War Crimes Prosecution Watch

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Vinko Kondic pleaded not guilty
Court of BiH
April 7, 2008

At the plea hearing before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Accused Vinko Kondic pleaded not guilty. Vinko Kondic is charged with the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity and criminal offence of Organization of Group of People and Incitement to Perpetration of Criminal Offences of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.

The indictment alleges that since June 1991 the accused Kondic, as a member of the Executive Committee of the SDS Municipal Organization in Kljuc, the Commander of the Kljuc Police Station (SJB), a member of the Kljuc Crisis Headquarters and a member of the Kljuc Defence Council, together with other members of the SDS as well as with the military and civilian authorities in the Kljuc Municipality, took part in the perpetration of criminal offences against Croat and Bosniak civilians.

On 18 November 1991, the accused Kondic undertook activities aimed at stopping a convoy of refugees from Slunj, the Republic of Croatia. On this occasion, the police under the command of Vinko Kondic took out from the bus and deprived of liberty able-bodied Croat male civilians, 30 of them at least. Having been tortured in the Police Station (SJB) Kljuc, the civilians were transported into the previously formed camp „"Stara Gradiška". The indictment further alleges that during the period from 27 May 1992 to late August 1992 the military and the police searched the villages and settlements in Kljuc, Sanica and other villages inhabited by the Bosniak population. On this occasion, civilians were unlawfully arrested and taken to the detention facilities of the elementary schools in Sanica and "Nikola Mackic" in Kljuc, the former railway station in Sanica and the Police Station (SJB) Kljuc. During the unlawful arrest at least 1161 men were escorted by the police and transported to the Manjaca Camp. Immediately upon the arrival in the Camp, one civilian died due to the punching injuries sustained, while two more civilians died in the Manjaca Camp.

The indictment further alleges that on 10 July 1992 the military entered into the villages and hamlets of the Kljuc Municipality. On this occasion, all detained men were taken to the premises of the Elementary School in Donji Biljani. Some of these men were put on buses, taken into an unknown direction and killed, so that on 10 July 1992 at least 219 persons were killed.

Vaso Todorovic ordered into custody
Court of BiH
April 8, 2008

On 8 April 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) issued a decision ordering Vaso Todorovic into one-month custody. Pursuant to the Decision, custody may last until 7 May 2008. Vaso Todorovic is suspected of the criminal offense of Genocide.

In its motion for custody, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH submits that there is grounded suspicion that the Suspect Todorovic, in the capacity of a police officer of the Šekovici Second Detachment Special Police Unit, during the period from 10 July 1995 to 19 July 1995, together with other members, participated in criminal action of extermination of Bosniak civilians within the UN protected zone of Srebrenica. Further, the Prosecutor’s motion alleges that the Suspect Todorovic together with other participants of joint criminal action, on 12 July and 13 July 1995 secured the road by closing and opening the same one for traffic, according to the plan of forced relocation of around 25 thousand of Bosniak women, children and elderly persons. On 13 July 1995 the Suspect Todorovic as alleged in the Prosecution Motion, carried out security duties in the village of Sandici, Bratunac Municipality. They kept thousands of men, whereby they separated 20 and 30 men and surrendered them to unknown soldiers of the Army of Republic Srpska, who put them on trucks and took them away wherefrom they disappeared without trace.

The Prosecutor’s motion further submits that the Suspect Todorovic together with other members of the Second Squad Šekovici Detachment escorted and detained more than a thousand Bosniak men. According to the Prosecution Motion, the civilians were detained in the Farming Cooperative Kravica and shot at by the members of the Šekovici Second Detachment in early evening hours.

Having inspected the evidence submitted, the Court concluded that there was grounded suspicion that the Suspect had committed the criminal offence in question. Further, the Court ordered custody having found that there was sufficient evidence indicating that the Suspect, if released, might hinder the criminal proceedings by influencing witnesses, accessories, or accomplices. The Court ordered custody having found that other circumstances suggest a possibility of flight by the Suspect. Considering the criminal offense Todorovic is suspected of, the Court ordered custody for the reason of public and property security.

Alic: A dirty Buzim secret
BIRN Justice Report
April 8, 2008

In its closing arguments, the Prosecution of BiH has asked for a long jail term for Sefik Alic, while the Defence has requested a verdict of release.

Presenting its closing arguments for several hours, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina asked for a long jail term of 50 years for Sefik Alic, while the Defence asked for a verdict of release claiming that the indictee's guilt had not been proved. The Court of BiH will announce the verdict on Friday, April 11. The Prosecution charged Alic, former assistant commander for security of the "Hamze" Battalion with the Fifth Corps of BiH Army, with having participated in the abuse of captured members of the Serbian Krajina Army in early August 1995. Alic is charged with having failed to conduct an investigation and sanction the persons responsible for the murder of the four prisoners.

The indictment alleges that Arab citizen Tewfik Al Harbi committed the murder. "What we have here is a small dirty Buzim secret, which many people do not want to disclose. However, justice and evidence demand the truth to be proved. The Prosecution asks the Court of BiH to sentence him to 20 years imprisonment for inhumane treatment and 30 years for the murder," Prosecutor Peter Kidd said. Alic lives with his family in Buzim, a town in northern Bosnia where the "Hamze" battalion was established. In his closing arguments, Kidd said Alic participated, "personally and directly," in the physical and mental abuse of prisoners and he "encouraged Tewfik to treat them as if they were his property." "Alic was an authoritative and respected person. He was very aware of Tewfik's aggressiveness towards the prisoners, as he was a walking bomb ready to explode. We consider that the prisoners were killed by the timed bomb, which was motivated and not stopped by Alic," Kidd said.

Referring to some Prosecution witnesses, Kidd said that they were "subjective and fascinated by the indictee" and that they therefore wanted to "protect Alic as much as they could." "Witnesses described him as a knight in a shiny armour, who protected the prisoners from Tewfik. We consider that he is still responsible for his actions and he cannot transfer the responsibility to somebody else by claiming that he handed the captives over to another person," Kidd said. In his closing arguments Defence attorney Senad Kreho said that the State Prosecution had not proven, "beyond reasonable doubt", the indictee's guilt and that the Court of BiH should consequently announce a verdict of release. "The Prosecution has not been able to prove that Alic was assistant Battalion commander and that he was superior to non-regular soldier Tewfik. It has also not been able to prove that Alic participated in the physical and mental abuse of the prisoners," Kreho said.

In the Defense’s closing arguments it was said that some Prosecution witnesses indicated that "senior commanders" were aware of the murder and detention of the soldiers, but they did not know what Alic's function was. "Unfortunately, the Prosecution has not determined the identity of the victims, as the material evidence indicate that their death dates and disappearance locations did not match. In addition, it has not determined how they were killed, as the Prosecutor claims they were shot at from fire arms, while the recording shows that they were slaughtered," Kreho said. In the course of Alic's trial, a video recording of the murder of the four prisoners was shown as key evidence of both the Defence and Prosecution of BiH. The indictment alleges that Petar Borsima, Petar Stambolija, Mirko Devetak and Branko Basic, members of the Serbian Krajina Army, were murdered during the "Oluja" military operation conducted by the Army of BiH and units from the Republic of Croatia in the Krajina region in August 1995.

Kujundzic: Trial to start on April 16
BIRN Justice Report
April 8, 2008

The start date for the trial of Predrag Kujundzic, former commander of "Predini vukovi" paramilitary group, has been agreed at a status conference. As agreed at the status conference held before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the trial of Predrag Kujundzic, who is charged with war crimes against Bosniaks and Croats committed in Doboj, is due to start on April 16, when the indictment will be read and the Prosecution of BiH and Defence will present their introductory arguments.

The Prosecution of BiH charges Kujundzic, as commander of "Predini vukovi" ("Predo's Wolves") paramilitary group, with having participated in the "prosecution, murder, rape and detention of Bosniak and Croatian civilians" from Doboj area.

The indictment charges Kujundzic with "sexual slavery and rape of several minor girls." Prosecutor Bozidarka Dodik said 43 witnesses would be examined during the presentation of evidence. According to her, some of them "are direct victims of the indictee's activities," while others have got indirect information on crimes committed in that area.

Out of this number, sixteen Prosecution witnesses have asked for protection measures. Dodik said that she would ask a few neurological and psychiatric experts to conduct an examination and provide their opinion on the capability of certain witnesses. Attorney Miroslav Ristic said the Defence would examine about 30 witnesses and four court experts in the course of its evidence presentation. A "report on the indictee's physical and mental state in the referenced period", as well as some documents related to his role in "Predini vukovi" Unit will be included in the material evidence.

The Defense asked the Trial Chamber to order the Prosecution of BiH to provide the Defence with the names of its protected witnesses 30 days in advance, instead of the usual 15 days, because "many witnesses did not provide the detailed description of certain events in their statements."

The Defense also asked for the indictee's wife to be allowed to visit him in the Detention Unit. It claims that she has not been allowed to visit him so far, because the Prosecution suspects that she "was involved in the crimes."

The Court will announce its decision at a later stage.

Mihaljevic: Restoring faith in the justice system
BIRN Justice Report
April 10, 2008

In its closing arguments the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has asked the Trial Chamber to sentence Zdravko Mihaljevic, considering that it has proven his guilt.

