War Crimes Prosecution Watch

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Official Website of the Extraordinary Chambers
Official Website of the Khmer Rouge Trial Task Force
Official Website of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT)

Ieng Sary's Lawyer Requests House Arrest
VOA Khmer
By Chiep Mony
January 22, 2008

The lawyer for jailed Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary said Tuesday he wants his client released from a tribunal detention facility and placed under house arrest ahead of any atrocity crimes trial.

Former foreign minister Ieng Sary, who is 78 and suffers from heart problems, was arrested in November and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"It would be OK if this were a normal illness such as backache, fever, headache, dizziness," said lawyer Ang Udom. "But this is a critical illness. You know, it is heart disease. It has been operated on."

Hisham Moussar, tribunal monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said Tuesday such a release could allow a suspect to cast his influence on evidence or witnesses.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said Tuesday the pre-trial judges will have a chance to decide on pre-trial release, which, if granted, would allow Ieng Sary to stay at his home in Phnom Penh ahead of a trial.

Groups: Tribunal Budget Deadline Nigh
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
January 22, 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is facing a time and money crunch that could make trials difficult, two rights groups warned Tuesday.

"There is enough budget for the salaries of the international members for the whole year in 2008. But the Cambodian personnel who are working at the Khmer Rouge tribunal will run out of money in the next few months," said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development. "If the Khmer Rouge tribunal has no budget, the tribunal will not be able to dispense salaries for the personnel. When the personnel have no salary, we are concerned that the court might stall."

Observers worry the tribunal will run out of funds before all five jailed Khmer Rouge leaders are tried, in proceedings the Cambodian foreign minister has said could run into 2012.

A budget shortfall has made the trial of five jailed former Khmer Rouge leaders more difficult, said Hisham Moussar, a legal expert monitoring the tribunal for the rights group Adhoc.

The tribunal's mandate only has a year and a half remaining, he said, "a short time."

"And if the time is short and the money is not there on time, it will be more difficult for the trial of the five people," he said.

Cambodian court declares former Khmer Rouge leader statement stands
Earthtimes.org
January 25, 2008

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal Friday announced it would not annul statements made by the man alleged to have been "Brother Number 2" of the Khmer Rouge movement, Nuon Chea, made without a lawyer present because they were consensual. The joint UN-Cambodian court set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders said the man accused of being Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's right hand man, Nuon Chea, had been advised repeatedly to wait for legal representation but made statements regardless, and they were admissible in court.

In a statement issued through the press office, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) said statements made by Nuon Chea immediately after his arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity would stand.

Nuon Chea's legal team had argued that the statements should be annulled because he made them without a lawyer present, but the court found he had chosen to waive his legal rights against advice.

"In reality, it appears difficult to imagine a situation where the waiver could have been clearer and more deliberate than in this case, without questioning the intellectual capacity of Mr. Nuon Chea, which does not appear to be in question here," the court said in a statement released through its media office.

Nuon Chea was arrested in September. He had earlier stated publicly that he did not trust lawyers and could not see how a lawyer "who was not there" could understand enough to defend the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 Democratic Kampuchea regime, under which up to 2 million Cambodians died.

He later hired Khmer Rouge survivor, Cambodian lawyer Sun Arun to defend him.

The court said it found that Nuon Chea, who is believed to have been former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's closest deputy, was transported by helicopter to the court after his arrest, and was fed and rested when he made his decision to speak and was therefore competent to make the still confidential statement.

Octogenarian Nuon Chea is one of five former leaders currently in custody. Former leader Pol Pot died at home in 1998.

Remanded in custody since his arrest, Nuon Chea is scheduled for a public hearing at the ECCC on February 4 when the Pre-Trial Chamber will hear his complaint against provisional detention.

Judges Meet to Iron Out Tribunal Rules
VOAKhmer
By Mean Veasna
January 28, 2008

Khmer Rouge tribunal judges said Monday they were preparing for upcoming trials, seeking ways to improve on internal rules governing the operation of the courts.

“Our court is getting close to the trial stage. Therefore this plenary session has a clear and urgent agenda, such as observations on ways to improve internal rules related to the management of procedures in the court,” said judge Kom Srim, chief of the tribunal Supreme Court Chamber and head of the session.

Twenty-four of 25 judges were prepared to adopt several key amendments to the internal rules of the tribunal, he said.

Some changes are necessary now that the trials are progressing, especially with the arrests now of five Khmer Rouge leaders, said trial chamber judge Sylvia Cartwright.

“There remain many different legal, judicial, administrative and financial issues to be resolved,” she said.

The internal rules were the sticking point for the formation of the tribunal, and even though they have now been adopted, critics worry the tribunal will run out of money.

KRouge tribunal rejects delay to next hearing: official
Turkish Press.com
January 28, 2008

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal will hear an appeal against regime leader Nuon Chea's detention on February 4, officials said Monday, rejecting efforts to delay the court's second public hearing.

Legal maneouvering by Nuon Chea's defence lawyers had threatened to delay the proceedings, court officials said.

But the court said the hearing would take place as scheduled, rejecting requests by Nuon Chea's team to strike some of his testimony from the record.

Lawyers for the most senior surviving Khmer Rouge cadre had argued that tribunal judges should not have conducted their client's initial interviews in the absence of defence counsel following his arrest in September.

"Mr. Nuon's apparent waiver of his right to counsel was involuntary, uninformed, ambiguous and therefore ineffective," they said in their request to annul the written record of Nuon Chea's first three court appearances.
But judges, in an order issued Friday, said the 81-year-old had repeatedly denied that he needed a lawyer present for the interviews.
"It appears difficult to imagine a situation where the waiver could have been more clear and more deliberate than in this case," the judges wrote in their decision to reject the request.

Nuon Chea, who was Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's closest deputy, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was the alleged architect of the communist regime's sweeping execution policies during its 1975-1979 rule.

Five top cadres have been arrested so far, with the first trials expected to begin in mid-2008.

Up to two million people died of starvation, disease and overwork, or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

Schools, religion and currency were outlawed and the educated classes targeted for extermination by the communists.

"Everything is clear now. The co-investigating judges wanted to show that they have done everything fairly for Nuon Chea," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath told AFP Monday, saying the hearing would be held.

Lawyers Want Cambodian Judge Off Of U.N.-backed Tribunal
Associated Press via Dow Jones NewsWires
January 29, 2008

A Cambodian judge must immediately be removed from the U.N.-backed tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders because of his dubious judicial record and political background, defense lawyers say.

The lawyers are objecting to Ney Thol, a judge who sits on the tribunal's pre- trial chamber that will hold an appeal hearing Feb. 4 for Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge ideologue.

Ney Thol must be immediately disqualified not just from the upcoming hearing but from all future proceedings because his "continued presence on the bench threatens to undermine the credibility and integrity" of the entire tribunal, said Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman in a motion received Wednesday.

Five senior Khmer Rouge figures, including Nuon Chea, whose radical policies led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people in the 1970s, were arrested last year and are being held in the capital, Phnom Penh, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their trials are to start this year.

The two Dutch lawyers said that as an army general heading a military court and a member of Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party, Ney Thol "is neither independent impartial."
Ney Thol declined to comment Wednesday.

Ney Thol is a member of the central committee of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party and president of the military court. He is best known for convicting two political opponents of Hun Sen for national security-related crimes.

In 1998 Ney Thol sentenced Prince Norodom Ranariddh, leader of the royalist Funcinpec party at the time, to 30 years in jail for weapons smuggling and conspiring with outlawed Khmer Rouge guerrillas. The trial was mainly prompted by Hun Sen's desire to neutralize his main political rival, whom he had already ousted from his position as co-prime minister in a 1997 coup.

In a 2005 trial widely regarded as politically motivated, Ney Thol sentenced an opposition lawmaker to seven years in jail for trying to form an armed group to topple the government. Ney Thol was criticized for his handling of the trial, in which he barred the defense from calling its own witnesses to testify and did not give the defense enough time to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution.

Both Hun Sen's political rivals were later freed by royal pardons.

Ney Thol's "participation in highly questionable judicial decisions would lead a reasonable observer, properly informed, to reasonably apprehend bias against Nuon Chea," the lawyers said.

Nuon Chea is scheduled to appear before a pre-trial hearing Feb. 4.

He is appealing against his provisional detention at the tribunal, which has charged him with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The charges are related to his alleged role in the Khmer Rouge atrocities that led to the death of some 1.7 million people when the communist movement held power in Cambodia in 1975-79.

Expert: Tribunal Needs Reform Before Funding
VOA Khmer
By Sivon Brahm
January 30, 2008

“US Ambassador Mussomeli and his staff are of the view that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is now on the right track and that the US should now seriously consider direct support. I believe direct US support of the tribunal is appropriate, but only if the ECCC agrees to some key reforms to keep the trials on track:

Robust Anti-Corruption Commitments – One key condition is that the ECCC adopt tough anti-corruption controls. Since the issuance of a scathing UNDP audit last summer, the tribunal has taken minimal steps to crack down on alleged corruption.

The tribunal must appoint an ad hoc panel immediately to investigate the allegations and must take decisive action against any employee found to have engaged in malfeasance. The United Nations and Cambodian government must publicly commit to stringent measures going forward. The Khmer Rouge trials are above all a chance to show Cambodians how justice can be done, and corruption could deal the process a fatal blow.

A Clear Operating Timeline – The ECCC also needs to commit to a clear timeline for the completion of its mandate. It is essential to conduct the trials carefully and to deliver credible verdicts, but efficiency is also important. Cambodians have waited for three decades for justice, and an unnecessarily drawn-out process would likely generate considerable public dissatisfaction.

If the ECCC lasts as long as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) or International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), all of the Khmer Rouge defendants may pass away without ever facing justice.

