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)

Nuon Chea Makes Requested Trip to Hospital
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
March 5, 2008

Jailed Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea spent about 1.5 hours at a Phnom Penh hospital Wednesday, but his condition was fine, officials said.

"This morning, doctors brought him to [Calmette] Hospital at 8:30 am to follow the check-up of his heart condition, following the request of foreign doctors and Cambodian doctors working for the [tribunal]," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said. "The general health condition of Nuon Chea is normal."

Lawyer Son Arun said Wednesday that a French doctor who checked on Nuon Chea three months ago was back in Cambodia and requested to check Nuon Chea's condition. He said he regretted that the tribunal had not told him of the transfer to the hospital as it took place.

Nuon Chea, 82, was arrested in November, and has said in the past he has high blood pressure and a heart condition. He has been to the hospital the most times of any arrested leader except former foreign minister Ieng Sary.

First Duch Hearing Expected in July
VOA Khmer
By Sok Khemara
March 6, 2008

Tribunal judges say they are nearly finished preparing a case for jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch and hope to have a first trial-phase hearing in July.

Duch, 65, spent two days last week touring former Khmer Rogue sites with witnesses, and two more days being confronted by the witnesses against him.

All this was to help investigating judges in their case, and they now say they are moving toward the "trial phase" of the proceedings.

Ailing Khmer Rouge leader discharged from hospital: court
AFP via Straits Times
March 6, 2008

Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary was discharged on Thursday from hospital after more than two weeks of treatment and returned to the custody of Cambodia's genocide tribunal, court officials said.

The 82-year-old former regime foreign minister was rushed to hospital Feb 20 for the third time this year amid growing concerns over his health ahead of the trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders, which are expected to start later this year.

Ieng Sary is one of five top regime cadres currently detained by the UN-backed court for crimes allegedly committed during their 1975-79 rule over Cambodia.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed by the Khmer Rouge, which dismantled modern Cambodian society in its effort to forge a radical agrarian utopia during its ultra-communist rule.

'Ieng Sary has been discharged from hospital and was taken back to the court on Thursday morning,' tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath told reporters.

'The doctors said he is OK now,' he added.

Ieng Sary was previously hospitalised in late January for treatment of a chronic heart condition.

He was in hospital again earlier in February, spending a week under treatment after he began urinating blood.

Ieng Sary has suffered from deteriorating health since his arrest last November, according to his lawyer, highlighting the fragile condition of the tribunal's likely defendants who are mostly in their 70s and 80s.

Their condition has increasingly raised fears that some will not live long enough to be brought to trial.

Tribunal Expediting Bail Hearings
VOA Khmer
By Sok Khemara
March 7, 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is working to speed up pre-trial release hearings for three remaining jailed leaders of the regime, a spokesman said.

"Then things will be moving very fast, and it won't be like earlier," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.

Hisham Mousar, a legal expert for the rights group Adhoc who is monitoring the tribunal, said the speed of the processes depended on the complexities of each Khmer Rouge leader's case.

Cases facing "high politics" could become more complicated and take more time, he said.

Cambodia's genocide trials threatened by funding crisis
AFP via Turkish Press
March 14, 2008

Cambodia's top administrator to the country's Khmer Rouge tribunal this week gathered together his more than 200 staff to break the news that after April they would not be paid.

The stunning announcement by Sean Visoth is the most tangible sign yet that the UN-backed genocide court, established to prosecute leaders of the regime that was toppled nearly 30 years ago, is going bankrupt months before the first trials are expected to open.

The court's top officials hold out hope that the international community or the Cambodian government will come up with the millions needed to keep the tribunal running.

But the funding crisis has become the most serious threat yet to the proceedings, already beleaguered by allegations of corruption and mismanagement amid fears of political interference.

"It is hard to imagine that the court can continue to function without funds," said tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis, explaining that the Cambodian side of the joint court would go broke in April.

The UN-supported half of the tribunal is funded for several months more, but would also need a significant influx of cash after that.

"As the time for expiration of existing funds draws nearer, the situation obviously becomes more acute," Jarvis told AFP.

Originally budgeted at 56.3 million dollars over three years, the tribunal's operating costs have ballooned as the enormity of the job of prosecuting those behind Cambodia's darkest chapter becomes more apparent.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodian society in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during their 1975-79 rule.

After nearly a decade of wrangling, the UN and Cambodia opened the tribunal in 2006. The regime's top five surviving leaders were arrested last year in what many saw as a sign of the sluggish court's gathering momentum.

But those close to the proceedings say staff are overwhelmed, in part by paperwork, particularly the task of translating tens of thousands of documents into either Cambodian, French or English, the three languages used by the court.

"The original assumptions about the resources needed and the tasks to be accomplished were inaccurate as is often the case in these tribunals," said co-prosecutor Robert Petit, who like other court officials has been critical of the tribunal's funding structure and projected timeframe.

"The original budget was inadequate and contained many gaps in essential areas," said the UN's tribunal spokesman Peter Foster.

The UN and Cambodian government have requested an additional 114 million dollars that would allow the court to add hundreds of new staff and remain in operation until 2011.

But so far none of the tribunal's principle donors -- Japan, France, Britain, Germany and Australia -- has stepped forward to commit more money.

"A lack of funds could certainly delay the proceedings," Foster said.

Another obstacle in the oft-stalled proceedings would be a further blow to the tribunal's credibility at a time when support is crucial.

Observers say that despite the arrests, donors do not want the tribunal to be a show-trial that risks being commandeered by Cambodia's government, which includes many former Khmer Rouge.

Two critical audits detailing hiring irregularities, with lucrative jobs allegedly going to under-qualified candidates, have also made donors hesitant to throw their full support behind the tribunal, the funding for which remains a fraction of that received by other international courts.

"The donors received the revised budget estimate at the end of January.... They have asked for further clarification in a number of areas and that is now being provided by the court," the UN's Foster said.

He added that donors are expected to meet before the end of the month to discuss the tribunal's money crunch, and that a sliver of optimism remains.

"Neither the international community nor the United Nations want to see the court fail, especially since we have successfully come so far along in the process," he said.

[back to contents]

Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

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

DR Congo: The ICC organises open discussions in Bunia (Ituri) and Béni (North Kivu)
International Criminal Court via ReliefWeb
March 10, 2008

The Hague, 10 March 2008 - From 25 February to 3 March 2008, the Field Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court, in collaboration with the Victims Participation and Reparations Section, organised a series of meetings in Bunia, Ituri and Béni in North Kivu (the DRC). These meetings, which were organised as part of the Unit's tireless efforts to provide information and raise awareness in the affected communities drew a total of 367 people.

In Bunia, apart from representatives of human rights organisations, key civil society groups and quarter heads, the meeting involved women's organisations who were participating for the first time, and young people, many of them former combatants. Some participants were drawn from organisations based in other towns of Ituri, such Kasenyi, Aru, Mahagi and Mambassa. The main focus of the meetings was the latest developments in the Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngundjolo cases. However, the victim participation process was also covered. Interest, particularly on current issues, was so sustained that the discussions were often quite animated and lasted many hours. Many participants expressed pleasure at attending the meetings, which both dispelled some misunderstanding and reassured them as to the Court's policy of transparency with regard to the upcoming trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

After the Bunia meetings, the mission went to Béni in North Kivu. This was the first time representatives of the International Criminal Court visited this region for outreach purposes. Béni is the closest North Kivu town to Bunia. In fact, it has been a place of refuge for thousands of people who fled the fighting in nearby Ituri. Many associations working with or for victims of the Ituri conflict are based there. As in many towns of Eastern DRC, Béni also suffered from the crisis engendered by the country's various wars.

In all, six open discussion sessions were held in Béni. The first meeting saw the attendance of 59 human rights and development associations. The town's legal practitioners, led by the Public Prosecutor for Béni, also took active part in this meeting. The other sessions were devoted to students, representatives of women's associations and religious denominations, and journalists. Several subjects were discussed and explained, in particular the role and rights of victims, information dissemination mechanisms, and outreach activities.

For more information, please contact Paul Madidi at paul.madidi@icc-cpi.int, or at: +243 99 80 11 403 or +31 646 168 679

Congo-Kinshasa: International Criminal Court Joins Cases of Two Rebel Leaders
UN News Service
March 11, 2008

The pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that it will join the cases of two rebel leaders facing charges for crimes allegedly committed by their militia groups in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2003.
Judges at the ICC, which is based in The Hague, determined yesterday that Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui will have their trials held together, starting later this year.

Currently a colonel in the DRC's national armed forces, Mr. Ngudjolo Chui is a former commander of the rebel National Integrationalist Front (FNI), and he faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six of war crimes. He is alleged to have played a key role in designing and carrying out a deadly attack on the village of Bogoro, in the north-eastern DRC province of Ituri, in February 2003.

Mr. Katanga, a senior commander from the group known as the Force de Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI), faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes over the same attack on Bogoro, in which hundreds of people were killed and many women forced into sexual slavery.

The ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern - namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Global Court to Hold Entire Trial of Congolese Militia Leader in The Hague
VOA News
March 12, 2008

The International Criminal Court says a war crimes trial of a former Congolese militia leader will be held entirely in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

A presiding judge said Wednesday that the global court decided not to hold part of Thomas Lubanga's trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Judge Adrian Fulford says the DRC government warned that such a move would fuel ethnic tension in the country.

Lubanga led a militia in eastern Congo during the country's 1998 to 2003 civil war. He is charged with recruiting thousands of children under the age of 15 to fight for the militia, an offense that constitutes a war crime. Lubanga denies the charge.

Judge Fulford says Lubanga's trial will not begin before June 23. It will be the first trial held at the world court since it was set up in 2002.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

ICC's first war crimes trial to open June 23
Agence France Presse
March 13, 2008

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The International Criminal Court said Thursday that its first war crimes trial, involving former Congolese militia chief Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, would open on June 23.

Lubanga, 46, is accused of abducting children under the age of 15 and forcing them to participate in attacks by the armed wing of his political Union of Congolese Patriots during wars that ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His trial was initially scheduled to start March 31 but was postponed over logistical and procedural issues.

It will be the first trial for the ICC, which was set up six years ago as a worldwide permanent court mandated to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Since the court took up its functions in 2002 the ICC has opened four investigations into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sudan and the Central African Republic and issued 10 arrest warrants.

The court can only try cases involving states that are party to the ICC, 105 countries at the moment, and cases referred to it by the UN Security Council.

For the DRCongo the ICC has issued three arrest warrants and currently has three Congolese war crimes suspects in custody.

Lubanga was transferred to the court in March 2006. Two of his rival war lords, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, arrived at the ICC detention unit in October 2007 and February 2008 respectively.
The prosecutor accuses the three men of crimes committed in the mineral rich Ituri region of the DRCongo.

Ituri was from 1999 wracked by ethnic bloodshed between the Hema and Lendu peoples as well as being embroiled in the broader rebel war that raged in the DRC between 1998 and 2003, drawing in more than half a dozen foreign African armies on rival sides.

In the Lubanga case the charge of enlisting child soldiers, a war crime, was upheld in a special hearing last year, after the prosecution produced evidence from many of Lubanga's alleged recruits.
Lubanga's trial will be a real test for the ICC which has raised many hopes in the past six years and already delivered some disappointments.

Many non-governmental organisations have called for Lubanga, who was arrested in Kinshasa in 2005, to be indicted for sexual violence and massacres and not just for conscripting children. There was also criticism that Lubanga is a relatively small fish.

Despite efforts by the court to try and hold some hearings in the DRCongo the trial will be conducted entirely in The Hague, far away from the victims.

In a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, British judge Adrian Fulford said the court's requests to hold hearings there were refused by the Congolese authorities on the grounds they would "cause tensions".
Lubanga's case will mark the first time in international justice that victims will be able to participate in the trial through their lawyers and could demand reparations if Lubanga is found guilty.

[back to contents]

Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

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

More Will Call it Genocide
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
By Blake Evans-Pritchard
March 4, 2008

Less than a year before he leaves office, United States president George Bush used his recent trip to Rwanda, which suffered a genocide in 1994, to draw parallels between it and Darfur.

But, as faltering steps are taken towards a solution to the Darfur crisis, his words seemed isolated as the United Nations and the African Union both refuse to use the “genocide” label.

The US has also failed to win round its closest ally, Britain, which prefers to side with the European Union and employ less harsh terms for the death and destruction in Darfur.

Yet, a prominent Sudanese human rights lawyer Salih Mahmoud Osman, who recently was awarded the European parliament's prestigious Sakharov prize for his work in Darfur, said soon the rest of the world will call the Darfur crisis a genocide.

"No one can deny what is happening in the region and it is only a matter of time before the UN also uses this term [genocide]," Osman told IWPR in an exclusive interview.

Luis Moreano-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC, has never ruled out calling Darfur a genocide, noted Osman.

“Right now, he is filing charges about war crimes because that is what he has evidence on,” said Osman. “I am sure that one day he will be able to gather sufficient evidence to establish that genocide has been taking place.”

But Osman warned that people shouldn’t argue about labels.

“It’s sufficient to know that crimes against humanity are being committed in Darfur, and these should carry the same penalty as those associated with genocide,” he said.

The UN estimates that as many as 200,000 people have died in the region since the crisis erupted in 2003 – the figure includes indirect causes of death associated with the war, such as disease and famine.

Osman believes that this figure, which was cited three years ago, is now likely to be much higher.

“Genocide is not about numbers,” he said, “but about whether crimes are being committed against specific groups of people. This definition is based on the provisions of the Rome Statute.”

The Rome Statute, signed in 1998, gave birth to the ICC. Its definition of genocide is based on an earlier UN convention, adopted in 1948, which states that the term should apply to cases where killing or grievous injury is taking place to a specific group of people as defined according to national, ethnic, racial or religious grounds.

Osman is highly critical of the Sudan government for its role in the killing, which he insisted is part of a wider “Arabisation” strategy. “The government’s aim is ethnic cleansing,” he said. “They are taking land and encouraging Arabs elsewhere, such as from Chad and Niger, to come and do the same. And these Arab tribes are occupying the land that has been depopulated by African communities.”

Last year, the ICC issued indictments against two individuals for war crimes in Darfur: Ahman Muhammad Harun, now Sudan’s minister for humanitarian affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a former leader of the Janjaweed militia, accused of many of the atrocities in the region. Osman welcomed the indictments, but criticised the UN for not pressing Sudan to comply with the court.

Osman also expressed concern with the recent appointment to the government of Musa Hilal, a controversial figure widely believed to have been a key member of the Janjaweed militia. In January, Hilal was appointed chief adviser to the ministry of federal affairs.

Osman has no firsthand knowledge of Hilal, but said, “This person is clearly controversial. Although he has not yet been indicted, there is growing evidence that he is implicated in war crimes in Darfur. He himself has said that he recruited Janjaweed members. His appointment to the government is very provocative. It is adding insult to already grievous injuries.”

Meanwhile, the Sudan government has remained adamant that it will not give up Harun and Kushayb to the ICC.

“Our view on this is quite clear and will not be changed,” said Mutrif Sadiq, Sudan’s deputy foreign minister. “We are not a signatory of the ICC’s protocol so we should not be subjected to its jurisdiction. We refuse to accept double-standards. Others, who have also not ratified the ICC protocol, are not subject to it – so why should we be? The ICC is being used as a political tool.”

The US also is not a party to the ICC agreement.

Osman disagreed with Sadiq that the ICC’s decisions cannot be applied to Sudan.

“It is ridiculous for Sudan to plead that they are not a member of the ICC as a way of justifying crimes against humanity,” said Osman. “War crimes are an international concern.”
Osman has been involved in fighting for human rights in Sudan for over twenty years, despite a poor record by the government for allowing dissent.

“The margin of freedoms is still extremely narrow and the track record of the government is very poor,” he said. “You only have to look at how journalists and politicians are treated – intimidated, harassed, arrested – to see how we have no freedom of speech in this country.”

Osman has been arrested three times and continues to be harassed for his work on human rights. “The intimidation is always there, but you cannot give up,” he insisted. “Being awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European parliament helps strengthen my belief to keep going.

Sudanese officials to be charged with war crimes in 2008: ICC prosecutor
Sudan Tribune
March 12, 2008

March 12, 2008 (GENEVA) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) disclosed today that he is finalizing two investigations into the Darfur war crimes by the end of 2008.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Swiss Info news portal that one of the investigations relates to involvement of Sudanese officials in attacks against civilians while the other looks at rebel attacks against peacekeepers and aid workers.

“We are looking at who is behind all this. I know that Ahmad Haroun is now the minister for humanitarian affairs and is involved, but he is not alone” Ocampo said on the sidelines of 6th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The judges of the ICC issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region in early May.

The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects.

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) circulated a notice for the arrest of both suspects in mid-2007.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) which asked the ICC to investigate Darfur crimes under a Chapter VII mandate in resolution 1593 three years ago, appears reluctant to force Sudan’s compliance.

Last December China, Russia and Qatar blocked a presidential statement supporting the arrest of Darfur war crime suspect and their extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ocampo said that the international community has “different views and no common position” with regards to extraditing Haroun and Kushayb.

“At my last Security Council briefing many states requested Haroun’s arrest, but the international community’s lack of consensus and collective action are part of the problem” he added.

The Argentinean born prosecutor has been pressing countries publicly and behind the scenes to press Sudan on the issue of handing over the suspects but with little success.

He made a rare criticism of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon last October for neglecting the issue of justice in his monthly reports on Sudan.

“Justice was not mentioned in the UNSG subsequent reports on Darfur where the UN secretariat developed a three prong approach with a humanitarian, political and security components only” Ocampo said in prepared remarks to the 11th diplomatic briefing at the ICC headquarters in the Hague.

Ocampo also revealed in the briefing that he has been approached by a number of countries suggesting that he should try and indict “lower level perpetrators, easier to arrest than Ministers or powerful militia leaders”.

Despite all that the ICC prosecutor said he was confident that both suspects will be prosecuted.

“I am Argentinean; I saw Jorge Rafael Videla [head of the junta] take power in Argentina and nine years later he was prosecuted; the same with Pinochet, Taylor and Milosevic. The era of impunity is over” Ocampo said.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council triggered the provisions under the Statue that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict. The Sudanese government says 9,000 people have been killed.