The Prosecution of BiH considers that it has managed to prove, in the course of presenting its evidence and "beyond reasonable doubt", that Zdravko Mihaljevic is guilty of the crimes committed in Tulice in 1993. It has called for a sentence to be announced in order to restore "faith in the justice system."

"At the beginning of the trial we said we would determine the truth and we believe that we have managed to do it by presenting our evidence. Acting in a cold and unmerciful manner, Zdravko Mihaljevic killed unarmed civilians. We think that, in making of its decision, the Trial Chamber should consider the age of the victims, as well as the indictee's command responsibility," Prosecutor Slavica Terzic said in her closing arguments.

The Prosecution of BiH charges Zdravko Mihaljevic, as commander of the "Maturice" Special Purposes Squad with the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), with having participated in attacks on Bosniaks in Tulice village as well as their prosecution, murder and torture in the course of 1993.

Further on, the Prosecution of BiH said Mihaljevic committed crimes against Bosniaks due "to their ethnicity" and that "the indictee's acts reflected HVO goals."

According to Terzic, HVO and the Republika Srpska Army (VRS) participated in crimes against Bosniaks in central Bosnia. She said that those crimes represented "a model of how prisoners, their liberty and property were treated."

"Some Prosecution witnesses said Defence attorney Dusko Tomic used to come to Tulice and bring them presents in an attempt to bribe them. Protected witness A claimed to have been threatened a day before his testimony. The Prosecution is conducting an investigation in order to find out who threatened this witness," Terzic said.

In his closing arguments Defence attorney Dusko Tomic said that "all Tulice residents had weapons" and that "only those who did not want to say where they were hiding their weapons" were killed.

"Prosecution witnesses did not know anything, but the Security and Information Service (SIS) provided them with information and they decided that Pijuk was the main culprit. It is interesting to note that none of the witnesses could say, with certainty, how Pijuk was dressed and their testimonies differed," Dusko Tomic said.

"Today Pijuk makes his living by cutting and selling firewood. Those who are responsible for the crimes have a lot of money and they are defending themselves before other courts," Tomic added. He will continue presenting his closing arguments on Friday, April 11.

Custody requested for Bihac trio
BIRN Justice Report
April 10. 2008

The Prosecution of BiH asks for a month's custody of the persons suspected of crimes committed in Bihac area. The State Prosecution has filed a custody order motion for Adil Ruznic, Mehur Selimovic and Emir Mustafic, who are suspected of having committed war crimes on the territory of Bihac municipality. The Court will announce its decision on the issue at a later stage.

On April 8 this year the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested three persons, under a suspicion that they committed, as members of the Fifth Corps of BiH Army, together with other unknown perpetrators, war crimes against prisoners of war and civilians. The mentioned crimes were committed in the Bihac area in the course of 1994 and 1995.

Prosecutor Milorad Barasin did not provide any further details concerning the custody order motion filed with the Court. He said that there "existed all reasons for the ordering of custody" and that the Prosecution had been conducting a broad investigation of the events in Bihac area in 1994 and 1995 for quite some time. Barasin also said that he considered that, should they remain at liberty, the suspects might attempt to hide or flee.

The suspects' Defence attorneys expressed their dissatisfaction with the way in which their clients were arrested. They also stressed that there were no reasons for keeping them under custody. Referring to the possibility of influencing witnesses, they said that their clients' names were mentioned "in fragments of the statements given by those witnesses."

They also said that the suspects would not try to hide or flee, as they "have not done it so far" and they did not posses citizenship of any other country to which they might attempt to flee.

At Thursday's hearing, Mustafic's Defence attorney Mirsad Sipovic asked the Court to release him of his duty, as the suspect "wants" to have an attorney from Una Sana Canton.

"This is a historical process. The honor of my Canton and the fifth Corps is at stake," suspect Emir Mustafic told the Court.

The Court will render its decision concerning the custody order motion and appointment of a new Defence attorney for the third suspect at a later stage.

Kapic: The last witnesses
BIRN Justice Report
April 10, 2008

The Trial Chamber presents its evidence by examining two witnesses. At the trial of Suad Kapic, the Trial Chamber presented its evidence by examining Hasan Hadzalic and protected witness S1. As explained, the examination was done "in order to clarify certain statements given in an earlier stage of the trial." The State Prosecution considers that Suad 'Hodza' Kapic, a former member of the Third Battalion with the 517th Cazin Brigade of the Fifth Corps of BiH Army, participated, in the course of the "Sana 95" military operation, in the detention of six members of the Republika Srpska Army (VRS) in Dabar village area, Sanski Most municipality, and personally killed three and ordered somebody else to shoot one of them.

Two surviving captives were handed over to "Apaci" Reconnaissance Unit (RU) with the 517th Cazin Brigade. Hasan Hadzalic, former commander of "Apaci" RU, who had testified as a Prosecution witness earlier on, said that he had seen the six captives on the summit of Mount Mreznica. However, he was not able to remember ho had brought them there. "We needed somebody to help us reconnoiter the area. Dragan Stupar volunteered and he took one more captive with him. The four other captives were tied. They remained there and I never saw them again," Hadzalic said. Dragan Stupar and Milovan Mastikosa are the two surviving captives, who, according to the indictment, were handed over to "Apaci" RU members. Hadzalic further explained that he handed over the two prisoners to the Corps Police Unit and that he informed the Logistics Commander about the six prisoners. He added that Ibrahim 'Baja' Nadarevic, commander of the 517th Cazin Brigade, was also informed about the case. While examining witness S1, Trial Chamber Chairman Davorin Jukic reminded him of his statement given to the Prosecution of BiH, in which he said that Suad Kapic was responsible for the murder of the prisoners. "I said that, but I did it out of fear from the Prosecution and (State Investigation and Protection Agency) SIPA from Cazin, who told me that my hands could be cuffed any minute," S1 said, adding that "Suad Kapic was not responsible for the murder of the prisoners". S1 also said that the Prosecutor mentioned Suad Kapic and showed him his photograph in the course of the examination. The Prosecution is due to present its closing arguments at the trial of Suad Kapic on April 17, while the Defence will present its closing arguments a week later.

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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)

Tribunal Seeks to Lower Budget Proposal
Mean Veasna via VOA Khmer
April 2, 2008

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials are seeking to reduce a proposed budget to international donors, as it cuts expenses in an effort to prolong operations.

Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said Tuesday the courts were looking at ways to lower a request to donors for $114 million, to extend court proceedings against five jailed Khmer Rouge leaders through 2011.

"Everybody recognizes it's a large increase, and we recognize that we have to justify such a large increase," Jarvis said. "We are currently trying to see if we can reduce that figure. So we are discussing this in much more detail with judicial officers and the administrative staff of the court." The tribunal is also cutting expenditures in order to continue operations on the Cambodian side of the hybrid courts through May, she said.

The administrative budget for the Cambodian side of the courts was expected to run out in April, including salaries for staff. The cost-cutting measures follow a trip by tribunal administrators to New York last week to brief more than 20 donor representatives on the progress of the courts.

The tribunal should be careful in reducing its estimates, to ensure the process of the tribunal is not hurt, said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development. Civil society should also be consulted in the reduction of the estimate, she said.

Cambodia says Khmer Rouge court funds "no problem"
Reuters India
April 3, 2008

Cambodia is confident about securing an additional $114 million from donors to pay for the ballooning costs of the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" tribunal, senior minister Sok An said on Thursday.

"We will have no problem with the financial support," he told a news conference to announce a pledge of an additional A$500,000 ($459,000) from Australia towards the United Nations-backed proceedings against Pol Pot's top surviving henchmen.

The court had an initial budget of $56 million, and was expected to run for three years. However, it was slow in starting, and is now expected to run over until 2011.

Sok An said the court had enough funds to last until the end of this year.

An estimated 1.7 million died under Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror as the dream of creating an agrarian utopia descended into the nightmare of the "Killing Fields".

Many victims were tortured and executed. The rest died of starvation or disease. Five top Khmer Rouge cadres have been arrested by the court and charged with war crimes or crimes against humanity.

They are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former president Khieu Samphan, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, and Duch, head of Phnom Penh's Tuol Sleng, or "S-21" interrogation and torture centre. Pol Pot himself died in 1998.

Australia Funds Cambodian Tribunal
Associated Press via Washington Post
By Sopheng Cheang
April 3, 2008

Australia pledged $458,000 Thursday for Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, whose operations have been threatened by a shortage of funds as it prepares for trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Bob McMullan, the Australian parliamentary secretary for international development assistance, announced the pledge during a meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

He said his government made the decision to help pay Cambodia's share of the expenses because "we want to make sure that the resources are available so that this important step in justice is capable of being properly undertaken."

The money is "available now," McMullan said.

Helen Jarvis, the tribunal's chief spokeswoman, said the contribution "takes the pressure off."

The Khmer Rouge is accused of responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians during its 1975-1979 rule. So far, none of the regime's senior leaders has faced trial.

The U.N.-assisted tribunal opened its offices in early 2006 after years of wrangling between the Cambodian government and the world body. Trials _ conducted jointly by international and Cambodian jurists _ were originally projected to end by 2009, but are now expected to run through March 2011.

