/nurem...
80 Years After Nuremberg, the Future of International Law
For international criminal law to remain a compelling set of norms, the central principles that formed Nuremberg must be vigorously defended.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Luke Moffett

By continuing to report the Gaza territorial development plan as some sort of "peace" plan, the actual fate and livelihoods of the humans in Gaza is being marginalised. This is not a Board of Peace, it is a Board of Business Opportunity. www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

Reposted by Luke Moffett

Pentagon steps in to receive Airwars' civilian harm reports from US strikes in Venezuela after SOUTHCOM fails to open its own channels.

@theintercept.com cited Airwars' research on the raid and interviewed our Executive Director:

theintercept.com/2026/01/13/c...
U.S. Military Command That Attacked Venezuela Gutted Its Civilian Harm Team
Complaints about civilians killed or injured in the U.S. attack on Venezuela are instead being handled by the Pentagon directly.
theintercept.com
Many friends asking what it is like in Minnesota right now. This video-clip tells. Masked men w/ guns in ordinary places (gas stations, grocery stores, cruising streets) intimidating ordinary people & instilling fear. As a terrorism expert, I think about the logic of government instilling fear.