[back to contents]

Uganda (ICC)

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

Ugandan rebels 'will sign deal'
BBC News
March 5, 2008

Uganda Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony is prepared to sign a peace deal, a northern Ugandan politician and peace negotiator says.

Norbert Mao's comments to the BBC come as rebels failed to get international indictments against LRA leaders lifted.

This key rebel demand has threatened to derail the proposed deal to end the 22-year rebellion in northern Uganda.

But Mr Mao said the warrants should be withdrawn once the rebels are tried in Ugandan courts - as agreed in the pact.

Mr Kony is one of two other LRA leaders who remain alive wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges.

The arrest warrants were issued at the request of the Ugandan government before peace negotiations began with rebels.

The rebellion has left thousands of people dead and nearly two million displaced.

The rebels have been notorious for abducting children to be used as fighters, porters and sex slaves.
'Calculated risk'

Mr Mao, chairman of Gulu district in the north of the country, said Mr Kony's messengers communicated with him on Sunday.

"They told me he has confirmed that he will come in person," Mr Mao told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

The signing ceremony is expected to take place on 28 March in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan where the peace negotiations have been mediated for the past 18 months by south Sudan's deputy leader Riak Machar.

"He says he wants his security to be in the hands of Dr Riak Machar and after signing he will go back to the bush to reorganise his troops," Mr Mao said.

"The agreement gives him about one month to organise his troops for demobilisation and disarmament."
Mr Mao said he believed that Mr Kony was taking a "calculated risk".

High alert

Earlier this week, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo refused to meet LRA representatives and said the indictments remained in place.

But the Gulu district chairman said he believed Kony understood he would not be handed over to the ICC.

"Also his troops will still be in the bush and presumably on high alert so if anything happens to him that will be the end of the entire peace process in which everybody has investedso much hope."

Over the last few weeks the rebels and government have signed a few documents in the lead up to the expected comprehensive peace agreement.

One of the accords deals with justice and accountability, and it was agreed a special division of the Uganda High Court will be set up to try those accused of serious crimes.

Mr Mao said that it had also been agreed by Uganda's president and other mediators that the UN Security Council would be approached to suspend the LRA arrest warrants.

"That suspension for one year will give the opportunity for the government to implement the alternative justice mechanism which will then make the ICC case just collapse on its own," he said.

Uganda rebel lawyers to meet with war crimes court
Reuters
By Emma Thomasson
March 10, 2008

Lawyers for Ugandan rebels were to meet International Criminal Court officials on Monday to push the court to drop charges against their leader, which are a sticking point in talks to end the 21-year war.

Despite rapid progress in the past month at peace talks in Sudan, the Lord's Resistance Army rebels insist any final deal with Uganda's government be conditional on the ICC dropping war crimes' charges against leader Joseph Kony and two deputies.

That poses a serious dilemma for the fledgling ICC, set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court, which could be accused of bowing to politics if it drops the charges and wrecking peace talks if it does not.

"We have an appointment to hold a landmark meeting with officials from the ICC registry to whom we're going to hand our application for deferral of the indictments," rebel chief negotiator David Nyekorach Matsanga told Reuters by telephone.

The Hague-based court confirmed in a statement that registry officials would meet the LRA delegation, but said they would just discuss procedural issues such as how to file documentation with the court and how to organise defense counsel.

"As a neutral organ that facilitates fair trial, the registry does not engage in substantive discussions with any of the parties on the merits of cases before the court," it said.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has repeatedly said the arrest warrants against the LRA leaders remain valid. Last week, he said he would not meet the rebels himself but they could approach the court's judges if they want to challenge his case.

IMMUNITY?

Uganda has rejected guaranteeing the LRA immunity to international prosecution until the signing of a final deal, which it wants tied up by March 28 to bring an end to one of Africa's longest-running and most brutal wars.

But it has said it will request the U.N. Security Council to ask the court to defer its case and the two sides have also agreed to set up special war crimes courts in Uganda.

Rebel negotiator Matsanga said he hoped the agreements Kony has reached with the Uganda government would help the LRA's case at the court: "Based on that, we expect the ICC not to continue blocking peace and drop those indictments."

In late February, Uganda and the LRA signed the last in a series of documents paving the way for a final deal to end an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 2 million, devastated north Uganda, and spilt into neighbors.

A mediator said last week that Kony -- whose group is notorious for hacking off body parts and abducting children for soldiers and sex slaves -- was set to emerge from hiding to sign a final deal.

But it was unclear if he would be prepared to leave his hiding place in remote eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before he receives guarantees on the ICC.

Analysts say Kony, who has not attended any of the negotiations in neighboring south Sudan, must approve a final deal. No outsiders have seen him for months.

Ugandan Rebels to Appeal ICC Warrants
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
By Katy Glassborow and Peter Eichstaedt
March 12, 2008

Request to drop warrants against the Lord’s Resistance Army will be met with caution and scepticism.

Negotiators for the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army who are in The Hague to find out the procedure for getting the International Criminal Court to drop warrants for the arrest of its leaders say the court’s case is “redundant” and “null and void”.

In an exclusive interview for IWPR, David Matsanga, chief negotiator for the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, said the arrest warrants were no longer necessary because the Ugandan government had agreed to set up a special court to try the rebels, including their leader Joseph Kony. He said his team would be filing a motion with the International Criminal Court, ICC, to have the warrants withdrawn.

“There is no need for the indictments to remain being held against our people,” Matsanga told IWPR in The Hague.

His comments came as Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni publicly announced during a trip to London that LRA rebels will face justice inside the country, at the request of their victims, instead of standing trial at the ICC.

The LRA has always insisted that ending the ICC indictment process must be a precondition for signing a final peace deal with Kampala. But Museveni’s statement adds more weight to the rebel delegation’s current efforts in The Hague.

Matsanga said the agreement on local trials, reached with the Ugandan authorities late last month after a year and a half of negotiations in Juba, South Sudan, negated the need for an ICC trial,

“If the government of Uganda will not hand Kony over to the ICC, it makes their case null and void,” he said. “The [ICC] prosecutor cannot do anything if the state will not apprehend Kony. The prosecutor is left redundant.”

On March 10, the LRA delegation, led by Matsanga and also numbering several lawyers and advisors, met members of the ICC Registry including senior legal advisor Phakiso Mochochoko.

Mochochoko told IWPR that the delegation harboured several misconceptions about the way the court operates, and that the meeting was an opportunity to explain the ICC’s structure, the requirements governing the representation of suspects, and the procedure for filing motions with judges.

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE SEPARATE FROM PEACE PROCESS

After the meeting, Mochochoko was adamant that the ICC arrest warrants remained in place. He said a distinction must be drawn between political and legal processes.

“The LRA and government of Uganda are pursuing a political process, but the ICC is pursuing a legal process,” he said. “As far as the ICC is concerned, the arrest warrants remain valid and enforceable, and the expectation from the court is that the government of Uganda should enforce them. The matter came to the court through a legal process, and it can only go out of the court through a legal process.”

Mochochoko said the registry would continue providing the delegation with information on procedural matters, and to facilitate the work of defence lawyers who might represent the LRA before the court.

Louise Khabure, a Uganda expert with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the meeting itself was a positive step.

“Contrary to fears that the LRA delegation would not be received if they went to the ICC, they had a positive reception and found the meeting optimistic,” she said.

The ICC got involved in Uganda following a request President Museveni made in 2003 to investigate atrocities in the north in the course of the long-running war with the LRA. In 2005, judges issued warrants for the arrest of Kony and four of his top commanders, two of whom have since been killed.

Kony and his allies are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including attacking civilians, murder, abducting children and enlisting them to fight, sexual enslavement and rape.

Over the last 18 months, the ICC has been careful not to be seen to be undermining the Juba peace talks through its insistence that justice be served, but it has held to its position that the arrest warrants still stand.

At the same time, Mochochoko stressed that the ICC exists to complement national justice systems; it supports national proceedings and only acts if those systems are unable or unwilling to do cope themselves.

“If those systems are genuinely able to investigate and prosecute, the court will have nothing to do with it,” he said.

ICC prosecutors told IWPR they could not comment on any agreements made outside the court, but insisted the warrants remained in effect. “They have to be executed, the top LRA commanders have to be isolated, marginalised, must receive no support, direct or indirect, and must be surrendered to the court,” said a prosecution representative.

Now that a peace deal between the Ugandan government and the LRA looks almost certain, ICC judges have asked Kampala to explain the impact this would have on Uganda’s 2003 request for the court to launch investigations, and on the arrest warrants that have ensued.

They asked for information on the “impact of the establishment of the special division of the High Court of Uganda and of recourse to traditional justice mechanisms or other alternative justice mechanisms on the execution of the warrants, and on the cooperation provided by Uganda to the court for their execution”.

Khabure interprets this as a positive sign that the ICC is not passively watching the development of the talks, but “making considerations and thinking heavily” about the peace process.

At the moment. it will be difficult for Uganda to provide details of any implications since the Juba agreement has not been signed by either party, although the date has been set for March 28 – also the day by which Uganda is supposed to respond to the ICC.

