Michael P. Scharf and |
War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 5 - Issue 11 |
Editor in Chief Managing Editors Senior Technical Editor |
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.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Special Court for Sierra Leone
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Central African Republic & Uganda
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Uganda
Africa Pledges to Arrest Uganda Rebel Chief
Expatica France
August 18, 2010
The Central African Republic pledged Wednesday it would arrest Ugandan rebel chief and war crimes suspect Joseph Kony with help from Uganda, the United States and France.
The efforts of the four governments "will make it possible to lay hands on Joseph Kony," said Jean-Francis Bozize, defence minister and eldest son of President Francois Bozize.
According to the ministry, "the government has recently deployed reinforcements in the northeast to make as secure as possible the regions rife with the Lord's Resistance Army rebels," he said on national radio.
The eastern regions of Haut-Mbomou and Mbomou had been "calm and their populations lived in peace," were, Bozize said. "But since 2008 a misfortune has landed on them."
Bozize said the LRA in these regions had been responsible for assassinations, deportations, housefires and pillaging. Consequently, Centrafrica had allowed the Ugandan army to enter its territory in 2009.
The LRA, led by Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, first took up arms against the government in northern Uganda in 1988, waging a brutal rebel war that displaced scores of thousands.
But since 2005, under pressure from the Ugandan army, the LRA has moved into remote outlying areas in neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and the south of Sudan.
The fugitive LRA leader has been on the run since December 2008 when regional states launched a hunt to nab him after he refused to sign a peace deal with Kampala.
In July this year, Bangui officially appealed to the US government for help in "neutralising" the LRA, and on July 14 France announced that it would also send a mission to the troubled areas.
Bozize said Kony would be caught through the efforts of Uganda, which has forces operating in the CAR with Bangui's permission, the United States, which sent a 19-strong military team to Haut-Mbomou, and France.
Rebel LRA Attacks in South Sudan 'On The Increase'
BBC News
August 23, 2010
An estimated 25,000 people have been forced from their homes by the LRA this year in Southern Sudan Attacks in Southern Sudan by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army are on the increase, officials say.
Deputy governor of Western Equatoria told the BBC that not a week goes by without reports of the group, notorious for its brutality, attacking a village.
More than 25,000 people have been forced from their homes in south Sudan by the LRA since January, the UN says.
The rebels, initially from Uganda, are now mainly in Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The head of the Southern Sudan government's humanitarian agency for Western Equatoria, Lexson Wari Amozai, suggested that the rise in attacks was carefully timed.
He said that they never attacked during the planting season.
"When you are cultivating they will not attack you," he said.
"Once you have cultivated and the harvest is almost coming out, they will chase you out so that they'll get your food."
The BBC's Peter Martell in Nzara, on Western Equatoria's border with DR Congo, says hundreds of people have recently arrived in the village seeking food and medical help.
The villagers said their own vigilante force, known as the Arrow Boys, had failed to fight off the latest series of rebel attacks.
"The LRA came at around 8pm and they started burning the houses and our people," one of the vigilantes, who had gunshot wounds on his arm and back, told the BBC.
"Three of us Arrow Boys were killed, three wounded and we wounded one of them," he said.
Earlier this month, US-based Human Rights Watch accused the rebels of going on a massive recruitment campaign in DR Congo and CAR.
LRA leader Joseph Kony began his rebellion 20 years ago, claiming to want to install a Bible-based theocracy in Uganda.
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and now lives an itinerant life, crossing between Sudan and the CAR.
In 2008, he was about to sign a peace deal, negotiated by Southern Sudan, but at the last minute he refused to lay down his arms.
In May, the US passed legislation promising a comprehensive strategy to protect civilians from LRA attacks.
US Law Weak Amid LRA Rebel Attacks
Afrik News
By Konye Obaji Ori
August 23, 2010
A United States law that was passed in May and which demands the Washington administration to develop a strategy to ensure civilians are protected from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA); to end the rebels campaign of butchery; and the recruiting of more members including child soldiers, has yet to take effect as south Sudan suffers renewed guerilla attacks from the LRA.
"The attacks this year by the LRA seem to be on the increase. Not a week goes by without us receiving a message they have attacked a village," Sapana Abuyi, deputy governor of Western Equatoria, the state in south Sudan hardest hit by the rebels told reporters.
According to eyewitness accounts documented by AFP on May 16, 2010, the LRA militiamen attacked and torched the village of Basukangbi in southern Sudan. The village defense force known as the Arrow Boys, tried to defend the village with their bows and arrows, but were shot at, after which the young men were dragged off into the forest to join the LRA.
The U.S. bill allocates funding towards humanitarian aid and post-conflict justice and reconciliation processes, but the primary focus in the U.S Congress is on a military strategy to apprehend or otherwise remove LRA leaders. A strategy that has however not been developed.
And prolonged attacks by the LRA have weakened the south Sudan population and the United Nations and aid agencies worry there is little sign of finding a solution or ending the attacks.
"All along the border they have killed and abducted children for their evil army. The peace that was ongoing has ended, and no one is talking about it," Lexson Wari Amozai, the head of the south Sudan government’s humanitarian agency for Western Equatoria was quoted as saying.
The U.S. bill calls for an assessment of options through which the United States, working with regional governments, could help develop and support multilateral efforts to eliminate the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Apart from issues of internal ethnic conflicts and tensions with northern Sudan, south Sudan has seen more than 25,000 of its people flee their homes since January, for fear of the brutality of the LRA, United Nations authorities have revealed.
Nonetheless, some locals believe an increase in the LRA attacks is linked to the ripe harvests currently in the fields. They believe the rebel group stay away while they cultivate, but return when the crops are good, forcing them away so they [the rebels] can take their food.
With reports of U.S. military drones flying over Mogadishu to help the transitional government in Somalia to track the al-Shabab extremists, analysts, observers and locals expect a similar multilateral approach to eliminating the LRA.
The LRA led by Joseph Kony, a man wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in two decades of fighting. The rebellion which first began against the government of Uganda later spread to south Sudan, DR Congo and the Central African Republic.
The soldiers of both southern Sudanese and Ugandan patrol the forest areas in the region, but the LRA guerrillas have become experts in hit-and-run raids.
The U.S. bill emerged in response to aggressive calls from a handful of US-based organizations such as the Enough Project, and Invisible Children.
UN Sets Up New Refugee Camp
News 24
August 24, 2010
The United Nations has set up a new refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than 1,500 refugees fleeing rebels of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the UN said on Tuesday.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the camp at Kpala-Kpala in the north of DRC was for people coming across the border from the Central African Republic, where the LRA is active.
"In spite of major logistical difficulties, the HCR and its partners have established the refugee camp at Kpala-Kpala, notably by building emergency shelters and latrines, and by tapping a source of water."
Caritas Germany and the Congolese National Commission for Refugees are also taking part in the relief effort, as are the UN World Food Programme and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The LRA has kidnapped almost 700 people, a third of them children, during attacks in the DRC and the CAR since February 2009, according to a report published in mid-August by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Led by Joseph Kony - who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity - the LRA has a reputation as one of the most brutal guerrilla movements in the world.
It took up arms in 1988 in northern Uganda, but has been largely defeated in that country and extended its activities into the far northeast of the DRC about a decade ago and then into the CAR in 2008.
The LRA is also active in south Sudan.
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Darfur, Sudan
ICC Judges Dismiss Motions Calling for Condemning Prosecutor
Sudan Tribune
August 24, 2010
The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected two motions submitted this month calling for the court to condemn prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo over an article he authored in the UK based Guardian newspaper last month.
Ocampo’s article was published following a long sought decision by the court charging Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur. This was in addition to seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity already included in Bashir’s warrant of arrest.
The first motion filed on July 30th by Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation (SWTUF) and the Sudan International Defense Group (SIDG) asked the Pre-Trial Chamber I to review Ocampo’s statements in the article "and decide on an appropriate course of action".
"It is evident from the article of 15 July 20 I0 that the Prosecutor may be seeking to gain support from the international community for his case or to be building public momentum and backing for his allegations that might render dispassionate adjudication by the Trial Chamber more difficult," said attorney Geoffrey Nice who made the submission on behalf of the two pro-Sudan groups.
Nice asserted that Ocampo has went to give the impression that Bashir has already been convicted of genocide which was not the case at this stage of the proceedings.
The Rome Statute which forms the basis of the ICC, states that a warrant is to be issued if there is "reasonable evidence" to believe that the individual has committed the crime alleged by the prosecutor.
At the subsequent stages of confirmation hearings and the trial, a higher threshold of evidence is required to indict the suspect.
Nice also referred in his filing to a ruling by the Trial Chamber in the separate case of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, where the judges reprimanded one of Ocampo’s aides over the content of an interview she made which was deemed to compromise the integrity and fairness of the judicial process.
However, on August 6 the ICC judge decided that the submission was inadmissible because SWTUF and SIDG failed to identify the issue requiring determination by the chamber and also because they did not request a leave to submit an observation on the matter.
Furthermore, the judge determined that the submission fell "outside the scope and purpose of rule 103" which allows third parties to file motions on a specific case.
Today the judge rejected a similar motion by Michelyne C. St-Laurent, the court’s ad-hoc defence lawyer for Bashir, regarding Ocampo’s article saying that this fell outside her mandate which is to protect the interests of the defence "only within the context and for the purposes of the proceedings related to victims’ applications for participation."
Sudan Leader Defies Arrest Warrant, Visits Kenya
Associated Press
By Tom Odula and Krista Larson
August 27, 2010
Sudan's president defied an international arrest warrant by visiting Kenya on Friday, causing an outcry from the International Criminal Court which fruitlessly pressured authorities here into arresting the man accused of masterminding the genocide in Darfur.
Rather than arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was invited along with other regional leaders for the signing of Kenya's new constitution, officials here treated him with the dignity accorded a head of state. Wearing a dark suit and tie, al-Bashir had a front-row position for the historic ceremony.
The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders. Al-Bashir's presence in Kenya underscored that the system to bring the world's worst human rights violators to justice depends on member states and raised doubts about Kenya's willingness to hand over suspects expected to soon be charged by the ICC for postelection violence that left more than 1,000 Kenyans dead in 2007-08.
Al-Bashir was charged in March 2009 with five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes for allegedly orchestrating atrocities in Darfur, a region of Sudan. In July, the ICC charged him with three counts of genocide, the first time the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges.
Darfur's ethnic African rebels rose up in 2003, accusing Sudan's Arab-dominated central government of neglect and discrimination. U.N. officials estimated 300,000 people died and 2.7 million were displaced.
In The Hague, Netherlands, where the ICC is based, the judges said in a written order that Kenya "has a clear obligation to cooperate" in enforcing arrest warrants. The court also ordered its registrar to inform the U.N. Security Council of al-Bashir's presence in Kenya "in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate."
"His presence there is a slap on the souls of the victims of the genocide in Darfur," said Ahmed Hussain Adam, spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement, the most powerful rebel group in Darfur.
Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula defended the invitation, saying al-Bashir is the "head of state of a friendly neighbor state."
Al-Bashir later skipped out on a state luncheon hosted by the Kenyan president. Earlier this year, he traveled to Chad, another ICC member state that also opted not to apprehend him.
Wetangula argued that Kenya did not act on the ICC warrant because the African Union has decided no member should arrest the Sudanese leader. Other AU members such as South Africa, though, have indicated that they would arrest al-Bashir if he visited their countries.
Al-Bashir's stop in Kenya was kept under wraps until the last minute. A schedule of heads of state sent out Thursday evening indicated that Sudan would be represented by the country's first vice president.
Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state indicted by the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal since it was established in 2002. He refuses to recognize the court's jurisdiction.
While the Kenya trip only marked only his second trip to an ICC member state, al-Bashir has visited Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt and Libya, attended an Arab League summit in Qatar and performed a pilgrimage to Islam's holiest city, Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
A top Kenyan human rights activist, Njonjo Mue, said al-Bashir's visit should worry those seeking justice for Kenya's spasm of violence more than two years ago.
"If Kenya cannot arrest and transfer al-Bashir, it is unlikely it will arrest and transfer its top politicians and businessmen who may be indicted," Mue, the head of the Kenya chapter of the International Center for Transitional Justice, told The Associated Press.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has said he believes that crimes against humanity were committed during the violence after Kenya's 2007 election. He has said he expects the investigation to conclude by the end of this year, culminating in charges against up to roughly a half-dozen people who allegedly directed the violence.
Pre-Trial Chamber I informs the Security Council and the Assembly of States Parties about Omar Al Bashir’s visits to Kenya and Chad
ICC Press Release
August 27, 2010
Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two decisions informing the Security Council of the United Nations and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute about Omar Al Bashir’s visits to the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad, "in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate".
The Chamber had learnt that Al Bashir was invited by the Government of Kenya to attend today’s celebrations for the promulgation of the new Kenyan Constitution and was in Chad from 21 to 23 July. The Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad have an "obligation to cooperate with the Court" to enforce the warrants of arrest issued against Al Bashir by the ICC, according to the Chamber.
The ICC Registrar was ordered to immediately transmit these decisions to the Security Council and to the Assembly of States Parties. Previously, pursuant to the Pre-Trial Chamber decisions issuing two warrants of arrest against Omar Al Bashir, the ICC Registrar had issued and transmitted requests for arrest and surrender of Mr. Al Bashir to all States Parties to the Rome Statute, including the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad.
On 4 March, 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC issued a first warrant of arrest against Mr. Al Bashir considering that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect is criminally responsible for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts for war crimes. A second warrant of arrest was issued against Mr. Al Bashir, on 12 July, 2010, for three counts of genocide.
The situation in Darfur was referred to the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1593, on 31 March, 2005. In this situation, four cases are being heard: The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Muhammad Harun ("Ahmad Harun") and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb"); The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir; The Prosecutor v. Bahar Idriss Abu Garda and The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Defense Lawyers Say Halting Lubanga’s ICC Trial Was Inevitable
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
August 18, 2010
War crimes accused Thomas Lubanga’s lawyers have asked the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reject an appeal against the stay of proceedings, stating that the prosecutor had refused to obey orders issued by trial judges.
"The suspension of proceedings ordered by the chamber, far from being unjustified or excessive, appears to be the logical and inevitable consequence of the unacceptable behavior of the prosecutor in this case," lead defense attorney Catherine Mabille said in an August 9 filing.
The prosecution has appealed the stay of proceedings ordered on July 8, 2010 by the trial chamber presided over by Judge Adrian Fulford, arguing that it was excessive and erroneous. Trial judges suspended the trial after the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) failed to disclose to the defense the identity of an individual known as ‘intermediary 143’, who helped prosecution investigators identify people who could testify against Mr. Lubanga.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, said in a July 30, 2010 filing that the trial judges should have considered sanctioning prosecutors rather than ordering a stay of proceedings. The prosecution has appealed both the stay of proceedings and the order for Mr. Lubanga’s release, which was issued on July 15, 2010.
Ms. Mabille said it was not acceptable that the execution of a court order should be subject to whether the prosecutor considered it consistent with his rights and obligations. She added that the trial chamber was therefore right to stay the proceedings, as the prosecutor had declined to obey the release order and had indicated that he would not implement future orders that he felt conflicted with his interpretation of the prosecution’s obligations.
According to the defense, the only procedural right available to the prosecutor to challenge the disclosure orders was to appeal against the disclosure order "but this appeal [right] has not been used."
The prosecution has not appealed against the disclosure orders, as it says it is now ready to effect them. At the time the orders were issued, prosecutors pleaded that if the identity of ‘intermediary 143’ were revealed to Mr. Lubanga’s defense before protective measures were instituted for the intermediary, his security would be compromised.
The prosecution requested to be given some time to have these protections instituted, but judges ruled that revealing the intermediary’s identity to Mr. Lubanga defense, including the defense’s agent in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), would not pose a security risk to the individual.
The defense contends that the "delaying tactics" that the prosecutor attempted to use to deal with the disclosure orders amounted to an unequivocal expression of its refusal to comply with the orders. A day before the stay of proceedings, the defense stated that it could not proceed with the cross-examination of ‘intermediary 321’ who was at the time giving evidence if it was unaware of the identity of ‘intermediary 143.’
In the August 9 application, Ms. Mabille argued that the revelation of the identity of ‘intermediary 143’ was essential for a fair trial since this individual, as well as other intermediaries that go by the court-given numbers 321 and 316, and some unnamed employees of the OTP, allegedly participated in fabricating evidence.
The defense said it needed to know the identity of this individual for its questioning of the two other intermediaries and other OTP staff who had been summoned to give evidence, "and to assess his possible relationship with other actors in this fraudulent process."
Mr. Lubanga, whom prosecutors allege was the founder of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), is accused of enlisting, conscripting, and using child soldiers in armed conflict during 2002 and 2003. The ICC’s prosecutors also charge that he was the commander-in-chief of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), an armed group allied to the UPC that used child soldiers in inter-ethnic fighting in Congo.
The appeals chamber has not yet given an indication of whether it will allow a request by Mr. Moreno-Ocampo for oral hearings of the appeal. Mr. Lubanga’s trial started in January last year although he had been in ICC detention since March 2006.
Judges Allow Victims to Participate in Lubanga Release Appeal
LubangtaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
August 19, 2010
Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court have granted victims who are participating in the trial of Thomas Lubanga the right to take part in the prosecution’s appeal against his release.
In an August 17, 2010 ruling, the judges stated that the victims should present their views and concerns with respect to their personal interests in the issues raised in the appeal. The victims’ submissions were to be presented by August 23, 2010.
The appeals chamber found that the victims met all the criteria for participation in the appeals. Furthermore, the appeals chamber considered the participation of victims to be appropriate, noting that it was consistent with Mr. Lubanga rights, especially because he would have the right to respond to the submissions of the victims.
Prosecutors at the ICC are appealing an order for Mr. Lubanga’s release, which trial judges issued on July 15, 2010 following a stay of proceedings. Accused of enlisting, conscripting, and using children under the age of 15 years in armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo during 2002 and 2003, Mr. Lubanga has been in ICC custody since March 2006.
The prosecution has supported the participation of victims in the appeal against the stay of proceedings and the release order. For its part, the defense chose not to respond to the victims’ application to participate in the appeal, but said it reserved the right to respond to the victims’ submissions if they were allowed to participate. Mr. Lubanga’s defense has in the past criticized the role victims have played in the trial, charging that they have often attempted to play a prosecutorial role.
Victims participating in Mr. Lubanga’s trial have been allowed to question defense and prosecution witnesses whose testimonies they felt directly affected their interests. Three of the 103 victims taking part in the trial also gave testimony in court.
In this week’s decision, appeals judges pointed out that victims could only participate in an appeal if they are already participating victims in the proceedings, and their personal interests must be affected by the issues on appeal. Besides, their participation must be at an appropriate stage of the proceedings and the manner of participation must neither be prejudicial nor inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and impartial trial.
However, presiding judge Sang-Hyun Song appended a separate opinion to the ruling granting victims the right to take part in the appeal against Mr. Lubanga’s release. He stated that he agreed with the majority of the judges that victims should be allowed to make submissions on the appeal. However, he disagreed with the approach of the majority to participation of victims in appeals.
Judge Song stated, "In my view, victims who have been permitted to participate in proceedings giving rise to an appeal under that provision are participants in terms of regulation 64 (4) and (5) of the Regulations of the Court. They therefore have the right to file a response to the document in support of the appeal. There is neither a need for them to apply for participation, nor for the Appeals Chamber to rule on such applications."
Other judges hearing the appeal are Erkki Kourula, Anita Usacka, Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko, and Sanji Mmasenono Monageng.
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Republic of Kenya
Lobby Renews Push for Local Tribunal
Daily Nation
By Dave Opiyo
August 16, 2010
A lobby group has renewed calls for the establishment of a special tribunal to complement the International Criminal Court in indicting masterminds of the poll chaos.
The International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) further wants President Kibaki and Prime minister Raila Odinga to specify a time frame for the adoption of the witness protection mechanisms, a precondition for ensuring accountability for human rights violations.
It has also asked ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo to issue a report on the progress of investigations leading to the arrest and prosecution of the masterminds of the violence.
In a statement, ICPC expressed disappointment over the government’s failure "to keep its promises about justice for the election violence".
"We are urging for credible national trials of the suspects outside the ambit of ICC. It is crucial for the two to demonstrate the political will to press for accountability by holding perpetrators accountable," said Mr Ndung’u Wainaina, the executive director.
He went on: "The two principals have clearly failed to address questions of criminal responsibility ... Yet a new constitutional order heralds a firm and concrete address of criminal responsibility."
"Victims don’t stop being victims and criminal acts are not simply absolved just because Kenya is promulgating a new constitution. Kenyans deserve to know the truth about post-election violence crimes and those responsible must face justice."
Mr Wainaina said unless the government was willing to prosecute those who played a role in the violence that saw more than 1,000 people killed and 350,000 others rendered homeless, it will have a hard time achieving political stability and sustainable development even under the new Constitution.
"Impunity leads to conflict, corruption, and lives stunted by fear and intimidation," he said.
The official said his organisation strongly supported efforts to immediately begin investigations into criminal conduct alongside other accountability mechanisms, which should include reparations for victims and other measures to restore justice.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
ICTR to Begin Two New Trials
The New Times
By Gashegu Muramira
August 16, 2010
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will, by the end of the year, begin two new trial cases involving former Mayor of Kivumu Commune, Western Province, Gregoire Ndahimana, and former intelligence officer Idelphonse Nizeyimana.
The trial of Ndahimana, according to the ICTR calendar, commences early next month while that of Nizeyimana will take place in November.
Ndahimana is charged with genocide, complicity to commit genocide, and extermination as crimes against humanity, while Nizeyimana is charged with genocide or complicity in the alternative, as well as rape as crimes against humanity.
A week after his transfer last year from the Democratic Republic of Congo where he had been arrested on a warrant issued by the UN court, Ndahimana pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
According to the indictment, Ndahimana is responsible for killing and causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population in Kivumu now in the Western Province.
It also states that sentenced clergyman - Athanase Seromba - drew up a list of Tutsi refugees who were absent at the Nyange parish and handed it over to Ndahimana for the purpose of hunting them down.
Seromba is currently serving a life sentence after the appeals chamber commuted his earlier 15-year sentence to the heaviest punishment the court can give.
Nizeyimana, was arrested in Uganda last year after he sneaked into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo by bus at the Bunagana border post.
He is among several other top Genocide suspects that the US government offered a USD 5 million reward for their capture under its Rewards for Justice Programme.
Proceeding Against Late Nzirorera Formally Terminated
Hirondelle News Agency
August 16, 2010
Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has formally terminated the prosecution's case against Joseph Nzirorera, former Secretary General of the then Rwandan ruling party, MRND, following his sudden death on July 1, 2010.
"Criminal responsibility is individual and personalized and the Chamber cannot exercise jurisdiction over a person who is deceased. Therefore, the proceedings against Joseph Nzirorera must be terminated effective July 1, 2010," the Chamber presided over by Judge Dennis Byron stated in its decision read Monday on the ICTR website.
In the case, Nzirorera was charged jointly with his co-top MRND leaders, President Mathieu Ngirumpatse and his Vice-President Edouard Karemera for crimes allegedly committed by members of their party. Nzirorera died on July 1, in Arusha before completion of his defence case.
Following the decision, the Chamber has decided to hold a status conference on Monday (August 23) to allow the prosecution and defence to discuss legal consequences of the case. The Chamber has invited the parties to make submissions by August 20, on how the death of Nzirorera impacts the proceedings.
Nzirorera's case is unique comparing to other deceased. Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, former Director of Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, died on 25 April 2010 in Benin after he had been convicted by Trial Chamber and the Appeals Chamber.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church Pastor Elizaphan Ntakiruntimana sentenced to ten years imprisonment died on January 22, 2007 in Arusha, shortly after being released as he had completed serving his jail term.
Joseph Serugendo, a member of the National Committee of the Interahamwe militia, jail six years passed away on August 22, 2006 in Nairobi after he had pleaded guilty to charges he was facing, while Anglican Bishop Samuel Musabyimana died on January 24, 2003 in Tanzania before the start of his case.
Nzirorera was buried in Belgium, while Barayagwiza was laid to rest in Paris. Ntakiruntimana was buried in Tanzania while Serugendo was cremated in Nairobi whereas Musabyimana was buried in Rwanda.
ICTR Reduces Number of Courtrooms as Part of its Completion Strategy
Hirondelle News Agency
August 18, 2010
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has converted one of its four court rooms into a meeting room and supply store effective early August, 2010, as part of its completion strategy.
"In accordance with the anticipated trial schedules for the time ahead, it is foreseen that the remaining cases can be conducted in three court rooms instead of the existing four,'' Tribunal's Spokesman, Roland Amoussouga told Hirondelle News Agency on Wednesday.
He said some minor modification had been introduced to adjust the space to the new requirement at the cost of less than US$ 1,000.
He explained that for cost effectiveness, review of office space requirement would be an on going process whereby unused space would be immediately returned to the landlord, the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC).
A total of five cases involving 16 accused are awaiting judgment, four cases with five defendants are in various stages of proceedings whereas three new cases are awaiting commencement of trial.
ICTR expects to wind up its first instance trials by December, 2011.
