War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 8, Issue 24 - February 24, 2014

War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol.
8, Issue 24 -- February 24, 2014
2/26/14, 7:18 PM
FREDERICK K. COX INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER
WAR CRIMES PROSECUTION WATCH

Volume 8 - Issue 24 February 24, 2014
EDITOR IN CHIEF Hilarie Henry MANAGING EDITORS Audrey Balint Rachel Berman-Vaporis SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR Peter Beardsley
Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type "subscribe" in the subject line.
Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.
Contents
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda
The Daily Observer: ICC Opens Car 'War Crimes' Preliminary Investigation Bemba Trial: Victims Lawyer in Bemba Trial Dies Bemba Trial: Lawyer Asks Judges to End Monitoring of Bembas Communications Bemba Trial: Lawyer Asks Judges to Bar Prosecutor from Contacting Bembas Witnesses
Darfur, Sudan
United Press International: Sudan Baffled by Security Council Action
Democratic Republic of the Congo

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War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 8, Issue 24 -- February 24, 2014
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Lubanga Trial: Prosecutor Denies Withholding Exculpatory Evidence from Lubangas Lawyers Associated Press: Case Against Congolese Militia Leader Is Test for ICC ICC Press Release: Confirmation of Charges Hearing in Ntaganda Case Opens at ICC: AudioVisual Materials Associated Press: Congolese Warlord Ntaganda to Face ICC Judges Lubanga Trial: Ntagandas Confirmation of Charges Hearing Opens at ICC Lubanga Trial: Prosecutor: Ntaganda Killed a Priest, Ordered Soldiers to Rape Lubanga Trial: Defense: Ntaganda Was a Peacemaker Lubanga Trial: Try Ntaganda, Prosecutors Ask ICC Judges Institute for War & Peace Reporting: Congolese Rebel Leader Faces 18 Counts at ICC ICC Press Release:Ntaganda Case: Confirmation of Charges Hearing Ends at ICC Lubanga Trial: Ntaganda Confirmation of Charges Hearing Ends
Kenya
All Africa: Kenya: Lawyer Has Not Seen Victims ICC All Africa: Kenya: Ruto Says Kenyan Cases at the Hague Will Collapse All Africa: Kenya: ICC Prosecution Witness 323 Pulls Out of Ruto, Sangs Case Standard Digital: President Uhuru Kenyattas Fate at ICC Now Linked to His Cash Records Kenya Monitor: Kenyas Attorney General Says a Court Order Is Needed to Get Kenyatta Financial Records All Africa: Kenya: Why I Have Not Met Victims, Says Nderitu The Kenyan Daily Post: Shock as Another ICC Witness that Bensouda Had Lined up to Testify in Ruto/Sangs Case Escapes from a Hotel in Nairobi All Africa: Kenya: ICC Needs Court Order to Access Uhurus Accounts Kenya Monitor: Prosecution Wants Judges to Compel Seven Witnesses to Testify; Defense Disagrees Capital News: Witnesses Can Be Forced to Testify ICC Standard Digital: ICC Expert Witness Explains Genesis of Ethnic Conflicts Standard Digital Kenya Monitor: Expert Witness is Cross-Examined by Rutos Lawyer
Libya
Human Rights Watch: Libya: Gaddafi Son, Ex-Officials, Held Without Due Process
AFRICA
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Al Jazeera: Simbikangwa Trial: The Moment of Reckoning BBC: Rwanda's Augustin Ndindiliyimana Cleared of Genocide SBS: Genocide Tribunal Acquits Rwanda Pair PressTV: Rwanda Genocide Survivors Condemn UN Acquittals All Africa: With an Ally on the Bench, Kabuga and Co. Don't Need to Hide After All
EUROPE
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
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Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Goran Vujovic and Miroslav Duka Entered a Not Guilty Plea Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Defense Closing Speech in the Case v. Najdan Mladenovic et al. Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Prison Sentence for Novak !ukic Suspended Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Jovan and Goran Popovic Entered a Not Guilty Plea Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Plea Hearing in the Case v. Perica Ad"ic Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Plea Hearing in the Case v. Dragan #ekaric International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Hague Prosecutor Wants Perisic Acquittal Reconsidered Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Bosnian Serb Police Minister Says He Acted Within the Law Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Foca Camp Officer Saw No "Signs of Violence or Blood" Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia Balkan Insight: Bosnian Croat Fighter Indicted for Murders, Torture Balkan Insight: Serbian Fighters Jailed for Kosovo War Murders Balkan Insight:Bloodthirsty Bosnian Guard Accused of Beating Prisoners Balkan Insight: Jail Urged Over Bosnia Mosque Killings Balkan Insight: Try Top Officials for Kosovo Crimes, Serbia Urged
MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Voice of America: Arguments Open as Tribunal Considers Next Phase of Khmer Rouge Trial The Cambodia Daily: KR Tribunal Debates Second Phase of Case 002 The Cambodia Daily: Bosnian Lawyer Appointed for KRT Suspect Ta Tith
Syria
NewStatesman: Syria War Crimes: Regime Bombs Bakeries, Uses Starvation as Weapon
Special Tribunal for Lebanon

The Daily Star: STL Defense: Underground Bomb Theory Ignored Naharnet: Retired British Officer Testifies at STL on Mitsubishi Items Found in Seabed Naharnet: ISF Officer Tells STL He Received Orders to Rush to Crime Scene, Says 6 Cars Removed on Night after Blast Naharnet: STL Trial Chamber Approves Joinder of Merhi, Ayyash et al. Cases Naharnet: STL Suspends Sessions Awaiting the Readiness of Merhi's Defense for Trials Naharnet: Hale Visits Hariri's Grave as U.S. Reaffirms Support for STL Naharnet: March 14 to Submit to U.N. Petition Asking STL to Probe All Assassinations of March 14 Figures
Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

The Hindu : War Crimes Accused Jamaat Leader Dies in Bangladesh
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The Daily Star: ICT-1 to Get New Chairman Within Next Week The Financial Express: SQ Chowdhury Appeal: SC Seeks Concise Copy of Verdict by February 26 Business Standard: Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal Summons British Journalist
War Crimes Investigations in Burma
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

United States
The Washington Post: Obama Soliciting New Policy Options for Syria from Top Aides as Peace Talks Flounder The Washington Post: Iran Takes Tough Opening Stand at Nuclear Talks, Vows Not to Dismantle Equipment The Washington Post: Obama Warns of Consequences in Ukraine as U.S. Issues Visa Bans Miami Herald: Alleged USS Cole Bomber Apologizes for Delay, Calls Guantnamo War Court Strange
South & Central America

Chile The Santiago Times: Judge Seeks Extradition of French Guerilla for Role in Iconic Murder Colombia Colombia Reports: Colombia Congress Wants to Assure US FARC Will Not Receive Immunity Associated Press: Colombia Military Hit by Second Scandal in a Month Colombia Reports: 5 Policemen Killed in FARC Ambush in Northwest Colombia Guatemala Associated Press: Ex-Guatemalan Soldier Sentenced to 10 Years in US
TOPICS
Terrorism
Fox News: Chicago Jury Acquits 3 NATO Summit Protesters of Terrorism, Convicts on Lesser Arson Counts Baptist Press: Pakistan Prosecution Stalls in Bhatti Slaying Dawn: Afghan Acquitted of Terrorism, Jailed for Illegal Stay Associated Press: Man Pleads Guilty in NYC Pipe Bomb Terrorism Plot
Piracy
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Reuters: Italy Scorns Indian Decision to Try Marines with Anti-Piracy Law Horseed Media: Suspected Pirates Attack Kenyan Ship off Coast of Somalia IHS Janes Defence Weekly: Luxembourg Passes Operational Milestone in Support of EU Anti-Piracy Mission
Gender-Based Violence
London Evening Standard: Met Will Prosecute Parents Who Send Their Girls Abroad to Be Cut
REPORTS
UN Reports
Hiru News:Video: UN States that Investigations Cannot be Initiated Against SL Without its Members Agreement The Guardian: Congo Warlord Bosco Ntaganda Led Ethically Motivated Murder, ICC Told Express: Strikingly Similar to the Nazis: Full Horror of Life in North Korea Revealed The Telegraph: UN Calls for Sri Lankan War Crimes Inquiry
NGO Reports
Human Rights Watch: Razed to the Ground
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS

Canada
Montreal Gazette: Documents Delay Hampers Truth, Reconciliation Process
Kenya
Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Extending Justice Beyond ICC Prosecutions
Nepal
IRIN News: Nepal's Renewed Hope for Truth and Reconciliation
Sri Lanka
Colombo Page: Sri Lanka Receives Support for a Counterproposal to Dilute the USSponsored Resolution at UN
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COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES

Justice in Conflict: Libyas Political Isolation Law: Politics and Justice or the Politics of Justice? Opinio Juris: Schabas on the OTPs Attempt to Reconsider Peresic Lawfare: Josh Gerstein on Piracy and Terrorism Trials Opinio Juris: When Acquittal is Small Consolation Justice in Conflict: The Awful Truth About Holocaust Reporting and Its Legacy Communis Hostis Omnium: Dismissal of Charges in U.S. v. Ali The New York Times: As Genocide Looms Justice in Conflict: A Break in the Status Quo: Could North Korea Be Referred to the ICC?
WORTH READING
"Proceedings of the Bruges Colloquium: Vulnerabilities in Armed Conflicts": The Protection of Children Against Recruitment and Participation in Hostilities: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law as Complementary Legal Frameworks Complementarity and Cooperative Justice Ahead of Their Time? The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Fact-Finding and Evidence Amsterdam Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series: Trafficking in Human Beings: A Modern Form of Slavery or a Transnational Crime?
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Central African Republic & Uganda

Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic ICC Public Documents - Situation in Uganda
ICC Opens Car 'War Crimes' Preliminary Investigation The Daily Observer February 10, 2014 The Gambian-born chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda says she has opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in the Central African Republic (CAR).
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Fatou Bensouda said she had received reports of "extreme brutality by various groups". Tens of thousands of Muslims have already fled to Cameroon and Chad. CAR, one of Africa's poorest nations, has been in chaos for more than a year after Muslim rebels seized power. Mrs Bensouda said that her investigations so far included "hundreds of killings, acts of rape and sexual slavery, destruction of property, pillaging, torture, forced displacement and recruitment and use of children in hostilities." She added that "in many incidents, victims appear to have been deliberately targeted on religious grounds."Accounts of violence in CAR have become increasingly brutal, with reports of mob killings common. On Friday morning, witnesses said thousands of Muslims piled on to trucks in the capital Bangui to leave the city, escorted by Chadian peacekeepers. One person who fell off one of the trucks was killed by a crowd and his body mutilated, witnesses said. Rebel leader Michel Djotodia, who became CAR's first Muslim leader, resigned as interim president last month as part of a regional peace process, but the violence has continued. The rebels, who called themselves Seleka, were blamed for a series of deadly attacks on Christians that prompted the creation of Christian militias - widely known as "anti-balaka", meaning anti-machete. The UN Security Council authorised French and African troops to intervene last December. The Charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said all communities were affected by the violence, but lately there have been collective reprisals against Muslims. According to MSF, about 30,000 refugees are already in Chad and another 10,000 have reached Cameroon. In Bangui, Muslim families are gathering in a separate camp at the airport, in the great mosque and several other sites waiting to leave or hoping for some protection, the charity said. Victims Lawyer in Bemba Trial Dies Bemba Trial By Wakabi Wairagala February 10, 2014 Assingambi Zarambaud, a lawyer representing victims in the war crimes trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba at the International Criminal Court (ICC), passed away last month. There has been no official communication from the court regarding the death, but according to media reports, Mr. Zarambaud suffered a fatal heart attack in Paris, France on January 16, 2014. He was a national of the Central African Republic (CAR). In a February 5, 2014 filing, the courts registry confirmed that Marie-Edith Douzima Lawson, the second victims lawyer in the trial, would take on the representation of all the victims previously represented by Mr. Zarambaud. Two case managers would support her. "The Registry considers that such an arrangement would ensure the continuity of the proper legal representation of victims at the current stage of the case, and would guarantee that the proceedings will be conducted without undue delay," said
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Marc Dubuisson, the director of court services. As of November 2012, there were 4,898 victims granted participating status in the trial which begun a little over three years ago. Two of the victims were invited by judges to give oral testimony before the court while three others expressed their views and concerns to the court. All five addressed the court by way of video link prior to the start of the defense case that opened in August 2012. Mr. Zarambaud is the second lawyer to pass away during the trial of Mr. Bemba. In February 2012, Nkwebe Liriss, the lead counsel of the former Congolese vice president, died following an undisclosed "long illness." Mr. Bemba denies murder, rape, and pillaging charges arising from his alleged failure as commander-in-chief of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo to stop or punish his soldiers who brutalized Central African civilians. The alleged crimes took place during an armed conflict in 2002 and 2003. Lawyer Asks Judges to End Monitoring of Bembas Communications Bemba Trial By Wakabi Wairagala February 11, 2014 The defense for Jean-Pierre Bemba has asked judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to order a stop to the monitoring and recording of privileged communications between Mr. Bemba and his lawyers. "It is impossible for members of the current team to continue to represent Mr. Bemba without the ability to take instructions and provide advice in a confidential setting," submitted Peter Haynes in a February 6, 2014 filing. He asked judges to order a stop to monitoring of all communications, including phone conversations, meetings at the detention center where Mr. Bemba is being held, and the holding cell at the ICC premises. Furthermore, he asked judges to order the courts registry, the prosecution, and national authorities not to monitor the communications devices of any member of the defense team. Last July, pre-trial judge Cuno Tarfusser authorized the interception of communications between Mr. Bemba and his then lead defense counsel Aim KiloloMusamba and case manager Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo. Prosecutors applied for permission to conduct the interception as part of investigations into defense witness tampering allegations. Four months later, prosecutors applied for arrest warrants against Mr. Bemba, his two lawyers, Narcisse Arido, a defense witness, and Fidle Babala Wandu, a member of the Congolese parliament. The prosecution submitted evidence of money transfers through international services, telephone call records, transcripts, translations and summaries of recorded communications, text messages, witness statements, and e-mails. On November 20, Judge Tarfusser issued an arrest warrant against all five suspects, stating that there were reasonable grounds to believe that since early 2012, a criminal scheme had been "affording benefits and advantages to certain defense witnesses in exchange for false testimony and the presentation of false or forged evidence."
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The arrest warrant authorized the search and seizure of relevant items from Mr. Bembas cell and the homes and workplaces of the other suspects. At their initial appearance before the court, it emerged that Mr. Kilolos iPad and Blackberry, which he said contained "the entire defense strategy" in the ongoing trial, were seized during his arrest. Mr. Haynes, who now leads Mr. Bembas defense team, on January 16 wrote to the prosecutor asking whether there was still monitoring of privileged defense communications with Mr. Bemba or of the communications of current defense team members. Mr. Haynes says the prosecutions response to his letter did not directly answer his questions. Citing international tribunals, Mr. Haynes stated that confidential and privileged communications between lawyers and their clients were a recognized right and that this right was "an indispensable component" of a fair trial. Furthermore, he said Articles 67 and 69 of the Rome Statute upon which the ICC was founded provided for an accused to communicate freely with his counsel in confidence and required the court to respect confidentiality privileges. The accuseds lawyer wants judges to order the prosecution to respond to the questions raised in his January letter regarding the extent of communications monitoring and whether intercepted information was given to any third parties. Mr. Bemba stands accused of failing to rein in his Movement for the Liberation of Congo troops, who prosecutors allege carried out massive rapes, killings, and looting in the Central African Republic during 2002-2003. Although he was not in the conflict country at the time his troops allegedly brutalized civilians, prosecutors claim that as their commander-in-chief, he was aware of their misconduct but did not stop or to punish them. The Congolese opposition leader denies all five charges against him. Judges are yet to pronounce themselves on the defense application. Lawyer Asks Judges to Bar Prosecutor from Contacting Bembas Witnesses Bemba Trial By Wakabi Wairagala February 19, 2014 Jean-Pierre Bembas lawyers have asked International Criminal Court (ICC) judges to bar prosecutors from contacting witnesses who testified in support of the Congolese opposition leader. They argued that this was to ensure the safety and security of individuals, including those "actively serving in extremely sensitive operations." In a February 12, 2014 filing, the lawyers said if the prosecutor contacted the witnesses and asked if they lied in their testimonies, it might cause confusion and fear among individuals who had understood that their association with the court was over. "These witnesses have also previously been informed that they had no obligation to meet with or talk to the prosecution, and that any contact would not occur without their consent," said lead defense counsel Peter Haynes. Last November, charges of witness coaching and bribery were brought against Mr.
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Bemba, two members of his defense team, and two other associates. Since 2010, Mr. Bemba has been on trial over the rapes, murders, and pillaging allegedly committed by his Movement for the Liberation of Congo fighters. Material disclosed to the defense this month shows that last May, pre-trial judge Cuno Tarfusser authorized the prosecutor to interview defense witnesses for "the limited purposes" of investigating the witness tampering allegations. However, the courts Victims and Witnesses Unit (VWU) said it could not assist the prosecution in contacting defense witnesses without informing Mr. Bembas lawyers. This prompted the judge to rule on May 27, 2013 that having found good reasons supporting the prosecutors request to contact the witnesses without prior notice to the defense, he was granting an exception to the courts established protocol. Accordingly, the judge ordered the VWU to provide the prosecutor with "all available telephone contact information for all 62 defense witnesses." In last weeks filing, Mr. Haynes said the defense had not received any information indicating that the prosecution had contacted any of the witnesses because it has not received any disclosure of interview notes, statements, or transcripts of any interviews between the prosecution and Mr. Bembas witnesses. Mr. Haynes recalled that in the ongoing trial, judges had previously directed prosecutors to exercise "great caution" during investigations so as not to "deter or destabilize any defense witnesses." Judges had also ruled that the prosecution was not entitled to contact defense witnesses during the proceedings and that the defense should be present at any interviews to which witnesses consented. The defense lawyer argued that the prosecutions desire to build a case on witness tampering allegations could not "automatically trump" the safeguards put in place to ensure witness safety and dignity. The VWU provides protective measures, security arrangements, counseling, and other assistance to victims and witnesses who might be at risk because of testifying in trials at the ICC. It has relocated some witnesses from their home areas to other parts of their countries or moved them to other countries altogether. Most witnesses in Mr. Bembas trial have testified with protective measures, such as face and voice distortion and the use of pseudonyms, with the names of individuals, places, and organizations that could give clues to their identity rarely mentioned in open court. Some of the defense witnesses have given all of their evidence in closed session. It is feared that if their identity were known, they or their families might be subjected to reprisal attacks. During the ongoing trial, prosecutors contacted the defense with requests to meet each of Mr. Bembas witnesses prior to their testimony. Only one witness linguistics expert Professor Eyamba George Bokamba agreed to meet with prosecutors. Meanwhile, the prosecution in November 2013 refused to provide the defense with the contact details of two of its witnesses on the basis that contact details of witnesses were not provided to opposing parties "unless so authorized by the chamber." Judges are yet to pronounce themselves on the defense application.
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Darfur, Sudan
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in Darfur, Sudan
Sudan Baffled by Security Council Action United Press International February 14, 2014 United Press International February 14, 2014 http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2014/02/14/Sudan-baffledby-Security-Council-action/UPI-52211392398143/?spt=rln&or=2 The Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations said the world panel ignored positive developments while criticizing "some individuals" for ongoing troubles. The U.N. Security Council extended by 13 months a mandate for a panel of experts appointed to monitor sanctions on Sudan. The Security Council said Thursday "it regretted that some individuals of the government and armed groups in Darfur persisted in committing violence against civilians and impeding the peace process." Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations Hassan Hamid Hassan said in a statement the resolution was the "reverse of the truth." He said his country already ceded territory with South Sudan's independence and was working on Darfur peace issues and expected recognition, not repercussions. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is among those wanted for atrocities allegedly committed in Darfur. He's wanted on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda told the U.N. Security Council in December silence on crimes committed in Darfur "only serves to add insult to the plight of ... victims."
[back to contents]
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Prosecutor Denies Withholding Exculpatory Evidence from Lubangas Lawyers
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Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 6, 2014 The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has denied withholding exculpatory information from the defense of Thomas Lubanga, who was convicted in 2012 of using child soldiers. In a January 31, 2014 filing, Fatou Bensouda asked judges to reject a defense petition to add to Mr. Lubangas appeal grounds the prosecutions alleged disclosure failure. Last December, defense lawyer Catherine Mabille said although prosecutors had since 2004 possessed the two documents containing the names and photographs of members of Mr. Lubangas personal security detail, they only disclosed them to the defense in December 2013. Mr. Lubanga wants the two documents, together with correspondences between the defense and prosecution relating to their disclosure, to be considered as additional evidence and new grounds in support of his appeals against conviction and the 14-year prison sentence handed him in July 2012. His lawyers say this evidence supports their claims of breaches by the prosecutor of her duty to investigate and to honor her disclosure obligations, and the alleged factual errors over the age of soldiers in the presidential guard of the Lubanga-led Union for Congolese Patriots (UPC). However, Ms. Bensouda said although the prosecution found the two documents incriminatory, they did not fall under material that ought to have been disclosed because the prosecution did not intend to use them as evidence at trial. She said the information in the documents was within Mr. Lubangas personal knowledge. The prosecution says it does not know the author of the documents or when they were authored. Prosecutors disclosed the two documents last December in the Bosco Ntaganda case and subsequently in email exchanges between them and the defense for Mr. Lubanga and Mr. Ntaganda. Mr. Ntaganda is alleged to have been the deputy chief of staff of the UPCs armed wing. While the two Congolese nationals were charged jointly in 2006, Mr. Ntaganda only surrendered to the court last March. Confirmation of charges hearings in the Ntaganda case will commence next week. The prosecutor argued that an appeal against a conviction was not intended to authorize a re-opening of the evidentiary phase of the trial or allow for the liberal admission at the appellate level of evidence related to the merits of the case. She said admission of additional evidence is dependent on the unavailability of the evidence at trial and its particular quality. Ms. Bensouda said the prosecution obtained the two documents in 2004 under conditions of confidentiality and a request to lift these conditions was refused in January 2008. The prosecution could therefore not rely on these documents for trial and did not deem it necessary because it was calling witnesses who could directly speak to the age of children within the presidential guard.
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A renewed request for lifting the conditions was made last June in the context of the Ntaganda case and the conditions were lifted in August. Ms. Bensouda said the prosecution disclosed the documents to the Ntaganda defense as they contained information of incriminating value and the prosecution wished to rely on them at confirmation and at trial. The prosecutor also noted that she did have the obligation to disclose all the materials in her possession. She added that while the Rome Statute obliged the prosecution to investigate exonerating circumstances, this provision should not be understood as requiring the prosecution to assume in full the functions of defense counsel. Article 67(2) requires the prosecution to disclose "evidence in the prosecutors possession or control which he or she believes shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused, or to mitigate the guilt of the accused, or which affect the credibility of prosecution evidence." Meanwhile, noted the prosecutor, Rule 77 required disclosure of information that was "material to the preparation to the defence or are intended for use by the prosecutor as evidence for the purposes of the confirmation hearing or at trial [] or were obtained from or belonged to the person." Ms. Bensouda said contrary to defense assertions, the documents did not show that trial judges erred in determining that soldiers in the presidential guard were under the age of 15. In their January 13 order granting the defense application to add to Mr. Lubangas grounds for appeal, judges stated that the non-disclosure of material potentially relevant to the finding of the use of children under the age of 15 years within the UPC presidential guard sought "to call into question the reliability of a considerable part of the findings upon which Mr. Lubangas conviction was based." It is in this ruling that prosecutors and victims lawyers were ordered to file responses to the defense application. Case Against Congolese Militia Leader Is Test for ICC Associated Press February 9, 2014 Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda appears at the International Criminal Court on Monday charged with war crimes and other atrocities in a hearing that will be a test for the global legal institution after a string of troubled cases. Ntaganda is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder and rape, all allegedly committed during a 2002-2003 conflict in the mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has yet to enter a plea. The court, 11 years old this year, has handed down just one conviction - jailing another Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, for 14 years in 2012 for using child soldiers. Ntaganda handed himself in to the U.S. embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali
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last March after a 15-year career as a commander in a series of rebellions in Congos Ituri province. Shortly after his arrival in The Hague, stretched prosecutors asked for time to rebuild a case which had been dormant during five years Ntaganda spent on the run. At Mondays confirmation of charges hearing, the lawyers will lay out their arguments that the evidence they have marshaled is strong enough to merit a full trial. The session will be a test of chief prosecutor Fatou Bensoudas promise that cases will be "trial-ready" by the time they come to court - an implicit response to criticisms by academics and member states of earlier cases which collapsed when judges ruled evidence was not strong enough. "The court is struggling, and the prosecutor, with her new strategy, has been trying to turn something around," said Bill Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University. "The new strategy was a good sign, showing there was a sense of dissatisfaction with how things were going," he added. Judges are due to decide over the next few weeks whether to suspend their most high-profile current case - against Kenyas president on charges of orchestrating violence following 2007 elections - after prosecutors said several witnesses had withdrawn. Uhuru Kenyatta denies the charges. Two other prominent figures facing charges - Sudans President Omar Hassan alBashir and Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the ousted Libyan leader - remain beyond the courts reach because their countries refuse to surrender them. Wars in Congo have killed about five million people in the past decade-and-ahalf, and many eastern areas are still afflicted by violence from a number of rebel groups despite a decade-long U.N. peacekeeping mission. Confirmation of Charges Hearing in Ntaganda Case Opens at ICC: Audio-Visual Materials ICC Press Release February 10, 2014 Today, 10 February 2014, the confirmation of charges hearing in the case of The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda opened before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (Netherlands). The hearing started with the opening statements of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Legal representatives of victims Sarah Pellet and Dmytro Suprun, and Defence counsel Marc Desalliers. The hearing is scheduled to take place from 1014 February 2014. Pre-Trial Chamber II is composed of Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova, Presiding Judge (Bulgaria), Judge Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany) and Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy). The confirmation of charges hearing is not a trial. It is a Pre-Trial hearing held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds
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to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged. If charges are confirmed, the Pre-Trial Chamber commits the case for trial before a Trial Chamber, which conducts the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial. The ICC has issued two warrants of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda. As the former alleged Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libration du Congo [Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), Mr Ntaganda is suspected of 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1 September 2002 and the end of September 2003. On 22 March 2013, Bosco Ntaganda surrendered himself voluntarily and is now in the ICCs custody. Congolese Warlord Ntaganda to Face ICC Judges Associated Press February 10, 2014 The International Criminal Court on Monday hears Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda to decide whether he should stand trial for murder, rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers. The man known as "The Terminator" is the founder of the M23 rebel group Kinshasa eventually defeated late last year, after an 18-month insurgency in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congos North Kivu region. But in The Hague he is facing 13 counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity over abuses allegedly committed a decade ago when he was a warlord in Ituri, further north. Prosecutors say at least 800 people were killed by Ntagandas Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), an ethnic Hema group battling rival Lendu militias for control of the mineral-rich area. "Ntaganda planned and commanded scores of coordinated military attacks against the Lendu and other non-Hema tribes," prosecutors said in court documents. Forces under Ntagandas command "attacked villages with heavy weapons and systematically chased [out] the population... hunting house-to-house and into the bushes, burning all properties and looting", they said. Ntaganda often visited camps where child soldiers under 15 years were trained and "he took part directly in attacks" with child soldiers. At his first appearance in March last year, Ntaganda told judges: "I was informed of these crimes and I plead not guilty." The judges have two months after Mondays hearing to decide whether the case against Ntaganda should proceed to trial. Co-accused was sentenced to 14 years The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Rwandas capital Kigali 11 months ago and asked to be sent to The Hague.
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Observers said Ntaganda was possibly fearing for his life as a fugitive from a rival faction in the M23 rebel movement, although his motives remain unclear. The ICC had issued two arrest warrants against Ntaganda - the first in 2006 and a second with additional charges in 2012. The Rwandan-born Ntaganda is suspected over attacks on a number of Ituri towns over period of a year starting in September 2002. Prosecutors accuse Ntaganda of leading the November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead. Born in 1973, Ntaganda is the fifth African in the ICCs custody. His co-accused at the ICC, former FPLC commander Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012 on similar charges. Ntaganda had managed to evade arrest after the tribunals first warrant was issued mainly because he remained a powerful commander. In 2006, he became a military leader for the CNDP, an ethnic Tutsi rebel group led by Laurent Nkunda. The insurgency was ended by a peace deal that integrated the ex-rebels into the army. Ntaganda was made a general and began building a parallel command in the military. He activated that network to form the M23 in 2012 when President Joseph Kabila signalled he was ready to comply with the ICC warrant and have him arrested. The UN and other experts accuse Rwanda of being Ntagandas master and pulling all the strings in the M23, an allegation Kigali has consistently denied. Ntagandas Confirmation of Charges Hearing Opens at ICC Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 10, 2014 Ten months after he surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda today appeared before the court for hearings to decide whether charges against him should go to trial. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Mr. Ntaganda and the Patriotic Force for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) militia in which he was a commander persecuted civilians, committed murder, rape, sexual enslavement, and pillaging. "The notorious commander known as The Terminator is here before you because of his role in pursuing a campaign of terror against women and children" and failing to stop or punish his soldiers who committed crimes, she said. However, Mr. Ntagandas lawyer Marc Desalliers accused prosecutors of late disclosure of evidence to the defense, failure to present a focused case, and lacking sufficient evidence to take the case to trial.
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He said nine years after the prosecution started investigations, when Mr. Ntaganda surrendered to court, Ms. Bensouda asked for a nine months delay before confirmation hearings "because they dont have evidence against Ntaganda." Mr. Desalliers said when the accused first appeared before the court last March, he faced seven war crimes and three crimes against humanity. A month before the confirmation of charges hearings, the prosecutor increased the number of charges from 10 to 18 and the modes of liability from one to seven. This, the defense lawyer argued, deprived the accused of his right to be informed promptly of the nature of charges against him. While the prosecution has previously accused Mr. Ntaganda of being a coperpetrator, the modes of liability now include the responsibility of commander. It is argued that he knew or should have known that his forces were committing or about to commit crimes but did not prevent or repress their commission. Prior to his surrender in Kigali, Rwanda, last March, Mr. Ntaganda had evaded the court that issued the first arrest warrant against him in 2006. He lived in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, alternating between commanding government forces and leading militias fighting the government. Mr. Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes, including murder and attempted murder of civilians, attacks against a civilian population, rape of civilians, rape of child soldiers, sexual slavery of civilians, sexual slavery of child soldiers, pillaging and displacement of civilians. Others include attacks against protected objects, destruction of property, and conscription, enlistment, and use of children under the age of 15 in hostilities. Furthermore, he faces five counts of crimes against humanity: murder and attempted murder of civilians, rape of civilians, sexual slavery of civilians, persecution on ethnic grounds, and forcible transfer of population. All crimes were allegedly committed in Congos Ituri province between September 2002 and September 2003. Prosecutors say 740 individuals were killed in the campaigns by Mr. Ntagandas group. Prosecutors claim Mr. Ntaganda was the deputy chief of general staff of the FPLC, the armed wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots, a group led by Thomas Lubanga, who was in July 2012 sentenced by the ICC to 14 years in jail over the recruitment and use of child soldiers. According to the prosecutor, the groups led by Mr. Lubanga and Mr. Ntaganda were made up primarily of members of the Hema ethnic group and aimed to drive out non-Hema population, notably the Lendu and Ngiti, from several areas of Ituri. "Ntaganda enlisted and conscripted for the army to maintain control of territory and acquire new ground," said Ms. Bensouda. She said the accused played a key role in planning attacks on civilians, securing weapons, recruiting, training and deploying troops. Defense lawyer Desalliers accused the prosecution of being "unable to set out clear, straightforward charges" and dispelled Ms. Bensoudas claims that the Ituri conflict was founded on a group of Hema people who wanted to push out other
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ethnic groups. He said several commanders in the FPLC were non-Hema, pointing to Mr. Ntaganda who is a Tutsi not a Hema. The defense lawyer said evidence would show that events that formed the basis of charges against Mr. Ntaganda were not attacks against civilian populations. Mr. Desalliers said Mr. Ntaganda chose to appear before the ICC because he was confident judges would see beyond "the caricature the prosecution has created" which depicted him as The Terminator. Confirmation of charges hearings continue tomorrow morning. Prosecutor: Ntaganda Killed a Priest, Ordered Soldiers to Rape Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 11, 2014 Bosco Ntaganda shot a priest and gave his bodyguards orders to rape, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors claimed during the confirmation of charges hearing. They said the Congolese militia leader personally arrested and detained the priest of Mongbwalu parish and three nuns. Ntaganda then "personally shot and killed the priest" whose name prosecutors did not give. The alleged murder took place on November 25, 2002 shortly after troops of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) took over the towns of Mongbwalu and Sayo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The prosecution also claimed that on Mr. Ntagandas orders, his bodyguards raped three women who were being held captive in the apartment in Mongbwalu where Mr. Ntaganda was staying. It was not clear whether these three women were the nuns arrested together with the priest. The evidence being presented by prosecutors is intended to convince judges to take the case against Mr. Ntaganda to trial. He faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity, allegedly committed while he served as deputy chief of staff of the FPLC. The prosecution alleges that the FPLC used rape to persecute and terrorize civilians who were not from the Hema ethnic group. Rape was also "aimed at rewarding the troops and keeping their morale high." "There was rape at every offensive and also by UPC officers so its occurrence was known to UPC," said prosecution lawyer Marion Rabanit, referring to the Union of Congolese Patriots, the political wing of the FPLC. "There were no sanctions, no punishment when the victims were non-Hema." Among the witnesses lined up to testify for the prosecution is a former insider in the UPC, who said sexual violence was just another weapon that the group used in its armed campaign. He was quoted as saying: "The [victims] were Lendus, they were our enemies, they had to be treated anyhow." Ms. Rabanit said when FPLC soldiers raped women, they were aware that they would not be punished for it. "The senior commanders were not interested in the damage done to the civilian population; they considered that it was normal for women to be raped during the war," she said.
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Ms. Rabanit said UPC brigade commander Salumu Mulenda raped a witness, Commander Abelanga was a "serial rapist" while Commander Simba "openly talked about having raped women before killing them in the Kobu massacre." "Bosco Ntaganda himself sexually exploited women," said Ms. Rabanit. "He kept female UPC soldiers and civilians including Lendu women as his women." According to the prosecution, before the attack on Mongbwalu, rape by the groups soldiers was "encouraged, promised, and envisaged" as the UPC considered women to be "spoils of war." Prosecutors also detailed pillaging and the killing of hundreds of civilians by militia commanded by Mr. Ntaganda, notably in the Banyali-Kilo region in November and December 2002 and the Walendu-Djatsi region during February and March 2003. Hendrik van der Werf, another prosecution lawyer, recounted how, in February 2003, the UPC/FPLC, captured and killed up to 92 civilians in Jitchu forest. The soldiers, who were predominantly of Hema origin, torched villages belonging to members of other ethnic groups. He said these attacks were planned by UPC leader Thomas Lubanga, Mr. Ntaganda, and Floribert Kisembo who was the groups chief of staff. The planning took place in Mr. Lubangas office in the town of Bunia, said Mr. van der Werf. He said Mr. Ntaganda directly participated in combat and gave orders to troops before and during attacks. The confirmation of charges hearing continues tomorrow with further submissions from the prosecution. Defense: Ntaganda Was a Peacemaker Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 12, 2014 Today, defense lawyers portrayed war crimes accused Bosco Ntaganda as a peace maker who was warmly welcomed by residents of a town that had been besieged by a murderous ethnic militia. In a video played to judges, some residents of Mongbwalu said they had returned to their homes after Mr. Ntagandas Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) troops took control of the town and provided "security." The same video was played yesterday by prosecutors to show judges that Mr. Ntaganda was the military commander of a group that committed rape and pillaged Mongbwalu and that he recruited, trained, and used child soldiers. "It is hard for us to understand that the prosecution can maintain that the aim of the FPLC operations in Mongbwalu was to attack the non-Hema civilian population and drive them out, yet their own evidence points to a different reality," said defense lawyer Marc Desalliers. The prosecution claims that Mr. Ntagandas group was predominantly made up of members of the Hema ethnic group and that it persecuted non-Hema civilian populations, such as the Lendu, in a bid to drive them out of several regions of
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Congos Ituri province. However, the defense lawyer claimed the video showed that while Mr. Ntaganda was in Mongbwalu in the aftermath of the FPLC military operations, those operations aimed to drive out a rival armed militia - the Armee Populaire Congolaise (APC) - and not to attack civilians. In the video recorded by an unknown journalist in November 2002, Mr. Ntaganda refutes claims that his troops committed crimes against area residents. He says his group was in the town to protect the inhabitants and their property against the APC and its affiliated Lendu militia. "If somebody does something wrong, even if its one of our soldiers, run to me for help, and I will come to your aid," Mr. Ntaganda says to a local resident in the video footage. The unnamed woman was among several residents shown who had fled their homes allegedly in fear of the APC and Lendu militants. "We drove them all out. We caught some, others were killed, and others fled. Our objective is to fight all these leaders who are only fighting for their own good," Mr. Ntaganda says in the video. Mr. Desalliers said that when prosecutors disregarded these "key elements" of what happened in Mongbwalu, they failed to fulfill their mission of establishing the truth. "It is the APC and Lendu militants that looted the town and factories before fleeing. Civilians fled and the FPLC was encouraging them to come back to their homes," said the defense lawyer. Mr. Desalliers also presented a list of 35 high-ranking members of the FPLC and the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the groups political wing. He said only 10 of those members belonged to the Hema ethnic group. He also listed the groups senior commanders, some of whom took part in operations in the period covered by the charges against Mr. Ntaganda. The commanders were of various origins including Lendu, Hema, Tutsi, and Ugandan. "The reality is simple: UPC and FPLC were not a Hema group. All ethnic groups were to be found amongst them," said the defense lawyer. He added that any proposition that the groups objective in the town was to persecute the nonHema population was "meaningless." In another video presented in court this afternoon, Thomas Lubanga, the UPC/FPLC president, is shown addressing new recruits. Filmed in June 2003, Mr. Lubanga emphasizes to the troops that the party aims to re-unite the Congolese people. "No matter what your ethnicity, the enemy is those who oppose peace," he says. Mr. Lubanga was in March 2012 found guilty of conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers and sentenced to 14 years in jail. Mr. Ntaganda is alleged to have been the groups deputy chief of staff and is accused of five crimes against humanity and 13 war crimes. The ongoing hearings before Judges Ekaterina Trendafilova (presiding), HansPeter Kaul, and Cuno Tarfusser are intended for parties to present evidence in order for judges to determine whether to commit the case to trial.
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Meanwhile, earlier today, prosecutors submitted that Mr. Ntaganda bears criminal responsibility for the crimes committed by his troops because he knew or should have known that his troops were committing or about to commit crimes "by virtue of his command and control" over the forces. They argued that although he could have ordered them to stop the crimes, he did not do so. Prosecutors also claimed that Mr. Ntaganda abetted the commission of crimes by encouraging and sending a message of official tolerance by "direct perpetration and use of derogatory language against the Lendu". The defense continues its oral submissions tomorrow morning. Try Ntaganda, Prosecutors Ask ICC Judges Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 13, 2014 International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have dismissed as "far from the truth" claims that Bosco Ntagandas militia group worked for peace and embraced people from all ethnic groups. They affirmed that there was sufficient evidence to commit Mr. Ntaganda to trial. While delivering final submissions in the confirmation of charges hearing, prosecution lawyer Nicole Samson said the testimony of 18 eye witnesses, 10 former insiders in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), six independent observers, plus video and documentary evidence, showed that the group committed crimes against non-Hema civilians. "The public remarks of UPC military leaders do not undermine the testimony of these witnesses," said Ms. Samson. Yesterday, defense lawyer Marc Desalliers presented a video in which residents of Mongbwalu town in Congo appeared to warmly welcome the accused and his troops. In the footage filmed in November 2002, Mr. Ntaganda and the groups president, Thomas Lubanga, say their objective is to bring peace to the region. Mr. Desalliers said the video footage showed that the UPCs military wing, the FPLC, were fighting against rival militia groups who had looted from local residences and shops and forced residents to flee. According to Ms. Samson, those public statements did not reflect the reality. She said the video was intended to serve propaganda purposes. It was "aimed at foreign powers including those present in Ituri at the time." She said the journalist who filmed the footage was from Radio Kandip, which was controlled by the UPC at the time. Ms. Samson said including non-Hemas in the groups leadership was a "token" to give the group a good public image, but those individuals were not involved in decision making. One of the groups top officials of non-Hema origin was quoted in a statement as saying he did not have a choice on joining the group. He said he joined because he "wanted to avoid being killed." Prosecutors want judges to commit Mr. Ntaganda, a Congolese national, to trial for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He is charged with 18 counts,
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including rape, sexual slavery, pillaging, murder, and use of child soldiers. He is alleged to have committed the crimes during 2002 and 2003 when he was deputy chief of staff of UPC/FPLC. This morning, defense lawyer Caroline Buteau asked judges to dismiss the charges against Mr. Ntaganda saying the prosecution had insufficient evidence to support its claims. She said that while it was alleged that Mr. Ntaganda was guilty of forced transfer of population, video footage presented in court showed a movement of civilians. "They had been alerted of a military operation, so they moved to be away from the fighting." The prosecution "doesnt demonstrate that there was a specific order or message from Ntaganda that forced them to move," she said. Ms. Buteau also urged judges to dismiss the charges of enlisting, conscripting and using children under the age of 15 because the prosecution had not demonstrated the existence of such children in the group. She said it was difficult to assess the age of an individual based on their physical appearance. She argued that experts had found that an individuals growth and appearance could be affected by factors such as poor diet. She asked judges not to take a decision regarding the age of the children who served under Mr. Ntagandas group based on photographs and videos provided by the prosecution. She also pointed to numerous supposed inconsistencies in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses who claimed to have served in the UPC as child soldiers. Congolese Rebel Leader Faces 18 Counts at ICC Institute for War & Peace Reporting By Stewart McCartney February 13, 2014 A former Congolese militia leader has appeared before judges at The Hague as the International Criminal Court (ICC) considers whether there is enough evidence to put him on trial for war crimes. Bosco Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity committed in the mineral-rich Ituri district of the northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In 2002-03, the period covered by the indictment, Ntaganda was deputy chief of general staff with the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) party in Ituri. The UPC was founded by Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the only person the ICC has convicted of war crimes to date. (See Congolese Warlord Gets 14 Years for Using Child Soldiers.) Ntaganda surrendered voluntarily to the United States embassy in Rwanda in March 2013, and was then transferred to ICC custody. He is accused of the murder, attempted murder and rape of civilians, as well as pillaging, displacement of civilians, and attacks against the civilian population. He also faces numerous charges relating to the conscription and use of child soldiers, including rape and sexual slavery.
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The five counts of crimes against humanity include the murder and attempted murder of civilians, the rape and sexual slavery of civilians, as well as persecution on ethnic grounds and forcible transfer of population. In court on February 10, Ntaganda spoke only to confirm his identity, giving his occupation as former soldier. He showed little emotion as the charges against him were read out. He is not yet required to enter a plea, but has denied the charges. Rwandan-born Ntaganda has fought for a series of rebel groups as well as the Congolese army, and was a senior figure in the M23 rebel movement. The 18 charges against him relate entirely to the earlier period when he was part of the FPLC. ICC prosecutors contend that there was a policy of systematic attacks on people who were not of the Hema ethnic group with which the FPLC identified itself. They allege the widespread use of rape, torture, execution, mutilation and decapitation in addition to instances of cannibalism. No distinction was made between age, gender, military or civilian status, prosecutors say. Perpetrators were sometimes encouraged to kill people with machetes, knives and clubs in order to save ammunition. Other tactics included planting landmines so that villagers would be unable to return to their home areas. Ntaganda is alleged to have played a central role in the commission and execution of this policy, as to have been an active participant. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court that victims were told, "You are not human beings. In three days we will finish you all." On other occasions, forcibly conscripted fighters said they were told that "everyone had to be killed on this day". People from the Lendu ethnic group, in particular, were viewed as enemies who needed to be eradicated. One witness was quoted by the prosecution as saying, "anyone identified as a Lendu was killed right away". Ntaganda is alleged to have engaged in anti-Lendu rhetoric and was reported to have sung songs to FPLC fighters about exterminating non-Hema. Amongst a series of eight assaults presented by the prosecution, Ntaganda is accused of planning to seize power in Ituris administrative centre, Bunia, in August 2002 and then to expel the non-Hema population. He is also accused of leading the assault that followed, which killed over 100 people and forced thousands to flee. It was around this period that Ntaganda is said to have acquired his nickname the Terminator. The prosecution claims that child soldiers were forced to take alcohol and drugs, often mixed into their food. Some were whipped and raped, with a number sexually enslaved by commanders. The prosecution claim that Ntaganda also had a special team assigned to pillage directly for him, with transport aircraft sometimes used to remove his loot.
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The prosecution depicted the FPLC as organised, hierarchical and effective, with an efficient command, control and communications system. It cited written orders in Ntagandas name as well as maps and video footage of FPLC attacks personally filmed by the accused. It also submitted an FPLC radio log book of Ntagandas military communications. Prosecutor Nicole Samson told the court that she would demonstrate that Ntaganda was fully aware of the conduct of his troops and failed to prevent their crimes. The prosecution is expected to rely upon evidence from local and international NGOs and media organisations as well as from United Nations investigators. UPC/FPLC members and former child soldiers will also be called upon to testify. Ntagandas defence team argued that the prosecution had insufficient evidence to support its allegations. Defence lawyer Marc Desalliers claimed that the prosecution had begun by "throwing out allegations" and then attempting to prove them. Desalliers questioned why an increased number of charges against Ntaganda were presented just 30 days before the hearing began, despite many years of investigation. He compared the range of charges to "a shotgun approach, in the hope that one will hit". The defence further contended that the UPCs aim was to defend local people and to provide peace and security. The prosecutor had presented a "caricature" of Ntaganda, Desalliers added. Ntagandas defence said it intended to show that the allegations were vague and groundless, and that some events had not been investigated in even the most rudimentary manner. The ICC has not yet set a date for when it will meet to decide on the future of Ntagandas case. Ntaganda Case: Confirmation of Charges Hearing Ends at ICC ICC Press Release February 14, 2014 Today, 14 February 2014, the confirmation of charges hearing in the case of The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda came to an end before PreTrial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (Netherlands). The sessions started on 10 February 2014. The Judges granted the parties and participants additional time to complete, in writing, their oral presentations. During the five-day hearing, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Defence were able to present their evidence to Pre-Trial Chamber II, composed of Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova (Presiding Judge), Judge Hans-Peter Kaul, and Judge Cuno Tarfusser. The Legal representatives of the victims also had the opportunity to present opening and closing statements.
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The Prosecutor and the Legal representatives of victims will have until 7 March 2014 to complete their presentations by written submissions, to which the Defence can reply by 4 April 2014 at the latest. Within 60 days from the receipt of the Defences final submissions, the judges will issue their decision. The PreTrial Chamber may then: confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Bosco Ntaganda committed the crimes charged. In that event, the case will go to trial before a Trial-Chamber; decline to confirm those charges in relation to which it has determined that there is insufficient evidence and adjourn the proceedings against Bosco Ntaganda; or adjourn the hearing and request the Prosecutor to provide further evidence or conduct further investigations or to amend any charge for which the evidence submitted appears to establish that a crime other than the crime charged was committed. The Defence and the Prosecution can request authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber to appeal the decision. The ICC has issued two warrants of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda. As the former alleged Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libration du Congo [Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), Mr Ntaganda is suspected of 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1 September 2002 and the end of September 2003. On 22 March 2013, Bosco Ntaganda surrendered himself voluntarily and is now in the ICCs custody. Ntaganda Confirmation of Charges Hearing Ends Lubanga Trial By Wairagala Wakabi February 14, 2014 On the last day of Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntagandas confirmation of charges hearings at the International Criminal Court (ICC), his lawyers told judges the charges against him were based on "incorrect information." Defense lawyer Marc Desalliers said it was not true that Mr. Ntaganda raped an unnamed prosecution witness. He also maintained that a video filmed in November 2002, which both the prosecution and the defense presented as part of their evidence, showed that the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) was making peace not brutalizing civilians. Mr. Ntaganda was the deputy chief of staff of the FPLC, which prosecutors claim carried out ethnically motivated attacks against civilians in Congos Ituri province. Yesterday, prosecution lawyer Nicole Samson said the video footage was political propaganda primarily aimed at foreign powers. She added that the journalist
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who was shown interviewing the groups leaders and residents of Mongbwalu town was from the local radio station Kandip, controlled at the time by the rebel group. "The radio station allegation is incorrect. The journalist is from Uganda and was working for ABC radio," Mr. Desalliers countered today. The confirmation of charges hearings began on Monday this week with the prosecution submitting evidence on five counts of crimes against humanity and 13 counts of war crimes against Mr. Ntaganda. The crimes, including rape, sexual slavery, pillaging, murder, and use of child soldiers, were allegedly committed during 2002 and 2003. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Ntaganda directly ordered his predominantly Hema troops to brutalize the Lendu population and that crimes were furthered by his "direct perpetration" of crimes including murder and rape. Furthermore, the prosecution said Mr. Ntaganda shot and killed the priest of Mongbwalu parish and ordered his bodyguards to rape three women who were being held captive in the apartment in Mongbwalu where Mr. Ntaganda was staying. However, defense lawyers portrayed Mr. Ntaganda as a peacemaker who was warmly welcomed by residents of the town that had been besieged by a murderous ethnic militia. The defense said the FPLCs combat operations were targeted at rival militia groups who had brutalized civilians, forcing many to flee their homes. The groups mission was to restore peace to the area, and its composition, including at the highest level, was ethnically diverse, they said. At the end of the hearing, Presiding judge Ekaterina Trendafilova gave the prosecution and victims lawyers until March 7 to file written observations addressing the issues discussed during the five day hearing. The defense has until April 4, 2014 to submit its observations. Within 60 days from the receipt of the defenses final submissions, the judges will issue their decision. Judges have the option of confirming the charges where there is sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial. They could also decline to confirm the charges if the prosecutions evidence is deemed insufficient. A third possibility is for the judges to request the prosecution to provide additional evidence, conduct further investigations, or amend charges for which the evidence submitted appears to establish that a crime other than those charged was committed. The ICC issued its first arrest warrant against Mr. Ntaganda in 2006. He was accused, along with Thomas Lubanga the head of the groups political wing that was known as the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) of enlisting, conscripting, and using child soldiers. However, while Congolese authorities transferred Mr. Lubanga was to The Hague and became the first person to be tried and convicted by the court, Mr. Ntaganda stayed at large until he voluntarily surrendered last year.
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Kenya
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Republic of Kenya
Kenya: Lawyer Has Not Seen Victims ICC All Africa By Nzau Musau February 10, 2014 The ICC registry has complained that the victims' lawyer in Deputy President William Ruto's case is not meeting victims. In its latest periodic report detailing the general situation of victims of postelection violence, the report says the lawyer, known in ICC parlance as Common Legal Representative, Wilfred Nderitu, has not directly met his clients for four months. The report, the seventh of its kind, was delivered to the judges of the trial chamber in the Ruto case late last month. "During the reporting period, the CLE did not meet with victims of the prosecutor vs William Ruto and Joshua Sang case. Instead, members of the CLR's team carried out a series of field activities with potential clients to assess their status as victims of the case," the report says. "The registry notes that all of the meetings with victims reported by the CLR during the present reporting period and the last appear to have been conducted in his absence." "The registry will expect to receive information in future reports that the CLR has been meeting with victims in person," the report says. The report was prepared by Marc Dubuisson, director of division of court services at the registry. Kenya: Ruto Says Kenyan Cases at the Hague Will Collapse All Africa By Edwin Nyarangi February 10, 2014 Deputy President William Ruto has expressed confidence that the ICC cases against him, President Uhuru Kenyatta and journalist Joshua Sang will collapse. Speaking at Emurua Dikirr and Ilkerin in Trans Mara on Saturday, Ruto said Kenyans' prayers have worked as the former ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo says the accused were fixed.
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"What we have been saying all through that we are innocent has come to pass since Ocampo has come out to say that he was being pressured by some envoys to ensure that Uhuru and Ruto names are not on the ballot papers in 2013," Ruto said. During the two rallies, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Joyce Laboso, Kericho Senator Charles Keter, Narok Governor Samuel Tunai and MPs Johana Ng'eno (Emurua Dikirr), Moses Cheboi (Kuresoi North), Patrick Ntutu (Narok West), Kimani Ngunjiri (Bahati) and Mithika Linturi (Igembe South) asked the ICC to immediately terminate the cases against Uhuru, Ruto and Sang. Keter said that everybody is aware that innocent people were taken to The Hague for political convenience. He said the court should admit it did not have tangible evidence against the three Kenyans, and terminate the cases without any conditions. "It was unwise for the International Criminal Court to depend on the evidence provided by NGOs and other political brokers who were only interested in enriching themselves," he said. Laboso said that the 2007-08 postelection violence has taught Kenyans a bitter lesson. She said such violence will not happen again. Kenya: ICC Prosecution Witness 323 Pulls Out of Ruto, Sangs Case All Africa By Irene Wairimu February 11, 2014 An ICC witness against Deputy President William Ruto has sworn an affidavit pulling out of the case. Witness 323 said he chose to pull out of the case against Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang as the information he put in his testimony was fictitious and based on detaila given to him by USAid officials. In an affidavit drawn by lawyers Juma Kiplenge and Job Kurgat in Nakuru yesterday, the witness who is from Kericho county, says he is a victim of the 2007-08 post-election violence and was identified by USAid officials as a witness in August 2011. He says on June 18, 2012, he was summoned by ICC investigators in Kampala where he was interviewed for five days. The witness says the USAid officials promised to pay him Sh170,000 per month for 22 years since he first suffered violence in 1992. This would have amounted to Sh44,880,000. Witness 323, who has been in witness protection in Cameroon, says he was further promised Sh120,000 for 20 years plus another Sh10 million totalling to Sh38.8 million. He was later summoned by the Witness Protection Unit on October 29, 2012 in Nairobi before two other meetings held in Kampala last year. The witness says in the Kampala meetings, he was coached by USAid officials to testify that Ruto used Charles Keter, Franklin Bett, Zakayo Cheruiyot, Fred Kapondi, Samuel Moroto and Lorna Laboso and to distribute money to the youth.
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President Uhuru Kenyattas Fate at ICC Now Linked to His Cash Records Standard Digital By Felix Olick February 11, 2014 The Kenya governments official submissions at The Hague Thursday regarding a demand for President Uhuru Kenyattas financial transaction records may hold the key to the closure of his case at the International Criminal Court. On Thursday, Attorney General Githu Muigai will seek to convince the ICC bench why the Government of Kenya has declined to comply with the Prosecution request to release Uhurus financial records. He is expected to argue that the Banking Act prohibits the Central Bank of Kenya from publishing information that discloses financial affairs of any person unless the consent of that person has been secured in writing. Prof Muigai will also argue that the Prosecution request is untenable as it violates the Rome Statute, Rules of Procedure and Evidence and disregards the International Crimes Act. "The prosecutions request for such information in full awareness of the conditions under which it may be sought and the process preceding it and with the knowledge that this would be in breach of Article 93 of the Statute and hence illegal, is malicious and an attempt to subvert the process of justice by whatever means possible," said the AG in an earlier submission, pointing to his line of argument tomorrow. Prof Muigai will also dwell on the role of the President vis-a-vis other constitutional bodies concerning the issue of co-operation and also outline the doctrine of separation of powers and independence of various organs of government. But Bensouda argues that there is no domestic law that deters the government from acting on the request. "Despite the GoKs suggestion that information in the records requested cannot be provided without violating the rights of the concerned persons, legal avenues do exist under Kenyan law, likely involving judicial oversight from a domestic court," she says. However, Bensouda has insisted that withdrawing the charges "would reward the accused, who heads a Government that has obstructed the courts work, and who is in a position to ensure that the GoK compiles with its treaty obligations." "The parties, the Legal Representative for Victims and a representative of the Kenya Government, are invited to attend. The discussion will, in principle, take place in public session," the three-judge Bench said as they scheduled tomorrows meeting. Decide fate After taking oral submission from the parties and participants, the three ICC judges Kuniko Ozaki, Robert Fremr and Geoffrey Henderson will then decide on the fate of President Uhuru Kenyattas case. The arguments in court are precipitated by the admission by ICC prosecutors
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that efforts at seeking additional evidence against the President have yielded nothing, and even suggested access to Uhurus financial records may not be sufficient. But to keep the case alive, the prosecution wants the ICC judges to find the Kenya government guilty of obstructing its work by failing to turn over Uhurus financial transaction records. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda says Uhurus financial transactions, during the 2007-2008 election-related violence, are central to a key allegation that he bankrolled the bloodshed. But pressed by the judges, Prosecution Counsel Benjamin Gumbert admitted that even the Presidents financial records might be insufficient to meet the high evidentiary standard required for trial. "We do not know what is contained within those financial records. We do not know whether it might yield evidence which might enable us to say our case is strong enough to bring before the court," Gumbert told the court. Last week, Gumbert admitted they had exhausted all investigative avenues and come to the conclusion that "the only stones left unturned in Uhurus case are now pebbles", and that there is possibility the financial records might not yield much. The prosecutors are nonetheless clutching to this last straw to push the case to trial as the Uhuru defence seeks termination of the case. They want the case adjourned indefinitely until the Government submits the financial records. It is in light of this that the Kenya governments justification for not turning over the financial records is critical to the decision by the judges. On Friday Prof Muigai has another date with The Hague judges regarding the case against deputy President William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang. This follows a request by Bensouda to the Judges to ask the Kenya government to compel some seven witnesses to testify. Yesterday, Rutos lead Counsel Karim Khan said they dont want witnesses to withdraw but should instead come forward and say the truth. The British lawyer said that witnesses who want to pull out of the process should confess before the ICC judges instead of doing so through swearing affidavits before Kenyan lawyers. "We dont want witnesses to withdraw. They should come forward and tell the truth. Those who want to pull out of the process should not do so through affidavits to lawyers here in Kenya but to Judges at the ICC," he stated. Khan is in Kenya together with Shyamala Alegendra who is the head of investigations in the Ruto case. Khan castigated the prosecution for what he termed as flawed investigations that
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will not unmask perpetrators of the bloodshed that almost brought Kenya to its knees. "What the Office of the Prosecutor did was flawed, faulty and negligent investigations," Khan told The Standard in an interview yesterday. "We as the defence sympathise with Victims because they wont know the truth. Its only the innocent people that have been charged," Khan said. Kenyas Attorney General Says a Court Order Is Needed to Get Kenyatta Financial Records Kenya Monitor By Tom Maliti February 13, 2014 Kenyas Attorney General has told the International Criminal Court (ICC) he cannot provide it with the financial records of President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta without a court order and Kenyattas consent. Prosecution trial lawyer Benjamin Gumpert told Trial Chamber V(b) on Thursday that this is a new position Attorney General Githu Muigai has taken because in earlier correspondence he had said he had passed on the prosecutions request to the responsible government offices and the information would take some time to compile. Muigai told the court that a request from the ICC Prosecutor was not enough for the Kenyan government to give financial records of any individual to the ICC. He said that, under Kenyan law, such records could only be provided if both Trial Chamber V(b) and the High Court in Kenya gave orders to that effect because the law protected individual privacy. Muigai explained that this is why the government had not acted on the prosecutions request for the financial records of Kenyatta in its case against the Kenyan leader. He was speaking during a status conference Trial Chamber V(b) judges had called to seek clarifications and additional submissions on a November 29 application the prosecution had made asking the court to find that the Kenyan government had not fulfilled its obligations under the Rome Statute and cooperated with the court. "When two lawyers disagree on how the law should be interpreted, it is not an act of non-cooperation," Muigai told the court. "This request was made 22 months ago," Gumpert said. "There has not been compliance in any shape or form. The reasons that are now advanced have come very very late in the day." Presiding Judge Kuniko Ozaki asked Gumpert whether the prosecution could have made its application earlier. "Looking back with hindsight, it would have been better if we had," Gumpert said. He sought to explain that the delay in filing the application was because the Kenyan government never indicated that there was an obstacle in its correspondence on the issue. "Its frequent response was, to use a term, the cheque is in the post," Gumpert said. Judge Ozaki also asked Muigai whether he had asked Kenyatta for his
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consent to release his financial records to the prosecution as the Attorney General had said was required under law. Muigai said he had never done so. Judge Geoffrey Henderson asked Muigai who was ultimately responsible for ensuring the Kenyan government complied with its obligations to the ICC. The judge asked Muigai to answer the question with reference to several sub-articles of Article 132 of the Kenyan constitution that outlines the functions of the president. He referred to sub-article five that states, "The President shall ensure that the international obligations of the Republic are fulfilled through the actions of the relevant Cabinet Secretaries." Muigai said that the president fulfilled his duties when he appointed the relevant cabinet secretaries who are responsible for ensuring on a day to day basis that Kenya complied with its international obligations. "The President of the Republic of Kenya is not and has never been and cannot be responsible for the compliance of the Republic of Kenya with any request," Muigai told the court. Muigais appearance in court on Thursday was the first time an Attorney General of a member state of the ICC had addressed a trial chamber. Kenya: Why I Have Not Met Victims, Says Nderitu All Africa By Nzau Musau February 13, 2014 The victims' lawyer in Deputy President William Ruto's ICC case has explained why he has been unable to meet his clients for four months. Wilfred Nderitu told the Star that the past four months have been eventful and hectic. He said various missions he had planned to personally meet the victims were disrupted. He said the missions were also preceded by security assessments, some of which took time and in others he was advised against the meetings. Nderitu said the anticipated start of President Uhuru Kenyatta's trial last November meant he could not prepare for a mission because of Christmas festivities. "I'm also a party to journalist Walter Barasa extradition case. The case was very active in the last two months and this took away considerable time leading to some of the missions being cancelled or postponed," he said. Nderitu was responding to a story carried by the Star on Monday based on ICC registry complaint that he had not met his clients for four months. The registry, in its periodic report to the judges, said they "will expect to receive information" in future reports, that Nderitu has been meeting with victims in person. A decision issued by judges on October 3, 2012 changed the structure of victims' representation, striking out the lawyer's role in courtroom proceedings. After taking note of lessons learnt from the representation by previous victims' lawyer Sureta Chana, the ICC judges relegated the next lawyer's role to the field.
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Nderitu was appointed the victims' lawyer in November 2012. The judges rooted for a Kenyan- based lawyer to replace Chana, who was based in London. Shock as Another ICC Witness that Bensouda Had Lined up to Testify in Ruto/Sangs Case Escapes from a Hotel in Nairobi The Kenyan Daily Post February 13, 2014 According to Prosecutor in Chief, Fatou Bensouda, the witness who was identified as witness number 495 disappeared from his hotel room as ICC officials were helping him apply for a visa to go to The Hague. "However, the following day, the prosecution arrived at P-0495s hotel to discover that he had checked out overnight with no forwarding information. Despite repeated attempts, it has not been possible for the Prosecution to establish contact with the witness since that time," Bensouda said. Bensoudas revelations are contained in Bensoudas application to the judges to compel the Kenyan Government to force seven witnesses who have recanted their testimonies to appear before them to testify against Ruto and Sang. She wants judges at the ICC to compel the Kenyan Government to produce the seven witnesses so that they can testifiy in cases facing Ruto and Sang. Ruto and Sang were indicted by the ICC in connection with 2007-08 post election violence where over 1,300 people died and over half a million displaced. Kenya: ICC Needs Court Order to Access Uhurus Accounts All Africa By Olive Burrows February 13, 2014 Attorney General Githu Muigai on Thursday told the International Criminal Court (ICC) that only a Kenyan court can compel banks to release President Uhuru Kenyatta's financial records. And even then, President Kenyatta has the right to appeal such an order as his rights, as guaranteed by Kenyan law, trump whatever obligations Kenya might have with the ICC. "If I received an order from you I would have to surrender it to the public prosecutor who would then place it before the High Court which may grant the order or grant the accused a hearing and even then President Kenyatta reserves the right of appeal," Muigai submitted to the ICC. He went on to explain that as he had not received such an order from Trial Chamber V(b) but merely a request from the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, he was not obliged to pursue the matter any further beyond explaining that he was unable to furnish the financial records. "Nothing went beyond the communication we had with the Prosecutor in November of 2012. This issue had become mute because two lawyers reading the same set of laws had come to two different interpretations of the law," he said. In that way, Muigai explained that the Kenyan government could not then be
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accused of not co-operating with the ICC. "In the history of the ICC, I do not know of another Attorney General who has come to this court in person - not by retaining counsel - to say this is what we have done and this is why we have done it. That to us is the ultimate example of co-operation," he underscored. He was also categorical that President Kenyatta could not then, by extension, be accused of frustrating the prosecution's case as the various government agencies operate independently. "In the history of the ICC, I do not know of another Attorney General who has come to this court in person - not by retaining counsel - to say this is what we have done and this is why we have done it. That to us is the ultimate example of co-operation," he underscored. "At no time did I receive any direction, or suggestion or prompting as to how my intervention with the court should be," Muigai stated. He also took exception with the prosecution dragging the Kenyan government into the intrigues surrounding the withdrawal of its witnesses. "The Republic of Kenya does not know the list of witnesses; it doesn't know who they are, it doesn't know where they are, it doesn't know their identity, it doesn't know who has agreed to testify or who has refused to testify and it has no way of knowing," he told the court. Prosecuting trial attorney Benjamin Gumpert however accused the Attorney General of double speak when it came to President Kenyatta's financial records, accusing him of misleading them into believing that their request of November 2012 was being processed. "He was saying, save for the freezing of certain assets, we're on the case, we're dealing with it. Don't worry," Gumpert surmised. He also challenged the Attorney General's assertion that his office was independent of the President as the Constitution confers on him the power to appoint and dismiss the head of the State Law Office (with the approval of Parliament). President Kenyatta's defence counsel Steven Kay defended Muigai, arguing that the Prosecution had not requested records on the movement of President Kenyatta's finances around the time of the 2008 post-election violence and was using it as ploy to deflect from their lack of a case. "It just says specify or identify bank accounts, not the records of those accounts," he argued. Prosecution Wants Judges to Compel Seven Witnesses to Testify; Defense Disagrees Kenya Monitor By Tom Maliti February 14, 2014 The Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has argued that trial judges have the powers to compel a witness to testify before the court, something defense lawyers contested saying only
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witnesses who voluntarily appear before the court can testify. Kenyas Attorney General on Friday cautioned Trial Chamber V(a) against issuing an order to compel witnesses to testify, arguing such an order would be like rewriting the Rome Statute that is the ICCs fundamental law. The judges of Trial Chamber V(a) on Friday sought clarifications and further legal arguments during a status conference to discuss an application the prosecution made to the chamber to compel seven witnesses to testify before it. In the December 5 application, the prosecution told the judges that during the course of last year seven witnesses recanted their statements or simply stopped communicating with the Office of the Prosecutor. The prosecution said in its application that all seven are presently living in Kenya. Kenyan Attorney General Githu Muigai was invited to the status conference to make contributions as a friend of the court. Muigai told the court that if the chamber was to issue orders to compel the witnesses to testify via video link he would not be able to act on it. He said that Kenyan law does not have any provision that allows him to do so. Muigai also argued that Article 93 of the Rome Statute and most of its subsections were clear that a state party, such as Kenya, would provide assistance to the court in the case of a witness who is voluntarily appearing before the court. He gave the example of a witness who may have a problem getting travel documents to go to The Hague. Muigai argued that a provision in Article 93 that could be interpreted to mean a witness could be compelled to testify before the ICC was a general provision and did not override the other more specific provisions in Article 93. In our reading of the treaty, the treaty requires voluntary appearance of witnesses whether sitting here [in The Hague] or at any other venue," Muigai said. Earlier in the day Deputy Prosecutor James Stewart had argued that the orders the prosecution was seeking could be given on the basis of the trial chambers discretionary powers under the Rome Statute and the provision in Article 93 that said a state party can provide any other assistance to the court. Stewart clarified that the prosecution was not seeking that the seven witnesses be compelled to go to The Hague. He said the prosecution wanted the witnesses to either testify via video link in Kenya or the trial chamber goes and sits in Kenya to receive their evidence. He also argued that in many domestic jurisdictions, courts had the powers to compel witnesses to testify. "Did the framers really intend the court [ICC] to be denied the basic powers enjoyed by any domestic criminal court?" asked Stewart. Muigai took the better part of two sessions of the days proceedings to explain the Kenyan governments position. Most of his explanations were in response to questions from Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji who, on behalf of the trial chamber, presented various provisions of Kenyan law and asked Muigai for his interpretation. The status conference will continue on Monday before the trial of Deputy
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President William Samoei Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang resumes that day. Witnesses Can Be Forced to Testify ICC Capital News By Olive Burrows February 17, 2014 The lawyer representing victims in the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang argued before judges on Monday that Kenya can compel witnesses to testify, contrary to what Attorney General Githu Muigai said on Friday. In a divergent legal opinion, Common Legal Representative for Victims Wilfred Nderitu said no Kenyan law prohibits the government from compelling witnesses to testify before the ICC and that in fact Section 11 of the International Crimes Act requires it to take action against those who seek to subvert justice by refusing to testify. "A person who resists or wilfully obstructs an official of the ICC in the execution of his duty is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of no more than two years," Nderitu told the court. Both Ruto and Sangs defence counsel however differed with Nderitu taking a stand similar to that of the Government of Kenya; that while it is required to issue summonses, it is not obligated to enforce them. Karim Khan for Ruto and Katwa Kigen for Sang went on to argue that even if the witnesses made it into the precincts of the court, it has no power to force them to testify. "Theres no penalty; theres no power of arrest, even on these inviolable premises within ICC security. If such a witness was strong-armed, that would be an assault," Khan argued. Kigen also described the summonses as counterproductive given the witnesses the prosecution seeks to compel to testify had already recanted their statements. Senior trial attorney Anton Steynberg however defended their request for summonses saying only three of the seven uncooperative witnesses had recanted their testimony and that it was possible that even those three could switch back to their statements to the prosecution when faced with the consequences of perjury. "It may well be that in the solemn atmosphere of this courtroom, removed from any undue influence, they may well decide to say what we say is the truth," he told the court, adding that the compelled testimony of the witnesses, who claimed to have been induced or coerced into signing up as prosecution witnesses, could end up benefiting the defence. "Should any of the witnesses indeed fail to confirm their prior statements they may be questioned as to the reasons for this which would put the chamber in a far better position," Steynberg submitted. All parties, including the Attorney General, have an additional 14 days to make additional submissions in writing, in not more than 15 pages.
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ICC Expert Witness Explains Genesis of Ethnic Conflicts Standard Digital By Wahome Thuku February 18, 2014 The International Criminal Court (ICC) was Tuesday treated to a daylong narrative on the history of the political and ethnic violence in Kenya. French socio-political scientist Herve Maupeu gave the court a detailed historical perspective of the ethnic conflicts, particularly in the Rift Valley, which he said were common during the election period since 1990. Prof Maupeu was testifying on the second day in the trial of Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua arap Sang in The Hague, Netherlands. In another development, Trial Chamber V(a) gave its written reasons why it excused Mr Ruto last year from attending some sessions of the proceedings. The Chamber said it was satisfied that Ruto qualified to be excused from part of the proceedings and that his rights would be fully taken care of in his absence. The judges explained why it had rejected a proposal by the Prosecution that Ruto should delegate some of his duties to other officials to enable him attend court. "No legal basis for such a proposal has been presented," the judges said, adding that the proposal was inconsistent with the Prosecutions contention that only the extraordinary duties may warrant an excusal. They added that "the delegation of routine duties does not dispose of the need for Mr Ruto to fulfill the extraordinary one. The Chamber is thus not satisfied that this proposal is an adequate alternative measure." In his evidence on the second day, Maupeu, who has been called as an expert witness, gave Rutos political profile, rising from a Kanu youth operative in 1992 to become the Kalenjin spokesman, both in Kanu and also in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in 2007. He said Ruto had been anointed the Kalenjin leader at a meeting in Eldama Ravine in the Rift Valley attended by about 15 MPs and other local leaders. Maupeu, who appeared well versed in Kenyan cultural and political dynamics, described Ruto as being extremely good in mobilising people. He testified at length on the supremacy struggle between various Kalenjin sub-tribes on one hand and between them and the Kikuyu and other communities in the Rift Valley on the other. He gave evidence on land systems in Kenya dating back to the colonial period and how the land question had influenced the 2007-2008 post-election chaos. Maupeu began his evidence on Monday and was the first to testify in Chamber V(a) without his identity being concealed. He was called in the case to give evidence on his long research on Kenyan social, cultural and political affairs. The evidence is crucial for the Prosecution in establishing the network that is
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said to have been established by Ruto among the Kalenjin and which was eventually used in executing the alleged plans to kill and evict peoples during the violence. However, much of his testimony was based on research carried out by other scholars on Kenyan affairs. At one point, defence lawyer David Cooper asked the court to be cautious in admitting the evidence of the witness since much of what he was testifying about the Kalenjin community was based on research he said had been conducted by other people. The witness will be cross-examined by the defence Wednesday. Expert Witness is Cross-Examined by Rutos Lawyer Kenya Monitor By Tom Maliti February 19, 2014 A witness agreed with a defense lawyers assertion that a meeting where William Samoei Ruto was declared the spokesman of the Kalenjin was a forum where Ruto declared his intention to run for president in the 2007 elections. On Tuesday, Herve Maupeu, a political scientist called in as an expert witness by the prosecution, had said that Ruto was named the Kalenjin spokesman at a meeting held in Eldama Ravine. Ruto is standing trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) together with former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang. In the lead up to the 2007 elections Ruto was a member of parliament and key member of the Orange Democratic Movement. He became Kenyas deputy president after last years election. "Is it right the Eldama Ravine meeting was essentially a political statement by Ruto, where he was saying that I am going to put myself forward in the coming elections?" asked David Hooper, a lawyer for Ruto. "Yes," replied Maupeu during the trial hearing on Wednesday. Hooper asked Maupeu a range of questions about Kenyas political history stretching back to the early days of independence. Hooper asked specific questions about the federal nature of the constitution Kenya adopted at independence from Britain in 1963 and how the federal provisions of the constitution were changed over the years. Rutos lawyer also asked Maupeu about how land was bought in the Rift Valley region after Kenya gained independence as well as the governments policies and actions in relation to land in the Rift Valley in the 1960s and 1970s. Hooper asked additional questions about the opinion polls and the parliamentary and presidential results of the 2007 elections. In the afternoon, Trial Chamber V(a) listened to submissions on whether Maupeus report to the prosecution should be admitted as evidence in the trial. Prosecution lawyer Lucio Garcia argued the report was relevant to the trial, had probative value, and Maupeu did not speak to the criminal responsibility of the accused or name individuals who may feature in the trial.
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Hooper argued against the judges admitting the report as evidence because Maupeu addressed general issues and nothing specific. He said that expert reports in proceedings in other jurisdictions or international criminal tribunals have focused on a specific issue or area that the expert in question has personal knowledge about. Hooper said that the report Maupeu wrote depended on the opinions of others. Caroline Buisman, who represents Sang, also objected to Maupeus report being admitted as evidence. Buisman argued that Maupeus report relied on other reports and documents that depended on hearsay and the defense had not been able to test the veracity of the statements in the those source documents. The three judges of Trial Chamber V(a) conferred briefly, and then Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said that they had agreed that Maupeus report be admitted as evidence. Garcia then made a submission to have admitted as evidence two academic articles that are referred to in Maupeus report. "These articles should be submitted on the truth of their contents," argued Garcia. The articles in question were written separately by two political scientists, Gabrielle Lynch and Jacqueline Klopp. Hooper and Buisman objected to the articles being accepted as evidence. After listening to the different submissions Trial Chamber V(a) declined to admit the articles as evidence. Judge Eboe-Osuji said the prosecutions assertion that the articles be accepted "on the truth of their contents is certainly not one we will be agreeable to." A new witness will testify on Thursday.
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Libya
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Libya: Gaddafi Son, Ex-Officials, Held Without Due Process Human Rights Watch February 13, 2014 Libya has failed to grant basic due process rights to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and other detained former officials of the Gaddafi government. On January 23, 2014, Human Rights Watch interviewed Gaddafi in an office at a base in the town of Zintan. The base is under the control of a guard force that is detaining Gaddafi at an undisclosed location, and says it operates under Defense Ministry authority. Human Rights Watch also visited the former military intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi and former Prime Ministers al-Baghdadi alhttp://publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WCPW_022414_Master.html Page 39 of 140
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Mahmoudi and Abuzaid Dorda, in Al-Hadba Corrections Facility in Tripoli on January 23. Libyan Judicial Police are, at least formally, in charge of administering the prison. The General Prosecutor authorized the visits, the Libyan Government facilitated the visit at Al-Hadba, and the Zintan Local Council facilitated the visit to Gaddafi. "The Libyan government should make greater efforts to ensure these detained former officials have adequate legal counsel and the opportunity to defend themselves fairly before a judge," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Human Rights Watch. "The prosecution of these men will be no more credible than a kangaroo court if the authorities fail to provide these men with basic due process rights." Gaddafi and Sanussi said they do not have a lawyer, while Dorda and alMahmoudi said they have been denied adequate access to their legal counsel. All four detainees said that they did not have lawyers present during interrogations, the right to remain silent and to know their interrogators identity, or an opportunity to review the evidence submitted against them in relation to crimes they allegedly committed during the 2011 uprising. Gaddafi said he did not have an opportunity to appear before a judge for all cases in which he is implicated. On October 24, 2013, Judge al-Zayed al-Oreibi of the Pretrial Chamber of the Tripoli Appeals Court charged these four detainees, along with 33 other former Gaddafi officials and employees, with serious crimes during the February 17 revolution that led to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. The charges were laid at the third and final pretrial session held in the Al-Hadba facility in Tripoli. The judge ordered the case sent to trial (case no.630, "the Government Officials Case") without setting a date. Under the Libyan Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), the pretrial judge must review the sufficiency and reliability of the prosecutors evidence and establish the precise charges (CCP article 153). According to article 151 of the same code, the case must be dismissed if the evidence is found to be insufficient or has been illegally obtained. If a case is remitted to trial, and a defendant has not elected a lawyer, article 162 stipulates the chamber must appoint one. Libyas general prosecutor told Human Rights Watch on September 18 that neither pretrial sessions nor the court documents, including charge sheets, are public. Although Human Rights Watch was not permitted to attend the court sessions, it was able to review the charges. Gaddafi was not present for any of the sessions but said he knew of some criminal charges against him. While the other three detainees were present for at least one of the pretrial sessions, Dorda told Human Rights Watch that the prison authorities failed to bring him to the court for the third and final session even though he is detained in the facility where it was held. Due to lack of public access and records, Human Rights Watch could not determine who among the 37 people charged was in the courtroom for the pretrial sessions. Human Rights Watch was able to meet with the four detainees individually and in private, without the physical presence of a guard. Human Rights Watch met with Gaddafi for approximately 45 minutes, and with Sanussi, Dorda, and alMahmoudi, for 15 to 20 minutes each. Human Rights Watch was unable to verify whether prison authorities were monitoring in any way meetings. All detainees
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were aware that Human Rights Watch would publish what was said under their names. Gaddafi and Sanussi said they have been held without access to legal counsel throughout their detention in Libya; Al-Mahmoudi and Dorda said they have had access to their lawyers but were unable to meet with them in private to prepare their defense. Al-Mahmoudi and Dorda said their lawyers had no access to court documents, witness statements, or the evidence against them. All four described multiple interrogation sessions without legal counsel with people who seemed to be both official and unofficial interrogators. While all four have appeared before a judge at some point, Gaddafi has not appeared before the Tripoli pretrial chamber that charged him with serious crimes. All four said they have not had the chance to review the evidence against them. A lawyer for one of the detainees said that the judge summoned no witnesses at any of the pretrial sessions, and that lawyers present for other defendants in the group trial, were not able to review the more than 4,000 pages of testimony and 70,000 pages of evidence and statements submitted by the prosecution, though they had made the request. Sanussi, Dorda and al-Mahmoudi said they signed statements prepared by their interrogators after a number of interrogation sessions, but did not have the chance to review them for accuracy. Gaddafi said that prosecutors had coerced him into signing multiple confessions. Despite the numerous challenges the Libyan government faces, it should seek to provide Gaddafi and Sanussi with immediate access to a lawyer of their choosing, and ensure that all four have unfettered and privileged access to their legal counsel and a meaningful opportunity to confront the evidence against them, Human Rights Watch said. During a court session on January 15 relating to one of the cases against him, Dorda alleged that he was beaten and injured by an unidentified person in his prison cell at Al-Hadba. Human Rights Watch spoke with family members who attended that court session and reviewed a complaint about the incident that Dordas lawyer submitted to the General Prosecutors Office demanding an investigation. Libyan authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate Dordas serious allegations of ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said. "Under these circumstances, its hard to imagine how any of these men can have a fair trial in Libya," Houry said. "Libya has done little to provide even a basic modicum of due process rights for these detainees, who, like thousands of others detained since the uprising, have been held in detention with no meaningful access to a lawyer or a judge." Under Libyas Code of Criminal Procedure, a detainee has the right to a lawyer during investigation if he asks for one. In addition, the code stipulates that the pretrial chamber must appoint a lawyer for the defendant, should he not have elected one, if the chamber remits the case to trial. If a defendant is not able to appoint a lawyer then the court must appoint one for him. Libyas interim Constitutional Declaration of August 3, 2011, provides for a "fair trial at which [the accused] has the guarantees necessary for exercising his right of defense."
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International standards, including the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, require giving defendants prompt access to a lawyer, no later than 48 hours after arrest, and adequate opportunities to [] communicate and consult with a lawyer, without delay, interception or censorship and in full confidentiality []." International law prohibits anyone from being compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt. Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Libya ratified in 1970, affirms fair trial rights and states that no one should be "compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt" should criminal charges be determined against him. The ICCPR also requires Libya to ensure that anyone detained is brought promptly before a judge or equivalent. "All detainees in Libya, including former Gaddafi officials, deserve their full due process rights, including access to a lawyer of their own choosing," Houry said. "The Libyan government is undermining any possibility that it will try these men fairly by not abiding by basic Libyan and international due process guarantees." For additional information on conditions of their detention, the fair trial issues, involvement of the International Criminal Court, and other background, please see below. Conditions of Detention Three of the four former officials said they had been held in solitary confinement for long periods and had few, if any, family visits and some had limited or no access to reading material, television, or radio. Gaddafi, Sanussi, and Dorda are held in solitary confinement. At the time of the visit, al-Mahmoudi was held in a group cell with 14 other detainees. Dorda and al-Mahmoudi said authorities allowed them one family visit per month, and al-Mahmoudi said prison authorities allowed him two phone calls a month in addition to the visits. Gaddafi said he has had no family visits since his apprehension on November 19, 2011. Sanussi said he has had one family visit and one video conference call with a family member. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners stipulates that prisoners "shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits." Each of the detainees told Human Rights Watch during the interviews that he did not know whether his comments were being heard by anyone else, and Human Rights Watch was unable to assess the extent to which the detainees could speak freely and candidly. Human Rights Watch was permitted to briefly view the cells that Sanussi, alMahmoudi, and Dorda were held in at Al-Hadba facility on January 23. In Zintan, Human Rights Watch met with Gaddafi at the office of the Zintan militia guard in charge of his detention, but was not permitted to see the place where he is being held or verify the conditions of his detention. All detainees were wearing blue prison uniforms during the interviews. Sanussi and Dorda were both kept in solitary confinement in individual, windowless cells
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of about 3 meters by 4 meters, which include a toilet and shower. Al-Mahmoudi was held in a larger communal cell, which he shared with 14 other inmates, all of whom were resting on mattresses or blankets on the floor during the visit. Human Rights Watch viewed these cells as they were on the day of the visit, but is not in a position to describe the place of detention on any other day. Two of the detainees expressed concern about the inadequacy of specialized medical care for chronic medical conditions. Gaddafi did not complain of any health issues, yet was clearly missing a front tooth. He was missing two fingers on his right hand, which appeared to have healed. Sanussi said he previously had cancer, and although he did not have specialist care at the Al-Hadba facility, he still had access to regular medical care. Sanussi complained about the lack of physical activity and said he had been allowed into the yard only four or five times since his arrival at the prison. Al-Mahmoudi said he had several chronic diseases including a heart condition, asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Dorda walked with a cane due to an injury at the time of his arrest and clearly had difficulty moving. On January 12, Dordas lawyer lodged a complaint with the general prosecutor requesting an investigation into the alleged attack against his client at Al-Hadba facility. The complaint states that Dorda told his lawyer on January 2 that an unidentified person had severely beaten him in his cell. The lawyer attested to seeing marks on Dordas arms. The lawyer copied the justice minister and the National Council for Civil Liberties with his complaint. Family members told Human Rights Watch that during a court session on January 15, Dorda complained to the judge about this alleged beating and demanded an investigation. Dorda said that on December 29, he was beaten on his head and body while in his cell by a person "unknown to him and from outside of the prison." He said the person came into his cell and beat him up and took all of his belongings, including cleaning material, medication, and his crutches. He said the beating on his head made him dizzy. Any prison system in which detainees are held largely in solitary confinement without regular and private access to their lawyers and their families increases the risk of ill-treatment and abuse, Human Rights Watch said. The detention authorities should conduct an internal investigation into the alleged incident, Human Rights Watch said. If it is found to be true, the alleged attacker should be removed, if in the prison, and prosecuted. The general prosecutor should take the claim seriously and take all necessary measures against alleged attackers. The justice minister should ensure that only prison staff are present at the detention facility and that anyone in proximity to the detainees is rigorously vetted to avoid any incidents of ill-treatment of any detainee at the facility. Human Rights Watch urged the government to hold detainees in solitary confinement only when and for as long as strictly necessary, and to respect the inmates rights at all times. Under international law, prolonged solitary confinement of a detainee can amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. International Criminal Court Involvement
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In addition to the Government Officials Case, Gaddafi is facing charges related to alleged breaches of national security arising from a meeting with one of his former temporary defense lawyers at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Melinda Taylor, in June 2012 (the "Zintan Case"). After the meeting, the militia holding Gaddafi detained her and three other ICC staff members and held them for approximately a month, despite Libyas obligation to respect the officials immunity as stipulated in article 48 of the ICC treaty. The Zintan prosecutor contended that Taylor had interfered with state security during her meeting with Gaddafi. Gaddafi is also wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in trying to suppress the 2011 uprising. Libya has failed to turn Gaddafi over to the ICC, despite an outstanding obligation to surrender him to the court. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970, which referred the situation in Libya to the ICC, requires the Libyan authorities to cooperate fully with the court, a binding requirement under the UN Charter, even though Libya is not a party to the treaty that established the court. Libya had filed a legal bid at the ICC on May 1, 2012 to prosecute Gaddafi domestically and was initially told it could postpone surrendering him to the ICC until the ICC made its decision. On May 31, 2013, the ICC judges rejected Libyas bid and reminded the Libyan authorities of their obligation to surrender him. The court held that Libya had not provided enough evidence to demonstrate that it was investigating the same case as the one before the ICC, a requirement under the ICC treaty for such challenges, and that it was unable genuinely to carry out an investigation of Gaddafi. The judges concluded that the Libyan authorities have neither been able to secure legal representation for Gaddafi nor to facilitate his transfer into government custody. On October 11, 2013, Libya succeeded in a separate bid at the ICC to prosecute Sanussi domestically based on the ICC judges decision that the case against Sanussi before the ICC was subject to domestic proceedings and that Libya was able and willing genuinely to carry out proceedings against him. Both decisions regarding Libyas bids to prosecute Gaddafi and Sanussi domestically are under appeal at the ICC. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged the Libyan authorities to cooperate with the ICC and respect the courts rulings. Libyas current security climate is highly volatile and will negatively impact any judicial proceedings unless the government steps up security for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and witnesses involved in these cases, Human Rights Watch said. On February 8, 2014, Libyas former general prosecutor, Abdelaziz al-Hasadi, was assassinated by unknown assailants in the eastern city of Derna. At least four judges and prosecutors were among the dozens of victims of seemingly politically motivated assassinations in 2013 by unidentified assailants. Unidentified assailants also attacked courthouses in various regions. Human Rights Watch has interviewed judges, lawyers, and prosecutors who complained of physical attacks, intimidation, and threats against them.
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"The ICC judges recognized that Sanussi was not provided any legal representation for the proceedings against him, and yet accepted Libyas claim that this would soon be resolved," Hourysaid. "Four months after the ICCs decision and despite Libyas assertions, Sanussi still has no access to a lawyer." The Suspects Saif al-Islam Gaddafi:Libyan anti-Gaddafi militias apprehended Gaddafi on November 19, 2011, in Ubari, southern Libya. The Abu Baker al-Siddiq Brigade, anti-Gaddafi fighters from Zintan, moved him to Zintan the same day, holding him there ever since though Libya is currently under an obligation to surrender him to the ICC. Gaddafi did not appear at any of the pretrial sessions in the Government Officials Case as the Zintan militia refused to comply with the general prosecutors summons to transfer Gaddafi to Tripoli, for "security reasons." Gaddafi faces separate criminal charges in the Zintan Case. A Zintan court charged him with alleged breaches of national security. Abdullah Sanussi: Sanussi told Human Rights Watch he fled Libya and went to Morocco during the uprising, but that Moroccan authorities arrested him and transferred him to Mauritania. Mauritania extradited him to Libya on September 5, 2012. Sanussi said Interpol officers handed him to Libyan authorities at AlHadba facility, where he has remained since. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sanussi on June 27, 2011, also on charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 2011 uprising. Libya succeeded in its legal bid at the ICC to prosecute that case domestically, though the decision is currently under appeal. Sanussi is also charged in the Government Officials Case. Abuzaid Dorda: Anti-Gaddafi forces arrested Dorda at his home in Tripoli on September 11, 2011, and initially detained him in an apartment in Tripoli. After an incident in which he was injured, Libyan authorities moved Dorda to the Metiga airbase in Tripoli, where he spent several months hospitalized, and then moved him to a facility under the authority of the Tripoli Military Council. On January 23, 2012, they transferred him to Al-Hadba facility. Dorda was charged in two separate cases. One of the cases, No. 723/2012, in which Dorda faced six charges, including incitement to kill and to civil war, has been adjourned. He is also charged in the Government Officials Case. Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi: Al-Mahmoudi fled Libya in September 2011. Tunisian authorities arrested him the same month for allegedly illegally entering the country. Tunisia extradited him to Libya on June 24, 2012, where he was taken to Al-Hadba detention facility. Al-Mahmoudi is facing two separate sets of charges, which include the illicit use of public funds and the Government Officials Case. Legal Proceedings On September 19, 2013, the general prosecutor, Abdul Qader Juma Radwan, presented to the pretrial judge his case against 38 former Gaddafi officials and employees, including Gaddafi, Sanussi, Dorda, and al-Mahmoudi, (case 630/2012), over crimes allegedly committed during the 2011 uprising, (the "Government Officials Case"). Over three sessions, the first on September 19, and the third and last one on October 24, the pretrial chamber judge of the Tripoli Appeals Court charged 37 of the 38 and referred the case to a criminal court for trial. The date has yet to be announced.
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The prosecutor brought numerous charges against the defendants for crimes allegedly committed from February 15, 2011, the start of the uprising against Gaddafi, onward. Human Rights Watch was able to review a copy of the charges, which include: "financially supporting pro-Gaddafi brigades;" "providing weapons and ammunition;" "recruiting and equipping mercenaries and granting some of them the Libyan citizenship;" "creating armed tribal groups and providing them weapons and logistical support;" "preparing car bombs;" "preparing plans to bomb prisons holding opposition members;" "carrying out aerial attacks on civilian targets, including with land mines;" "creating an electronic army to incite killings;" "distributing drugs to the army and volunteers [fighters with Gaddafi forces];" "appropriating citizens and opposition members properties;" "inciting arbitrary shelling on cities that rose against the regime;" "destroying fuel station in Benghazi;" "cutting water and power supplies from cities that rose against the regime (Misrata, Zawiya, Zintan);" "cutting fuel supplies to the eastern region;" "creating a group to destroy the booster station at the Sidra plant and killing guards there;" "planning and deciding to kill demonstrators in Tripoli;" "creating killing squads, bombing squads and divisions;" "committing acts that aim to provoke civil war;""inciting and agreeing to acts of rape and sexual intercourse by force as a systematic tool to defeat the revolution;" "inciting and agreeing to detain and imprison thousands of oppositionists;" "squandering public funds;" "publicly insulting the Libyan Arab People by calling them rats, traitors;" and "prohibiting others of practicing politics by force." Not all of the charges apply to all defendants. The general prosecutor invoked several articles of the Libyan Penal Code, including several articles that stipulate the death penalty, such as article 202 (on civil war), article 203 (on attacks against the legitimate authorities) and article 211 (on creation of gangs). The prosecutor has also invoked other laws including Law 6/1423 (on punishment according to Islam "Qassass"); Law 19/2010 (on illegal migration); and law 2/1979 (on economic crimes). Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was not at any of the pretrial sessions, so he was not there when the judge charged him and the other 36 defendants with serious crimes on October 24. Sanussi and al-Mahmoudi were present for at least one of the sessions. Dorda told Human Rights Watch he was at the first two sessions but not the last, even though he is detained in the same facility where the session was held. He said: "I was here, but no one came to fetch me for the session." Dorda and al-Mahmoudi face additional charges, unrelated to this case. Dorda has faced six charges, including incitement to kill and to civil war (no. 723/2012). That trial has been adjourned. Al-Mahmoudi faced a separate set of charges involving the alleged illicit use of public funds. That trial also has been adjourned. One of the lawyers representing Dorda said he expected both cases to be merged with the Government Officials Case. All four uniformly said they have not had the chance to review evidence or witness statements against them. One lawyer for the detainees said the pretrial chamber convened three times, the last session only to pronounce the charges not enough time for the lawyers to prepare their defense. He said several of the defendants lawyers asked the judge to be heard, but were refused. He said neither defense lawyers nor the judge summoned a single witness, and lawyers requests to review court documents for authenticity, content, and contradictions were denied. He also
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questioned the ability of the judge to read 70,000 pages of evidence and statements and 4,000 pages of testimonies submitted by the prosecution in the span of a few weeks. Interrogations Each of the four men described to Human Rights Watch numerous interrogations in detention by multiple parties, including government officials, prosecutors, other people in civilian clothing, and members of armed groups. Al-Mahmoudi said the General Prosecutors Office started to interrogate him upon his arrival in Libya on June 24, 2012. None of the detainees had access to legal counsel during the various interrogation sessions, they said. In many cases, the interrogators did not reveal their identities, the men said. They believed some of the interrogators were private citizens who had somehow obtained access to interrogate them. Dorda said since he arrived at Al-Hadba, the general prosecutors staff had interrogated him twice. He said he was blindfolded during his first interrogation session at AlHadba and did not know who interrogated him. "Sometimes ordinary people have come in and confronted me with questions and allegations," Sanussi said. "There have been inquiries by people other than the prosecutors office," al-Mahmoudi said. Gaddafi told Human Rights Watch that various interrogators coerced him into confessing to murders, rapes, and selling drugs during the 2011 uprising. He said interrogators were mostly prosecutors who told him they were "under orders" to bring charges against him, but also included former (anti-Gaddafi) fighters, individuals he did not know and members of the "military." He said he has signed every interrogation statement and confession put before him by prosecutors. "The investigators kept on saying to me, Confess that youre corrupt, confess that youre a killer, and then ask for mercy," Gaddafi said. "So I signed every confession they [investigators] put in front of me. Its silly." The other three said they only signed interrogation reports. Sanussi said that during the pretrial sessions, he asked the judge to review testimony against him, but was refused. Dorda said he signed written reports presented to him after each interrogation session, yet was not able to review them for accuracy. He said he was interrogated during lengthy sessions, four times in all, two of them at AlHadba. He said that interrogations by "people" from the National Transitional Council, Libyas governing body during the 2011 uprising, started while he was recovering from an injury in Mitiga hospital in Tripoli, soon after his arrest. Dorda said he knew the prosecution interrogated other people in relation to his case, in Misrata and the Nafussa mountains, yet these investigations were "put on the side and ignored." Access to Legal Counsel Both al-Mahmoudi and Dorda told Human Rights Watch they have lawyers to represent them in the procedures against them. Al-Mahmoudi said he had asked for a lawyer as soon as he arrived in Libya, after being extradited from Tunisia
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on June 24, 2012. He said he had a lawyer to represent him at this stage, but that it took a substantial time for him to get a lawyer of his choosing. He also said his lawyer has not been able to view documents, crucial to prepare for his defense, which al-Mahmoudi had kept at his home and his office prior to his arrest. Al-Mahmoudi said he now has a team of three lawyers in Libya appointed by his family. He said he was able to meet with one of his lawyers at the prison, but not privately. Dorda also said his family appointed a lawyer, with whom he has been able to meet at the prison, but never privately. A guard was always in the room, making it impossible to discuss sensitive issues pertaining to his defense, he said. Dorda said his lawyer was unable to attend any of the three pretrial sessions due to threats and intimidation by crowds outside of the court. Gaddafi and Sanussi told Human Rights Watch that they have not had access to legal counsel of their choosing since their arrest. Sanussi told Human Rights Watch he had been asking for a lawyer since his arrival in Libya: "I was not permitted to meet a lawyer. I asked for a lawyer from the first day [I arrived in Libya]. I attended the pretrial sessions [case 630/2012] without a lawyer." Gaddafi dismissed a claim made to Human Rights Watch on January 23 in Zintan by al-Ajmi al-Atiri, the head of the guard force for Gaddafi and commander of the militia holding him, that the court had appointed two lawyers to represent him in the Zintan Case. He said he did not choose these lawyers, had not spoken with them about the case and only saw them at the court sessions. He also said he had no access to legal counsel of his choosing for charges levied against him by the ICC. "I do not have a lawyer," Gaddafi said. "I did not choose them [two courtappointed lawyers in Zintan]; I do not know them. My God is my lawyer." All four men said they had virtually no access to a judge to review the claims brought against them. A lawyer representing one of the 37 defendants in the Officials Case, who wished to remain anonymous, told Human Rights Watch that on September 19, the first pretrial hearing date, he went to the court but turned back without entering the court complex after angry crowds and families of victims threatened him and called him a traitor for representing a former Gaddafi official. He did not attend the other two pretrial sessions either. He said lawyers were intimidated and not able to meet with clients ahead of time to prepare a proper defense. The ICCPR contains in article 14 the most basic affirmation of fair trial rights. It says that anyone facing a criminal charge is entitled to the following minimum guarantees: (a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him; (b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing; (c) To be tried without undue delay; (d) To be present at the trial and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal
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assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it; (e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him; [] (g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt. Solitary Confinement Three of the four detainees are held in solitary confinement. Gaddafi told Human Rights Watch he was isolated from the outside world and received no visitors. Although Human Rights Watch did not visit his place of detention and cannot confirm the conditions, Gaddafi described it as adequate. He said he had access to a television with satellite stations and could obtain religious books if he asked the authorities. All three detainees at Al-Hadba said they had no access to television, news, radio, or newspapers. Human Rights Watch visited Sanussis cell. He has been in solitary confinement, without access to other detainees, since his transfer to Libya in September 2012, except for sharing his cell with another former Gaddafi official for two to three days, and on another occasion with an inmate he did not know who had special needs. Sanussi said he was required to care for the detainee, including helping him with his basic needs and use of the toilet during the duration of his stay, for about a month. Dorda told Human Rights Watch that prison authorities had kept him in solitary confinement for the past five months. Prior to that, he was in a communal cell with former ministers and officials of the Gaddafi government he did not specify how many. Al-Mahmoudi shares a communal cell with 14 other inmates, including former ministers and officials of the Gaddafi government of varying ranks. Detention authorities should ensure that detainees have access to the outside world by providing newspapers and TV or radio access, as per the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and ensure that detainees can interact with other detainees, even if only during periods outside their cells. Isolation is deepened by additional restrictions. For example, Sanussi, Dorda and al-Mahmoudi said they had no access to books, newspapers, television, or radio with the exception of religious books. Gaddafi said he had access to a television with a variety of channels, but no newspapers or books, with the exception of religious books. International norms underscore that solitary confinement, whether imposed for punitive or preventive reasons, is an extreme measure that requires close monitoring because it can have adverse effects on the persons physical and mental well-being. While international human rights law does not prohibit solitary confinement in any and all circumstances, prolonged solitary confinement can be inconsistent with respect for inmates humanity. It can also violate the prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and, depending on the specific circumstances, may even amount to torture. The
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Committee on Human Rights states in its General Comment 20 that "prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." International treaty bodies and human rights experts including the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, and both the current and former UN special rapporteurs on torture have concluded that depending on the specific conditions, the duration, and the prisoners on whom it is imposed, solitary confinement may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment that violates human rights. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) noted, "It is generally acknowledged that all forms of solitary confinement without appropriate mental and physical stimulation are likely, in the long-term, to have damaging effects resulting in deterioration of mental faculties and social abilities." The UN Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners states that, "Efforts addressed to the abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment, or to the restriction of its use, should be undertaken and encouraged." Detaining Authorities Al-Hadba Corrections Facility in Tripoli is formally under the authority of the Justice Ministry and formally administered by the judicial police. Human Rights Watch had only limited access to the facility. The prison is within a base that is heavily fortified, including numerous pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons and tanks. The deputy defense minister, Khalid al Sharif, keeps an office at the facility. The prison complex also includes a courtroom, which is being used to hold sessions for former Gaddafi officials, including the trials of Dorda and al-Mahmoudi. Human Rights Watch met with Gaddafi at a base run by the Abu Baker al-Siddiq Brigade of Zintan, the guard force detaining Gaddafi at a separate undisclosed location. A plaque at the main entrance states that it operates under the command of the Libyan National Army. Human Rights Watch also met with alAjmi al-Atiri, head of the guard force. During the visit, there was no sign of any member of the judicial police or anyone from the Justice Ministry. Al-Atiri told Human Rights Watch his group had refused a request from the government on October 24 to transfer Gaddafi to Tripoli to attend a court session for the Officials Case, fearing for the safety of his own men and Gaddafi due to the volatile security situation on the main road between Tripoli and Zintan. There were frequent clashes on the western coastal road between Tripoli and the Nafussa mountains throughout 2013, with roadblocks and exchanges of gunfire. He also said the Brigade ignored a transfer order for the first pretrial session on September 19 because the dates coincided with the Zintan Case. As noted above, in their May 2013 decision rejecting Libyas bid to try Gaddafi domestically, the ICC judges concluded that the Libyan authorities have neither been able to secure legal representation for Gaddafi nor to facilitate his transfer into government custody.
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Methodology On January 23, Human Rights Watch conducted separate visits of 15 to 20 minutes each with Sanussi, Dorda and al-Mahmoudi in an administrative office at Al-Hadba prison. A guard interrupted each interview before the end of the agreed-upon period to say how much time remained. Prison authorities permitted Human Rights Watch to interview all three men privately, with no prison staff or other officials in the room. Human Rights Watch was able to meet very briefly with Saleh Daeiki, the prison director, and to inspect the cells of the three detainees that day, but was not able to conduct a tour of the entire prison. It was the second visit by Human Rights Watch to Sanussi since his transfer to Libya in September 2012. Human Rights Watch visited Gaddafi the same day in Zintan. While Human Rights Watch representatives were alone in an office with Gaddafi during the 45minute interview, the door of the room remained open and guards remained outside the door. No one interrupted the interview. Human Rights Watch met with the brigade commander al-Atiri, who is in charge of the "security" of the detainee. This was Human Rights Watchs second visit to Gaddafi; the first visit was on December 18, 2011, a month after his apprehension.
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Simbikangwa Trial: The Moment of Reckoning Al Jazeera By Amor Boubakri February 10, 2014 The opening of the trial of Pascal Simbikangwa in Paris on February 4 undoubtedly represents a landmark achievement for a long and hard campaign initiated by a coalition of NGOs to bring justice for the victims of what is considered to be one of the most horrible genocides of the
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20th century. Pascal Simbikangwa, who was arrested by French authorities in 2008 in Mayotte, was considered to be the black-box of the Rwanda genocide. In other words, he would know a wealth of information on key players who planned the genocide and which countries have been complacent. He was the intelligence chief of the Rwandan army during the killings and was part of the inner circle of former President Juvenal Habyarimana. Simbikangwa was actively involved, therefore, in the campaign against the Tutsi minority led by Habyarimana himself on the eve of the genocide. "Hutu Power" had become the obsession of Habyarimana's regime and was preached across Rwanda at that time. A brief history of genocide The assassination of Habyarimana on April 6, 1994 opened the door for violence against the Tutsi minority. Innocent civilians were mercilessly killed by Hutu militiamen regardless of age and sex. The slaughter proceeded so fast that it left around 800,000 casualties among civilians over three months, while rape was used on a large scale as a tool of war. Simbikangwa was reportedly responsible for setting up the famous checkpoints around Kigali to capture and kill all Tutsis who were trying to escape the massacres in the city. The Paris court has formally accused Pascal Simbikangwa of complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity. It has six weeks to rule on the case and, if convicted, Simbikangwa may face a life sentence. This trial has been made possible by the 2008 and 2010 French laws[Fr] which allow courts on the basis of the universal jurisdictionto rule on cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator. Who is trying whom? Why did it take so long for Simbikangwa to be held accountable for his crimes? Victims and their families had to wait 20 years to see him stand trial. According to international law, genocide and war crimes are imprescriptible and, therefore, can be prosecuted at any time. However, justice needs to be delivered in reasonable time, especially in cases of ethnic cleansing. In the Rwanda genocide, perpetrators were able to kill quickly on a massive scale and yet they have been tried so slowly. Who is responsible for this shameful delay in delivering justice? Certainly, some would argue that France has not been diligent enough in arresting those Rwandan officials responsible for the genocide crimes. In the past, France has offered a safe haven for fugitives from Rwanda. In fact, Simbikangwa's trial is taking place before a French court because France rejected[Fr] an extradition request from the Rwandan authorities on the basis of their inability to guarantee a fair trial. This is not the first time the French justice system has unduly delayed cases related to the Rwanda genocide. In its decision of June 8, 2004, the European Human Rights Court condemned France for excessive delay in Wenceslas Munyeshyaka's case in which the preliminary procedures took nine years to complete before it reached court.
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These issues have fuelled the debate on what role - if any - France played in the genocide. A controversial report issued by an independent Rwandan commission in 2008 claimed France was aware of preparations for the genocide and helped train the ethnic Hutu militia perpetrators. Habyarimana, who ruled Rwanda as a dictator for two decades, was backed by Paris at the time. While the French military played an advisory role for the Rwandan army under Habyarimana, however, the nature of its role during the genocide was not clear. If Pascal Simbikangwa volunteers all he knows about France's role in Rwanda and the nature of its support to Habyarimana's regime, the direction of the trial might change completely. Simbikangwa's court case could shift, therefore, into a trial of France itself. It can also shift into a trial of the international community and its apathy during the Rwandan genocide. Despite the images of death and destruction that were broadcasted out of Rwanda in 1994, the world and international institutions did not act and left Rwandan civilians to face massacre on their own. The response of the international community was too little and too late. In November 1994, after hundreds of thousands died, the United Nations set up the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) by Security Council Resolution 955/1994 to try genocide crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Rwanda in that year. Justice before peace Undoubtedly, the ICTR prompted the adoption of the Rome Statute on July 17,1998 and prepared the ground for a permanent International Criminal Court. Nevertheless, the UN tribunal did not do enough to deliver justice. The ICTR indicted 93, 65 of them were found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. The ICTR was not able to address the cases of thousands of officials and civilians who were directly involved in the massacres. It is true that international justice cannot replace the justice system of a state in its basic duty of trying criminals who committed massacres on a massive scale, as was the case for Rwandan genocide. However, in the case of genocide, the international community has the moral duty to be involved in holding perpetrators responsible for their acts, if the state failed to deliver justice to its people. The incapacity of the Rwandan state to maintain the rule of law and democratic institutions was one of the reasons why the genocide happened in the first place. As violence erupted in April 1994, those involved in the murders benefited from the culture of impunity and managed to continue with the massacres for more than three months. Today Simbikangwa's trial stands witness of two issues. The first is the need to address international responsibility for the genocide in Rwanda. The second is that in order for peace to take root , justice must be served in a country that has suffered severe conflict. Justice itself comes only through genuine political reforms and the building of democratic institutions where human rights are respected and limitation of powers is guaranteed. Rwanda's Augustin Ndindiliyimana Cleared of Genocide BBC
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February 11, 2014 Gen Augustin Ndindiliyimana was already free as his sentence was the 11 years he had spent in custody awaiting trial. He was one of the most senior figures to be sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was put on trial with ex-army chief Gen Augustin Bizimungu, who was given 30 years and is also appealing. Rwandan former army chief General Augustin Bizimungu is pictured near Goma 27 July 1994 in DR Congo Two other officers were convicted with the generals and their appeal verdicts were also announced on Tuesday. Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, the former commander of a reconnaissance battalion, and his second in command, Capt Innocent Sagahutu, were accused of ordering the murder of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and were serving 20-year sentences for crimes against humanity. On Tuesday, Maj Nzuwonemeye was acquitted and Sagahutu has his jail term reduced to 15 years. Safe house Gen Ndindiliyimana and Gen Bizimungu were two of the three most senior military figures tried by the court based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha. The judgement said it noted that Gen Ndindiliyimana, who was arrested in Belgium in 2000, had "limited command over the gendarmerie after 6 April 1994 and his opposition to the massacres in Rwanda". The BBC's Balthazar Nduwayezu in Arusha says Gen Ndindiliyimana has been living in an ICTR safe house in the Tanzanian town since his release nearly three years ago, after he was sentenced. He is unable to return to Rwanda and no other country has yet agreed to take him, although he hopes to join his family in Belgium, our correspondent says. Rwanda's genocide started was sparked by the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana who was killed when his plane was shot down close to the capital, Kigali, on 6 April 1994. Within hours of the attack, certain members of the government organised ethnic Hutu militias across the country to systematically kill Tutsis and moderate Hutus, resulting in more than three months of violence in which some 800,000 people died. When the four officers were convicted in May 2011, Bizimungu was found to have been in complete control over the men he commanded in 1994. Genocide Tribunal Acquits Rwanda Pair SBS February 12, 2014 The UN-backed court for Rwanda has acquitted on appeal former
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paramilitary police chief Augustin Ndindiliyimana and ex-elite battalion commander Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye of charges related to the 1994 genocide. The Arusha, Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) reduced the sentence of a third officer Innocent Sagahutu, a squadron commander in the elite reconnaissance unit, from 20 years behind bars to 15. The ICTR said it would hand down its decision on a fourth officer, former army chief Augustin Bizimungu, at a later date. The court had in May 2011 sentenced Ndindiliyimana to 11 years imprisonment for genocide crimes, a term he had already served in preventive detention since his arrest in Belgium in 2000. Nzuwonemeye and Sagahutu had both been sentenced to terms of 20 years for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bizimungu had been sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The UN-backed court was set up to try the alleged masterminds behind the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 people, the overwhelming majority of them ethnic Tutsis, were killed. Other perpetrators have been tried before other jurisdictions, either in the formal court system in Rwanda or before thousands of grassroots tribunals called gacacas. Rwanda Genocide Survivors Condemn UN Acquittals PressTV February 12, 2014 On Tuesday, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Arusha, Tanzania, acquitted Augustin Ndindiliyimana, the former chief of staff of the Rwandan paramilitary police, and FranoisXavier Nzuwonemeye, the former commander of a military reconnaissance battalion, of the charges related to the genocide. Ndindiliyimana was one of the highest-ranking officers convicted of taking part in the genocide. He was tried alongside Augustin Bizimungu, Rwandas former army chief of staff, who was sentenced in 2011 to 30 years in prison. The court also reduced the sentence of a third officer, Innocent Sagahutu, a squadron commander in the elite reconnaissance unit, by 5 years. The acquittal comes just as Rwanda prepares to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the genocide. On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying former president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, was shot down. Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was also killed in the plane crash. The Rwandan genocide, in which about 800,000 to one million people, mainly Tutsis, were killed, began after the crash, when Hutus were incited to commit acts of ethnic violence against Tutsis.
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All of the details of the double assassination have never come out and investigations continue to this day. The genocide of 1994 lasted approximately 100 days and hence is called the "100 Days of Hell." With an Ally on the Bench, Kabuga and Co. Don't Need to Hide After All All Africa By Felly Kimenyl February 13, 2014 POLISH-BORN American judge Theodor Meron on Tuesday read out the ICTR's appeals bench ruling in the Military 2 trial, delivering what was largely expected of him; setting free two former top officers in the security organs that presided over the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. They include Gen. Augustin Ndindiriyimana, the former head of the Gendermerie (the equivalent of state police) with Meron saying in the ruling that the Trial Chamber of the ICTR had erred in sentencing him to 11 years. The UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was set up in 1995 to try major planners of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The other person who walked away is Maj. Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, who commanded the much-feared reconnaissance battalion in Ex-Far, the armed forces of the former government. Meron and co. also reduced to 15 years the initial sentence of Capt. Innocent Sagahutu, the man believed to be responsible for the death of 10 Belgian peacekeepers during the Genocide, among other atrocities. The decisions follow a spate of other high-profile acquittals by the appeals panel led by Meron, with the simple argument that the Trial Chamber had erred in each of the cases. It is not my intention to paint white the different organs of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), especially since in some of the cases on appeal, prosecution either used foreign investigators alien to what happened in Rwanda, or worse still, persons implicated in the Genocide themselves. One might argue that since the panel is always made up of seven judges, Meron cannot be solely blamed. However, a document leaked to the media last year by a Judge who has shared the bench with him elsewhere accused him of putting persistent and intense pressure on judges to allow suspects to go free. This is further corroborated by cables released on whistleblower website Weakileaks, which indicated political pressure by a powerful country to have the now 83-year old named as the head of the UN court. Some of the high profile convictions which were overturned by Meron include that of cabinet ministers in the genocidal government Justin Mugenzi (commerce - whose role in creating the radical splinter from the Liberal Party, which was later called PL-Power is well documented) and Prosper Mugiraneza for public service. Meron also reduced the sentence of Thoneste Bagosora, the Apocalypse
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architect, a powerbroker who was very influential in the formation of the genocidal government that called itself 'guverinoma y'abatabazi'. Before that, the same judge had also overturned the conviction of Protais Zigiranyirazo or 'Mr Z', a brother to former First Lady Agathe Kanziga, and a core member of the influential group 'Le Clan de Madame' - Kanziga being the madame. Meron, whose supporters will not hesitate to brandish his background as himself a survivor of the Holocaust, has done more than enough to add salt to injury, at least with regard to Genocide survivors. Unfortunately, he has the mandate of the UN, which in 2012 added him a fouryear term, this time as the head of the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, besides being the President of the Appeals Chamber at the Arusha-based court. The Mechanism, which has until 2016 but can be extended, has among its attributions handling the appeals and tracking and prosecuting persons indicted by the ICTR and the tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Significantly, the same mechanism that Meron heads will determine the fate of achieves accumulated by both tribunals, which puts the writing on the wall for Rwanda with regard to her request to take custody of the ICTR archives. Now, among the key tasks the Mechanism has, as far as Rwanda is concerned, is to ensure that the so-called 'Big Fish', including Genocide financier Flicien Kabuga, Protais Mpiranya (former commander of the vicious Presidential Guards) and the former Defence Minister Augustin Bizimana are brought to book. But I fear that if these men are finally apprehended, chances are high they will get acquitted with Judge Melon in charge. Genocide survivors in the former Butare prefecture (present-day Huye) should also brace themselves for the acquittal of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son Arsne Ntahobali.
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EUROPE
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The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Official Website [English translation]
Goran Vujovic and Miroslav Duka Entered a Not Guilty Plea Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 7, 2014 At a plea hearing before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of BIH, Goran Vujovic and Miroslav Duka entered a not guilty plea. On December 27, 2013, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the Indictment under which the Accused Goran Vujovic and Miroslav Duka are charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1) (h) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Indictment alleges, among other things, that in the period from early June 1992 to late December 1992, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, within a widespread and systematic attack of military, police and paramilitary formations of Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later Republika Srpska targeting Bosniak and Croat civilians of the area of Eastern Herzegovina, the territory of municipalities of Bileca, Nevesinje and Gacko, the Accused Goran Vujovic, in the capacity as the Chief of Public Security Station in Bileca and Miroslav Duka, in the capacity as police Commander in the Public Security Station in Bileca, enabled and organized imprisonment of Bosniak and Croat civilians on the premises of Public Security Station Bileca building, premises of the so-called Stari zatvor (old prison) in Bileca, premises of !acki dom (pupils hostel) in Bileca, where the imprisoned civilians were held in inhumane conditions and subjugated to killings, torture and severe physical and mental abuse. Defense Closing Speech in the Case v. Najdan Mladenovic et al. Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 10, 2014 Defense closing speech before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of BIH in the case v. Najdan Mladenovic et al. is scheduled to take place on February 11, 2014 starting at 1.00 p.m. in Courtroom 4. On August 7, 2012, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the Indictment under which the Accused Najdan Mladenovic and Savo "ivkovic are charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity. The Indictment alleges, among other things, that within a widespread or systematic attack against non-Serb civilian population in May 1992 in the territory of Bratunac Municipality, the Accused Najdan Mladenovic, in the capacity as one of the Bratunac Territorial Defense commanders, ordered, committed and aided, while Savo "ivkovic, in the capacity as the Bratunac Territorial Defense member, committed and aided the persecution of non-Serb civilian population on national, ethnic and
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religious grounds by way of unlawful deprivation of liberty, physical and mental abuse and destruction of non-Serb civilian population property. Prison Sentence for Novak !ukic Suspended Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 14, 2014 After the Constitutional Court of BIH, in its session on January 23, 2014, upheld the appeal of the defendant Novak !ukic convicted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, found the violation of rights of defendant stemming from Article 7(1) of the European Convention, revoked the Appeals Verdict and ordered the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach a new decision in accordance with Article 7(1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in an exigent procedure", the Panel of the Appeals Division of the Court of BIH rendered the Decision on February 14, 2014 suspending the prison sentence in relation to the defendant who was found guilty of the War Crimes against Civilians and sentenced to a prison sentence for a long term of twenty-five (25) years. Under the decision suspending the prison sentence, convicted Novak !ukic is to be released immediately. Revoking of the appeals verdict of the Court of BIH by the Constitutional Court of BIH resulted in the lack of statutory ground for the convicted person to further serve sentences. No appeals lie against this Decision. Jovan and Goran Popovic Entered a Not Guilty Plea Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 17, 2014 At a plea hearing before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Accused Jovan and Goran Popovic entered a not guilty plea. On January 10, 2014, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the Indictment under which the Accused Jovan Popovic is charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1) (h) as read with sub-paragraphs e), i) and k), and Goran Popovic is charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1) (h) as read with subparagraphs e), g) and k) all in conjunction with Article 180(1) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC of BIH). The Indictment alleges, among other things, that the Accused Jovan Popovic and Accused Goran Popovic, in the period from early April 1992 until late September 1992, during the armed conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during which the members of Republika Srpska Army, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska and paramilitary formations, engaged in a widespread and systematic attack against Bosniak civilians in the village of Rodica brdo, Municipaliyt of Vi#egrad, as members of Serb armed formations participated in persecution of Bosniak civilians on political, national, religious grounds by killings, forcible transfer of population, illegal incarceration, rape, sexual enslavement, forcible disappearance, destruction and looting of property, infliction of grave suffering and
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bodily integrity. Plea Hearing in the Case v. Perica Ad"ic Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 19, 2014 A plea hearing in the case v. Perica Ad"ic before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of BIH is scheduled to take place on February 20, 2014, starting at 1.00 p.m. in Courtroom 3. On 7 January 2014, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the Indictment under which the Accused Perica Ad$ic is charged with the criminal offense of War Crimes against the Wounded and Sick in violation of Article 174(1) a) (torture and inhumane treatment) and b) (Causing of great suffering or serious injury to bodily integrity or health) as read with Article 180(1) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the CC of BIH). The Indictment alleges that the Accused Perica Ad$ic, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and armed conflict between the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) units and the Army of Republic of BIH, as a member of the HVO in July 1993 along with another HVO member entered the premises of Rade Kondic primary school in "epce which quartered wounded members of the Army of RBIH and inhumanely and cruelly treated them, tortured them and caused grave mental pain and suffering. Plea Hearing in the Case v. Dragan #ekaric Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina February 19, 2014 A plea hearing in the case v. Dragan #ekaric before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of BIH is scheduled to take place on February 20, 2014, starting at 02.00 p.m. in Courtroom 3. On January 14, 2014, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the Indictment under which the Accused Dragan %ekaric is charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1)(h) as read with the sub-paragraphs a), d), e), g), i) and k), all in conjunction with Article 180(1) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC of BiH). [back to contents]
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY
Hague Prosecutor Wants Perisic Acquittal Reconsidered Institute for War and Peace Reporting By Rachel Irwin February 7, 2014
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The Hague tribunal prosecutor this week asked appeals judges to reconsider their acquittal of wartime Yugoslav army chief Momcilo Perisic. In March 2013, appeals judges overturned Perisics conviction for aiding and abetting crimes committed against civilians during the 44-month sniping and shelling campaign directed against Sarajevo, which left thousands dead, as well as the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which over 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered. His 27-year prison sentence was dropped. The appeals bench found that the original trial chamber "declined to consider whether Mr Perisic specifically directed aid" towards the crimes of the Bosnian Serb army, and that "no conviction for aiding and abetting a crime may be entered if specific direction has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt". The ruling on "specific direction" was hugely controversial. On January 24, a different appeals bench delivering a judgement in a Kosovorelated case which included Nikola Sainovic, a former deputy prime minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia concluded that "prior to the Perisic judgement, no independent specific direction requirement was applied by the appeals chamber to any of the facts before it". The judges rejected the requirement in its entirety. In light of the decision in the Kosovo case, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz argued in a February 3 submission that "reconsideration is necessary to rectify the injustice caused to the tens of thousands of men, women and children killed or injured in Sarajevo and Srebrenica and their families by the appeals chambers application of an erroneous legal standard for aiding and abetting to Perisics case". A previous decision made at the tribunal has ruled out the reconsideration of final appeal judgements except in "rare or exceptional" cases. Brammertz argued this was one of those circumstances. "Reconsideration based on the Sainovic appeals chambers unequivocal rejection of the Perisic appeals chambers articulation of the legal requirements for aiding and abetting, and the interests of justice for the tens of thousands of victims, substantially outweighs Perisics interest in finality of the proceedings," he stated. "Justice must be restored to the victims. Reconsideration is the only way to this end." Bosnian Serb Police Minister Says He Acted Within the Law Institute for War and Peace Reporting By Rachel Irwin February 7, 2014 The former interior minister of the Bosnian Serb entity testified this week that despite his war crimes conviction, he acted entirely in accordance with the laws and regulations in place at the time. Defence witness Mico Stanisic, testifying on behalf of his former superior Radovan Karadzic, was convicted last year on counts of persecution, murder and torture and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The bench found that Stanisic was a "key member of the decision-making authorities" and "shared a close relationship" with Karadzic, who was president of Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996.
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The judgement concluded that Stanisic bolstered his police force by recruiting unqualified reserve officers, and that he coordinated with the Bosnian Serb army in order to "effect ethnic division on the ground". "Despite being aware of the commission of crimes by these joint forces, Stanisic consistently approved the deployment of his police forces in this manner," the verdict stated. Stanisics case is currently on appeal. He appeared at the tribunal this week as a result of a subpoena, and had his own lawyer present during his testimony. "You and I did we have some joint plan or understanding aimed at expelling Muslims and Croats from territories we believed we were entitled to?" asked Karadzic, who represents himself in the courtroom. "No," Stanisic replied. "What was the position of your co-workers and subordinates in that respect?" the accused asked. "I know what my position was and I can present it. I was just a man who held the post as minister, who did his job exclusively within the framework that was allowed to him by the law on the ministry of interior and other laws of the former SFRY [Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia] because I was convinced they were not discriminatory in any way," Stanisic said. "The former Yugoslavia was a signatory of all international conventions and covenants, and built all of that into its own legislation, and that is how I behaved throughout." He said that his tasks as interior minister were "clearly defined". "In accordance with that, I issued an order, namely that everything that was done necessarily within the scope of our duties was to prevent war crimes, and if this kind of thing did happen, all evidence should be collected," Stanisic said. Karadzic asked what happened when "Serbs committed crimes against non Serbs". "The MUP [interior ministry] acted in accordance with instructions and orders," Stanisic replied. "It treated equally all perpetrators, especially when came to serious crime. Such crimes usually took place at demarcation lines where there was combat, and in that case the victims and witnesses usually went to the Muslim side and we had no position to interview them, to gather the necessary information about the perpetrators. You know well what kind of solidarity exists among such perpetrators who commit such crimes." Stanisic added that the interior ministry had a "problem with paramilitary groups". This problem, he said, was caused by Biljana Plavsic, a high-ranking member of the Bosnian Serb leadership. Plavsic pleaded guilty to persecution at the tribunal in 2002 and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She was granted early release in 2009. Plavsic "even sent letters" to notorious paramilitary leaders like Zeljko Raznatovic, otherwise known as Arkan, "to send volunteers to help the defence of Serbs in Republika Srpska", Stanisic said.
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"All those who came for the most part were people prone to committing crimes, with prior convictions for similar crimes," he continued. "So it happened that such groups which she invited reported to certain units, they were issued with arms, they would introduce themselves as special forces, get the best weapons, and then they would take off and commit crimes." Because their "initial status" was as part of the military, the paramilitary groups "excluded themselves from the competence of the ministry of the interior" and instead fell under the jurisdiction of the "military security service, the military prosecutor and the military courts", the witness said. "Whereas [as] a matter of fact, they were not with the army, they were simply committing crimes in the rear. It was probably due to pressure put by Mrs Plavsic to present them as her forces and to not have them prosecuted [that] such things never found themselves on any agenda," Stanisic said. Karadzic asked his witness whether "I or someone relevant from the leadership of Republika Srpska asked you at any point in time not to have crimes investigated, crimes committed by Serbs against non Serbs". "You did not ask me," Stanisic said. During the cross-examination, prosecutor Matthew Olmsted put it to Stanisic that he was aware that "non-Serbs were being arrested, held and mistreated at detention facilities as early as April [1992]". "Show me; I dont know. I cannot remember such a case, or perhaps there was some individual case. Show me where you are getting this from and then well see," Stanisic said. The prosecutor presented a phone intercept from April 18, 1992, of a conversation between Stanisic and another official in the interior ministry. The official states that individuals "messing up with weapons" in Sokolac were arrested and that the officers "can beat them, do whatever they fucking want, then we will move them because we have no space here". Stanisic gave the reply of "fine" to his interlocutor, Olmsted said. "This conversation relates to non-Serb prisoners, doesnt it?" he asked. "Where does it say that? Read it out to me that detainees are non-Serbs," Stanisic countered. "I acknowledge that there is no mention of ethnicity, but Im putting to you that these are non-Serb prisoners, isnt that correct?" the prosecutor asked. Stanisic said that this was not correct, and that the weapons in Sokolac were actually "being abused and stolen by Serbs". "This has nothing to do with POWs or the non-Serb population," he maintained. The prosecutor produced a report dated May 20, 1992 and addressed to the undersecretary for public security in the interior ministry. It stated that 156 persons had been detained and taken into custody by the Yugoslav army and the Territorial Defence force near Sarajevo. "It is noted the inadequate conditions of accommodation, food, hygiene and the
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state of health of the detainees. Mr Stanisic, the [interior ministry] had information about inhumane conditions in detention facilities in May 1992, didnt it?" Olmsted. "There was fighting going on, and these persons were taken prisoner and put up in Kula prison close to Sarajevo, and the ministry of justice was informed about that, and undersecretary for public security was informed about that, too," Stanisic said. The prosecutor then asked whether, at the beginning of August 1992, Stanisic had seen the now infamous footage shot by international journalists of emaciated prisoners being held at detention camps in Prijedor. "Mr Prosecutor, correct, but since we didnt have electricity most of the time, it was only on one occasion on the evening news there was a report, I think CNN or something," Stanisic said. Olmsted then put it to the witness that "despite all the information available to you regarding detention facilities" where non-Serbs were being held, the "first and only order" he issued to his subordinates on the issue was not until August 10, 1992. Stanisic said this assessment was "not correct". "I tried to exert pressure so that members of the [ministry] would not have anything to do with prisoners, in terms of persons brought into custody, [and that they were] only treated on the basis of the law on criminal procedure and law on the interior," Stanisic said. The prosecutor countered that Stanisics previous instructions with regard to detention facilities all pertained to gathering information, and were not orders about what to do with the facilities themselves. Stanisic replied that this was not correct, and that the detention centres were closed by September that year as a "result of this pressure". He added however, that none of these places were established through "a decision of mine" and it was "the army that was involved in all of that". The trial continues next week. Foca Camp Officer Saw No "Signs of Violence or Blood" Institute for War and Peace Reporting February14, 2014 A defence witness in the trial of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic this week denied any knowledge of "systematic violence" against prisoners at the Foca prison. Mitar Rasevic was in command of the prison guards at the facility in the eastern Bosnian town of Foca, used as a detention facility by Serb forces during the war. Rasevic was indicted by Hague prosecutors in 1997, and surrendered to the tribunal in 2003. That same year, his case was transferred to the Bosnian state court. In February 2008, he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for crimes against humanity committed against non-Serb detainees in the Foca prison between April 1992 and October 1994. He was released in 2010 after serving his sentence, with time already spent in detention taken into account.
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According to the judgement against him, Rasevic, who was "in charge of supervising at least 37 prison guards", participated in "establishing and maintaining a system of punishment and mistreatment of detainees". In addition, Rasevic "participated in the forcible transfer and deportation of detainees from the prison in so-called prisoner exchanges, after which these detainees were never seen alive again". Karadzic is accused of crimes of genocide, extermination, persecution, murder and forcible transfer of non-Serbs from the territories under the control of Bosnian Serbs. Foca features in his indictment as one of the municipalities in which Karadzic allegedly "committed in concert with others, planned, instigated, ordered and aided and abetted persecutions on political and religious grounds against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats". Testifying at Karadzics trial this week, Rasevic denied most of the findings from his own judgement. "You see, I never saw any signs of violence or blood anywhere in the prison, or on any of the prisoners. Nobody was ever killed there," he told the judges, adding that "there were, however, some people who committed suicide and some others who died of natural causes". Rasevic told the court that he did his job "very professionally, because there was not much that I could do, or was supposed to do". According to the witness, the Foca prison was controlled by the Bosnian Serb army. If there is anyone to blame for anything that happened in this prison, it is them," he said. "From time to time, the army would come to the prison and bring lists with names of people they needed to take away. I would just read those lists there was nothing else I could do," Rasevic explained. When prosecutor Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff confronted Rasovic with some of the findings from the verdict against him, he said he was "very sorry for what happened to the prisoners. "But you have to understand that it was only much, much later that I found out what really had happened," he told the court. Uertz-Retzlaff then presented the witness with a statement from his own trial in which he said he was present during the beating of one prisoner. "Yes, that's true, I was present there. The poor man was being beaten senseless by 12 guys from the military police and I intervened to save him," Rasovic replied. Despite this, he said he stood by his claim that he was not aware of any "systematic violence going on in the prison". The Karadzic trial continues next week. [back to contents]
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Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

