Mark Kersten

Scott Hamilton has unseated incumbent Jan Liggett to become Cambridge‘s next mayor after winning Monday’s municipal election. www.therecord.com/news/municip...

Do you conduct academic research on queer politics and LGBTQI+ activism in Africa? Interested in presenting a paper at the European Conference of African Studies in Lisbon, June 30-July 3, 2027? Consider submitting an abstract to our panel: www.ecasconference.org/2027/program.... Deadline: Jan. 4.

Lula and democracy triumph in #Brazil www.bbc.com/news/article...

At the core of what Joe Keithley and @seanorr.bsky.social insist is that housing be recognized as a human right. These punk musicians became city councillors in B.C. – and brought their progressive politics to the table: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti... #bcpoli

"The intentional killing of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes in the West ​Bank formed part of a ⁠broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians." UN commission says Israel has continued to commit genocide in Gaza since truce: www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

Perhaps exactly why the Trump administration would support it... to undermine the UN system as a whole. The UAE has so much blood on its hands in Sudan. For its nominee Lana Nusseibeh to lead the UN would be an outrage: theguardian.com/commentisfre... #KeepEyesonSudan

Woah. Philippine officials announced a bounty Friday for the capture of a senator who has been ordered arrested by the International Criminal Court for an alleged crime against humanity in connection with deadly anti-drugs crackdowns: apnews.com/article/phil... #ICC

Digesting #BCElection2026 this morning & worrying about what it means for DRIPA, truth, justice and reconciliation, Indigenous land rights, & our human rights obligations. Waking up to messages like this is exactly why. We must now work even harder to resist the erosion of Indigenous rights.

Fact: the Cowichan decision has NOTHING to do with DRIPA. David Eby didn’t understand that and neither do the Conservatives. We must be now be more vigilant than ever against any attempts to undermine the rights of Indigenous people and communities. #bcpoli #BCElection2026

What an epic fail for NDP leader David Eby. He had a majority. His political cynicism led to it being shattered and squandered. Doerksen and the Conservatives didn’t win this election. Eby lost it and won’t soon be forgiven by BC citizens or progressive voters. #BCElection2026

The BC Election is in 2⃣ days. My human rights students asked #AbbotsfordSouth candidates Qs on housing, gender equality, intimate partner violence, extortion, etc. The BC NDP & One BC candidate replied. The Conservative declined. Here's what they said: docs.google.com/document/d/1... #bcpoli

The European Union has awarded the 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the ICC and its officials, amid the Trump administration's outlandish attempts to destroy the Court and protect war criminals: www.cbc.ca/news/world/e... #ICC

Gambian authorities have announced that funds from the sale of the country’s former president’s mansion in the United States would be used to pay reparations to victims of his rule: www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10... #Gambia

I think we should give a lot of credit to how hard he worked. It was clear (to this voter, at least) that @seanorr.bsky.social took his new job very seriously and was prepared to give it his all. I can’t be the only one who noticed and we saw the results last night.

"Fry ran an optimistic campaign. He talked about fighting for the little guy... But Pete Fry didn't just win the election — Ken Sim lost it... just one ABC councillor [was] re-elected, & the party [is] shut out of the school board and park board." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #vanpoli #bcpoli

Ken Sim targeted @seanorr.bsky.social throughout the campaign and his tenure as mayor with various smears, making this poetry: "COPE’s Sean Orr received the highest number of votes of any council candidate, with 83,038—more than 15,000 more votes than Sim." ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... #vanpoli

Pete Fry’s lead continues to expand over Ken Sim. And ABC has zero councillors so far. Good. This election was a referendum on Sim’s tenure over the last four years - which has been a weird, trolling obsessed, lie-driven, anti-human rights, war on poverty, embarrassment. Good riddance. #vanpoli

Ken Sim. Close the door on your way out. And take your elliptical machine. #vanpoli

Vancouver has long faced a homeless crisis and, at the same time, more than $4B worth of condos are sitting empty in the city. Housing is a human right. When will our governments finally treat it as such? www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Tl... #bcpoli

"Under the new sanctions, many of the organizations and people who depend on the ICC cannot afford the risk of standing up for it. We can." Why We’re Suing to Defend the International Criminal Court: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/icc-s... #ICC

"These moves are all attempts to distract from the urgent questions the film asks about the mass killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza." NAZA: Netanyahu orders identification and prosecution of film’s interviewees www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oc...