Germany Re-arrests Rwandan Genocide Suspect for the Third Time
Hirondelle News Agency
August 18, 2010
German prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they had charged a former Rwandan mayor over his alleged role in the 1994 genocide, French news agency AFP reported the same day.
Onesphore Rwabukombe, aged 53, was at the time mayor of Muvumba (North-East of Rwanda). He is accused of genocide, murder as well as incitement of genocide and murder.
It was the third time he had been arrested in Germany. A Frankfurt court ordered his release in November 2008 after four months in custody and he was again set free in May 2010 after five months because of lack of evidence.
A new German warrant was issued on July 21 following an investigation by the federal prosecutor. Rwabukombe was imprisoned on July 26.
German prosecutors said in a statement that Rwabukombe allegedly "ordered and coordinated" on three occasions, between April 11 and 15, 1994, for a pogrom against the Tutsis, with the result that at least 3,730 persons were murdered.
He is also accused of ordering a lower-ranking local official to turn away Tutsi refugees seeking shelter at his home, threatening otherwise to have his family killed. At least one of these refugees was subsequently killed by Interahamwe.
ICTR Should Act On Media Reports About Genocide Fugitive, Mpiranya
The New Times
August 19, 2010
Recent media reports indicating that notorious Genocide fugitive, Protais Mpiranya, is hiding in Zimbabwe should not be taken lightly, especially by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The UN tribunal has an outstanding indictment and arrest warrant against Mpiranya, a former commandant of the elite presidential guard during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The United States Government has put out a $5m reward for his arrest.
He is not only known for his role in masterminding the Genocide that left over one million Tutsi dead, he is also responsible for a series of atrocities mainly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries, where he worked with the Genocidal forces.
Given the time this man, who is ranked Number Three on the list of most wanted fugitives, has remained evasive from the long arm of the law, the tribunal should leave no stone unturned and it should use the clout of the UN to facilitate the apprehension.
This must, however, not stop with Mpiranya, as it has been revealed that many other fugitives, mostly wanted by the Rwandan judiciary are said to be either established in Zimbabwe while others have been freely moving in and out of that country.
However, these media reports should always be verified, as some may not necessarily be accurate, as, indeed, the fugitives in Zimbabwe have sought to mislead public opinion by planting stories alleging that the government of Rwanda has dispatched secret agents to eliminate them.
Genocide Suspect Re-arrested in Gabon
Hirondelle News Agency
August 19, 2010
A Rwandan medical doctor, Jean-Chrysostome Ndindabahizi, who had been apprehended in Gabon in June for his alleged role in the Tutsi genocide was recently re-arrested, Kigali announced on Wednesday.
According to an interview given to Radio Rwanda by Prosecutor general Martin Ngoga, the fugitive could be sent back to Rwanda for trial though there is no extradition treaty between Kigali and Libreville.
He did not mention the exact date of the re-arrest.
The medical doctor was wanted by Interpol following an international arrest warrant issued by the Rwandan judiciary.
According to the prosecution in Rwanda, he allegedly took part in planning the genocide at the National university of Butare (Southern Rwanda) where he was a lecturer.
He is also accused of inciting young Hutus to kill and rape Tutsi women, together with former Minister of Family and women affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko. Nyiramasuhuko is awaiting judgement in her case before the Arusha-based International criminal tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Dr Ndindabahizi had been working at Melen hospital, in the outskirts of Libreville, the capital of Gabon.
Last Prosecution Witnesses to Testify Against Ngirabatware Next Week
Hirondelle News Agency
August 20, 2010
The prosecution in the trial of former Rwandan Planning Minister Augustin Ngirabatware charged with genocide and crimes against humanity will call its last three witnesses next week before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Hearing of the case resumes Monday when Trial Chamber II presided over by Judge William Sekule would hold a status conference before taking evidence of the witnesses on Tuesday, ICTR's Prosecution Counsel Wallace Kapaya, told Hirondelle News Agency Friday.
According to him, the prosecution is expecting to rest its case at the end of next week. So far, a total of 17 witnesses have already testified. In July 2010 the Trial Chamber accepted the prosecution's motion to call three additional witnesses to reinforce its case.
The indictment, among other things, alleges that Ngirabatware "forwarded to MRND public funds from his ministry to purchase weapons for the party's youth wing, the Interahamwe militiamen". It alleges further that Ngirabatware launched appeals to kill Tutsis during numerous meetings in his home region in 1994.
Ngirabatware hails from what used to be the Nyamyumba commune, Gisenyi prefecture (North of Rwanda). He is the son-in-law of a wealthy businessman on the run, Felicien Kabuga, the alleged sponsor of the 1994 genocide.
A doctor of economics from the University of Freiburg (Switzerland), Ngirabatware taught at the National University of Rwanda (1986-1990), before he became Minister of Planning (1990-1994).
The former minister fled Rwanda in July 1994 and subsequently worked in various research institutes in Gabon and France. He was arrested in Germany on September 17, 2007 and has been in ICTR custody since October 8, 2008.
Vicissitude in the Trial of Former Presidential Party Leaders
Hirondelle News Agency
August 20, 2010
After the death of Joseph Nzirorera, Prosecution and defence lawyers of the two remaining accused in the MRND trial will meet on Monday to discuss legal consequences of the case.
Former Secretary General of the Rwandan ruling party in 1994, Nzirorera was notably charged jointly with his co-top MRND leaders, President Mathieu Ngirumpatse and his Vice-President Edouard Karemera for crimes of genocide allegedly committed by members of their party.
He died on July 1, in Arusha, before completion of his defence case, following "sudden complications of a long illness", according to the ICTR.
A heavyweight in Juvénal Habyarimana's entourage, this son of Ruhengeri (North of Rwanda), escaped men's justice while calling to the bar some of his witnesses. This new development was the last of numerous changes that disrupted this trial.
The unwise hospitality of Judge Vaz
In a first trial opened in November 2003, the three former leaders were slated to appear before the court alongside former Minister for Primary and Secondary school André Rwamakuba.
Rwamakuba was at the time of the genocide member of the Democratic and Republican Movement (MDR), an opposition party to Juvénal Habyarimana's MRND.
In May 2004, Senegalese presiding judge Andrésia Vaz had to decline to act in this case after being suspected of partiality for hosting a member of the prosecution in her private home.
American Prosecutor Don Webster took advantage of this development to request a separation of the cases, in order for him to focus on proving that MNRD leaders did plan the genocide.
Rwamakuba was tried alone and acquitted on September 2006. Prosecution did not lodge an appeal.
New trial for MRND leaders
On their side, MRND leaders came back into the box on September 19, 2005. The new trial was presided over by Judge Dennis Byron from Saint-Kitts and Nevis, assisted by Ghanean Emile Short and Burkinabé Gustave Kam.
In his opening statement, Chief prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow announces in front of a packed audience that his work would emphasize the creation, commandment and control of the Interahamwe militia - the spearhead of the genocide - as well as the genesis of the genocide and the role of sexual violence.
The new trial goes hobbling, victim of countless requests from the defence team, especially Nzirorera's lawyers.
Judge Short retires
On January 19, 2007, Judge Short announces his withdrawal from the case for "health reasons". At this point, Prosecutor Don Webster had hardly called to the stand 13 witnesses out of an expected total of a hundred.
Danish judge Vagn Joensen is assigned to the bench as Short's successor.
A new problem arises in August 2008, Mathieu Ngirumpatse being critically ill and hospitalized in Nairobi. Pointing out his right to be physically present during his trial, he allows very few hearings to be held without him.
He comes back to the stand in a slightly better shape on October 19, 2009 for the opening of Joseph Nzirorera's defence. However, the Chamber can't be in session all day long, the accused being far from healed.
Nzirorera's American lawyer Peter Robinson puts the case for the defence while struggling with the Chamber which requests him to diminish the number of witnesses he wants to call upon.
At last, on July 1st, 2010, in the middle of Colonel Théoneste Bagosora's testimony, the court announces the death of Joseph Nzirorera, who would be buried two weeks later in Belgium, where part of his family lives.
On August 12, proceedings are formally terminated in his case.
ICTR Warns Two French Lawyers in MRND Party Trial
Hirondelle News Agency
August 23, 2010
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Monday warned two French lawyers, Chantal Hounkpatin and Frédéric Weyl, for refusing to make their opening statement in defence of former MRND President Mathieu Ngirumpatse, charged with genocide alongside his party's Vice-President Edouard Karemera.
"It is clear you have defied our order and it appears you cannot make the opening statement today. Under Rule 46 of the Rules, we will issue to you (Chantal Hounkpatin) and co-counsel warning. We direct the opening statements be given tomorrow," presiding Judge of Trial Chamber III, Dennis Byron, said.
The Chamber had directed Hounkpatin and Weyl, lead counsel and co-counsel for Ngirumpatse, respectively, to make opening statement after ordering the prosecution to amend the indictment in the case against Ngirumpatse and Karemera, following the death of their co-accused, Joseph Nzirorera, former MRND Secretary General, early July.
According to the Chamber's decision, the prosecution was required to remove Nzirorera's name from the title and counts in the indictment and delete any reference of his name as an accused. The Chamber further ordered the prosecution to refer to Nzirorera in normal front and not in bold.
However, amendments made by the prosecution in the indictment that was supplied to the defence thereafter drew criticisms from both Hounkpatin and Weyl and lead counsel for Karemera, Ms Dior Diagne, who argued that the prosecution had not complied with the Chamber's decision as the indictment against Nzirorera was still there.
The lawyers submitted further that their clients had not been served with the copy of the amended indictment and, therefore, it would not be possible for them to proceed making opening statement blindly under such circumstances.
Judge Byron clarified that the Chamber's decision had no effects of changing the substance of the indictment and, therefore, directed counsel for Ngirumpatse to proceeding giving opening statement for defence of the accused. Despite the clarification, the counsel continued to resist from making the opening statement.
Hounkpatin and Weyl, instead, sought the Chamber's leave to consult their client. After consultation, Hounkpatin informed the Chamber that her client was expressing his intention of making certification for appeal against the decision and she would not give opening statement for defence until the accused gets the amended indictment.
It was at that juncture the Chamber noted that the counsel were disobeying its decision and decided to invoke Rule 46 of the Court Rules to issue the warning against them.
Ngirumpatse and Karemera are charged with crimes committed by members of their party. The prosecution has indicted them for their superior responsibility as top officials of the party then in power in 1994. Karemera has already completed his defence case.
Former MRND President Starts Presenting His Defence Case
Hirondelle News Agency
August 24, 2010
Presentation of defence case of former President of then Rwandan ruling party, MRND, Mathieu Ngirumpatse, took off Tuesday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) with is co-counsel Frederic Weyl seeking his acquittal because, alleging the prosecution case had several shortcomings.
"Mathieu Ngirumpatse is an innocent man in prison. He made many sacrifices to serve the people in Rwanda. That is why he weeps in his heart about the tragedy," Weyl told Trial Chamber III presided over by Judge Dennis Byron, when presenting opening statement for his client's defence.
In the trial, Ngirumpatse is charged with his party's Vice-President Edouard Karemera for crimes committed by members of their party. The prosecution has indicted them for their superior responsibility as top officials of the party. Karemera has already completed his defence case.
Weyl described Ngirumpatse a man who had advocated for peace and democracy and was well known in the Rwandan community because of his humanity, dignity and commitments to human life.
"His actions, whether professional or political within the association, cultural or with private life, have been considerate or characterized by symbolism. He respects ones irrespective of their origin, political or religious ends," he argued.
The Tuesday's session was not short of drama. It all started in the afternoon when Weyl informed the Chamber that his client's situation regarding commencing his defence without proper amendment of indictment following the death of their co-accused, Joseph Nzirorera, former MRND Secretary General, had not changed.
Judge Byron quickly intervened, saying the chamber has been satisfied with the document filed by the prosecution complied with the order, which required them to remove Nzirorera's name from the title and counts in the indictment and delete any reference of his name as an accused.
However, Weyl maintained that the prosecution had simply crossed the name of Nzirorera instead of deleting all allegations involving him in the indictment. He submitted that his client was applying for certification to appeal against the Chamber's decision.
"I respectfully request you to renew our instruction for proper administration of justice. The proceedings should be suspended pending determination of our appeal by the Appeals Chamber," the counsel further petitioned as Ngirumpatse sitting adjacent him was listening to the arguments tentatively.
The petition by the counsel created more confusion to the extent that Judge Byron sought clarification from him on what proper course was taking. He queried, "do you need assistance of the Chamber?" After Weyl had answered affirmatively, the judge proceeded to ask him, "What is wrong with our decision?"
Weyl responded that there were matters concerning Nzirorera still in the amended indictment, whose evidence could be used to convict his client. He, therefore, informed the Chamber that they were not in position to give defence against evidence of Nzirorera.
Following such argument the Chamber granted the application by Ngirumpatse for certification of appeal on the decision relating to amendments made in the indictment and maintenance of all evidence heard prior the death of Nzirorera. The Chamber, however, refused to postpone the proceeding and ordered the defence to proceed making opening statement.
Hearing continues Wednesday.
Kenya Challenged to Collaborate with ICTR to Arrest Kabuga
Hirondelle News Agency
August 24, 2010
The United States Ambassador at Large for War Crime Issues, Stephen Rapp said Tuesday in a Press conference that he had received reports in 2010 saying that the most wanted genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga was still in Kenya.
"We have continued citing reports that come to us of his presence in Kenya in 2010," Rapp said at the end of a two-day visit of the Tribunal.
The Ambassador recalled that he had similar information in 2005 through 2007 but the arrest was not affected due to lack of collaboration between the ICTR Prosecutor and the Kenyan authorities.
He said recent meeting between the two parties and establishment of the new constitution in Kenya would enhance the cooperation to effect the arrest and ultimately transfer of Kabuga to ICTR.
"It is not impossible that this information has not been followed up because of lack of collaboration between the prosecutor and Kenyan authorities."
The Ambassador clearly stated that the ICTR prosecutor did not have enough investigators, police or an army which would track down the culprit but depended on the members of United Nations like Kenya to collaborate in the arrest and transfer of the fugitives.
Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
Offical Website of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
Issa Sesay Denies the RUF Was Created and Supported by Charles Taylor
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 16, 2010
As the cross-examination of Charles Taylor's 19th defense witness moves into a second week, prosecutors today put to Issa Hassan Sesay that Sierra Leone's main rebel group was created and supported by Mr. Taylor, an assertion that the witness disputed.
Prosecutors have maintained that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was created with substantial support from Mr. Taylor. In addition, prosecutors allege the former president, while he served as leader of his own rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), helped train RUF fighters in Sierra Leone and equipped them to invade Sierra Leone in March 1991. Prosecutors further accuse Mr. Taylor of meeting RUF leader Foday Sankoh in Libya, and the two men planned the invasion of Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively. Mr. Taylor has denied these allegations.
"You know that the RUF was created with the acquiescence and support of Charles Taylor," prosecution counsel Nicholas Koumjian stated to Mr. Sesay today.
"Well, I cannot explain because I was not there when Mr. Sankoh and Mr. Taylor discussed," Mr. Sesay responded.
"Most of the RUF fighters I knew at the base [camp where RUF fighters were trained], it was Pa Kallon [Senior adviser to Mr. Sankoh] who took them to the base," he added.
Mr. Koumjian today read several testimonies from previous witnesses before the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown that explained how the RUF recruited fighters in Liberia. According to Mr. Koumjian, RUF fighters were recruited from among people who had been arrested by NPFL rebels in Liberia. One of the testimonies read in court today was that of Morris Kallon, a former RUF commander who, like Mr. Sesay, has been convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in Freetown for his role in the Sierra Leonean conflict and is presently serving a 40 year jail sentence in Rwanda. Mr. Kallon explained in his testimony that RUF leaders removed him from the custody of NPFL fighters and took him to the training base at Camp Naama in Liberia. Prosecutors say that such a recruitment drive and training by the RUF inside NPFL territory could not have happened without Mr. Taylor's knowledge.
Mr. Taylor has denied knowledge of any such activities. When asked about these allegations, Mr. Sesay also told the court that he had no idea that the RUF had recruited fighters from NPFL controlled areas and that Mr. Taylor did not provide any support to the RUF while they underwent training at Camp Naama.
"It was obvious to you that the RUF was created and supported by Charles Taylor, but you just don't want to say that because you are here to protect Charles Taylor," Mr. Koumjian told Mr. Sesay.
"No. That is not true. It was Mr. Sankoh who created the RUF. It was Mr. Sankoh who trained the RUF, and he used to tell us that he was supported by his brother Pa Kallon and Pa Kallon told us the same thing at Pendembu," Mr. Sesay said.
"Mr. Sesay, you are clever, it's clear to you that none of this could have been done without the consent of Charles Taylor," Mr. Koumjian put to Mr. Sesay again. In response, Mr. Sesay said, "Well, if you assess it that way, but I have to believe what Mr. Sankoh told me...but Mr. Sankoh did not tell me that he had links with Mr. Taylor...according to him, he was Mr. Taylor's friend and he was responsible for his own revolution."
Mr. Sesay's account of how and where Mr. Taylor and Mr. Sankoh met, however, contradicted what Mr. Taylor told the court in his testimony in 2009. According to Mr. Taylor, he never met Mr. Sankohin Libya. Mr. Taylor explained in his testimony that when United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO) rebels started attacking the NPFL withsupport from the government of Sierra Leone, he asked to meet the leader of the RUF because he realized the need to collaborate with the RUF to curtail attacks from ULIMO and the Sierra Leone government. Mr. Taylor said that was the first time he met Mr. Sankoh. Mr. Sesay today gave a different story.
When asked to tell the court what Mr. Sankoh told him about how he met Mr. Taylor, Mr. Sesay said, "According to Mr. Sankoh, he said he met Mr. Taylor in Libya and later in Liberia because Mr. Sankoh and his men were also training in Libya."Mr. Sesay, however, added, "Mr. Sankoh told us that he was not the leader in Libya, it was Allie Kabbah who was the leader."
Before the RUF invasion of Sierra Leone in 1991, Mr. Sankoh made a satellite phone call to the BBC where he announced that the RUF will invade Sierra Leone in 90 days if the country's then leader, Joseph Saidu Momoh, did not step down as president. While Mr. Sesay admitted that Mr. Sankohdid not have a satellite phone at this time, he said he could not tell whether the RUF leader had used the satellite phone that Mr. Taylor was using at that time to communicate with the international media.
When asked whether "Foday Sankoh's threat, the 90 day ultimatum, was made on Charles Taylor's satellite phone," Mr. Sesay said, "I don't know that."
Mr. Sesay agreed that the RUF invasion in Sierra Leone was moved to an earlier date in March 1991 because of border clashes that took place between NPFL fighters and Sierra Leone Army (SLA) forces in Bomaru, eastern Sierra Leone. When these clashes between the NPFL and the SLA occurred, the RUF used that opportunity to immediately invade Sierra Leone, Mr. Sesay said. He explained that Mr. Sankoh and other NPFL commanders, including Anthony Menkunagbe and Oliver Varney, brought four trucks that were used to transport RUF fighters from Camp Naama to the Sierra Leone-Liberian border where they entered Bomaru.
Mr. Koumjian also tried to impeach Mr. Sesay's credibility by pointing out that he lied to the court when he testified that the RUF did not use children under 15 years of age for combat purposes or that the RUF did not force civilians to work in diamond mines.
Prosecutors Question Issa Sesay About Charles Taylor’s Friendship With RUF Leader Foday Sankoh
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 17, 2010
Prosecutors today questioned the convicted former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group that Charles Taylor is accused of supporting about the friendship between the former Liberian president and the Sierra Leonean rebel group’s main leader, Foday Sankoh - a friendship prosecutors say predates the invasion of Sierra Leone in March 1991.
Issa Hassan Sesay is testifying to exonerate Mr. Taylor from allegations that he (Taylor) was in control of and provided support to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group that waged a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002. Today, prosecutors cross-examined Mr. Sesay, who concluded nearly three weeks of direct examination last week, about the relationship that existed between Mr. Taylor and RUF leader Mr. Sankoh. Prosecutors say that the two men became friends while they trained their respective fighters in Libya in the late 1980s and that the basis of such friendship was to provide mutual assistance to each other in their respective invasions of Liberia and Sierra Leone. When he testified as a witness in his own defense, Mr. Taylor said that he did not know Mr. Sankoh prior to the RUF’s invasion of Sierra Leone in 1991. In his testimony yesterday, Mr. Sesay told the court that while they underwent training at Camp Naama in Liberia in 1990, Mr. Sankoh informed them that he was already friends with Mr. Taylor. Prosecutors today decided to dig further.
Prosecution counsel conducting Mr. Sesay’s cross-examination, Nicholas Koumjian, put to Mr. Sesay that in a previous BBC interview, Mr. Taylor had announced, "It is known by everyone that I have been friendly with Foday Sankoh for many years before the revolution."
During his testimony, Mr. Taylor responded to the statement above by saying, "I said it is known by everyone that I knew Foday Sankoh before the revolution when in fact I did not."
"Was it known by all of you at Naama that Foday Sankoh was friendly with Charles Taylor or Charles Taylor was friendly with Foday Sankoh many years before the revolution?" Mr. Koumjian asked Mr. Sesay.
In response, Mr. Sesay said, "I cannot say what was happening before the revolution, but Mr. Sankoh told us at Naama that he was friends with Mr. Taylor...[He said so] at Naama and also in Sierra Leone."
Prosecutors are seeking to establish that the friendship between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Sankoh before the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone saw the commencement of a joint criminal enterprise between the two men, and the purpose of such enterprise was to capture and control political power in their respective countries. In the pursuit of this enterprise in Sierra Leone, prosecutors allege that the RUF committed heinous crimes in Sierra Leone, crimes they say that Mr. Taylor bears the greatest responsibility for. Mr. Taylor has denied the allegations against him.
Prosecutors also pointed out that when the RUF invaded Sierra Leone in March 1991, they did so with the assistance of fighters belonging to Mr. Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group. Mr. Sesay admitted that there were indeed NPFL fighters among the invading forces in Sierra Leone in 1991.
Mr. Sesay, however, corroborated Mr. Taylor’s account that when NPFL fighters were withdrawn from Sierra Leone in 1992, Mr. Taylor did not have any contact with the RUF until in 1999 when the rebels were in peace talks with the government of Sierra Leone.
Mr. Koumjian read the testimony of a previous witness who told the court that in 1995, Mr. Taylor invited the members of the RUF external delegation to his NPFL headquarters at Gbarngha and then travelled with them to Ghana. When this was stated to Mr. Sesay, he said he did not know about it.
"Were you aware that Charles Taylor invited three members of the external delegation to spend three weeks with him in Gbarngha, and he took them to Ghana? Mr. Koumjian asked Mr. Sesay.
"No. I did not know about that because in August 1995, I was not in Sierra Leone," Mr. Sesay responded.
Mr. Koumjian also put to Mr. Sesay that he lied when he told the court in his testimony that the RUF did not give Mr. Taylor a heavy artillery weapon that was captured from Guinean soldiers fighting in Sierra Leone in 1991. Mr. Koumjian read the testimony of a previous defense witness who told the court that the RUF did give the heavy artillery weapon to Mr. Taylor in exchange for automatic rifles and materials. Mr. Sesay said he did not know about this.
Mr. Sesay’s cross-examination continues on Wednesday.
Issa Sesay Distances RUF From the January 1999 Invasion Of Freetown
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 19, 2010
Former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group that Charles Taylor is accused of providing support for today made considerable effort to distance his rebel group from the 1999 invasion of Freetown, an attack which saw the commission of heinous crimes including murder, rape, amputations of the arms and limbs of civilians, and the looting and destruction of civilian property.
According to Issa Hassan Sesay, the present witness testifying for Mr. Taylor, the attack on Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown in January 1999 was undertaken solely by members of the Sierra Leone Army (SLA), who in May 1997 had overthrown the democratic government of Sierra Leone and formed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). After the May 1997 coup, the AFRC teamed up with Sierra Leone’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Together the two groups ruled Sierra Leone until they were forcefully removed from Freetown in February 1998 by West African peacekeepers under the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).
As the rebel forces retreated from Freetown, they occupied various towns in Sierra Leone’s countryside, and in January 1999, the rebel forces invaded Freetown again. Prosecutors have alleged that the 1999 attack on Freetown was a joint operation undertaken by the AFRC and the RUF, an allegation that Mr. Sesay denied today. "It was an AFRC operation, it was an independent operation that they carried out," Mr. Sesay told the court in reference to the January 1999 invasion of Freetown.
Mr. Sesay explained that "they [AFRC] fought from Koinadugu [Northern Sierra Leone] right up to Freetown on their own."
According to Mr. Sesay, the action of the democratic government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to execute members of the Sierra Leone Army (SLA), who had been found guilty by a Court Martial for their involvement in the coup, was the main reason why the AFRC decided to attack Freetown.
"That is why they attacked Freetown, they said their colleagues had been killed," Mr. Sesay told the court.
Prosecutors on the otherhand have insisted that the 1999 Freetown invasion was a joint operation undertaken by the AFRC and the RUF in pursuit of their joint criminal enterprise in Sierra Leone. Prosecutors hope that by proving the RUF’s involvement in the Freetown invasion, Mr. Taylor would be held liable because according to prosecutors, when Mr. Taylor allegedly provided arms and ammunition to the RUF to attack the diamond rich town of Kono in December 1998, the rebels used that operation and the same arms and ammunition to advance to the northern part of the country before they proceeded to Freetown in January 1999.