This creates something of a stalemate, since the LRA says it will not sign the peace agreement unless the ICC lifts the indictments, yet Uganda cannot ask the court to do that unless the agreement is signed.

Matsanga argues that there is no question the ICC should drop the cases. “The people of Uganda have rejected the ICC completely, saying the rule of law and judiciary in Uganda can handle the LRA. The ICC can only go in when the state has failed, but Uganda has got an intact machinery,” he said.

He was referring to a recent tour of Uganda by an LRA delegation designed to gather opinions about the prospects for reconciliation with the rebels. During these consultations, many people publicly claimed to have forgiven the LRA and to prefer local justice mechanisms. Yet in private, people told IWPR that they feared LRA retribution if they said otherwise, but that they really wanted the rebels to be punished.

Over the past 20 years, the LRA’s war with the government has displaced nearly two million people and an estimated 100,000 have died of war and war-related causes. Perhaps 50,000 have been abducted, most of them children.

REBELS COMPLAIN ICC PROCESS IS ONE-SIDED

Matsanga accused the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, of conducting a biased investigation into war crimes in Uganda, saying that the country’s national army itself committed atrocities in the mid-1980s, spurring the LRA rebellion.

ICC prosecutors told IWPR that “we have gathered and are analysing information relating to crimes allegedly committed by individuals and groups other than the LRA, including government forces. This analysis is following standard procedures including an evaluation of the seriousness of the information, a gravity analysis and an analysis of national proceedings”.

This is not enough for Matsanga.

“The [Ugandan military] has taken part in murder, massacres, genocide,” he said. “We find Ocampo’s position very compromising. The Uganda case is going to bring a lot of chaos for him, because now he cannot arrest the culprits. He cannot bring a trial. Now the government of Uganda has abandoned him and signed an agreement with us not to hand over Kony. We have a case.”

Those monitoring the negotiations, however, say the LRA’s attempt to get the ICC to climb down is premature.

Geraldine Mattioli of the New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch said, “It is too early for the LRA… to make a judgement about the inadmissibility of the case. It is up to ICC judges to make the final decision in terms of whether the case is admissible any more.”

QUESTIONS OVER LOCAL COURTS’ CAPACITY TO TRY WAR CRIMES

Central to the LRA’s argument, she said, is the question of whether LRA commanders will receive adequate trials in the special division which, under the agreement, is to be set up at Uganda’s High Court.

“Is the Ugandan government really committed to organising this kind of national trial?” asked Mattioli. “More importantly, is Kony committed to submitting himself to national trials? And does the Ugandan judiciary have the capacity at the moment to organise these kinds of trials?”

The LRA’s demands are based on an unsigned agreement, she noted, adding that “at the moment, all we have is a piece of paper”.

Little has been done by either side to make the agreement legitimate, she said.

“I don’t believe the Uganda government has started implementing any of the agreements or that Kony has surrendered himself to the Ugandans, or that a lot of important steps that need to made before an admissibility challenge can be made, have been made,” she said.

Komakech Henry Kilama, a Gulu-based lawyer who has been trained at the ICC, said the arrest warrants are not redundant because even if the Juba agreement is signed, there is no provision to enforce it under Ugandan laws.

“There should be laws passed by parliament to make sure all these agreements have the force of law behind them, but there needs to be legislation as the agreements themselves are not binding. Laws have not been amended to be able to look at grave crimes against humanity and war crimes, so how will the judiciary hear these cases?” asked Kilama.

Only a handful of Ugandan judges have the training and experience needed to handle war crimes cases. One of them is Judge Julia Sebutinde, currently working for the Special Court for Sierra Leone on the Hague-based trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

As Kilama pointed out, “We have very few people, so we need positive training for [Ugandan] judges to look at specific war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

UNCERTAIN WHETHER THE LRA REALLY SEEKS PEACE

Mattioli said serious questions also remain as to the rebels’ true intentions, because “there are serious reports of the LRA having moved into the CAR [Central African Republic], and attacks having been conducted on the borders of Sudan and [Democratic Republic of] Congo.”

“Negotiators in Juba may be signing papers, but in terms of LRA commitment to the peace process, I think we are seeing something different,” said Mattioli.

ICC prosecutors told IWPR that they too are “increasingly concerned” about reports of recent attacks.

“The LRA group moving to CAR includes many of the remaining women and children still held in LRA captivity. The movement coincided with a resurgence of alleged LRA attacks in Southern Sudan, the DRC and CAR, with numerous killings, incidents of looting, and abductions occurring along the route the LRA is taking,” said a prosecution representative. “The extended duration of these reported abductions raises the concern that the LRA may be attempting to recruit new fighters.”

As in the past, Matsanga insisted that the LRA was not responsible for the attacks.

“These are not correct,” he said of the charges. “Sudan is a big country with lawless groups and many attack in the name of the LRA. One of the characteristics of the LRA is that they do not drink or smoke, but the groups attacking at the moment are drinking and smoking and looting alcohol. This is not the LRA.”

SUSPENSION OF WARRANTS AS A HALF-WAY HOUSE

Matsanga said the LRA might pursue another option - asking the United Nations Security Council to direct the ICC to suspend the indictments for up to one year.

The possibility that the indictments could be reactivated might pressure both parties, he said, “in case there is any bad behaviour like re-arming”.

Mattioli said it was still too early to be seeking a Security Council directive of this kind.

“The implementation agreement says that the final agreement will be signed on March 28, and after that the two parties have one month for the LRA to completely assemble under the control of the [South Sudanese military].”

Once that happens, it would be appropriate for Uganda to appeal to the Security Council for a suspension of ICC warrants, she said.

At the same time, Human Rights Watch has reservations about creating a situation where the Security Council intervenes in the ICC’s legal processes, even if it technically has the right to do so.

“We have serious concerns about allowing a political institution like the UNSC to interfere with judicial proceedings at the court. There are a number of important things the UNSC should think about – and I am talking about the kind of precedent this could set for other situations,” said Mattioli, suggesting that indicted individuals in Sudan, for example, might seek to pressure the UN body into halting ICC investigations there.

ICC COULD ASSIST NATIONAL JUDICIARY

Instead of national and international justice being framed as polar opposites and mutually exclusive, some argue that the ICC could get behind the special division at Uganda’s High Court and provide expertise and training to its lawyers and judges.

While this would require a clearer indication of the court’s mandate and methods, Khabure says “the ICC can contribute to and assist the establishment of this court, providing expertise on how to carry out investigations”.

Kilama countered by pointing out that the ICC was not a legal reform institution. Before it went down the path of referring the situation in northern Uganda to the ICC, the government could have reformed its own justice system and trained its judges to deal with such matters, he said.

Mochochoko, however, suggested some collaboration might be possible, saying the international court can cooperate with states on investigations and prosecutions, and its statute allows ICC prosecutors to hand over information in their possession if a national court launches proceedings in a similar case.

“There is room for cooperation between the court and states that are instituting investigations and prosecutions of crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the court,” he said.

Might the Lord's Resisters give up?
The Economist
March 13, 2008

A rebel leader is being pressed to give up—but under which system of justice?

AFTER nearly two years of painfully slow progress, a flurry of activity has stirred the peace talks between Uganda's government and the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) against whom it has fought for more than 20 years. Negotiators say they have signed all remaining documents, including ones providing for demobilisation and a permanent ceasefire. A signing ceremony is said to be in the offing, dates are being discussed and a list of presidents due to attend has been splashed on the front pages of newspapers in Kampala, the capital. But a final deal is still elusive.

That is because the rebels are refusing to sign until the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague drops charges of war crimes against the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, and two other commanders. Though Uganda's government called in the ICC in the first place, it has since signed a pact with the rebels that is supposed to deliver justice through Uganda's own courts and traditional systems. Visiting London this week, Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's president, said: “What we have agreed with our people is that they should face traditional justice, which is more compensatory than a retributive system.”

The ICC, however, says it will continue to press its own case against the LRA leaders, who have been accused of the most appalling atrocities, unless Uganda can show that it is “willing and able” to try the men in accordance with international standards. It would then be up to the ICC's pre-trial chamber to decide whether to drop its charges. So far, the Ugandan government has not asked it to do so.

The LRA says it has been fighting for the disaffected Acholi people of northern Uganda (see map).
Whatever the cause, it has terrorised the population, ravaged villages and kidnapped children to swell its ranks. Most Acholis loathe it. But many are angry about the ICC intervention too. “This ICC thing, we don't want it—we want peace,” says Grace Oyella, a seamstress in Gulu, the biggest town in the area. “They [the LRA] may have killed many people and we have lost our brothers, but if they refuse to allow them back they will just keep on doing this.”

Many Acholis prefer the idea of their own form of traditional justice, known as mato oput, to tackle crimes committed during the war. Under this system, the accused must recognise their crimes, ask for forgiveness and compensate victims. All involved then take part in a ceremony, drinking a bitter herbal concoction and eating together in a token of reconciliation. Acholi elders say that amid the chaos and lawlessness they have used their old ways to keep order. These, they insist, can deliver justice as well as peace.