A Credible Budget Plan – Third, the ECCC needs to present a credible, binding financial plan. The fact that it has already asked for additional funds is somewhat disconcerting. The Special Court in Sierra Leone began with a 3-year, $56 million mandate like the ECCC but has now spent roughly $150 million and five years with no clear end in sight. The ICTY and ICTR have consumed well over $2 billion.

Tribunals sometimes press donors for funds by insisting that justice cannot be done without large additional contributions. In some cases, their pleas are justified, but a balance needs to be struck. Bureaucracies have powerful incentives to perpetuate their own existence, and tribunals are no exception.

The United Nations and the Cambodian government may view the tribunal’s relative success to date as a way to secure more funding, but funds should only be given if the UN and RGC commit to efficiency measures, such as using local resources and outsourcing functions where appropriate. Civil Society Participation – A third condition for direct U.S. assistance, related to the first two, should be inclusion of civil society participation in periodic reviews of the ECCC’s budget and operations.

An outside voice can help the tribunal allocate resources more efficiently, help to break political impasses, and provide a useful watchdog function. The reforms above will not eliminate the risks associated with the tribunal, but they need to be taken if the ECCC is to complete its mandate effectively.

US assistance may not be financially critical for the ECCC, but both the United Nations and Cambodian government will view it as symbolically and politically important.”

Cambodian judge accused of bias will stay for Khmer Rouge hearing
Earthtimes.org
January 30, 2008

A motion seeking the dismissal of a Cambodian judge by a former Khmer Rouge leader's defense team was rejected, a court spokesman said Wednesday. Media spokesman for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Reach Sambath, said the court had dismissed a protest against former Military Court chief Ney Thol by the defense team of accused "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea.

Nuon Chea is appealing his pre-trial detention at a February 4 hearing by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the court. Nuon Chea was arrested in September and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1975-79 regime.

Nuon Chea's lawyers accused Ney Thol of not being impartial and being politically biased due to alleged links with the ruling Cambodian People's Party in a motion made public Wednesday.

Dutch lawyers Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman claimed Ney Thol's "continued presence on the bench threatens to undermine the credibility and integrity" of not just Nuon Chea's hearing, but all cases before the court.

Previously Ney Thol stepped down from preliminary hearings of another of the five former leaders currently in custody, former Toul Sleng torture center commandant Duch, saying because he had been held in the military prison since 1999, he could be seen to be too close to the case.

"I can only say that the motion was not upheld," Sambath said, but declined to comment further.

Five senior Khmer Rouge figures, including Nuon Chea, are in the custody of the joint UN-Cambodia Extraodinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hearings regarding the crimes the four men and one woman are charged with are expected to get underway within months. Many senior cadre, including former supremo Pol Pot, are already dead. Pol Pot died at home in 1998.

Ney Thol, one of the country's most senior judges, was not available for comment Wednesday but has previously strongly denied any allegations of bias made against him.

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Central African Republic

Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic

International Criminal Court Prosecutor set to visit Central African Republic
UN News Service
January 21, 2008

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) heads to the Central African Republic (CAR) – where he is investigating allegations of massive war crimes – later this week to meet with victims of violence, representatives of civil society and senior Government officials.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo is scheduled to travel on Thursday to the capital, Bangui, the ICC announced today in a media statement issued from its headquarters in The Hague.

While in Bangui Mr. Moreno-Ocampo will also visit the ICC local field office, which opened last October, and participate in a public dialogue broadcast on local radio in which he will answer questions about his work and the role of the Court.

“The people of the Central African Republic need to know the world has not forgotten them,” he said. “Our investigative activities in the CAR can bring to the attention of the international community the terrible problems facing the people here and the need to address them urgently.”

Last May the Prosecutor announced that he was opening an investigation into crimes committed between 2002 and 2003, especially the widespread incidence of rape and other forms of sexual violence. The ICC investigation follows a referral by the CAR Government.

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said there were reports that hundreds of terrified women were subjected to sexual violence during the period under review.

“We hear of gang rapes, mass rapes, horrific sexual acts being inflicted on women, young girls, the elderly, in some cases on men. Perpetrators of acts of massive sexual violence, in the CAR and elsewhere, must know that they will be held accountable.”

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s office is also monitoring acts of violence committed since 2005 in the northern part of the country.

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Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Confirmation hearing in the Katanga case postponed
International Criminal Court Press Release
January 31, 2008

Pre-Trial Chamber I decided, on 30 January 2008, that the confirmation hearing in the Katanga case which was provisionally scheduled to start on 28 February 2008, is postponed. A new date will be determined by the Chamber at a later date.

The Chamber stated that the Defence must have access to the evidence on which the Prosecution intends to rely on 30 days before the initiation of a confirmation hearing. And since there are a number of pending issues, the Chamber finds it necessary to reschedule the date of the confirmation hearing.

The confirmation hearing is a public hearing at which the Pre-Trial Chamber will decide whether or not to confirm the charges brought by the Prosecutor against Germain Katanga.

Germain Katanga, a Congolese national and alleged commander of the Force de résistance patriotique en Ituri [Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri] (“FRPI”), was surrendered and transferred to the Court, on 17 October 2007, upon a sealed warrant of arrest issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I on 2 July 2007 at the request of the Prosecutor. Germain Katanga is alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territory of Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

DRC: Trust Fund Set to Assist Congo War Victims
Hirondelle News Agency via MONUC
February 1, 2008

The Trust Fund for Victims, an organization arising from the International Criminal Court (ICC), notified the pre-trial chamber handling the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of its intention "to undertake activities of assisting war victims in the war-torn African country.

This project is a first, before the court, which could soon clarify in a concrete manner the paramount place of victims, allotted by the Rome Statute and which neither the military tribunal of Nuremberg nor the ad hoc international tribunals had provided.

The Trust Fund for Victims can, on its on volition and according to rules, decide to support victims in a given situation such as the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, without them being party to a case .

"International jurisprudence showed that the simple fact of engaging in prosecution is not enough to meet the needs of the victims in a post-war society, and that the desires of the victims go well beyond the concepts of retributive justice", according the Executive Director of the Ttrust Fund, Andre Laperriere, in a document transmitted to the judges on 24 January.

The chamber has 45 days to verify if the decision of the trust fund contravenes the fairness of the trial, the rights of the defence, the presumption of innocence or the admissibility of a case.

For the past one year, the fund has evaluated the requirements in the DRC and in Uganda, where the prosecutor has opened his first investigations.

In June, a first visit was made to Congo and followed by many consultations.

The members of the Trust Fund for Victims are former French Minister Simone Veil, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pole Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Bulgaa Altangerel, from Mongolia.

The members of the trust fund fear that "the victims who will benefit from the activities (...) could be threatened because they will be regarded as having contacts with the Court.

The situation got worse following the arrests and will probably become more dangerous" with the opening of the trial of Germain Katanga and Thomas Lubanga, the two Congolese militia leaders prosecuted by the prosecutor and currently held by the Court.

The document further revealed that the activities financed by the fund will be supported by intermediaries, selected according to "their specialization, experience, presence, knowledge and their technical expertise" and that it should benefit groups of victims, and not victims individually identified, among others.

The Trust Fund for Victims is one of two creations of the Rome Statute, said Laperriere.

"We are complementary, but 90% of our work is done at a distinct level",he added.

It is funded by donations from states, international organizations, companies and individuals.

By 31 December 2006, it had a budget of almost 2, 500, 000 Euros. It can act on its own behalf, as it is the case today, or following an order from the chamber, after the conviction of a defendant.

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Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Darfur, Sudan

Sudan gives adviser role to militia leader
Reuters, via the International Herald Tribune
January 21, 2008

KHARTOUM, Sudan: Sudan has appointed Musa Hilal, a leader of the Arab militia known as the janjaweed, to a central government position. The move was condemned by international human rights advocates.

The minister of federal affairs, Abdel Basit Sabderat, confirmed on Sunday that Hilal had been appointed his new adviser. The president had earlier denied the appointment.

"Yes, he is appointed," Sabderat said. He gave no further details.

Hilal leads a powerful Arab group in Darfur known as Um Jalul. He said that he would be based in Khartoum, the capital, but added that the position could require that he travel to outlying regions. The ministry coordinates regional administrations with the central government.

The Bush administration says that Hilal is the coordinator of the janjaweed, which is accused of war crimes in Darfur. Hilal denies the atrocities, and says that he mobilizes his tribesmen to defend their lands.

Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, is urging the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to pressure Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, into revoking the appointment and investigating Hilal for crimes in Darfur.

"Musa Hilal is the poster child for janjaweed atrocities in Darfur," Richard Dicker, the director of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement released Sunday.

"Rewarding him with a special government post is a slap in the face to Darfur victims and to the UN Security Council," he added, noting that the United Nations had issued a travel ban against Hilal for his role in Darfur.

Gamal Nkrumah, an Egyptian journalist who covers the region, said Hilal's appointment threatened to undermine coming peace talks between the government and Darfur rebels and could strain Khartoum's already troubled international relations.

"It was a surprise decision, and a very unpleasant surprise," Nkrumah said. "It's very negative, and it just shows the complete intransigence on the government's part." He said the move would also alienate Darfur's rebels.

Human rights groups say they have interviewed witnesses who said Hilal was at the scene of atrocities during the Darfur conflict, assertions that he denies.

Some analysts suspect that Hilal could be charged by the International Criminal Court, which has already issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Haroun, a government minister, and Ali Kushayb, a janjaweed leader, for suspected war crimes in Darfur.

The ethnic and political conflict has raged in the Darfur region for more than four years, killing at least 200,000 people and displacing 2.5 million. About two-thirds of Darfur's population relies on the world's largest relief operation for food, shelter or medical care.