Mr. Sesay has denied these allegations, telling the court instead that the AFRC troops that attacked Freetown took off from Koinadugu under the leadership of Solomon Anthony James Musa (SAJ Musa) but that when SAJ Musa died before the troops entered Freetown, Alex Tamba Brima, aka Gullit, (also now convicted by the Special Court and serving a jail term in Rwanda) took over the leadership of the troops. It was at that time that he made contact with RUF commander Sam Bockarie.
"According to [my radio] operator, it was Gullit’s name that was mentioned to Sam Bockarie’s operator. He said Gullit told Sam Bockarie that SAJ Musa was dead. Then Sam Bockarie told Gullit that they should wait for reinforcement to come so that they will attack Freetown," Mr. Sesay explained.
Mr. Sesay added that Gullit did not wait for the reinforcement to arrive when he led his troops into Freetown.
When asked whether it was Mr. Bockarie who offered to send reinforcements to support Gullit’s troops, Mr. Sesay said, "That is what my operator told me...based on the instruction he gave Gullit to wait to get reinforcement for us to attack Freetown, but Gullit did not wait, he did not go ahead with what he was told."
Mr. Sesay told the court that the RUF was not involved in the plan to attack Freetown because the AFRC’s SAJ Musa and the RUF’s Mr. Boackarie were not on speaking terms. When asked why Mr. Bockarie was "offering to send reinforcement to this renegade group," Mr. Sesay said that "when Gullit told Bockarie that SAJ Musa was dead, since Gullit was his friend, Bockarie was ready to work with him."
Mr. Sesay said that the RUF fighters who moved to reinforce the AFRC could not enter Freetown because ECOMOG forces stopped them at Waterloo outside Freetown."ECOMOG was in Hastings and Jui and so they [RUF} could not go to Freetown," Mr. Sesay said.
He agreed that their purpose was to enter Freetown.
Mr. Koumjian then played in court a January 1999 audio clip of a BBC interview by a Colonel FAT Sesay in which the Colonel told the interviewer that "we have again overthrown the SLPP [Sierra Leone People's Party]...the combined forces of the AFRC and the RUF forces."
In response to this, Mr. Sesay said, "I knew that he was lying because at that time, the RUF were in Makeni."
Mr. Sesay insisted, "I was not part of the planning, nor was I part of the execution of the attack on Freetown."
When told that RUF’s Mr. Bockarie had "called his papay [Mr. Taylor]" to inform him that the rebel forces had entered Freetown, Mr. Sesay said, "I didn’t know about that." Mr. Sesay’s testimony continues on Monday as there will be no court sitting on Friday.
Charles Taylor Did Not Know About Benjamin Yeaten’s Friendship With RUF Commander Sam Bockarie, Liberian Radio Operator Says
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 24, 2010
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor had no knowledge that his Director of Special Security Services had a close friendship with a Sierra Leonean rebel commander in 1998, a Liberian national testifying on behalf of Mr. Taylor told the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague today.
The witness, who worked as a radio operator in the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group and later in Mr. Taylor’s Executive Mansion under the Special Security Services (SSS) division, is testifying with partial protective measures and is only identified by the pseudonym DCT-008. Today, he told the court about the communications that took place between the radio station installed at the residence of Benjamin Yeaten, who was Director of the SSS, and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) commander Sam Bockarie’s radio station installed at the RUF headquarters in Buedu, eastern Sierra Leone. The witness told the court that Mr. Taylor did not know about the contact and friendship that existed between Mr. Yeaten and Mr. Bockarie.
Several prosecution witnesses, including former RUF radio operators, have testified about radio communications between Mr. Bockarie and Mr. Yeaten. These communications were facilitated through Mr. Bockarie’s radio operator called Sellay and a radio operator named Sunlight, who operated a radio at Mr. Yeaten’s residence in Liberia, prosecution witnesses have said. They further told the court that Mr. Taylor had knowledge of these contacts, and it was through Mr. Yeaten that Mr. Taylor facilitated most of his communications and assistance to RUF commanders. Today, the witness, a former radio operator in Liberia, said this was not the case.
Explaining the nature of the radio contact that took place between Mr. Yeaten and the RUF, the witness told the court that "while Sunlight was operating the radio at the SSS Director’s residence...one day, Samson came along with...Daniel Tamba, also called Jungle."
"Samson introduced Daniel Tamba to Sunlight saying the Chief [Yeaten] said I should bring this fellow to you so he can call Sierra Leone. He is a member of the RUF and he is one of [RUF leader Foday] Sankoh’s boys...Jungle gave a piece of paper to Sunlight with a call sign for the RUF operator Sellay."
Samson, the witness said, was a former NPFL fighter, who was also one of the officers working under Mr. Yeaten in the SSS.
According to DCT-008, "[Samson] also said he had taken Jungle to the Executive Mansion for Jungle to communicate with the RUF in Sierra Leone."
He said that Samson had been working with another radio operator at the Executive Mansion called William Jimmy, who helped them communicate secretly with the RUF in Sierra Leone.
"Samson said they were hiding it and the [Liberian] government did not know about it, not even the president," the witness said.
When Sunlight discussed this with Mr. Yeaten, the SSS Director gave his consent to the contact with the RUF, telling Sunlight that nobody knew of such relationship that he had with the RUF.
"After the communication, when Benjamin Yeaten came home that evening, Sunlight told Benjamin Yeaten that Samson brought Jungle here so that Sunlight will connect him to Sierra Leone, and then Benjamin Yeaten told Sunlight that I have a friend in Sierra Leone and you should allow him to communicate with Sierra Leone anytime they come here," the witness explained.
"Later, I got to know that [the friend] was Sam Bockarie," he added.
When asked whether "Charles Taylor [was] aware of this," the witness said, "No."
"Charles Taylor did not know because Benjamin Yeaten told Sunlight that what I have told you should be kept to yourself and you must not share it with any other government radio operator...because this relationship between Sam Bockarie and myself, the president does not know about it and you should keep it to yourself," the witness explained.
The witness said Mr. Yeaten added in his discussion with Sunlight that "if this information gets to anyone and the president knows about it, he will deal with me and I’ll be finished."
"That’s how I came to know that the president did not know about it," he said. When asked about the nature of the friendship that existed between Mr. Yeaten and Mr. Bockarie, the witness said, "The friendship was so cordial, they were very close.
In response to allegations that RUF commanders, including Mr. Bockarie, made regular trips to Liberia and returned with arms and ammunition to Sierra Leone and that members of Mr. Taylor’s security apparatus had close links with RUF commanders, Mr. Taylor has told the court that as president of Liberia, he could not have known all the things that members of his security forces or his government did. These men could have had independent relationships or arms trade with the RUF without his knowledge, Mr. Taylor has stated. Today, the witness corroborated Mr. Taylor’s account when he told the court that Mr. Taylor did not know about the relationship that existed between the RUF members and Liberian security forces, including Mr. Yeaten and Samson.
Today’s witness was interposed in place of Issa Hassan Sesay, the former interim leader of the RUF, who has been testifying on behalf of Mr. Taylor for the past several weeks. Mr. Sesay could not be in court today because he had a dentist appointment. If Mr. Sesay is available tomorrow, then prosecutors will continue his cross-examination. If he is absent, DCT-008 will continue his testimony for the defense.
Issay Did Not Know Charles Taylor Wanted to Kill Him and He is Not Relying on Taylor to Free Him From Jail, He Says in Conclusion of His Cross-Examination
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 26, 2010
As prosecutors concluded his cross-examination today, Issa Hassan Sesay, the convicted former interim leader of Sierra Leone’s main rebel group told Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague that he did not know and does not believe that Charles Taylor sent men to kill him while he was trying to disarm rebel forces in Sierra Leone. Mr. Sesay also dismissed suggestions that he is testifying for Mr. Taylor because he hopes that the former Liberian president, if acquitted, will help free him from his 52 years jail sentence in Rwanda.
Prosecution counsel Nicholas Koumjian in concluding Mr. Sesay’s cross-examination today put to the witness that it was Mr. Taylor’s practice to execute people with whom he had disagreements and so when Mr. Sesay decided to disarm the RUF in Sierra Leone much to Mr. Taylor’s disagreement, the former Liberian president sent men to kill him inside Sierra Leone. Mr. Sesay dismissed this suggestion as false.
"Charles Taylor was unhappy with your decision to cooperate with the United Nations and at some point he sent men to kill you, did you know that?" Mr. Koumjian asked Mr. Sesay.
"No," Mr. Sesay said. "I did not know that, i did not hear that and i don’t believe that Charles Taylor wanted to hill me because Charles Taylor was one of those encouraging me to disarm."
Mr. Koumjian read from a March 12 2008 evidence of former fighter of Mr. Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group Joseph Zig Zag Marzah who told the court that Mr. Taylor had ordered him to executed Mr. Sesay.
"...I crossed over to Pendembu in the Kailahun District to wait for Issa [Sesay] to execute him under the directive of my leader Charles Taylor. Later he [Taylor] called me and said he had already sent for Issa to go and receive ammos in Buedu and for him to come and pass through me to Buedu and then I will follow him to get him, but Issa never returned. I spent almost two weeks in Kailahun and later he told me that, "The man has gone. He will no longer receive supplies from me."" Mr. Marzah told the court in March 2008.
"This man is telling lies," Mr. Sesay responded when confronted with Mr. Marzah’s statement.
Mr. Koumjian put to Mr. Sesay that since Mr. Taylor did not want the RUF to disarm, that was why he suggested that Sam Bockarie, the former RUF commander who had left Sierra Leone for Liberia be made to rejoin the RUF. When Mr. Sesay realised Mr. Taylor’s plot, he never returned to see the former Liberian president again, Mr. Koumjian said.
"If he [Bockarie] would have returned, you would have been killed...you told Charles Taylor you wanted to go and consult your colleagues and never returned to see Charles Taylor again," Mr. Koumjian put to Mr. Sesay.
In response, Mr. Sesay said that "I told him that the problem was between Sam Bockarie and Mr. Sankoh, that i’ll have to go and consult my colleagues. Since then, he did not call me again and i did not return to see him."
Mr. Koumjian also pointed to Mr. Sesay that the reason for his testimony on Mr. Taylor’s behalf is because he hopes that an acquitted Mr. Taylor will use political power to get him out of jail, having already started a 52 year jail term after being convicted for his role in the Sierra Leonean conflict. Mr. Sesay denied this suggestion, telling the court that his only hope for getting out of jail rests on God and the people of Sierra Leone.
"You have the hope that if Charles Taylor is released, he’ll help you get political release from prison. If Charles Taylor is released, he’ll help you get out of jail, correct?" Mr. Koumjian asked Mr. Sesay.
"No my Lord. Mr. Taylor is not a Sierra Leonean and so he has no influence in Sierra Leone. It is the people of Sierra Leone who will appeal to the Government of Sierra Leone for my release or the international community who know what i did for peace in Sierra Leone," Mr. Sesay responded.
When told that he only "disarmed [the RUF] as a matter of survival," Mr. Sesay said that "that is not true because the people who i worked with for peace in Sierra Leone did not say that."
"They know that i did not surrender, they know that i worked with them willingly for peace in Sierra Leone."
As Mr. Koumjian concluded his cross-examination, defense counsel for Mr. Taylor Silas Chikera immediatly commenced the re-examination of Mr. Sesay. In re-examination, Mr. Chikera sought to clarify certain issues that have been covered by prosecutors in Mr. Sesay’s cross-examination.
Mr. Sesa’s re-examination continues tomorrow.
As Issa Sesay Concludes His Testimony, He Apologises to the People of Sierra Leone
CharlesTaylorTrial.org
By Alpha Sesay
August 27, 2010
In concluding his evidence today as the 19th defense witness for Charles Taylor, Issa Hassan Sesay, the convicted former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group which Mr. Taylor is accused of supporting, used the opportunity to apologise to the people of Sierra Leone for his role in the conflict and the actions of his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group.
As his final question to Mr. Sesay, defense counsel for Mr. Taylor Silas Chikera ask Mr. Sesay thus:
"Now, Mr Sesay, one final question. Your hope is with the people of Sierra Leone, apart from God. You've considered yourself that a number of atrocities were committed during the war for which you are also guilty, individual and collectively as a member of the RUF. What do you say to the people of Sierra Leone who are listening to your evidence right now, concerning all the atrocities that went on in Freetown and other parts of the country?"
In his response, Mr. Sesay said that "I say sorry to the people of Sierra Leone and I'm appealing to the people of Sierra Leone, especially the victims, who lost their loved ones, those whose arms were amputated, those whose properties were destroyed, I'm appealing to them that what happened during the war was not good for Sierra Leone, but it has happened. I'm just appealing to them."
Mr. Sesay added that "And even those who were behind RUF lines, they know that most of these crimes, the commanders who were committing them, Issa had no control over them; but today I am bearing the responsibilities of the RUF, so I'm just pleading with the people of Sierra Leone, because they are seeing the perpetrators around, they are seeing them, those who were doing bad things to them, some of us who were protecting and speaking on behalf of the civilians today, I have found myself in the jail."
He concluded that "I'm just pleading with them in the name of God for them to forgive me and forget. We are all Sierra Leoneans."
Mr. Sesay's evidence has lasted for over one month during which time he has not only spoken about the activities of the RUF in Sierra Leone, but has also made extensive efforts to refute prosecution allegations that Mr. Taylor had control over and supported the RUF in Sierra Leone. Mr. Sesay denied claims that he was part of a team of RUF commanders who took Sierra Leone's blood diamonds to Mr. Taylor in Liberia in exchange for arms and ammunition which were used to commit attrocities against the civilian population of Sierra Leone.
Mr. Sesay also gave his reason for testifying in The Hague when asked whether he was "here to set the records straight for Charles Taylor."
"Well, i am here to give my own true side of the story of what i know. That's why i am here," he said.
When asked to tell the judges what his motivation for testifying for Mr. Taylor was, Mr. Sesay said that "it was because I used to hear on radio [UN Radio] when my colleague RUF were coming here to say things against me... And they were saying that the way Issa left [RUF leader] Mr Sankoh in jail and disarmed the RUF, we too would prosecute him until he dies in jail. I heard my colleagues saying a lot about Issa, things that Issa didn't do."
"So when Mr Taylor's lawyers told my lawyers that they would need me as a witness, I said: Well, the lies in this case are too much. Let me too go there and give my own account. My colleague RUFs want to destroy me because they are saying that the person who had their future, that is Mr Sankoh, I had betrayed Mr Sankoh, so they were going to make sure that Issa dies in prison. So that was why I came here," Mr. Sesay added.
This statment from Mr. Sesay prompted a response from the Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber Justice Julia Sebutinde that "But, Mr Sesay, this is not your trial. So whatever you say here has no bearing on the sentence that you are serving. I don't understand that kind of reasoning. How does this clear your name? This is Mr Taylor's trial, not yours."
"Yes, my Lord. I know that it is not my trial, but it is for people, those who are following up on the Court, for them to know my own part of the story, because a lot of things that they said against me here are not true," Mr. Sesay replied to the presiding judge's comment.
Mr. Sesay reiterated that he is not hoping that Mr. Taylor would help free him from his 52 year jail setnetnec if he (Taylor) is acquitted of the charges against him.
As Mr. Sesay concluded his testimony, defense lawyers recalled Mr. Taylor's 20th defense witness, DCT-008 a former radio operator in Liberia who told the court on Tuesday that members of Mr. Taylor's security aparatus, including Benjamin Yeaten, the former Director of Special Security Services had dealings with RUF commanders without Mr. Taylor's knowledge.
As he continued his testimony today, the witness spoke about trips made to Liberia by RUF commader Sam Bockarie and other Sierra Leonean rebel commanders during which they held meetings with Mr. Yeaten about their operations in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor, he said, did not know about all of these.
DCT-008's testimony continues on Monday.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
Former Bosnian Serb Soldiers Sentenced for Fraud in Phoenix
KVOA.com
August 18, 2010
More than a dozen persons who served in the Republic of Srpska Army (VRS) during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been sentenced in Phoenix for lying about their military service. When they applied for refugee status in the United States following the end of the war, they failed to disclose they had been soldiers in the VRS.
A federal investigation into refugee fraud resulted in the arrest of 16 former soldiers living in the Phoenix area. All were charged with failing to report their service in the VRS.
"These defendants lied to obtain lawful status in the United States," said Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. "Failure to report their military service was no oversight by any stretch of the imagination. It was a crafty abuse of this nation's refugee policy."
The Phoenix defendants were indicted separately and pled guilty to lying about their military service. Five of the 16 were deported from the United States and returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Upon arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina, three of them - Mladen Blagojevic, Zdravko Bozic and Goran Bencun - were arrested and brought before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a domestic court that includes international judges and prosecutors.
Mladen Blagojevic was convicted in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina of crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Bozic was acquitted and Bencun was later released from custody. The other two deportees, Nenad Dragic and Rajko Ninkovic, were not arrested.
The remaining 11 defendants, Milenko Gujic, Rajko Hercegovac, Risto Hercegovac, Momcilo Krstic, Radenko Spiric, Vitomir Spiric, Nikola Stankovic, Savo Tojcic, Dragan Ubiparipovic, Radenko Ubiparipovic and Cvijan Vidacovic, pled guilty to felony charges of knowingly making a false statement.
The Bosnian war began in 1992 with the dissolution of Yugoslavia. During the Bosnian war, in July 1995, VRS units attacked and occupied the town of Srebrenica, which had been declared a U.N. safe area. In the weeks after the fall of Srebrenica, around 8,000 men and boys who had been living in the town were killed, or taken prisoner. In 2004, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) located at The Hague, ruled the massacre constituted a crime of genocide.
"We will not allow those who abuse the system by fraudulently gaining legal status in the United States to avoid the consequences of their actions," said Matt Allen, Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona. "These men purposefully deceived immigration officials of the fact that they were assigned to units involved in the Srebrenica Massacre, and knew that the authorities were investigating this atrocity."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation jointly. The prosecution was handled by Lisa Jennis Settel, James R. Knapp, and Camille Bibles, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
New Search Ordered for Koricanske Stijene Victims
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
By Aida Alić
August 20, 2010
The site of an infamous massacre of 200 men in 1992 is to be reexamined. But after 18 years of waiting, relatives fear they may never recover the remains of their loved ones.
Bosnia’s Institute for Missing Persons, INO, has announced that it will search the Koricanske stijene locality again as it believes another mass grave could be located there.
Although 18 years have passed since Bosnian Serb forces executed more than 200 men at the ravine near Mt Vlasic in July 1992, the remains of only four persons, discovered in a nearby forest in 2003, have been buried so far.
As in previous years, on August 21, families of the victims and massacre survivors will visit the cliffs and lay flowers at the site where the Bosniak [Muslims] from the northwestern town of Prijedor were executed.
Amongst those honouring the dead will be Muharem Elezovic, from Trnopolje, who lost two sons, Emir, aged 22, and Edin, aged, 24. Elezovic is still searching for their remains.
“We found a few bones but we don’t know which one they belong to. There were so few of them that we could put them in a small bag,” Elezovic said.
He said he was disappointed with the various bodies tasked with searching for missing persons because they had not been able to find the remains of most of the Koricanske stijene victims, even though so many years had passed.
Edin and Emir Elezovic were taken to the Serb-run Keraterm detention camp on May 9, 1992. Their father says they were then transferred to the camp at Trnopolje.
The two men joined an organized convoy of Prijedor residents traveling to the government-held town of Travnik, where they were to be exchanged on August 21, 1992.
Verdicts passed down by the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, have determined that on that day, members of the Intervention Squad of the Public Safety Station in Serb-held Prijedor separated a group of more than 200 men on the way to Travnik, on Mt Vlasic.
It was further determined that the Squad members then loaded the 200 men onto buses and drove them to Koricanske stijene, a nearby ravine.
They then “ordered the passengers to kneel on the side of the road and started shooting them using automatic guns,” the verdict against Damir Ivankovic read.
“The bodies of the killed people fell into the chasm, while some people jumped down, trying to avoid being killed,” the verdict continued.
Ivankovic, a former member of the Intervention Squad with the Public Safety Station, admitted guilt before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in July last year. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
It is further stated that, a short time later, small groups of men were taken out of the second bus in the convoy and also executed. Hand grenades were thrown down onto the bodies that had fallen into the ravine to ensure none survived the shootings. About 200 men were executed in total at Koricanske stijene. Twelve survived the shooting, however, mainly by hiding under the corpses of other men in the ravine.
Exhumations of remains were carried out in 2003 and 2009 on the basis of indications provided by Ivankovic. “After that, the exhumation was done and some remains were found,” the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina says.
“Besides that, during the course of guilt admission negotiations, he [Ivankovic] provided us with information about another execution location. We then deployed all our services at the location and found additional remains,” the Prosecution added.
Data of the INO indicate that the remains of around 100 people killed at Koricanske stijene have been identified. But in most cases, the remains were so incomplete that families have not buried them.
The International Commission for Missing Persons, ICMP, says that in 24 cases, they were not able to match DNA samples taken from the bones to DNA samples taken from family members of missing persons. They thus assume that not all families donated blood samples.
For their part, families of the Prijedor victims criticize the bodies tasked with searching for missing persons for not having visited Koricanske stijene earlier, and for undertaking the first exhumations some 11 years after the crime occurred.
Edin Ramulic, of the “Izvor” Association, from Prijedor, says “numerous omissions” occurred in the first exhumation in 2003; because no one searched the broader area of Koricani, many victims’ bodies were not then found.
“On the basis of witnesses’ statements and pronounced verdicts we knew that people were killed at two different locations, not very far from each other,” Ramulic said.
“But members of the Federal Commission [on missing persons] and other experts participating in the exhumation in 2003 failed to visit the area located to the left and right of the crime scene, to determine whether any bones could be found there.
“At the time, we knew that the bodies of the people from the second bus had not been removed and were certainly still in the same place,” Ramulic added.
Staff at the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has dealt with the search for missing persons since 2005, when the commissions of Bosnia’s two entities were wound up, say they do not know whether members of the former Federal Commission searched the broader area of Koricani.
“I was not personally present at the location in 2003 but members of my team were there,” said Amor Masovic, former president of the Federal Commission for Missing Persons.
“I don’t know whether they searched the area on the left and right side of the location, but the fact is we did not notice this at the time.
Jasmin Odobasic, who led the Federal Commission team performing the exhumation at Koricanske stijene in 2003, said it was difficult to search the broader area at the time, as much of the terrain was inaccessible.
“It’s a huge area. It was difficult to search it, as it consisted of steep slopes,” she said. “At the time I found about 12 unexploded bombs, snakes and other things.
“We cannot guarantee that more bodies will be found at the same location if the terrain is searched again,” she added.
Masovic explained that during the first exhumation they found numerous small bones, from fingers, heels, vertebra and ribs. Many of these small bones had fallen into cracks between the rocks, so that “the Bosnian Serb forces who transferred the bodies in 1992 could not see them.
“The bodies found in the second exhumation had not been moved but had been scattered around…Besides that, each year, when the ice melts, it drags the bones to other places,” Masovic said.
Although 18 years have passed since their loved ones vanished, the families still hope they will find their remains. However, they fear they may not see that happen because the search has gone so slowly.
“For the families, the most important thing is to find their relatives and bury them,” Elezovic said. “We want to know where our children’s bones are. When we die, nobody will search for them.”
Besides Ivankovic, Gordan Djuric and Ljubisa Cetic were sentenced in 2009 and 2010 before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to eight and 13 years respectively.
Darko Mrdja, was sentenced in 2004 before the ICTY to 17 years in prison after admitting guilt for participation in the shootings at Koricanske stijene.
Nine former policemen from Prijedor and a former guard in Trnopolje detention camp, also charged with participation in this crime, are currently on trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Elvir Jakupović Sentenced to Five Year Prison Sentence
State Court of BiH
August 23, 2010
On August 23, 2010 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, having considered and accepted the plea agreement between the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the accused Elvir Jakupović, pronounced a verdict, finding the accused Jakupović guilty of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Prisoners of War under Article 175 (1) a) of the criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina as read with Article 180 (1) of the same Code. The Court sentenced the accused to imprisonment for a term of five years.
The accused Elvir Jakupović was found guilty of the following: on June 9, 1993 in Slimena, Travnik Municipality, armed with a pistol he came to a stable which was in that village, where local Croat men from Slimena were detained including one captured member of the Croat National Council, Vitezovi Special Purposes Unit, in whose capture he himself had taken part. With the intention to kill him, he approached the detained soldier who was sitting on the floor of the stable wearing a black military uniform, pointed a pistol at his head and fired a shot in his head at point blank range, resulting in the instant death of the detained soldier.
Srebrenica Genocide Suspect Arrested
Balkan Investigative Reporting
August 25, 2010
The State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, has arrested Dragan Neskovic on a suspicion that he participated in genocide committed at Srebrenica in July 1995.
Acting on a warrant issued by the prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Neskovic was arrested in the Bijeljina area. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that he committed genocide in the Srebrenica area as a member of the police forces with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, MUP RS.
