Francis Boyle
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Francis Anthony Boyle, is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School. He also received a Ph. D. in political science from Harvard University.
Between 1988 and 1992 Boyle was a member of the board of Amnesty International USA. He threatened to sue Amnesty for what he perceived as bias in its coverage of abuses against Palestinians' human rights; he has since been a critic of the organization. Boyle also charged that Amnesty's staff had been infiltrated by US and UK security services (see Covert Action interview below).
From 1991 to 1993, Boyle was a legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Boyle is currently attorney of record for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and a member of the Nobel Peace Prize for Governor George H. Ryan Committee.
Professor Boyle is a controversial figure at the University of Illinois. He worked to prevent a war between the United States and Libya in the 1990s, and speaks fondly of his interactions with Muammar al-Qaddafi. Professor Boyle has taken a strong stand against the actions taken by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Boyle keeps a low profile on campus, deleting his photograph from the faculty directory, and removing the nameplate from his office, after allegedly receiving death threats from Serbian terrorists following his appearance as counsel representing Bosnia-Herzegovina in the genocide trial against Serbia and Montenegro. He nevertheless maintains a highly visible public profile for a law professor, making appearances on such interview shows as Fox's The O'Reilly Factor and Moneyline with Lou Dobbs.
Boyle is a United States citizen, but also holds honorary citizenship of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which he received in 1993 while he was an adviser to Bosnian war-time president Alija Izetbegović.
Boyle has also taken a strong stand in favor of Hawaiian independence. In the former he uses a resolution signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton apologizing for U.S. involvement in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy as justification for Hawaiian independence. In the latter, he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, claiming that he had to endure a "hostile work environment."[1]
In 2002, Professor Boyle protested a speech by Ruth Wedgwood, a law professor performing consulting work for the George W. Bush Administration, by equating her advocacy of military tribunals in the War on Terror to kangaroo courts. He underlined this point by accompanying an individual dressed in an anthropomorphic kangaroo costume, referred to as "Wedgie the Kangaroo".
More recently Professor Boyle has been on the vanguard of movement to impeach U.S. President George W. Bush.
[edit] External resources
- Dennis Bernstein's interview with Francis Boyle
- Francis Boyle's Faculty Webpage
- Francis Boyle's statement on Hawaiian Independence
- Francis Boyle's interview with Bill O'Reilly
- Francis Boyle discusses the Bill O'Reilly interview and the War in Afghanistan
- Tim Cavanaugh, 'The Long, Happy Life of America's anti-defamation industry'.
- Francis A. Boyle. Palestine, Palestinians and International Law, review of his book by Ghada Talhami, Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Summer, 2003