Bosnian Croat Fighter Indicted for Murders, Torture Balkan Insight By Denis Dzidic February 7, 2014 Bosnian Croat Fighter Indicted for Murders, Torture Balkan Insight By Denis Dzidic February 7, 2014 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/indictment-against-nikolamaric-field Former Croatian Defence Council fighter Nikola Maric is accused of involvement in the detentions, persecution and killings of Bosniaks in the Prozor area. The Bosnian state prosecution filed an indictment on Thursday against Nikola Maric, also known as Kobra, accusing him of participating in murders, torture and other inhumane acts as part of a widespread and systematic attack on the Bosniak civilian population from November 1992 to October 1993. The indictment charges Maric with having ordered a Croatian Defence Council (HVO) member to kill a sick, elderly man and of having personally participated in the murder of six civilians. """Maric is charged with having participated in the detention of civilians from Skrobucani, Paros, Gracanica, Varvara, Duge, Lug, Visnjani and Druzinovici Bosniak villages,""" the prosecution said. """The indictment alleges that Maric participated in the torture and abuse of civilians who were detained in the Fire Brigade house and fallout shelter in Prozor,""" it said. The indictment also alleges that in the summer of 1993, Maric and a few other unidentified members of the HVO took six Bosniak civilians from the secondary school in Prozor. They have been missing since then and their bodies have never been found. Maric is also charged with having beaten eight Serbs, along with several other HVO soldiers. After hitting them, he ordered one of them to kneel down and eat grass, according to the indictment. The indictment has been filed to the state court for confirmation. Serbian Fighters Jailed for Kosovo War Murders Balkan Insight By Marija Ristic February 11,2014 Serbian Fighters Jailed for Kosovo War Murders Balkan Insight By Marija Ristic February 11,2014 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbian-fighters-jailed-forkosovo-war-murders Nine former Serbian fighters have been convicted of killing scores of ethnic Albanian
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civilians in attacks on villages during the Kosovo conflict and jailed for a total of 106 years. Belgrade special court on Tuesday found nine former members of the Yugoslav Armys 177th intervention squad guilty of killing over 100 Albanian civilians in April and May 1999 during attacks on four villages in Kosovo. """The men carried out attacks on the civilian population, expelled civilians from houses, separating men from women and killing them,""" said presiding judge Snezana Nikolic Garotic. """They took and destroyed their documents and forced them to leave the villages. The bodies of those killed were set on fire so their remains could never be found, while their houses were burned so those expelled could not come back,""" the judge added. Former Yugoslav Army commander Toplica Miladinovic was sentenced to 20 years in prison for ordering the units commander Nebojsa Minic to launch the attacks on the villages of Ljubenic, Pavlan, Zahac and Cuska, all in the area of the Kosovo town of Pec/Peja. Minic, whose nickname was Mtrvi (Dead), died of AIDS in Argentina in 2005. Two other fighters from the unit, Dejan Bulatovic and Milojko Nikolic, were also sentenced to 20 years in jail, while Ranko Momic was given 15 years. Abdulah Sokic was sentenced to 12 years, Srecko Popovic to 10 years and Sinisa Misic to five years. Of the other men on trial, Slavisa Kastratovic and Boban Bogicevic were given two years each, while Radoslav Brnovic and Veljko Koricanin were acquitted. The judge said that the fighters were not paramilitaries, as was suggested by the prosecution at the beginning of the trial, but regular members of the Yugoslav Army who all had military ID cards and received salaries from the army. The defendants had insisted that they were innocent, saying that they were patriots defending their country from terrorists. The verdict said that during the attack on the village of Pavlan, a 13-year-old Albanian girl was raped, but that it was not established beyond reasonable doubt which fighter was responsible. The judge also said that some of the families of the people who were killed were denied the right to bury their realtives. """They were begging the army to pick up the bodies, but the army refused them. A day afterwards, the bodies were removed and only a decade later were found in a mass grave in Batajanica [in Serbia],""" the judge said. Both defence and prosecution have the right to appeal within 30 days. Bloodthirsty Bosnian Guard Accused of Beating Prisoners Balkan Insight February 13, 2014 Bloodthirsty Bosnian Guard Accused of Beating Prisoners Balkan Insight February 13, 2014 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/witnessrecalls-brothers-abuse A prosecution witness said that Hajrudin Dedic, a detention centre guard accused of
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abusing Serb prisoners in the central Bosnian town of Breza, had badly beaten his brother. Witness Spiro Subotic, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, told the court in Zenica on Wednesday said that he was captured in 1992 and then held in an isolation cell in the Elektroterma building in Breza for 28 days. He said that some of his relatives and his neighbours and relatives from the village of Duzice in Gornja Breza were also brought to the building on June 10, and he found out later that they were beaten up while in detention. """My brother Milorad had nine broken ribs. His right arm began going numb. He told me that indictee Dedic, whom I had known from before, was bloodthirsty and that he used to beat him up until he was exhausted,""" the witness said. Dedic is accused of having participated in the beating of Serb civilians during the collection of illegal weapons in June 1992. Two people are alleged to have died as a result of the beating, while three others suffered severe injuries. Subotic told the court that other detainees who were being held at the Elektroterma building told him that two detainees were beat up death. He said that some of his other relatives also accused the defendant of assaulting prisoners. """My brother Milorad moved to Australia, because he did not want his children to experience the same things as he did,""" the witness said. When the defence said that he did not make these accusations in his previous statements, Subotic said that he was anxious because he could see the indictee at the hearing, but insisted that he had said the same thing previously. The trial is due to continue on March 11. Jail Urged Over Bosnia Mosque Killings Balkan Insight February 17, 2014 Jail Urged Over Bosnia Mosque Killings Balkan Insight February 17, 2014 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnian-prosecution-wantsprijedor-guilty-verdict The Bosnian prosecution demanded the convictions of three former Serb fighters accused of involvement in the killing and burning of Bosniak civilians at a village mosque near Prijedor in 1992. In her closing arguments on Monday, prosecutor Ozrenka Neskovic said that it had been proved beyond doubt that ex-fighters Dragomir Soldat, Velemir Djuric and Zoran Babic committed murders and caused physical and mental injuries in the village of Carakovo in 1992, and asked the Sarajevo court to find them guilty on all counts. """A widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population was conducted. Those were not sporadic, but massive and repeated actions. The indictees carried out persecutions and other inhumane acts,""" the prosecutor said. She said that Soldat ordered the killings in Carakovo on July 23, 1992, while Djuric and Babic carried them out, taking Bosniak men from their homes in Carakovo and then shooting them dead outside the village mosque.
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The indictment also alleges that some of the men who survived the shooting died soon afterwards when Djuric and Babic set the mosque on fire. According to the charges, Soldat was a military policeman with the 43rd Motorised Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, Djuric a member of the armys Intelligence Centre, and Babic a reservist policeman in Prijedor. Neskovic said that the attack on the Bosniak-inhabited village was part of a wider assault in the Prijedor area which culminated in the establishment of detention camps where thousands of non-Serb citizens were held. She said that witnesses from the village had identified the defendants. """[Villagers] Sead Susic and [a protected witness codenamed] S1 survived the shooting. They identified Soldat as the person who ordered the taking of men to the local mosque. Witness Susic saw the soldiers and recognised Velemir Djuric, whom he had known before the war. Djuric had a rifle,""" the prosecutor said. The witnesses said that the men were escorted to the mosque, where they were shot. """The mosque was on fire. Some bodies were on fire too, because burning beams were falling on them. Some bodies were buried next to the mosque and exhumed later on,""" the prosecutor said. She added that just before she entered the courtroom, she had learned that the final two bodies of men killed during the 1992 attack had been discovered at a mass grave in Tomasica near Prijedor which was only discovered last year and is still being exhumed by investigators. The defence is due to present its closing arguments on February 24. Try Top Officials for Kosovo Crimes, Serbia Urged Balkan Insight By Marija Ristic February 19, 2014 Try Top Officials for Kosovo Crimes, Serbia Urged Balkan Insight By Marija Ristic February 19, 2014 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-urged-to-prosecute-topofficials-for-kosovo-crimes After nine Serbian soldiers were convicted of war crimes in Kosovo, Human Rights Watch urged Belgrade to prosecute senior officials who controlled troops and police in wartime. The international rights group said that Serbia should bring senior figures to justice for atrocities during the Kosovo conflict, not just """small fish""" like the nine men jailed last week for war crimes committed during attacks on four villages in 1999. """They were foot soldiers in a well-coordinated campaign across Kosovo to kill and forcibly expel ethnic Albanians,""" Human Rights Watch special adviser Fred Abrahams said in an article on the campaign groups website on Tuesday. However he also welcomed the fact that Serbian troops were convicted by a Belgrade court. """It is deeply gratifying to see justice served, even after 15 years. It is also important that these convictions came from a Serbian institution. That will make them resonate more deeply in the region and strengthen the intended effect:
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to deter future crimes,""" he said. On February 11, nine former members of the Yugoslav Armys 177th Intervention Squad were found guilty of killing at least 100 Albanian civilians, looting their houses and property, and expelling at least 250 women, children and elderly people. Eight men of the men who were convicted were direct perpetrators, while the only commander sentenced was Toplica Miladinovic, who was found guilty of ordering the attack. Abrahams was one of the first researchers who documented the crimes in the Kosovo villages near the town of Pec/Peja in 1999 in a report entitled A Village Destroyed. On the basis of his report and the photos he gathered, the Serbian prosecutor identified some of the perpetrators, but Abrahams argued that many others played a more senior role in the Serbian campaign against Kosovo Albanians during the late 1999s war. """What of the police and army commanders who ran the show in Pec and other places? Prosecutors and courts in Serbia and elsewhere in the region should focus beyond those at the very bottom and top of the chain,""" he said. The presiding judge in the case against the nine men also pointed out when explaining the verdict that only direct perpetrators were convicted, although a number of witnesses claimed that hundreds of men, both soldiers and police, attacked the villages. Some senior officials have however been convicted of war crimes in Kosovo. Last month former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, former Yugoslav Army generals Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir Lazarevic and former Serbian police general Sreten Lukic were found guilty by the Hague Tribunal of the murder, deportation and inhumane treatment of Kosovo Albanians in 1999. The conviction of former Serbian assistant interior minister Vlastimir Djordjevic was also upheld by the international court. [back to contents]
MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