Prosecutors will now question Neskovic and decide whether to ask that he be held in custody.
After the Bosnian Serb forces occupied the UN protected zone of Srebrenica, several thousand men and boys were killed while women, children and the elderly were deported to territories controlled by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has handed down second instance verdicts to six former members of the MUP RS totaling 181 years in prison for assisting in the commission of genocide at Srebrenica.
Radomir Vukovic and Zoran Tomic, former policemen, were found guilty of the same crime by a first instance verdict. They were sentenced to 31 years.
The trial of seven former members of Republika Srpska military and police forces charged with genocide is currently underway.
Srpko Pustivuk Pleaded Not Guilty
State Court of BiH
August 25, 2010
At the plea hearing before Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the Srpko Pustivuk, the accused Pustivuk pleaded not guilty.
The Indictment inter alia alleges that the accused Pustivuk on or about May 29, 1992 together with a group of ten armed soldiers of the 1st Srpska Ilijaš Brigade came to a family house in Gornja Bioča. On this occasion the accused Pustivuk allegedly together with other soldiers, having fired their infantry weapons, one civilian and wounded three. As further alleged in the Indictment, the accused Pustivuk on May 31,1992 together with members of the Army of Serb Republic of BiH and Police took part in unlawful arrests and detention of Bosniaks in the elementary school in Gornja Bioča.
On July 30, 2010 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) confirmed the Indictment in the Srpko Pustivuk case charging Srpko Pustivuk with the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilians from Article 173 (1), items a) and c) and paragraph 2, item e) in conjunction with Article 180 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 29 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dragan Nešković Ordered into Custody
State Court of BiH
August 27, 2010
On 26 August 2010 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) issued a Decision in the Dragan Nešković case ordering the suspect Nešković into one-month custody. Pursuant to this Decision his custody may last until 25 September 2010. Dragan Nešković is suspected of the criminal offence of Genocide.
Having examined the submitted evidence, the Court concluded that there is grounded suspicion that the suspect committed the criminal offence he has been charged with. The Court ordered the suspect into custody having found that there are particular circumstances indicating that, if released, he might hinder the inquiry by influencing the witnesses and accomplices. Furthermore, the Court ordered custody due to the exceptional circumstances of the criminal offence carrying a prison sentence of ten years or a more severe punishment, taking into account the manner of its perpetration or its consequences, as the release of the suspect would pose a realistic threat to public order.
Vlahovic hin Sarajevo Prison
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
August 27, 2010
Veselin ‘Batko’ Vlahovic, who is suspected of war crimes committed in Sarajevo, has been extradited from Spain to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was arrested on his arrival at Sarajevo airport around 8 pm on August 26 and taken in a convoy of vehicles to the detention unit of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Vlahovic is suspected of participating in crimes against Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in Grbavica, Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995 including murders, abuse, robbery, causing severe bodily and mental injuries, rape and forcibly taking civilians from their apartments.
“The war crimes of which Vlahovic is suspected were committed in an extremely brutal and outrageous manner,” state prosecutors said.
The warrant against Vlahovic was issued in October 2008 and he was arrested in Spain at the beginning of March.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro all filed requests for his extradition. He was serving a sentence for banditry and violent behaviour in a prison in Montenegro but escaped in June 2001.
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Karadzic Gets 2 Weeks to Study Mladic Recordings
The Associated Press
August 18, 2010
Yugoslav war crimes tribunal judges have given former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic two weeks to study video and audio recordings seized from the family home of his wartime military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic.
The judges say they will adjourn Karadzic's genocide trial for two weeks after two prosecution witnesses finish testifying.
Wednesday's ruling came after Karadzic asked for a three-week break to study the recordings, arguing they may include information that could help him win acquittal.
The recordings were seized together with a pile of diaries Mladic wrote throughout the war.
Karadzic is charged together with Mladic with masterminding the Bosnian war's worst atrocities. Mladic remains a fugitive.
War-crimes Judge Orders Check into Reports of Prosecutorial Misconduct
CNN
August 18, 2010
A judge has ordered an independent inquiry into whether war-crimes prosecutors at The Hague may have intimidated and/or pressured witnesses testifying in the continuing trial of a Serbian politician accused of war crimes.
Presiding Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti announced he would appoint an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to look into the charges, according to documents posted on the website of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The U.N. court deals with war crimes that occurred during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s.
Antonetti ordered the inquiry on June 29, but it received scant attention until Wednesday, when a reporter asked about it at The Hague.
The inquiry cites former Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte as well as prosecutors Hildegard Urtz-Retzlaff and Daniel Saxon. Del Ponte stepped down from the job at the end of 2007 and is now Switzerland's ambassador to Argentina.
"She's only mentioned because she's the former head of the office, but the allegations are aimed at the investigators and lawyers who worked for her," said Frederick Swinnen, special assistant to the current prosecutor at The Hague, in a telephone interview Wednesday with CNN.
A man who answered the telephone at the Swiss Embassy in Buenos Aires said Del Ponte was on vacation and not available.
The allegations concern testimony in the continuing trial of Vojislav Seselj, a former political ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 while on trial at The Hague.
Seselj first made similar complaints three years ago, Swinnen said. He noted that the defendant has himself been convicted for contempt of court.
The friend of the court has not yet been appointed, he said Wednesday. "There are several candidates; it's still at a preliminary stage," he said, adding that he did not expect the inquiry to find any malfeasance.
"Our view is our staff has acted in a professional way and within the rules," he said. "Once an amicus curiae is appointed, we will work with him and assist him in his task."
The inquiry was initiated after a number of witnesses complained "that they had been allegedly intimidated or pressured" by prosecutors, said Swinnen.
"The chamber obviously took these allegations very seriously and decided that it would be wrong to leave any space for doubt arising either on the protection of the rights of the accused or on the investigation techniques by members of OTP [Office of the Prosecutor]," said Christian Chartier, acting spokesman for registry and chambers, in a statement on the court's website.
The friend of the court is to report back to the chamber within six months whether there are sufficient grounds to start contempt proceedings against investigators for the prosecution, he said.
One witness said he and his family "were subjected to tremendous pressure by the prosecution," including 30 to 50 telephone calls per [d]ay from the prosecution, the judge wrote.
Another said prosecutors told him that, "if he testified, after that he could go to America, that he would get a good salary and would get money."
Complaining statements also "mention sleep deprivation during interviews, psychological pressuring, an instance of blackmail (the investigators offered relocation in exchange for the testimony they hoped to obtain), threats (one, for example, about preparing an indictment against a witness if he refused to testify), or even illegal payments of money," the judge wrote.
The prosecution said it "considers these allegations to be utterly devoid of factual basis."
Witness Says Bosnians May Have Attacked Own Side
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
By Rachel Irwin
August 20, 2010
A former United Nations military observer testified this week that there were “very strong suspicions” that Bosnian forces may have launched attacks on their own people during the 44-month sniping and shelling campaign on Sarajevo.
Prosecution witness Richard Mole, who served as a senior military observer for the United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR, in Sarajevo from September to December 1992, was giving evidence in the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.
Since his opening statements last March, Karadzic has repeatedly alleged that the “Muslim side” directed shells on their own civilian areas to elicit international sympathy and a military intervention.
Karadzic is charged with orchestrating the sniping and shelling campaign which killed some 12,000 people between 1992 and the end of 1995.
Prosecutors allege in their indictment that Karadzic’s army carried out the relentless attacks, the primary purpose of which was to “spread terror among the civilian population” of Sarajevo.
Two Bosnian Serb army generals – Stanislav Galic and Dragomir Milosevic - have already been convicted by the tribunal for their role in the sniping and shelling of Sarajevo. Galic was sentenced to life in prison, while Milosevic is serving a jail term of 29 years.
This week, Karadzic – who continues to represent himself - reiterated his claims regarding Sarajevo while cross-examining Mole, who previously testified in the Galic trial.
“Would you agree that the Muslim side targeted their own side of the city… [with] shells directed at their own neighbourhoods and own citizens? [And] that this allowed them to be perceived as victims?” Karadzic asked the witness.
“You raise a very good and controversial issue here,” responded Mole. “There was a suggestion and there were sufficient unknowns for members of UNPROFOR to be reasonably sure that what you have stated is true.”
Mole noted, however, he did not have any conclusive proof that this practice occurred, and for that reason could not cite any specific incidents.
“All I can suggest to you is that we as [UN military observers] were uncomfortable about that question because we sensed what you say may have been true,” continued Mole. “It can’t be determined that it’s a fact but there are very strong suspicions.”
Mole emphasised throughout his testimony that it was not for the military observers to “investigate all rounds that were fired” or to “assess rights or wrongs of the conflict on the front line”.
“You are making the assumption, I think, that the [military observers] or UNPROFOR had the capability to investigate every incident,” said Mole. “That was not the case. If people had lived in the city like I did…”
Appearing overcome with emotion, Mole did not finish his sentence.
“That will do,” responded Karadzic.
Earlier, when Mole was questioned by the prosecution, he had described what it was like to live in Sarajevo during the war.
“The noise never ceased, it was persistent,” he said.
“I haven’t even started to talk about direct fire weapons, small arms, mortars... heavy machine guns. That is the background noise that the city made every day. To concentrate purely on high explosives is to trivialise life in the city.”
He also described the “immense and protracted” fear that engulfed Sarajevo at that time.
“Wherever you went and whatever you did, [there was] incessant fear and concern [about whether or not] that journey was going to complete,” said Mole. “If it was like that for me, then within highly populated areas of the city, where people had no choice and had to live their lives - and didn’t have vehicles like I did - that fear was immense and protracted.”
In the cross-examination, Karadzic asked Mole about certain cases where “Muslims abused Serb prisoners” by having them handle the bodies of dead Bosnian Serb soldiers during an exchange between the two sides.
Mole said that he was in control of the body exchange at the UN headquarters in Sarajevo, and that “during the course of the exchange, [Bosnian Serb] prisoners were used to move bodies being returned to the Serb side.
“I watched the event and made observations and objections to it, to those on [the Bosnian] presidency side.”
Karadzic also questioned Mole about instances when “the Muslim army abused the proximity of UN forces” by taking up firing positions near UN headquarters “in order to act against the Serb side and attract Serb fire as a response”.
“[Did] you and other members of UNPROFOR ask the Muslim side to move…away from UN installations?” asked Karadzic.
“I had personal experience with the situation you described,” responded Mole. “We did on a number of occasions ask the [Bosnian] presidency side, should they wish to engage [the] Serb side, if they would be kind enough to do it further away from UN installations. Yes, I had personal experience with that.”
Karadzic contended that the Bosnian Serb army lacked a “single command” and that “the firing of rounds or even shells did not necessarily mean that the Serb authority, starting from a higher command, ordered or instigated certain incidents.
“Do you agree that it is quite…incomprehensible that the Serb side, with all of its trained officers, should go on shooting its own foot day after day?” asked Karadzic.
“You state that the Serb side had a complete lack of a single command,” said Mole. “Nothing could be further from truth. Any military formation which can bring a fire mission down on concentrated areas… throughout the city cannot possibly portray a lack of single command.”
“I agree with you as far as operations are concerned,” responded Karadzic. “I meant to ask about incidents… there were too many weapons in private hands available for purchase… [My question is] regarding incidents, not regarding well-planned operations.”
“War is a continuum,” said Mole. “All the incidents are joined up. They are not divisible so you could suggest that one incident is caused by a certain set of events. All of the incidents are joined together…You can’t apply blame to one as opposed to the other. As for your comment about privately-owned weapons, yes there were, but not privately owned heavy weapons.”
Karadzic also asked about the presence of foreign media outlets in Sarajevo during the war.
“I was always concerned that the evidence base used by certain agencies, in this regard news [agencies], was extremely weak,” said Mole. “In my own mind I was convinced there was a considerable anti-Serb approach to the conflict within the press, and indeed beyond to some quite senior politicians I met and talked with in Sarajevo.”
“Can you name today a politician whose attitude really grated on your ears?” Karadzic later asked.
“As a soldier, even as a retired soldier, I am not very comfortable answering that question,” responded Mole.
Mole was one of three witnesses to testify this week as the tribunal returned from a three-week summer recess. Also appearing for the prosecution was mortar expert Richard Higgs and Tomasz Blaszczyk, an investigator in the office of the prosecutor who was called to verify the authenticity of the so-called Mladic notebooks.
The diaries – totalling over 3,000 pages – are said to have been written by General Ratko Mladic, who was the highest authority in the Bosnian Serb army during the Bosnian war. The diaries were seized from Mladic’s wife’s Belgrade home last February and turned over to the tribunal in late March.
Thirteen out of the 15 notebooks were admitted in late July as exhibits in the Karadzic trial.
In addition to the notebooks, numerous compact discs, as well as audio and video tapes, were seized from Mladic’s wife’s home during additional searches last March.
On August 10, Karadzic requested that the trial be suspended for three weeks in order for him to review the audiovisual material, which he said was only disclosed to him on August 4.
This week, judges decided to partially grant his request and have suspended the trial for the next two weeks.
“The chamber is…not satisfied that continuing with the trial proceedings, and allowing the accused to later recall certain witnesses for further cross-examination following his review of the seized material, if necessary, is sufficient, in this instance, to ensure his fair trial rights,” Presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon wrote in the August 18 decision.
“Moreover, it will not be, in practical terms, conducive to the smooth conduct of the trial.”
The trial is expected to resume on the week of September 6.
Zupljanin Allegedly Visited Omarska
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
By Zelma Saric
August 20, 2010
A former inmate of the Omarska prison this week described witnessing a visit to the facility by then Bosnian Serb security chief Stojan Zupljanin in 1992.
Prosecution witness Nusret Sivac was giving evidence at the trial of Zupljanin, the former head of the regional security services centre in Banja Luka, and Mico Stanisic, former minister of the Bosnian Serb ministry of internal affairs.
Amongst the charges on the indictment, the two defendants are accused of the killing of a number of people at Omarska and at various places after they were taken from the camp, between May 27 and August 27, 1992.
Zupljanin, who became an adviser to the Bosnian Serb president and Hague indictee Radovan Karadzic in 1994, is accused of extermination, murder, persecution, and deportation of non-Serbs in northwestern Bosnia between April and December 1992.
Stanisic is charged with the murder, torture and cruel treatment of non-Serb civilians, as well as his failure to prevent or punish crimes committed by his subordinates.
Both defendants are alleged to have participated in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at the permanent removal of non-Serbs from the territory of an intended Serbian state.
They are accused of crimes committed between April 1 and December 31, 1992, in 20 municipalities throughout Bosnia, including Prijedor.
According to the indictment, the two accused are held responsible for “imposing and maintaining restrictive measures against Bosnian Muslims and Croats”, having thereby perpetrated persecution on a political, racial or religious basis, which is qualified as a crime against humanity.
Sivac, a Bosnian Muslim, had been a police communications and encryption specialist until 1990, after which he joined Bosnian public television as a correspondent. He has previously testified at the Hague tribunal about ethnic cleansing in the Prijedor municipality.
In September 2002, he testified in the case of former president of the Bosnian Serb-controlled Prijedor municipality crisis staff, Milomir Stakic, followed by a testimony in January 2003 in the case of the former president of the Autonomous Region of Krajina Crisis Staff, Radoslav Brdjanin.
Prosecutor Gerard Dobbyn read a resume of Sivac’s previous testimony at the beginning of the trial this week, stating that in 1992 the witness had seen the destruction of religious buildings and property of non-Serbs in Prijedor.
“On May 30, 1992, the ethnic cleansing of Prijedor began. The witness saw the men being separated from the women before they were taken away,” the prosecutor added.
Continuing with the account, the prosecutor stated that the witness was arrested on June 10, 1992 by Serb police and taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, MUP, building in Prijedor, after which he was transferred to the Keraterm and then to the Omarska camp.
“In [the village of] Omarska he saw houses being burnt, private property being taken away, dead animals lying by the road. He also stated that, after coming to the Omarska camp, he was beaten and that his sister was also arrested,” continued Dobbyn.
“He described brutal and inhumane conditions which were governing the camp where people were being brutally beaten. In July 1992, Mr Sivac witnessed a visit by a high-level delegation of Bosnian Serbs to the Omarska camp, which included Brdjanin, Zupljajnin and Stanisic.
“Alongside other prisoners, he was ordered to stand in line before the delegation and sing Serb songs.”
The witness was then transferred to the Trnopolje camp, where he stayed for two weeks. After its closure in August, he returned to Prijedor where he remained until “he was forced to transfer all his property to someone else and leave Prijedor in 1992”, the prosecutor added.
After the prosecutor finished reading the resume of the testimony, Sivac identified the municipality of Prijedor and the Omarska and Trnopolje camps on a map.
“Do you know that Stojan Zupljanin visited Prijedor in the weeks prior to the [overthrow] of government in Prijedor in April 1992?” asked prosecutor Dobbyn.
“Around April 10, my colleague Bozo Ljubic, a Serb who was a member of the pro-peace Patriotic League, got information from Banja Luka that Stojan Zupljanin and Radoslav Brdjanin were coming to Prijedor to talk with the then-government representatives about the separation of police in Prijedor,” the witness answered.
He added that the Patriotic League was a group of people from all nationalities who staged a protest at Prijedor's town hall, protesting the ethnic division of police forces in the town.
“You said that the reason for Zupljanin’s visit was to carry out a division in the police. Based on what [motive] was this supposed to happen?” asked the prosecutor.
“The motive was recognisable at the time - it was an ultimatum for separation in what they referred to as ‘a peaceful manner’. Only three weeks later, power in Prijedor municipality would be violently [overthrown] by them,” replied Sivac.
He said that after the delegation had left Prijedor, dissatisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, a piece of news was published about an alleged assassination attempt against Zupljanin and Brdjanin during their visit to Prijedor.
“That wasn't correct,” said Sivac. “They only said this to raise the tensions and to prepare the Serb people for what was going to happen three weeks later.”
Immediately after the unsuccessful talks, he said, a group of politicians from Banja Luka which included Zupljanin again came to Prijedor.
“They asked employees of non-Serb nationality, Muslims and Croats, to sign a declaration of loyalty to the new Serb authorities,” continued the witness.
“This was a simple farce, this loyalty statement. I know that some Croats and Muslims signed it, but it didn't help them. They were taken to Omarska and Keraterm camps and murdered there.”
The witness said that he was first arrested on July 10, 1992, when he was taken to the Prijedor police station by former work colleagues and still serving policemen, Tomislav Stojakovic and Rade Volta.
“You were beaten with metal sticks by members of the interventions squad, is that correct?” asked the prosecutor.
“We were lined up against the wall, four of us,” the witness responded. “Members of the police interventions squad started beating us, it was around the noon break and all my former Serb colleagues who worked together with me were standing on the windows, watching us and laughing at us.”
As the trial continued, Sivac identified several photographs, including one of the Omarska mine and the camp’s canteen, garage and the room which was used to question prisoners.
“From those rooms you could hear the cries of women prisoners who were there crying and calling for help,” he said.
On a map, the witness marked the so-called White House, a hangar where prisoners were allegedly killed, and a building which was referred to as the Red House, where according to him “a silent liquidation of prisoners took place.
“They were being killed with mallets, axes, hammers and other forms of cold weapons.”
The witness re-stated that Zupljanin visited the Omarska camp in 1992, claiming that it was then that the “prisoners were forced to sing Serb songs and make the three-finger Serb greeting and exclaim ‘this is Serbia!’
“The prisoners looked horrible, almost all had major traces of violence that had been done to them; they were starved and sick because of the conditions in the camp, everything was very miserable. There were people who couldn't even stand after they had been beaten.”
The witness said that Mladjo Radic, a former colleague of his, “an active policeman and a shift commander in Omarska” was “one of the worst shift commanders of all. It was under his watch that most murders of prisoners and rape of women who were imprisoned in the camp had occurred.
“Once while coming back from the canteen after having eaten, I saw him standing in the corridor. We had extremely good relations before the war. I asked him, Mladjo, what is going to happen to us. He answered me briefly: Sivac, you cannot be helped. You are all here to be liquidated.”
In cross-examination, Zupljanin's defence denied that their client had ever visited Omarska camp.
Defence lawyer Dragan Krgovic said that the witness had, during his first testimony, stated that it was not Zupljanin who had been a member of the delegation that visited Omarska, but rather Vojo Kupresanin, and that he had changed his statement during the Brdjanin trial.
Sivac said it must have been a slip of the tongue and that he was “100 per cent sure” that it was Zupljanin during his first testimony after he was given a local Serb newspaper article that stated that Zupljanin was a member of the delegation.
The trial continues next week.
Karadzic Confirms Mladic Notebooks Authentic
Balkan Insight
By Nidzara Ahmetasevic
August 20, 2010
Radovan Karadzic has confirmed that notebooks seized in Belgrade and presented by prosecutors at his war crimes trial at The Hague were written by Ratko Mladic.
Prosecutors and the defence have both said the handwritten notebooks, with about 3,500 pages covering the period from 1991 to 1995, could provide crucial evidence.
Video and audio tapes shown to the court on Friday showed Mladic carrying the books, dark red with the Yugoslav People’s Army, JNA insignia, while holding meetings with UN officials, civilians and other officers during the Bosnia conflict.
Karadzic objected to the books being given in evidence in their entirety, saying only parts authenticated by witnesses or other documents should be considered.
But the trial chamber refused the objection, saying that since Karadzic expressed no doubts they were authentic, it was up to the chamber to judge if what was read was confirmed by other evidence “at the end of the trial”.
Tomasz Blaszczyk, an investigator for the prosecution, testified that General Manojlo Milovanovic, Mladic's wartime deputy, has confirmed in April the handwriting was that of his former commander.
Milovanovic told the prosecution that Mladic used to write down notes from every meeting he attended during the war.
Seventeen notebooks were seized during raids by Serbian police in December 2008 and February 2009 in the Mladic family house in Belgrade, and handed to the prosecution last May.
Karadzic, the war time president of Republika Srpska, is indicted for crimes committed from 1992 to 1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mladic, the commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, VRS, was indicted in 1995 for crimes against humanity and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but remains on the run.
According to the indictment, he and Radovan Karadzic were part of a joint criminal enterprise against Bosnian Muslims and Croats from 1992 to 1995.
Karadzic's trial is to be halted for the next two weeks to give him additional time to study audio and video materials that were also seized in Belgrade.
Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
Croatia Charges Five Serbs With War Crimes
Southeast Europe Times
August 16, 2010
The prosecutor's office in Sisak has filed war crimes charges against five Serbian citizens, local media reported on Saturday (August 14th). Dusan Jovic, Vlado Cupovic, Marko Vrcelj, Mile Paspalj and Josa Kovacevic were allegedly involved in crimes against civilians and prisoners of war during the 1991-1995 war in the region of Glina.
'I will flush Mladic out,' Serbian Prosecutor Vows - Fugitive Military Chief Wanted on War Crimes
Agence France-Presse
August 21, 2010
Serbia's war-crimes prosecutor vowed Friday to not give up the hunt for fugitive Bosnian Serb wartime military chief Ratko Mladic, wanted for genocide, until he is arrested, a Belgrade daily reported.
"I will flush Mladic out from his hole," Vladimir Vukcevic told the Press daily in an interview.
Mladic, who has been on the run for more than 15 years and is believed to be hiding in Serbia, has been indicted by The Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, notably the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the eastern town of Srebrenica.
Vukcevic, who also leads the special team which tracked down and arrested two years ago Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic, said he would not give up searching for Mladic.
I will be "persistent and persevere to the end," Vukcevic told the newspaper.
He said the authorities' unrelenting search for the fugitive had turned up "very useful materials" such as his diaries and recordings of telephone conversations found during a search of Mladic's family home in Belgrade.
According to local media, the CDs and cassettes include conversations of Mladic with Karadzic, late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, former Yugoslav army chief of staff Momcilo Perisic and notorious former Serb intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic.
All were or are currently standing trial before the ICTY for their role in the wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in 1990s.
In addition to possible insights where Mladic could be hiding, the materials could be useful as evidence for ICTY prosecutors to prove criminal conspiracy charges.
Croatia Extradites Killer of Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic to Belgrade
Bloomberg
By Jasmina Kuzmanovic
August 25, 2010
Croatia today extradited a man convicted for the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic to authorities in Belgrade, said Krunoslav Borovec, spokesman for Croatian police.
Sretko Kalinic, operating under the nickname “Beast,” was tried in Belgrade in 2007 in absentia for the 2003 assassination of then-Premier Djindjic. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the assassination and other crimes.
Kalinic, a Serb citizen, had been on the run until June this year, when he was shot and wounded in Zagreb by another Serb. A court in Zagreb yesterday sentenced him to one and a half years in prison for fraudulently obtaining two Croatian passports.
Past foes in the 1991 war that broke up the former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Serbia in June signed an agreement to cooperate on fighting organized crime.
Ganic to Sue Serbia Over London Detention
Southeast Europe Times
August 27, 2020
Former Bosnian presidency member Ejup Ganic plans to file a lawsuit against Serbia over his detention in London on charges of war crimes. His lawyer, Damir Arnaut, said on Thursday (August 26th) that Ganic spent five months in London victimised by "abuse of the British legal system for political purposes". He was arrested in London on March 1st based on an international arrest warrant issued by Serbia. Belgrade insisted Ganic should be extradited to Serbia to face charges for war crimes against soldiers of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) committed in Sarajevo in 1992. Instead, the extradition court in London eventually rejected Serbia's request and released Ganic.
