War Crimes Prosecution Watch

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Verdict handed down in the Mirko Pekez and Others case
Court of BiH
April 22, 2008

Court of BiH handed down a verdict finding Mirko (Špire) Pekez, Mirko (Mile) Pekez and Milorad Savic guilty of War Crimes against Civilians. Mirko (Mile) Pekez is sentenced to a long term prison sentence in duration of 29 years, whereas Mirko (Špire) Pekez and Milorad Savic is sentenced to a long term prison sentence in duration of 21 years each.

The Accused were found guilty because, during the state of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), they, together with other people, as organized armed group, on 10 September 1992, following a funeral of a killed member of the Republika Srpska Army, the Accused rounded up the Bosniak civilians located in the settlement of Ljoljici-Cerkazovici, Jajce Municipality, with the intent to take them away and kill them at the location known as "Tisovac".

The Court pronounced the Accused guilty because, while armed with automatic and semi-automatic weapons, they unlawfully arrested and forcibly took Bosniak civilians out of their houses and rounded them up at the location known as "Osoje", then took them all to the location known as "Tisovac". Once they were at that location, the accused together with other people, ordered them to line up next to the edge of an abyss. When they did so, the armed group, opened fire at them, killing 23 and wounding four persons, while one person remained uninjured.

Verdict handed down in the Dušan Fuštar case
Court of BiH
April 22, 2008

Following deliberation and acceptance of the Plea Agreement entered between the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and the accused Dušan Fuštar, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed the Verdict finding Dušan Fuštar guilty of the Crimes against Humanity and sentenced him to 9 (nine) years of imprisonment. The case of Željko Mejakic et al., or the case of Dušan Fuštar, was referred by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to the Court of BiH for further disposition and it is the first such case completed by a plea agreement.

The accused, inter alia, has been found guilty because between late June and 5 August 1992, as a leader of one of the three guard shifts in the Keraterm camp he did not prevent or halt abuses of detainees by his subordinate guards or other visitors. During the referred time period a number of detainees were beaten do death while other detainees were abused by guards and visitors on regular basis.

The accused has also been found guilty because he failed to assert his authority as a shift leader to protect the detainees and to improve their daily living conditions when on duty and to the extent of his ability, and because he contributed to and furthered the system of ill-treatment and persecution during the period he was shift leader.

Lazarevic et al: Appointment of new Defense attorneys
BIRN Justice Report
April 23, 2008

The Prosecution of BiH objects the Court's decision on the appointment of new Defense attorneys.

After the Trial Chamber rendered a decision to appoint additional attorneys to the four indictees, who are charged with crimes committed in Zvornik area, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, filed an objection, explaining that it was "representing the interests of the state" bearing in mind the additional costs which will be incurred by such a decision. The Court will reconsider the Defense’s request. ??Sreten Lazarevic, Dragan Stanojevic, Mile Markovic and Slobodan Ostojic are charged with having participated in causing injuries to Bosniaks detained in the Offence Court building and "Novi izvor" building in Zvornik in 1992 and 1993. At the beginning of the trial, the Court of BiH appointed one Defense attorney for each indictee. After that, the Defense filed a request for the appointment of additional attorneys due to the "complexity of the case." After the Trial Chamber approved the Defense’s request, the Prosecution of BiH filed an objection.

The Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH has now ordered that the decision is reconsidered. "I must stress that the Prosecution of BiH protects the interests of this country and it is in our interest to ensure that this process is cost-efficient. I remind the Defense that it can get help from the Criminal Defense Section, whose resources it can use. We consider that the absence of Defense attorneys at some hearings due to their obligations related to other cases are subjective and not objective reasons," said Prosecutor Bozidarka Dodik.

This is the first time the Prosecution of BiH has filed an objection with the Court of BiH against a decision on the appointment of additional Defense attorneys. "We consider that the stand of this Chamber was in the best interest of justice. I must stress that the Defense will never be in the same position as the Prosecution. I can only say that the aim of this objection is to weaken the Defense, which is already weak. Expecting one attorney to perform all works is pretentious," said Miodrag Stojanovic, Defense attorney for indictee Ostojic. The Court will announce its decision concerning the objection at a later stage.