Outcry over Sudan appointment
Al Jazeera
January 21, 2008

A man accused of co-ordinating atrocities in Darfur has been named as a senior adviser to Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president.

Washington says that Musa Hilal is the leader of the Janjawid Arab militia blamed for much of the violence in the western province.

The UN has imposed a travel ban on him for his alleged role in the atrocities.

Hilal has frequently denied being a leader of Janjawid, who helped the government to put down a revolt by non-Arab tribes after they took up arms in early 2003.

Last year, in an interview with Al Jazeera, he catergorically stated that the US claims were "false".
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Vall, who interviewed Hilal, said that the tribal leader did admit that he had co-operated with the government and considered the Darfur rebels to be outlaws.

"He thought their cause was not right, he thought of what happened as defence of his own nation," Vall said.

"But he denied that what he led was the so-called Janjawid, and he denied human rights violations in Darfur."

Janjawid 'poster boy'

Sudan's president also rejected criticism of Hilal's appointment at a news conference during his visit to Turkey.

"Mr Hilal himself is a Sudanese citizen. He has a very influential personality in Darfur. He has contributed greatly to stability and security in the region," al-Bashir said.

"In Sudan we don't think the claims against Hilal are true. We absolutely do not believe them. The people who really commit murders in Darfur are receiving help from Europe and others," he said.

Human Rights Watch has urged Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, to press al-Bashir to revoke the appointment and investigate Hilal.

"Musa Hilal is the poster child for Janjawid atrocities in Darfur," Richard Dicker, international justice programme director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"Rewarding him with a special government post is a slap in the face to Darfur victims and to the UN Security Council."

Ahmed Haroun, secretary of state for humanitarian affairs, and Ali Kosheib, a pro-government militia leader, have already been accused of war crimes in Darfur.

Last May, the Hague-based international criminal court issued arrest warrants for both men.

Sudan has refused to hand over Haroun and Kosheib for trial.

Ethnic cleansing

Human Rights Watch said that "Hilal and his men played an integral role in the two-year campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Sudanese army and Janjawid militia."

"Scores of victims, witnesses to attacks, and even members of the Sudanese armed forces have named Hilal as the top commander of government-backed Janjawid militia responsible for numerous atrocities in Darfur in 2003 and 2004," it said.

According to UN estimates, more than 200,000 people have died and more than two million have been displaced in Darfur as a result of the combined effect of war, famine and disease since the conflict erupted.

However, Mekki al-Maghrabi, a Sudanese columnist, said that Hilal's appointment was worth the risk for the ruling National Congress Party, even if he could be tried by a international court.

"The transfer of a tribal leader to a political post is a good step which will open the door to more settlements," he said.

Tayeb Khamis, a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement, a rebel faction whose leader has signed a peace deal with Khartoum, said that Hilal's appointment might prevent Arab tribes from turning away from the government.

"The government is trying to strike a balance, and Hilal is an outstanding figure in North Darfur, regardless of what the ICC or others have on him," he said.

PROFILE: Musa Hilal from a convicted felon to a government official
Sudan Tribune
January 22, 2008

Born in 1961, married to three women with 13 kids and leader of Arab Mahameed clan in Darfur.

His father has relocated the tribe to the Amu region in 1976 after he acquired the land (originally owned by Africans) through forgery and bribing a local official.

Hilal was arrested in 1997 for killing 17 people from African tribes but was not convicted.

He was convicted in 1998 for leading armed robbery against the Central Bank of Nyala in which one policeman was killed.

Hilal was transferred to Kober prison under tight security then to Medani prison then to the coastal Sawakin prison in Eastern Sudan and back again to Kober.

In 2003 and with the breakout of the Darfur conflict the Sudanese government freed Hilal from prison to help crush the armed rebellion. It is believed that Sudan’s First Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Chief of the Air Force Abdullah Safi Al-Nur secured his release.

Some reports indicated that Mubarak Al-Fadil, leader of the opposition Umma reform party, accompanied the notorious Jinjaweed leader Musa Hilal in 2004 to meet with the US Charge d’affaires in Khartoum. During the meeting, thought to have been videotaped, Hilal provided detailed information on Khartoum’s support of the Jinjaweed militias in Darfur.

In 2004 the US State Department designated Musa Hilal as one of the top Jinjaweed leaders running a terror campaign in Darfur against the African population.

Numerous eyewitnesses from Darfur refugees named Hilal as calling for killing the African natives in the region.

In 2005 Musa Hilal told HRW that he recruited people from Arab tribes on behalf of Sudan’s Central government to fight the Darfur rebels but denied any wrongdoings.

On April 2006 the UN Security Council imposed financial and travel ban against Hilal for obstructing peace in Darfur. The US president George Bush issued an executive order enforcing similar sanctions on them.

In 2006 Hilal threatened to fight anyone trying to hand him over to an international court.

On February 2007 Hilal was named in the filings made by the ICC prosecutor as making a speech in July 2003, which was characterized as “racist”. However he was not named as a war crime suspect. “Hilal was enthusiastic about unifying to fight the enemy and characterized the conflict as a holy war” the ICC prosecutor said in the document he submitted to the judges.

On 18 January 2008, the Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir appointed Musa Hilal as a special advisor for the Ministry of Federal Affairs in Sudan.

ICC D. Prosecutor speaks on need for justice in Darfur in women meeting
Sudan Tribune
January 25, 2008

(THE HAGUE) — International Criminal Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor will join other African women for a consultation on Darfur in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss women conditions in Sudan’s Darfur region and the need for justice in the war-torn region.

Over sixty women from Darfur are in Addis Ababa to speak during two days — 24-25 January — about living conditions and the violence they face since the beginning of conflict and to discuss how to involve women in Darfur peace process. The consultation is organised by Femmes Africa Solidarité, an international NGO working on issues of gender, peace and development in conflict zones.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, will remind those gathered for the purpose of developing a Darfuri Women’s plan for peace about the need for justice: “justice is an essential requirement to halt the cycle of repeated violations of women’s rights.” She said in a statement on Thursday.

The Deputy Prosecutor will cite the need to arrest ICC indictees, Sudanese Minister Ahmad Harun and Militia Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, as key. According to the Deputy Prosecutor, “as long as these alleged criminals remain at large, they threaten victims in Darfur”.

The meeting comes few days ahead of 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government.

States Parties to the ICC, the United Nations, the African Union and other international organizations "should not lose any opportunity to send strong messages to the Sudanese authorities." Bensouda said..
The discussion is believed to let African women’s lobbies to harmonize their strategies in order to integrate gender into the peace process in Sudan.

“This pre-summit discussion will enable us to how best we can support and strengthen the Sudanese women contribution in the peace discussion.” Bineta Diop, Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarité said.

The consultation seeks to develop a Darfuri women’s plan of action for peace, identify constraints and establish the way forward for the implementation of the Plan of Action.

The outcome will go to the upcoming 10th Ordinary Session of the AU to be held January 31- February 2, 2008 and be a useful instrument for the advocacy activities that will follow at the African Union summit.
The pre-summit discussion is also aimed at supporting and strengthening Darfuri women who constitute 60% of Darfur community.

Genocide prevention: 60 years of abject failure
The Christian Science Monitor
By Eric Reeves
January 30, 2008

Northampton, Mass. - This year marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 9, 1948, the Convention reflects the tireless work of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish linguist and Jew who had survived the Holocaust. But in the long and too often darkened years that followed, the Convention has never prevented a single genocide, even as "prevention" receives pride of place in the ponderous convention title. Despite the many instances in which international action was desperately required, the demanding words of the Convention have always rung hollow:

"The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and punish."

To be sure, whether genocide occurred in a particular place or time is debatable. Was Cambodia in the 1970s a genocide or a massive and brutal political purging guided by ideological madness? Was Nigeria's Biafra region the site of genocide in the late 1960s or self-inflicted starvation engineered by Biafran separatists? Was the Pakistani occupation of Bangladesh in the early 1970s a genocide?

But if the primary purpose of the Genocide Convention is prevention, the UN and international community must act before there is juridical or historical certainty. We are obliged to act when there is compelling evidence of large-scale destruction of a "national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such." We might wish for a more detailed account of the mechanism for prevention than is offered in Article 8 of the Convention, but the obligation to act is clear.

Instead, failure beyond doubt, beyond mitigation is too often in evidence, whether we look to Bosnia, Rwanda, or Kurdish Iraq. Continuing international acquiescence before genocide is not a matter of an imperfect document but of moral cowardice or a ghastly solipsism.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Sudan's Darfur region. Only a hopelessly constrained reading of the Genocide Convention, or a refusal to look at the systematic nature of ongoing ethnic destruction, can sustain diffidence or agnosticism.

The National Islamic Front regime in Khartoum continues to commit all the genocidal acts enumerated in Article 2 of the Convention, even if one such act now has particular prominence: "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." We need look no further than the "systematic" denial of humanitarian access to targeted African ethnic groups that has been reported by UN and nongovernmental organizations for more than four years. While violence may have declined from the ferocious levels of 2003-04, it continues, if in more chaotic fashion.
And even this chaos in Darfur is "by design," as a recent report from Human Rights Watch authoritatively demonstrates. Nor were the consequences of Khartoum's genocidal counterinsurgency campaign difficult to discern early on in the conflict. Four years ago, it was clear that in the absence of international humanitarian intervention many tens of thousands of civilians would die. Today the death toll – from violence, disease, and malnutrition – is measured in the hundreds of thousands, and the future looks just as grim.