Montenegro Extradites War Crimes Suspect to Croatia
Southeast Europe Times
August 27, 2010
Montenegro has extradited war crimes suspect Maris Krivosic to Croatia, where he is wanted for crimes committed in 1991, media reported on Thursday (August 26th). Krivosic, 45, was arrested in June based on a warrant issued by Zagreb. He is suspected of involvement in the killing of 56 Croatian civilians in the village of Bacin early in the 1991-1995 Croatian conflict.
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
Official Website of the Extraordinary Chambers
Official Website of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT)
Prosecutors Appeal Sentence in Khmer Rouge Genocide Case
CNN
By Miranda Leitsinger
August 16, 2010
Prosecutors in Cambodia on Monday appealed the 30-year sentence handed down to a man who ran a notorious torture prison in the Southeast Asian nation where more than 14,000 people died under the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime.
Some survivors had been angered by the sentence for Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who was convicted of war crimes on July 26.
His prison term would have been about 19 years after the court took off 11 years for the time he has already served behind bars.
"The co-prosecutors are of the view that the judgment gives insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes," they said in a statement. "At the same time, the co-prosecutors believe that undue weight is placed on any mitigating circumstances applicable to Duch."
The verdict -- which also convicted Duch of crimes against humanity, murder and torture -- sparked strong reactions as word spread outside the courtroom. Some said it made them lose faith in the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal.
"It's becoming a sham," Cambodian-American Theary Seng, chairwoman of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation, said after the verdict.
At least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Duch, 67, was the head of the S-21 prison. Few people brought to the prison made it out alive; only about a dozen were found by the Vietnamese, who invaded Cambodia in 1979.
Prosecutors had initially sought a 40-year sentence. The judges' first gave Duch 35 years, but took five years off that for the time he was illegally detained before the tribunal was established.
Prosecutors said on Monday that the judgment failed "to reflect the full extent of Duch's criminal conduct" and he should be "separately convicted of the crimes against humanity of enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, extermination, and other inhumane acts. These crimes should not have been subsumed into the crimes of persecution and torture."
Duch's attorney, Kar Savuth, has not filed an appeal, according to the court's press office. When contacted by CNN, he said he could not comment over the telephone.
The judge, in announcing Duch's sentence, said he took into consideration that the defendant had expressed remorse, admitted responsibility and cooperated with the court. The judge also took into account the "coercive environment" of the Khmer Rouge, he said
Duch pleaded guilty, but he said he was only following orders and asked for forgiveness. Last November, he asked to be freed after spending some 11 years in detention.
In the last week of the trial, he argued that international law did not apply to him because he was following orders.
The tribunal began its work in 2007 after a decade of on-and-off negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia over the structure and functioning of the court. Duch's verdict was the court's first:
Another four of the ultra-Maoist regime's former leaders are waiting to see if they will stand trial before the U.N.-backed tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On Monday, the co-prosecutors filed a final submission in these cases and asked that the four be indicted and sent for trial, according to a statement from the prosecutors' office. It's not known when the court will make a decision.
Prosecutors at Cambodia Tribunal Seek Genocide Indictment
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
August 17, 2010
Prosecutors at the UN-backed Cambodia tribunal on Monday requested the indictment of four ex-Khmer Rouge leaders on genocide and war crimes charges.
International prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) formally requested the indictment of Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Thirith on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and violations of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code.
In the nearly one thousand page document, the prosecution summarises the evidence collected during a two-year investigation and describe how it supports the allegations against the accused.
The prosecution alleges that the former Khmer Rouge leaders committed crimes through a joint criminal enterprise, which was aimed at igniting a political revolution in Cambodia and to destroy any opposition of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK).
Through this joint criminal enterprise, the accused allegedly enslaved the Cambodian population and deprived them of their fundamental human rights and freedoms.
They also organised mass killings of potential enemies of the CPK.
The judges in Phnom Penh must now either dismiss the charges, or indict the accused persons and send the case to trial. They may also choose to indict the four on different charges. This decision may in turn be appealed by the prosecution.
However, if the judges fail to file a formal indictment by September 19th, Nuon Chea, or brother number two, must be released, due to the expiry of his three-year pre-trial detention limit.
Experts Suggest Tribunal Complete an Exit Strategy
VOA Khmer
By Sok Khemara
August 19, 2010
With little indication from the Khmer Rouge tribunal that it will try more leaders beyond its initial indictments, observers say the UN-backed court should consider designing its completion strategy.
Issues remain unresolved on how the court might wrap up, how convicted suspects should be handed back to the national judiciary—or untried suspects to local courts—and how the tribunal might begin legacy and capacity building.
“It would be feasible and appropriate for the court to begin to plan how it will wind up its activities when those cases are fully dealt with in the judicial process,” Heathery Ryun, a tribunal monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, wrote in an e-mail.
Any completion plan should take into account “the need to complete outstanding cases in accordance with international standards; the goals of the court to support rule-of-law development in Cambodia and a sense of meaningful justice for Cambodians; and residual issues which may arise after the court disbands, such as use of investigatory material, archives, and legal issues that may arise in cases following a final judgment.”
The tribunal has so far tried one suspect, the torture chief Duch, and it is preparing for the potential joint trial of four more senior leaders. But tribunal jurists have been at odds over whether to indict still more suspects.
Lat Ky, a court monitor for the rights group Adhoc, told VOA Khmer the court can begin considering what it can contribute to the national judiciary.
“It should be defined from today how long the tribunal should have to wind up and what should remain for the assistance for judicial reform in Cambodia,” he said.
He cited as an example the slow reconciliation process in Rwanda, which had war crimes courts that went on for years at great cost in time and money. Donors may learn from that, he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a key diplomat for one of the tribunal’s donor countries said this week that some donors will be looking for a completion strategy before they discuss more funding for the court.
“We do not want to see it dragging on forever,” the diplomat said.
A tribunal spokesman said the completion strategy is currently underway as a joint project between the Cambodian and UN-appointed sides of the hybrid court.
Experts Explain Potential for Joint Criminal Enterprise
VOA Khmer
By Kong Sothanarith
August 20, 2010
In their final submission for the Khmer Rouge tribunal's next case, court prosecutors said four senior leaders of the regime should be tried under Joint Criminal Enterprise.
Joint Criminal Enterprise, better known as JCE, is a complex legal theory that groups suspects together in the planning and execution of crimes, and it could be at the heart of Case 002, which tribunal officials expect to take place early next year.
In the submission, prosecutors recommended that suspects Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith “committed these crimes through a joint criminal enterprise, the purpose of which was to enforce a political revolution in Cambodia and systematically destroy any opposition to the [Communist Party of Kampuchea's] rule.”
Tribunal legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen explained it this way. JCE alleges that “these charged persons together decided a plan, a criminal plan, on how to run Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime.”
That plan led to atrocity crimes, for which the senior leaders can be tried together, according to prosecutors. Trial Chamber judges will have the final decision in the matter. But JCE will be complicated for a trial.
Anne Heindel, a legal adviser for the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said in an e-mail Friday that JCE is “a mode of individual criminal responsibility. That is, it shows how someone commits a crime.”
Similar “modes” include aiding a crime, planning it, ordering it, or having superior responsibility over it, she said.
And while JCE can take different forms, at its most basic it involves “a common plan among a number of individuals who all share the same intent to commit a crime,” Heindel wrote.
JCE was first applied at the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It was also applied in the tribunal for Rwanda and in a special court for crimes in Sierra Leone.
“JCE is generally used to prosecute international crimes, but variants of it can be used in domestic prosecutions,” Heindel said. “For example, in Cambodian law, there is a similar mode of liability called 'co-perpetration.'”
In Case 002, prosectors have alleged that all four defendants are tied together, she said. “By linking the accused in this way, evidence against one of them my help prove the responsibility of another.”
“The prosecution wants to show that they all share responsibility for crimes committed in furtherance of the common plan,” she said.
JCE is merely a way of thinking of the case. And that will be up to the Trial Chamber to decide, said You Bunleng, the Cambodian investigation judge for the tribunal. Separate from that, court judges will also determine whether the four are tried in one group by other means.
JCE is only being applied for Case 002. The tribunal has two other cases in its hands, nos. 003 and 004. There has been no determination on whether to indict more suspects in those cases.
But JCE will not be used to determine indictments, Heindel said.
Prosecutors did not include torture chief Duch in their submission. Duch was handed a commuted sentence of 19 years last month after a separate trial for crimes committed at Tuol Sleng prison, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21.
Heindel said the inclusion of Duch in the second case was “unnecessary” and would have prolonged court procedures.
“The JCE alleged against the four charged persons in Case 002 encompasses many crimes in which Duch was not involved,” she said. “The alleged JCE also likely includes S-21, but it is not required that all participants in a JCE be tried in the same case. He can still be brought before the court as a witness.”
KRT Civil Parties Plan Appeal
The Phnom Penh Post
By Sam Rith
August 24, 2010
A group of civil party lawyers at the Khmer Rouge tribunal has announced that it will appeal judgments on reparations and admissibility for its clients, becoming the first civil party group to file notice of plans to challenge the court’s rulings on victims.
A notice of appeal against the judgment by civil party group 3 was posted on the court’s website yesterday. Group 3 lawyer Kim Mengkhy said the appeal itself would be filed within 15 days.
“We are appealing because we want the tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber to accept all civil party complaints,” Kim Mengkhy said. “We also want the court grant compensation to the victims.”
With its judgment last month against former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, the Khmer Rouge tribunal became the first international war crimes court to complete a trial in which victims were given full participation rights. Ninety victims participated as civil parties for the duration of the proceedings, granted the right to attorney and, in some cases, the opportunity to speak before the court.
After months of hearings, however, many civil parties were surprised to learn during the announcement of the verdict that their claims had been rejected. In explaining these rejections, the court’s Trial Chamber said the civil parties in question had not been proved to have suffered directly at prisons administered by Duch, or had “failed to prove close kinship or bonds of affection or dependency” with victims of such prisons.
The claims of 24 civil parties were denied in this fashion, including clients on whose behalf Kim Mengkhy and his colleagues are appealing.
In addition to filing the appeals on admissibility, Kim Mengkhy said his group planned to challenge the judgment on reparations.
The court’s internal rules empower judges to grant “collective and moral” reparations to qualifying civil parties, and as part of last month’s ruling, the Trial Chamber announced that requests to have the names of civil parties printed in the verdict and to have statements of apology made by Duch at trial collected and published had been granted. Other requests, such as calls for a memorial stupa or funds for victims, were rejected because they either lacked specificity or were beyond the scope of possible reparation options available to the court, which cannot grant monetary compensation.
Despite the limited scope for reparations, some observers charged in the aftermath of the verdict that the judges had been unimaginative in crafting awards for civil parties, and urged the court to reconsider the decision. A number of civil party lawyers said following the verdict that they were considering appealing the reparations decision.
“We want to see stupas built with the names of the victims, the conservation of evidence and memorial buildings, further publication of the verdict, and so forth,” Kim Mengkhy said.
Convicted Khmer Rouge Official to Appeal
Australia Network News
By Robert Carmichael
August 25, 2010
Former Khmer Rouge prison chief, Comrade Duch, has appealed against his conviction and a 30-year prison sentence handed down by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court.
The defence team for Comrade Duch has formally appealed against the conviction handed down last month by the tribunal in Phnom Penh.
In their submission, lawyers said Duch's conviction and 30-year jail sentence amounted to a miscarriage of justice, and claimed their client did not fall within the court's remit.
They added that the sentence smacked of victor's justice, and said he ought to be acquitted and released.
No date has been set for the appeal.
Duch headed the Khmer Rouge's key torture and execution centre known as S-21, where thousands died during the movement's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
Four other senior Khmer Rouge figures are currently in pre-trial detention, and are likely to go on trial early next year.
Official Website of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)
Hezbollah Hands Over Evidence to Mirza
YaLibnan
August 17, 2010
Lebanese Attorney General Saeed Mirza received on Tuesday the Hezbollah documents that Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) General Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare had requested from the Lebanese authorities.
The evidence over former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination was delivered to Mirza by Hezbollahsecurity coordinator Wafiq Safa.
Mirza then handed the documents to Bellemare’s office in Beirut.
This comes after the Hezbollah leader tried Monday Aug 9, during a televised press conference to present evidence including footage he said came from Israeli Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) monitoring Hariri to prove that Israel was behind the assassination of Hariri. He also presented a confession from a suspected Israeli spy.
Bellemare officially requested Lebanese authorities last Wednesday to provide all the information in possession of Hezbollah.
Hizbullah's Documents May Delay Announcement of Indictment in Hariri Assassination
Naharnet
August 22, 2010
A Lebanese sources closely following up on the investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination stated that the evidence provided by Hizbullah to the investigation may force Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to delay announcing the indictment for another two months.
The source told the daily Asharq al-Awsat Sunday: "Bellemare and his team are dealing very seriously with the documents … and this may take up nearly two months, which means delaying the indictment to late October or mid-November at the latest."
"The indictment will be issued at the end of the investigation after reaching damning evidence and it will not be related to political developments in Lebanon or the region," it added.
Issawi Confirms Fransen's Decision on Sayyed's Request for Access to Documents in Sept
Naharnet
August 23, 2010
Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokeswoman Fatima el-Issawi has confirmed that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen will abide by the date he had set to issue his ruling over the request of Jamil Sayyed for access to certain documents linked to false witnesses.
In principal, Fransen will issue his decision in the first half of September, Issaw told As Safir newspaper in remarks published Monday.
Asked about the decision of the Lebanese cabinet to task Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar with studying the issue of false witnesses in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, Issawi said the tribunal does not comment on such decisions.
She said the STL has been authorized to prosecute those involved in Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder. If conditions were available, the authorization would also include the suspects of other attacks that took place in Lebanon between Oct. 1, 2004 and 12 December 2005 or later on.
A Lot of Question Marks after Najjar Assigned to False Witnesses Case, Hizbullah Official
Naharnet
August 23, 2010
A senior Hizbullah official said the Shiite group was not surprised by Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's request to obtain information in Hizbullah's possession allegedly implicating Israel in the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.
Regarding the issue of false witnesses, As-Safir newspaper on Monday quoted the official as saying that "Hizbullah, just like many others, have a lot of question marks after Lebanese Forces Minister Ibrahim Najjar was assigned to the case."
Hezbollah Data on Hariri Murder 'Incomplete': UN
AFP
August 24, 2010
The UN tribunal probing the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri said on Tuesday evidence Hezbollah provided allegedly implicating Israel was incomplete and called for the remaining material to be submitted "without delay."
Earlier this month, the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) requested Lebanese authorities submit all material related to the murder in the possession of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after the Shiite leader unveiled "evidence" his arch-foe Israel played a role in the assassination.
"The preliminary assessment of the DVDs has determined that the response is incomplete since the material that was handed over is limited to the material shown during the August 9, 2010 press conference and does not contain 'the rest of the evidence' that Mr Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his press conference," a statement released by STL prosecutor's office said, without saying what evidence was missing.
"The information received will be thoroughly assessed. This can properly be done only if it is based on a complete record," it added.
"This is why the office of the prosecutor has requested the Lebanese authorities to provide the remaining material ... without delay."
The statement said STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's Beirut office received six DVDs in an envelope from Hezbollah through the Lebanese prosecutor general's office on August 17.
Nasrallah has claimed Israel was behind the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
On August 9, he produced several undated clips of aerial views of various areas in Lebanon that he alleged were intercepted from unmanned Israeli surveillance drones.
The clips included footage of the site of the Hariri assassination, shot several years before the murder.
Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which fought a deadly 2006 war with Israel, is facing increasing pressure as rumours abound that the tribunal is set to accuse several of its members.
Nasrallah has warned against implicating Hezbollah in the assassination, labelling the STL an "Israeli project."
The Hariri murder triggered an international outcry and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a deployment of almost three decades.
The killing has been widely blamed on Syria, but Damascus has consistently denied involvement.
The Hague-based tribunal was set up by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 to find and try suspects in the assassination. There are currently no suspects in custody.
Mirza Hasn't Yet Received Hizbullah's Answer on Bellemare's Request
Naharnet
August 27, 2010
General Prosecutor Said Mirza hasn't yet received any answer from Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa on Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's request to provide the remaining material to which the Hizbullah chief referred to in his press conference on August 9.
An Nahar daily said Friday that Mirza would make the announcement in a statement upon receiving Hizbullah's answer.
"Hizbullah officials hand-delivered to the Prosecutor General of Lebanon an envelope containing six DVDs," Bellemare's office said in a press release.
"The preliminary assessment of the DVDs has determined that the response is incomplete since the material that was handed over is limited to the material shown during the 9 August 2010 press conference and does not contain "the rest of the evidence" that Mr. Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his press conference," it added.
Judge Orders Longtime Gitmo Detainee Released for Lack of Evidence
CNN
August 16, 2010
A U.S. district court judge in the District of Columbia Monday ordered the United States to release a detainee held for nearly nine years at the military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. ruled that the federal government had "failed to demonstrate that the detention of [Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif] is lawful."
Kennedy heard oral arguments on the matter in early June.
Significant portions of Kennedy's 28-page ruling -- including some whole pages -- are redacted. But the document makes clear that Kennedy agreed with Latif's arguments that documents and other evidence used against him were not reliable and that the government's belief that a man he met with was an al Qaeda recruiter is incorrect.
"Latif's story is not without inconsistencies and unanswered questions," Kennedy wrote, "but it is supported by corroborating evidence provided by medical professionals and it is not incredible.
"The Court does not accept respondents' contention that Latif must be lying because he has told more than one cover story."
The differences, he wrote, "may be no more than misstatements or mistranslations; even if the details of Latif's story have changed over time, for whatever reason, its fundamentals have remained the same."
Latif, a Yemeni who is now 34, was captured by Pakistani authorities in late 2001. He was transferred to Guantanamo in January 2002. When he was 18, Latif suffered head injuries in a car accident, and his treatment was paid for by the Yemeni government. Latif said the treatment was incomplete, and he "sought charitable assistance."
In 2000, he met a man named Ibrahim, according to the court ruling, who promised him free medical care in Pakistan. The federal government argued that Ibrahim was actually an al Qaeda recruiter named Abu Khalud, "who encouraged Latif to go to Afghanistan to receive military training and/or fight jihad."
Although the government used interrogation responses from other prisoners to bolster its claim that Ibrahim was Abu Khalud, Latif noted that no other detainee ever reported seeing him on the battlefield or at an al Qaeda safe house or training camp. Also, a 2004 Defense Department determination that Latif "is not known to have participated in combatant/terrorist training."
Kennedy agreed that many of the "incriminating statements" provided by the government lacked "corroborating evidence," that "there is serious question" about the accuracy of some of the evidence against Latif and that Latif "has presented a plausible alternative story to explain his travel."
"Because respondents have not demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Latif was part of al Qaeda or an associated force, the Court concludes that his detention is unlawful," the judge wrote.
9/11 Suspect Was Detained and Taped in Morocco
New York Times
By Mark Mazzetti
August 17, 2010
A Yemeni man implicated in the Sept. 11 attacks was secretly detained in Morocco after Central Intelligence Agency operatives took him there in 2002, officials said Tuesday.
While the man, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was detained in a prison near Rabat, Moroccan officials videotaped several of his interrogation sessions and gave the recordings to the C.I.A., the American officials said.
The new details about Mr. bin al-Shibh’s detention, first reported Tuesday by The Associated Press, shed light on Morocco’s role as a holding site for suspected members of Al Qaeda captured by the United States.
The existence of the tapes of his interrogations was revealed in 2007 in a filing to a federal judge, although Mr. bin al-Shibh’s name had been redacted from the documents at that time.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the recordings of Mr. bin al-Shibh, two videotapes and one audiotape, were found in 2007 under a desk at the C.I.A. The 2007 court filing said that the tapes had been found separately.
Mr. bin al-Shibh, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002 by American and Pakistani operatives, has long been said by American officials to have played a central role in the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks. Since September 2006, he has been held at the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The C.I.A. began building a prison in Morocco in 2003, but it is unclear whether any detainees were kept there.
A federal prosecutor is investigating the 2005 destruction of dozens of videotapes of brutal interrogations of two Qaeda detainees. American officials said the tapes of Mr. bin al-Shibh do not depict harsh interrogation techniques.
Paul Gimigliano, a C.I.A. spokesman, declined to provide details about the tapes, but said that the C.I.A. detention program “has been the subject of multiple reviews” and that the agency’s cooperation with the inquiries continues.
One other suspect apprehended in Pakistan in July 2002, Binyam Mohamed, was transported by American intelligence officers to a Morocco prison, where he spent 18 months.
He said he was severely beaten by Moroccan interrogators.
New US Ambassador to Iraq Arrives in Baghdad
Agence France Presse
By Arthur MacMillan
August 18, 2010
James Jeffrey, the new US ambassador to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday and presented his diplomatic credentials to the conflict-torn nation's head of state, the US embassy said in a statement.
Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience of the Middle East, met President Jalal Talabani and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari at ceremonies in the Iraqi capital, it said.
"It is a great honour for me to return to Iraq," Jeffrey, accompanied by his wife Gudrun, was quoted as saying.
"I look forward to renewing old friendships, strengthening our ties with Iraqi leaders and deepening our civilian engagement for the long term throughout this historic land."
Jeffrey takes up his post less than two weeks before the US military is due to end its combat mission here, with the number of American troops expected to fall to around 50,000 by the end of August as part of a long-term drawdown.
On August 5, the US Senate unanimously confirmed Jeffrey's appointment to replace outgoing ambassador Christopher Hill who retired after a 33-year career in the diplomatic service.
Hill left Baghdad last week after a 16-month stint latterly dominated by a political stalemate after deadlocked parliamentary elections on March 7 in which no clear winner emerged and from which no government has taken office.
Jeffrey's career includes a previous stint in Baghdad -- as deputy chief of mission and then charge d'affaires from June 2004 to June 2005 -- unlike Hill, who was best known for his high-profile post as the Bush administration's pointman on North Korea's nuclear programme.
Jeffrey had most recently served as ambassador to Turkey, a NATO ally that has seen its usually warm ties with Washington frayed over Ankara's tensions with Israel and opposition to US-backed sanctions on Iran.
Before being appointed to his post in Ankara, he served as deputy national security adviser and assistant to the president at the White House under George W. Bush's administration.
Prior to this, Jeffrey served as principal deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department, where his responsibilities included leading the Iran policy team.
Jeffrey has also held a number of different posts in Washington, Europe and the Middle East, including as deputy chief of mission in both Kuwait and Turkey. He was posted to Munich, Sofia, Tunis and Adana, Turkey.
He also worked in the Balkans as US ambassador to Albania and was earlier a US Army infantry officer from 1969 to 1976, and served in Germany and Vietnam.
Jeffrey arrived one day after a suicide bomber at an army recruitment centre in Baghdad killed 59 people, most of them prospective soldiers, in the bloodiest attack in Iraq this year.
In addition to the ongoing reduction of American troops, all US soldiers are due to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011 under the terms of a bilateral security agreement signed between Washington and Baghdad in November 2008.
While American commanders insist local forces are up to the job, the top Iraqi officer, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, said earlier this month that US troops would have to stay until 2020 before his soldiers would be ready.
Officials: US Drones Kill Six in Northwest Pakistan
Associated Press
By Rasool Dawar
August 21, 2010
Suspected U.S. missiles fired from an unmanned drone killed six militants Saturday in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
Missiles struck two vehicles in Anghar Kala village near Miran Shah in North Waziristan — the second such attack since massive floods hit Pakistan in late July. The officials said some of the dead militants may be foreigners.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.
The tribal region is a haven for various Islamist militant groups. The main organization operating there is the Haqqani network, which focuses on attacking U.S. and NATO troops across border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's leadership has raised concerns the insurgents might exploit instability and chaos caused by the massive flooding, the country's worst-ever natural disaster. The U.S. has tried to improve its public image in Pakistan by sending significant flood aid, though Saturday's airstrike shows it is not willing to abandon the widely unpopular drone attacks.
The U.S. rarely discusses the covert, CIA-run missile campaign, but officials have said in the past it has proven a valuable tool in the battle against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas. Pakistani officials publicly condemn the airstrikes, but it is believed they have given tacit approval.
Separately, a bomb exploded at a checkpoint jointly manned by pro-government tribesmen and police in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing six people, government official Javed Khan said.
The attack happened in Mohmand, a tribal region 45 miles (75 kilometers) northwest of the main city of Peshawar. The dead included a policeman, a passer-by and four members of a peace committee set up to check militant movements, he said.
No Evidence Khadr was Tortured: Guantanamo Judge
Agence France Presse
August 21, 2010
There is "no credible evidence" Canadian-born Omar Khadr was tortured or even threatened after he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002, wrote the military judge presiding his trial at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
In a court document The Miami Herald posted online Friday, judge Patrick Parrish said "there is no credible evidence the accused was ever tortured as that term is defined... even using a liberal interpretation considering the accused's age."
Kadhr, the last Westerner held at the US prison facility, was 15 when he was arrested for lobbing a hand grenade that killed a US sergeant during a 2002 attack in Afghanistan.