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Official Website of the Extraordinary Chambers Official Website of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT)
Arguments Open as Tribunal Considers Next Phase of Khmer Rouge Trial Voice of America By Kong Sothanarith February 11, 2014 Lawyers and prosecutors gave arguments before the Trial Chamber of the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on Tuesday, as the court begins to consider the scope and timing of a second phase of trial for two aging regime leaders. Prosecutors want the next phase to begin as soon as possible, though lawyers for the former head of state, Khieu Samphan, have said the court should wait until it delivers a verdict in the first phase of the trial. Lawyers for the regime's chief ideologue, Nuon Chea, agreed with prosecutors, however. "We believe that case 02/02 can and should begin as soon as possible," lawyer Victor Koppe said, referring to the second phase of Case 002. The tribunal is facing mounting pressure to wrap up the case, as international funding for the court, which began in 2006, dwindles. William Smith, the international prosecutor for the tribunal, told the Trial Chamber that donors "continue to pay more each month," while "victims have been waiting 30 years for justice." The next phase of the trial should start as possible, he said. A delay while the court goes through the verdict and appeals process for the first phase of Case 002 could take up to two years, he said. Pich Ang, a lawyer for civil parties, supported those arguments. Victims who have filed with the court do not want to wait long for the second phase of the trial, he said. Lawyers for Khieu Samphan, however, disagreed, saying a hasty trial could jeopardize the rights of the defendants. KR Tribunal Debates Second Phase of Case 002 The Cambodia Daily By Lauren Crothers February 12, 2014 Prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Tuesday urged the court to proceed with the second phase of Case 002 and for it to include all remaining charges against the two surviving regime leaders. The defense team for former head of state Khieu Samphan, however, said the second part of the trial should wait until a final judgement is delivered in the first which pertains mainly to the evacuation of Phnom Penh. But with both defendants in their eighties, the prosecution said staying the second phase of the trial until the verdict in the firstdue in the next few monthshas gone through the appeal process could prove risky.
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"We ask that you reject [Khieu Samphan's] application to stay the trial," said Deputy Co-Prosecutor William Smith. "It substantially delays the process against himself and Nuon Chea for no legitimate reason. Postponing the start of the second trial until after delivery of the appeal judgment in the first trialwill not make the second trial fairer or more expeditious. It will only substantially delay process making further accountability for crimes charged more likely." In terms of scope, International Co-Prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian added later that "all parties agree that this should be the last trial in the case," thereby justifying the necessity to "cover all of the important charges remaining." The Supreme Court Chamber has ordered that these include the charges related to genocide, the S-21 security center in Phnom Penh, a worksite, and a cooperative. The defense team for Khieu Samphan argued Tuesday that hearings would be no more expeditious if they proceed as the prosecutors suggest. "How do you intend to use the first trial as a foundation if it has not culminated in a final judgment?" he asked. "We will have to wait for that foundation to be solidly built before we start the next trialthat is pure logic." The defense for former chief ideologue Nuon Chea, disagreed with Khieu Samphan's defense. Nuon Chea's defense counsel Victor Koppe reiterated calls for the case to proceed as soon as possible and afford his client the ability to introduce exculpatory evidence to support his case. "Ultimately we do not support the request to wait for Case 002/02, because it's not what our client wants," he said. "Our client is very anxious to start and tell his story without artificial constraints on the scope of the evidence. It can and should begin as soon as possible." Bosnian Lawyer Appointed for KRT Suspect Ta Tith The Cambodia Daily By Julia Wallace February 19, 2014 As the judicial investigation in two politically sensitive cases draws to a close, the Khmer Rouge tribunal announced Tuesday that a Bosnian lawyer has been appointed to represent crimes against humanity suspect Ta Tith. Ta Tith, who stands accused of presiding over purges, arrests, killings and disappearances in his capacity as acting secretary of the Khmer Rouge's Northwest Zone, is already represented by Cambodian lawyer So Mosseny, but now Suzana Tomanovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been added to his legal team. Both Mr. Mosseny and Ms. Tomanovic previously worked for former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary's legal team as a case manager and a legal consultant, respectively. Ms. Tomanovic has also represented clients before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. All of the four surviving suspects in cases 003 and 004 are now represented by at
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least one lawyer, the majority of whom have served other roles at the Khmer Rouge tribunal before, and only Im Chaem lacks an international lawyer. However, the issue of legal representation for the suspects has been fraught with infighting and political tension. Co-Investigating Judge You Bunleng agrees with the government that the two cases should not be investigated, and has attempted to block the assignment of defense counsel for the suspects, even as the investigation against them proceeds on the international side of the court. Due to these political tensions, none of the suspects' lawyers has been granted access to the case file, making it impossible for them to monitor the progress of the judicial investigation against their clients. If the cases ever go to trial, these violations of the suspects' rights could prove problematic. Lawyers for two of the suspects, meanwhile, have been fighting protracted battles against the court's efforts to remove them. A confidential decision by Investigating Judge Mark Harmon last month removed lawyers Michael Karnavas and Ang Udom from representing Khmer Rouge navy chief Meas Muth, citing a conflict of interest with their late client Ieng Sary. Mr. Karnavas said Tuesday he was appealing the decision. And Richard Rogers has been filing motions for nearly two years in an effort to be officially recognized as Ta An's lawyer, after being removed from the case by the court's defense section administrator, who said that he was unqualified.
[back to contents]
Iraqi High Tribunal

Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog [back to contents]
Syria
Syria War Crimes: Regime Bombs Bakeries, Uses Starvation as Weapon NewStatesman By Annia Ciezadlo February 14, 2014 On June 16, 2012, a collection of videos from Syria were posted to YouTube. In them, a shaky cell phone camera pans across the inside of a
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bakery in Farhaniyeh, a village in the province of Homs. Plump white rolls of risen dough seem to glow in the dim interior. More dough sits in a mixer. Birds chirp outside. The camera moves out the door and into the sunlit street. Burned and mangled bodies lay on the ground. The villagers have covered some of them with pine boughs, but they cannot hide the missing arms, legs, and heads. "Look at the bakery, look at the bakery!" cries a man in the next video. The words tumble out high and sharp, in the hysterical falsetto of shock. "They were at the bakery getting bread for their families." For Syrians, the war on bread began a long time ago. Long before the siege of Yarmouk, before last week's abortive evacuation of Homs, before the war even began, the regime's neoliberal economic "reforms" left thousands of Syrians living on nothing but bread and tea. But if you want to pinpoint the moment when President Bashar al-Assad began to use food to kill people, the summer of 2012 is as good a place to start as any. Bakeries are the center of city and village life in the Arab Mediterranean; they symbolize cooperation, the social contract. Bread is synonymous with food, as in the Biblical daily bread, and even with life itself. Because of these dual rolesof symbol and sustenance, body and spiritbread is also an excellent tool for controlling a hungry and impoverished population. The airstrike on the Farhaniyeh bakery was only the bloodiest part of Assad's war on bread. For over two years now, the Syrian regime has been laying siege to a number of neighborhoods and towns, cutting off food and medical care from fighters and civilians alike. And now we have evidence, thanks to the Syrian military police photographer code-named Caesar, who defected with a cache of his photographs of corpses, that the regime has been using starvation as a gruesome and no doubt cost-effective method of torturing prisoners. Starving people to death seems barbaric, medieval, the kind of baroque theater you might see on "Game of Thrones." It's also a war crime: in 1977, the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions prohibited the starvation of civilian populations as a method of warfare. Yet when Assad's regime uses food as a weapon, no world leaders talk of "credibility." No government threatens to send cruise missiles (nor should they, but that's another story). The entire world has been studiously ignoring this war crime for over two years. Why? One possible answer is that Assad's brutal siege tactics have not killed as many peopleyetas his use of chemical weapons. But Assad used chemical weapons quietly at first too. And that argument fails to account for the snowballing nature of famines, or the long-term effects of siege warfare. If you include the bakery bombings, and the starved prisoners, the body count from Assad's food policy begins to look rather high. Another reason we've ignored this war crime could be that it's difficult to prove. Starvation thrives on the confusion and social disruption of war; famines and food shortages tend to have multiple factors. This makes it easy to portray them as unfortunate but inevitable, the outcome of tragic circumstance (potato blight in Ireland) rather than deliberate manipulation (British exports of Irish grain). The hunger in Syria is creating a new class of warlords among rebel commandersa perfect excuse for the regime to employ its usual passive-aggressive politics of
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shifting the blame, by promoting the fiction that "both sides" are using siege tactics (a claim that sources inside Syria call ridiculous). We think of war, especially in the Middle East, in terms of combat: soldiers, insurgents, Kalashnikovs, bombs. Despite a long tradition of famines created by war and politicsStalin's holodomor, Churchill's Bengal famine, Mao's Great Chinese famine, Hitler's siege of Leningrad, to name just a few of the 20th century's greatest hitshistorians tell the story of war through battles and back-room negotiations, while relegating food, hunger, and disease to the supposedly secondary realm of domestic life. The mass media frames food as something that brings the Middle East together during conflict, not something that tears it apart. Which is why, when leaders use food as a weapon, we often fail to recognize this hideous war crime until it's too late. But food has always been one of war's deadliest weapons, especially in the Middle East. For Syrians, the fear that their children will starve, and the world will do nothing, is very much alive: It already happened to them once, at the birth of the so-called "modern" age. "Did you ever see a starving person? I hope you never may," wrote an American college professor, almost a hundred years ago, in the country then known as Greater Syria. "No matter how emaciated a person may be from disease he never looks exactly like the person suffering from pangs of hunger. It is indefinable but when you have once seen it you can never mistake it, nor ever forget it." When the Great War began, the Entente PowersEngland, France, and Russia imposed a naval blockade on Greater Syria (then a huge territory that spanned present-day Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Israel) that cut off the entire Eastern Mediterranean coast from food shipments. Ottoman conscription, grain requisitions, and a plague of locusts made food even scarcer. By the winter of 1917, people all over Greater Syria were starving to death. Grain was more precious than gold. In Damascus, bakeries had to post armed guards. In Mount Lebanon, villagers accused two women of kidnapping children to butcher and eat. In New York City, a poet named Kahlil Gibran, who was not yet famous, founded the Syrian-Mount Lebanon Relief Committee with a handful of other migrs. But the funds they raised were useless: Britain and France were blocking all ships from entering the Eastern Mediterranean, even those carrying humanitarian aid. The rationale was a viciously efficient wager that starvation would turn the Syrian people against their Ottoman rulers. By the time the war ended, one in eight Syrians would be deadan equal toll, proportionally, to that of Ireland's Great Hunger. In some parts of Greater Syria, a third of the population died. (England and France, by comparison, lost less than five percent.) "They died while their hands stretched toward the East and West," Gibran wrote in "Dead Are My People," a furious requiem for the half million people who starved as the world sat on its hands. "They died silently, for humanity had closed its ears to their cry." During World War I, the starving Syrians were mostly invisible to the outside world. But we do not have that excuse today: Assad's war on bread has been documented, from the beginning, in videos that are as excruciating to watch as they are easy to find. They paint a graphic portrait of how Assad manipulated the fear of hunger in order to kill hundreds of civilians.
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The Farhaniyeh bakery attack followed the same logic as the Entente blockade: to erode support for the enemy by attacking civilians. It was part of a larger offensive by the Syrian military to push fighters out of rebel-held areas. But the bakerybombing strategy worked so well that the military made it standard operating procedure, even in places where no fighting was taking place. It exploits the basic principle of starvation warfare: People will do anything to feed their childreneven stand in line at a bakery, knowing they could be bombed. In August 2012, Human Rights Watch documented the scale and frequency of the bakery bombings over the course of one three-week period. Ten attacks in Aleppo province alone killed at least 95 people (107, if you count the shelling on a street next to one of the bakeries, and probably meant for it). "I remember a little boy, maybe five years old, killed, his head split open," said one of the eyewitnesses, "and there was still a piece of bread in his mouth." But bread does not bleed, or give soundbites, or hold rifles in photographs. A headline or two sank into the news graveyard of late August. And then the world moved on. The regime, however, did not. By December 2012, bread was so scarce that the price had risen to almost 20 times what it cost before the uprising. The World Food Program had cut its daily rations of food from 1,300 calories a day, per person, to 1,000. When the Free Syrian Army took over Halfaya, in western Syria, people had not had bread for a week. The bakery reopened the day after aid groups delivered suppliestwo days before Christmas, as it happens. When people began lining up for bread, government warplanes bombed it. The air strike killed scores of people, perhaps even close to a hundred. After the Halfaya massacre, McClatchy's Roy Gutman did an investigation into the regime's attacks on bakeries. Gutman, who won a Pulitzer prize for his expos of Serb-run death camps in Bosnia, found independent confirmation for at least 80 out of 100 bakery bombings that Syrian opposition groups had described. His careful, prophetic analysis concluded that at least 200 civilians had been killed, probably more, and suggested the regime was systematically using food to target civilians. But it fell into the same memory hole as the Human Rights Watch report. I called Gutman to ask if he had seen any response to his report. The International Committee of the Red Cross, he said, confronted the regime about the bakery bombings. But that was it. In 1992, the infamous breadline massacre of Sarajevo, in which a mortar attack by Serbian forces killed 22 people, galvanized worldwide public support for economic sanctions against Serbia. "I thought, in reporting a story where there's basically a hundred breadline massacres, that it might arouse a certain amount of concern, let's sayanger, and statements, maybe even a response," said Gutman. "And the silence was pretty deafening." In November 2012, the regime began to encircle Mouadhamiyet-al-Sham, a town in the vast ring of suburbs around Damascus, some of them semi-rural, collectively known as the Ghouta. The military had been trying to recapture Mouadhamiyah for months, and failing; the Free Syrian Army had control of the town, but most of the people there were civilians. The area's strategic locationclose to the Mazzeh military air base, the Republican Guard headquarters, and the regime's elite 4th Armoured Division, made it a perfect target for Assad's "kneel or starve" campaign.
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The military has been restricting food and medical access to the town, according to sources inside Syria, since January of 2012. But in November, the government sealed off the town completely. Those who tried to leave risked getting shot by snipers, or captured, killed, and dumped in the street with a note about the inadvisability of trying to escape. By this time last year, roughly three months after the siege became total, the town ran out of flour. "I started to realize what they were doing the minute we started to run out of bread," said Qusai Zakarya, the nom de guerre of an opposition activist from Mouadhamiyah who launched a hunger strike last November in order to bring attention to the regime's siege tactics. "Not just in the Arab world, all across the world, any meal in the dayespecially when it comes to breakfastthere should be some bread in it." Three months after that, the rice and bulgur wheat ran out. People lived on whatever they could forage, including "a weird, disgusting kind of soup" made from grape leaves boiled with salt and spicesstuffed grape leaves minus the stuffing. "All of us started to realize that what's going on is really dangerous, that sooner or later we will run out of everything, and pretty soon we will be starving," said Zakarya. "That's why we tried to tell the world what's going on." In early October, my Syrian friends began to post disturbing pictures and videos from Mouadhamiyah. In one of them, a doctor examines a dying little girl named Rana Obaid, just a year and a half old, showing the unmistakable signs of severe malnutrition. She died shortly after the video was taken. In late January, a team of forensics experts and war crimes prosecutors released a report on Caesar's cache of 55,000 photographs. His job, as a Syrian military police photographer, was to document the dead bodies of people who had been detained by the regime. He smuggled thousands of photographs out on a flash drive, and later defected. The team, which was hired by a law firm funded by the Qatari government, examined 26,948 of the photographs. They found that "a very significant percentage" of the bodies62 percent of the pictures they examined in depth showed emaciation severe enough to meet the medical definition of cachexia, the kind of wasted flesh and razor-sharp ribs we associate with pictures of World War II. According to the investigators, this emaciation was something that Caesar "regularly encountered" while photographing dead prisoners. The photos suggest very strongly that the regime is routinely using starvation as a method of torturing detainees. The photos are horrifying for many reasons, but most notable is their lack of ambiguity. There are no Jabhat al-Nusra fighters here. No rebels to shift blame onto. They were not taken by opposition activists, but by an employee of the regime itself. They are photographic evidence of the same cold calculation Gutman's analysis found in the bakery bombingsthe kind of planned, systematic brutality we would not hesitate to condemn if it involved chemicals instead of food. Ninety-six years ago, torpedoes were the feared engines of death. But for Syrian civilians on the wrong side of the Entente blockade, starvation was by far the deadlier weapon. "One method of destroying life is more spectacular and sensational than another," wrote the college professor, Edward Nickoley, during the dark winter of 1917. "It seems more horrifying to send several hundred persons to the bottom of the sea than to subject a community to starvation. It seems so, until
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you have seen actual starvation. Were I to take my choice between being speedily despatched by a torpedo and being starvedgive me the torpedo every time and give it quickly." Assad is using starvation the same way he used chemical weaponsnot just to kill, but also to spread fear, a psychological weapon that Assad is using to get people to surrender. The tactic is working: This week, as the peace talks in Geneva resumed, the regime began quietly using hunger to force civilians to exchange opposition activists like Zakarya for promisesoften unfulfilledof food deliveries. On February 2, nine days after I spoke with him over Skype, Zakarya gave himself up to the regime, which demanded that the people of Moadhamiyah surrender him and other activists as a condition for a truce that would allow food shipments. According to friends posting on Zakarya's Facebook page, the regime guaranteed their safety; but he is now, technically, in government custody. "Believe me, take it from a man who has seen all the weapons the Assad regime has," said Zakarya, when I spoke to him in late January. "Nothing can be compared with starving to death. Because starvation can eat your soul before it can destroy your body."
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Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Official Website of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)
STL Defense: Underground Bomb Theory Ignored The Daily Star By Kareem Shaheen February 7, 2014 Defense lawyers at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon suggested that police investigators did not adequately look into the possibility that an underground explosion killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The hints came during the cross-examination of a secret witness who managed a team of explosives experts at the Internal Security Forces. The team worked on the scene of the Hariri assassination and concluded that the bombing that killed the former prime minister was an aboveground explosion. The witness, whose identity was concealed to protect him, said the ISF explosives team determined that a Mitsubishi Canter van was at the center of the explosion after identifying a piece from its engine block found at the bottom of the crater left by the bombing that had been subjected to much higher heat during the explosion than other damaged cars in the vicinity.
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He said the team had initially considered the possibility that one of the Mercedes cars in Hariri's convoy was the source of the explosion. The ISF concluded that the bomb was above ground, whereas Lebanese Army investigators stuck to the theory that the bomb was below the ground, the witness said. Defense lawyers for Mustafa Badreddine, a member of Hezbollah accused of complicity in the attack, questioned the witness, asking whether the crime scene investigation was a "rushed job" and whether ISF investigators overlooked other possibilities, including that the bombing was underground. The witness said there had been no predetermined decision to pursue the Mitsubishi lead. Defense lawyers contend that the bombing was likely a underground explosion, which would cast much of the prosecution's theory in doubt. The tribunal Friday will question a British officer who took part in an operation to recover pieces of the Mitsubishi van from the seabed in the vicinity of the St. Georges Hotel. The STL is tasked with investigating the Feb 14, 2005, bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others. Trial began last month at the tribunal's headquarters in The Hague. Retired British Officer Testifies at STL on Mitsubishi Items Found in Seabed Naharnet February 8, 2014 A retired British police officer testified at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Friday on the operations that took place to recover pieces from the seabed in the vicinity of the area where ex-Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005. Witness Malcolm Wilson, who used to work in the anti-terror unit of British police, briefed the court on a report he had written on the search of identified open sea area, swimming pool, and marina surrounding the St. Georges Yacht Club. The search, he said, was carried out by two British divers and a group of Lebanese divers, most of them volunteers. Wilson said among the items recovered at the time was part of a vehicle that had a Mitsubishi logo. The witness searched among many items displayed in the courtroom the alleged part of the Mitsubishi found in the sea. But after a thorough inspection, he implied that the logo disappeared following corrosion and rust. A photograph taken at the time was shown to the court but no Mitsubishi sign was visible. The witness said among the recovered items was part of a vehicle hubcap found in the sea in later days. The prosecution claims it belongs to the Mitsubishi.
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Wilson told the court that divers even dived in the ladies swimming pool in the area because it was filled with seawater. He said all items found in the seabed were handed to the U.N. team investigating Hariri's murder before the establishment of the STL. The prosecution claims that Hariri's motorcade was targeted by a suicide bomber driving a white Mitsubishi van. But the defense of four Hizbullah suspects, who are being tried in absentia in the case, says that the possibility of an underground explosion is being ignored. After further examination of pieces taken from the seabed, it was determined that they indeed belong to a Mitsubishi vehicle. The STL session was adjourned to 11 a.m. Beirut time on Monday when two Prosecution witnesses are scheduled to give their testimonies. ISF Officer Tells STL He Received Orders to Rush to Crime Scene, Says 6 Cars Removed on Night after Blast Naharnet February 10, 2014 An Internal Security Forces officer, Tanios Gemayel, briefed the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Monday on several missions that he undertook the day ex-Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005. First Adjutant Gemayel, who works with judicial police in the scientific division and is a member of the Central Incident Bureau, appeared as a witness from Beirut via video link. Gemayel said he was ordered to head to the Hariri crime scene to oversee the lifting of cars and their transport to the Helou barracks. He told the court that he took video footage of four cars being taken and then in the second stage another two cars being lifted and transported on huge trucks to the barracks. The process, which started around 11:00 pm lasted until 2:00 am, he said. Gemayel did not confirm whether the cars belonged to Hariri's motorcade, saying an officer at the scene only informed him that those six vehicles would be moved. Gemayel said he was also asked to take DNA samples from whom he was told were the father and mother of Abou Adas. Gemayel said he took three samples from each of Abou Adas' parents, who were present at the Intelligence Branch of the ISF, and handed them to a person at the criminal investigation lab, which in turn referred them to another lab for testing. The prosecution claims that Abou Adas made the false claim of responsibility for the attack on Hariri through a tape broadcast on al-Jazeera. Calls were also made to Reuters over the false claim, the prosecution says. On a different day, the ISF officer was given another mission of taking samples of a foot, which he was told was found at the crime scene.
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He said he went to the Bourj squad, a police station in Beirut, where he took the samples to identify the person to whom the foot belonged. He told the court that he handed the samples to a doctor at the American University of Science and Technology. After a brief break, Gemayel told the Trial Chamber in the afternoon that he had received orders to hurry up to the Feb. 14 crime scene to start removing the destroyed vehicles, revealing that six cars belonging to Hariri's convoy were removed on the night after the explosion. Gemayel told the Trial Chamber that his forensic team used a Bobcat bulldozer belonging to the Civil Defense to search for and gather human remains and car parts. "We handed over the samples to the same doctor at the AUST university and I handed them in person to the doctor," he said. "I received orders from a high-ranking officer to get to the crime scene as soon as possible," Gemayel added, noting that his mission was "limited to registering the numbers of cars and overseeing their transfer." "We moved six vehicles on the night after the crime and we faced difficulties in moving them, that's why we used a bulldozer," he said. During his cross-examination by the Defense, Gemayel said: "After I was tasked with the mission, a brigadier general called me and he insisted that I hurry up in my mission without telling me why." Presiding Judge David Re asked the witness whether anyone else other than the aforementioned brigadier general had informed him of the reason behind the swift removal of the vehicles from the blast scene. The witness replied that no one else had discussed the issue with him. Four suspects - Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hassan Oneissi - are being tried in absentia for plotting what the prosecution says was a suicide truck bombing on Beirut's seafront. A fifth Hizbullah member, Hassan Habib Merhi, was indicted later than the other four suspects and is not currently on trial. There was also an emotional testimony by Khalil al-Arab, the son-in-law of Yahya Mustafa al-Arab, who was Hariri's head of private security. "When the bombing went off, we panicked and started asking what happened so I went to the AUBMC where my brother told me 'everyone's dead,'" the witness said via video link from Beirut. The prosecution said Yahya al-Arab was in the car behind the vehicle of Hariri when the convoy was targeted. "After Yahya's death, Hariri's family supported al-Arab family both morally and financially," the witness said. Yahya al-Arab's loyalty was to Hariri, he was devoted to his work because he loved his boss, he said, chocking back tears.
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The witness said he was not aware whether Yahya al-Arab would retire on Feb. 14, 2005, when he was asked a question on the issue. He affirmed that a year later he was present when the remains of his father-in-law were taken out of the grave to make DNA tests to confirm whether all body parts belonged to him. "His body was torn into pieces. We only buried body parts," he said. The witness told the court that not all family members were informed that al-Arab's body would be exhumed. A judge asked the witness whether al-Arab used to inform his family about specific threats against Hariri. Khalil said that Yahya used to say the situation is difficult so that his family does not get worried. "He did not give us details," he said. STL Trial Chamber Approves Joinder of Merhi, Ayyash et al. Cases Naharnet February 11, 2014 The Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Tuesday approved a request from the Prosecution to join the case against the accused Hassan Habib Merhi to the case against Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Assad Sabra and Hussein Oneissi, whose in absentia trial had started on January 16. The chamber issued its oral ruling during a public hearing in The Hague, saying a written decision on the matter will be issued "in due course." All of the five accused are indicted for their alleged role in the February 14, 2005 attack that killed former premier Rafik Hariri and 22 other people. The Trial Chamber heard Tuesday submissions from the Prosecution, Defense Counsel, as well as the Registrar and the Head of the Defense Office. Following deliberations by the judges at the close of the hearing, Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber David Re said: "In these circumstances, the interests of justice must favor joining the two cases. The Trial Chamber has therefore decided that the two cases should be joined and tried on the same indictment." A representative of the Defense told the Trial Chamber that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen can play a role in the issue of joining the two cases. The Defense said it is not opposed to joining the two cases in principle, but noted that the deadlines must be reconsidered under such a scenario to allow the Defense to submit new preliminary pleadings. Judge Re said the Defense lawyers did not oppose the joinder of the two cases but demanded to have a pre-trial phase before the pre-trial judge. The judge regretted the decision to join the two cases was taken at a late stage, blaming procedural measures.
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He noted that the Trial Chamber will hear observations from the parties to determine the way to move forward with the trial, noting that it is possible to appeal the chamber's decision after it is issued as a written document. Re said the important issue is the time needed by Merhi's lawyer Mohamed Aouini to file pleadings. The hearing was subsequently adjourned until Wednesday at 11:00 AM (Beirut time). At tomorrow's hearing the Trial Chamber will discuss "the practicalities in pursuing a joint trial, including the length of adjournment necessary to allow Mr. Merhi's counsel adequate time to prepare," the STL said in a statement. The Prosecutor submitted an indictment to the Pre-Trial Judge against Ayyash, Badreddine, Oneissi and Sabra January 17, 2011. The indictment, confirmed on June 28, 2011, was transmitted along with the arrest warrants to the Lebanese authorities on June 30, 2011. On February 1, 2012, the Trial Chamber issued a decision to try the four accused in absentia, in accordance with Article 22 of the Statute of the Tribunal. The Pre-Trial Judge confirmed a sealed indictment submitted by the Prosecutor against Merhi on July 31, 2013. This was made public in October last year. On December 20, 2013, the Trial Chamber issued a decision to try Merhi in absentia, which is permissible under Lebanese law. And on December 30, 2013, the Prosecution filed an application to the Trial Chamber, requesting to join the two cases. Merhi is charged with a number of crimes including "the crime of conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act." He is alleged to have acted in a conspiracy with Hizbullah members Badreddine, Ayyash, Oneissi and Sabra in relation to the attack on February 14, 2005. Merhi is alleged to have coordinated the preparation of the purported claim of responsibility as part of the preparations for and in furtherance of the attack. The STL has described Merhi as "a supporter of Hizbullah" who was born on December 12, 1965 in Beirut. It said he has resided in Burj al-Barajneh. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the STL, describing it as an American-Israeli conspiracy against his party. He has vowed never to cooperate with the tribunal, saying that the suspects will never be found. STL Suspends Sessions Awaiting the Readiness of Merhi's Defense for Trials Naharnet February 12, 2014 The Special Tribunal for Lebanon suspended on Wednesday its sessions after the case of fifth suspect Hassan Merhi was joined to that of the four already convicted fugitives. "We will announce the date of the upcoming session once Merhi's defense team has prepared all the necessary documents and is ready to take part in the trials," STL
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Presiding Judge David Re announced. "We also have to discuss several matters with (Pre-Trial Judge) Daniel Fransen," Re added. The Trial Chamber of the STL had approved on Tuesday a request from the Prosecution to join the case against the accused Merhi to the case against Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Assad Sabra and Hussein Oneissi, whose in absentia trial had started on January 16. All of the five accused are indicted for their alleged role in the February 14, 2005 attack that killed former premier Rafik Hariri and 22 other people. During Wednesday's session, the defense team objected several logistical procedures adopted by the Trial Chamber, refusing the fragmentation of trials. "We oppose the fragmentation of trials and conduct ethics oblige us to acquaint ourselves with all the aspects of the case," Merhi' defense lawyer Mohamed Aouini said. "We must be able to cross-examine the witnesses and we can't just attend for the sake of attendance," he stressed. Aouini then requested to have "a certain reasonable period to look into all the files of the case." Meanwhile, STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell said that Merhi's defense team may need six to seven months to prepare their files on the case Merhi's defense, however, said that they cannot determine the time they need to prepare their case. Judge Re granted suspect Merhi's defense until February 21 to present a written request to amend the trial procedures. Head of the STL Defense Office Francois Roux pointed out during the session that his office's budget is ten percent less than that of the Prosecution. "Merhi's defense team obtains less than 2.5 percent of the means that the Prosecution gets," Roux noted. "We must be aware of these gaps and we should not be undermined." He also added that a number of technical and procedural measures need to be resolved, remarking that Merhi's defense team has not yet received the secret files linked to the four suspects. Judge Re then said that meetings between the Prosecution counsel and Merhi's defense team will be held every one or two weeks in order to prepare for the trial. "Hearings in this issue will be suspended, but pre-trial sessions will be held over this matter," he revealed. The judge hoped that all concerned would help Merhi's defense team overcome the massive challenges they are facing.
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"The STL's main concern lies in respecting Merhi's right to a fair trial," Re assured. "We want to dismiss any doubts that Roux has and we do not want to disrespect you," he expressed. Hale Visits Hariri's Grave as U.S. Reaffirms Support for STL Naharnet February 14, 2014 U.S. Ambassador David Hale recently visited ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's grave in downtown Beirut on his 9th assassination anniversary as the mission reaffirmed its support for the efforts exerted by the international tribunal. Hale toured the Mohammed al-Amin mosque and the memorial "to reflect on this period in Lebanon's hist" and to pay respect to deceased victims, the embassy said on twitter on Friday. It reaffirmed its support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's "efforts to hold accountable those responsible for destabilizing acts of violence in Lebanon." "As we follow the proceedings of the STL, we condemn the use of violence as a political tool," the embassy tweeted. The in absentia trial in Hariri's Feb. 14, 2005 assassination started mid-January. In 2011, the STL indicted four Hizbullah members, Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra. A fifth Hizbullah suspect, Hassan Merhi, was indicted in 2013. The STL Trial Chamber decided on Monday to join the case against Merhi with the case against the four other suspects. March 14 to Submit to U.N. Petition Asking STL to Probe All Assassinations of March 14 Figures Naharnet February 14, 2014 March 14's MPs announced Friday that they have decided to submit to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon a petition demanding the expansion of the jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to cover all the assassinations that targeted March 14 figures after Dec. 12, 2005 the day MP Gebran Tueni was murdered. The announcement was made during a mass rally commemorating the ninth anniversary of former premier Rafik Hariri's assassination at the BIEL exhibition center in Beirut. The event kicked off with a video featuring statements by a number of March 8 figures against the U.N.-backed STL, which was followed by a recorded speech marking the occasion by Nazek Hariri, ex-PM Rafik Hariri's widow. A video about the assassination operations that started with the 2004 attempt on MP Marwan Hamadeh's life as well as the popular demos and developments that followed Hariri's 2005 assassination was also played at the rally.
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The gathering also involved a video about the slain premier's life and another featuring STL co-prosecutor Alexander Milne's interventions at the in absentia trials that started on January 16, and testimonies from relatives of Feb. 14 victims. In a speech at the rally, former justice minister Charles Rizk said "the judicial establishment that was created because of his martyrdom (STL) was the first response against those who tried to assassinate him again after his death." "Rafik Hariri reminds us that we have no other choice but the state," Rizk said. "Violence has never reached this extent in the Middle East and it is crossing our border while there is no state to deter it," he lamented. The STL is probing the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of Hariri and 22 other people in a massive bombing in Beirut's Ain el-Mreisseh area. The STL's mandate covers Hariri's murder and other attacks that occurred in Lebanon between October 1, 2004 and December 12, 2005. On December 13, 2005, the Lebanese government asked the United Nations to establish a tribunal of an international character to try all those who are alleged responsible for the attack of February 14, 2005. Pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1664 (2006), the United Nations and the Lebanese Republic negotiated an agreement on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Further to Security Council Resolution 1757 (2007), the Statute of the Special Tribunal entered into force on June 10, 2007. The tribunal has also established jurisdiction over three attacks relating to MP Marwan Hamadeh, former Lebanese Communist Party chief George Hawi and former defense minister Elias Murr, deeming them of similar nature to Hariri's assassination. The tribunal's jurisdiction can be extended beyond the period between February 14, 2005 and December 12, 2005 if the tribunal finds that the attacks in question are connected in accordance with the principles of criminal justice and are of a nature and gravity similar to the Feb. 14 attack. This connection includes but is not limited to a combination of the following elements: criminal intent (motive), the purpose behind the attacks, the nature of the victims targeted, the pattern of the attacks (modus operandi), and the perpetrators. Crimes that occurred after December 12, 2005 can be eligible to be included in the tribunal's jurisdiction under the same criteria if it is so decided by the Lebanese government and the United Nations and with the consent of the Security Council. On Tuesday, the STL Trial Chamber approved a request from the Prosecution to join the case against the accused Hassan Habib Merhi to the case against Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Assad Sabra and Hussein Oneissi, whose in absentia trial had started on January 16. The court said the five accused are members of Hizbullah.
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Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the STL, describing it as an American-Israeli conspiracy against his party. He has vowed never to cooperate with the tribunal, saying that the suspects will never be found.
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Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Accused Jamaat Leader Dies in Bangladesh The Hindu By Haroon Habib February 9, 2014 Maulana AKM Yusuf, one of the key local collaborators of the Pakistan army during Bangladesh liberation war in 1971, died here on Sunday. He was facing 13 war crimes charges including genocide and rape. He was immediately shifted to hospital after he had fallen sick at Kashimpur Jail but doctors declared him dead. His lawyer said the Jamaat leader was suffering from old age-related complications. Known as the founder of infamous 'Razakar Bahini', Yusuf fainted at the jail in the morning. Defence counsel Tajul Islam claimed that the jail authorities brought Yusuf to a hospital in Dhaka but he was not given proper treatment. Denying the allegation, Director of the Sheikh Mujib Medical University Brig. Gen. (retd) Abdul Majid Bhuiyan told reporters that Yusuf was whisked off to the hospital in critical condition around 11:00 a.m. and doctors tried their best to save him. ICT-1 to Get New Chairman Within Next Week The Daily Star February 10, 2014 Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said the government will appoint a chairman for the International Crimes Tribunal-1 within the next week, so that it [the tribunal] can resume trial proceedings of cases. The minister was talking to reporters in his Bangladesh Secretariat office yesterday afternoon. The post of ICT-1 chairman fell vacant after its former chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir retired on December 31 last year. Anisul Huq yesterday said the post for the ICT chairman will be filled within a day or two after he returns from London on February 16. The law minister left for the United Kingdom last night for a meeting on prevention of money laundering across the world. The tribunal-1 headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir completed the trial of war crimes accused Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami on November 20 last year
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and kept the case waiting for verdict. A few other crime cases are pending with the tribunal. SQ Chowdhury Appeal: SC Seeks Concise Copy of Verdict by February 26 The Financial Express February 12, 2014 The Appellate Division has asked both prosecution and defence to place the concise copy of verdict against war crimes convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury by February 26. A five-member bench, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice M Muzammal Hoassain passed the order on Wednesday upon a plea filed by the counsel for Salauddin Quader Chowdhury seeking four week's time to submit the verdict copy. Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's advocate on record, Joynal Abedin Tuhun, said the court granted two weeks time to submit the verdict copy. On October 1 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced former minister and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury to death for crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's independence struggle in 1971. On October 29, the BNP leader filed an appeal with the Appellate Division against the ICT-1 verdict, according to UNB. Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal Summons British Journalist Business Standard February 20, 2014 A special Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal today summoned a Dhaka-based British journalist to explain his blog posts that questioned its judgement of giving death penalty to a Jamaat leader for crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war. David Bergman, who works for English-language daily 'New Age', has been asked to appear before the tribunal on March 6. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT) Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan issued the order two days after a High Court lawyer filed a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Bergman. The petitioner alleged Bergman criticised the tribunal's January 28, 2013 verdict sentencing to death fugitive Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar. Bergman, he said, gave postings headlined "Azad judgement analysis 1: 'inabsentia' trials and defence inadequacy" and "Azad judgement analysis 2: Tribunal assumptions". The British journalist who himself earlier took newspaper headlines for his critical comments on war crimes trial, however, told a news agency that "whilst my blog does contain critical comments of some of the tribunal's orders, the comments are measured, and fair - even though others may disagree with them". "A fair criticism of judicial proceedings or courts is no doubt permissible so as to enable the court to look inward into the correctness of the proceedings and the legality of the order," he said citing an Appellate Division decision in his defence.
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Bergman is the husband of prominent lawyer and rights activist Sara Hossain and son-in-law of leading lawyer Kamal Hossain, a close associate of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a key author of Bangladesh's constitution.
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War Crimes Investigation in Burma