To extend its operation, the tribunal is seeking an additional $114 million. It told donor countries in January it would need $170 million, a sharp increase from the originally budgeted $56 million.

The United Nations was supposed to provide $43 million for its share of the original budget, and Cambodia $13.3 million.

Jarvis said the funds that Cambodia has available are $4.9 million short of its original share. The Cambodian side now has enough money to keep operating until the end of May, rather than April as previously projected, she said.

The pledge announced by McMullan is Australia's first direct contribution to the Cambodian side, which is "very encouraging," Jarvis said.

Ieng Sary Lawyers Raise Amnesty Issue
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
April 9, 2008

Lawyers for jailed Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary filed a petition to the tribunal courts Monday protesting the legality of a trial due to an earlier royal amnesty.

Lawyer Ang Udom said Wednesday a trial of his client would be illegitimate.

"He cannot be tried for the second time," Ang Udom said. "This is contrary to local and international law, because he has been tried and pardoned by the king."

Ieng Sary was found guilty in absentia of genocide in a trial following the ousting of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The trial is widely viewed as a show trial.

Ieng Sary defected to the government in 1996, following a royal pardon and amnesty by then king Norodom Sihanouk for the guilty verdict of the Vietnamese trial.

Lawyers argued the amnesty should take precedence over the hybrid courts. However, experts say he can still be charged with war crimes, even if the courts allow the amnesty argument.

Tribunal co-prosecutor Robert Petit confirmed Wednesday receipt of the petition, which said the court had no authority in the Ieng Sary case, due to the royal pardon and amnesty agreement with the government.

"Indeed, we will look at that closely and reply to the lawyers in writing," he said.

Victims Playing Greater Role: Tribunal
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
April 10, 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal has now received at least 1,500 victim complaints, in what officials say is increased participation in the justice process as trials for jailed leaders of the regime draw near.

Most of the complaints came from within Cambodia, but others have come in from the France and the US, officials said.

The complaints pass through the now-functioning Victim's Unit to prosecutors, who submit them to investigating judges for use in the trials of five jailed former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Tribunal officials had faced criticism over an initial inability to incorporate the needs of victims in the trial process.

"I think when [judges] receive the information related to [the tribunal] to file a complaint, this is participation of victims to the justice process," Keat Bophal, director of the Victim's Unit, said Thursday.

About 1,150 complaints have so been submitted to the courts since November 2007, she said.

"They can file complaints during the investigation process and up until the beginning of the pre-trial phase," she said.

Complaints for former prison chief Duch or chief ideologue Nuon Chea, for example, would not be valid, as they have already begun the pre-trial process.

Complaints related to former foreign affairs minister Ieng Sary, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, and former nominal head Khieu Samphan would still be valid.

To facilitate the filing of complaints, the tribunal will open a new office not far from Norodom Boulevard in the capital, following Khmer New Year, Keat Bophal said.

In Kea, who is in charge of a tribunal outreach program for Adhoc, said the complaint of the people is a necessary support to the courts.

The complaints against the five accused claim compensation and cover the entire period of the Khmer Rouge, he said, adding that Adhoc had helped out with 40 separate complaints through an action committee before submitting them to the tribunal.

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Central African Republic

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

Chad, Central African Republic, Darfur must be tackled together – Ban Ki-moon
UN News
April 3, 2008

3 April 2008 – The flare-up of civil strife, cross-border tension and displacement involving Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan should be addressed in a unified manner that is outside the mandate of the mission currently being deployed by the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a report released today.

In his report on the Mission in CAR and Chad, known as MINURCAT, Mr. Ban writes: "The internal crisis in Chad, the situation facing refugees and internally displaced persons [IDPs] in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic, the tensions between Chad and the Sudan and the situation in Darfur should be addressed simultaneously."

This should be done, he adds, in a coordinated effort that takes into account the root causes of the internal conflicts and the regional dimensions of those problems.

"To date, however, neither MINURCAT nor EUFOR is ideally mandated to address these issues," he says, with the latter acronym referring to the European support force.

The innovative, multi-dimensional MINURCAT was set up by the Security Council last September to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people uprooted due to insecurity in the northeast of the CAR and eastern Chad and in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan.

It was mandated to comprise 300 police and 50 military liaison officers, as well as civilian staff, focusing on the areas of civil affairs, human rights and the rule of law. The strength as of 1 April stood at 163 international and 64 national staff.

Deployment was delayed when Chadian rebels advanced from the area of the border with Sudan in a bid to take Chad’s capital, N’Djamena in early February. Though the rebels were eventually driven out of the city, street fighting left many dead and UN staff were evacuated.

Also in early February, about 10,000 people from West Darfur sought refuge in eastern Chad following a series of deadly air and land attacks by the Sudanese Government and its allied militia.

In addition, the Prime Minister of the CAR resigned in January and in the subsequent period many thousands fled their villages due to raids by armed groups, with many making their way to Chad.

These problems are complex and all require comprehensive solutions worked out between the many parties involved, Mr. Ban notes in the report.

"While the international community can assist the parties in settling their internal and bilateral differences through constructive means, in the final analysis the parties themselves must demonstrate the political will and commitment necessary to resolve the underlying political and security challenges in the area," he says.

He maintains that it is crucial, in particular, for Chad and Sudan to reach a negotiated and comprehensive settlement of their disputes, and he welcomes the signing of an agreement on 14 March in Dakar between the presidents of the two countries that called for reconciliation and normalization of relations.

In addition, with conditions remaining perilous in eastern Chad, the protection of refugees, IDPs and the flow of humanitarian aid must be assured, he says.

As the Chadian Government seeks increased coverage of IDP sites by its police force, Mr. Ban will ask that the review of MINURCAT and EUFOR, which is due in September, look at this issue and develop recommendations.

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Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

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

ICC monitoring movements of Darfur war crimes suspect
Sudan Tribune
March 30, 2008

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is monitoring the activities of a Darfur war crime suspect within Sudan, a senior court official said.

The prosecutor of the ICC Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in prepared remarks at the twelfth diplomatic briefing that his office is working with unspecified countries to trace the whereabouts of Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs.

“RFA’s on the tracing of Haroun and on his activities within the Sudan have been and will be sent. I urge States Parties to give them their utmost attention and to contact my Office should they have questions” Ocampo said.

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.

Ocampo said that he is pushing world countries to assist in the arrest of the Darfur war crime suspects including those who are not members of the court.

“Our principal objective is to make sure that the issue of enforcement of the arrest warrants is not put off the agenda of relevant international meetings” he said.

The prosecutor also urged countries to press Sudan on extraditing the suspects to the ICC. He mentioned that only one country did that so far but did not name it.

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 last year.

The ICC official said he travelled to Qatar, Egypt including a meeting with the Arab League, Jordan and that he plans a trip to Indonesia, a UN Security Council member, and Saudi Arabia shortly.

It is not clear why Ocampo plans to visit Saudi Arabia. The latter has distanced itself from the issue of the Darfur crisis and avoided any public remarks on the matter.

Last January well placed sources told Sudan Tribune that Haroun made a failed attempt the month before to travel to Saudi Arabia for annual Islamic pilgrimage on a forged passport.

The source said that Haroun wanted to use a fake passport with a different name for his planned trip in order to apply for a visa to enter Saudi Arabia. However he could not confirm if Haroun actually submitted a visa application to the Saudi consulate in Khartoum.

Haroun ended up cancelling his travel plans after the Sudanese government found out, the source added.

Ocampo said that the court requested an update from Sudan on “activities undertaken in the execution of the warrants and as to any difficulty which may have arisen” with a November 15 deadline but received no response from Khartoum.

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.

UN Urged to Pressure Sudan on Darfur War Crime Suspects
Voice of America
By Tendai Maphosa
March 31, 2008

Senior international legal experts and human rights activists say the U.N. Security Council should pressure Sudan to hand over two suspected war criminals to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The two are wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Tendai Maphosa has details from London.

Darfuri and international legal experts have signed a letter to the Security Council, urging it to pressure Sudan's government to hand over for trial Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb. The two are accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur in 2003 and 2004.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the two men almost a year ago.

Nick Donovan heads the Darfur campaign at the Aegis Trust, a Britain-based non-governmental organization focused on the prevention of genocide. Donovan tells VOA the United Nations has several options available.

"The U.N. Security Council can take some concrete steps such as imposing targeted sanctions like freezing the bank accounts of those who are protecting Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, the two suspects," Donovan said. "In this way they can put pressure on those who are refusing to hand them over to the International Criminal Court."

But the spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, Khalid al Mubarak, dismisses the letter as part of a campaign to demonize Sudan. He tells VOA the suspects will not be handed over to the ICC.

"The International Criminal Court is itself controversial and highly discredited; for one reason, which is this that many countries including the United States are exempted from the rules relevant to the International Criminal Court," Mubarak said. "Over and above that, Sudan is not party to it, it has not ratified anything relevant to it."

Mubarak says Sudan's judiciary is quite capable of trying its own accused.

He says that some people accused of human rights abuses in Darfur have been tried in Sudan and received heavy sentences. He says Kushayb and Harun are not up for trial because there is no evidence against them. He also dismisses the evidence that led to their ICC indictment as vague reports and accusations by people who are not credible.