The Canadian-born son of an Al-Qaeda leader who died in 2003, Kadhr's trial by a US military commission began last week with a bombshell, when Parrish admitted as evidence all statements he made under interrogation at Afghanistan's Bagram prison.
The ruling came after Khadr's first US interrogator told to the judge in May that he had threatened the boy with tales of rape and murder in US jails to make him talk. The interrogator was later court martialed for abusing prisoners in Bagram.
Parrish, in the court document dated August 17, said "there is no evidence that the story caused the accused to make any incriminating statements then or in the future."
"The statements offered against the accused are reliable, possess sufficient probative value, were made voluntarily, are not the product of torture or mistreatment," Parrish added.
Khadr's trial was suspended a week ago for at least 30 days after his lawyer collapsed in court and was allowed to seek medical treatment in the United States.
US Admits Human Rights Shortcomings in UN Report
Associated Press
By Matthew Lee
August 24, 2010
The Obama administration has told the United Nations that America's human rights record is less than perfect but stressed that the U.S. political system has built-in safeguards that promote improvements.
In its first-ever report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on conditions in the United States, the State Department said Monday that some Americans, notably minorities, are still victims of discrimination. Despite success in reforming such inequities as slavery and the denial of women's right to vote, the department said, considerable progress is still needed.
"Although we have made great strides, work remains to meet our goal of ensuring equality before the law for all," it said.
The report noted that although the U.S. now has an African-American president and that women and Hispanics have won greater social and economic success, large segments of American society suffer from unfair policies and practices.
High unemployment rates, hate crime, poverty, poor housing, lack of access to health care and discriminatory hiring practices are among the challenges the report identified as affecting blacks, Latinos, Muslims, South Asians, Native Americans and gays and lesbians in the United States.
The report, which drew on meetings that U.S. officials held with various groups around the country since January, also cited concerns from civil rights activists and citizens related to immigration and racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.
The 29-page report was submitted to the Human Rights Council on Friday but was not published until Monday. Members of the council, which the United States joined only last year, are required to submit reviews of their rights records. The report was the first "Universal Periodic Review" produced by the U.S.
In one of his first moves to reach out to the international community, President Barack Obama decided that the U.S. should run for a seat on the council. The Bush administration had shunned the panel for years over its alleged disproportionate criticism of Israel and membership that includes repressive regimes.
The report's findings were cautiously welcomed by human rights activists but will likely draw fire from conservatives who opposed joining the council. They said the U.S. should not be judged by countries with poor human rights records.
The administration sought to rebuff such criticism in the report, saying its participation in the review was not an acknowledgment "of commonality with states that systematically abuse human rights." It also said the report did not reflect "doubt in the ability of the American political system to deliver progress for its citizens."
At the same time, it said that the U.S. welcomed "observations and recommendations" from council members "that can help us on that road to a more perfect union."
The American Civil Liberties Union praised the administration for engaging with the council but said the report neglected to address key areas where the U.S. has not met its human rights obligations. Those areas include inhumane prison conditions, racial disparities in death penalty cases, and abuses in the immigration detention system.
"It is time for the U.S. to match its human rights rhetoric with concrete domestic policies and actions and create a human rights culture and infrastructure that promote American values of equality and justice for all," said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's human rights program.
Amnesty Wants U.S. to Clarify Role in Yemen Killings
Reuters
By Raissa Kasolowsky
August 24, 2010
Amnesty International said on Wednesday the United States appeared to have carried out or collaborated with Yemen in attacks that killed suspected al Qaeda militants, violating international law.
Yemen's killings of al Qaeda suspects, often in aerial bombings, are extrajudicial executions and are unlawful, the human rights watchdog said, and urged Washington to clarify the involvement of U.S. forces and drones in such attacks.
U.S. officials say only that Washington plays a supporting role by helping Yemen track and pinpoint targets. But the United States has long been involved in fighting militants in Yemen.
"The USA appears to have carried out or collaborated in unlawful killings in Yemen and has closely cooperated with Yemeni security forces in situations that have failed to give due regard for human rights," Amnesty said in a report. It urged Washington to "investigate the serious allegations of the use of drones by U.S. forces for targeted killings of individuals in Yemen and clarify the chain of command and rules governing the use of such drones".
Yemen, which shares a border with top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, launched a major crackdown on al Qaeda after the movement's Yemen-based regional arm said it was behind an attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December.
Washington, fearing that al Qaeda was using Yemen as a base for attacks abroad, stepped up its training, intelligence and military aid to the state and sent special forces there.
In May, Yemeni opposition media reported that a drone had carried out an air strike aimed at al Qaeda that mistakenly killed a government mediator, sparking clashes between government forces and his kinsmen.
Yemen's foreign minister said Sanaa would try to find out whether a drone was involved.
"The U.S. government has deployed drones in Yemen to kill those it describes as 'high value targets', a practice that has been increasingly criticised as involving unlawful killings," Amnesty said, without mentioning specific incidents.
"Often used in remote areas, drones are particularly suited to secret use and it is invariably difficult to investigate and assess allegations that they have been used to assassinate specific individuals," it added.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATED
Amnesty said it had also obtained photographs apparently showing the remnants of missiles known to be held only by U.S. forces at the site of a December air strike against al Qaeda suspects that killed 41 people, half of them children.
Amnesty said that air strike, in southern Abyan province, was an example of security forces "killing unlawfully by using excessive force".
Amnesty said Yemen was increasingly sacrificing human rights in the name of security. It is under pressure from Washington and Riyadh to deal with a range of threats -- al Qaeda, southern secessionism and a now dormant Shi'ite rebellion in the north.
Amnesty said the latest fighting with the northern rebels, before a February truce brought relative calm, saw both Yemen and Saudi Arabia appear to violate international law when they apparently bombed homes and apartment blocks.
"Aerial and other bombardments of markets, mosques and other places where civilians gather, as well as of large residential properties, apparently killed hundreds of men, women and children not engaged in the fighting," the report said.
In the south, Yemen has used "excessive and lethal force" against demonstrators and carried out arbitrary detentions, torture and unfair trials of southern activists, Amnesty said.
Sri Lanka Defends War Against LTTE
Al Jazeera
August 18, 2010
The Sri Lankan defence secretary has defended the military against allegations of mass rights abuses during last year's assault on Tamil Tiger separatists.
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told a government-appointed war commission that at least 6,000 troops were killed and 30,000 wounded during the "humanitarian mission" to free ethnic Tamil civilians from the grip of the separatists.
"We took great care to avoid [endangering] civilians. It was a difficult period for us. Our military had to stop operations and give protection to people, food convoys," Rajapaksa said on Tuesday in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.
He gave no estimates for Tamil fighters or civilian casualties and accused critics of confusing "rebel casualties as civilians".
"It's very difficult to identify the civilian casualties ... nobody talks of the LTTE's dead and injured," he said referring to the group's formal title, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
"They put all these figures also into the civilian casualty figure.''
The United Nations says at least 7,000 civilians were killed in the last five months of the conflict. In all, it says between 80,000 and 100,000 people were killed during the war.
The International Crisis Group reported earlier this year that at least 30,000 civilians could have died in the last years of the war. It also said civilians in the war zone were deprived of food and medical care.
Rights groups have called for an international probe into abuses by both sides, including allegations government troops shelled a "no-fire zone'' created by itself in the northeast of the island after hundreds of thousands of minority Tamils sought refuge there in the last stages of the fighting.
Rajapaksa told the commission that measures taken to prevent civilian casualties included restrictions on using heavy weapons, creation of no-fire zones, and sending convoys of food, medicine and other essentials.
Asked if Western governments or aid agencies raised questions of rights abuses by the army, Rajapaksa said: "No complaints about human rights violations or abuses by the army was brought to my notice. None at all."
He made no reference to relief agency reports of a "humanitarian catastrophe" during the final months of the war, including the killing of surrendering Tamil Tigers and shelling civilians.
He said the government has video proof to show Tamil combatants fighting in civilian
clothing and also using civilians for military work.
Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war ended in May 2009 after the government forces crushed the Tamil Tigers who had been fighting for an independent state for a quarter-century, after what they said were decades of discrimination of Tamils by the ethnic Sinhalese majority.
The eight-member panel is not empowered to probe war crimes, but is expected to focus on why a 2002 truce between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger fighters collapsed and led to more fighting.
Sri Lanka has rejected a separate UN probe into alleged rights abuses and resisted US-led calls for an independent international war crimes investigation.
Commonwealth Games 2010: England Warned of Terrorist Attacks on Soft Targets
The Telegraph
By Simon Hart
August 19, 2010
Commonwealth Games England has written to the country's 17 Commonwealth sports to allay any fears about the danger of travelling to New Delhi in October after receiving positive feedback about the Indian security plan from the Metropolitan Police Specialist Protection Group.
But, in its letter, CGE has told athletes and support staff that, based on advice it has received from the police and the British High Commission in New Delhi, they should not be surprised if there are bomb attacks elsewhere in India in the weeks leading up to the Games.
"Whilst the current advice is that there is no specific threat to the Games, we will continue to keep channels of communication open with the relevant authorities, particularly the Delhi Organising Committee, who carry ultimate responsibility for security provision at Games-time," CGE said.
"We are also aware that there continues to be a likelihood of pre-Games attacks on 'soft' targets, such as the Pune cafe bombing in February of this year, as part of a tactic to scare team members and to stop them attending.
"You may wish to inform your team members that they should expect this tactic to continue." CGE has also warned team members that when they are off duty in New Delhi, they should visit only "listed" tourist sites where there is an extra police presence and should avoid wearing team kit.
The issue of athlete safety was back in the spotlight after Australian Dawn Fraser, the triple Olympic swimming gold medallist, called for a boycott of the Games because Indian officials could not be trusted over security.
She told an Australian newspaper: "The Indians are telling us that security will be right. But they have also been telling us for months that their stadiums are ready to go too and quite obviously they're not.
"I would hate to see another Munich but, with things getting worse and worse, I have grave concerns. I know the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is doing everything it can with security, but what's at the other end of the tunnel?"
However, her remarks were dismissed as "ill-informed" by ACGA chief executive Percy Crosswhite. "We believe, at this stage, it will be safe and it will be secure," he said.
His comments were echoed by Craig Hunter, chef de mission of the England team, who said the Metropolitan Police had been liaising closely with their Delhi counterparts and had advised that it was safe to travel to the Games, which open on Oct 3.
"I attended a meeting yesterday with the Metropolitan Police and I came away from that meeting knowing that we are in a good position and there is no change in any advice or status and we will be going to the Games," he said.
Hunter added that the issue of terrorist attacks outside the Games had been highlighted by the police and the British High Commission and, in the interest of openness, CGE had warned sports in England to expect further incidents.
"We don't want to be anything other than honest and transparent about this," he said. "They are not specific threats to the Games but if that changes then the police and the British High Commission will look at that and advise us accordingly."
Pakistan: Lack of Terror Convictions Hurts Fight
Associated Press
By Sebastian Abbot
August 20, 2010
Pakistani courts have yet to convict a single person in any of the country's biggest terrorist attacks of the past three years, a symptom of a dysfunctional legal system that's hurting the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida at a critical time.
Police without basic investigative skills such as the ability to lift fingerprints, and prosecutors who lack training to try terror cases, are some of the main reasons cited. Another daunting challenge: Judges and witnesses often are subject to intimidation that affects the ability to convict.
The legal system's failure to attack terrorism is critical because it robs Pakistan of a chance to enforce a sense of law and order, which militants have set out to destroy.
It has "caused a sense of terror and insecurity amongst the members of society," said one of the country's top judges, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammad Sharif.
The legal failures also call into question the government's ability to fight terrorism in any way except by using the army in military offensives or — human rights groups alleged — through targeted extra-judicial killings.
The United States has said repeatedly that its success in Afghanistan and throughout the troubled region depends on strong help from Pakistan against militants.
Pakistani army offensives and U.S. missile strikes have killed some suspected terrorist suspects in recent years in the rugged northwest near the Afghan border, where militant leaders and senior operatives are based. The head of the Pakistani Taliban, the group blamed for many of the 20 biggest attacks, was killed in a drone strike last August, for example.
Indeed, human rights groups have accused security forces of carrying out hundreds of assassinations of suspected extremists or sympathizers in the Swat Valley, which the army reclaimed from the Taliban last year, rather than even trying to prosecute suspects in court.
Authorities deny the allegations, saying they do try to use the legal courts.
But their record is dismal.
An Associated Press review found no convictions in the 20 largest and most high-profile terror attacks of the last three years.
Many of the Pakistani court cases connected to those attacks — which have killed nearly 1,100 people— have dragged on for years, or have yet to make it even past the investigation stage and into the courts.
The handful of cases that have been decided have all resulted in acquittals — though many of these defendants remain in custody while they are investigated in other cases, court officials said.
By contrast, 89 percent of terrorism cases in the United States have resulted in convictions since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, according to a report this year by the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.
The recent acquittals of suspects in two of the most high-profile attacks — the 2008 truck bombing outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and last year's commando-style raid on a police academy in Lahore_ have highlighted the problems plaguing the system.
The verdict in the Lahore police academy attack seemed to defy explanation.
The only person captured during the eight-hour siege in March 2009 was caught on the academy grounds — in possession of a hand grenade — allegedly trying to blow up a helicopter. Other militants attacked the main building with automatic weapons and grenades, killing 12 people and wounding dozens.
But the man claimed he was an innocent garbage collector picking up trash, and was convicted in June only of weapons possession for carrying a hand grenade and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was acquitted of involvement in the attack for lack of sufficient evidence.
Lack of evidence was also the reason given for the acquittal in May of four men on trial in connection with the suicide truck bombing that killed 54 people at the Marriott Hotel in September 2008.
Pakistani lawyers and law enforcement officials said weak investigations conducted by poorly trained and resourced police officers made it very difficult for prosecutors and judges to convict.
"I think the man who really plays the most critical role is neither the judge nor the prosecutor, but it is the investigating officer who is in charge of the case who sits in the police station in a pretty shabby environment," said Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a Supreme Court lawyer and legal commentator.
"Everyone has ignored him consistently," Soofi said.
The U.S. has provided some training and equipment for police in Pakistan, mainly in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security forces staged a massive offensive against Taliban militants last spring, according to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
But even when policemen receive training in skills like lifting fingerprints or gathering other forensic evidence, those skill are rarely used in practice, said Akbar Nasir Khan. He recently served as the police chief in the central Pakistani city of Mianwali and is now pursuing a master's degree in public policy at Harvard University.
"If there is no fingerprint provided to the court, no bloodstained clothing, no ballistics provided, no firearms or other things, how can the court convict?" Khan said. "The courts will always say there is no proper evidence collection by the police authorities that helps us convict, which is right."
The police also can by stymied by Pakistan's most powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, which often detains suspects and conducts parallel investigations without notifying the police or presenting evidence at court. That was the case after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, according to a U.N. report.
The lack of collected evidence forces prosecutors to rely heavily on witnesses, a problem in a country where there is no witness protection program. People who are asked to testify in terror trials are often threatened or killed by militants.
"This system relies on witnesses, and in the incidents that take place there are no witnesses normally or they don't want to come forward," Khan said.
"If people are not confident that state institutions can protect them, then why should they come forward?"
These threats often extend to others involved in terror cases, including policemen, prosecutors and judges, leaving them to decide whether to pursue convictions against suspected militants or protect themselves and their families.
In June, three men showed up at the house of antiterror judge Asim Imam in the northwestern city of Peshawar and threatened him and his family if he didn't "behave" during the coming trial of Sufi Mohammed, a hard-line cleric with close ties to the Taliban, said the judge's father-in-law, Javed Nawaz Gandapur. That trial has been delayed.
Prosecutors not only face similar threats, they lack the training needed to take on terror cases, are poorly paid and do not have the resources to carry out their jobs successfully, said Mohammad Jahangir, the chief prosecutor in Punjab province. That province has been hit by a rising number of attacks in the last two years.
"They do not have proper offices ... staff or transport facilities," Jahangir said.
Judges and prosecutors are also grappling with an antiterror court system that has become bloated with cases that often have nothing to do with terrorism. That is ironic because the courts were established in 1997 to expedite terrorism cases that could otherwise get stuck in the quagmire of Pakistan's traditional legal system.
The Lahore judge, Sharif, called the state of affairs "alarming."
"The accused have been acquitted by trial courts due to defective investigation, lack of sufficient evidence and, as such, failure of the prosecution to prove the cases against the culprits," he said.
Police Foil Terrorist Attacks in Somaliland
Somaliland Press
August 24, 2010
The Somaliland police reports that they arrested three men in Hargeisa, who are suspected of planning terrorist acts in Somaliland. The police reports that the three men had large amount of explosives in their possession.
Somaliland Police Commissioner, Mr. Mohamed Saqadhi Dubad, told the local press that men were arrested in a house in Hargeisa. One of the suspects has critical gun wounds.
The commissioner adds that the suspects claim that they came to Hargeisa to seek medical assistance. They claimed that their friend was stabbed in Bosasso, the capital of Puntland. But according to the police, the wounds of the injured man appears to be caused by gunshot. The police add that the men drove into Somaliland in small bus which is registered in Puntland.
It is not clear if the suspects were wound in the fighting that is taking place in Puntland between the local government and separatist militia that is loyal to Islamist Sheikh Atom.
In a press statement to Ogaal, an online news outlet, the Somaliland Police Commissioner, Mr. Dubad, did not confirm the identity of the suspects or their political affiliation. He stated that the police are still investigating the case and he didn’t give more details.
No one has claimed responsibility of any attempted attacks in Somaliland so far.
This is not the first time that the Somaliland police have foiled terrorist acts in the country. In June of this year before the national election, the Somaliland Police arrested eleven people in possession of firearms and explosives in city of Burco. Although no one claim responsibility of that attempt either. The Somaliland authority suspected that the extremist Islamist group Al-Shabab was behind the foiled attempts. Al-Shabab threaten to sabotage the election in Somaliland.
This comes as a deadly suicide bombing killed six parliamentarians in Muna Hotel in the Somali capital. The attack killed more than 30 people. The Islamist militant group, Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility of the attack. This attack has raised concern that the Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group are launching a new offensive against the country’s weak, Western-funded government. in a press statements from the group cited by news organizations indicated the attack was part of a “major war” it declared Monday against the Somali government and the UN backed peacekeeping force.
This attack comes few days later after the Ugandan government sent more troops to Somalia as part of the African Union’s effort to boost security for the Transitional government in Mogadishu. Although the African Union has pledged to send more troops to Somalia, no African country beside Uganda has confirmed sending troop to the troubling country.
Attacks in Iraq Kill 56, Raise Fears of Insurgents
Associated Press
By Barbara Surk and Hamid Ahmed
August 25, 2010
Bombers and gunmen killed at least 56 Iraqis in more than two dozen attacks across the country Wednesday, mostly targeting security forces and rekindling memories of the days when insurgents ruled the streets.
The attacks made August the deadliest month for Iraqi policemen and soldiers in two years, and came a day after the U.S. declared the number of U.S. troops had fallen to fewer than 50,000, their lowest level since the war began in 2003.
Powerful blasts targeting security forces struck where they are supposed to be the safest, turning police stations into rubble and bringing down concrete walls erected to protect them from insurgents.
"Where is the protection, where are the security troops?" said Abu Mohammed, an eyewitness to a car bombing near Baghdad's Adan Square that killed two passers-by. "What is going on in the country?"
Iraq's foreign minister said insurgents are attempting to sow as much chaos as possible, as lawmakers struggle to form a new government and Americans withdraw troops.
"Here you have a government paralysis, you have a political vacuum ... you have the U.S. troop withdrawal," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. "And, in such environment, these terrorist networks flourish."
But like most attacks here, they are met with outrage on the streets and condemnation from government officials. Authorities, however, are virtually powerless in the face of the insurgents' threat.
At least 265 security personnel — Iraqi military, police and police recruits, and bodyguards — have been killed from June through August, compared to 180 killed in the previous five months, according to an Associated Press count.
In August, nearly 5 Iraqi security personnel on average have been killed every day so far.
These numbers are considered a minimum, based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
That rise in deaths coincided with the drawdown of U.S. troops. American officials said on Tuesday that the number of troops fell below 50,000 — a step toward a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
The scale and reach of Wednesday's attacks in 14 cities and towns underscored insurgent efforts to prove their might against security forces and political leaders charged with running and keeping stability in Iraq.
"The insurgents hope to regain the initiative once the Americans are gone," said John Pike, the director of the military information website GlobalSecurity.org.
"The longer there's a stalemate between the Shiite and Sunni politicians," Pike said, "the greater the opportunity for the extremists to translate political violence into political influence."
The deadliest attack came in Kut, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up a car inside a security barrier between a police station and the provincial government's headquarters.
Police and hospital officials said 19 people died, 15 of them policemen. An estimated 90 people were wounded.
In northern Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in a parking lot behind a police station, killing 15 people, including six policemen.
Police and hospital officials said another 58 were wounded in the explosion that left a crater three yards (meters) wide and trapped people beneath the rubble of felled houses nearby.
A police officer was also killed in Mosul where gunmen attacked a police checkpoint and one person was killed in the city of Beiji, in Iraq's northern province of Salahuddin.
Iraqi police and soldiers have always been prime targets for insurgents trying to destabilize the country and intimidate new recruits from joining the security services.
Since Iraq's March 7 elections failed to produce a clear winner, U.S. officials have feared that competing political factions could stir up widespread violence.
Iraqi leaders have failed to end the political impasse.
Iraqi and U.S. officials alike acknowledge growing frustration throughout the nation nearly six months after the vote and say that politically motivated violence could undo security gains made over the past few years.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but they bore the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq, which is known to use car bombs and suicide attackers.
For ordinary Iraqis and policemen on the front line, the blasts brought back memories of the dark days of 2006 and 2007 when insurgents, not Iraqi police or soldiers, reigned.
"These attacks are taking us back to when the terrorists had the ability to launch many attacks in different areas," said Taha Ahmed al-Ajili, a 34-year-old policeman in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown just north of Baghdad.
In Tikrit, a roadside bomb killed a policeman on patrol and wounded another.
Al-Ajili said he feared people would blame what he described as poorly armed policemen and soldiers for the lack of security. He said the security forces are doing their best.
Five others, including an Iraqi soldier and a police officer, were killed in small bursts of violence in Baghdad.
From the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to the holy Shiite shrine town of Karbala to the oil city of Basra, scattered bombings and shootings killed an additional 14 people — including 6 security forces — and injured scores more.
A senior Iraqi intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media, raised the possibility that some of the attackers had inside help.
Official: U.S. May Intensify Counterterrorism Fight on Yemen
CNN
August 25, 2010
The Obama administration is considering adding armed CIA drones to help fight the increasing threat of al Qaeda in Yemen, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
Anti-terrorism operations, including air strikes, in Yemen have been mostly handled by the U.S. military.
A counterterrorism official told CNN that the administration recognizes that "not enough is being done in Yemen" to meet the growing challenge posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). "We need to scale up efforts to disrupt the group," added the official, who spoke about sensitive issues on the condition of anonymity.
According to the official, all options to fight AQAP are under review at the White House. Conditions in the Middle Eastern nation have allowed al Qaeda to regroup there, said the official, "They've shown already that they can attack in Yemen and in the United States," the official said.
"They're not feeling the same kind of heat -- not yet, anyway -- as their friends in the tribal areas," the official said, referring to Pakistan.
"Everyone involved on our side understands that needs to change."
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that CIA analysts concluded al Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen has become a more urgent threat to the U.S. than the core group in Pakistan.
The CIA would not comment on the Post report, but spokesman George Little told CNN: "This agency and our government as a whole work against al Qaeda and ts violent allies, wherever they appear."
Al Qaeda in Pakistan remains a lethal enemy, said the counterterrorism official who spoke with CNN, and there would be no easing on that front or in the pursuit of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda's leadership.
But with the help of allies, the United States has been able to score "lots of successes" against al Qaeda in Pakistan, the official said. That includes the success of U.S. unmanned predator strikes in Pakistani regions along the border with Afghanistan.
Since the Obama Administration took office 19 months ago, missile attacks on suspected terrorists in Pakistan have increased dramatically.
The United States has "cut into their ability to plot, plan and train, but they remain very dangerous and they are still the hub to all spokes, the heart of al Qaeda," the official said.
"No one's even close to saying it's over in Pakistan. Not at all. In fact, we not only have to keep up the pressure there, we have to spread it to al Qaeda's nodes and affiliates elsewhere."
The Yemeni government has been fighting a growing AQAP with the help of the U.S. military and intelligence assets.
The counterterrorism official said the larger role for the CIA will not limit the military's efforts. "There is enough work to go around," said the official.
Defense Department official said both agencies remain involved in the Yemen campaign but added that the intelligence community can operate differently, a reference to the fact the U.S. military cannot take action without the approval of the host government.
Al Qaeda in Yemen grabbed the attention of the West with the Christmas Day attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines trans-Atlantic flight as it landed in Detroit, Michigan.
The suspect, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, who has pleaded not guilty to six federal terrorism charges, was reportedly trained and armed in Yemen.
Since its inception in January 2009, AQAP has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against Saudi, Korean, Yemeni and U.S. targets.