But others are eager for revenge. Norbert Mao, a local Gulu official, says he doubts whether Acholis are as forgiving as is often made out. Some former LRA fighters who have tried to return to their villages have been killed. Though mato oput helps deal with certain crimes, it is not designed for the perpetrators of mass atrocities, he says. Human-rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights agree, calling on Uganda, a party to the ICC, to honour its obligations to the court. Without justice, they argue, there can be no lasting peace.

Under the deal accepted by the rebels, the government is to try those accused of the more serious crimes before a special chamber in Uganda's High Court. But many doubt this will provide justice of a standard to satisfy the ICC judges. Uganda's existing courts are not known for impartiality or independence. In addition, a new law would have to be passed to allow trials for war crimes, and criteria would have to be drawn up to decide who should be tried under which system.

There is also no guarantee that the LRA would keep any agreements. In the past, it has broken them as fast as they have been signed. After more than 20 years in the bush, lording it over his fighters, multiple wives and reputed 200 children, Mr Kony, whom some call mad, might find the prospect of justice in Uganda just as unenticing as justice in The Hague.

[back to contents]

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

ICTY transfers Bosnian Serb leader to serve prison sentence in Denmark
Jurist: Legal News & Research
By Katerina Ossenova
March 5, 2008

A former Bosnian Serb leader who was convicted in 2004 of war crimes committed during the Bosnian War has been transferred to a Danish prison, a Danish Ministry of Justice spokesman said Wednesday. In 2004, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Radislav Brdjanin to 30 years in prison. In April 2007, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY slightly reduced Brdjanin's 32-year sentence [opinion, PDF; ICTY press release] but upheld the majority of his convictions.

Denmark signed an enforcement of sentences agreement with the ICTY in 2004 whereby Denmark agreed to imprison ICTY-convicted criminals in the country; other countries that have similar agreements include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK. AP has more. The UN Press Centre has additional coverage.

ICTY: Herceg Bosna Leaders will remain in custody
BIRN Justice Report
March 11, 2008

The Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia overturned last month’s decision by Trial Chamber III that granted the provisional release of former Herceg Bosna leaders.

The Appeals Chamber of International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, overturned last month’s decision by Trial Chamber III that granted provisional release of Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic and Valentin Coric.

All five of them, along with Berislav Pusic were former high-level leaders of the Bosnian Croat wartime entity Herceg-Bosna and are on trial for their alleged responsibility for war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and other non-Croats from areas in southwestern and central Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992 and 1993.

The Appeals Chamber found the various justifications for release by the accused as not sufficiently compelling, therefore they will remain in the Tribunal’s Detention Unit during the break in trial proceedings.

The Trial Chamber also said that there was clear evidence supporting the Prosecution case that all of the accused participated in a joint criminal enterprise during the period covered by the indictment.

According to the original decisions by the Tribunal, the five indictees were granted temporary release from custody, between February 21 and May 4, 2008. As per The Hague Tribunal Rules, after the Prosecution has completed its presentation of evidence, the Defence may request indictees to be released from custody if it considers that their guilt has not been proved.

US Says Bosnia Human Rights 'Poor'
BIRN Justice Report
March 12, 2008

There are serious problems in the field of human rights in Bosnia, according to the United States government.

The U.S. State Department’s annual report on the state of human rights around the world, in the part regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, concludes that "the government's human rights record remained poor. Although there were improvements in some areas, serious problems remained." The problems, as the report points out are increased deaths from landmines, police abuse, poor and overcrowded prison conditions, increased harassment and intimidation of journalists and members of civil society, discrimination and violence against women and ethnic and religious minorities, discrimination against persons with disabilities and sexual minorities.

At the same time it is noted that the obstruction of the right of return for wartime refugees, human trafficking, and limits on employment rights still exist. The report also notes that the two war crimes suspects most wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, remain at large. The U.S. State Department’s reports on human rights have been published annually since 1997 and submitted to Congress. This year's report identifies 196 countries as being of concern. The report however points to some positive achievements in Bosnia's prosecution of war crimes. "The State Court War Crimes Chamber and entity courts continued conducting war crimes trials during the year," it notes. It is mentioned that since the end of the war, the ICTY transferred six cases involving 10 defendants to the State Court. Eight additional trials began at the State Court based on local indictments not reviewed by the ICTY, involving nine defendants. "The State Prosecutor's office opened 17 new war crimes investigations involving 45 suspects and confirmed eight new indictments involving 14 accused." The report notes that in June, police in the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska, arrested ICTY inductee Zdravko Tolimir and transferred him to The Hague. The ICTY indicted Tolimir for crimes against humanity and violations of laws and customs of war as assistant commander for Intelligence and Security in the Bosnian Serb Army and his involvement in planning and implementing the Srebrenica massacre. This was the first arrest of a person indicted by ICTY made by RS police since the end of war.

At the same time, the report says in July last year, Miroslav Lajcak, the High Representative to Bosnia, the international community's top envoy to the country removed 35 RS police officials for the obstruction of justice regarding cooperation with the ICTY. The State Prosecution is conducting investigation against those people. The number of arrests made by State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), as well as number of completed war crime trials in front of the state court and investigations launched by the State Prosecution are also welcomed. It is noted that in 2006 the State Prosecutor initiated an investigation into the activities of ex-commander of the Fifth Corps of the BiH army, General Atif Dudakovic, and other unknown persons shown in a video, killing an unknown number of individuals from the Bosnian Serb Army during the war. The investigation was ongoing at the year's end. "Despite local- and international-level efforts to prosecute war crimes, many of the lower-level perpetrators of killings and other abuses committed in previous years remained unpunished. These included those responsible for the approximately 8,000 persons killed after the fall of Srebrenica, and those responsible for approximately 13,000 to 15,000 other persons who were missing and presumed killed as a result of ethnic cleansing."

The report also noticed that during the year there were 30 landmine accidents that killed eight persons, as well as that an estimated 13,000 persons remained missing from the wars of 1991-1995. One negative aspect concerning the human rights situation in BiH, is noted in the police reforms that were initiated in 2006, and are still ongoing "due to highly divergent views of leading political parties." The section about the media says that an increasing number of RS outlets "showed a distinct pro-RS government bias" while Federation media outlets "exhibited political bias along ethnic lines, although not in support of any one political party." It is significant that violations of the employment rights of journalists still exist. According to the State Department report, the biggest problem is that some private media owners and management are employing journalists without a contract or social and health benefits even though they are "mandated by law." Religious education and the right of return for wartime refugees are also noted as areas of concern. "The law calls for an official representative of the various religious communities to teach religious studies in all public and private schools. However, the law was not always fully implemented, particularly in segregated school systems or where there was political resistance from nationalist party officials at the municipal level. Schools often offered religious instruction only in the municipality's majority religion. Authorities sometimes pressured parents to consent to religious instruction for their children. In some cases, children who chose not to attend religion classes were subject to pressure and discrimination from peers and teachers." The Return of refugees and displaced people is still a problem in Bosnia although more than one million persons have returned home after the war. "Government officials and some non-governmental organizations, however, believe that the total number of returns was inflated, since the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determines returns based on property restitution rather than physical presence. According to the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, there were 131,634 registered displaced persons in BiH still seeking return." One of the main reasons for why many have not returned is the difficult economic situation in the country where the unemployment rate is above 40 percent.

At the same time, discrimination against minorities still exist. "Many returnees cited the authorities' failure to apprehend war criminals as a disincentive to return," concludes the State Department's annual report on the state of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia: Is More Positive Line on ICTY in the Offing?
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
By Simon Jennings & Aleksander Roknic
March 14, 2008

If a pro-European government is elected in May, Serbia’s cooperation with the tribunal could be bolstered.

By Simon Jennings in The Hague and Aleksandar Roknic in Belgrade (TU No 542, 14-Mar-08) While Serbia’s political crisis over Kosovo’s declaration of independence makes cooperation with the Hague tribunal look like a distant prospect, the government collapse may prove a long-term blessing.

President Boris Tadic this week dissolved the Serbian parliament and called new elections after Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, furious about European states’ recognition of Kosovo, refused to agree to keep moving towards European integration.

And public feeling about Kosovo is running high. The Hague tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, was forced to cancel his first official visit to Belgrade last week following street protests prompted by the February 17 declaration of independence.

According to director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy Ivan Vejvoda, it is now unlikely that there will be visible cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, until after parliamentary elections are held on May 11.

“It will require a government in place, whatever government, to see movement on that,” he told IWPR.

“I don’t think we’ll see anything until a government comes in, in terms of big arrests.”

The government collapse came at a crucial time for the tribunal as it races to persuade Belgrade to hand over indicted Bosnian Serb war crime suspects Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic before it is scheduled to close down in 2010.

The two former Bosnian Serb leaders are accused of orchestrating the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica during which more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed.

European states, led by Belgium and the Netherlands, have blocked any closer ties between Serbia and the European Union until the two men are captured.

“We want to make absolutely clear that genocide should never again be allowed on European soil,” Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen told IWPR.

“We have to put into practice European values and standards. That’s especially important if we want to have closer ties with new countries of the European Union.”

But as Serbia heads for elections which are being billed as a choice between a European future and severing ties with the 27-member bloc altogether, ensuring effective long term cooperation with the tribunal seems a distant prospect.