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NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
United States
Obama Soliciting New Policy Options for Syria from Top Aides as Peace Talks Flounder The Washington Post By Ernesto Londoo and Anne Gearan February 14, 2014 With U.S.-backed peace talks floundering, President Obama is soliciting new policy options for Syria from top aides, American officials said Friday, as the administration also tries to assure delivery of desperately needed humanitarian supplies. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria and the diplomatic impasse in Geneva have given a new sense of urgency to routine policy deliberations over steps U.S. officials can take to defuse the countrys civil war. "Indeed, [the president] asked all of us to think about various options that may or may not exist," Kerry said during a press conference in Beijing. Obamas advisers have not yet presented specific new options for consideration, Kerry added. "But that evaluation by necessity, given the circumstances, is taking place at this time," Kerry said. "And when these options are right and when the president calls for it, there will undoubtedly be some discussion about them."
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At the Pentagon, press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the Defense Department, which has drawn up a range of military options, is being asked to contribute new ideas. "In general, theres an interest in coming up with other options in Syria moving forward," Kirby said. He declined to elaborate on what new ideas are being debated, but noted that military options remain available to the president. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Kerry was not signaling a broad new review of U.S. policy and added that diplomacy remains the focus of American efforts. "Clearly, diplomacy hasnt gotten us where we need to be yet," but remains the right approach, Harf said. Syrian government and opposition delegates said a second round of peace talks this week in Geneva has stalled. An opposition spokesman said five days of negotiations produced a "dead end," the Associated Press reported, as Syrias deputy foreign minister said the opposition had come to the table with an "unrealistic agenda." The United States is trying to advance a draft U.N. Security Council resolution urging the Syrian government to allow food and medicine to flow unimpeded to those in need. The resolution, however, would impose no penalties on the Syrian government if it fails to comply. U.S. officials accuse Russia of blocking serious discussion of consequences for the government of President Bashar al-Assad and of attempting to postpone final consideration of the measure. Some officials believe that Russia wants to avoid the possibility of any international criticism during the Winter Olympics in Sochi. "The Syrian people deserve to have the international community stand up and fight for them, since they are not in a position, most of them, to be able to fight for themselves," Kerry said Friday. "It is important for the Security Council to speak to this. And I underscored today that no country should stand in the way of increased humanitarian access for the Syrian people, and we are going to continue to press for that." Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called Syria, nearly three years into a civil war, "the worst humanitarian crisis we have seen in a generation." Power said the Assad government has increasingly resorted to killing and to using forced starvation as a tool of war. "Given these developments, the Security Council must consider additional ways to improve the humanitarian situation," she said, but she acknowledged that the bodys power is limited. "Better no resolution than a bad resolution," Power said. "We are not interested in a resolution for resolutions sake. As we intensify our discussions, we have to find text that we think maximizes the likelihood of meaningful consequences on the ground." U.S. officials have grown frustrated about the sole Syria policy effort that appeared likely to bear fruit: the agreement to start destroying Syrias stockpiles of chemical weapons aboard a U.S. cargo ship. The MV Cape Ray arrived in Spain on Thursday to start the process, but officials said Friday that Damascus has moved slowly in turning over the lethal munitions. Syria has blamed the delay on the deteriorating
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security situation. "There are a lot of people here waiting for Syria to do the right thing," said Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman.! Iran Takes Tough Opening Stand at Nuclear Talks, Vows Not to Dismantle Equipment The Washington Post By Anne Gearan February 18, 2014 As the latest talks on Irans nuclear program began Tuesday, the countrys negotiators took a tough opening position, pledging never to dismantle equipment or facilities that the United States and other world powers say raise suspicion that the Islamic republic could produce atomic weapons. "Dismantling [the] nuclear program is not on the agenda," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said as the high-stakes talks began in Vienna. Iran and six world powers, including the United States, are seeking to reach a permanent agreement that would place limits on the nuclear program and lift a decades worth of international economic sanctions that have hobbled the Iranian economy. The deal would replace last falls agreement, which capped the program temporarily and rolled back some of its most worrisome elements. The final deal is supposed to be completed in six months, although that deadline could be extended. All sides have said it will be extremely difficult to produce. Already, however, the talks represent the most sustained contact for the U.S. and Iranian governments in more than 30 years, and they offer a glimpse of a possible rapprochement. "We have decades of mistrust between our countries, and you dont overcome that even with a very good first step of a nuclear agreement," a senior U.S. official said Monday, on the eve of the talks. "Do we understand each other perhaps a little bit better? Yes. Do we have ways to communicate with each other weve never had before? Yes. But we still have a very long way to go." Negotiators for the United States and Iran met privately Tuesday, and they also attended a large group meeting to formally open the bargaining period. Talks are expected to continue on and off through the spring. Participants include the five nuclear powers that hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany. Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator in the talks, said the process will be "intensive and difficult." The international consortium wants an agreement that effectively prevents Iran from quickly converting its nuclear program to weapons production or from hiding a parallel program. In practice, that is likely to mean a demand that advanced centrifuges for enriching uranium be destroyed or mothballed, and that Iran make changes to a nuclear facility under construction so it cannot produce plutonium. Iran signaled that it would oppose any such curbs.
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"We will seek to reach a comprehensive plan of action," Araghchi said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday evening. "This is difficult but not impossible." The temporary deal allows continued enrichment of uranium on Iranian soil but at a level suitable for nuclear energy production, not for weapons. It is expected that a final deal would maintain a similar arrangement. The placeholder deal provided Iran with as much as $7 billion in sanctions relief and opened the door for international business deals. Although economically divorced from the United States since its 1979 revolution, Iran maintained robust trade with European, Asian and other nations before sanctions were imposed in response to its uranium-enrichment program. Much of that trade has dried up, leading to economic hardship for the Iranian middle class and domestic political pressure to cut a deal. Iran says its program is entirely peaceful and has no military application. Domestic uranium enrichment has become a matter of national pride, placing Iran in a select international club that the nation says it deserves to join. Critics of the negotiations in Israel and the United States maintain that Iran cannot be trusted with any level of enrichment. Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, set a cautionary tone ahead of the discussions, saying Monday that he had low expectations. "I am not optimistic about the negotiations. It will not lead anywhere, but I am not opposed either," he told a crowd in the city of Tabriz, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Obama Warns of Consequences in Ukraine as U.S. Issues Visa Bans The Washington Post By Anne Gearan February 19, 2014 President Obama warned of "consequences" Wednesday if Ukraine failed to restore calm after a day of violence in the capital, while the State Department announced that it would bar 20 senior members of the countrys government from traveling to the United States. "We hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protestors in an appropriate way," Obama said. "Were going to be watching closely, and we expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protestors." Fiery street clashes that played out on live television Tuesday left at least 25 dead in and around Kievs central Independence Square. The violence represented a failure of international hopes that President Viktor Yanukovych could settle differences with his political opponents peacefully and the former Soviet state could begin to address its underlying financial crisis. The State Department said the 20 officials blocked from receiving U.S. visas were deemed to be complicit in Tuesdays violence. It did not identify the officials but said they were all civilians. The administration appeared to struggle Wednesday to condemn violence in Kievs Independence Square while extending a hand to Yanukovych, a leader who has
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teetered between Western and Russian allegiances. In brief remarks shortly after arriving in Toluca, Mexico, for an economic summit, Obama said a majority of Ukrainians see their future in Europe, a quiet reference to the tug of war between Western nations and Russia for influence in the nation of 19 million. He also said the United States expects protesters to remain peaceful. "There will be consequences if people step over the line," Obama said. He did not spell out just what that line is, but said the United States is considering its next step in concert with European nations. He added a particular warning that the Ukrainian military should not "step into what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians." Secretary of State John F. Kerry appealed to Yanukovych to be a statesman. "President Yanukovych has the opportunity to make a choice. The choice is between protecting the people that he serves, all of the people, and a choice for a compromise and dialogue versus violence and mayhem," Kerry said during a diplomatic visit to Paris. "We believe the choice is clear, and we are talking about the possibility of sanctions or other steps with our friends in Europe and elsewhere in order to try to create the environment for compromise." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius added that he and diplomats from Germany and Poland would travel to Ukraine ahead of an unusual European Union meeting of its 28 member countries on Thursday devoted to Ukraine. E.U. sanctions could ban targeted Ukrainian officials from traveling in Europe and freezing their assets there. France, Poland, Germany and others appeared to back sanctions in increase pressure on the government in Kiev. European Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso blamed Ukraines "political leadership," and said sanctions are likely. "We therefore expect that targeted measures against those responsible for violence and use of excessive force can be agreed by our member states as a matter of urgency," Barroso said. U.S. lawmakers of both parties called for additional sanctions on those found culpable. Those could include more individual travel restrictions or financial penalties imposed by the United States or along with the European Union. The Obama administration is not contemplating broad national sanctions against Ukraine, officials said. "Weve made clear that we would consider taking action against individuals who are responsible for acts of violence within Ukraine, and we have a tool kit for doing that that includes sanctions," White House deputy chief of staff Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.),chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blamed Yanukovych for what he called "state-sponsored violence." "The actions of President Yanukovych and his government are deplorable and the time is now to apply sanctions against the Ukrainian government for gross human rights violations," Menendez said. "I expect the administration with congressional support to act swiftly."
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Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said they are working together on legislation to impose "targeted sanctions" against those who carried out or supported violence, "or who are complicit in the rollback of Ukraines democracy." The United States has little direct leverage over the Yanukovych government or the protesters, but any sanctions applied by the European Union could have greater bite. Many Ukrainian officials have business or other financial ties in Europe, and travel there more often than to the United States. "We have also made clear that Ukraine has a future that is a part of the Atlantic community," Rhodes said, but "it is not a zero-sum game with Russia." ! Alleged USS Cole Bomber Apologizes for Delay, Calls Guantnamo War Court Strange Miami Herald By Carol Rosenberg February 19, 2014 The accused architect of al-Qaidas USS Cole bombing kept his Pentagonpaid defense team on Wednesday, allowing his lawyers to begin arguing for dismissal of the prosecution that seeks his execution. Saudi prisoner Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, 49, apologized for the two-day delay. He said he had doubts his lawyers could help him in the case that calls him the mastermind of the October 2000 suicide bombing off Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors. "I believe we are here in a unique and very strange court," Nashiri told the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, through an interpreter. He was soft spoken, unshackled and wore the white prison camp uniform of a well-behaved captive. He complained that he had no Arabic-speaking attorney, two members of his lawyers were absent and that his lawyers go to secret pretrial hearings and are forbidden to tell him "what happened during those closed, classified sessions." The judge noted that that those were structural aspects of the war court his defense team had challenged and lost through legal motions. Many of the nearly 40 motions on the hearing agenda seek to dismiss some or all of the charges against Nashiri, who got to Guantnamo in September 2006 after years in secret CIA lockups where agents waterboarded and interrogated him with other now banned techniques. Army Maj. Thomas Hurley, on the defense team, argued that President George Bushs remarks years ago that called Nashiri the Cole bomber prejudiced the case. He asked Pohl to dismiss the charges or make life in prison the maximum possible punishment at trial. Navy Lt. Bryan Davis, a prosecutor, said Bush wasnt trying to contaminate any future trial but was speaking to the nation during "an ongoing war against terror." By the time Nashiri was charged, Oct. 26, 2011, he said, Pentagon statements used the word "alleged." Davis invoked the precedent of Lt. William Calleys 1970s court-martial for the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War and said any pretrial publicity could be addressed at selection of Nashiris tribunal of U.S. military officers.
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Sunday, the chief prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, defended court closings as a balancing act of safeguarding national security "while ensuring that each accused has a meaningful opportunity to challenge the governments case and that the administration of justice functions in the open." In June, the judge closed the court to hear attorneys argue about a government motion so secret it has no name on the Pentagons public war court docket. A subsequent, partially released transcript showed the closed hearing included a prosecution admission that the CIA found previously undisclosed photos of Nashiri. Defense lawyers want the photos. Martins rejected characterizations of the opened-closed nature of the proceedings as "a lazy military commissions pick and choose transparency narrative." Less than 2 percent of Nashiris hearings were closed, he said, and "done consistent with our values and in accordance with the rule of law." Nashiri could next return to court Friday. The judge closed Thursdays session to hash out with the lawyers what portions of these hearings could be heard by the accused and public.
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South & Central America Chile

Judge Seeks Extradition of French Guerilla for Role in Iconic Murder The Santiago Times By Charlotte Karrlsson-Willis February 12, 2014 A Chilean judge has called for the extradition of former leftist guerrilla Marie Emmanuelle Verhoeven, aka "Comandante Ana", over her suspected role in planning the 1991 assassination of Sen. Jaime Guzmn, a prominent figure in Gen. Augusto Pinochets regime. On Jan. 27 Verhoeven was detained in Germany and now Chile hopes to bring her to trial on the decades-old charges. Judge Mario Carroza, who presides over Santiagos Court of Appeals, has authored the extradition request and submitted it Tuesday to Chiles Supreme Court for approval. It is believed Verhoeven was at one point a leader within the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), an armed leftist guerrilla group that sought to overthrow Gen. Augusto Pinochets military dictatorship. The FPMR first gained notoriety in 1986 when guerillas attempted to assassinate Pinochet, narrowly failing to kill the
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general but leaving five of his bodyguards dead in the process. Chilean authorities have implicated Verhoeven in the planning of Sen. Jaime Guzmns assassination in 1991 shortly after Chiles return to democracy. A prominent member of Pinochets inner circle, Guzmn was the founder of the right-wing Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party and co-author of the controversial 1980 constitution. Guzmn was shot on April 1, 1991 as he left Universidad Catlica where he was a professor of constitutional law. Authorities also expect Verhoeven to have knowledge regarding one of the most sensational events of national security of Chiles modern era: a daring helicopter prison escape that plucked four convicted FPMR figures including Mauricio Hernndez, the only person convicted for Guzmns murder from a high security Santiago prison in 1996. Furthermore, Chilean officials believe that Verhoeven was involved in, or has knowledge regarding, the 1991 kidnapping of Cristin Edwards son of Augustn Edwards, owner of the national newspaper El Mercurio which allegedly played a role in the coup that brought Pinochet to power. Authorities later rescued Cristin Edwards from an FPMR safe house where he was held in captivity for 6 months. Chile officially requested assistance from Interpol in 1996 to try to locate Verhoeven. The police organization contacted Judge Carroza after her arrest at an airport in Hamburg to confirm her identity. "Interpol has confirmed to me that the French citizen that we have been pursuing intensely, not only to resolve the Jaime Guzmn case, but also in connection with the escape of the [FPMR members] and the Cristin Edwards case," Judge Carroza said after Verhoevens arrest in January. "She could have valuable information and has been the subject of numerous international [extradition] requests, made to France, after it was determined she was residing in the city of Nantes. We have given a verbal order to Interpol with the final goal of capturing her and disseminating a Red Notice [equivalent to an international arrest warrant]. Now, we are concentrating on finalizing the official materials necessary for this detention with a goal of extradition." While Germanys constitution bars the extradition of its citizens, the decision to deport Verhoeven will fall to France with whom Chile has an extradition agreement. Chile has also been trying to secure extradition for other FPMR members allegedly involved in the Guzmn assassination. Suspects are believed to reside in Cuba and Argentina and the government has been working both nations to try and bring them to trial in Chile. Five years after the dramatic prison escape, Mauricio Hernndez was arrested in Brazil where he is currently serving time for the kidnapping of prominent Brazilian businessman Washington Olivetto in 2001. !
Colombia
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Colombia Congress Wants to Assure US FARC Will Not Receive Immunity Colombia Reports By Connor Paige February 10, 2014 Colombian congressmen want to forward approved peace legislation to the United States to assure Washington that FARC members guilty of crimes against humanity will not be granted immunity in the event of a peace deal with the government. Senate President Juan Fernando Cristo is reportedly being encouraged by members of Congress to relay the peace framework to Colombias Ambassador to the United States, Luis Carlos Villegas, so that he can promote the importance of the peace talks with FARC, Colombias oldest rebel group, through diplomatic channels in the United States. The Colombian ambassador has already assured the US government that a peace agreement would not include immunity or amnesty to war crimes, but giving the United States access to the actual legal framework for peace would bolster those assertions, claim proponents of the measure. Those pushing the proposal fear a reduction in US funding, which, according to data on US foreign aid, has amounted to at least $380 million each of the last five years. Villegas himself has reportedly sought to dismiss any pretext for lowering US aid by seconding statements made by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos assuring that impunity will not be granted to conflict actors who have committed crimes against humanity. Nevertheless, the International Criminal Court has expressed concern that the peace process might fall short of international standards in prosecuting human rights abuses and has reserved the right to intervene. The Colombian government was bombarded with international criticism for insufficiently prosecuting human rights abuses following the disbanding of the AUC paramilitary in 2006. ! Colombia Military Hit by Second Scandal in a Month Associated Press By Libardo Cardona February 17, 2014 Colombia's military grappled Monday with its second big scandal in less than a month after an investigation into extrajudicial killings exposed highlevel corruption and raised questions over its top commander's commitment to human rights. The deputy joint chief, Gen. Javier Rey, resigned Monday after the country's leading newsmagazine, Semana, reported on what it called widespread kickbacks in multimillion-dollar military contracts. But perhaps most damaging was its publication online of an audio recording in which Gen. Leonardo Barrero, the armed forces chief, is heard verbally maligning prosecutors' investigations into the extrajudicial killings that have brought Colombia international reproach. Soldiers were implicated in hundreds of such killings through 2008 - dubbed "false
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positives," in which innocents were slain and presented as guerrillas who fell in combat. The No. 2 official in Colombia's prosecutor's office, Jorge Perdomo, told reporters Monday that Semana's story was based on recordings made as part of a false positives case that grew into the wider corruption investigation. He said, without entering into details, that his office would decide "when it is appropriate to call in for questioning or interrogation the persons" mentioned in the recordings. Semana said multiple officers in different units had inflated costs and pocketed as much as 50 percent of contracts' values. Semana offered just a few examples from the hundreds of hours of audio recordings made in 2012-13 that it said it obtained. A few items highlighted were harnesses and Kevlar gloves for an Army air assault unit. The report did not accuse Ray, the former head of army aviation, of any specific wrongdoing. He said he was quitting to defend his honor. In one recording Semana published, the colonel it identifies as the corruption network's coordinator discusses a helicopter part that Rey wanted. In the most explosive recording, Barrero is heard telling the colonel, Robinson Gonzalez del Rio, that prosecutors' probes into false positives are "a bunch of crap." Barrero suggests that Gonzalez, who is in a military lockup facing criminal charges over the 2007 "false positives" killing of two men, mount a counterattack to discredit prosecutors. Barrero said Sunday that he regretted making the remarks. President Juan Manuel Santos said the allegations made in the Semana report were serious and would be investigated. Barrero was not relieved of his command. In one audio recording that raised eyebrows, Gonzalez is heard explaining to another man how he took a three-week family vacation in December 2012 when he was supposed to be confined to a military prison. Semana said the army paid for his gasoline. A separate investigation by Semana earlier this month alleged that a military spy ring had eavesdropped for 15 months on emails and text messages of government negotiators involved in peace talks with leftist rebels. Critics said the spying could undermine rebel confidence in the peace process. Leftist congressman Ivan Cepeda said Monday that the two scandals highlight a complete lack of control over the military by Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon, whom he called on to resign. Illegal eavesdropping has been common in Colombia in recent years, and a previous scandal over spying on journalists, judges and politicians led to the dismantling three years ago of the DAS domestic intelligence agency. ! 5 Policemen Killed in FARC Ambush in Northwest Colombia Colombia Reports By Mimi Yagoub
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February 17, 2014 As peace talks continue in Cuba between the Colombian government and the countrys oldest rebel group, so too, apparently, does the fighting back in Colombia. On Monday, five policemen were killed and three more injured in the central state of Antioquia following an ambush allegedly carried out by the FARC rebel group. The police unit in question was reportedly attacked with explosives in gunfire took place in the rural municipality of Taraza, 138 miles from the state capital of Medellin. According to Colombian newspaper El Espectador, official reports state that the policemen were providing security for a group that was eradicating an illegal narcotics plantation in the small town of Barro Blanco when they were attacked. "This type of terrorist activity will not undermine the commitment of all the homelands policemen in pursuit of safeguarding the lives, honour and property of the Colombian people," said National Police General Rodolfo Palomino, as quoted in El Espectador. "May our companions rest in peace and may there be solidarity for their families," the general said. Army units deployed to the area to avoid new attacks are said to be working to determine the location of the FARC group believed to be responsible for the deaths. The FARC and the Colombian government are negotiating a possible peace agreement that would end the more than 50-year conflict between the state and the Marxist rebel group. The talks, which opened in November of 2012, are taking place in Havana, Cuba, and currently focus on the issue of illicit narcotics cultivation, the third of six scheduled agenda items. No ceasefire agreement was put in place prior to the start of talks, and both parties have continued offensive campaigns against the other. !
Guatemala
Ex-Guatemalan Soldier Sentenced to 10 Years in US Associated Press By Amy Taxin February 10, 2014 A former Guatemalan special forces soldier was sentenced Monday to a decade in an American prison for lying on a U.S. citizenship application about his role in a civil war massacre that decimated a village more than three decades ago. Jorge Sosa, 55, who taught martial arts in Riverside County, was also stripped of his American citizenship after being convicted of failing to disclose his alleged participation in the killing of at least 160 people in the village of Dos Erres.
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The former second lieutenant was not formally tried in California for war crimes, but U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips noted that a jury found Sosa committed crimes in Dos Erres after comrades testified that he fired a weapon into a well filled with screaming villagers and stood by as soldiers under his command raped and killed women. "These are the crimes the defendant lied about and didn't disclose," Phillips told the court before handing down the maximum 10-year sentence. "The particular facts of what occurred on Dec. 7, 1982, at Dos Erres cannot be characterized in any other way than as crimes." The case is one of several aimed at perpetrators of the massacre that took place at the height of Guatemala's 36-year civil war. In that nation, five former soldiers have each been sentenced to more than 6,000 years in prison for the killings, while one of Sosa's former comrades is also serving a decade-long sentence in a U.S. prison for lying on his immigration forms. Shackled and wearing a jail jumpsuit, Sosa pleaded with the court for clemency, saying he has lived as a law-abiding, faithful Catholic in the U.S. and in Canada, where he is also a citizen, and disagreed with the jury's verdict. "I did not have a just trial and ... the truth was covered," Sosa said in Spanish through a court interpreter. "I am innocent and I am not guilty." Sosa contends he was not in Dos Erres during the massacre and plans to appeal, defense lawyer Shashi Kewalramani said. Sosa was arrested in Canada in 2011 and extradited to face charges in the U.S. He was convicted by a jury last year of making false statements and illegally obtaining citizenship in 2008. After serving his sentence, Sosa could be returned to Guatemala, which is seeking his extradition to prosecute him for the massacre, according to U.S. Department of Justice lawyers. "It sends a message to other war criminals to not find a safe haven here," said Jeannie Joseph, assistant U.S. attorney. At least 200,000 people were killed during the civil war in Guatemala, mostly by state forces and paramilitary groups seeking to wipe out a left-wing uprising. The U.S. supported Guatemala's military governments during the war. In 1982, a special forces patrol was dispatched to Dos Erres to search for weapons believed stolen by guerrillas. No weapons were found, but soldiers raped women and officers decided to round up villagers and kill them. After the war, Guatemala issued arrest warrants for more than a dozen soldiers implicated in the killings, but the cases languished until the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2009 demanded the country prosecute the perpetrators. On Monday, Oscar Ramirez told the judge that he was a toddler when soldiers killed his mother and seven siblings in Dos Erres. He was taken from the village and raised by relatives of a soldier who was there. He only learned several years ago about his identity through DNA testing.
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TOPICS
Terrorism
Chicago Jury Acquits 3 NATO Summit Protesters of Terrorism, Convicts on Lesser Arson Counts Fox News February 7, 2014 A jury has acquitted three NATO summit protesters of breaking Illinois' rarely tested state terrorism law. Jurors on Friday did convict Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Vincent Betterly on lesser arson counts. Prosecutors described the men as dangerous anarchists who were plotting to throw Molotov cocktails at President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and other Chicago sites during the 2012 summit. Undercover officers infiltrated the group and the men were arrested before the summit began. Defense lawyers scoffed at the portrayal of their clients as terrorists. They described them as drunken goofs who were goaded into the Molotov cocktail plot by the officers. Nearly all terrorism cases are filed in federal court. Many states passed terrorism laws after 9/11 in what were seen as largely symbolic gestures. ! Pakistan Prosecution Stalls in Bhatti Slaying Baptist Press February 18, 2014 Intimidation by Islamic militants has prompted the brother of Pakistan's first Christian cabinet minister to leave the country. Paul Bhatti's efforts to bring the killers of his brother, Shahbaz Bhatti, to justice could be thwarted by the Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorist organizations. Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's miister for minority affairs, was assassinated in March 2011, two months after Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer, a Muslim, was slain. Militants targeted both men for their criticism of the country's blasphemy laws and their defense of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother sentenced to death for allegedly
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blaspheming Islam's prophet. Bibi has been waiting for three years to have her appeal heard. In addition to the death threats, extremist groups are demanding that the government release the four suspects in Bhatti's murder as a precondition for peace talks. Paul Bhatti stepped forward as the complainant in the case when the government's prosecution slowed to a standstill. "I've been constantly threatened to withdraw the case, and just recently I received a letter from the Pakistani Taliban and LeJ warning me to stop pursuing the case or else they will kill me," Bhatti told persecution monitor Morning Star News by phone from Italy. "I informed the government and other concerned quarters about these threats, but I'm yet to hear something from their side." Riaz Gondal, the investigating officer in the case, admitted that the suspects and their militant advocates pose a serious threat to the murder victim's brother. "Indeed it is a serious matter -- perhaps this is why [Paul Bhatti's legal counsel] hadn't been pursuing the case," Gondal said, noting that Bhatti's absence from hearings and reduced contact with investigators would impair prosecution. "We did our job and arrested the accused. It's now up to the court to punish them. But if the complainant does not show up at the hearings, there's little hope for the killers to be convicted." Bhatti, who left a medical practice in Italy to return to Pakistan after his brother's murder, was named minister for national harmony and minority affairs, appointed to replace his brother. He also was selected as chairman of his brother's party, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. When the public prosecutor assigned by the Punjab government refused to pursue the murder case in anti-terrorism court, he said, "I then hired a lawyer on my own although it was the responsibility of the Punjab government." Gondal, asked why the government is not the complainant in the murder case of a cabinet minister, especially with such high risks, said, "I was assigned the investigation some months ago, so I can't really say why Shahbaz Bhatti's brother became the complainant in the case. As for the government's role in this matter, the police are doing their job, and arrests of the accused are a testimony of their efforts." Complicating the case is the possibility that the suspects and other imprisoned terrorists could be released as part of an agreement for government talks with banned Muslim extremists groups. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is holding peace talks with the Taliban, and most political analysts believe the government might release some Taliban prisoners as a confidence-building measure with the Taliban. Bhatti said it is the government's responsibility to keep the murderers of a sitting cabinet minister from walking free. "The men themselves confessed to killing my brother," Bhatti said. It also has been reported that two of the suspects confessed to killing Bhatti and named two accomplices, who were detained shortly afterwards. "It would be very unjust if the government submits to the Taliban demand," Bhatti
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said. Prominent human rights activist Asma Jahangir said the Taliban have killed thousands of innocent people and members of security forces in recent years. "How can the government even think of negotiating with such barbarians? The government must not accept the Taliban's demand for release of hard-core militants, as the peace talks may turn out to be a Taliban ploy to get their friends released from prisons." A senior Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media, told Morning Star News that officials had received Paul Bhatti's application for provision of security due to Taliban threats against him. "We are looking into the matter," the official said. "Almost every other important person is facing high risk, but it is not possible for us to provide extensive security cover to everyone given our limited resources." Bhatti, saying he does not plan to remain in Italy, noted, "I know we are potential targets, but we will not give up. Those threatening us are the same people who are responsible for the murders of my brother and countless other innocent people in Pakistan." Afghan Acquitted of Terrorism, Jailed for Illegal Stay Dawn February 18, 2014 A local anti-terrorism court on Monday acquitted an Afghan national in a terrorist attack case but awarded him seven years imprisonment and Rs10,000 fine for illegal stay in Pakistan. Judge Syed Asghar Ali Shah pronounced that the prosecution failed to prove the charge against Hamid Khan of hurling a hand grenade at a private guest house used by an international humanitarian organisation. He, however, observed the accused didnt provide any valid documents to prove that his stay in Pakistan was legal. The judge ruled that the convict be deported to Afghanistan after completion of prison term. In the case, an unidentified person had hurled a hand grenade on the premises in the use of Medicines Sans Frontier (MSF) here on Chinar Road at posh University Town locality on Nov 4, 2013. The watchman of the premises, Ameer Siab, was complainant in the case. The FIR was registered under section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act, sections 3 and 4 of Explosive Substance Act and section 14 of the Foreigners Act. The defence counsel said the accused was falsely implicated in the case and there was no evidence against him. He said the accused had studied at a local Afghan school named Jamaulddin Afghani school and had passed his intermediate examination. The lawyer said the petitioner had been serving as waiter at a local restaurant. He pointed out that the accused had gone missing on Nov 5 and his family members had lodged report with the local police, however, after few days the police made public his arrest on Nov 12 in connection with the occurrence. The lawyer said the
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watchman was complainant in the case and even he had not identified him after his arrest. He said local police had traced the suspect through a phone call and that some terrorists had been training the suspect for carrying out attacks on the offices of NGOs. ! Man Pleads Guilty in NYC Pipe Bomb Terrorism Plot Associated Press By Jennifer Peltz February 19, 2014 A man accused of building homemade bombs to wage holy war in New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday to a terrorism charge less than a week before his scheduled trial in a rare state-level terrorism case. Jose Pimentel, wearing a knitted skull cap, softly answered questions and shook his head at times as he acknowledged he'd tried to craft a pipe bomb in 2011, with the idea of using it to make a violent impact on U.S. foreign policy. He sought, according to a statement a judge read on his behalf, to "try to undermine public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." Pimentel pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism. Authorities have called the case a dramatic example of the threat of homegrown, one-person terrorism plots, but his lawyers have portrayed it as an example of overzealous policing in the years since Sept. 11. With the plea, Pimentel, 29, was promised a sentence of 16 years in prison. He could have faced a minimum of 15 years to life if convicted. Jury selection had been due to start Monday. "Today's guilty plea further supports the fact that, increasingly, the threat of terrorism comes from radicalized local actors living in our community," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said at a news conference. But Pimentel's lawyers have suggested he would never have progressed from posting online to trying to make pipe bombs if police hadn't sent a series of informants to engage with him. While he admitted his guilt, "the question that will not be answered, at least not in a court of law, is who exactly is recruiting whom in this war" against terrorism, said one of his attorneys, Susan Walsh. Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, is a Dominican immigrant who was raised in the U.S. and converted to Islam around 2004. He maintained a website with articles praising Osama bin Laden, describing Sept. 11 victims as legitimate targets and listing reasons to "nuke the USA," prosecutors said in court papers. He repeatedly clashed with his former wife because of his militant beliefs about Islam, and his mother had thrown him out of her apartment over his views, prosecutors said. His vitriol deepened in 2011, when he was recorded talking about assassinating a
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judge, killing returning soldiers and bombing a police station or the George Washington Bridge, officials said; he also talked about targeting Jews, Assistant District Attorney Deborah Hickey said. He was arrested that November as he assembled bombs from clocks, Christmas tree lights, match-head scrapings and other items acquired at dollar shops and hardware stores, prosecutors said. One informant and an undercover officer had gotten nowhere with Pimentel, Walsh and fellow Pimentel lawyer Lori Cohen said. But then police sent another informant, a fellow Hispanic Muslim convert who smoked joints with Pimentel while they talked about jihad, accompanied him to buy bomb makings and opened his apartment to Pimentel to put the materials together. "If you work on someone with professional witnesses, if you acquiesce to marijuana use, you wear people down," Walsh said last month. Vance said he was comfortable with the way the investigation was conducted. The defense had indicated his trial would examine the New York Police Department's intelligence-gathering on Muslims, which came under scrutiny in stories by The Associated Press that showed how the department infiltrated Muslim student groups, put informants in mosques and monitored sermons as part of a broad antiterrorism effort. Vance said prosecutors offered the plea deal to secure a significant sentence without the uncertainties of a trial. Pimentel's lawyers said he took the offer to avoid the possibility of life in prison. Entrapment defenses, or arguing that police induced crime, face a high legal burden. It's not enough to show that police or their agents created an opportunity for law-breaking; a defendant has to convince jurors that police used methods that risk getting an innocent person to commit a crime. Most terrorism cases are federal, but Pimentel was charged under a New York state law passed shortly after Sept. 11 and seldom used since. One case involved a Bronx gang leader whose conviction was overturned when appeals courts said his crimes weren't what the law envisioned. In another, Vance charged two men with plotting to blow up synagogues. Both pleaded guilty. One is serving 10 years in prison, and the other is serving five. After Pimentel's arrest, two law enforcement officials said the FBI had passed on his case because agents felt he wasn't inclined or able to act without the informant's involvement; the officials were not authorized to speak about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. Vance and Police Commissioner William Bratton said Wednesday that state charges were appropriate in Pimentel's case. "There are some who suggest that only federal agencies should handle terrorism cases, or that the terrorism threat from radicalized citizens is, perhaps, overstated," Vance said. "I strongly disagree."
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Piracy
Italy Scorns Indian Decision to Try Marines with Anti-Piracy Law Reuters February 9, 2014 Italy Scorns Indian Decision to Try Marines with Anti-Piracy Law Reuters February 9, 2014 http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/02/09/italy-indiamarines-fishermenkilling-idINDEEA1800W20140209 Rome harshly criticised an Indian decision to try two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen under an anti-piracy and anti-terrorism act, in a case that has strained relations between the two countries. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, part of a military security team protecting a cargo ship off the coast of Kerala, say they thought the fishermen were pirates and fired shots to warn them off in February 2012. The case has become a sensitive political issue in both countries. In India, supporters of harsh penalties for the marines have marched on the streets, while in Rome the lights illuminating the Colosseum were turned off last year in a protest demanding the two be allowed to return home. On Friday, India's attorney general said the Italians would be tried under an antipiracy and anti-terrorism act that provides for capital punishment, but that death sentences would be excluded as a possible sentence. Italy's justice minister responded by saying the Rome government would fight the use of the law in all ways possible. "Certain indications that come from New Delhi about the legal proceedings against our marines leave me dumbfounded and outraged," Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said in a statement, adding that a decision to use the treaty would be fought in court "in the strongest manner". "Our commitment to bring home Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone is stronger than ever." Charges have yet to be filed against the two, partly due to confusion as to what law the men should be prosecuted under. They are on bail but cannot leave India. ! Suspected Pirates Attack Kenyan Ship off Coast of Somalia Horseed Media February 15, 2014 A Kenyan-based merchant vessel was attacked by suspected Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia on Friday in the first such attack since this year. Kenyas maritime official said the ill-fated vessel, dubbed MV Andrea, was attacked by assailants aboard a white hulled skiff while underway to the port of Mogadishu,
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Somalia. "The crew members aboard the vessel are reported to be safe and sound since no one was injured during the gun fight," Kenya Seafarers Union (KSU) Secretary General Andrew Mwangura told Xinhua in Mombasa. Mwangura said the ship with 17 crew members, majority being Kenyans, was attacked by heavily armed gunmen. He said the security men aboard the merchant ship were able to dispel the attack. Mwangura said the vessel was exporting cargo to Mogadishu before going to Comoros Islands. He said the security team aboard the merchant ship returned gunfire, forcing the gunmen to abort the attack and sail away. Mwangura told Xinhua the attackers launched two unsuccessful attempts to hijack the ship. All crew members aboard the vessel are reported to be safe and sound. The Sierra Leone flagged ship is operated and managed by the Mombasa-based Alpha Logistics Company. It has been operating along Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros and Mozambique waters for many years. Incidents of piracy along the Somali waters have gone down since 2010 after the incursion of Kenya troops into Somalia. Mwangura said there have been only five strings of unsuccessful pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean. Currently, Somali pirates are holding captive about 87 hostages, including four Kenyans over land and about 17 aboard a pirate mother ship. The drop in piracy incidents is a relief to shipping companies using the Indian Ocean that have been the target of pirates. This was the latest attack this year and comes after global anti-piracy watchdog reported that piracy off the coast of Somalia had dropped significantly for the past six years due to preventive measures deployed by the foreign warships to thwart such attacks. The report by International Chamber Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reveals that there were only 15 incidents reported off Somalia in 2013, down from 75 in 2012, and 237 in 2011, contributing to the worldwide fall in piracy. The Somali pirates have been deterred by a combination of factors, including the key role of international navies, the hardening of vessels, the use of private armed security teams, and the stabilizing influence of Somalias central government. ! Luxembourg Passes Operational Milestone in Support of EU Anti-Piracy Mission IHS Janes Defence Weekly By Gareth Jennings February 19, 2014 The Luxembourg Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) detachment flew its 1,000th operational sortie as part of the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Operation 'Atalanta', it was announced on 16 February.
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The MPRA Detachment's Swearingen SW3C Merlin maritime surveillance aircraft have operated out of Seychelles International Airport since 2009 as part of the EU's wider effort to combat piracy off Somalia and the surrounding region. Having also been temporarily deployed to Mombasa, Mayotte and Tanzania during its tours, the Luxembourg MRPA Detachment has flown over 5,600 hours in all, and been involved in the successful disruption of more than 37 Pirate Action Groups. It has also provided aerial assistance during several search and rescue missions in the region. The 15-person strong detachment operates in close co-operation with the Seychelles People's Defense Forces Air Wing as well as assets from other EU and NATO member states. Currently deployed alongside the Luxembourg Merlin and Seychelles Dornier Do228 aircraft under Operation 'Atalanta' is a Lockheed Martin P3C Orion of the German Navy, and an Airbus DS CN235 of the Spanish Air Force. Surface vessels now taking part in the mission comprise the Hellenic Navy Hydraclass frigate HS Psara, the French Navy's Foudre-class amphibious transport ships FS Siroco (Task Force Flagship), the German Navy frigate FGS Hessen , the Spanish Navy's offshore patrol vessel (Meteoro-class) ESPS Tornado , and the Ukrainian Navy frigate UPS Hetman Sagaidachniy . Operating within the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and in accordance with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) and International Law, Operation 'Atalanta' was recently extended through to December 2014, though it is likely to be extended further beyond this date.
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Gender-Based Violence
Met Will Prosecute Parents Who Send Their Girls Abroad to Be Cut London Evening Standard By Martin Bentham February 18, 2013 People who book flights to send girls abroad for genital mutilation operations will face prosecution in a new Met attempt to bring offenders to justice. Scotland Yard chiefs say that parents, relatives and others who arrange transport and surgery will be targeted for criminal action as child abusers as detectives step up their efforts to combat the illegal practice. The police move was revealed as a parliamentary hearing was warned that large numbers of girls aged as young as six are being sent from London to Africa for genital surgery which leaves them with painful and life-changing injuries. It came as the Met disclosed that it is close to bringing the first British prosecution
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for female genital mutilation after receiving nearly 150 reports of cases involving girls in the capital already "cut" or at risk of surgery. Giving evidence to MPs, Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Niven, the head of Scotland Yards child abuse command, said "a number of difficulties" had prevented prosecutions so far, but warned that parents and others who organised mutilation would face criminal charges as the Met improved its evidence-gathering methods. "The people that commit the crimes are people that perform the act and the people that arrange for that to take place," he said. "So the parents would be liable to criminal prosecution, as would the people who book the flights, as would the people that ensure the transition of that process." Mr Niven, who was appearing before the Commons international development select committee, said one person suspected of preparing to send a child abroad for a genital operation was arrested days ago, and "clear" evidence of a crime was found in another case over which his officers are now seeking to bring charges. He added: "The child was in care and came forward and disclosed that the crime had taken place. We were able to go ahead, gain the evidence and the evidence has been very clear. The individual has now got concerns about taking that to the next stage and thats about reassurance and about engagement with the Crown Prosecution Service which we are about to do. Prosecution will send a very clear message. It is child abuse." Female genital mutilation, or FGM, which is practised in Africa and other parts of the world, involves the removal of parts or all of a girls clitoris and labia. It is illegal in Britain because of the lasting damage that it causes. Efua Dorkenoo, a London director of the charity Equality Now, said some older girls were being "cut" to stop them becoming "too Westernised". But she warned that most victims were of primary school age. "Most FGM is done to kids under the age of 10," she told the MPs. Mr Niven said the Met was now trying to win support from faith leaders and others within affected communities to stop the abuse. He said work was also being carried out with schools and health staff to identify those at risk and that further efforts were being made to give victims the confidence to alert police to their plight. Flashbacks from smell of Dettol Nimco Ali was taken to Somalia for female genital mutilation by her mother when she was seven. The procedure was performed in a hospital and to this day the smell of Dettol still gives Ms Ali flashbacks. The civil servant, 29, from west London, said: "Its bizarre because my mother is a feminist, believes women should be educated and independent. "But she still thinks that female genital mutiliation (FGM) is part of what it is to be a woman, she did her best to legitimise the pain. I was told it was a normal thing that would help me to grow up."
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REPORTS
United Nations Reports