Sudan Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun was state interior minister at the height of the Darfur conflict. He is accused of helping to recruit Janjaweed militias and contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity. Ali Kushayb, was a senior militia leader.

It is estimated more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003, when southern rebels launched an attack against a government garrison. The government responded with a harsh crackdown, using regular troops and Janjaweed militias.

Among those who have signed the letter to the Security Council are Carla del Ponte and Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutors for the ICC tribunals for Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, Salih Mahmoud Osman, Darfuri winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize and members of the Darfur Bar Association.

Sudan confirms Release of Darfur War Crimes Suspect Indicted by ICC
Sudan Tribune
By Wasil Ali
April 2, 2008

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

The spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, Khalid Al-Mubarak was quoted by Voice of America (VOA) as saying that Haroun and Kushayb were not prosecuted “because there is no evidence against them”.

Al-Mubarak did not return Sudan Tribune calls requesting additional details on the release of Kushayb.

Khartoum had long claimed that Kushayb was in custody since November 2006 for investigations into allegations of violations he committed during the peak of the Darfur conflict in 2004.

Kushayb has been nicknamed as the “Butcher of Darfur” by Darfur refugees and is alleged to have carried out mass executions against the African population in the area.

"We have eyewitnesses who saw Kushayb on his horse giving instructions in each of the cases. I have eyewitnesses who saw Kushayb involved in the execution of prisoners, the rape of women," the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in statements last year.

Sudan’s former Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi told a news conference in Khartoum in February 2007 that “"Ali Kushayb, along with two other individuals, was sent for trial. He was detained as a suspect, questioned, his statements were evaluated and witness statements recorded, and then the decision was taken to refer him to court".

But in March 2007 Kushayb’s trial was delayed when the defendants filed an appeal with the Justice ministry.

Shortly afterwards the Sudanese justice ministry ordered a ban on publishing reports or details relating to criminal cases on Darfur conflict and many observers at the time voiced skepticism over Khartoum’s seriousness to try perpetrators of crimes in the war ravaged region.

In early October Sudan’s former foreign minister Lam Akol told the pro-government daily Al-Rayaam from New York that Kushayb was freed “due to lack of incriminating evidence against him”.

However Al-Mardi issued a quick denial to the Al-Rayaam report describing it as “false” without directly commenting on Akol’s statements.

The former Justice Minister was asked again by Al-Rayaam last November on the whereabouts of Kushayb and he reiterated that the militia leader was “never released” before saying that he refrained from commenting on the issue “because it is under investigation”.

EU criticizes Sudan for refusing to extradite war crimes suspects
Sudan Tribune
April 6, 2008

The European Union (EU) issued a statement this week condemning the Sudanese government for handing over war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The EU expresses its profound dismay with the Government of Sudan’s continued failure to comply with its obligations under UNSC Resolution 1593 including its refusal to arrest and surrender these men to the ICC for prosecution, much less allow the ICC to question them” the statement read.

“The EU once again calls on the Government of Sudan to cooperate unconditionally with the International Criminal Court and to surrender the two individuals for whom it issued arrest warrants”.

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 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.

But the EU threatened certain measures if they continue to block attempts to extradite Haroun and Kushayb.

“In the event of continued non-compliance with the terms of UNSC Resolution 1593, the EU will support appropriate further measures against those who bear responsibility for Sudan’s failure to cooperate with the ICC” the EU said.

The prosecutor of the ICC Luis Moreno-Ocampo will brief the UNSC in June on the status of investigations and Sudan’s cooperation. He has already informed the council of Sudan’s non-compliance last December.

Ocampo has expressed his frustration with lack of pressure on Sudan by world community to hand over suspects. He also revealed 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”.

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

Sudan demands the arrest and prosecution of the ICC prosecutor
Sudan Tribune
April 7, 2008

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be brought before a court of law, a senior Sudanese official said.

Sudan’s U.N. ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Mohamad told the daily Al-Rayaam that Luis Moreno-Ocampo “is jeopardizing the political settlement in Darfur”.

“He should be tried in court” Mohamad said.

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 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.

Ocampo has been meeting extensively with world officials to press them on the extradition of Haroun and Kushayb but has had little success so far.

Sudan’s UN envoy said that Ocampo is “politically bankrupt” and described him the “enemy number one of peace in Darfur”.

This is not the first time Mohamad issues public rebukes of Ocampo. His sharp criticism of the ICC prosecutor has taken a more personal nature during the course of the year.

Last May the Sudanese official demanded that the UN restricts Ocampo’s visits to New York to meet with officials in the world body as well as permanent representatives.

Mohamad said that Ocampo’s movements “are nothing but a ridiculous political play trying to provoke countries against Sudan”.

The prosecutor of the ICC will brief the UNSC in June on the status of investigations and Sudan’s cooperation. He has already informed the council of Sudan’s non-compliance last December.

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

Sudan: UN Security Council Must Censure Government
Amnesty International, via AllAfrica.com
April 11, 2008

“The Sudanese government cannot claim to be working to protect the people of Darfur, yet allow its proxy forces to attack civilians with impunity, as is happening,” Amnesty International said today. The organization called on the UN Security Council to strongly censure the Sudanese government following a series of orchestrated attacks on civilians in Darfur by Janjawid militia.

“The Sudanese government bears primary responsibility for these Janjawid attacks, which have left many dead and injured and left inhabitants of the area paralysed with fear and unable to carry out their daily activities,” said Amnesty International.

“The UN Security Council must insist that the Sudanese government immediately disarm these Janjawid militia, arrest them and prosecute them for the war crimes they are committing.” The Sudanese government, in its quest for a military solution to the crisis, continues to refuse to disarm and demobilize Janjawid militia, despite international outrage.

“The Sudanese government – instead of disarming the Janjawid – is actually nurturing their influence. It continues to arm Janjawid members, integrate them into paramilitary forces, and even facilitate immunity from prosecution,” said Amnesty International.

Sunday, 6 April marked the beginning of a series of what appeared to be orchestrated attacks on the towns of El Fasher and Kabkabiya in North Darfur. Both were carried out by Janjawid militia dressed in civilian clothes and border guard uniforms who raided the towns in armed vehicles and on camel and horseback.

Threats of similar attacks were reported to have spread, and Janjawid militia were seen passing through the town of Tawila, also located in North Darfur.

The attacks followed a familiar Janjawid pattern. Janjawid members forcefully collected money and goods from inhabitants, banks and small businesses in the two towns. Markets were occupied by force and looted, while merchants were attacked and robbed. Four were reportedly killed and many injured.

“The fact that the attacks are happening right under the noses of the UNAMID forces stationed there increases the climate of fear, as it leads to people feeling that the UN cannot adequately protect them,” said Amnesty International. “The UN Security Council must ensure that the UNAMID is fully deployed and resourced without further delay, and pro-actively fulfilling its mandate so that these attacks can be prevented in future.”

UNAMID forces deployed to Kabkabiya when the Janjawid attack began, but retired when the Sudanese army arrived. Three civilians were killed in Kabkabiya.

UNAMID did not intervene to stop the Janjawid attack in El Fasher. The response to the attack was instead managed by the national police, tribal leaders and the governor, who intervened with the Janjawid’s leadership to stop the attack. One person was killed, several injured, and the climate of fear and insecurity lasted for two days.

Amnesty International is very concerned that such attacks can take place notwithstanding the presence of UNAMID forces, whose mandate is to protect civilians in Darfur.

“The deployment of the full contingent of UNAMID troops and the provision of necessary helicopters and equipment would allow the forces to expand their protection to a larger territory,” said Amnesty International. “It would also allow them to increase their patrols and closely monitor the situation on the ground, which would in turn contribute to preventing attacks such as those recently witnessed.”

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Uganda (ICC)

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

Uganda Rebel Leader to Sign Final Peace Deal
Voice of America
By Peter Clottey
April 9, 2008

Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) peace negotiation team will today (Wednesday) hand over documents to rebel commander Joseph Kony to sign his side of the final peace deal. This comes after the United States Department of State gave visas to members of the rebel negotiating team to travel to the United Nations to seek the removal of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against the top leaders of the LRA. The rebels said that although Kony will sign the final peace deal, they would not disarm until the arrest warrants are removed.

The final peace deal, which will also be signed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tomorrow (Thursday) will end over two decades of LRA insurgency in northern Uganda. David Matsanga is the leader of the LRA rebel delegation. From the Southern Sudanese capital, Juba he tells reporter Peter Clottey that all is set for the rebel commander to sign the final peace deal.

"Two weeks ago general Joseph Kony called me and told me to postpone the signing of the final peace agreement that we had been negotiated and said we should sign this agreement himself. Should be able to sign this agreement in Rikwangba, but not any other person and that he will sign this agreement and that is all," Matsanga pointed out.

He said a final peace agreement with President Yoweri Museveni’s government would go a long way in showing the seriousness of the LRA towards finding a lasting solution to the northern Uganda conflict.