“In Serbia, they are still trying to figure out whether or not they even want to join the EU so I’m sure that cooperation has moved even further down their list of priorities, if it was ever there in the first place,” Param-Preet Singh of Human Rights Watch told IWPR.

Being able to cooperate with Belgrade on tracking down its fugitives seems dependent on a pro-European government being elected in May. In a similar scenario to February’s presidential elections, Serb citizens are divided between two main options: the pro-European Democratic Party; or Kostunica’s nationalist bloc, which wants to turn away from the EU because many of its members recognised Kosovo’s independence.

Many Serbs consider Kosovo their cultural and historical heartland and regard recognition of the Albanian-dominated region to be illegal under international law.

“The domestic scene will be a direct struggle between the pro-European bloc and the patriotic bloc. This will be more difficult [than in the presidential elections] because it’s going on after Kosovo declared independence,” said Jelica Minic, the former deputy president of the European Movement in Serbia.

But despite the public unrest at the loss of Kosovo, there is hope for Serbia’s European future and the possibility of full tribunal cooperation being revived.

“Serbian citizens’ priority is their quality of life, no matter how they feel about the Kosovo situation,” Svetlana Logar, a political analyst in Belgrade, told IWPR.

Serbia currently conducts 60 per cent of its trade with EU member countries and is surrounded by states that are taking steps towards European integration.

“Most people feel strongly about the Kosovo situation and its declaration of independence but on the question of whether Serbia cuts diplomatic ties or continues towards the EU, they say they are against any isolation,” said Logar.

The EU, meanwhile, is still hopeful that Serbia will solve its internal issues and look towards Brussels. It has drawn up plans, still to be approved by member states, to offer a package of measures including relaxed visa requirements and investment in transport infrastructure.

"We are ready to move on once Serbia is ready to do the same," European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has told Belgrade.

Even the Dutch and Belgian governments were happy for the EU to offer political dialogue to Serbia last month with a view to taking the first steps towards membership once the fugitives are in The Hague.

“The meaning of this offer was to make it clear to the Serbian people that it is our view that the future of Serbia is within Europe and within the European Union,” Verhagen told IWPR.

But although Kostunica’s government rejected the agreement, Minic said such offers from the EU are of vital importance if Serbia is to be encouraged to choose a European future. She says Kostunica would not have rejected the dialogue if the EU had appeared more sincere and had not offered it at the last minute before the crucial second round of presidential elections.

“The offers came too late during the presidential elections and it is not the best time to give these offers. If they had come before then even Mr Kostunica would have reacted in a different way,” said Minic.

“Serbia feels like a loser, like it’s permanently the bad guy… and there is no really sincere willingness from the EU side to integrate Serbia. This is the feeling of frustration.”

This time around, during parliamentary elections, Serbia’s pro-European forces are looking for “a very careful, very delicate policy” from the EU, added Minic.

“Considering that Serbia is constantly on the tipping point [of the EU], it’s the practical implementation or the future vision that’s been the problem, not the strategic orientation.”

Meanwhile, from the point of view of The Hague, Param-Preet Singh believes there is little Brammertz can do to bolster cooperation until Serbia has made its decision to move on European integration.

“They are so focused on what’s going to happen with the government that any discussion about cooperation would not be hugely productive because there are all these larger issues at stake,” said Singh.

“If they decide to turn to the EU, once they’ve made that decision, then the leverage is back… And that’s when the ICTY cooperation will really come into play.”

[back to contents]

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Official Website

Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic pleaded not guilty
Court of BiH
March 7, 2008

At a plea hearing before a Preliminary Hearing Judge of Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic pleaded not guilty. Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic have been charged with Crimes against humanity. Milko Mucibabic is also charged with Illegal Manufacturing and Trade of Weapons or Explosive Substances.

The Indictment alleges that the accused, in the time of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the armed conflict in the territory of municipalities Nevesinje, Kalinovik, Gacko and Bileca, took part in the persecution of Bosniak and Croat civilians. The Indictment further alleges that members of the Public Security Station Gacko, under the command of Krsto Savic, had taken part in the persecution of Bosniak civilians from Gacko Municipality.

The Indictment also alleges that members of the Public Security Station Kalinovik, on 25 June 1992, organized and carried out the arrest of all Bosniak men in Kalinovik and the neighboring villages of Mjehovina, Jalašce and Vihovici. They had detained the arrested civilians in the Primary School Miladin Radojevic where they were kept until 7 July 1992. On 5 August 1992, allegedly, all detained men, around 80 of them were loaded on trucks and taken away, after which they were executed in the place called Ratine and the location of the Miljevina tunnels.

According to the charges of the Indictment, in the period from June 1992 to September 1992, the accused Milko Mucibabic, together with other members of the Public Security Station Nevesinje, took part in the arrest and torture of Bosniak and Croatian civilians in Nevesinje. On 7 September 2007 in a family house, Nevesinje Municipality, the Accused Mucibabic, allegedly, illegally kept firearms and ammunition.

Warrant for Ivan Hrkac
BIRN Justice Report
March 13, 2008

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will issue a warrant for Ivan Hrkac.

After failing to appear for a second time at a plea hearing, the State Court made the decision to issue a warrant.

The plea hearing was attended only by the Prosecution Attorney Dzemila Begovic, while the Defence Attorney informed the Court that he has obligations concerning another case.

The State Prosecution considers Ivan Hrkac as a member of the Convicts Battalion of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), with participating, during the period between May and July 1993, in the mistreatment of captured members of the Army of BiH (ABiH) as well as prisoners in the elementary school in Dobrokovici nearby Siroki Brijeg.

''The Court police took all the necessary actions to capture him, but he was not at the address where he is officially registered,'' said Mirza Jusufovic, the preliminary hearing judge.

''The Prosecution claims from the start that indictee is in hiding, which is one of the reasons for our insistence on a custody order,'' said Begovic, adding that on this basis, an international warrant could also be issued, so Hrkac could be apprehended ''anywhere in the world.''

The Defence attorney strictly denied at one of the previous hearings that his client fled from justice and instead claimed he is undergoing medical treatment in Croatia.

The next plea hearing will be set ''as soon as the indictee is apprehended.''

Klickovic: Former investigative judge to be in defence team
BIRN Justice Report
March 13, 2008

Hamdija Veladzic, a former investigative judge from Bihac will be in the Defence team for Gojko Klickovic despite objections from the Prosecution for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to allow Hamdija Veladzic to be a member for the Defence team for Gojko Klickovic, a former senior official of the Serb Democrat Party, SDS, accused of war crimes in Bosanska Krupa.

The previous judge hearing the case released Veladzic from his duty as additional attorney in January this year due to the fact that he served as investigative judge during the probe against Klickovic, and examined some of the witnesses that Prosecution is planning to invite during the evidence hearing.

The Defence attorney and indictee's complaint was accepted and quashed despite a suggestion by Prosecutor Philip Alcoc in a previous hearing of the possibility of inviting Veladzic, himself as a witness. Alcoc emphasised that this is one of the reasons way Veladzic cannot be defence attorney.

The investigation against Klickovic started in August 1992 at the Bihac Court and the State Prosecution took over the case in 2006.

Klickovic is charged, as a senior official of the SDS and the Serbian Bosanska Krupa Municipal Assembly as well as a commander of the Crisis Committee, of participating in the attacks and capture of a large number of civilians and soldiers in the area around the towns of Bosanska Krupa, Bosanska Otoka and Ostruznica.

The indictment alleges that Klickovic is responsible for having failed to punish his subordinates who committed the criminal offences.

According to provisions of the Criminal Law procedures in Bosnia, the defence attorney cannot be a person serving as a judge or prosecutor in the same case.

''The Preliminary hearing judge listed seven witnesses from which the defence attorney took statements during 1992. However, he failed to acknowledge the fact that during that time criminal proceedings were not held against Gojko Klickovic. Evidence gathering in one case, which can be used in other cases later on, cannot be the basis for a conclusion in the same case,'' was used in an explanation for the Court decision, adding that applying this criteria would be ''aimless, unjust and absurd.''

Although they have no right to file a complaint, the Court did give the opportunity to the Prosecution to respond to the complaint from the other side, which they failed to do.

Ostojic: Participation in joint criminal enterprise with ICTY indictees
BIRN Justice Report
March 14, 2008

Jovan Ostojic has been charged with having participated in a joint criminal enterprise together with two ICTY indictees.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed the indictment against Jovan Ostojic. The Prosecution considers that he participated in a joint criminal enterprise with Radovan Karadzic, Momcilo Krajisnik, Gojko Klickovic "and other members of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, and the former Army".

Among other things, Ostojic is charged, on the basis of command responsibility, with having failed to prevent or sanction the crimes committed by his subordinates in Petar Kocic School building.

The indictment alleges that, in the period from July 14 to December 31, 1992 Ostojic was commander of the Light Infantry Brigade of the Serbian Republic of BiH Army and that he participated in a criminal enterprise, which commenced in summer 1991.