If the slowly deploying UN/African Union force fails to halt the violence, or aborts – a possibility explicitly raised by head of UN peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guéhenno – then genocidal destruction will almost certainly accelerate and hundreds of thousands more will probably die. If the international community fails to commit the resources required by this extraordinarily difficult mission, the lack of security will become intolerable. Humanitarian groups – the essential lifeline for more than 4.2 million human beings in Darfur – will be obliged to suspend operations or withdraw. A critically weakened population could face a cataclysm of death and suffering.

More than any genocide following the Holocaust, Darfur's killing fields are the measure of whether, 60 years after its ratification, the UN Convention has any remaining force or meaning. The debacle of deployment in Darfur argues that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations desperately requires a substantial, robust standing force, prepared to deploy urgently to protect civilian populations facing geno-cide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. Actual deployment would be at the request of the Secretary-General, and while a two-thirds majority of the Security Council should be formally required, deployment must not be held hostage to the veto of the five permanent members. This requires substantial revision of the UN Charter, but fundamental changes at the UN are widely recognized as critical for the organization to remain relevant in the 21st century.

Darfur reveals the consequences of having no such international force. If a ruthless regime of génocidaires can insulate itself from international action simply by claiming "national sovereignty," then Mr. Lemkin's labors will have been in vain. And a Genocide Convention that remains impotent in the face of ongoing, fully reported genocidal destruction will mark in us the deepest hypocrisy.

• Eric Reeves, a professor of English language and literature at Smith College, is the author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide."

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Uganda (ICC)

Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Uganda

Planned Attack on LRA "Reckless"
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
By Emma Mutaizibwa
January 24, 2008

Concern that raid on rebel army base in DRC may spark renewed war in northern Uganda.

A proposed military strike on the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, base in the Democratic Republic of Congo could lead to a fresh outbreak of war, say opposition politicians.

Plans for an attack on LRA leader Joseph Kony and his fighters first surfaced after Kinshasa and Kampala signed an agreement to force the rebels out of Garamba Park in the DRC if a peace deal was not signed by January 31.

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni and his DRC counterpart Joseph Kabila signed the agreement in Arusha, Tanzania, last September, which outlined a plan for the attack.

Their proposal appears to have grown out of frustration with peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan authorities in South Sudan’s capital of Juba, which were suspended in November last year.

The LRA has been based in Garamba since they left their former bases in southern Sudan in 2004. From there, Kony has coordinated a team of peace negotiators in Juba since July 2006.

Kony and his top commanders have evaded arrest since warrants were issued in 2005 by the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague. They are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were mainly alleged to have been committed in 2003 and 2004.

According to reports, LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti was executed by fellow LRA officers at Kony’s home in October 2007.

The proposed strike, which apparently would be conducted by Congolese and United Nations forces, has elicited sharp criticism from leaders and parliamentarians in war-ravaged northern Uganda.

Morris Ogenga Latigo, leader of the political opposition in Uganda, told IWPR that the plan to hit Kony was “totally unreasonable and reckless posturing”.

Rather than speed up the peace process, it could backfire, he said.

According to Latigo, there are reports that some LRA members had already left the base.

“There is a rumour that elements of the LRA are already in the northern Ugandan district of Pader,” he said. “People who have gone hunting in Palabek in the Kitgum district have encountered the LRA, but [the rebels] did not harm them.”

Critics of the planned attack have compared it to Operation Iron Fist - the 2002 offensive of Ugandan army forces, UPDF, against the LRA camps in Southern Sudan. At the time, many said this attack only intensified the war in northern Uganda, which reached its peak in 2004.

“We advised government against it, but they did not listen,” said Latigo. “This operation only escalated the rebellion.”

Latigo, who is from the Acholi north of the country, doubts whether an attack on the rebels’ headquarters would result in Kony’s capture.

He noted that the LRA leader had already managed to evade capture both in northern Uganda and in Southern Sudan.
.
“That part of the DRC is totally uninhabited by the Kabila government. It is a thick forest and there is no road infrastructure,” he said.

“Those planning to attack will be vulnerable to ambushes and will not be able to transport military equipment.

“If Kony could not be defeated in northern Uganda, how about the vast DRC?”

Member of parliament from the Acholi north Reagan Okumu is also sceptical, and believes the authorities should persevere with the peace talks.

"Because a military solution has failed for the last 21 years, we thought that the peace process is the only [thing] we should pursue," he said.

Okumu believes a strike would also endanger the children who have been abducted by the LRA.

“They will be killed if there is a military strike. As leaders, we are demanding that both Museveni and Kony must return to the negotiating table in Juba."

According to Okumu, many people in the north fear that the attack may "provoke Kony to launch fresh attacks in northern Uganda".

Bosco Otim, an Acholi living in Kampala, expressed fear that a strike against Kony could end the peace talks altogether.

"Why can't we exhaust the Juba peace process?” asked Otim. “We have suffered for many years. The government should give the Juba talks a chance - otherwise Kony will return and wreak havoc."

The peace that settled across northern Uganda since the talks began in July 2006 would be destroyed, he said, and most of the 1.8 million internal refugees would have to return to camps across the north of the country.

UPDF spokesperson Captain Paddy Ankunda told IWPR that a raid on Kony’s DRC base had been agreed between Ugandan and Congo military officials on January 4 and that the strike would take place by January 31.

"If Kony does not relocate to Ri-Kwangba, then a joint UN mission and DRC force will attack him," confirmed Ankunda.

Although Kony agreed in 2006 to gather his forces at Ri-Kwangba - the assembly point on the Sudan-Congo border - to date the LRA remains in Garamba Park.

"Kony is not a man who can embrace peace without pressure," said Ankunda, who fought against the LRA in northern Uganda.

"If we don't exert military pressure, Kony will just stay in Garamba," said Ankunda. "This is why he killed Vincent Otti. Otti was committed to a peace deal."

Ankunda discounted fears that without the element of surprise, the DRC army, which recently has suffered defeats at the hands of other militias in the country, will be no match for Kony's battle-hardened fighters.

"Kony has no where to run," said Ankunda.

While some LRA forces traveled on foot to the Central African Republic in 2007 - in a move that some rebel defectors said was part of Kony’s plan to escape - they returned after several weeks.

Any attempt to try this again could be blocked by a recent agreement between Museveni and CAR president Francois Bozize.

An intelligence source in Uganda, who claimed to have infiltrated LRA ranks, told IWPR under conditions of anonymity that Kony had run of options.

"He now has no choice but to move to Ri-Kwangba," said the source, although he did not explain why.

Uganda’s foreign affair minister Henry Okello Oryem, who is also deputy head of the Ugandan negotiating team at the peace talks, said that the government remained committed to the negotiations

But a resumption of talks and an eventual peace deal seem increasingly doubtful.

Uganda extends rebel peace deadline
Reuters
By Francis Kwera
January 30, 2008

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda on Tuesday extended a January 31 deadline for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels to sign a peace deal, lessening the prospect of military action occurring soon.

President Yoweri Museveni's government had given LRA leader Joseph Kony until the end of the month to sign a deal or risk a return to war. Peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday.

Military chiefs from Uganda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo had begun drawing up strategies against the
LRA.

"President Museveni has accepted that we can continue with the peace talks," said Ruhakana Rugunda, leader of the government delegation at peace talks that began last year in Juba, South Sudan, and have been on and off ever since.

"The extension is aimed at creating a better atmosphere for the talks to take place so that we can sign a comprehensive peace agreement soon," said Rugunda, who is also Uganda's Interior Minister.

Kony's 20-year rebellion killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 2 million before a ceasefire last year.

The talks due to resume on Wednesday in Jub will focus on how to deal with crimes committed during the war.

The LRA has made any peace deal dependent on International Criminal Court indictments being dropped against Kony and two of his commanders for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The two sides are expected to explore the possibility of a national special crimes court as an alternative to ICC prosecutions to help bring about an agreement.

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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

Witness: Šešelj had Chetnik ideology
B92
January 29, 2008

Vojislav Šešelj’s war crimes trial continued today with the prosecution’s expert witness Yves Tomic taking the stand.

Tomic said that Šešelj and his Serb Radical Party (SRS) had taken their ideological concept from the Ravnogora Movement in the Second World War, and directly from Chetnik duke Momcilo Ðujic.

The SRS leader is accused of crimes against Croats and Muslims in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia-Hercegovina between 1991 and 1993.

Tomic, a doctor of Slavic Studies at the Sorbonne University and a scientific researcher on the Balkans, has compiled an expert report on the history of the concept of a Greater Serbia entitled “The Ideology of a Greater Serbia in the 19th and 20th Centuries“ at the request of the prosecution.

He said that the political manifesto of the Ravnogora Movement and Ðujic, who bestowed the title of “Chetnik Duke“ on Šešelj in 1989, envisaged the creation of “a unitary Serbian state where all Serbs would live, occupying all the Serb lands,“ including parts of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Referring to texts on the Ravnogora Movement’s ideology written by Stevan Moljevic in 1941-42, Tomic said that their aim had been “a homogenic Serb entity without any national minorities“ that was to be established through exchange of populations, as well as through “cleansing“ of non-Serbs from territory considered to be Serbian.

During the Second World War, and particularly in 1943, in eastern Bosnia and Sandžak, Chetnik units under Pavle Ðurišic “massacred the Muslim civilian population in revenge,” but also to “reduce the number of Muslims,” testified the Balkans expert.

He said that around 13,000 Muslims had been killed in Bosnia, Sandžak and Montenegro at the time.

According to Tomic, Ðujic was considered responsible for the deaths of 1800 non-Serbs in the Dinara region and was declared a war criminal after the war.

The witness added that in the early 90s, Šešelj had said that Serb lands were everywhere, referring to “Serb burial sites and ditches, “an allusion to the crimes committed against the Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), the puppet-state created by the Nazis during the Second World War.