"I want to make it very clear to the world that this agreement has given the LRA the opportunity, and we shall remove the LRA from the list of the terrorist organizations. We have stopped general Joseph Kony and others to be taken to The Hague, we have managed to achieve the livestock of the people of Uganda to be retuned we have managed to secure UPDF (Uganda People’s Defense Forces) to get out of the soil of Sudan, and return to Uganda. We have managed to create inclusiveness, and participation in the government of Uganda because the people of northern Uganda has been marginalized by Museveni’s government for a long time," he said.

Matsanga said visas have been granted to members of his negotiating team to travel to the United Nations to seek the removal of the ICC arrest warrants against the top leadership of the LRA.

"Oh yes, my delegation has bargained and negotiated and we have actually defeated the Uganda government in negotiations…we secured several things that had never been there in Uganda…I want to tell the world that whether tomorrow or whatever it is we shall go to the United Nations Security Council and put our case and that is why we want the warrants to be lifted," Matsanga noted.

He reiterated the readiness of rebel commander Joseph Kony to sign the final peace deal, which would effectively end the rebels over two decades of insurgency.

"I want to tell you categorically that general Joseph Kony talked to me, he assured me and he told me to postpone the date up to the 10th. I postponed the date and I told Riek Marchar and told everybody that this is what general Joseph Kony has said…after signing the agreement, general Joseph Kony has to sit down with his people and they will tell him about Mato Put (Uganda’s traditional method of justice), and about what is going to happen in Uganda," he said.

Uganda rebel leader delays peace deal signing: top mediator
AFP
April 10, 2008

Uganda's top rebel leader Joseph Kony has requested further consultations before signing a peace agreement to end one of Africa's longest conflicts, the chief mediator said Thursday.

Speaking from the venue near the south Sudanese jungle town of Ri-Kwangba, where Kony was initially scheduled to sign at midday, Riek Machar said Kony had asked for more time to confer with elders from northern Uganda and mediators.

"Since he's now talking to cultural leaders and bishops, it may take time, then he will have a meeting with me and that too will take time," the south Sudanese vice president said.

"I expect it tomorrow," Machar said, when asked when the signing would take place.

Kony -- whose group is notorious for raping and mutilating civilians, enlisting child soldiers and massacring thousands -- has been in hiding to avoid a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Top LRA commanders have met on the other side of the Ri-Kwangba area's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Kony was reportedly spotted recently in the neighbouring Central African Republic.

Kony's people were suspected of gang-raping women, taking dozens hostage and attacking villages, according to a draft UN report.

Ugandan rebels last week asked mediators to delay the signing of the peace agreement citing the inadequate nature of facilities such as toilets in their camp in Ri-Kwangba. Machar dismissed these allegations as "rubbish", insisting that southern Sudan was providing food and facilities.

Twenty years of fighting have left tens of thousands dead and displaced two million people, mainly in northern Uganda. Several thousands have been killed in southern Sudan where the LRA have camps.

Church and rights groups said the expected signing had raised hope of lasting stability in the region.

"War must stop forever. That is my expectation and that is the expectation of the people of northern Uganda and even the government," said Archbishop John Odama of Gulu diocese.

While welcoming the possible deal, Amnesty International expressed reservations on the its failure to address impunity.

"But we have serious concerns about the solutions that are being put forward... because they're not a comprehensive plan," said Jonathan O'Donohue, legal adviser for AI's International Justice Project.

A ceasefire was struck in August 2006, paving the way for peace talks in South Sudan capital Juba that have dragged on for more than a year and a half.

A permanent ceasefire signed in February is expected to take effect 24 hours after the signing of the final accord.

The talks were delayed by the LRA's insistence that ICC warrants against Kony and three of his top lieutenants be lifted before an agreement is signed. However, even with an agreement, Kony is not expected to return to Kampala.

While the Ugandan government has not requested such a move from The Hague-based tribunal, it has been vocal in advocating home-grown solutions to bring former rebels to justice.

Observers argue the government has a vested interest in scuppering too much disclosure at an international tribunal, as it may end up facing war crimes for forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands and killing civilians.

The rebels accuse the Ugandan People's Defence Force of carrying out abuses, but the army says it routinely punishes soldiers convicted of war crimes.

The conflict has raged since 1988, when Kony, a semi-illiterate former altar boy, took charge of a two-year-old regional rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority.

The original rebellion was started in 1986 by Holy Spirit Movement commander Alice Lakwena, who told her fighters she could rely on magic potions to turn enemy bullets into stones.

Since the signing of the truce agreement almost two years ago, the war-scarred east African nation has engaged in aggressive reforms to attract investors and revamp its image.

Patience of LRA Victims Wearing Thin
IWPR
By Patrick Okino
April 10, 2008

With some apprehension, I began my journey to my home village, a place I had not been ever since the rebel war in northern Uganda began many years ago.

My trip took me first, however, to the Barlonyo refugee camp, north of Lira where the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, had brutally massacred 300 people in 2004.

I wanted to talk with survivors about the rebel leader Joseph Kony, who many doubted would sign a negotiated peace agreement following reports that he had retreated to the Central African Republic.

>But I began to think that peace was around the corner as I saw former refugees preparing fields for the year’s first planting following the recent rains.

Children walked happily along the road side and waved excitedly at the sight of my motorcycle – something most had not seen in years.

I stopped at the Ogur trading centre, and as I ordered a bottle of soda, I recalled that this place was once unreachable because of rebel patrols and attacks just a few kilometres from Lira.

Along the roads I saw fields of millet, beans, soy beans, and sorghum – crops that had not been planted during the 20-year war.

Nearby several people were loudly debating the outcome of the final peace agreement, and most doubted Kony’s sincerity. Few thought he would present himself and sign the accord – delayed now until April 15 in the South Sudan capital of Juba.

"The bible says there is time for everything," said one of the men. "This scripture is coming to pass on Kony and his fighters."

"We are not worried, even if he [Kony] doesn't sign the peace accord, because his haven [Central African Republic] is a thousand kilometres away," said another.

"This area is now [secure] and reachable [for refugees] unlike in 2003 and 2004," said Regina Akullo, 60, as she planted beans.

I sympathised with these people because I have lived through this war and know how it has devastated the region.

As I reached Barlonyo, a Luo word that means "abundant wealth", I expected to see remains of a battlefield. Instead, I saw permanent structures made of bricks and cement, all projects to build a commercial centre and vocational school to honour the dead.

I continued to Amwak, a village 50 km east of Lira and my home village. People there were bitter about the war and Kony, especially since he was still at large in CAR.

"As we speak now, we are not happy with the International Criminal Court, ICC, for letting Kony cross to CAR without being arrested," said my step-brother James Onyanga.

At the peak of the LRA insurgency in 2002, my mother Jusphanti Okino, 65, and my brothers Geoffrey Onyanga and Simon Eluk fled from the village for the safety of Lira.

After three years, however, and before the peace talks began in 2006, they told me they wanted to return home.

"I’m not used to this kind of life where food is purchased on daily basis," my mother told me. "I want to trek back to my home and start cultivating my own."

I was worried about their safety, because just a year earlier, rebels had ambushed a truck near our home, killing eight people and setting both the dead and the truck ablaze.

But they insisted, so I supported them with enough money for transport and food to get them started again. Luckily, they were all right, because the security in the area had improved.

But it had not been so for my grandfather, Erisa Onyanga, 90, and my uncle Peter Eluk, both of whom were killed during the rebel war. They were among the ten people who died during the war, out of the 50 who once lived in our village.

But already, life had turned around for people across the north, including my brother.

"Out of what I harvested this year, I have purchased two bulls to help us in cultivation," my older brother, Geoffrey, told me. "I think if alð goes well I will be `ble to buy mo2e."

Now with peace in the air, I think he will.

Uganda elders try to save talks with rebel Kony
Reuters
By Skye Wheeler and Francis Kwera
April 11, 2008

RI-KWANGBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Elders from northern Uganda tried to meet fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony on Friday to salvage long-running peace talks after he delayed signing a deal to end one of Africa's longest wars.

The draft agreement between Kony's Lord's Resistance Army and the government appeared to be near collapse after the elusive guerrilla asked mediators to clarify parts of the text on Thursday and then broke with his chief negotiator.

Religious and cultural leaders who went to explain the document failed to find Kony on Thursday at an agreed spot near Ri-Kwangba on the remote and thickly wooded Sudan-Congo border. Early on Friday, they ventured back into the bush to try again.

"The developments of yesterday and today are a challenge to the peace process, nevertheless, the peace process continues," the Ugandan government's top negotiator, Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, told Reuters.

Asked whether he thought Kony would sign on Friday, Rugunda said: "We need to know more ... there is no clear answer."

Kony's 22-year rebellion killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted 2 million more in northern Uganda and destabilised neighbouring parts of southern Sudan and eastern Congo.

Kony, who is wanted for multiple war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, did not appear at Thursday's planned signing ceremony in Ri-Kwangba.

South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, who has chaired talks between the two sides since mid-2006, said the LRA leader was unsure how the government planned to use its courts and traditional reconciliation rituals to counter the ICC warrants.

ICC prosecutors accuse the LRA boss and two deputies of crimes including rape, murder and the abduction of thousands of children to serve as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

Even if Kony does sign a final peace deal, the rebels have vowed never to disarm until the indictments are scrapped.