This is just a symptom of how scared he is of their truth. NAZA: Netanyahu orders identification and prosecution of film’s interviewees www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oc...

"The question is not that we cannot criticize the court. But to try and dismantle it as a whole I think is really an attack on the idea of the rule of international law." Trump wants to dismantle the ICC. These jurists want Canada to intervene: www.cbc.ca/news/politic... #ICC

Navi Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize and a victory for the cause (Photo: Wayamo Foundation) A moment of joy and affirmation during such troubling times facing the field of international criminal law and justice. Congratulations to Navi Pillay on winning the 2026 Nobel Prize for Peace, which she won…

Joined CBC Hanomansing Live last night to talk about the new U.S. sanctions against the International Criminal Court, from minute 1:32: lnkd.in/dtkPSBRk

Man who wants to destroy the International Criminal Court to protect war criminals and rapists complains that a woman who brought war criminals to justice and who helped define rape as an act of genocide won the Nobel Peace Prize over him.

Talking ICC with CBC. As I said, the Court is a canary in the coalmine. Defending the institution is to defend international law and justice itself.

It's getting less attention bc it was a long time ago, but Navi Pillay was also an absolute trailblazer in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, winning a ruling that brought those incarcerated on Robben Island, including Mandela, the right to counsel. She knows apartheid when she sees it.

Looking forward to joining CBC News (tv) shortly to celebrate the selection of Navi Pillay as the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner and to condemn the U.S. sanctions against the ICC.

There is no dialogue with bullies. What are you saying?!? If you do that, the ICC can pack up and go home, and with it, any notion that the EU is committed to justice and the rule of law globally. Initiate the implementation of the Blocking Statute. Today. #ICC #EU #BlockingStatute

Notable that the joint statement, while offering rhetoric support, is completely silent on any measures to help the #ICC. Hopefully that is coming. These states are not powerless. The EU, UK and Canada all have the ability to invoke measures to block the impact of U.S. sanctions.

“The Trump administration has made clear its aim to destroy the ICC to shield US & Israeli officials from facing charges before the court... Governments that value human rights & accountability should condemn this outrageous move and take swift action to protect the ICC." www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

A reminder that #ICE still has five offices in Canadian cities - Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. The presence of ICE, indeed its very existence as a law enforcement agency, makes us all less safe. We shouldn't have to wait for someone to be shot to do something about it.

The US is now simultaneously sanctioning the #ICC and multiple individuals and groups led by individuals whom the ICC has targeted for prosecution

"The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the States that created it... This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law." www.icc-cpi.int/news/icc-str...

Congratulations to Navi Pillay on winning the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting and defending international law! I have been honored to work with Navi - and even write a few speeches - over the years.

You know who else live-streams their killings? The Islamic State / ISIS. They record and live-stream killings in an attempt to spread their violent propaganda and marshal support. Now, MAGA.

You know who else live-streams their killings? The Islamic State / ISIS. They record and live-stream killings in an attempt to spread their violent propaganda and marshal support. Now, MAGA.

U.S. sanctions on the #ICC are coming today (Friday). The ICC is a canary in the coal mine, whose failing health embodies the Trumpian virus infecting the global rule of law. To save the Court is to save international law itself. justiceinconflict.org/2026/07/27/u...

I am hearing that U.S. sanctions agains the International Criminal Court as a whole are incoming. I hope the government in Canada, and indeed all states that care about the rule or law & victims of atrocities, denounce the American regime and its thuggery.

Here's hoping that the EU, UK and Canada have their Blocking Statutes ready tomorrow, to insulate the ICC from incoming U.S. sanctions...

"Not only was Canadian law broken, but Canada’s sovereignty was violated.... Yet in all of these more recent cases, there seems to have been no public accountability." American police broke Canadian law — and it keeps happening: vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e... #cdnpoli

Ottawa says that it's wrong to imply the US is engaging in foreign interference in Canada like our adversaries, so drops sponsorship of EU DisinfoLab 2026. The US has threatened to annex Canada & Republicans are working to help separatists in Alberta... www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Judges at the #ICC have decided that former #Philippines President Duterte is fit to stand trial, on charges of crimes against humanity over his so-called "drug war": www.icc-cpi.int/news/situati...