Terrorist Attack at Spanish Police Base in Afghanistan Kills Three
Associated Press
August 25, 2010
A driver for the Spanish police in Afghanistan opened fire during a training exercise today, killing two Spanish officers and their translator. The incident appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks by infiltrators linked to the insurgency, officials said.
The assailant was shot dead by Spanish officers who were conducting the course at their base in Badghis province, says Spanish interior minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.
"I can't say if the Taliban were behind this or not," said Pérez Rubalcaba. "What is clear is that it was a premeditated attack. The person who opened fire knew exactly what he was doing. Therefore, this was a terrorist attack."
Pérez Rubalcaba said the gunman was the longtime driver of one of the victims and not actually a policeman himself. The man had worked with the Spanish police unit since it arrived in Afghanistan five months ago, he added.
The officers, both aged 33, were members of the Civil Guard, a paramilitary unit under the command of the interior ministry. Their translator was a Spanish citizen of Iranian origin, the ministry said.
Following the shooting hundreds gathered outside the Spanish base, chanting religious slogans and hurling stones. The protesters tore down fences around the base and started fires. Shots were also fired.
Provincial health director Abdul Aziz Tariq said 25 people were wounded in the protest, with two in a critical condition. Seven of those hospitalised were under 18 years old, but their wounds were not life-threatening.
NATO said it was monitoring the protests. "According to our reports, soldiers did not open fire on civilians," said spokesman James P Judge.
A government spokesman, Sharafuddin Majidi, said shots had been fired from the base and towards it. He claimed people in the crowd appeared to have deliberately incited the violence, but that order was restored by mid-afternoon.
Shootings by Afghans against coalition partners are a growing concern for foreign forces in Afghanistan. Two US civilians and two soldiers were killed last month when an Afghan soldier who trained others at a base outside Mazar-e-Sharif opened fire during a weapons exercise.
U.S. Judge Dismisses Piracy Charges Against 6 Somalis
The Wall Street Journal
By Keith Johnson
August 18, 2010
A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., dismissed charges of piracy against six Somalis accused of attacking a U.S. Navy ship in April near Somalia.
The accused still face seven more charges, but not the mandatory life sentence that a conviction for piracy would have entailed. Their trial is set to begin Oct. 19.
Judge Raymond Jackson of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia concluded in a 21-page ruling that the definition of piracy offered by an 1820 Supreme Court case—"robbery at sea"—still prevails today.
Prosecutors argued for an expansive definition of piracy to include any acts of violence on the high seas. But since the Somali men failed to seize the USS Ashland, the navy ship, they didn't rob it, Judge Jackson concluded.
The case was featured in a recent front-page article in The Wall Street Journal.
"The Government simply fails to cite one case in United States jurisprudence in which the defendant was criminally prosecuted for 'piracy in violation of the law of nations,' for conduct that fell short of robbery or seizure of a ship," he wrote.
Tuesday's ruling underscores how difficult it is to prosecute suspected pirates in the U.S. for the specific crime of piracy. The survivor of the attack on the Maersk Alabama in 2009 pleaded guilty this year in New York to a spate of charges, but not piracy.
The six Somali men in the Norfolk case will face additional, serious charges, with penalties ranging from eight to 25 years, if they are convicted.
"We're obviously very pleased with the ruling, and look forward to presenting our defense at trial," said Geremy Kamens, one of the defense lawyers who argued for dismissal of the piracy charges.
Prosecutors declined to comment.
The Norfolk decision will likely spur efforts to find an international venue in which to try pirates. Some countries, such as Kenya and the Seychelles, are starting to try Somalis apprehended on the high seas. The United Nations wants an international piracy court.
Tuesday's ruling could also have immediate repercussions. A nearly identical case is unfolding in Norfolk, in which five Somali men are accused of attacking a different U.S. Navy vessel, also in April. Defense lawyers in that case have also argued to dismiss the piracy charges on the same grounds.
Defense lawyer David Bouchard said that while the ruling isn't binding in his case, he expects the court to reach a similar conclusion and dismiss the piracy charges.
"The government made a mistake trying to prosecute this kind of action," he said.
Judge Jackson's ruling also wades into the scrum between U.S. and international law, a hot-button issue not just on piracy but on other issues, especially terrorism.
Prosecutors argued in the case against the six Somalis that international law clearly defines piracy, offering an expansive definition which they said should prevail in U.S. courts. Judge Jackson rejected that argument, arguing that international law is constantly evolving and that the U.S. Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter.
"Given the flexible manner in which international sources treat the definition of piracy, and that these sources inherently conflict with Supreme Court precedent, the Court's reliance on these international sources as authoritative would not meet constitutional muster and must therefore be rejected," Judge Jacksonhe wrote.
UN Creates New Judicial Mechanism to Prosecute Somali Pirates in Kenya
Somalilandpress
August 23, 2010
An international tribunal set up by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter authorizing the use of force is among several options to prosecute pirates operating off the Somali coast laid out by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a new report made public today. This comes as a federal judge last week dismissed piracy charges against six Somali men accused of attacking a Navy ship off the coast of Africa, concluding the U.S. government failed to make the case their alleged actions amounted to piracy.
Piracy attacks have escalated worldwide in recent years owing almost entirely to increasing numbers of incidents off of the coast of Somalia since the overthrow of Siad Barre’s regime in 1991, he wrote.
In 2008, 111 vessels were attacked, and that number nearly doubled to 217 in 2009.
“Bearing in mind that each incident involves a number of individuals, it is clear that there are large numbers of persons involved,” the Secretary-General said in the report, which will be discussed by the Council on Wednesday.
Although the number of incidents continues to be high, increased naval patrols off the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Aden have helped reduce the success rate of these attacks.
In spite of this positive development, as of May, 450 people continue to be held hostage on ships captured by pirates off the Somali coast.
One of the seven options put forward by Mr. Ban in the new report – enhancing UN assistance to bolster regional States’ capacities to prosecute and imprison those behind acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea – has already been going forward.
In June, Kenya opened a new high-security courtroom, built by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the port town of Mombasa, which is intended to increase trial efficiency in the system and provide a secure, modern environment suitable for piracy cases.
Other options listed in the new report include creating a Somali court in the territory of another State in the region and setting up an international tribunal agreed upon by regional country and the UN.
The Secretary-General stressed that arrangements for imprisonment are just as important as the prosecution of pirates, given the large numbers of suspects apprehended by countries’ navies.
Acknowledging the difficult current economic climate, he underlined the need for political and financial commitment from the international community to not only create a new judicial body, but also to sustain it.
“A new judicial mechanism to address piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia would be addressing a different situation to that addressed by the existing United Nations and United Nations-assisted tribunals,” Mr. Ban pointed out. “Such a mechanism would face ongoing criminal activity and potentially a large caseload, with no predictable completion date.”
Security Council Calls for Long-Term Efforts to Prosecute Pirates
Earth Times
August 25, 2010
The UN Security Council urged governments on Wednesday to seek long-term solutions to the problem of prosecuting piracy on the high seas, which has increased despite counter measures involving national navies.
The council said it is of "utmost importance" that solutions are found to help the Somali government prosecute and imprison suspected pirates who have operated off its shores in recent years. It said states and international organizations should assist Somalia's limited judicial capacity in dealing with piracy.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported that there have been 139 piracy-related incidents off the coast of Somalia so far this year with pirates hijacking 17 ships and currently detaining 450 sailors and passengers for ransom.
He said the international community has made concerted efforts in the past three years to combat the problem of piracy, including establishing a contact group of dozens of governments participating in the joint effort to fight piracy.
"Nonetheless, we can do more," he said. "In particular, we need to implement the existing legal regime, so the fight against piracy in international waters is effective."
Ban and his legal adviser offered several options, which include an international tribunal to be set up by the 15-nation council or a Somali court that will apply Somali law.
The council has been discussing a legal mechanism to prosecute piracy that would bring substantive results. Ban said such a mechanism should have the capacity and resources to prosecute large numbers of suspects while ensure due process. A host country should be identified to lead the process.
Ban has appointed Jack Lang as a UN special adviser on legal issues related to piracy off the coast of Somalia. Lang was a former French government minister.
China Backs Fight Against Somali Piracy in Light of International Law
Xinhua
August 26, 2010
China on Wednesday voiced its support to the efforts to counter Somali piracy in accordance with the international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions.
The statement came as Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, was taking the floor at an open Security Council meeting on piracy off the Somali coast. The 15-nation Council began the meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on how to prosecute and imprison Somali pirates.
"China supports the activities carried out to combat Somali piracy in accordance with the international law and the resolutions of the Security Council," Li said. "At present, naval operations of the countries concerned to combat piracy and to protect navigation have played a very positive role in safeguarding the safety of international navigation."
"At the same time, the issue of how to prosecute the pirates caught has come to the fore," he said. "China supports strengthening international cooperation in prosecuting the Somali pirates under the framework of the existing international law, and appreciates the work carried out by the countries concerned, particularly coastal states."
"We also call upon international community to provide the necessary support to the coastal states to enhance their legal capacity, and China welcomes their report in this regard and will join others to further study the legal framework," he said.
"Recently, although pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have continued, threatening the safety of international navigation, their success rate has started to decline, reflecting the initial success of counter-piracy international cooperation," he said.
"However, at the same time, the root causes that give rise to the piracy off the coast of Somalia have not been eradicated, and these pirates remain and their behavior is starting to change with elaborate organization and more covert methods of attack, and they have expanded their scope of operations into the Indian Ocean," he said. "This has shown that the task for combating piracy is still very arduous, and it calls for further comprehensive efforts by the international community so as to eradicate the Somali piracy both from its phenomenon and root cause."
"Using such measures as arrests by armed forces and judicial prosecution of pirates can only ease the problem," he said. "To solve the problem once and for all, an integrated solution should be adopted."
"We believe the international community should make efforts in the following areas: First, the peace process in Somalia should be promoted," he said. "With endless internal conflict in Somalia and the lack of governance, these are fundamental reasons giving rise to the phenomenon."
"The international community should promote the dialogue among the different parties in Somalia so as to stabilize the situation and establish efficient government control so as to forestall the occurrence of the phenomenon," he said.
Not long ago, the African Union decided to strengthen their peacekeeping force in Somalia," he said. "This is conducive to the stabilization in Somalia, and the United Nations should continue to provide support in this respect and to explore the possibility of deploying the UN force."
Secondly, the economic and social development of Somalia should be accelerated, he said. "The stagnant economy and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia are very important causes for this rampant piracy, with the majority of the youths in Somalia unemployed and millions of people struggling for life."
"With all of these economic and social issues in Somalia, the Somali piracy problem cannot be eradicated," he said. "The donor countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations should play a bigger role and to pool their resources, both human and financial, so as to improve the social and economic situation in Somalia."
Thirdly, the regional strategy to solve the Somalia piracy issues should be formulated to eradicate the problem, he said. " The peace process and development in Somalia should be promoted."
"This will need the cooperation of the regional countries and the international community," he said. "They have already started this effort. The coastal states along the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean have already started their cooperation. "
"We support the formulation of the international cooperation, and such measures as the arms embargo and the freezing of assets," he said. "We also support efforts to cut the supply of arms and funds for the Somali pirates."
Obama Signs ‘Libel Tourism’ Law
Publishers Weekly
By Andrew Albanese
August 12, 2010
Culminating a years-long lobbying campaign organized by the Association of American Publishers, President Obama this week signed the Speech Act, a law that prohibits federal courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign libel judgments in the U.S. that do not pass First Amendment muster. The law seeks to put an end to a practice known as “libel tourism,” which allows U.S. authors to be sued in foreign courts with more “plaintiff-friendly foreign libel laws,” such as the U.K. The result of libel tourism is to effectively suppress speech protected by the First Amendment.
Libel tourism came to international prominence in 2005, when Saudi billionaire Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz sued New York-based author Rachel Ehrenfeld in a British Court over her book Funding Evil. Even though the book was not published in the U.K., 23 copies purchased via the Internet provided Mahfouz with enough grounds to sue Ehrenfeld in England, where libel judgments are easier to obtain. Ehrenfeld refused to participate in the proceedings, was ordered to pay £10,000 and legal costs. In response, New York and five other states passed their own libel tourism laws.
In 2007, Mahfouz forced Cambridge University Press (CUP) to rescind publication of J. Millard Burr and Robert O. Collins’s Alms for Jihad, in the face of another controversial libel suit in a British Court. In a move that garnered significant media coverage worldwide, CUP was forced to pulp copies of the book, put the book out of print, ask libraries to pull the book from the shelves, pay damages, and in an extraordinary move, issue a public apology on its web site.
Guangdong Governor Visits Amid Falun Gong Protests
The China Post
August 17, 2010
A delegation of 1,000 people headed by Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua arrived in Taiwan Monday for “Taiwan-Guangdong Week,” a week-long tour focusing on enhancing cooperation in many fields.
The delegation is also expected to procure US$5.2 billion in goods while in Taiwan.
“Taiwan-Guangdong Week,” described by organizers as a “journey of cooperation and nostalgia,” hopes to underline the importance of cross-strait strategic economic, agricultural, and tourism cooperation.
Huang said he received a warm welcome from Taiwan's people on his first trip here in “Beautiful Formosa,” and he hoped for frequent communications between Taiwan and Guangdong in the future.
Upon the arrival of the delegation, Buddhist meditation group Falun Gong practitioners filed a complaint against Huang with the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office for genocide and violation of two United Nations treaties on civil rights.
“We ask prosecutors to investigate the case and arrest Huang while he is in Taiwan for the crimes he endorsed against Falun Gong members in China,” spokesman Chang Ching-hsi said.
“To force Falun Gong members to give up their belief, Guangdong police tortured them, putting hot water or human excrement into their mouths, electrocuting them or raping some female Falun Gong members,” Chand said.
Teresa Chu, a lawyer for Falun Gong, said Taiwan prosecutors can order the arrest of Huang under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Bangladesh Braces For Divisive War-Crimes Trial
International Center For Transitional Justice
By Sebastian Strangio
August 18, 2010
A special tribunal in Bangladesh has indicted four members of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, on suspicion of committing mass atrocities during the country's 1971 Liberation War.
Those arrested, including party president Motiur Rahman Nizami and his deputy Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, have been remanded in custody indefinitely and are likely to face charges of genocide, murder, rape and arson. Travel bans have been imposed on a few dozen more suspects.
The indictments, issued late last month, were the opening act of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, established in March, which is seeking to prosecute those responsible for atrocities during the bloody war that resulted in the country's birth.
The 1971 conflagration, which erupted when the Pakistani military attempted to prevent the secession of the country's eastern wing, led to the widespread massacre of unarmed civilians and the systematic execution of leading Bengali intellectuals. Some sources say 3 million people perished during the 10-month conflict, while as many as 200,000 women were raped.
Although attempts at justice began after the defeat of the Pakistani army by Indian and Bangladeshi forces in December 1971, the tribunal process was derailed after the assassination of independence icon Sheik Mujibur Rahman four years later. For the following three decades, a succession of military administrations has swept aside all attempts at justice, fearing it could implicate many within their own ranks.
For Bangladesh, the trials come four decades late, and many of those most responsible are either dead or living in the relative sanctuary of Pakistan. But Mahbub Alam, the general manager of Dhaka's Liberation War Museum, which commemorates the 1971 atrocities, said that there was a widespread desire to see justice done. "In this country, if you go into each and every village you will find war victims," said Alam, who lost his father in the Liberation War. "The people who did all these kinds of misdeeds are the beneficiaries of the creation of Bangladesh," he says. "They are the beneficiaries of the country, of three million martyrs."
But the government's focus on razakars - internal collaborators who led, assisted and committed crimes in conjunction with the Pakistani administration then in control of the country - has whipped up controversy in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. The Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which was elected in a landslide in 2008 in part on promises of a trial, says it has evidence proving the involvement of senior Jamaat members in the 1971 atrocities. Critics, however, say the tribunal is being used to settle domestic political disputes and runs the risk of unleashing social chaos.
Don Beachler, an associate professor of political science at New York's Ithaca College, said the government has set up the tribunal in part to tar Jamaat-e-Islami as allies of the Pakistani army and "enemies of the Bangladeshi people". The fact that Jamaat ruled in coalition with the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party - a key rival of the Awami League - from 2001 to 2006 has only provided an "extra motive" to pursue the Islamist movement, he added.
To be sure, Nizami and other Jamaat leaders clearly have reason to be concerned. Nizami founded and led the Badr militia, which committed numerous acts of violence against civilians in support of the Pakistani army's campaign to repress Bengali nationalism. "Nizami was active against independence and advocated violence against Hindus who were seen as the source of Bangladeshis' alleged betrayal of Pakistan and Islam," he says. "On the merits and the politics Nizami has much to fear."
Given the politically charged nature of the process, however, the relatively open-and-shut case against Nizami and his deputies could be compromised by procedural inadequacies and a perception of government heavy handedness. Some observers fear the arrests of Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid on June 29 were the first sign that the process was compromised by political manipulation.
The pair, along with top preacher Delwar Hossain Saydee, were detained on the obscure charge of "offending religious sentiment" after they compared their persecution by the Awami League government to the sufferings of the Prophet Mohammed. Only once they were in custody did the government move ahead with questioning on war crimes-related charges.
In a July 14 editorial in the Daily Star, one of Bangladesh's leading English-language daily newspapers, human-rights advocate Mozammel H Khan wrote that the leaders' arrest on such "trivial charges" could undermine the credibility of the government's case against them. "It might create a boomerang effect," he wrote, "for the government in their pledge to bring the alleged war criminals, of which the three arrestees are believed to be leading members, to book."
Meanwhile, opposition to the process is building among Jamaat and its allies. Last month, Khaleda Zia, the BNP president whose party ruled the country in coalition from Jamaat from 2001 to 2006, demanded the immediate release of its leaders, terming the arrests "a heinous example of political repression". Jamaat's leaders have vowed to fight the charges in court, accompanying it with "peaceful" street protests.
Jamaat, which has close links to its more powerful namesake in Pakistan, has more than 10 million followers, and the prosecution of its leaders could potentially provoke a social upheaval. After Nizami's arrest, for example, violent street riots erupted and injured more than 80 people - a foretaste of what could greet the opening of the trials. Others have forecast a chilling in Bangladesh's relations with Middle Eastern nations that have close links to Jamaat.
Caitlin Reger, a senior associate at the International Center for Transitional Justice who has written extensively on the International Crimes Tribunal, said trials of mass atrocities were rarely politically uncontroversial, but that they have still produced meaningful results in Sierra Leone, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere. Ultimately, she said, the quality of the evidence placed before the court would determine the success or failure of the tribunal.
"Based on comparative experiences, a trial that is not considered legitimate is likely to produce weak results that are susceptible to challenge further down the line," she said. "The focus has to remain on the crimes that have been committed and not on the political affiliations of potential suspects, or else the validity and effectiveness of the trial will be undermined."
Despite the political animus apparently driving the process, there is a widespread desire to see responsible politicians brought to justice. Ali Riaz, a professor of politics at Illinois State University, said the trials could bring to close a painful episode of Bangladeshi history, comparing it to Germany's Nuremburg Trials and the prosecution of war criminals from Phnom Penh to Belgrade.
He said that if the trials were carried out in a transparent manner, the political undercurrents would be less likely to undermine the process. "I hope these trials will be able to help Bangladeshis, especially the new generation, be aware of the suffering and cost the nation paid for being independent and understand how religion can be abused to justify heinous crimes," he said.
As the trials against Jamaat's leaders unfold, the Awami League government is likely to face "serious" challenges, he said, but reversing the process would only worsen the situation. "Now that the process has started, there is no going back," Riaz said. "That would have serious ramifications."
ASEAN/Regional Countries Urged to Support a UN Commission of Inquiry
Altsean-Burma
August 20, 2010
The Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma), a regional network of human rights groups, reiterates its call for ASEAN members and other governments in the region to support moves to convene a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.
“It is an embarrassment that ASEAN governments seem less committed about protecting ASEAN citizens from serious international crimes. ASEAN governments shouldn't fear a Commission of Inquiry since it is a fact-finding process, not a tribunal that can send their golfing buddies to jail,” said Altsean-Burma Coordinator Debbie Stothard.
Her remarks were made in the wake of media reports that the US government supported a Commission of Inquiry into serious international crimes in Burma. Australia, the UK, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia had previously called for a Commission of Inquiry after the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tom?s Ojea Quintana recommended the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry.
In his March report to the UN Human Rights Council, Ojea Quintana said that a pattern of “gross and systematic” human rights violations in Burma had persisted over a period of many years and still continued. He suggested that given the lack of accountability for those abuses, the UN initiate a specific fact-finding mandate to investigate the possibility of international crimes.
The violations that led Ojea Quintana to recommend the convening of a UN Commission of Inquiry persist and are widespread and systematic, with the Burmese junta stepping up military attacks against ethnic civilians in Eastern Burma in recent weeks. The violations are likely to continue since the Burmese junta has guaranteed itself blanket immunity from prosecution and placed itself above the law through the 2008 constitution.
The instability generated by the regime’s serious crimes in Burma continue to have serious repercussions on the entire region in terms of displacement and human and drug trafficking.
ASEAN and other governments in the region have an obligation to maintain regional stability, provide human security to their people, and uphold fundamental human rights.
Altsean-Burma Coordinator, Debbie Stothard said, “Burma’s people need and deserve the protection of ASEAN. Governments in the region have to acknowledge and understand that these are serious international crimes being committed. They can no longer be described as domestic affairs not subject to international scrutiny. A UN Commission of Inquiry must be convened as soon as possible.”
UN Releases Rival Reports on Gaza Conflict
The Jakarta Post
Aug. 19, 2010
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday released the results of Israeli and Palestinian investigations into alleged war crimes during the conflict in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 which did not appear to include any input from Gaza's Hamas rulers.
The U.N. chief introduced the 247-page report with brief observations that made no comment on the submissions by Israel or the Palestinians, which were requested by the General Assembly. He said it was important to respect international human rights and humanitarian law and expressed hope that "steps will be taken wherever there are credible allegations of violations."
Last November, the 192-member world body gave Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake "independent, credible investigations" into the findings of a U.N.-appointed expert panel chaired by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. In February, it gave both sides an additional five months to conduct their inquiries.
The 575-page Goldstone report concluded that both sides committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the Gaza war, in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians.
It said Israel used disproportionate force, deliberately targeted civilians, used Palestinians as human shields, and destroyed civilian infrastructure during its three-week incursion into the Gaza Strip from Dec. 27, 2008 to Jan. 18, 2009 to root out Palestinian rocket squads. It accused Palestinian armed groups including Hamas of deliberately targeting civilians and trying to spread terror through rocket attacks on southern Israel.
Both sides rejected the charges when the Goldstone report was issued, and their positions remained unchanged in the newly released reports.
The General Assembly resolution warned of possible "further action" by U.N. bodies, including the Security Council, if both sides didn't conduct independent and credible investigations. Whether the assembly plans any follow-up to Wednesday's report remains to be seen.
Human Rights Watch called on governments and the U.N. to maintain pressure on Israel and Hamas to conduct thorough and impartial investigations, and to provide justice to the victims of abuses.
"Israeli investigations still fall far shortof being thorough and impartial, while Hamas appears to have done nothing at all to investigate alleged violations," the rights group's program director Iain Levine said in a statement. "We regret that the secretary-general merely passed on the reports he received from Israel and the Palestinian side instead of making the failings of these investigations clear."
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban was asked by the General Assembly to solicit investigation reports from both sides but was not requested "to express his views on the responses received."
The Israeli military submitted its report on July 2 and said it has made "numerous changes to its operational procedures and policies in order to further enhance the protection of civilians from the hazards of battle and the protection of private property during military operations."
The report said Israel has launched more than 150 investigations in alegations of misconduct or violations of international law during the Gaza conflict. It said the military has opened 47 criminal investigations and initiated criminal prosecutions of four soldiers in separate incidents.
The Palestinian report was submitted by the Independent Investigation Commission established by the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.
It said "the numbers and the facts speak for themselves" and accused Israel of acting with impunity, disregarding international law, and justifying "its indiscriminate, disproportionate and collective punishment measures against the Palestinian people, as if no limitations applied to Israel."
The Palestinian commission said that since Hamas took over Gaza "leal institutions are being undermined and this has resulted in a high number of violations of international human rights law, negatively impacting the situation of human rights in Gaza." But the commission emphasized "that there is no moral equivalency" between Israel's violations of international humanitarian and human rights law during the Gaza conflict "and the situation concerning observance and respect for human rights in Gaza by Hamas."
South Africa
Human Rights Human Wrongs
Mail and Guardian Online
By Michael Hausfeld and Ralph Bunche
August 17, 2010
Victims of extrajudicial murder, torture, rape, and prolonged arbitrary detention filed a lawsuit in the United States in 2002 against multinational corporations alleging they aided and abetted the apartheid regime in the commission of gross human rights abuses.
Reflecting frustration over the more than seven years the litigation has been stalled by the defendant corporations, the mounted a national publicity campaign during the 2010 Soccer World Cup highlighting the alleged complicity of those corporations-including those sponsoring their national teams in the South African-hosted games. Still, critics in South Africa and elsewhere continue to ask why foreign corporations should be held to account, in United States Courts, for their actions in South Africa decades ago.