Uganda peace deal delayed; Govt. team returns to capital
The Hindu News Update Service
April 11, 2008

NABANGA (AP): A final peace deal to end one of Africa's longest wars broke down Friday after a fugitive rebel leader failed to show up in a jungle clearing to sign the agreement and government representatives headed home.

Before leaving this remote area near the Congolese border, chief government negotiator Ruhakana Rugunda said his team was heading back to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to await further instructions. Rebels and government negotiators had been gathered in a clearing since Thursday waiting for Joseph Kony, who hasn't been seen in public since 2006.

"He did not sign as expected so we're going back and will wait to be informed by the chief mediator of the next steps to be taken," Rugunda said.

When asked whether he believed Kony was committed to peace, Rugunda said: "We are waiting for concrete evidence."

Kony's notoriously vicious Lord's Resistance Army is behind a 20-year insurgency in northern Uganda. The rebels are known for cutting the lips off their victims, abducting child soldiers and turning girls into sex slaves.

Kony and four other members of the rebel high command wanted by the International Criminal Court have gone into hiding. As part of the final deal, Uganda has agreed to approach the ICC and request that the indictments be withdrawn. Any decision to drop the international charges would have to be approved by judges at the court, who would first want to be sure the rebels get a proper trial in Uganda.

Under the deal, those charged with serious crimes during the insurgency would be tried in a special division of Uganda's High Court. Those accused of lesser crimes would be judged according to northern Uganda's traditional justice system, known as Mato Oput.

Mato Oput is a style of mediation that involves a public apology from the offender, who must also give a payment set by local elders _ often in cattle or sheep _ to the victims, or bereaved. In return, victims agree to forgive the accused.

Some human rights groups condemn such punishment as too lenient.

But more than a year of talks between the government and rebels have not yielded much, and were marked by walkouts and accusations of sabotage on both sides.

U.N. officials estimate that the LRA has kidnapped 20,000 children in the past two decades, turning the boys into soldiers and the girls into sex slaves for rebel commanders.

If both sides reach a comprehensive deal, it will be a major breakthrough in pacifying the volatile region comprising northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan. Rebels from all three nations operated across the borders with impunity for decades until a peace accord halted Congo's civil war in 2003 and southern Sudanese rebels joined Sudan's government in 2005.

The Lord's Resistance Army was formed from the remnants of a northern Uganda rebellion that began in 1986 after Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, shot his way to power.

Kony mixed northern politics with religious mysticism, declaring himself a Christian prophet fighting to rule this country of 26 million people by the Ten Commandments.

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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

BALKANS: Serbia Outraged over Kosovan Acquittal
Inter Press Service News Agency
Vesna Peric Zimonjic
April 4, 2008

BELGRADE, Apr 4 (IPS) - Serbians feel outraged after the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj of atrocities against non-Albanians in 1998. Haradinaj's guerrilla group fought central rule from Belgrade at the time.

The United Nations founded ICTY based in The Hague "has lost its credibility," President Boris Tadic said in a statement. Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said the acquittal "demonstrates that the ICTY was a political instrument" to ensure that "those who committed crimes against Serbs could be officially innocent." The ICTY acquitted Haradinaj and his associate Idriz Balaj Thursday of all accusations of crimes against humanity, including the murder of 40 Serbs and Roma, and torture and rape in Dukadjin in north-western Kosovo in 1998. At the time Haradinaj was commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) that led an armed insurgency against Belgrade.

The conflict in Kosovo, which ended in 1999 after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) bombing of Serbia and withdrawal of Belgrade's security forces, took thousands of human lives both among ethnic Albanians and Serbs. More than 5,000 ethnic Albanians and 1,300 Serbs are still missing.

According to Judge Alphons Orie, who pronounced the ruling, the accusations could not be supported by "sufficient evidence".

He admitted the trial faced "significant difficulties" since its beginning in March 2007, above all the reluctance of more than 80 witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution, despite protective measures taken for dozens of them. Four avoided testimony completely, two died in suspicious circumstances before they could appear in court.

"Many cited fear for not wishing to appear before the court...this chamber realised that there was an unfavourable situation for witnesses in Kosovo," Judge Orie said.

Ramush Haradinaj became prime minister of Kosovo in 2004, but surrendered to the ICTY in 2005 when the indictment against him was announced. He remains one of the most controversial figures in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February.

To Kosovo Serbs the acquittal came as yet another blow. "This is certainly disappointing for Serbs," Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic told Belgrade B92 TV. "Haradinaj wrote two books on his role as commander of the Dukadjin region, enough evidence could be found there...Indirect evidence of serious issues surrounding him is the murders of important witnesses as well."

Simo Spasic, head of the Alliance of Families of Serbs Disappeared in Kosovo, said the ruling has brought disappointment. "This is another stab into our hearts," Spasic told IPS. "Haradinaj will be welcomed in Pristina as a hero, while parts of Kosovo have been cleansed of Serbs and other non-Albanians because of him."

"The court was supposed to play an important and historic role in making the political elites and people face the issue of war crimes (in the wars of former Yugoslavia)," Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said at a press conference. "However, if, in the Haradinaj case, the defendant is provisionally released and one witness is killed in a car accident and one is stabbed to death during that period, and dozens fear for their lives, one cannot make a very firm case. I expect the prosecution to file a complaint."

Haradinaj was provisionally released in June 2005 and returned to the ICTY in March 2007 when the trial against him and his aides began.

"The Prosecution could not prepare the case properly for several reasons," human rights activist Natasa Kandic told IPS. "On the one hand, witnesses were under extreme pressure, the UN administration in Kosovo did little to provide security for them; two deaths of witnesses were not investigated, and Serbia, on its side, did not provide enough evidence either."

Serbian official in charge of cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic said the ruling will "further lower the already poor image of the ICTY in Serbia." Serbia is under pressure to find and hand over the most wanted Bosnia war crimes indictees, General Ratko Mladic and political leader Radovan Karadzic. They are accused of genocide in which about 7,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in Srebrenica in 1995.

The government in Kosovo welcomed the ICTY verdict. "The government of Kosovo salutes the verdict, and the release of Haradinaj and Balaj," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in a statement.

Seslj: I know Where Karadzic and Mladic Are
BalkanInsight.com
April 7, 2008

A Serbian war crimes suspect told The Hague Tribunal he knew the whereabouts of the two most wanted fugitives, Belgrade media reported.

Vojislav Seselj, leader of the hardline nationalist Serbian Radical Party, himself on trial before the International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, said he had knowledge of the whereabouts of the Bosnian Serb wartime political and military leaders, Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic.

Seselj told the court he would sacrifice himself in order to protect them, however, and would only call on Karadzic and Mladic to testify in his defence if they were guaranteed free passage from The Netherlands after giving evidence.

The Radicals are the largest single party in Serbia’s 250-seat parliament. Their leader in Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, was runner-up in presidential elections in February, winning more than 2 million votes and narrowly losing to the pro-Western candidate, Boris Tadic.

Nikolic said Seselj’s statement on protecting the two fugitives would not bind his hands if the Radicals won the early parliamentary vote on May 11.

The arrest and handover of Karadzic and Mladic are a pre-condition for Serbia’s bid to join the European Union.

Nikolic agreed that “there is a chance that Seselj knows [the two men’s whereabouts] but how am I supposed to know? I don’t know where they are”.

Seselj voluntarily surrendered to The Hague Tribunal in 2003 before the assassination of the then centrist prime minister, Zoran Djindjic.

He is charged in connection with war crimes that his units allegedly committed in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1991-1995 wars and has pleaded not-guilty.

Karadzic and Mladic were twice indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity in 1995. Mladic is widely believed to be hiding in Serbia, while Karadzic’s whereabouts are thought to lie between Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.

Nikolic said that if the two fugitives were in Serbia, Tadic would have located them, or, as other fugitives had done, they would have voluntarily surrendered.

Serbian security figure fit to stand trial, UN war crimes tribunal rules
UN News Centre
April 9, 2008

The delayed war crimes trial of two former high-level officials with the Serbian secret service will start on Monday after the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s ruled that one of the men is now fit to stand trial.

The trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled yesterday that Jovica Stanišic – who suffers from pouchitis, osteoporosis and kidney stones, and is being treated for deep depression – can stand trial along with his co-accused, Franko Simatovic.

The illnesses had prevented Mr. Stanišic from attending court and he had also refused to sign waivers from the hearings, and led to repeated delays in recent weeks.

A majority of the ICTY trial chamber found that Mr. Stanišic’s “health condition is a factor that persistently interferes with the right to a fair and expeditious trial, warranting derogation from the right to be present in court.”

They added that Mr. Stanišic is not the only person on trial and that Mr. Simatovic “too is entitled to a fair and expeditious trial.”

The ICTY ordered that a video-conference link be set up in its detention unit to allow Mr. Stanišic to follow the proceedings and see the witnesses at all times. A telephone line with the courtroom will also be installed to allow the defendant to communicate with his lawyers.

Announcing their decision, the judges said it should not be seen as a permanent solution and Mr. Stanišic must attend court if he is able to do so.