This had also been the main manifesto aim of the Serb Chetnik Movement created by the defendant in 1990, he explained.

Under the manifesto, over 300,000 Albanians from Kosovo who had allegedly moved there from Albania after the Second World War were to be expelled, said Tomic.

Prosecutor Christine Dahl will continue questioning the witness tomorrow.

Russia grants asylum to Miloševic's wife, son
B92
January 31, 2008

MOSCOW -- Mirjana Markovic and Marko Miloševic, who are wanted on Interpol warrants, have received asylum in Russia.

Daily Blic says that the wife and son of the late president, Slobodan Miloševic, received asylum prior to the New Year holidays.

In spite of receiving asylum, the international arrest warrants remain valid, and are in force in all other countries. If they appear in the territory of any other country, they will be arrested and extradited to Serbia, writes Blic.

Markovic and Miloševic left Serbia after October 5, 2000. Since then, both have been in contact with Serbian media, not hiding the fact that they are in Russia, and that they had applied for asylum.

Markovic left Serbia in February 2003, right after the murder of Prime Minister Zoran Ðindic.

Until Operation Net in 2007, she had only been charged with abuse of powers, by coercing former government secretary Živka Kneževic into illegally allocating a flat to a nanny that had looked after her son, Marko.

However, in June 2007, further charges were brought against her when the police launched an operation against tobacco smugglers who had defrauded over DM 10mn during the nineties.

Police identified one of the groups concerned as being led by Markovic, together with Marko Miloševic and Bojana Bajruševic.

Marko left Serbia on October 7, 2000, straight after the democratic changes. However, an Interpol warrant for his arrest was not issued until June 15 last year, when he was implicated in a cigarette smuggling ring, writes Blic.

Milosevic Appeal Lodged
BIRN
February 1, 2008

The Prosecutor's Office in The Hague has asked the Appellate Chamber to revoke the first instance verdict against Dragomir Milosevic and sentence him to life imprisonment for crimes committed during the siege of Sarajevo.

The Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has appealed the first instance verdict pronounced against Dragomir Milosevic, former commander of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Republika Srpska Army (VRS), on December 12, 2007.

The Trial Chamber pronounced Milosevic guilty and sentenced him to 33 years' imprisonment. The Prosecution considers this to be an unjust punishment for the crimes, and has asked the chamber to revoke the verdict and pronounce a life imprisonment.

"The verdict sentencing Dragomir Milosevic to 33 years' imprisonment for the crimes he committed is manifestly inadequate. The only sentence which would fully reflect Milosevic's responsibility would be one of life imprisonment," the Prosecution's appeal indicates.

The ICTY pronounced Milosevic guilty of crimes against humanity and violation of laws and practices of warfare. The indictment alleges that he is guilty of terrorising and killing civilians and committing inhumane acts during the siege of Sarajevo, including a sniping campaign against civilians and the shelling of the city, "which resulted in a large number of civilians being killed and wounded in the city, which was under siege for the longest time in history".

Dragomir Milosevic took over the command of Sarajevo-Romanija Corps in 1994 and he was its commander for 15 months, i.e. until the end of the war and the end of the siege of Sarajevo in November 1995. He took over this function from general Stanislav Galic, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the siege of Sarajevo in The Hague in November 2006.

The Prosecution's appeal alleges that, in its verdict against Milosevic, the Trial Chamber determined that the attacks on Sarajevo, conducted during his command, were "more precise" and "more dangerous" than the ones undertaken during Galic's command. It therefore concluded that there were no mitigating circumstances that might be taken into consideration.

"The verdict does not reflect Milosevic's systematic, long and planned involvement in planning and ordering of the crimes," the appeal reads.

It also alleges that Milosevic's voluntary surrender to the ICTY cannot be considered as a mitigating circumstance, because he was in hiding for three years after the indictment against him had been made public.

"The Prosecution asks the Appellate Chamber to revoke the sentence of 33 years, and impose a sentence of life imprisonment against Milosevic," the appeal concludes.

With Serbian Elections Looming, Focus Is on Kosovo
ABC News
By DRAGANA JOVANOVIC
February 1, 2008

BELGRADE, Serbia. President Boris Tadic could give way to ultra-nationalist Tomislav Nikolic

When Serbs go to the polls Sunday to decide between an ultranationalist whose policies recall those of war criminal Slobodan Milosevic and a pro-Western incumbent who preaches closer ties with the European Union, hanging over them will be the impending loss of Kosovo.

Both candidates oppose the plan by the leaders of the United Nations-administered region to unilaterally declare independence, but the difference between them is how they would react to the loss of what many Serbs consider the cradle of their culture.

President Boris Tadic has said that the country must continue on its path toward EU membership, which means swallowing its pride over the loss of Kosovo. His opponent, Tomislav Nikolic, however, has put national pride above whatever economic promises might come from closer ties with the West.

During a televised debate Jan. 30, Nikolic addressed Tadic as "Mr. former President" 10 times and delivered the same mix of chauvinistic nationalism and economic populism that convinced almost 40 percent of voters in the first round of the elections. Supporters of his Radical Party of Serbia have been beating the pavement, trying to convince the remaining undecided voters.

Branislava Marinkovic was posted along with a few other young activists in the pedestrian area of downtown Belgrade, an area where support is not high for her candidate. Nikolic has drawn more backers from those in the outskirts of the city, where unemployment is high and tens of thousands of refugees from the wars lost by Serbia during the Milosevic rule in the 1990s have settled.

"Since the fall of Milosevic in 2000, the government has done nothing to improve the standard of living, look how many rich tycoons there are now. I had enough of them for eight years," the 20-year-old student told ABC News.

Marinkovic's concerns are echoed by many Serbs, but for some the loss of Kosovo eclipses all other issues.

"I know we cannot prevent Kosovo's independence, but I can use this presidential vote to show my anger with the rest of Europe," taxi driver Dusan Nakarada said.

The choice would seem to be either to reject Kosovo's independence and sever ties with the European Union, or accept the humbling reality of giving up a region many consider the cradle of Serbian culture and embrace a new future within the EU.

Both Nikolic and Tadic oppose the plan by former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter Hasim Thaci, the leader of Kosovo, to declare independence. But each would take Serbia in different directions when the region, which is now 90 percent ethnic Albanian, breaks away.

Tadic believes Serbia should swallow its pride and move toward membership in the EU, looking for a brighter economic future.

Nikolic, a former ally of Milosevic and a stand-in as head of the Radical Party of Servia for Vojislav Seselj while he faces trial at the Hague Tribunal for war crimes, has made Kosovo a matter of national pride and says he is willing to sacrifice membership in the EU if Europe insists on recognizing Kosovo.

"The Gravedigger," as he is known because of his previous career as a cemetery employee, wants to freeze diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes Kosovo and is also seeking to establish close ties with Russia as an alternative to Europe. During his campaign, he said that if he becomes president, he would invite Russia to build military bases along Serbia's border with Kosovo.

Nikolic has also made it clear that he would be unlikely to press for efforts to find Gen. Ratko Mladic, wanted at the Hague for war crimes for the Srebrenica massacre. The EU has declared that if Serbia wants to continue to move toward membership, Mladic must be found.

When Nikolic and Tadic faced a similar scenario in the 2004 elections, the country chose to go with the pro-Western candidate. But that was then and this is now, experts say. Since 2004, Serbia's political and emotional mood has shifted to the right, favoring nationalists like Nikolic, who advanced to the runoff by receiving 40 percent of the first round vote. Tadic received 35.4 percent.

Marko Blagojevic from the Center for Free Elections and Democracy told ABC News that Tadic "has a slight advantage," but the gap falls within the range of a statistical error. "A few tens of thousands votes -- we might have Florida," he said, referring to disputed vote in the 2000 presidential race.

The divisive election is expected to encourage an unusually high turnout of around 65 percent out of 6.7 million eligible voters, he said.

The president, although largely a ceremonial position, is the head of the armed services, making it more important than the job description. And electing the president has become a barometer of popular -- and thus political -- sentiment.

As the leader of the large party in government with prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, Tadic has a great deal of influence.

Nikolic, on the other hand, is the acting leader of the largest party in parliament. The choice Serbs face Sunday is seen by many experts as a crucial one not just for their country but for people across the Balkans who fear another decade of instability and economic stagnation.

Court Hears of Medak Pocket Abuses
IWPR
By Goran Jungvirth
February 1, 2008

Witness claims Croat soldiers abducted his neighbours, whose bodies were later found in a cesspit.

A Serb witness told the war crimes trial of two Croat generals this week that Croatian forces abducted his neighbours, whose bodies were later found in a cesspit.

Generals Rahim Ademi and Mirko Novac are on trial at the Zagreb County Court for commanding the troops that, according to the indictment, killed prisoners and destroyed property during the “Medak Pocket” operation in 1993 - a major offensive to capture a Serb-held area.

On January 30, a witness, known as Number 7 to protect his identity, described seeing Croatian soldiers leading away his neighbours Milan and Andja Jovic from the village of Divoselo.

He said that from a hiding place some 150 metres away, he saw a Croatian soldier hit Milan in the chest with his rifle before taking them off somewhere.

The bodies of his neighbours, who are listed as victims in the indictment against Norac and Ademi, were later found in a cesspit in the town of Gospic.

The witness said the Croatians then stole the villagers’ cattle and destroyed their houses, before capturing and abusing him and his friend Grujo Pajic.

“You know what torture looks like…beatings and mistreatment,” said the witness.

He said a Croatian soldier pushed him into a ravine, where he lay hidden until he managed to escape by walking for 13 days to a Serb-held position. His friend was killed and his body was later exchanged by the Croatian troops.