The South African Constitutional Court's decision in the 2009 case, Albutt v. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and Others, demonstrates the significance of the apartheid suit both for victims and South Africa's own reconciliation process. It gives those who suffered the most egregious abuses an opportunity to hold allegedly complicit corporations responsible -- an opportunity multinational corporations foreclosed when South Africa's own Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) sought to unearth the truth.
Albutt concerned then South African president Thabo Mbeki's power to pardon those who had been convicted of apartheid-related crimes but who had not applied for amnesty from the TRC. The president conducted proceedings without giving the perpetrators' victims any voice in the process. The victims challenged their exclusion.
The Constitutional Court agreed that the victims should have been included, noting that Section 83 of the South African Constitution provides that the President must "promote[] the unity of the nation and that which will advance the Republic." Drawing from this obligation, the court found that victim participation was "crucial" in any confrontation addressing the accountability of persons alleged to have participated as a wrongdoer in apartheid. Efforts to achieve "the twin objectives of rebuilding a nation torn apart by an evil system and promoting reconciliation between the people of South Africa," the court held, unquestionably, required the participation of victims before the wrongdoers could be exonerated.
As one judge eloquently explained, the "notion of participatory democracy is . . . an African one" and, as an expression of that practice, "[v]ictim participation was the norm in deciding the proper 'punishment' for offenders in traditional African society." This remarkable "capacity for forgiveness," he noted, was in fact a fundamental element of the truth and reconciliation process and its duty to promote national unity.
In fact, this very principle of "participatory democracy" was the foundation of the TRC process and its amnesty power. Rebuilding and reconciliation from the ashes of apartheid must arise with victim inclusion.
One sector of apartheid life, has however, to date, escaped any process of truth and reconciliation -- the international corporation. The multinational business sector has taken many steps since the end of apartheid to aid in rebuilding the nation. It has, for example, worked closely with the government to promote equal employment opportunities and black ownership.
It has invested in the nation, creating jobs and increasing wealth. But, in direct conflict with the principles espoused in Albutt, that sector has never acknowledged responsibility for its actions during the apartheid era, nor have victims been afforded an opportunity to participate in any meaningful process aimed at determining their accountability.
When South Africa provided a forum, the TRC made clear that "[t]o the extent that business played a central role in helping to design and implement apartheid policies, it must be held accountable." This was echoed by the African National Congress in its submission to the TRC on this issue, when it stated that "the business community must acknowledge both its own role in creating some of these conditions and its extensive collaboration with a system involved in gross violations of human rights." And the United Nations, for its part, made clear that the rights of victims of gross human rights abuses include "verification of the facts and full public disclosure of the truth", "a public apology, including acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility", and "judicial and administrative sanctions against the persons responsible for such abuses."
To this end, the TRC held hearings on the role of the business sector in apartheid. Input from businesses was invited, but was not meaningfully forthcoming. Many key businesses refused to participate at all and as a whole, the multinational business sector failed "to take responsibility for its involvement in state security initiatives specifically designed to sustain apartheid rule." In particular, the TRC felt that "[t]he failure of multinational corporations to make submissions at the hearing was greatly regretted in view of their prominent role" during apartheid.
The principles of "participatory democracy," truth and reconciliation could not more clearly have been disregarded. Multinationals effectively foreclosed South Africa from uncovering the truth of their conduct during apartheid.
It was thus left to individual countries to take steps to bring the role of their businesses in apartheid to light. The Swiss government, for example, commissioned a study to determine the role that Swiss nationals and businesses played in supporting apartheid. It found, amongst other things, that Swiss corporations routinely helped the apartheid regime circumvent UN embargoes and that certain companies provided the enforcement agencies of the regime with the moral, financial and material support needed to sustain itself.
In a similar vein, the US litigation provides a participatory forum in which victims of apartheid abuses can uncover the misdeeds of multinational corporations and hold them to account for their unlawful acts. The defendant companies -- General Motors, Ford, Daimler, IBM and Rheinmettal -- are alleged to have provided the means by which security forces of the apartheid regime brutally and physically enforced the system of racial repression through the commission of gross human rights violations. IBM, for example, is alleged to have provided the means through which the Pass Laws were affected. The company provided the equipment to facilitate the apartheid government's system of pass laws that disenfrachised, tracked, and violated the rights of non-white South Africans on a daily basis, and was the cornerstone of apartheid. In 1952 IBM-SA received its first order for an 'electronic tabulator' which was the first step in its automation and expansion of the population control programme.
The motor companies are alleged to have provided customised vehicles, such as the Unimog, that gave the security forces the capabilities to subjugate the citizens of the townships and brutally quash political dissent. Rheinmettal is alleged to have provided the security forces with some of the weapons and ammunition used for extrajudicial killings and other crimes against humanity.
As twelve of the TRC Commissioners, including its chairman, explained to the US court, "the litigation is consistent with, and flows, from the TRC's findings regarding the role of business during apartheid." That it does so in the US, and not in South Africa or Germany, is entirely consistent with the universal principles upon which the anti-apartheid movement and, later, the South African Constitution were based.
International law provides that human rights violators should be held to account wherever they may be found. Indeed, Article III of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of apartheid (1973) specifically requires states to provide for liability for all those who "directly abet" the crime of apartheid and the gross human rights violations that it encompasses, whether the violator resides "in the territory of the State in which the acts are perpetrated or in some other State." The US law under which the case is proceeding -- the Alien Tort Claims Act -- provides a place for foreign nationals to bring cases against US citizens or other foreign nationals for violations of customary international law, including gross human rights abuses.
The defendants in the case, however, have opposed being held to account for their conduct in the US court. When, however, they were given the opportunity in South Africa to tell the truth about their participation in apartheid and their relationship with its enforcement through terrorist type behavior, they failed to do so. Now they do not want to be held accountable in a court of law in a country in which most of them are citizens or in which they routinely do business. What they are really saying is that they should not be responsible to anyone, for anything, at anytime, anywhere.
Human rights abusers should not dictate where, when, and to whom they are accountable. They cannot silence their victims or camouflage their misconduct by disappearing, shutting down or foreclosing all legitimate avenues of inquiry. Those who have been wronged have rights. Those who have done wrong have responsibilities.
As the South African Constitutional Court has made clear, South Africans have a right to be heard "to unburden their grief publicly, to receive the public recognition [of the world] . . . that they were wronged and . . . to help them discover what did in truth happen to them and or their loved ones."
International law and participatory democracy demand no less.
Rwanda
Final Brief on Gacaca Trials Expected End of September
Hirondelle News Agency
August 17, 2010
A final brief on the work accomplished since 2005 by Rwandan Gacaca courts is due to be released at the end of September, an official source in Kigali declared on Tuesday.
"The final brief is almost ready. We will present it to the government at the end of September", Gratien Dusingizimana, the Head of the National Service of Gacaca jurisdictions (NSGJ) told Hirondelle news agency.
Meanwhile, two bills concerning the judgment of genocide cases after the closing of Gacaca courts are yet to be examined by the government.
As the crime of genocide is imprescriptible, a follow-up jurisdiction needs to be put in place.
The first Gacaca trials opened in 2005. Since then, Gacaca courts have tried more than one million people.
Gacaca archives will be stored in a special documentation center placed under the authority of the National Commission for the fight against genocide (NCFG).
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
Official Website of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
Liberian Senate Should Act on New Human Rights Commissioners
New Liberian
By Thomas Jaye
August 25, 2010
The President’s recent nomination of seven candidate commissioners to Liberia’s Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) is a step forward for human rights and accountability, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said last week.
“It’s encouraging there are now candidates for the human rights commission,” said Comfort Ero, Deputy Director of ICTJ’s Africa program. “Liberia’s Senate should begin the confirmation process as soon as possible so that the Commission can finally begin its work. Seven years have already gone past since this body was originally meant to be created.”
The INCHR was mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2003. In February 2010, six candidates nominated as commissioners by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf were rejected by the Liberian Senate. No reasons were publically given for the rejection. The most recent set of nominees has been drawn from a list of twelve Liberians, including five women, submitted to
President Johnson-Sirleaf on July 24 by an independent expert committee.
The INCHR’s mandate is to promote and protect human rights in post-conflict Liberia. The Act, which also created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission-whose mandate was to investigate human rights violations committed between January 1979 and Oct. 14, 2003-calls on the INCHR to ensure and monitor the implementation of the TRC recommendations.
“Moving forward with the appointment process sends an encouraging message about Liberia’s commitment to promote and protect human rights and address many of the issues raised in the TRC recommendations” said Thomas Jaye, Head of Office, ICTJ Liberia Program. “But this commitment can only become tangible and useful if practical steps continue to be taken by the Liberian Senate to create a strong, independent and impartial body.”
Background
Both the TRC and the INCHR are products of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2003 to end almost 14 years of civil conflict in Liberia. The INHRC mandate is to promote and protect human rights in post-conflict Liberia, while the TRC mandate is to investigate Liberia’s past, including violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, with the view of providing a forum for justice, reconciliation, peace and unity.
About ICTJ
The International Center for Transitional Justice works to redress and prevent the most severe violations of human rights by confronting legacies of mass abuse. ICTJ seeks holistic solutions to promote accountability and create just and peaceful societies
Cllr. Verdier Commends Pres. Sirleaf for Withdrawing Two Human Rights Nominees
The Liberian Journal
August 26, 2010
The Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC), Counselor Jerome J. Verdier, Sr. commends the President of Liberia, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for withdrawing the nomination of two prominent figures of the Independent Human Rights Commission.
The President’s wise move points to the faultiness of the process leading to the nomination of these individuals and the need to give serious considerations to public interest processes like the human rights commission which will most significantly impact the peace and stability of the nation now and in the future as it strives for genuine reconciliation.
In a release issued today, Cllr Verdier said that “…in all matters involving the greater interest of the people, it is important that the processes are transparent and fair, otherwise the product or the outcome of the process will be faulty and unrepresentative of the best interest of the people in whose interest these processes are instituted.”
Chairman Verdier is urging the Honorable Liberian Senate to closely scrutinize the other nominees to ensure that the best results come out of this very important process. He is convinced that greater scrutiny is essential because the selection process was not transparent and therefore faulty, for reasons that:
1.The Human Rights Commission Act requires that the Chief Justice in consultation with civil society appoints members of the vetting panel to select nominees for the human rights commission. Unfortunately, the vetting panel was constituted by the Chief Justice without broad or public participation of the greater civil society. This resulted to the constitution of a panel of friends and associates in a manner and form less than transparent.
2.The Panel announced that some 200 persons either applied or were recommended for nomination to the Commission but failed to publish the listing of all those who applied or were recommended for the post. The absence of this left the public with no opportunity to vet the process of selection or access the level of independence and objectivity put into the work by the panel. This would have given the public an opportunity to also compare the final selection with the poll of applicants and independently determine whether the final selection was the best of the pool.
Under these circumstances, the process of selection was neither transparent nor credible; it is therefore not surprising that the President was misled into nominating very unsuitable candidates to hold such auspicious offices.
The TRC Chairman then observed that when conducting matters of interest to the public and not the individual, the standards of objectivity, competence and transparency must be at all times upheld over personal and parochial interest.
He further recommended that the Advice of National Security Advisor Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh be taken seriously when he said at the TRC Public Hearings that people who hold important public offices should be subject to psychiatry test to determine the extent of their lunacy.
More Justice for Cambodians
The Phnom Penh Post
By John Kerry
August 16, 2010
Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge slaughtered an estimated 1.7 million people, Cambodians have received a small measure of justice. A joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal recently found Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity - the first conviction of a leading Khmer Rouge figure.
Duch, 67, was sentenced to 35 years for supervising the barbaric torture and murder of about 14,000 people at Phnom Penh’s infamous Tuol Sleng prison. The tribunal’s decision to reduce Duch’s sentence to 19 years, given the 16 years he had already spent in prison, was bittersweet. I understand why many victims and their families were disappointed by the length of Duch’s sentence - no amount of punishment can make them whole. But the sentence still ensures that Duch will spend most, if not all, of his remaining years behind bars.
Duch’s conviction is a milestone for Cambodia. But the work of the tribunal is hardly finished, and the stakes for the Cambodian people are too high for the international community to walk away now. The next set of cases will be more complex and politically charged, testing the will of Cambodia and the international community. The four most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders await the dock: former president Khieu Samphan; the group’s chief ideologue Nuon Chea; foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith. These are some of the architects of the brutalities committed against the Cambodian people during the disastrous rule of the Khmer Rouge.
But on the cusp of these trials, the tribunal’s future is uncertain. With Duch’s conviction, some contributors have been tempted to declare victory and go home. Donor support is flagging, and a $7 million funding gap has already emerged for the current fiscal year. Last April, Cambodian staff at the court stopped receiving their salaries as the money ran out until Japanese donors stepped up in early July. Moving forward with what one United States expert rightly calls the "Nuremberg Trial of Cambodia" will be difficult unless the tribunal is properly funded.
The United States, which has long championed bringing the Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, is leading by example, raising its contribution to $5 million this year. Our support comes with strings attached. The US is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability at the tribunal, and will continue to press for the independence that the tribunal must enjoy if it is to advance the cause of justice in Cambodia.
As I discussed with Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, for months prior to the establishment of the innovative joint tribunal, if the Cambodian people are to come to grips with their own history, there must be accountability for the perpetrators of genocide. Half of all Cambodians are aged under 20, so Duch’s trial provided the first authoritative introduction to the Khmer Rouge period for millions of citizens of the Kingdom. Some participated directly as parties to the proceedings, tens of thousands of others attended in person, and many more followed along intently on TV, radio, or the internet.
The tribunal has also made important contributions to the historical record, unearthing facts about Cambodia’s civil war that will have implications far beyond any future cases. And it could serve as a model for the Cambodian people of what impartial judicial proceedings might look like.
Cambodia’s courts suffer from a number of institutional and organisational shortcomings, and judicial proceedings are all too often politicized.
Strengthening Cambodia’s judiciary is a long-term undertaking, but the Khmer Rouge tribunal can accelerate the process of reform by demonstrating the virtues of judicial independence, fairness, and due process of law. The more Cambodians witness a higher standard of justice, the more they will be inclined to demand it in their own judicial system. If the tribunal can help catalyse domestic judicial reforms, that success would be among its most significant and lasting legacies.
Sustained international support is vital not only to ensure the continuance of the tribunal, but also to enhance its effectiveness. Our support, and that of other leading democratic nations, will make a powerful statement about the international community’s commitment to seeking justice for all those who are victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Duch trial was a historic, if long delayed, first step along that path for Cambodia. Let’s help Cambodia’s people see the job through and ensure that real justice can be served for the victims of the "killing fields".
A Trial Within A Trial: Justice, Guantanamo-Style
Jurist
By Andrea Prasow
August 19, 2010
Last week at Guantanamo, while much of the media's attention was focused on the trial of Canadian Omar Khadr, two other less-noticed trials were also underway, both of them for Ibrahim al Qosi, a Sudanese man who once worked as a cook and driver for Osama bin Laden. One of al Qosi's trials was public and that trial looked like a victory for the Obama administration, which is hoping to legitimize the use of military commissions. But al Qosi's other trial - the one that really mattered - was secret, and it was a demonstration of how broken the military commission system is.
Al Qosi pled guilty to the crime of providing material support for terrorism, making him the first person that the Obama administration has successfully prosecuted in a military commission. Al Qosi's public trial was, quite literally, a show trial. It had the trappings of a trial, but its verdict had no meaning. Al Qosi pled guilty to the crimes of providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism, and signed a statement detailing the logistical support he had provided bin Laden and al Qaeda. The military jury was carefully questioned for bias by the judge, prosecution, and defense; challenges were raised; and the jury was presented with evidence and advised of the law. In the end, after deliberating for an hour and 20 minutes, the jury issued its sentence, sentencing al Qosi to 14 years in prison, on top of the eight and half years he had already spent in US custody.
But the jury's sentence was irrelevant. Al Qosi's real trial was secret. The judge, counsel, defendant, and the Convening Authority (the Department of Defense official in charge of military commissions) had already agreed on what sentence al Qosi would serve. They had also agreed that the sentence would be kept secret, not only from the jury but also from the public. The news outlet Al Arabiya has reported that al Qosi will only serve two more years before he is repatriated back to his native Sudan. If true, the sentence is a stunning victory - for the defense.
It is difficult to convey the bewilderment that even I - a seasoned observer and former military commissions defense lawyer - experienced watching these events unfold in Guantanamo last week. I was amazed as defense counsel vigorously urged the jury to sentence al Qosi to the minimum sentence the judge said they could issue - 12 years - instead of the maximum sentence allowed by the judge - 15 years. The prosecution in turn argued that al Qosi deserved the maximum 15-year sentence, although it put on virtually no evidence other than testimony by a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) about the structure of al Qaeda. Even the jury members must have wondered why they had been called down to the island to make such narrow decision. The observers frantically flipped through the rulebook for military commissions - the one that had been issued only a few months ago - and confirmed that the charges have no minimum sentence, and the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
Why the range of 12-15 years then? The cynical observer would think it was to ensure the prosecution was able to celebrate a harsh sentence. I'm not sure what other kind of observer there could have been at these proceedings.
Of course, the jury members, unlike the media and observers, had no idea that al Qosi had a prearranged sentence agreement. They also did not know that the prosecution's expert on al Qaeda - NCIS Special Agent Robert McFadden - was actually one of al Qosi's key interrogators. Only once they left the island would they have discovered that their service was moot, and was intended to be all along.
The proceedings had begun on an even stranger note. At the start of the hearing that was supposed to lead to sentencing, the parties jointly requested an order from the judge, Air Force Lt. Colonel Nancy Paul. It seems an integral term of al Qosi's plea bargain is that he not be kept in isolation following sentencing, and instead be permitted to stay in the communal-living camp at Guantanamo called Camp 4, where he has resided for several years. According to the prosecution, as of the day prior to the hearing, the authorities in Guantanamo had declared that they intended to move al Qosi to isolation as soon as he was sentenced.
The prosecution and the defense both implored the judge to order the authorities to keep al Qosi in Camp 4, claiming that the (secret) written plea agreement virtually required it. The prosecutor stated that it was the US government's "promise" to keep him in Camp 4 and that there was no regulation or law that prohibited it. Judge Paul accordingly did issue an order, holding that the term was "crucial" and "a substantial factor" in the defendant's agreement to plead guilty. She said that failure to place al Qosi in Camp 4 or comparable conditions (which do not currently exist) would nullify the plea agreement.
Several hours later, as the case was well into jury selection, the prosecution requested a private meeting with the defense and judge, and the trial was suddenly recessed, not to start again for another two days. Rumor had it that the Department of Defense did not appreciate the judge's order. So when proceedings resumed, the prosecutor began by repeatedly apologizing for having misspoken; defense counsel agreed that al Qosi had all along known that he might not end up in Camp 4; and Judge Paul revised her order to say that she "highly recommend[ed]" that al Qosi be placed in Camp 4, but that failure to do so would not nullify the plea agreement. She noted that the Convening Authority had agreed to defer imposition of al Qosi's sentence for 60 days to give him (yes, al Qosi himself) time to negotiate with the Guantanamo authorities, as well as for US Southern Command to create a policy that would permit him to serve his time in Camp 4. The deferral, the prosecutor asserted, was "an act of grace" by the Convening Authority but in no way represented any obligation. What was the lynchpin of the plea agreement two days earlier had been converted into a footnote.
Where al Qosi will serve his sentence remains unclear. Perhaps he will be free so soon that it hardly matters. It is difficult to assess what really happened without knowing the terms of the plea bargain but it appears that all parties - prosecution, defense and judge - wanted so badly for the agreement to be accepted that they were comfortable setting aside anything that got in the way, including rumored refusal by the Defense Department to comply with the court order.
After sentencing, I found myself having dinner a few feet away from a curious gathering. Judge Paul was scheduled to retire the following day (technically, to begin "terminal leave" on her way to military retirement). The judge, defense counsel, prosecution counsel, members of the clerk's office, court reporters, and others all enjoyed dinner, replete with wine and gifts for the judge. They had a lot to celebrate. Together, they had created their own mini-justice system. The one they were given was so broken that they simply couldn't operate within its parameters. The prosecution walked away with a political success - a 14-year sentence for a man who cooked for al Qaeda; the defense likely negotiated a dream deal for their client; and the judge walked into retirement knowing that she had closed the chapter on another military commission case.
As Judge Paul said before closing the proceedings, "We have made law, and we have made history."
Why a U.N. Probe of Burma is a Crucial Step
Washington Post
August 20, 2010
The evidence against Burma's junta has been piling up for many years. Thousands upon thousands of girls and women raped as a tactic of war by the Burmese army; children press-ganged to serve as porters; 3,500 villages burned to the ground in recent years; millions of people forced from their homes -- these are some of the crimes against humanity sponsored by the generals who rule their Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people.
Now, by deciding to support a United Nations commission of inquiry into these misdeeds, the Obama administration has acknowledged the weight of the evidence and has testified to the urgency of holding criminals accountable for their crimes. It is a major step forward. The U.N. special envoy for Burma (also known as Myanmar), Tom?s Ojea Quintana, has called for such an inquiry, citing the "the gross and systematic nature of human rights violations in Myanmar over a period of many years." In Congress there is strong bipartisan backing for such an inquiry. Most important, Burmese human rights activists and dissidents both inside and outside the country have supported such an inquiry, sometimes at great personal risk.
Backing a U.N. commission does not supplant previous U.S. policy. It's not a substitute for economic sanctions, which should be extended and targeted more precisely at the nation's leaders. Nor does it replace the administration's policy of engagement, which has yet to bear fruit but need not be discarded. Had Burmese leader Than Shwe responded more positively to administration outreach, investigation into his crimes would nonetheless have been appropriate. Conversely, an inquiry need not discourage the administration from reaching out in a pragmatic way.
What an inquiry can do, however, is signal to the younger officers around Than Shwe, 77, that their futures may be brighter if they do not hitch themselves to his policies of mass rape and ethnic cleansing (not to mention his deepening ties with North Korea). It can provide a ray of hope and moral support to the unimaginably brave fighters for democracy inside Burma, who will carry on their struggle with or without such encouragement. And it can signal to the most offensive dictators around the world that they cannot escape justice by selling off their nations' timber and natural gas, or by scheduling (as has Than Shwe) fraudulent elections aimed at civilianizing their authoritarian regimes.
If its support of a commission of inquiry is to be more than a gesture, the Obama administration now must engage in hard-headed diplomacy. That means making clear to China, the European Union, Canada, India, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and others that justice for Burma is a priority and not an afterthought. It will take work. But, as President Obama said when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, "When there is genocide in Darfur; systematic rape in Congo; or repression in Burma -- there must be consequences. . . . And the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression."
Hold Off on Burma
Delaware Online
By David I. Steinberg
August 24, 2010
The United States decided this week to support the creation of a United Nations commission of inquiry into the Burmese military regime's crimes against humanity and war crimes. That human rights violations have occurred is clear, and many have noted that the Burmese junta's restrictions on its upcoming elections make it all but certain the generals will retain power. The real dilemma is whether it is better to express moral outrage at these offenses or to hold off, presuming the possibility of eventual change under a new government.
The options for nation states to express moral outrage are well established: sanctions, war crimes trials, embargoes. These are also tactics designed to achieve certain ends: liberalization, increased human rights, regime change or other indicators of progress. The key question for U.S. officials ahead of Burma's Nov. 7 elections is: Will actions such as imposing new sanctions or endorsing a commission of inquiry improve the lot of the Burmese? Will they help further U.S. strategic and humanitarian objectives in that society and region under a revised government?
The Burmese constitution all but guarantees that its military will remain in command after the elections; by law, 25 percent of seats are reserved for the military. The voting for national and local legislatures will occur before opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to be released from house arrest, and many in her now-defunct National League for Democracy have pledged not to campaign in the biased elections. Further, the generals have legal immunity from in-country prosecution for all acts committed in official capacities.
Despite all this, it is likely that some members of the opposition - in modest numbers - will be among those seated in the central and local legislatures next year - marking the first time opposition voices would be legal in Burma since 1962.
It seems likely that political prisoners will be freed around the time of the elections so that they cannot "interfere" with that controlled process. There have also been indications that badly needed economic reforms could be instituted by the next Burmese administration and that civilians could play significant roles in the government. Essentially, it is possible that in Burma in the near future, we may see the transformation of a "soft authoritarian" state into one that is more pluralistic, including with some legal opposition legislators. In Burmese military lingo, it may be a "discipline-flourishing democracy" - but not a democracy unencumbered by deleterious adjectival modifications.
The plight of the Burmese people has long distressed many. But imposing additional sanctions on Burma's regime or forming still more commissions will only salve our consciences. Neither will help the Burmese people, persuade the government to loosen its grip on the population, or even assist the United States in meeting its strategic or humanitarian objectives. In fact, such moves would hinder negotiations and relations with a new government that, even if far from a model for governance, would probably give the Burmese more political voice and freedom than they have had in half a century. If our concerns are for the well-being of the people and U.S. national interests in the region, then we might well wait for the elections and whatever government comes into power. Then will be the time to judge whether there has been a step forward and how to achieve our goals.
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