The two defendants are accused of having directed, organized, equipped, trained, armed and financed secret units of the Serbian state security apparatus which murdered, persecuted and deported Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serb civilians from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia between 1991 and 1995.

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International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

First Transfer Case Hearing Set For 24 April
Hirondelle News Agency
April 1, 2008

Arusha, 1 April 2008 (FH) - The eagerly awaited proceedings on transfers to Kigali of defendants before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will open 24 April, reports Hirondelle Agency.

The first hearing will involve former businessman 73-year-old Yussuf Munyakazi, one of the five accused whom the Prosecutor was requesting to be tried in Rwandan courts.

The suspect was alleged to have directed notorious Interahamwe militia to commit massacres of ethnic Tutsis in his native region of Cyangugu, south-western Rwanda. He has pleaded not guilty.

The chamber will hear the prosecutor and the defence.

The Rwandan government, Bar of Kigali, New-York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association will appear in the case as the "Friends of the Court".

Whatever the outcome, observers believe that the decision of the chamber will inevitably be followed by an appeal. The confirmation or the invalidation of the transfers, vital for the "completion strategy" of the tribunal, will only be known three months before the scheduled end of the first instance trials in Arusha. The motion was filed last September.

The other defendants targeted by transfer requests are Lieutenant Ildephonse Hategekimana; former businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga; the former mayor Jean-Baptist Gatete; and the former inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Fulgence Kayishema. The latter is still at large.

On 7 April, three former top politicians of the then ruling party, MRND, on trial since September 2005 are expected to begin their defence. They are Mathieu Ngirumpatse, Edouard Karemera and Joseph Nzirorera, respectively president, vice-president and secretary-general. The three men have been in custody for ten years. They have pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The trial is expected to continue beyond 31 December 2008, date planned for the end of all first instance trials.

On 14 April, the proceedings will resume in three group trials already at the defence stage. They are the Butare, Government II and Military II trials.

Butare involves six defendants originating from the south of the country, including the only woman detained by the ICTR, the former Minister for Family and Women's Development Pauline Nyiramasuhuko. The trial started in June 2001.

In Government II, four former ministers are involved and in Military II. four officers are involved, including two generals. Government II has been in progress since November 2003 and Military II since September 2004.

The tribunal also plans a visit to Rwanda within the framework of the trial of Simon Bikindi, a renowned musician accused of having incited the genocide through his songs.

It will take place from 14 to April 18.

The judges, until now, have paid six visits in connection with genocide trials to Rwanda.

ICTR Prosecutor Calls For Preventive Justice To Avert Human Tragedies
Hirondelle News Agency
April 1, 2008

Arusha, 8 April 2008 (FH)-The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Hassan Jallow, has called for preventive justice to avert tragedies such as the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which killed about 800,000 people in a span of just 100 days, reports Hirondelle Agency.

"Our experience of Rwanda genocide should spur us all to a more broad based response to such actual, potential tragedies," he said at a ceremony to mark the 14th commemorative anniversary at the ICTR's headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

"Legal responses are absolutely necessary but do not adequately address all concerns. We must supplement it with preventive justice and with restorative justice," he stressed.

The Rwandan slaughter, he said, was now a well established fact of history that has been judicially proven by the tribunal's work. The UN tribunal was established in November 1994 by the UN Security Council to try key suspects of the genocide. Currently eleven trials are underway involving 27 suspects.

Since its establishment, the UN Court has convicted 31 and acquitted five suspects.

The Registrar, Mr Adama Dieng, urged all ICTR staff to pursue their relentless effort for an orderly completion of the tribunal's assignment, which comes to an end for first instance trials by end of this year and for appeals by 2010 as directed by the UN Security Council. "We owe this [orderly completion] to the Rwandan victims. We owe this to the international community," he told the attentive audience.

The UN Court's mandate does not include restitutive justice, however, he said that ICTR has been able to look after the victims" to help them better embrace the future." This includes a clinic built in Kigali to cater for health of victims of the genocide.

"In this commemoration, Rwanda rings a bell; a wake up call for all of us to stand up and fight all causes of genocide," underscored Alloys Mutabingwa, Rwanda government's special representative to the ICTR.

He added:" The commemoration is one way to sound an alarm over the devastation of humankind that may result from deliberate forgetfulness of what happened in Rwanda."

Some people are still denying the genocide, he lamented. "Others to date dare to even blame it on victims or the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) that stopped the perpetrators," he added, apparently referring to the recent indictments of 40 RPF soldiers by a Spanish Judge, Fernando Andreu, and previously nine indictments issued by a French Judge, Jean Louis Bruguiere, for their alleged roles in the 1994 genocide.

The ceremony, organized by the ICTR staff association in collaboration with the Rwandan community in Arusha, was first commemoration ceremony inside the ICTR premises. About 100 people turned up, including two judges. The ICTR has a total workforce of about 1,000 workers, one third of it located in Kigali.

French Court Approves Extradition Of Genocide Suspect To Rwanda
Hirondelle News Agency
April 3, 2008

Paris, 3 April 2008 (FH) -A French court Wednesday endorsed extradition of a former Rwandan businessman, Claver Kamanya, to his country of origin where he is wanted for alleged role in the 1994 genocide.

The Court of Appeal of Chambery gave the unprecedented consent following an international arrest warrant issued by Rwandan authorities against the suspect. The public ministry had endorsed the extradition.

The accused was arrested in Annecy, East of France, on 26 February.

Kamanya's lawyer, Philippe Greciano, however, hinted that he was going to appeal the decision. The extradition decree is signed by the Prime Minister after having exhausted all legal avenues.

The verdict, according to Greciano, goes against French policy, which has decided to try Rwandans in France.

The prosecution of Paris of lately has opened several legal inquiries against Rwandans living in France and allegedly implicated in the 1994 genocide. Among them includes, widow of Juvenal Habyarimana, former Rwandan president assassinated on 6 April 1994.

"The decision to extradite Mr Kamana will delight those who are seeking justice and who think that it is important that an alleged criminal is tried to the nearest possible location of the crimes", said Thursday Alain Gauthier, President of an umbrella of association defending interests of Rwanda genocide victims (CCPR) in an official statement.

Kamanya, born in 1936, has been living in France since 1999. He was processing documents to request for a political asylum in France.

Rwanda abolished the death penalty in February 2007.

Prosecutor Denies Having Endangered A Witness
Hirondelle News Agency
April 4, 2008

Arusha, 4 April 2008 (FH) - The Prosecutor has stated categorically that they have not endangered a protected witness who came to testify in the case of Emmanuel Rukundo, a priest accused of genocide before of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), as was claimed by the defence. The witness was only known by his code name “BLP”.

During its closing arguments in February, defence of Rukundo claimed that the prosecutor, under the pretext of an investigation, had contacted Rwandan authorities and had asked precise details which revealed in a very clear manner the identity of BLP to Kigali authorities.

A witness for the prosecution, BLP later retracted and the defence requested that he be recalled to the stand. The prosecutor then started an investigation against him and it is during the process that the violation was alleged to have been committed.

A decision rendered by the judges and a copy availed to the Hirondelle Agency affirms that the prosecutor did not violate protective measures of the witness by revealing the name of witness BLP to the Prosecutor of Gitarama and Prison Warden in Gitarama in Rwanda, where he was being detained and interviewed.

According to the decision, it would have been different if the prosecutor would have shown these authorities a signed confidential letter addressed by the witness to Rukundo announcing to him his decision to retract. The chamber does not have any evidence that the prosecutor revealed the confidential letter. For this reason, the chamber rejects defence request to impose sanctions on the prosecutor, stated the judges.

The chamber, presided by Sri Lankan Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva also warned Rukundo's lead counsel for an illegal contact that a defence investigator made with BLP.

The trial has been closed and a judgement is waited.

Govt Welcomes ICTR's Seromba Life Sentence
The New Times
Felly Kimenyi
April 8, 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.

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Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)

Offical Website of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme

Crosby MP outlines Britain’s role in war-torn Sierra Leone
Crosby Herald
Gillian Stratton
April 10, 2008

CLAIRE Curtis-Thomas has spoken of her experiences in Sierra Leone in Parliament.

Mrs Curtis-Thomas, who has been very involved in the work of the Waterloo Partnership in the African nation, first visited the country in 2003 with Bridgend MP Win Griffiths, then chairman of the all-party group for Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone had just emerged from civil war and Mrs Curtis-Thomas faced 17 injections to go there.

Speaking in the House of Commons, she said: “The requirement to carry insect repellent everywhere put the tin lid on the suggestion that this was some sort of beano that we were all going on. It was quite a serious undertaking.”

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association funded the visit to the mineral-rich country that had been torn apart by continuous battles for control of the diamond and sapphire mines.

Mrs Curtis Thomas said: “They were fantastic repositories of wealth, but even today, very little of that wealth permeates through to the people of Sierra Leone.

“There are several companies involved, but they play no role in re-investing the benefit that they have taken out of the country.”

Mrs Curtis-Thomas has seen first-hand how grateful the people of Sierra Leone are for the help that has been offered to them by the UK.

She said: “All over Sierra Leone, many children are called Tony Blair. When he went to receive the country’s highest award, he was greeted by a group of children who had been named after him.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, these people realise that we helped them to exit from a horror acknowledged by a war crimes tribunal as one of the worst this world has ever seen.