Norac’s defence team objected to the testimony, claiming it was biased since during a previous statement given to investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, the witness expressed hatred to Croatians by calling them “Ustase” – an offensive name used for Nazi collaborators during World War Two.

The witness tried to justify his use of the word.

“I grew up with these terms among the people who got harmed in the Second World War and I got into the habit,” he said.

Norac then confronted the witness with claims that Serb forces were deployed in the village of Divoselo, with mortars and other heavy weaponry. The witness disagreed, saying the villagers only had light arms, and that there were no soldiers there at all.

On January 29, video recordings made between September 9 and 15, 1993 - the dates of the operation - were shown in court. The original footage showed Norac’s 9th Guards Motorised Brigade preparing for action and then moving towards Divoselo and Citluk, whose houses showed little evidence of damage.

However, in footage of the retreat there were signs of burnt and destroyed homes.

The United Nations forced the Croatian troops to pull out of the Medak Pocket, after their victory. Previous witnesses have said that most houses were destroyed during the retreat by soldiers angry at being forced to surrender their gains.

The trial continues on February 6.

Goran Jungvirth is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.

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The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Official Website

Gasal et al: Court Approves Joinder
BIRN Justice Report
January 23, 2008

A decision has been made on the joinder of two indictments related to crimes against Croats in Bugojno.

The Trial Chamber, chaired by Judge Davorin Jukic, has approved the request to joinder the indictment against Nisvet Gasal and Musajb Kukavica, and that against Enes Handzic and Senad Dautovic. The four indictees will now be tried together.

The four men are considered responsible for crimes against Croatian civilians in Bugojno committed during the conflict between the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of BiH in 1993 and 1994.

Gasal and Kukavica are charged with having "committed, motivated and supported the inhumane treatment of prisoners" held in the detention camp established at the football stadium in Bugojno from August 1993 to March 19, 1994. Both were members of the Public Safety Centre in Bugojno. They are charged as detention camp manager and security commander of the detention camp in which about 300 Croats were detained. They are also considered responsible for having "allowed the examination and torture of prisoners, some of whom have been missing since then."

Enes Handzic and Senad Dautovic, former members of the Army of BiH, are charged with detaining civilians in camps, maltreating them and forcing them to perform hard labour, as well as with pillaging their property, and killing and torturing them. By doing all that "they participated in an joint criminal enterprise".

Explaining the Trial Chamber's decision, Chairman Jukic said that there were no obstacles to the joinder of the two cases, and added that it would not be possible to file a complaint against the decision.

The joinder proposal was made by Senad Kreho, Defence attorney of Nisvet Gasal. The attorney said that "processes are conducted against the four men before the same Court for alleged crimes committed against the same injured parties on the same territory and in the same period of time".

Fadil Abazb and Refik Serdarevic, Defence attorneys of indictees Musajb Kukavica and Senad Dautovic, and Prosecutor Slavica Terzic agreed with the proposal.

The only person who was against the proposal and the decision was Fahrija Karkin, Defence attorney of Enes Handzic. The attorney considers that the legal preconditions for joinder have not been met.

Another status conference is due to take place on February 6, when the parties to the proceeding are expected to agree on the further course of the trial.

Marko Škrobic pleaded not guilty
Court of BiH
January 28, 2008

At the plea hearing before a Preliminary Hearing Judge of Section I for War crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Marko Škrobic pleaded not guilty. Marko Škrobic is charged with War crimes against civilians.

As alleged in the Indictment, on 31 July 1992, Škrobic as a member of the HVO, in the village of Novo Selo, Kotor Varoš Municipality, together with other 4 (four) armed persons, expelled one Serb family from their house. After separating the family and escorting them in the direction of the village of Ravne, the accused allegedly, fired a round into in the chest of a member of this family who died instantly.

Vukovic Brothers: Verdict on February 4
BIRN Justice Report
January 30, 2008

The Trial Chamber has announced that it will pronounce its verdict in the Vukovic brothers case early next week.

The verdict against Rajko and Ranko Vukovic, former members of the Serbian forces charged with war crimes, is due to be pronounced by the Court of BiH on February 4, 2008.

For the first time since 2004, when the Court of BiH began processing war crime indictees, an injured party has had a chance to present closing arguments. At the hearing today, in addition to the Prosecution and Defence, Aljo Hukara - whose father Avdija was allegedly killed by the Vukovic brothers - presented his closing arguments.

The indictees also addressed the Trial Chamber, claiming that the allegations in the indictment are false and that they have nothing to do with the events described in it.

The Prosecution of BiH charges Ranko and Rajko Vukovic, as former members of the Serbian Republic of BiH Army, with having visited Podkolun village together with two other soldiers and killing Avdija Hukara and Mejra Bekrija. In addition, Ranko is charged with having raped a woman in Miljevina village. The events described in the indictment took place in 1992.

Prosecutor Behaija Krnic said that the presented material evidence proved that indictees Ranko and Rajko Vukovic committed the crimes charged upon them and he asked the Trial Chamber to pronounce them guilty.

"After the Trial Chamber pronounces the indictees guilty, I request it to sentence Ranko to a long-term imprisonment. The chamber should not take into consideration mitigating, but rather aggravating circumstances, such as persistence and ruthlessness in the commitment of the crimes," said Krnjic.

Defence attorney Veljko Civsa concluded that "the Trial Chamber can do nothing but pronounce a verdict of release" on the basis of the presented evidence.

"Two counts in the indictment are based on statements given by two witnesses, who altered their statements," said Civsa.

Prosecutor Krnjic considers that the first count, referring to the murder of Avdija Hukara and Mejra Bekrija, was "proved by the statement given by witness Bajro Hukara, the victim's son, whose credibility was confirmed by the Prosecution's material evidence, as well as by other witnesses' statements".

The Prosecutor considers that this witness "provided precise facts on the visit to the village by the four soldiers, among whom he recognised Ranko and Rajko Vukovic".

As indicated by Krnjic, Hukara "gave a statement to the police in 1993 and this statement does not differ from the one given at the main trial".

In his closing arguments, Defence attorney Civsa again tried to discredit Prosecution witness Bajro Hukara, by saying that his nickname was "Perda, which is a local term for a liar".

"The statements of key prosecution witnesses Bajro Hukara and his wife Zahida and the statements of Defence witnesses Pasana Sejfic and Miladin and Cvjeta Stanic differ," said Civsa, explaining that Zahida told the Court that she "did not see what uniform the soldiers were wearing, although she was with Pasana, who said that the soldiers wore uniforms of gray-green colour".

The prosecutor considers that the statement given by witness A, who claimed to have been raped by Ranko Vukovic, cannot be questioned. The injured party said that the indictee had raped and threatened her in her apartment in Miljevina in summer 1992.

The Defence attorney mentioned that witness A said, in the courtroom, that the indictee did not insult or beat her, but she was afraid because it was dark. "In addition, she was not able to remember what clothes he was wearing," said Civsa.

"You cannot talk about rape here, as there is no force and no threats," Civsa said.

Aljo Hukara said he fully supported the Prosecutor's arguments and his request to pronounce the indictees guilty.

Predrag Bastah and Goran Viškovic ordered into custody and Prohibitive measures imposed on Veljko Bašic
Court of BiH
January 30, 2008

On 29 January 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) issued a decision ordering Predrag Bastah and Goran Viškovic, into one month custody and imposing prohibitive measures on Veljko Bašic. Predrag Bastah, Goran Viškovic and Veljko Bašic are suspected of the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity. According to this decision, the custody for Predrag Bastah and Goran Viškovic may last until 28 February 2008.

The prohibitive measures ordered against Veljko Bašic include:

•ban on leaving the Municipality of Vlasenica

•ban on changing the place of residence without prior approval from the Court,
•obligation to report to the Vlasenica Police Station every Monday between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
•ban on contacting persons who might be witnesses in the case
•ban on contacting or meeting with any potential suspects
•ban on discussing the case with anyone save his defense counsel
•obligation to surrender his personal documents (i.e. the ID card since that is the only personal document the suspect possesses).

In its motion for custody, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH submits that there is grounded suspicion that the Suspects Predrag Bastah, Goran Viškovic and Veljko Bašic, from May 1992 until September 1992, as members of the Reserve Police Force of Public Security Station (SJB) Vlasenica, took part in a systematic attack directed against Bosniak civilians in the Vlasenica Municipality. The Suspects allegedly took part in the arrest, capture and detention of Bosniak civilians in the camp “Sušica”. The Suspect Predrag Bastah, as alleged in the Prosecutor’s motion, in June 1992 together with an unidentified person killed three Bosniak civilians near the camp “Sušica”. The Suspect Viškovic, on 12 June 1992 together with Predrag Bastah, allegedly took part in the killing of four Bosniak civilians. Further as in the Prosecutor’s motion, the Suspect Viškovic in June 1992 together with four Serb soldiers raped one female person.

The Suspect Veljko Bašic, inter allia , in his capacity as the warden of the “Sušica” camp, took part in the persecution of Bosniak civilians, physical abuse, killing and deportation of civilians, sexually abused and raped females. The Suspect Bastah, took part in the transfer of 700 detainees to the “Batkovic” camp near Bijeljina and in a forced displacement of around 1000 captive women and children to Kladanj or Cerska.

Having reviewed the evidence submitted, the Court concluded that there was grounded suspicion that the Suspects had committed the above criminal offence. Further, the Court ordered custody having found that there was sufficient evidence indicating that the Suspects, if released, might hinder the criminal proceedings by influencing witnesses, accessories, or accomplices. Also, the Court ordered custody having found that there exist circumstances suggesting the possibility of flight of the Suspects.

Praise and Blame for BiH
BIRN Justice Report
February 1, 2008

A Human Rights Watch report has noted that the local judiciary has made significant progress in the processing of war crimes indictees, but has also noted a range of deficiencies.