Video: UN States that Investigations Cannot be Initiated Against SL Without its Members Agreement Hiru News February 7, 2014 The spokesman of UN Secretary General Ban Ke-moon stressed that if it is necessary to hold an international investigation into any alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, that decision should be taken by UN member states. During a daily media briefing held at the UN Headquarters in New York yesterday, UN General Secretarys Acting spokesman Farhan Haq said that the UN authorities are getting awareness of all relevant information. Farhan Haq was answering the Inner City Press representative who constantly questions Sri Lankas alleged war crimes during UN media briefings in New York. Meanwhile Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe said that no crime has taken place against humanity during the war in Sri Lanka. Speaking to S.B.S. media service in Australia, Admiral Samarasinghe said that civilians might get injured during the unpleasant war in the country. He said however that Armed Forced did not launch operations nor they target civilians. Admiral Samarasinghe completely refuted such allegations by any party. Meanwhile addressing a ceremony held in Colombo yesterday Private Transport Minster C.B. Rathnayake said that people should unite themselves despite party colors to restore freedom of the country. ! Congo Warlord Bosco Ntaganda Led Ethically Motivated Murder, ICC Told The Guardian By David Smith February 10, 2014 "My name is Bosco Ntaganda. When I arrived at the ICC I was a soldier, but I'm no longer a soldier any more." Spoken in the Kinyarwanda language, these were words that few had expected to
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hear in a court of law. For years Ntaganda, a Congolese militia leader and fugitive from justice dubbed "The Terminator", could be seen dining in fine restaurants and playing tennis at a luxury hotel, a living symbol of apparent impunity. On Monday however, he was confronted with his alleged war crimes by prosecutors at The Hague. Ntaganda ordered fighters to shoot and behead civilians, rape women and recruit child soldiers, the international criminal court (ICC) was told. The prosecution told judges that Ntaganda, now about 40, had committed the crimes while leading fighters of Hema ethnicity to drive ethnic Lendus out of the mineral-rich Ituri region in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo more than a decade ago. The allegations against Ntaganda were made at the opening of a five-day hearing to decide if there is sufficient evidence for him to stand trial. He is not required to make a formal plea at this stage but denies all 18 charges against him. "He played a key role in planning assaults against the civilian population in order to gain territory," chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, told the hearing. She added: "He persecuted civilians on ethnic grounds, through deliberate attacks, forced displacement, murder, rape, sexual enslavement and pillaging. " Rwandan-born Ntaganda, commander of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia, had "failed to prevent or punish crimes by troops under his effective command or control," she added. Dmytro Surprun, a lawyer representing victims of the alleged crimes, said: "Victims were killed by bullets, by arrows, by nail-studded sticks. Most of them were mutilated, some were decapitated and their head borne as a trophy." Ntaganda was indicted in 2006, accused of murder and keeping women as sex slaves, earning comparisons with Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony on the ICC's most wanted list. But after years fighting for various rebel movements, he became a general in the Congolese army in 2009 and was able to roam the eastern city of Goma at will, cocking a snook at both the ICC and UN peacekeepers. ! Strikingly Similar to the Nazis: Full Horror of Life in North Korea Revealed Express By Jane Mathews February 17, 2014 North Korean leaders including Kim Jong-un could face the prospect of standing trial over mass torture, starvation and killings, the UN said today. Investigators writing to the dictator warned him that they were advising the UN to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court to ensure any culprits "including possibly yourself" were held accountable. The brutal regime, which is striving to develop nuclear arms, is accused of keeping as many as 200,000 political prisoners in horrific camps. Evidence alleging torture, enslavement, sexual violence and executions has been laid out before the UN, which has now finished a year-long enquiry into human rights abuses in the secretive country.
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Investigators also warned the country's main ally China that they could be "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity" by sending defectors back to North Korea, where they faced torture and execution. Chinese officials refuted the charge. Kim Jong-un recently ordered the execution of his own uncle Jang Song Thaek for crimes against the state, before going on to wipe out the vast majority of Thaek's family. Michael Kirby, chairman of the independent Commission of Inquiry, said the crimes the team had catalogued in a 372-page report were reminiscent of those committed by Nazis during World War Two. He said: "Some of them are strikingly similar. "Testimony was given in relation to the political prison camps of large numbers of people who were malnourished, who were effectively starved to death and then had to be disposed of in pots burned and then buried. "It was the duty of other prisoners in the camps to dispose of them." The independent investigators' report documents atrocities including murder, torture, rape, abductions, enslavement, starvation and executions. Testimony to the panel has included an account of a woman forced to drown her own baby, children imprisoned from birth and starved, and families tortured for watching a foreign soap opera. "The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," it concluded. The report said that "torture is an established feature of the interrogation process", citing testimony about a "torture chamber" at a detention facility of the State Security Department equipped with a water tank, shackles used to hang suspects upside down, and long needles which were driven underneath a suspect's fingernails. The report continued: "Many suspects die at interrogation detention centres as a result of torture, deliberate starvation or illnesses developed or aggravated by the terrible living conditions. "If they are not executed immediately, persons held accountable for major political wrongs are forcibly disappeared to political prison camps that officially do not exist. Most victims are incarcerated for life, without chance of leaving the camps alive." While it appeared there had been a recent drop in the number of people incarcerated, this was likely to be due to an "extremely high rate of deaths in custody", the report said. It was also claimed that food was used as a "means of control" over the population", with the state using "deliberate starvation as a means of control and punishment in detention facilities." It was said that military spending "has always been prioritised", even "during periods of mass starvation".
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The findings came out of a year-long investigation involving public testimony by defectors, including former prison camp guards, at hearings in South Korea, Japan, Britain and the United States. North Korea has dismissed the report as US-led propaganda. Civilians live under a system of neighbourhood surveillance where they are encouraged to denounce each other, according to defectors. The investigators were not able to confirm allegations of "gruesome medical testing of biological and chemical weapons" on disabled people and political prisoners, but said they wanted to investigate further. An Amnesty International video released today contained accounts from survivors of the brutal prisons. Kim Young Soon spent nine years in Yodok prison camp for gossiping about an affair her friend had with Kim Jong Il, the current leader's father. She said her elderly parents and four young children, who were sent to the camp with her, all died from starvation and hard labour, adding: "It is a place that would make your hair stand on end." A former guard described how officials would rape and then kill women from the camp. He also detailed that two execution methods used by guards - either forcing them to dig their own grave and then hitting them in the back of the head with a small metal hammer, or strangling them with a rubber rope. Another survivor, Park Ji-hyun, was sent to a camp after trying to escape from a farmer to whom she was sold. She described women being forced to work as livestock pulling carts. And Joo Il-Kim, a former military captain, talked of seeing the bodies of starvation victims piled up in public places. He also described the public executions, saying: "People scream in horror at this sight. The crowd roars. "It is so gruesome, you instinctively close your eyes or turn your head away When all the gunshots have died down, you look and the body is heaped onto the ground. "You cannot sleep after witnessing it. You are haunted by the nightmarish image in dreams." ! UN Calls for Sri Lankan War Crimes Inquiry The Telegraph By Dean Nelson February 17, 2014 A leaked report by the UNs human rights chief says Sri Lanka has shown no will to hold its own inquiry into war abuses. The United Nations human rights chief has called for an international war crimes
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investigation into alleged atrocities carried out in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war, according to reports. The call, made by UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in a 20-page submission to both the United Nations and the Sri Lankan government, comes less than three weeks before a UN meeting in Geneva where Britain and the United States are expected to formally propose a war crimes inquiry. It marks a final loss of patience with President Mahinda Rajapaksas Sri Lankan government among international leaders who believe it has done too little, too slowly to encourage reconciliation and investigate allegations of abuses. An assessment of available evidence released last month by former UN investigators and experts said both Sri Lankan government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam forces appeared to have committed war crimes in the final few months of the war before the LTTE was finally defeated in May 2009. It cited evidence of pregnant women killed by army shelling which appeared to target civilians inside an official no fire zone and eyewitness reports of Tamil Tiger fighters shooting dead civilians as they tried to flee the fighting. The UN had earlier estimated 40,000 were killed in the final months of the war. According to the Sri Lankan Sunday Times, Ms Pillay strongly criticised the Colombo government in the leaked report, and suggested it simply does not wish to investigate the allegations. "New evidence including witness testimony, video and photographic material continues to emerge on what took place in the final stages of the armed conflict. Human remains also continue to be discovered, for instance in Matale in November 2012 and Mannar in December 2013...As the emblematic cases highlighted above show, national mechanisms have consistently failed to establish the truth and achieve justice. The High Commissioner believes this can no longer be explained as a function of time or technical capacity, but that it is fundamentally a question of political will," she said, according to the Sunday Times. In the absence of a credible Sri Lankan inquiry, the UN should "establish an international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and monitor any domestic accountability process. OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) stands ready to assist such a process," she said. The United Nations has not commented on the leaked report but a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch welcomed the development. "We believe that an independent international investigation is the only way forward because the Rajapakse government has shown no political will to conduct a credible domestic investigation or even act on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations. We hope that the Human Rights Committee member states will support such an effort," said Meenakshi Ganguly.
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Non-Governmental Organization Reports

Razed to the Ground Human Rights Watch January 30, 2014 Since July 2012, Syrian authorities have deliberately demolished thousands of residential buildings, in some cases entire neighborhoods, using explosives and bulldozers, in Damascus and Hama, two of Syrias largest cities. Government officials and pro-government media outlets have claimed that the demolitions were part of urban planning efforts or removal of illegally constructed buildings. However, the demolitions were supervised by military forces and often followed fighting in the areas between government and opposition forces. These circumstances, as well as witness statements and more candid statements by government officials reported in the media indicate that the demolitions were related to the armed conflict and in violation of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war. Human Rights Watch concluded that seven cases of large-scale demolitions documented in this report violated the laws of war either because they served no necessary military purpose and appeared intended to punish the civilian population, or because they caused disproportionate harm to civilians. Those responsible for the wanton destruction of civilian property or for imposing collective punishment have committed war crimes and should be investigated and held to account.
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TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS
Canada
Documents Delay Hampers Truth, Reconciliation Process Montreal Gazette By Mark Kennedy February 7, 2014 The federal government appears to be dragging its feet on a court-ordered obligation to provide millions of documents from Library and Archives Canada to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that is examining the
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residential schools scandal. The records are needed by the commission to learn the truth of the decades-long saga, such as piecing together the role played by the federal government - including former cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats. From the 1870s to 1996, about 150,000 aboriginal children were pulled from their homes by the government and sent to church-run schools, where many suffered physical and sexual abuse and at least 4,000 died. Postmedia News has learned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, a full year after being ordered by a court to produce the records to the commission, hasn't even issued a request for proposal (RFP) for outside firms to bid on a contract to sort through the documents at federal archives so they can be passed along. Time is ticking for the commission, which must submit its report by June 2015. In reality, it must finish the writing of its multi-volume report months earlier so it can be translated and prepared for release. Already, the commission's executive director says the government's slowness means it won't get access to all of the internal documents it needs to write its report. "All along, we have been expressing our concern about the delay," Kimberly Murray said in an interview Thursday. "I think it's very unfortunate. We are really trying to get what we need for the writing of the report. But there's no way all these documents will make their way to (the commission) before the end of the mandate." Murray said she has been told by officials in Aboriginal Affairs that the RFP has been delayed because the department does not yet have approval from Treasury Board to spend the money. Aboriginal Affairs says there is no "definitive cost projection" for the work, but the estimated cost for the research contract is $14 million. Murray said the department hopes to get the RFP issued in March and have a research firm chosen to begin the work by June - a timeline she worries will come and go without any action. As a stopgap measure, the government has given the commission $1.6 million since last summer to hire researchers to pore over archival documents, but that money is due to expire March 31. "They're going to have to flow more money to us, but they haven't confirmed they are. So the project will come to a complete halt if they don't find money to flow to us on April 1." NDP aboriginal affairs critic Jean Crowder said Thursday the delay is unacceptable and raises questions about whether the government is deliberating trying to hide records. Ultimately, she said, it will harm the credibility of the commission's report because it lacks access to necessary documents. The residential schools saga, which scarred the lives of thousands of aboriginal children and their families, is considered by many to be Canada's greatest shame.
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A lawsuit against the federal government and churches resulted in a settlement that included payments to those affected and the creation in 2008 of the commission. Its job is to hold public hearings so people can tell their stories, collect records and establish a National Research Centre. At the time, Harper issued a heartfelt apology for the residential schools. The problem is that the commission found itself in a conflict with Harper's government, which was transferring some documents but not all of the material in Library and Archives Canada that was deemed relevant to the residential schools saga. The dispute ended up in court, where a judge ruled in the commission's favour on Jan. 30, 2013. Documents obtained by Postmedia News through the Access to Information Act reveal that in the weeks following that court ruling, senior officials at the archives and Canadian Heritage were warning then-heritage minister James Moore the cost of retrieving documents for the commission would be significant. "It is estimated that millions of school-related documents in the archives could occupy 6.5 kilometres of shelf space, and finding them could cost as much as $100 million," a background document said.
Kenya
Extending Justice Beyond ICC Prosecutions Institute for War and Peace Reporting While formal prosecutions at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and at national level go some way towards drawing a line under conflict, they do not automatically result in reconciliation on the ground. Legal experts have told IWPR that the international community should be doing more to support alternative mechanisms that might contribute to a sustained peace. At the recent meeting of the 122 states that have signed up to the ICC, held in November, campaigners challenged the Kenyan government, in particular, to put measures in place at local level to complement the ongoing judicial process in The Hague. Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta faces trial at the ICC on charges of orchestrating the bloodshed which followed a disputed presidential poll in December 2007. Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang are already on trial for similar charges. Ruto and Kenyatta were on opposing sides in the 2007-08 conflict, which quickly took on an ethnic dimension. More than 1,100 people were killed and 650,000 lost their homes as a result. Kikuyus were broadly supportive of Kenyatta and the Party of National Unity, while Kalenjins, Luos and others backed the Orange Democratic Movement, in which Ruto was a leading figure. When Kenyatta and Ruto were voted into power on a joint ticket in March 2013, this was advertised as a sign of political reconciliation. But in the western Rift Valley, where much of the violence was concentrated, that political settlement did not
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translate into inter-communal harmony. Many people have never returned to the homes they had to flee. (See Old Tensions Persist in Kenya's Rift Valley.) As a woman in the Rift Valley who lost a close relative in 2008 told IWPR, "Genuine reconciliation is when two people directly involved in a conflict decide to face each other, acknowledge their wrongs, and choose to forgive one another and move on. Sadly, this has not been the case in the country." She noted that while those now in high office claim that reconciliation is a reality, that is not visible where she lives. "Common people who were uprooted from their lands are still crying for justice," she said. "And as long as the land question remains unresolved, bitterness will continue stoking [tensions]." Longstanding claims and counter-claims to land in this part of Kenya made the conflict between communities particularly acute. Alex Whiting, a law professor at Harvard University, says more international support is need to bolster efforts to healing rifts between communities like those in the Rift Valley. "Prosecution should not be the only mechanism that must be considered; it has to be one of the many mechanisms," he said. "There is a need to develop other local forms of resolving conflict as other ways of getting justice for the victims, and the international community should consider supporting such measures." Alternative Mechanisms Courts like the ICC or national judiciaries are designed to apply uniform standards of criminal justice, but when it comes to informal mechanisms, context is key. "The most important role the so-called international community can play is fostering an openness towards alternative conceptions of, and routes towards, justice," Sarah Nouwen, a legal professor at Cambridge university, told IWPR. Nouwen acknowledges the work done by the ICCs Trust Fund for Victims, which has a mandate to provide long-term support to victims of crimes in areas where the court is carrying out investigations. Although the Trust Fund for Victims is currently supporting projects in northern Uganda and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, there are no plans to extend its work to Kenya. In Nouwens view, this limited scope and the way resources are divided between the fund and the ICCs prosecuting arm "shows which type of justice currently has priority". Traditional justice mechanisms have been used in some post-conflict environments for instance the open "gacaca" courts designed to bring closure to the Rwandan genocide, and the ritual known as "mato oput" which allows former members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) to be accepted back into the community in northern Uganda. After the ICC issued arrest warrants against senior LRA leaders, foreign donors provided support for "mato oput" ceremonies. Nouwen warns that this kind of funding can undermine rather than strengthen the
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process. "While facilitating the conduct of such processes and enhancing the purchasing power of those that perform them, the commercialisation of ceremonies also undermines their meaning and relevance," she said. Transitional justice policy in Uganda has been largely donor-driven, so that "support for the alternative mechanisms lasts as long as the donor money lasts", she explained. "The key thing, then, is that the primary driver of the process is the government's policy, and that donor money only helps in implementing that policy," she said. At the November meeting of ICC member-states, a representative of the South African delegation said his country would have descended into turmoil if there had been criminal prosecutions after the end of apartheid in the early 1990s. Instead, those who had committed human rights abuses were able to claim amnesty from prosecution in return for testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. "We all know what South Africa went through, and had there been trials after the apartheid we would not have a country today," he said. "Without a political settlement after apartheid there would have been continued conflict." The attorney-general of Namibia, Albert Kawana, echoed this view, explaining that while international prosecutions had a role, they could not by themselves deliver the broader sense of justice that leads to long-term peace. "Its important [to have] international courts, but alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are very imperative in seeking reconciliations," Kawana told IWPR on the sidelines of the meeting. "Peace and reconciliation is more important for the victims than the prosecution of one person." Kenya Risks Missing Opportunity to Embed Reconciliation In Kenya, the government has been accused of lacking the political will to foster reconciliation at the local level in parallel with the ICC cases. After a political settlement brought an end to the 2007-08 bloodshed, the government set up a committee to examine injustices dating all the way back to independence in 1963. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was viewed as a major step towards a public acknowledgement of, and forgiveness for, past abuses. But although the commission released its report in May 2013, its recommendations have yet to be implemented. (See Kenyan Authorities Urged to Implement Human Rights Report.) The Kenyan parliament has even passed a bill allowing legislators to alter the content of the report. This leads some to suspect the government of undermining the TJRCs work and ignoring some of its findings. "TJRC provided a very good framework with specific mandates to have a candid conversation with ourselves on how to approach and address issues of injustice," George Morara, senior programme officer at the Kenya Human Rights Commission, told IWPR. "Its report made very significant contributions and recommendations, but again the government, instead of adopting and making it a reference point in
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addressing the countrys historical violations, wants to open a window to alter its content." Morara said that some strategies that the government had adopted to reconcile or compensate communities were likely to backfire. While measures to resettle people evicted from their land during the 2007-08 were praiseworthy, they also set a "dangerous precedent". "What you are telling those who evicted them is that in terms of acquisition of property rights, it is [fine] to just evict somebody you dont like, and the government will resettle them," he said. Betty Okero, a coordinator with the Civil Society Organisation Network in Kenya, argues that just speaking about past abuses is not enough. "Acknowledgement and forgiveness is crucial to achieving genuine healing and reconciliation. This allows both parties involved in a conflict to reflect and vent out," she told IWPR. "But without a genuine political will, it becomes very difficult for such processes to realise [their] intended objectives." NGOs that promote justice and reconciliations initiatives on the ground want the international community to be more heavily involved, applying funding, guidance and political pressure. "There is a need for the international community to consult much more regularly and in a much more structured manner with civil society," Chris Gitari of the International Centre for Transitional Justice in Nairobi said. "We dont get the signs that we are in those communication channels that allow a regular review of the issues." Gitari said the international community could do much more to pressure for the TJRCs recommendations to be implemented in full. "They need to be much more vocal," he said. He believes foreign governments have been over-hesitant as they try to work out their approach to Kenya in the light of the new Kenyatta-Ruto administration. "I do get the sense that trying to see what the priorities are, the new regime has this approach of not being very comfortable with human rights questions," he added.
Nepal
Nepal's Renewed Hope for Truth and Reconciliation IRIN News Victims of Nepals armed conflict from 1996 to 2006 have expressed the hope that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) could finally become a reality under the countrys new Constituent Assembly (CA) and prime minister. Nanda Prasad Adhikari, 56, and his wife, Ganga, 54, have been on a hunger strike since November 2013 in the hope of securing justice for their teenage son, who was executed in 2004 by Maoists rebels fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and establish a republic. "My son was killed mercilessly - I want to see
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justice," said Adhikari, the boys father, who spoke to IRIN in the intensive care unit of Bir Hospital, in the capital, Kathmandu. "There is finally a good opportunity for the TRC after all these years. Let us hope that our parliamentarians do a better job of making it happen," said Suman Adhikari, 34, president of the Conflict Victims Orphan Society, a network of victims and families. His father, Muktinath, was 45 years old when he was tied to a tree and shot in the head by Maoist rebels in Duradanda village in Lamjung District, about 300km southwest of the capital, an execution that shocked the nation. Nepal had been under a caretaker government led by former Maoist rebels since May 2012. In the assembly elected in 2008 after the monarchy was abolished, the former Maoist rebels had held a majority of seats, but after years of political stalemate, the NC, the countrys oldest party, gained a majority in the election on 19 November 2013, winning 196 of the 601 seats in the CA. Despite opposition by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal, the pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and a number of smaller parties, the newly established assembly elected Sushil Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress (NC) party, as prime minister on 10 February. A question of impunity One of the most contentious issues in the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord, brokered by the UN, was the matter of setting up a TRC, which has not been established due to political infighting over the question of impunity. The process of drafting a bill to establish a TRC began in 2007, but from the outset it has been fraught with problems and controversies, often focused on granting a blanket amnesty and giving the Attorney General, a political appointee, too much power over decisions to prosecute or not. Then, in a major victory for victims and their families, the Nepal Supreme Court decreed on 2 January that a blanket amnesty in serious cases of human rights violations would be unacceptable. "This verdict is a good sign, but now it is again up to the parliamentarians and their parties in power, who should take up their responsibilities and be more accountable," said Mandira Sharma, a prominent lawyer in the Advocacy Forum, a national NGO. Sharma is one of the leading advocates of the TRC and has played significant role in fighting political impunity. According to the Nepal National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), more than 17,000 people were killed in the conflict, while thousands more were tortured. Over 3,000 cases of severe human rights abuse have been registered with the NHRC, and around 850 cases of enforced disappearance have also been registered and are under investigation. "The peace process will remain incomplete if the severe crimes committed during the armed conflict are not addressed, and justice is not provided to the victims," said Bed Prasad Adhikari, NHRCs top official. Lawmakers promise But activists say progress so far has been slow, with little or no parliamentarian
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follow-up to start the process, a claim downplayed by parliamentarians. "There is little time and we need to act soon with the new CA there is better hope of forming the commissions [TRC and Disappearance]," said Maoist parliamentarian Shakti Basnet, who is also a member of the central working committee of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN). He said the new government would be initiating a discussion shortly. Human rights and legal experts worry that parties to the discussion will revert to the same debate over the issue of amnesty, but parliamentarians say they cannot go against the Supreme Court ruling. "We have spent all these years debating some contentious issues related to the TRC. We cannot waste time by repeating the same mistakes as before," said parliamentarian Ramesh Lekhak, a member of the NC leadership. Some legal experts also claim that the failure to understand the real meaning of transitional justice by both public and politicians is a major part of the problem in setting up the TRC, which is seen as either a vehicle for granting amnesties, or for criminal prosecution. "In Nepal, transitional justice is very narrowly conceived, and there is a lack of understanding about the form and function of truth commissions," said Santosh Sigdel, senior programme officer at the International Centre for Transitional Justice. He stressed that "Victims right to truth should be the cornerstone of any future truth commission."
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Receives Support for a Counterproposal to Dilute the US-Sponsored Resolution at UN Colombo Page Several countries supportive of Sri Lanka have considered a counterproposal against the United States- sponsored resolution that will be brought against the country at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva next month. Attention of several countries including Russia and China has been focused on presenting a proposal at the UNHRC session to dilute the third resolution US brought within two years calling for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes during the last phase of the three-decade long war, the state-run radio Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation said in a news brief. Russia and China have declared their strong support to Sri Lanka against the USsponsored resolution and opposed an international investigation into the allegations of war crimes committed during the war saying human rights should not be used as a pretext for interference in internal affairs. China also has opposed the resolution and offered support to the Sri Lankan government in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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Several other countries including Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates have expressed their support to Sri Lanka. The idea of a counterproposal to dilute the US resolution that has already received the backing of the UK, European Union and India has been considered amid reports that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in her report to be presented at the upcoming session has called for an international investigation into Sri Lanka. Pillay in her "Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on advice and technical assistance for the Government of Sri Lanka on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka" has reportedly asked the UNHRC to set up an independent probe since the Sri Lankan government has "consistently failed to establish the truth" and ensure accountability for the atrocities, despite repeated calls. Sri Lanka meanwhile, will send a high-powered delegation to Geneva to present the efforts taken by the government to address the accountability and reach reconciliation. The delegation will reportedly be led by the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris replacing President's Special Human Rights Envoy Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who headed Sri Lankan delegation at previous sessions. The delegation is expected to comprise Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, who chairs the task force monitoring the National Plan of Action on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Attorney General Palitha Fernando, and other senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry. Sri Lanka has launched a vigorous diplomatic offensive to apprise the member states of the UNHRC on the post-conflict developments on the issues the international community has raised. The External Affairs Ministry sent envoys to the member countries of the UNHRC to enlighten them on Sri Lanka's progress since the end of the three-decade long war in 2009. Weeratunga visited Geneva and Washington in January to apprise the envoys of the UN member states and the US officials on the latest developments regarding implementing the LLRC recommendations. The government has maintained that its security forces did not commit war crimes during the final stages of the war and said that any investigation should cover the whole thirty years of war and the atrocities committed by the Tamil Tiger terrorist group as well.
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COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES

Libyas Political Isolation Law: Politics and Justice or the Politics of Justice?
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Justice in Conflict By Mark Kersten February 6, 2014 It has been a tough go for Libya. Almost two and a half years after the demise of the Gaddafi regime, the country continues to struggle in its ongoing and tumultuous transition. After forty years of autocratic rule, creating a stable, viable and democratic is undoubtedly a tall order. The country faces a host of challenges: the central government is very weak and has had an immensely difficult time creating strong governmental institutions; regional and city-based militias or thuwar control key areas of the country; the economy remains vulnerable; assassinations of former regime officials are a regular and disturbing occurrence; and thousands of individuals remain in illegal detention. And while things in Libya may not be quite as bad as tends to be reported (and there has been some good news), the country faces a tough road ahead. On matters of international and transitional justice, Libya is a fascinating case. Over the past few years, JiC has featured an array of posts on the International Criminal Courts intervention into Libya and the subsequent battle over where to try the two remaining Libyan ICC indictees: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi. But there have also been other important developments pertaining to transitional justice in Libya. Amongst these are the passage of a blanket amnesty law and a deGaddafication law. These have received far less attention here than they deserve. I was thus thrilled by the opportunity to write an article on the latter in greater depth for a project by the Middle East Institute on Pathways to Transitional Justice in the Arab World. My contribution seeks to place Libyas Political Isolation Law into context and decipher its potential impact on Libyan politics and the pursuit of postconflict justice. Heres a snippet: In May 2013, Libyas General National Congress (GNC) overwhelmingly passed the Political Isolation Law (PIL). The PILs enactment represented a far-reaching attempt to prevent members of the regime of Muammar Qaddafi from holding public office during the countrys transition. But the decision also appeared to fit a precarious pattern of post-conflict accountability in Libya, which has been characterized by acts of vengeance and one-sided justice aimed at anyone associated with the defeated regime. The passage of the law also reflects the current state of political instability in Libya wherein decisions are politically motivated and often forced at the barrel of the gun rather than agreed upon through public consultation and democratic decision-making. At its heart, Libyas PIL is a lustration law. Historically, such laws have been a common tool in the pursuit of transitional justice. Broadly speaking, lustration is a form of vetting citizens to discern whether or not they can hold public office on the basis of their relationship with a prior, delegitimized, and defeated regime. The idea of purging a vanquished political opponent is as old as the practice of war itself. New regimes require the exclusion of members, groups, and structures that sustained previous orders. In the twentieth century, exclusion by extermination of opponents shifted to exclusion through legal and political means. For example, following WWII, the process of de-Nazification sought to expel and subsequently prohibit former Nazi figures from political, cultural, and social positions?albeit with mixed results. More recently, the process of de-Ba`thification in Iraq ensured that individuals associated with Saddam Husseins Ba`th party were purged from public office. The policy is widely regarded as disastrous, leaving behind it a "bitter legacy" that has "polarized
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Iraqi politics and contributed to severe instability in the Iraqi military and government." The passage of official and legally sanctioned lustration laws as a mechanism of transitional justice is typically attributed to the experience of post-Communist states in Eastern Europe. After the collapse of Communist rule, states such as Poland and Czechoslovakia instituted lustration policies to prevent former Communists from holding political office. The impetus behind these laws stems directly from the social struggle of societies confronting and grappling with a recent past characterized by human rights violations But the palpable desire among citizens in transitional states to exclude senior officials from holding power is also understandable. Removing those individuals responsible for autocracy or dictatorship offers a rare opportunity to "turn the page" and guarantee that the old cast of characters will not morph into the states new leadership. Consequently, lustration and political vetting can act as a necessary, if insufficient, measure to consolidate the trust of citizens in democratic change and institutional reform. In this context, it is notable that international and local human rights groups did not necessarily view the PIL as being, in and of itself, illegitimate. Indeed, as it became clear that Libya would proceed with a lustration law in some form, rights groups refused to criticize the PIL as a whole, arguing instead that it should not be too vague or violate human rights. However, the Libyan government did not?or perhaps could not?heed their calls. It is important to recall that Libyas revolution was fueled?and on many levels led?by defectors of the Qaddafi regime. Among others, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil (a former minister of justice under Qaddafi), Mahmoud Jibril (former head of the National Planning Council of Libya and of the National Economic Development Board of Libya) and Mohammed Magarief (a former ambassador to India), all defected from the Qaddafi regime and subsequently played leading roles in boosting the revolutions and the rebels political legitimacy. But the PIL did not take into account whether potential targets had previously defected or whether they played a role in toppling the Qaddafi regime. As Mohamed Eljarh observed, "[t]he isolation law effectively places Magariaf [sic], Jibril, and Abdul Jalil [sic] in the same category as those who sided with Qaddafi in his war against the Libyan people." Numerous Libyan officials agree, including a representative of the country to the UN who stated his fear that the PIL "will deprive state institutions from some experienced and competent persons, who would be very difficult to replace It is misleading to suggest that Libya suffers from a climate or culture of total post-conflict impunity. Rather, since the conclusion of the revolution and civil war, the country has suffered from selective impunity. This is clearly demonstrated by Libyas decision to embrace the PIL. The law and the violent manner in which proPIL militias guaranteed its passage is symptomatic of Libyas post-conflict narrative of ridding the state of anyone affiliated with Qaddafi?even those who were instrumental in guaranteeing the rebels and the National Transitional Councils victory in the civil war. But the PIL is as much a political tool to discredit and disqualify certain political actors as it is a mechanism of transitional justice. When focused, properly considered, and democratically implemented, lustration laws can help mark a new chapter for post-conflict and post-atrocity societies. For many Libyans, however, the PIL smacks of a continuation of Qaddafi regime tactics rather than the promise of a new way forward.
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Schabas on the OTPs Attempt to Reconsider Peresic Opinio Juris By Kevin Jon Heller February 7, 2014 Its an excellent post, well worth reading in its entirety. I just want to flag two particularly important points. The first concerns whether, in light of #ainovic, Peri$ic can really be considered fundamentally flawed. Schabas compellingly argues no. But the Prosecutor is not claiming that any new fact has been discovered. Rather, the Prosecutor is arguing that the law has changed as a result of the legal basis of the acquittal of Peri#ic being unequivocally overturned. But was it? First, there was a dissenting opinion in %ainovic. Under the circumstances, the word unequivocal is probably not appropriate. Second, Judge Ramaroson, who sat in both Peri#ic and %ainovic agreed with the majority judgment in both cases. I would not use the word unequivocal to describe such a strange situation. Judge Ramaroson might have enlightened us with a separate opinion to explain the change of heart. Third, the Appeals Chamber cannot overturn the Appeals Chamber. It may seem paradoxical, but by refusing to follow the finding in Peri#ic the judges in %ainovic may inadvertently have undermined the authority of their own judgment. Who is to say that yet another five-judge panel of the Appeals Chamber will not overturn %ainovic, perhaps restoring Peri#ic or possibily setting out a third vision of aiding and abetting? It seems more accurate to describe what has happened is that four judges of the Appeals Chamber disagree with four other judges of the Appeals Chamber (really, three judges, because one of them disagrees with herself). The second point concerns the human-rights implications of "reconsidering" Peri#ics acquittal 11 months after it became final. I considered mentioning the issue in my previous post, but ultimately didnt. Here is what Schabas says: The real problem with the Prosecutors motion concerns the rights of the accused. According to article 14(7) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country. The same rule is formulated slightly differently in article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights: 1. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the same State for an offence for which he has already been finally acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of the State. 2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not prevent the re-opening of the case in accordance with the law and penal procedure of the State concerned, if there is evidence of new or newly discovered facts, or if there has been a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings, which could affect the outcome of the case. 3. No derogation from this Article shall be made under Article 15 of the Convention. Can the Prosecutor argue that when Peri#ic was acquitted by the Appeals Chamber there was a fundamental defect in the proceedings? There is not much in the way of judicial interpretation on this expression. Recently a Chamber of the European
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Court of Human Rights held that there was such a fundamental defect where an acquittal was based upon an amnesty (Margu# v. Croatia, no. 4455/10, 74, 13 November 2012). The case is currently pending before the Grand Chamber. But four judges disagreeing with four judges cannot be described as a fundamental defect in the proceedings. The rule against double jeopardy (ne bis in idem) is part of a larger norm known by the term res judicata. It is almost certainly a general principle of law in the sense this expression is employed by article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. There is something profoundly troublesome about reconsideration of a final acquittal because a new judicial finding concerning legal interpretation is at variance with an earlier one. I have nothing to add to Schabass points. I completely agree with them. We can only hope, for the sake of the ICTYs legitimacy, that the Appeals Chamber does as well. Josh Gerstein on Piracy and Terrorism Trials Lawfare By Wells Bennett February 10, 2014 Over at Politico, Josh Gerstein has an interesting piece on the Ali piracy case, and its potential implications for terrorism cases. The articlewhich quotes Jen Daskal and Cully Stimson, among othersopens: The failed prosecution of an alleged Somali pirate and the fact that that failure could leave him living freely, and permanently, inside U.S. borders is highlighting anew the risks of trying terror suspects in American courts. Just a few weeks ago, Ali Mohamed Ali was facing the possibility of a mandatory life sentence in a 2008 shipjacking off the coast of Yemen an incident much like the one dramatized in the film Captain Phillips. Now, the Somali native is in immigration detention in Virginia and seeking permanent asylum in the United States. The arguments sketched out thereafter are likely familiar to Lawfare readers; and timely, given the inevitable conclusion to the United States armed conflict with AlQaeda, and the array of legal and policy questions that will accompany it. A seemingly evergreen subjectwhich Gerstein discusseshas to do with the legal status of terrorism suspects brought to the United States, from Guantanamo or elsewhere. The scenario is partially hypothetical, in that current law (still) forbids the use of defense funds to bring Guantanamo detainees to the mainland, for any reason; the United States very much is in the business of prosecuting nonGuantanamo people in stateside courtrooms. Well be hearing more about the issue from the Administration, and in the coming months. Recall that Section 1039 of the FY 2014 NDAA requires the executive branch to study and report on the legal rights, if any, for which an individual detained at Guantanamo if transferred to the United States, may become eligible, by reason of such transfer. By law, the document is due 120 days after the NDAAs enactment on December 26 of last yearlate April, according to my back-of-the-napkin estimate. Stay tuned.
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When Acquittal is Small Consolation Opinio Juris By Kevin Jon Heller February 12, 2014 Although the ICTYs recent high-profile acquittals have been getting all the attention, its worth noting that the ICTR Appeals Chamber has just acquitted two high-ranking defendants, Augustin Ndindiliyimana, the former chief of staff of the Rwandan paramilitary police, and FranoisXavier Nzuwonemeye, the former commander of a military reconnaissance battalion, on the ground that the Trial Chamber erred in concluding that they had effective control over gendarmes suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide. The acquittals are obviously notable in themselves, but whats particularly striking and more than a little disturbing is that Gen. Ndindiliyimana was originally sentenced to time served because he had spent 11 years in pre-trial detention: Mr. Ndindiliyimana, who was arrested in Belgium in 2000, was convicted in 2011 of genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity and murder, and he was sentenced to 11 years. He was freed after time served. Eleven years in pre-trial detention at an international tribunal is simply unacceptable. And Ndindiliyimanas acquittal on all charges after 11 years in pretrial detention simply adds insult to injury. All in all, a bad day for the ICTRs reputation. The Awful Truth About Holocaust Reporting and Its Legacy Justice in Conflict By Mark Kersten February 13, 2014 The history of genocide reporting is both fascinating and frustrating. There are few things more difficult to accurately portray through film, newspapers, blogs or photography than the so-called "crime of crimes". Acts of mass violence are complicated and coverage has often stripped them of their political context, redressing them in facile and misleading tropes. But there is no escaping the fact that reporters, filmmakers and journalists are integral to how we understand and misunderstand the causes and dynamics of mass violence. To the genocide scholar, this is nothing new. It is the daily grind. As a teacher on a unique and fascinating course on genocide convened by Jens Meierhenrich at the LSE, I have had the opportunity over the last few years to reflect on how mass atrocities are currently covered by the media as well as how they have been covered in the past. In Meierhenrichs incisive course reader, the crucial issue of genocide coverage receives its due attention and scrutiny. No doubt one of the most hard-hitting and impactful pieces that is highlighted is Marvin Kalbs lecture, The Journalism of the Holocaust (an adapted version of Kalbs argument). The focus of Kalbs 1996 lecture is on a rather perplexing problem that has long concerned scholars of genocide: why did American journalists largely ignore the Holocaust? After all Kalb reminds us that: "[w]e knew enough, and we knew enough in timely fashion. Week after week, month after month, we read about the roundup
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of Jews, the wholesale deportations, the killings How could such a story as the Holocaust not overwhelm the front page of every newspaper?" Kalb offers five reasons why the Holocaust, despite its scale and sheer brutality, was neglected in the American media: 1. It distracted from Allied interests in ending the war. According to Kalb, "[T]he Allies were determined to win the war; they did not have their focus on saving Jews [They] had settled, as firm policy, on the unconditional surrender of the Nazis, and "no other thought," even one as humanitarian as saving a people, was allowed to interfere with the prosecution of the war." 2. It fit with widespread antisemitism. According to Kalb, "a xenophobic antisemitism flourished among many Americans." He provides shocking statistics to support this observation: [S]hortly after the outbreak of the war, 66 percent of the American peopletwo out of every threedescribed the German people as essentially peace loving and kindly. Another poll said that 61 percent believed the German people should not be blamed for the mass killings of Jews. Fifty-eight percent said that only the Nazi leaders should be blamed. In January 1943, after Undersecretary Welles publicly confirmed the final solution, after the Allies publicly released their joint statement of condemnation, another poll said that more than half of the American people did not believe that the Nazis were deliberately killing the Jews. 3. People simply didnt believe it was possible. Others simply didnt want to believe that it was possible. 4. Journalists were overly cautious and adhered to US policy lines. As Kalb maintained, "American journalists, never an adventurous lot, performed, with very, very few exceptions, like obedient servants of the U.S. Government Across the desks of the Associated Press and the United Press came stories from Europe about the systematic killing of Jews, but few were put on the news agency wires for mass distribution." 5. The New York Times. According to Kalb, The New York Times "simply did not cover the Holocaust [D]uring the war The Times, which was and is so special to American journalism, knew much more than it printed about the Holocaust; and what it did print, it printed, as a rule, inside, cut, often trivialized." These are remarkable and rather devastating conclusions. But they are also relevant to contemporary coverage and reporting of genocide. This may seem a curious claim to make. After all, many would argue that a central problem in current reporting on mass atrocities isnt that it ignores or neglects the perpetration of genocidal violence but that it does reports on it too much and that, in pushing out thousands of articles, blog posts and tweets, genocide coverage obfuscates rather than elucidates the causes and drivers of genocide. But the original sin of neglecting the Holocaust and the current trend that has seen unprecedented coverage of alleged genocides may very well be linked. In his lecture, Kalb concluded by remarking that there was an enduring sense of shame amongst journalists at the New York Times for having turned a blind eye to the Holocaust: "to this day the people who run (or have run) this great newspaper are baffled and embarrassed by this extraordinary omission."
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There are few psychological and institutional drivers more powerful than shame and guilt. And it can easily be imagined that a sense of shame and guilt amongst many reporters and journalists has driven them to report first and think later. This comes at a significant cost. As a wealth of scholars have intimated, the first casualty of genocide reporting is often the truth. Context and nuance are supplanted by misleading narratives that are readily reproduced and recycled: good versus evil; African versus Arab; the heart of darkness, age-old ethnic hatreds, and so on. Of course, there is no obvious or clear remedy for skewed reporting on mass violence. But the politics and political implications of genocide coverage certainly deserve more attention and, indeed, more coverage. Dismissal of Charges in U.S. v. Ali Communis Hostis Omnium By Milena Sterio February 15, 2014 United States prosecutors have decided to drop charges against Ali Mohamed Ali, who had been charged with piracy, as well as with hostagetaking, for his alleged role as translator/negotiator after the seizure of a Danish vessel in 2008. The prosecutorial decision not to pursue the Ali case may come as an unpleasant surprise to come, or as confirmation to others that this controversial case should never have been initiated to begin with. Much has been written in the academic blogosphere about this case (see here and here and here). To sum up, Ali was a former Somaliland education minister, who had spent much of his adult life in the United States. After a Danish ship, the M/V CEC Future, was captured by Somali pirates in late 2008, Ali boarded the ship and translated the pirates demands to the ship owners. The crux of the Ali case (at least factually) centers around his role in this piracy incident: was Ali merely a translator, contributing toward the hostages eventual release by enabling negotiation with the kidnappers, or was he a pirate himself, helping his fellow criminals to enrich themselves further through another successful ransom request? It is undisputed that Ali boarded the kidnapped vessel after the violent piracy incident took place, and it is undisputed that Ali boarded the vessel while the vessel was docked in Somali territorial waters. Thus, Alis alleged act of facilitating piracy would have been committed in the Somali territorial waters, and not on the high seas. Despite such unusual "piracy" conduct by Ali, the United States government decided to build a case against him and to essentially ruse him onto American soil. Toward this end, Ali was invited to an education conference in North Carolina, and promptly arrested on the tarmac when his plane touched down in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2011. Jon Bellish, in a prior post, has summarized the procedural posture of the Ali case in American courts as follows: After a number of superseding indictments, a grand jury charged Ali with conspiracy to commit piracy, aiding and abetting piracy, conspiracy to commit hostage taking, and aiding and abetting hostage taking. Ali filed a motion to dismiss and was successful on a number of counts, with the lower court dismissing the conspiracy to commit piracy count, narrowing the aiding and abetting count to acts of facilitation that occurred on the high seas, and dismissing both hostage taking charges as a violation of due process.On appeal, the DC Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the conspiracy to commit piracy charge, but reversed the dismissal of the hostage
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taking charges and held that the United States may assert universal jurisdiction over acts of facilitation that take place entirely within the territory of another state. Following the DC Circuit court opinion, Ali was tried in the district court on charges that survived the appellate challenge, including hostage taking, we well as piracy facilitation, despite the fact, as mentioned above, that the act of facilitation did not take place on the high seas. Perhaps because of such unusual factual circumstances surrounding Alis alleged piracy conduct, his strange arrival to the United States, as well as because of the difficult legal argument necessary in order to convict Ali, the jury found him not guilty of the charge of piracy, but deadlocked on the less serious charge of hostage-taking. Prosecutors initially sought a retrial on the hostage-taking charges, but just announced a few weeks ago that they would not proceed with the retrial, because of constitutional concerns that Ali was being subjected to doublejeopardy (because the re-filed charges relied on the same basic facts). All of this leads me to my initial point that perhaps Ali should never have been prosecuted in the United States to begin with. The case was legally challenging from the outset. Ali was a universal jurisdiction case a prosecution of an alleged piracy facilitator who had no ties to the United States, and who could only be reached through universal jurisdiction, which has historically been available for the crime of piracy. But in order to prove that Ali had committed piracy (so that he could be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction), American prosecutors had to show that Alis facilitative act under Article 101(c) of UNCLOS need not have occurred on the high seas, as long as the underlying act of piracy (committed against the Danish vessel) had itself occurred on the high seas. In other words, Ali could be convicted of facilitating piracy on dry land or in Somali territorial waters under the concept of universal jurisdiction. Accepting this argument is difficult to say the least, and commentators had suggested that a high seas requirement for piracy facilitation should always be required. Factually, the case was difficult as well. While it was undisputed that Ali had helped negotiated the ransom demand, it was unclear as to what Alis role in the piracy endeavor (if any) had been. Under the Ali precedent, would insurance company mediators, negotiating between pirates and the shipping company, also be subject to universal jurisdiction for facilitating piracy? What about pilots who fly planes which drop the ransom money? And what about the ruse orchestrated by United States prosecutors to entice Ali into coming to America? The district court judge herself had been outraged by the prosecutorial conduct, and while this would not be ground for dismissal under American law, most of us agree that this kind of governmental and prosecutorial conduct portrays the United States in a negative diplomatic and political light. My argument, for the purposes of this post, is not to claim that the Ali appellate court was correct or incorrect, or to try to shed light on what Ali had actually done in this particular piracy incident; instead, let me point out that legally and factually difficult cases, like Ali, should not be the subject of expensive prosecutions thousands of miles away from Somali shores. Many of us will agree that combatting piracy is a global challenge which involves, among other strategies, creating multiple prosecutorial venues where suspected pirates are routinely charged and convicted (if found guilty). But the international community actors involved in fighting piracy have limited resources, limited time, and limited attention to this global problem. Instead of pursuing piracy negotiators like Ali, whose guilt may be doubtful and whose prosecution could only succeed through a stretch of the universal jurisdiction concept, why dont we focus on those who actually engage in piracy attacks, or, more importantly, on those who plan and finance piracy attacks? Finally, now that Alis prosecution has come to a halt, we have to ask ourselves what will happen to this defendant now that he is on
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American soil, will he apply for political asylum in the United States or attempt to stay here on other grounds (something that our prosecutors clearly did not have in mind when they lured Ali to America?) The risk of unsuccessfully prosecuting Ali was never worth the potential benefit. As Genocide Looms The New York Times The Central African Republic is on the verge of being torn apart by the rampages of Christian and Muslim militias and civilian mobs. Since French and African Union troops arrived there in December with a United Nationssanctioned mission to prevent mass murder, the situation has degenerated alarmingly. The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million people, more than half the population of the country, need help, but sectarian killings are making it impossible to reach them. On Saturday, France pledged to add 400 troops to its force of 1,600 that is now working with about 5,500 African Union peacekeepers. These troops are overwhelmed by the scale of the violence. Disturbingly, some Chadian forces among the African Union peacekeepers are colluding with Muslim fighters, which include mercenaries from Chad and Sudan, who prey on Christian civilians. In Bangui, the Muslim population has largely fled. Christian militias have taken advantage of the chaos to engage in horrific ethnic cleansing of Muslims. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, warned last week that genocide and the partition of the country are real risks. Catherine Samba-Panza, who became interim president of the republic on Jan. 20, has vowed to keep the country whole. Over the weekend, some Christian militias showed interest in beginning to talk about security. The European Union has pledged 500 troops to help establish a safe haven in Bangui. The United Nations has released an additional $10 million from its emergency humanitarian fund. These efforts are hardly enough. Donor countries pledged $207 million in humanitarian aid at a meeting last month, though only 28 percent of the money has been committed or disbursed. The United Nations $551 million strategic response plan is only 13 percent funded. Donors need to fulfill their pledges immediately. Rogue members of the peacekeeping forces must be held accountable. The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary investigation into war crimes. Far more international peacekeepers must be deployed quickly to avert a catastrophe and to let President Samba-Panza prepare for elections by next February. Without urgent action, the Central African Republics descent into chaos will soon be unstoppable. The lives of millions of people are at risk. A Break in the Status Quo: Could North Korea Be Referred to the ICC? Justice in Conflict By Mark Kersten February 18, 2014 Its news that isnt actually news. A Commission of Inquiry, set up by the United Nations, has issued a report concluding that North Korea has been committing crimes against humanity against its own people. Evidence was gathered primarily through the testimony of North Koreans who had
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defected from the regime and focuses on the countrys notorious labour camps. As the report was released, Michael Kirby, one of the Commissions members sent an ominous message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, suggesting that he could eventually be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC): "The Commission wishes to draw your attention that it will therefore recommend that the United Nations refer the situation in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [the formal name for North Korea] to the international criminal court to render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for the crimes against humanity." Here are a few thoughts on what the Commissions report means and what it doesnt. North Koreas Holocaust? Kirby compared the atrocities being committed in North Korea to those of the Holocaust, stating that there were "many parallels". As a means of highlighting the severity and extent of the atrocities perpetrated in North Korea, there is little doubt that comparing them to the Holocaust is useful. Drawing parallels between crimes committed by the North Korean regime and those perpetrated by the Nazis appears to be an attempt to strike a deep, moral chord within a primarily Western audience. Indeed, the reference to Nazi Germany was quite clearly made in order to galvanize support for some form of intervention into North Korea. Kirby declared that: "At the end of the Second World War so many people said if only we had known if only we had known the wrongs that were done in the countries of the hostile forces "Well, now the international community does know There will be no excusing of failure of action because we didnt know." This is a misreading of what was known about the Holocaust during WWII. The Allied powers knew of Nazi-perpetrated atrocities long before the conclusion of the war and, for a complex, if questionable, set of reasons, explicitly ruled out any form of intervention to undermine the Nazis Final Solution that would detract from their singular goal of ending the war. There is a widespread sense of guilt, especially within the West that not enough was done to stop the Holocaust (as well as the Rwandan Genocide). Its invocation is thus something of a moralizing call-to-arms aimed at preventing "another Holocaust". But the invocation of the Holocaust as a tool to make headlines and stir the moral imagination of global audiences comes at some cost, especially as it has the effect of de-contextualizing, de-historicizing and depoliticizing the crimes both in North Korea and during WWII. This has the ultimate effect of making it immensely difficult to craft appropriate responses to mass atrocities even more so than it already is. Rocking the Boat: Pressure to Refer North Korea to the ICC? There has long been a rather "precarious silence" regarding the potential for international criminal justice in North Korea. I have previously written about the existence of a status quo, reinforced by the international community in its relations with Pyongyang and which has precluded attempts to bring leaders of the regime to account. The Commission of Inquiry poses a potentially significant challenge to this
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status quo. And this is perhaps its most important contribution. There have previously been calls to refer North Korea to the ICC but nothing nearly as substantive as the Commissions report. While the recommendations of Commissions of Inquiry are not legally binding, Commission report reports do hold a certain legal and political gravitas. As a result, the member-states of the United Nations Security Council will have a very difficult time ignoring the report. The question that remains is whether the report will lead the UN Security Council to deal with atrocities and international crimes being perpetrated in North Korea head on. It goes without saying that it is high time that they did. Still, it is unlikely that the report will lead to a referral of North Korea to the ICC (although crazier things have happened in the world of international criminal justice, so you really never know). But the report could very well force UN Security Council states especially the US, Russia and China to deal with alleged atrocities on the Commissions terms. This could potentially pose a severe test to that very status quo that has allowed states to largely turn a blind eye to North Korea atrocities for decades. Blame China? Since North Korea is not a member-state of the ICC, the North Korean leadership cannot be investigated or prosecuted for any atrocities perpetrated on North Korean soil. That is unless the Security Council agrees to refer North Korea to the Court. Again, this is unlikely to happen any time soon. Reading various reports on the prospects of prosecuting North Korean leaders, it becomes clear that there is a broad consensus on what the main barrier to referring North Korea to the ICC is: China. For example, an article in al Jazeera claimed that "justice remains a distant prospect, not least as North Koreas ally, China, would be likely to block any referral to the Hague-based ICC." Peter Walker, writing in The Guardian, similarly argues that an ICC referral "would probably be vetoed by China, which has close links with North Korea". It may very well be that China is against a Security Council referral of the situation in North Korea to the ICC. In reaction to the Commission of Inquiry report, the Chinese government stated that it would "not help resolve the human rights situation" and constituted "unreasonable criticism". Still, it seems to me that myopically honing in on Chinas role much the same way that many blame the lack of intervention in Syria on the "evil Russians" - is both wrong and irresponsible. First, it is obvious that there can be no end to repression in North Korea without China. Second, what about everyone else? It seems far from clear that Western powers (especially the US) would be willing to have the situation in North Korea referred to the Court. Indeed, it is worth asking: has any major power Western or not put forward a comprehensive plan to prevent atrocities, achieve justice, and end suffering in North Korea? I think the answer to that question is a resounding no. How will North Korea React? It remains unclear how the North Korean regime will react to the Commission of Inquirys report. So far, the response has been muted. But prior to its release, some feared that the report could make matters worse not better. As one observer suggested,
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Yet some defectors and gulag survivors worry that the very act of trying to shine a bright public light into the dark corridors of the North could lead the Kim regime to kill the current denizens of the gulag, to "eliminate the evidence." Time will tell how the North Korean regime responds. Its reaction will likely and largely depend on whether and how quickly its favoured status quo can be reestablished. But if the Commission of Inquirys report is as many hope a breaking point, then that status quo may have been permanently disrupted.
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WORTH READING
The Protection of Children Against Recruitment and Participation in Hostilities: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law as Complementary Legal Frameworks "Proceedings of the Bruges Colloquium: Vulnerabilities in Armed Conflicts" By Matthew Happold February 5, 2014 This paper argues that although tensions exist between the perspective of international humanitarian law and human rights thinking, in general a coherent body of law has emerged to regulate childrens recruitment and participation in hostilities. The fragmentation arising out a plethora of treaties on the subject has been ameliorated by nearly all States adhesion to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and by the promulgation of general standards by the Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. One might consider that those rules set too low an age or are too narrow in their scope. However, the first criticism complains about a lack of political will, not a legal failure. And in response to the second there has been a widening of the prohibition of under-15s' use to participate in hostilities, albeit in a manner open to legal critique. Moreover, there is increasing international action to enforce the rules, most publicly through the work of the International Criminal Court; more consistently and effectively through that of the Security Councils Working Group. Complementarity and Cooperative Justice Ahead of Their Time? The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Fact-Finding and Evidence By Carsten Stahn February 6, 2014 Today, many international criminal lawyers claim that the future of international law is 'domestic'. The example of the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) shows that this might not only be the 'future', but also the 'past'. This article analyzes the practice of the Commission (1943-1948), with a particular emphasis on facts, evidence
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and interaction with domestic authorities. It argues that the UNWCC marked an early counter-model to the idea of military justice that prevailed in many WWII accountability initiatives, and an alternative to the centralized and situation-specific enforcement model under the umbrella of UN peace maintenance. The Commission represents a cooperative approach to justice and sovereignty that has gone lost in the course of the second half of the 20th century. In the mid-1940s, attention shifted quickly, and perhaps too early from the UNWCC itself to the idea of centralized enforcement under the umbrella of an International Criminal Court. The work of the Commission foreshadows many core dilemmas of contemporary international justice, including debates over independent investigative authority, proprio motu powers, the labeling and origin of core crimes (e.g., aggression, crimes against humanity), the treatment of group criminality (e.g., attribution of conduct) and evidentiary standards in proceedings. Similar structures are gradually re-emerging in the context of regional integration (e.g., 'mutual trust' under the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice) or the operationalization of complementarity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. But in terms of cooperation between major powers and use of international expertise and advice in criminal proceedings, international criminal justice is still in search of a modern UNWCC 2.0. Trafficking in Human Beings: A Modern Form of Slavery or a Transnational Crime? Amsterdam Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series By Harmen G. Van der Wilt February 11, 2014 Trafficking in human beings is often qualified as a modern form of slavery, with the obvious intention to stress the seriousness of the crime and to bring it within the jurisdictional scope of the International Criminal Court. This article critically assesses this position. The author argues that, while there is certainly overlap between the crimes, trafficking in human beings and enslavement are distinct categories. Moreover, he questions the urgency of expanding the jurisdiction of the ICC with this crime, in view of the improving performance of national states to tackle trafficking in human beings.
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War Crimes Prosecution Watch Staff
Founder/Advisor Professor Michael P. Scharf Editor in Chief

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Hilarie Henry Managing Editors Audrey Balint Rachel Berman-Vaporis Senior Technical Editor Peter Beardsley Associate Technical Editors Morgan Kearse Sarah Hutnik Casey McCullen Aaron Kearney Emerging Issues Advisor Judge Rosemelle Mutoka Contact: warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org
International Criminal Court

Central African Republic &Uganda Abigail Omojola, Senior Editor Sara Grout, Associate Editor Darfur, Sudan Andrew Udofia, Senior Editor Andrew Krumwied, Associate Editor Democratic Republic of the Congo Shira Straus, Senior Editor Amanda Soraiz, Associate Editor Kenya Tonise Webb, Senior Editor Andrew Moore, Associate Editor Libya Joshuah Lisk, Senior Editor Amanda Soraiz, Associate Editor Ivory Coast Michelle Faraji, Senior Editor Jiefei Yang, Associate Editor
Africa
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Abigail Avoryie, Senior Editor Sara Grout, Associate Editor Mali Emily Gibbons, Senior Editor Patrick Maloney, Associate Editor
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Chad Chelsea Shenton, Senior Editor Kelly Gans, Associate Editor Special Court for Sierra Leone Joshuah Lisk, Senior Editor Jon Dawson, Associate Editor
Europe
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Section Laura Smolley, Senior Editor Tyler Kimberly, Associate Editor International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Laura Smolley, Senior Editor Andrew Krumwied, Associate Editor Domestic Prosecutions in the Former Yugoslavia Alix Noureddine, Senior Editor Jiefei Yang, Associate Editor
Middle East and Asia

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Casandra Tice, Senior Editor Lois Yu, Associate Editor Special Tribunal for Lebanon Shefali Saxena, Senior Editor Jeong Soo Kim, Associate Editor Iraqi High Tribunal Tahera Javed, Senior Editor Samie Farhat, Associate Editor Syria Tahera Javed, Senior Editor Samie Farhat, Associate Editor Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Shefali Saxena, Senior Editor Madeline Jack, Associate Editor War Crimes Investigations in Burma Emily Gibbons, Senior Editor Lois Yu, Associate Editor
North and South America

United States Harrison Blythe , Associate Editor South & Central America Malea Hetrick, Associate Editor
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Topics
Terrorism Abigail Omojola, Senior Editor Jacqueline Hazzan, Associate Editor Piracy Michelle Faraji, Senior Editor Kyunghwa Kim, Associate Editor Gender-Based Violence LeAnne Dao, Senior Editor Malea Hetrick, Associate Editor
Reports
UN Reports Abigail Avoryie, Senior Editor Kelly Gans, Associate Editor NGO Reports Samuel Dodoo, Senior Editor Tyler Kimberly , Associate Editor
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

John Rogers, Senior Editor Sarah Stula, Associate Editor
Commentary and Perspectives

James Stevick, Senior Editor Richard Wanerman, Associate Editor
Worth Reading
Elizabeth Horan, Senior Editor David Litman, Associate Editor
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is prepared by the International Justice Practice of the Public International Law & Policy Group and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center of Case Western Reserve University School of Law and is made possible by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Open Society Institute. Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog: http://law.case.edu/grotian-moment-blog/ Frederick K. Cox International Law Center:
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http://law.case.edu/centers/cox/ Cox Center War Crimes Research Portal: http://law.case.edu/war-crimes-research-portal/
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org.
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War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 8, Issue 24 - February 24, 2014

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War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol.

8, Issue 24 -- February 24, 2014

FREDERICK K. COX INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER

WAR CRIMES PROSECUTION WATCH

Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

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War Crimes Investigations in Burma

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

South & Central America

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TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS

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COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

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Democratic Republic of the Congo

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