According to the indictment, the goal of the joint criminal enterprise was to "merge the parts of Bosnia inhabited by the Serbian population" and create a separate state, from which most non-Serb citizens would be moved out. The Hague Tribunal sentenced Krajisnik by a first instance verdict to 27 years imprisonment. Klickovic is in Sarajevo awaiting his trial to commence. Radovan Karadzic is on the run, although an indictment was filed against him at The Hague in 1995.

The indictment further alleges that, "while contributing to the goal of the joint criminal enterprise, Ostojic held, from July 14 to August 21, 1992, at least 36 civilians in Petar Kocic School building, where they stayed in unhygienic conditions and with no adequate food".

Soldiers, who were subordinate to the indictee, used to beat the prisoners and force them to perform hard labour, such as removal of corpses, digging of trenches and cleaning of Bosanska Krupa streets. The indictment alleges that some detainees were killed. It mentioned a person named Joja Plavanjac as one of the perpetrators of those murders. This person, allegedly, killed 11 prisoners, two of whom have still not been identified, in the school building.

It is further alleged that soldiers, subordinate to Ostojic, arrested a few persons in Skucani Vakuf on July 21, 1992, interrogated them and then transferred them to Luska Palanka and to Jasenovac, where they were kept for two to three days and heavily beaten, and then transferred to Petar Kocic School building. Four of them died due to the injuries they sustained.

Within the next 15 days, Ostojic is due to plead guilty or not guilty to the counts in the indictment. He has been held in custody since February 28, when he was arrested by the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA.

The Court of BiH is due to make a decision concerning eventual merging of the indictments against Gojko Klickovic and Jovan Ostojic.

Another indictment for Foca crimes
BIRN Justice Report
March 14, 2008

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is awaiting the confirmation of another indictment for crimes, including rape, committed in Foca during the course of the war.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has filed an indictment against Miodrag Nikacevic (born in 1946), charging him with war crimes against civilians committed in the Foca area. The indictment was submitted to the State Court for confirmation.

The indictment alleges that during 1992, Nikacevic committed, together with other members of the Serbian military and paramilitary forces, a number of crimes, including the rape of two women, one of whom became pregnant but went on to have an abortion.

Nikacevic was arrested on February 12 this year. He was a policeman in Foca until he was arrested.

[back to contents]

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

Government welcomes ICTR’s Seromba life sentence
The New Times
By Felly Kimenyi
March 14, 2008

The Government of Rwanda yesterday expressed satisfaction on the verdict handed down by the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) against Catholic priest Athanase Seromba.

Seromba was on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment by the Appeals chamber of the Tanzania-based tribunal following his appeal against an earlier 15-year jail term handed down by a lower trial chamber.

“In all fairness, we are satisfied with the decision of the appeals chamber…Seromba is known in this country for the killings in Nyange church (Karongi District) where he was a parish priest,” Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama said yesterday.

Seromba was found guilty for the murder of thousands of members of his congregation who had sought refuge in the church at the height of the 1994 Genocide.

“He was responsible for preaching love to his flock but he instead used his position to massacre them. He deserved the sentence,” said Karugarama, who is also the Attorney General .

“Seromba knew that approximately 1,500 refugees were in the church,” Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen said, while handing down his ruling.

While at the Nyange parish in the former Kibuye prefecture, Seromba brought bulldozers which razed the church to the ground burying alive all parishioners who were in the church. Karugarama said that the sentence would act as a deterrent to other priests who might in involve themselves in similar acts in future .

Life imprisonment is the heaviest sentence that can be handed down by the UN court. The prosecution had appealed against the initial ruling saying it was too light, while Seromba had filed another claiming he was innocent.

The trial chamber had ruled that Seromba aided and abetted genocide by substantially contributing to the causing of serious bodily and mental harm in prohibiting refugees from getting food from the Parish’s banana plantation, among other acts.

Faced with a time constraint, the ICTR has so far completed 35 five cases, five of them acquittals.

All trials are expected to close in December, 2008 but appeals are supposed to have been completed by 2010.

Rwandan Armed Groups in Eastern Region Must Surrender - Security Council
UN News Centre (New York)
March 13, 2008

The Security Council today called on all Rwandan armed groups operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to surrender immediately to Congolese authorities and the United Nations peacekeeping mission known as MONUC.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body demanded that all members of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), ex-Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR)/Interahamwe and other groups present themselves to be disarmed, demobilized, repatriated, resettled and reintegrated.

The Council also said these groups must "immediately stop recruiting and using children, release all children associated with them, and put an end to gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse," adding that those responsible need to be brought to justice.

Today's resolution called on both the Governments of the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda to scale up their cooperation in implementing last November's so-called Joint Nairobi Communiqué, under which the two countries agreed to work together against threats to peace and stability in the region.

Council members welcomed the DRC's decision to hold a meeting in Kisangani to address the issue of the presence of Rwandan armed groups in the country.

They also voiced their "grave concern" at the ongoing presence of other militias in eastern DRC, which perpetuates a "climate of insecurity in the whole region."

The body noted that the agreement reached between the Government and armed groups in the east on 23 January represents "a major step towards the restoration of lasting peace and stability in the Great Lakes region," and urged its signatories to implement its provisions immediately.

UN tribunal increases sentence for Rwandan priest to life in prison
UN News Centre
March 12, 2008

A Roman Catholic priest in Rwanda who directed the demolition of a church where about 1,500 Tutsis were trying to take shelter during the 1994 genocide, killing those trapped inside, has been sentenced to life in prison after a United Nations war crimes tribunal today increased his jail term.

Both prosecutors and Athanase Seromba, the former priest of Nyange parish in Kivumu commune in the west of the country, had appealed against the original verdict and the 15-year jail term imposed by the trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2006.

The ICTY appeals chamber overturned Mr. Seromba’s conviction for aiding and abetting genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity, replacing it with convictions for committing genocide and extermination. The court then quashed the sentence of 15 years’ jail and sentenced him to life in prison.

Judges at the Tribunal, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania, upheld one of Mr. Seromba’s other convictions for aiding and abetting genocide but quashed another conviction on a similar charge.

During his trial, prosecutors showed that a large number of Tutsis had sought refuge at Mr. Seromba’s church in Nyange parish on or about 12 April 1994 as Interahamwe militiamen and gendarmes surrounded the building and began to attack with grenades.

Mr. Seromba later spoke to the driver of a bulldozer, encouraging and identifying when to start demolishing the parish building and which parts were the weakest. All those Tutsis inside the church were killed when the church was bulldozed and its roof subsequently crashed.

Mr. Seromba was arrested by Tanzanian authorities in February 2002 after surrendering to the ICTR following his arrival from Italy, where he had been working as a priest under a false identity in two parishes near Florence.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered, mostly by machete or club, across Rwanda in just 100 days starting in April 1994. The Security Council set up the ICTR in November that year to prosecute people responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Rwanda signs prison deal on genocide convicts
Reuters
By Arthur Asimwe
March 4, 2008

KIGALI, March 4 (Reuters) - Rwanda and its U.N backed genocide tribunal signed an agreement on Tuesday to have convicts sentenced by the Tanzania-based court transferred to serve their time in Rwanda.

In 1997, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) began trials of the architects of the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and Hutu moderates in the central African country.

A Security Council resolution setting up the ICTR identifies Rwanda as the primary location where sentences should be served, but none of the 27 people convicted by the tribunal has been transferred to Kigali.

"This agreement appears as the last brick completing the legal framework which qualifies Rwanda as one of the countries that may be deemed suitable for the enforcement of sentences handed down by ICTR," Adama Dieng, the ICTR registrar, told reporters.

However the final decision on which convicts will be transferred to Rwanda lies in the hands of the judges of the ICTR, Dieng said.

Rwanda has completed a detention centre for the convicts, which the tribunal has approved as meeting international standards.

Detainees criticised the move, saying they feared unfair treatment by the Kigali authorities while serving their sentences in Rwanda.

"In principle, everybody detained in Arusha (Tanzania) must serve their sentence here -- now that we have this agreement in place we ready to receive them here," Rwandan foreign minister Charles Murigande said.

Six other countries -- France, Swaziland, Sweden, Benin, Mali and Italy -- have signed similar agreements with the ICTR.

A Belgian journalist, Georges Ruggiu, who was jailed for inciting genocide in Rwanda, was handed over on Thursday to police from Italy, where he will serve the rest of his 12-year sentence.

ICTR is expected to wind up its first instance trials by December this year while appeal hearings will end by 2010.

Rwanda is pushing to have all outstanding cases conducted on its soil.

Since its inception, the tribunal has completed 35 cases and trials of 27 more suspects are in progress. Seven more await trial in captivity in Arusha.

The tribunal has also indicted 16 fugitives, including Felicien Kabuga, accused of financing the 1994 genocide.

Rwanda ex-official released after completing ICTR crimes against humanity sentence
Jurist
By David Frueh
March 3, 2008

Former Rwandan councillor Vincent Rutaganira was released Sunday after completing a six-year jail sentence for crimes against humanity, according to a statement Monday by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ITCR). Rutaganira was convicted by the ITCR in March 2005 after pleading guilty to one count of "extermination as an accomplice by omission to a crime against humanity." ITCR judges found that Rutaganira, a former local government official in the Mubuga sector in western Rwanda, knew in advance about a planned attack in which thousands of Tutsis were killed, but did nothing to prevent it. At the time, Rutaganira's sentence was the shortest ever imposed by the court, which considered his voluntary surrender, his ill health and his advanced age in reaching its decision. Rutaganira also received credit for time already served after his 2002 arrest. The UN News Centre has more.