In the World Report on the State of Human Rights in 2008, published annually by Human Rights Watch (HRW), special attention has once again been paid to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This time, HRW assesses that the war crime processing before the local courts was positive, noticing significant progress in comparison to the previous years.

In this report, HRW experts concluded that processing of war crime indictees and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has progressed to a significant extent. However, the organisation express concerns in relation to "way too many closed hearings and inadequate openness towards the public".

The report also presents concerns over determining priorities when it comes to processing of persons responsible for war crimes in BiH, as well as "poor protection of witnesses, lack of financial resources and limited political support" at lower courts in the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska and Brcko District.

HRW noticed that the "lack of will" of the Regional Court in Banja Luka to treat sexual crimes as war crimes has caused "criticism within the country".

The report further alleges that 36 cases, treating persons responsible for having participated in war crimes, were recorded before lower courts in BiH in the course of 2007.

The report gave positive comments concerning the cooperation between the local and Serbian authorities, as well as the international forces in BiH, as it resulted in the arrest of Zdravko Tolimir, former assistant commander for intelligence and security affairs of the Republika Srpska Army General Staffs in May 2007. After the arrest, Tolimir was transferred to the ICTY.

According to HRW, the extradition of Gojko Klickovic, who was indicted by the Prosecution of BiH for war crimes, by Serbia to BiH was assessed as a step forward in regional cooperation.

In the course of 2007 the ICTY referred the case of Milorad Trbic, charged with genocide, to local judicial authorities for further processing. The process against him has already commenced in Sarajevo. In parallel, the ICTY Appeals Chamber rendered a decision to process Milan and Sredoje Lukic, charged with crimes in Visegrad, before the ICTY due to "the scope of the crime and possible mental suffering of the victims", although the Prosecution filed a motion for their referral to Sarajevo.

HRW also noticed that an Entity-level problem concerning the non-existence of a strategy for systematic dealing with suits requesting compensation for death and injuries made during the war, "which leads to a further increase in the number of suits".

The report also indicates that, in February 2007, the International Court of Justice rendered a decision pronouncing Serbia directly responsible for the genocide, which made the associations of victims in BiH organise peaceful protests, as the decision made them feel desperate.

The HRW report also noticed that a number of missing persons, mainly Bosniaks, have still not been found even though more than 15 years have passed since the end of the war.

Concerning the work of the police, HRW points out that, in June 2007 the High Representative dismissed Dragomir Andan, a senior official of Republika Srpska police, for allegedly protecting war crimes fugitives. The OHR also dismissed 35 policemen for their alleged participation in the genocide committed in Srebrenica in the course of 1995.

The Prosecution of BiH, which is conducting an investigation against the suspended policemen, submitted a report, early this year, to the RS Police on the findings of the investigation.

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International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

Rwanda: Ki-Moon's Backing of ICTR Cases for Rwanda Well-Founded
The New Times
January 31, 2008

The United Nation's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has lauded President Paul Kagame for his leadership efforts to transform the socio-economic lives of Rwandans during the post-Genocide period. Part of this transformation has been in the judicial field, where reforms have been made to fit both national and international standards.

The judiciary has seen many changes, some of which are to do with provision of training to judicial officials, overhauling some laws like the abolition of the death penalty, and improving and building new detention facilities.

To this end, the UN chief says he sees no problem with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda transferring its unfinished cases to Rwanda, since its mandate is expiring this year.

Indeed, Rwanda has the capability to try these cases now, and has been demonstrating her ability for some time. Contrasted with the ICTR's disappointing performance of only 35 tried Genocide cases in a period of over 12 years, the government of Rwanda has put in place mechanisms to have a modest figure of cases handled successfully despite its financial and other challenges.

The process of arresting and trying Genocide suspects is not just a justice-craving thing for Rwandans, as has been repeatedly pointed out in various fora. It is also a process of reconciliation, of forgiving and uniting. It is a process that wants to unravel all the dirt that took place in 1994, and subsequently put it behind. But only after going through the crucible.

So, the trial of Genocidaires is more than a trial to Rwandans on their road to understanding one another, and for putting up strong enough barriers to withstand any other gusts of genocide ideology. That is why it is important to all Rwandans that the pending cases be brought here so that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done - which can hardly be said for the Arusha-based UN court.

More, the fears that are being mooted by suspects that they will not get a fair trial here are untenable. The leadership of Rwanda is more committed to a fair justice system than anyone. Everything that Rwanda is doing is geared towards forging unity, not creating enmity. Who does not appreciate the magnanimity of Gacaca courts in this judicial dispensation?

Nkezabera Case Could Be Transferred To Assize Court of Brussels
Hirondelle News Agency
January 28, 2008

Brussels, 28 January 2008 (FH) - The Federal Prosecutor requested last Friday, before the court chambers, the transfer of Rwandan Ephrem Nkezabera, a former

Influential member of the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 genocide, to the Assize Court of Brussels. Former executive of the Banque Commerciale Du Rwanda, Nkezabera, 55, is accused of crimes of genocide and rape.

During the three "Rwanda trials" of 2001, 2005 and 2007 held in Belgium, only the qualifications of war crimes and crimes of international humanitarian law were retained against the convicts.

Nkezabera was in 1994 president of the commission on economic affairs and finances of the national committee of the Interamhamwe militia, responsible for slaughter of more than 800 000 people.

The accused was also a member of the party of President Juvénal Habyarimana, the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND).

He has acknowledged to have armed and financed the Interahamwe and to have publicly encouraged many Interahamwe to commit massacres at a public meeting in 1993.

He admitted of having taken part in the financing of the hate radio Radio Mille Collines.

The former banker rejects, however, the rape charge.

Gilles Vanderbeck, lawyer for Nkezabera, also disputes the indictment for genocide.

He said that the Rwandan genocide took place ion 1994 while the Belgian law was only introduced in 1999 to try such crimes.

The federal prosecutor Michel Yernaux and the civil parties reminded that Belgium had ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) in 1951. Although explicitly absent in the law before 1999, this crime thus formed part of the Belgian law since this date.

Nkezabera was arrested in Belgium in 2004 following an agreement concluded with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

The court chamber will render its order on 20 January, before the court of criminal appeal eventually decides on the trial date.

Rwanda: UN Court 'Behaving Arrogantly '
Rwanda News Agency
January 28, 2008

The UN Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has dismissed suggestions by the campaign organisation African Rights indicating that the Tribunal was informed of the presence of a Genocide suspect among its staff. But now RNA has exclusively acquired correspondences dating back to May last year between the Tribunal and African Rights on the issue.

Last week, African Rights said in a report that Mr. Gasasira Ephrem - working in the Documentation Department at the Tribunal is key suspect and was collaborator to Roman Catholic priest Father Hormisdas Nsengimana - whose Genocide trial reopened Jan.18. They are accused of massacres that took place in Nyanza.

According to African Rights, prosecution witnesses in the case of the cleric allege he worked in collaboration with Gasasira - who was then prosecutor in Nyanza (now part of Southern Province). Father Hormisdas was also from there and apparently worked with Mr. Gasasira Ephrem to "completely finish all Tutsis". Gasasira has been working with the Tribunal since 2003.

Genesis

The campaign organisation said it informed the Tribunal of the accusations against Mr. Gasasira before the first opening of the trial of the cleric in June last year. The case was however postponned six days later and pushed to Jan. 18 2008 but on different reasons.

According to the witnesses in the 15-page report, Gasasira has been part of a well coordinated sabotage system that has been carrying out a campaign of intimidation of the witnesses - to discourage them from testifying. Some witnesses have even been bribed by "friends of Hormisdas still in Nyanza".

Witness named Eric in the report says: "After Father (Dénys) Sekamana openly told me that a very strong person like Ephrem Gasasira, who knows everything about us, will protect Hormisdas in Arusha against people like me, I spoke about this to the ICTR and to the Office of the Prosecutor in Butare. I made my apprehensions clear to them. They promised to follow up the matter".

But would later learn that Father Sekamana is indeed free "doing what he was doing before. And still has friends in Nyanza who had worked with him to protect Hormisdas."

In a length testimony, witness Eric names Father Dénys Sekamana in numerous situations where they met and he was intimidating him. The cleric is now a priest in another diocese which RNA has not been able to independently verify. There are also various other catholic priests who were at Christ Roi Secondary School - the scene of some of the worst massacres in Southern Rwanda.

In the report released Thursday last week, African Rights wonders how a high profile case as this one would start without any consideration of the fact that the Tribunal knows there is a suspect in the same case who remains on its payroll.

Besides, the organisation also says the Tribunal has not given "any assurances" to the witnesses of their security - later alone - reprimand the suspect.

Tribunal fires back

On Tuesday, the Chief Spokesman of the Tribunal Mr. Rolland Amousouga vehemently denied the court had been informed of any accusations against its staff-member Mr. Gasasira Ephrem.

"These allegation have never been brought to the attention of the Registrar who is the competent organ in charge of recruitment and management of personnel", Amousouga told a press conference in Arusha.

"We are taking these allegations serious. We are going to verify. They are just allegations not proven facts"

Mr. Amousouga said the Tribunal learnt of the allegations against Mr. Gasasira from the media that was qouting from an African Rights report. He also said the Witness protection section was not informed as well of the allegations.

However, RNA has now exclusively acquired email correspondences between the Excutive Director of African Rights Ms. Rakiya Omar and Senior Trail Attorney in the Office of the Chief Prosecutor Mr. Wallace Ndugulire Kapaya. He is also the head of the Trial Team in the case of Father Hormisdas Nsengimana.