“Almost 53 per cent of the Sierra Leone government’s budget comes courtesy of us. That is, 53p in every pound paid to a Minister there comes from British taxpayers. That is a staggering commitment.

“I can well hear some people wondering why we are doing that, but the only answer is that people must visit Sierra Leone to find out. If they went, there would be no argument about why that funding was necessary.

“We have been fortunate enough to be allocated, or to agree to support, Sierra Leone in considerable measure. Next door, in the Cote d'Ivoire, there is French support and Liberia has the US, so everyone is bearing a share of the responsibility for supporting vulnerable countries that are either in conflict, post-conflict or now considered to be fragile states.”

Local human rights bodies in Sierra Leone benefit from UN-provided facilities
UN Press Centre
April 10, 2008

10 April 2008 – Local committees tasked with monitoring, investigating and reporting on human rights violations in Sierra Leone will now be able to work out of new resource centres provided by the United Nations mission in the West African country and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The district-level human rights committees were set up by the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL), with financial support from OHCHR, in an effort to strengthen the national systems to protect and promote human rights. The mission also provided them with training on the protection of human rights, rule of law and strengthening democracy.

“Building and strengthening the capacity of human rights civil society organizations is a compelling necessity for the consolidation of peace and respect for human rights in any country emerging from conflict,” the mission stated in a news release issued in the capital, Freetown.

UNIOSIL will formally hand over the resource centres for the committees in Kenema, Bo, Bonthe and Matru Jong on Friday and Saturday.

Under its Programme of Assistance to Sierra Leone, OHCHR will pay the rents for the resource centres for one year, and provide furniture, computers, printers, stabilizers, generators, motorbikes and stationeries. It will also ensure that the centres have enough staff to remain open to the public on a daily basis.

UNIOSIL was set up in 2006 to help the Government consolidate its hard-won peace following a brutal, 11-year conflict, and address a myriad of challenges related to good governance, security, human rights and development.

Sierra Leone ex-combatants make peace with victims
AFP
April 5, 2008

KAILAHUN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Dozens of ex-combatants in Sierra Leone's 10 year civil war gathered Saturday for "healing ceremonies" to make peace with victims of the brutal conflict that left thousands dead.

"Small scale ceremonies have already been held in other parts in the district but today's gatherings are the most massive so far," said Beatrice Allie, one of the coordinators of the project which saw gatherings in various towns in the Kailahun District, some 300 miles east of the capital.

The project uses the traditional justice system to heal the wounds and hatred caused by the conflict in towns such as this one, which bears the same name as the surrounding district.

"The response has been overwhelming and does not have the trappings of modern courts like the UN backed Special Court for Sierra Leone where judges in robes and lawyers and other legal minds presides," Allie told AFP.

"Here, perpetrators are put before village elders, surrounded by a familiar environment where they ask for forgiveness," she added.

Dubbed the community healing ceremony, it was started by a local non-government group, Forum of Conscience.

"The choice of Kailahun District is significant," said the project's director, John Caulker.

"This was where the war began on March 23, 1991 when rebels of the Revolutionary United Front crossed into Sierra Leone from Liberia," he explained.

"It is the first time perpetrators are meeting face-to-face with victims as well as friends and relatives... to apologise for offences they committed during the conflict."

From the dense jungle, where wild grasshoppers and wild deer roam, dozens of men emerged, some with long unkempt beards, some in rumpled faded T-shirts, and looked around hesitantly before coming forward with halting steps to look their victims in the eyes.

Their victims stood listlessly as if daydreaming at first, while a few cried.

Abdul Sowa, a one-time farmer who now uses crutches donated by the local Red Cross, could not hold back tears.

"At last, they (the ex-combatants) have acknowledged their crimes," he said.

Town chief Mansa Musa of Bomaru, where the first shot was heard, was more circumspect.

"Here, we are not talking of who bears the greatest responsibility," he said, referring to those on trial at the Special Court, set up to try those accused of being the main perpetrators of the war.

Here, Musa said, "we are talking of those we know and recognised that they inflicted harm and did injustice to innocent civilians, mainly women and children."

Asked if these ex-combatants have been forgiven, he said: "What else can we do? Many of them are our kith and kin. We have no choice. God knows best."

A 35-year-old woman who was raped by one former combatant pleaded to onlookers: "I have two sons for him. Please forgive him. He has been good to the children, going to the bush to hunt for meat and providing food for all of us since the war ended" in 2002.

"I love him. Please allow him back into the community."

Elders occasionally broke into small smiles and shook their heads in apparent approval.

"Be at peace with every one as from now," the chief of the elders, Sulaiman Deen, told the men, who immediately bowed and left the scene.

According to Caulker, thousands of such "forgiveness ceremonies" are to take place throughout the country over the next five years, with funds provided by a United States-based foundation, Catalyst for Peace.

Sierra Leone: UN raises awareness of laws to curb violence against women
UN Press Centre
March 27, 2008

27 March 2008 – Two United Nations agencies have joined forces with a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in Sierra Leone to heighten awareness of three new gender laws, passed by the West African nation’s Parliament, in a bid to reduce the level of violence and abuse against women.

The UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), together with the Grassroots Empowerment for Self Reliance (GEMS), are running a three-day workshop targeting over 150 men and women in three communities in the capital Freetown.

“I will not change you but will tell you how to change your attitude in your community,” said Orla Fagan of UNIFEM. “My message is not only to the women, but also to all men so that you may respect the rights of women, especially your partners.”

She also noted that women perform the bulk of the housework, yet do not have the equal right as men to inherit property.

“Sierra Leoneans are silent about gender violence and human rights abuse against women, and the workshop aims at encouraging particularly women to speak out against ill-treatment meted on them by men,” GEMS Programme Coordinator Catherine Greywood told participants.

In a related development, the 12th high-level gathering of the heads of UN peace missions in West Africa will be held tomorrow at UNIOSIL Headquarters in Freetown.

Chaired by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa (UNOWA) Lamine Cissé, the meeting will be attended by the Special Representatives of the region: Ellen Margrethe Løj of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL); Y.R. Choi of the UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and Gebremedhin Hagoss, UNIOSIL Officer-In-Charge.

The heads of the missions will address the meeting regarding the security situation and the latest political developments.

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Special Tribunal for Lebanon

In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)

The ticking timebomb: UN tribunal gears up to try Lebanon PM’s killers
The Guardian
By Ian Black
March 27, 2008

Hague court has caused panic among some Syrian officials, say analysts

Nothing special can be seen outside an anonymous modern office block in Leichendamm, a residential suburb of The Hague, though patrolling police vehicles and discreet security cameras are reminders that until recently it was the headquarters of the Dutch secret services.

Behind its shuttered windows preparations are accelerating for a sensational trial that lies at the heart of tensions in the Middle East, and which seems certain to inflame them further: the steel and concrete building is to house the international tribunal that will try those accused of assassinating Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, three years ago in Beirut.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, is expected to announce soon that the tribunal is finally ready to start work. “The aim is to send a political and legal message that criminals will not escape punishment,” he declared. Underlining the quickening pace, Daniel Bellemare, who is leading the UN investigation into the murder, is to submit a report to the security council today.

The controversy over the tribunal will also cast a long shadow over the Arab summit in Syria this weekend.

Eleven Lebanese and foreign judges have already been selected (though their names have not been announced for security reasons). Plans to equip the Leichendamm building with a courtroom and cells are being drawn up. Funds for the first year have been raised and Ban is seeking money for two more years.

The tribunal process is “irreversible”, insists Nicolas Michel, the UN’s chief legal counsel. “We have a prosecutor, we have judges, we have a registrar, we have a budget, we have a building and we have an investigation going on,” he said. “There is no way it can be halted.”

This is not the first time that the Netherlands, promoting The Hague as the legal capital of the world, has agreed to host a high-profile international court. The city already provides the base of the world court, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (where Slobodan Milosevic stood trial), and the international criminal court. To the south is Camp Zeist, home away from home of the Scottish court that tried the two Libyans charged with blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie — a crime with some striking legal and political resonance for the Hariri murder.

The case to be heard at Leichendamm is unprecedented: the result of the security council bypassing Lebanon’s political deadlock to seek the truth behind the killing of Hariri and the 22 others in the massive and meticulously planned bomb attack on his motorcade on Valentine’s Day 2005.

The first UN report on the case, compiled by the German judge Detlev Mehlis, found “probable cause to believe that the decision to assassinate Hariri could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials, and could not have been … organised without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services”. The names of two close aides of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, were mentioned in a draft document.

Four Lebanese generals known for their Syrian sympathies were arrested for conspiracy to murder and remain in detention. Syria has always strenuously denied any involvement in the killings.

Stung by the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon after the “cedar revolution” triggered by Hariri’s killing, Assad sees a not-so-hidden US-led agenda to isolate him. “We have some concerns about the politics of the tribunal,” said a Syrian official, “but we are cooperating fully.”

Lebanon has been paralysed politically since Syria’s allies, led by the Shia organisation Hizbullah, quit the Beirut government when it voted to establish the tribunal: one consequence is that the Lebanese presidency has been vacan