The ICTR was established by the UN in 1995 to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, were killed.

[back to contents]

Iraqi High Tribunal

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

Iraq premier criticizes delay in executions
Los Angeles Times
By Alexandra Zavis
March 1, 2008

Maliki says the presidential council has no authority to hold up the sentence of two men convicted of genocide.

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's office lashed out Friday at the Iraqi presidential council for refusing to approve the executions of two of the three men sentenced to hang for the genocidal campaign against Iraq's ethnic Kurdish minority during Saddam Hussein's rule.

The public dispute highlighted the persistent rancor between Iraq's major ethnic and religious factions, which continues to paralyze the highest levels of government nearly five years after Hussein's fall.

Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, has pressed for speedy executions for the three, who were convicted in June of genocide and other crimes for their roles in a late-1980s military crackdown known as the Anfal, or "spoils of war," campaign, which killed as many as 180,000 Kurds.

Earlier Friday, senior government aides said the three-member presidency council, which consists of President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents, had signed off on the execution of Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan Majid, who became known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering the use of poison gas against villages said to be harboring Kurdish guerrillas. The council's decision was the last legal obstacle to carrying out the sentence, which must be done within 30 days.

But an aide said Vice President Tariq Hashimi, who, like the defendants, is a Sunni Arab, would not endorse the executions of the two military leaders who helped carry out the deadly attacks: Sultan Hashim Ahmad Jabburi Tai, a former defense minister, and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, the former deputy head of army operations.

Execution orders require the signatures of all three members of the presidency council under Iraqi law. Talabani, a Kurd who opposes the death penalty on principle, has given Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite, authority to sign on his behalf.

Many Sunnis regard Tai and Mohammed as military professionals who were only following orders, and Hashimi has argued that their lives should be spared.

Sensing an opportunity to encourage reconciliation, Talabani has also urged clemency for Tai, who is said to have had contact with the Iraqi opposition before the war and surrendered voluntarily to U.S. forces in 2003.

Iraq's two main Shiite parties, however, are opposed to commuting Tai's sentence because of his role in the brutal suppression of a 1991 Shiite uprising at the end of the Persian Gulf War.

Maliki's spokesman, Ali Dabbagh, said Friday that the presidency council had no legal authority tohold up the executions by refusing to endorse the decision of the Iraqi High Tribunal, which was upheld by an appeals court in September.

"Their death sentence was issued as one court order for three persons together, so it is incorrect to separate their verdicts and treat them differently," Dabbagh said in an angry phone call. "Especially in such cases, the presidential council cannot pardon or reduce their sentence."

The judiciary system has been unable to resolve the deadlock.

A Justice Ministry council ruled in October that the presidential council could not block the court order. But if an execution order is not signed by all three members of the council, the defendant's sentence remains in legal limbo.

Such disputes have frozen progress in Iraq's government, which is under pressure to match recent gains on the security front with steps to ease tensions between major ethnic and religious groups.

The split decision on the executions came days after the council failed to approve a law considered key to reconciliation that would have outlined the distribution of power among different levels of government and paved the way to provincial elections.

In Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish enclave, many rejoiced Friday at the news that Majid would soon hang.

Shereen Mahmoud has been in mourning since the day six of her relatives were killed when Iraqi airplanes dumped mustard and nerve gas on the Kurdish town of Halabja. She vowed Friday to discard her black clothes and start wearing colors again the day the sentence was carried out.

"I was feeling very sad when I heard that Ali Majid and Sultan Hashim would not be hanged," said the woman, reached by telephone. "But today, when I heard about the approval, I decided to go to . . . Halabja cemetery and stand in front of my family's graves and shout as loud as I can that Ali Hassan Majid will hang."

But there was also widespread bitterness that the other execution orders had not been approved. Sirwan Ghareeb, a journalist in Sulaymaniya, said it was "a mistake for the future to forgive the crimes committed against our people."

Many in Halabja want the execution to be carried out in the town, where about 5,000 people were gassed to death. But others in the Kurdish north said they just wanted justice to be done and did not want it to appear like revenge.

"What is important is to execute Chemical Ali, to see and hear him vanishing from life," said Nisreen Kareem, an employee of the Sulaymaniya municipality.

"I don't want him to be executed in Kurdistan. Iraq is for everyone; he should be executed in Baghdad since it's Iraq's capital."

The three men remain in American custody. The U.S. military said it had received no immediate request to hand Majid over to the Iraqi government, which would be a sign that his execution was imminent.

Times staff writers Tina Susman and Caesar Ahmed in Baghdad and special correspondent Asso Ahmed in Sulaymaniya contributed to this report.

Iraqi PM at odds with presidency over execution order
Reuters
By Wisam Mohammed
March 5, 2008

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's moves to execute Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali", have faltered because of a new dispute between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the presidency council.

The council, made up of President Jalal Talabani and his two vice-presidents, approved the long-delayed hanging of Ali Hassan al-Majeed last Friday but failed to endorse the execution of two former army commanders sentenced to death with him.

Maliki was not accepting this decision and wanted all three to be executed at the same time, Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated government, told Reuters.

Majeed, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and a former army general, Hussein Rashid Muhammed, were sentenced last June after being convicted for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed.

Legal wrangling has held up their executions. Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, opposed the hanging of Muhammed and Hashem, arguing that they were military men who had simply been following orders.

All three remain in U.S. military custody.

"The Iraqi government refuses to take over Ali Hassan al-Majeed without Sultan Hashem and Hussein Rashid," Dabbagh said.

"The prime minister refuses to split the death sentences issues by the Iraqi High Tribunal. He wants them to be carried out together. He does not believe the presidency council has the right to commute the sentences or change them," he said.

U.S. military spokesman Major-General Kevin Bergner told reporters in Baghdad earlier on Wednesday that the government had not yet made a request for Majeed to be handed over.

"Once that does happen we will fulfill our responsibility," he said.

Iraqi officials had said they expected "Chemical Ali" to be executed within days. His death sentence last June was widely cheered by Iraqis who remembered his ruthless use of force to crush opponents to Saddam's rule.

Sunni Arab leaders, however, have campaigned to commute the death sentence imposed on Hashem, who has a reputation as a brave and courageous soldier.

Saddam and three members of his government have already been executed, although in the cases of the Iraqi leader and his half-brother there was controversy too.

Saddam's execution in December 2006 sparked anger among Sunni Arabs, who were outraged by a video showing the ousted leader being hanged to sectarian taunts from official observers.

His half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was executed two weeks later in a botched hanging in which he was decapitated.

(Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Iraqi Leader Wants Two More Executed With Saddam Cousin
Associated Press
By Sameer N. Yacoub and Anna Johnson
March 6, 2008

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government is refusing to execute the Saddam Hussein henchman and cousin known as "Chemical Ali" unless the death sentences of two other Hussein-era officials also are approved.

The dispute pits the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against the three-member presidential council, which moved last week to block the two other executions in what was seen as a possible attempt to appease minority Sunni Arabs.

The standoff underscores the often unclear lines of authority in Iraq and is another blow to Iraq's beleaguered judicial system. Also yesterday, two former Health Ministry officials were released after being cleared on charges that they helped Shi'ite death squads operate by giving them access to hospitals and ambulances. There are widespread allegations of witness intimidation in those proceedings.

In the case of the executions, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a telephone interview that Maliki's administration would not take custody of Ali Hassan al-Majid alone and that it wanted all three men.

The United States has custody of Majid as well as the two others, Hussein Rashid Mohammed, the former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie. A US military spokesman, Major General Kevin Bergner, said yesterday that no request had yet been made to turn Majid over to Iraqi authorities.

Last Friday, Iraq's three-member presidential council - President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, along with the Sunni and Shi'ite vice presidents - endorsed the death sentence of Majid, who earned the grim nickname "Chemical Ali" for gassing Kurd civilians during a brutal crackdown on their region in the 1980s.

The endorsement was thought to be the last step before carrying out Majid's sentence - death by hanging - within a month.

He and the two other Hussein deputies were condemned in June after being convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for their part in the Kurdish campaign, known as Operation Anfal.

Majid won little sympathy when his sentence was handed down, but Taie and Mohammed were seen by some as career soldiers who were just following orders.

Many Sunni Arabs thought Taie's sentence was evidence that Shi'ite and Kurdish officials were persecuting the nation's once-dominant minority. Hussein and many of his closest advisers were Sunnis.

Sunni leaders, including Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, launched a campaign to spare Taie, and the presidential council last week agreed not to execute either him or Mohammed.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, finds that unacceptable. "The prime minister refuses to split the death sentences issued by the Iraqi High Tribunal," Dabbagh said.

"He wants them to be carried out together. He believes that the death sentences issued by the High Tribunal are irreversible and unchangeable and do not need the approval of the presidency council, which has no right to change the sentences."

It was not clear what will happen if Majid is not executed within the month his sentence is meant to be carried out.

[back to contents]