Interestingly, Mr. Kapaya and another attorney on the same case Mr. Sylver Ntukamazina were the ones who initiated contacts with Ms. Rakiya in early 2007. She told RNA that she was in Europe at that time but was invited to "urgently" return to Rwanda because they wanted to follow up on the priest's case, the witnesses and their protection as well.

In addition, all the email contacts between Ms. Rakiya and Mr. Kapaya were also copied to Mr. Alex Obote Odera, Senior Principle Private Secretary to the Prosecutor. This essentially means the Prosecutor was briefed on all the communication and progress of the court - which in turn indicates that all the relevant departments were briefed.

In a reply dated June 05 2007, Mr. Kapaya says "we can no longer talk about nibbing the problem (witness intimidation and bribery) in the bud" and "need to weed and uproot it before it causes further damage". Mr. Kapaya and his team had also been to Nyanza and were told by the same witnesses of their fear for their lives.

"Your findings support what Slyver (Ntukamazina) and I experienced in Nyanza", writes Kapaya in the June 05 email. By this, Mr. Kapaya was essentially in accordance with the fact that the witnesses were worried about their security and the presence of another individual mentioned by the same witnesses.

In another email by Mr. Sylver Ntukamazina - the colleague to Mr. Kapaya on October 02 2007, he writes "Mr. Kapaya and I are seriously thinking about the possibility of continuing our cooperation, especially in order to adress witness intimidation". He said he would get back to Ms. Rakiya but did not, instead the trail in question went ahead and it started last week.

According to the witnesses, they also raised the names of Ephrem Gasasira, and the fact that he was working with the court in their testimonies during the first hearing. But are scared to go back for the continuation of the trail because the person they accuse is still at the court and working with what Ms. Rakiya described as a "very sensitive" department because it deals with translation and documents.

Father Hormisdas Nsengimana was handed over by the Camerounian government to the ICTR just six months after a damning 2001 African Rights report detailing the accusations against him. The latest report was, according to Ms. Rakiya published following repeated outcry by witnesses in the case of the cleric fearing for their security as the trial was due to resume.

But why?

So then why would the Chief Spokesman Mr. Rolland Amousouga of an institution like the ICTR that employs top academics, internationally aclaimed senior officials and career diplomats tell the whole world that the Tribunal was not informed about Ephrem Gasasira.

"I think all the information I have given you and the officials involved should speak it all. Maybe other relevant departments were not informed - but is that my job to go on looking for people to give them information when that is the job they are paid to do?", poses African Rights' Rakiya.

She adds: "The Tribunal has simply shown the highest form of institutional arrogance.I think sometimes they just simply say 'those are little people, it will all be fine after a while'."

"The tribunal's comments seem intended to show that they were surprised to have an employee who is a suspect. That is ridiculous - so many of their employees have either been charged or resigned and are now on the run in Europe because they are genocidaire", she said.

Ms. Rakiya said she lived in Nyanza before and during the Genocide "that is why the case of Father Hormisdas Nsengimana is of particular interest". The witnesses are also confortable working with her that the ICTR passed through her to have them even give any evidence.

By virtual of the position that Mr. Kapaya holds in the Office of the Chief Prosecutor and attachment to the case in question, it is highly unlikely that he did not inform the entire decision making hierarchy of the Tribunal.

Besides, a top aid to the Chief Prosecutor Mr. Abubakar Jallow was also given copies of all communication. Could it be that he just kept quiet and did not update his boss - or probably Chief Prosecutor did not feel this was worthy a follow up.

Meanwhile, the UN has has allocated a budget of 267,356,200 million dollars (approximately 145 billion Rwandan francs) to the same International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for the 2008/2009 period.

This ICTR budget constitutes 6,4% of the total budget of the United Nations for the two years to come and represents only for 2008, approximately 12% of the Rwandan national budget (607,5 billion RWF).

The administrative and budgetary committee of the UN quantified at 1.1 billion dollars the cost of the ICTR since its creation in November 1994.

Rwandan Gvt. Plans to Shift All Genocide Cases to Gacaca Courts
Hirondelle News Agency
January 22, 2008

Arusha, 22 January 2008 (FH) - Rwandan cabinet has approved to widen jurisdiction of the traditional Gacaca Courts to cover all genocide accused persons alleged to have played a role during the 1994 killings.

However, a bill to that effect will have to be adopted by the Parliament.

"The amendment suggested includes transferring all the first instance trials not yet tried", The Minister for Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, told Hirondelle News Agency over the phone from Kigali.

"It extends the scope of the gacaca courts to cover all genocide cases", added the minister.

Until now these courts have no legal powers to cover "first category" accused persons. The category is made up alleged planners and authors of rape during the genocide. The category includes about 7,500 names.

The Rwandan minister said the proposed Bill would also envisages to cover genocide cases which will be transferred from other countries or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), as well as the cases which could be discovered after the closure of the gacaca courts.

The Arusha-based ICTR plans to transfer some of the cases to Rwanda as part of fulfillment of the requirement by the UN Security Council to complete all pending cases by December 2008.

By mid-December last year, around a million people had appeared before the gacaca courts, including some 800 000 who had been convicted, according to National Service of Gacaca Courts (SNJG), governmental body charged with coordinating activities of the these courts.

The SNJG was still compiling the figures to be able to determine the number of convicted and acquitted persons.

The gacaca courts can deliver sentences up to life, the maximum sentence in Rwanda since the recent abolition of the death penalty.

The gacaca courts are not presided by professional magistrates, but people of integrity within the community.

Rwanda: Four Years After His Acquittal, Ntagerura Has Yet to Get a Host Country
Hirondelle News Agency
January 22, 2008

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) hopes to find early this year a host country for the acquitted former Rwandan Minister of Transport, Andre Ntagerura, who is still in Arusha, under the special protection of the United Nations tribunal.

He was acquitted in February 2004 of charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide.

Ntagerura shares his secret residence with Andre Rwamakuba, another a former education minister, also acquitted by the UN Court of genocide charges.

"We hope to find a solution for Ntagerura soon early this year [2008]", the ICTR spokesperson Roland Amoussouga told Hirondelle News Agency.

"New contacts with some countries have been established by the Registrar [Adama Dieng] during his recent visit to New York in December. The situation of the acquitted persons was once again raised before the Security Council by the president of the tribunal [Dennis Byron] during his report to the council in December 2007 ", stressed Mr Amoussouga.

The ICTR was also obliged to find host country for the former Mubuga, Gishyita Commune Councillor Vincent Rutaganira, who finishes serving his sentence in March.

Two of the five people acquitted persons - the former mayors Ignace Bagilishema (Mabanza) and Jean Mpambara (Rukara) - reside in France while a third, a former prefect Emmanuel Bagambiki, joined his family in Belgium last year.

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Iraqi High Tribunal

Official Website of the Iraqi High Tribunal
Grotian Moment: The Saddam Hussein Trial Blog

Saddam prosecutor says demoted for whistle-blowing
Reuters UK
By Ahmed Rasheed
January 18, 2008

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The chief prosecutor who tried Saddam Hussein said on Friday he had been demoted and transferred after speaking out against what he described as "financial and ethical corruption" in the Iraqi High Tribunal.

Jaffar al-Moussawi also said he believed he was being punished for calling for the death sentence given to Saddam's former defense minister, Sultan Hashem, to be reduced.

He said the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), set up to try former members of Saddam's regime, had transferred him from Baghdad to the northern city of Sulaimaniya as an investigative judge.

The head of the tribunal, Abdul-Razak al-Shahine, could not be reached for comment. His son said he was traveling in the United States and that no telephone number was available to contact him. The tribunal does not currently have a spokesman.

Dressed in his red and black prosecutor's robes, Moussawi became a familiar face during Saddam's televised 2006 trial for crimes against humanity. Saddam was hanged on December 30, 2006.

"The decision to remove me was made after I wrote a memo on January 14 to the IHT head disclosing legal breaches and violations committed by judges inside the court," Moussawi said.

"The more serious issue which I mentioned in my memo was the financial and ethical corruption inside the court."

He also said he was being targeted for his request to the court to reduce Saddam minister Hashem's death sentence.

Iraqi political impasse a lifesaver for some
Los Angeles Times
By Tina Susman
January 29, 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's feuding with President Jalal Talabani and others in the Iraqi leadership is considered a hindrance to national reconciliation, but at least three men are benefitting from it. In fact, it is keeping them alive.

The men are former associates of Saddam Hussein, and they were sentenced to hang for taking part in military atrocities that killed as many as 180,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s. They include Sultan Hashim Ahmad Jabburi Tai, a former Iraqi military officer; Ali Hassan Majid, aka Chemical Ali for his use of poisonous gas on the Kurds; and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, who was Hussein's deputy head of army operations.

But Iraq's president and two vice presidents must sign off on executions, and therein lies the rub. Talabani, who is a Kurd, and Vice President Tariq Hashimi, a Sunni Arab, have argued against the hangings — Talabani because he opposes the death penalty and Hashimi because he says sparing the lives would foster Sunni-Shiite-Kurdish reconciliation.

As a result, the sentences, which were passed in June and should have been carried out in the fall, cannot go ahead, even though Maliki's Shiite-led government has made clear it would like to see the convicts go to the gallows. During a meeting with journalists over the weekend, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said this was one of the downsides to democracy: having to abide by rules that one does not like.

He challenged people who would overrule the tribunal that sentenced the men to explain how they could ignore the ruling without violating the constitution. "Let them show us how to do this without breaking the law. You cannot do it this way," he said. "This is not the way to deal with Iraq. Once we open such doors, this will make the constitution a piece of rubber," to be bent any way that suits people's desires, Dabbagh said.

In the meantime, the men remain in the hands of U.S. officials, who say they will not be turned over to Iraqi officials until the government has settled the issue.

Saddam’s Unrepe