Mejakic et al: Another hearing closed to the public
BIRN Justice Report
April 23, 2008

The public was excluded during the discussion on protection measures for additional Prosecution witnesses.

The continuation of the trial of the three indictees, who are charged with crimes committed in Omarska and Keraterm detention camps, was closed to the public in order to protect the identity of additional Prosecution witnesses, who will be examined in the coming days, after the Defense of the third indictee completed presenting evidence. "We are all in agreement to conduct a discussion on the Prosecution's proposal concerning the replica evidence and protection measures for additional witnesses at a closed session," said Trial Chamber Chairman Saban Maksumic.

The Prosecution of BiH charges Zeljko Mejakic, Momcilo Gruban and Dusko Knezevic with the murder, rape, beating and forcible detention of Bosniaks and Croats in Omarska and Keraterm detention camps in 1992. Originally the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, charged Dusan Fustar with those crimes as well. In April 2008 Fustar admitted guilt and signed an agreement with the Prosecution. The Court of BiH then sentenced him to nine years imprisonment. In 2006 Mejakic, Gruban, Knezevic and Fustar were transferred from The Hague to Sarajevo for further processing by local judicial institutions. The trial began in February 2007. The trial is due to continue on Thursday, April 24, when Knezevic's Defense will continue presenting its evidence.

Indictment confirmed in the Predrag Bastah and Others case
Court of BiH
April 24, 2008

On 23 April 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) confirmed the Indictment against Predrag Bastah, Veljko Bašic and Goran Viškovic who have been charged with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity.

As alleged in the Indictment, the Accused Predrag Bastah, Goran Viškovic and Veljko Bašic, in the period from April until the end of September 1992, took part in a systematic attack directed against the non-Serb population of the Vlasenica Municipality. The Accused allegedly took part in the arrest, capture and detention of Bosniak civilians in the camp "Sušica". As the Indictment alleges among other things, on 23 April 1992 the Accused Predrag Bastah, as a member of the Reserve Police Force Vlasenica, in the immediate vicinity of the catering establishment "Lipa" in Vlasenica, together with another Serb soldier, ordered a civilian to drive to the Police Station in Vlasenica. Later on, together with three other Serb soldiers the Accused Bastah allegedly beat him all over his body causing severe physical injuries. Furthermore, as alleged in the Indictment, on 31 May 1992 the Accused Bastah took part in the unlawful detention of two Bosniak civilians in the Police Station Vlasenica, where they were allegedly tortured. As the Indictment further alleges, as a member of the Army of Republika Srpska and together with a few unidentified persons in uniforms, the Accused Viškovic beat a Bosniak civilian repeatedly in May 1992 at the Police Station Vlasenica. Later on, this civilian was allegedly locked in the cell for 7 days and then transferred to the camp "Sušica" wherefrom he disappeared without a trace. In June 1992, the accused Goran Viškovic and Predrag Bastah allegedly took to the "Sušica" camp a civilian, who was then taken away wherefrom he disappeared without a trace. Further, as alleged in the Indictment, in June 1992 the Accused Viškovic raped one female person in the presence of three guards.

In his capacity as the warden of the "Sušica" camp, the Accused Veljko Bašic is charged for failing to take any action to punish the perpetrators, prevent the killing and forced disappearance of prisoners from the "Sušica" camp. The Accused Bašic allegedly took part in the transfer of hundreds of detainees to the "Batkovic" camp near Bijeljina and in the forced displacement of women and children captives to Kladanj or Cerska.

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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)

Opposition Renews Call for Speedy Tribunal
VOA Khmer Source
By Mean Veasna
April 17, 2008

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy pushed for quicker trials of jailed Khmer Rouge leaders under a hybrid tribunal, as he marked the 33rd anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh Thursday. "We must realize the trial of former Khmer Rouge as soon as possible," Sam Rainsy said at a Buddhist ceremony to mark the day at Choeung Ek, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. "We must not hang around."

To commemorate the day when the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh and began emptying Cambodia’s cities, monks chanted before a stupa of skulls, the remains of only some of the nearly 2 million who died under the disastrous policies of the regime. Sam Rainsy said he was concerned that the five leaders now in custody—Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Kaing Kek Iev—might die of "natural causes" before they see trial.

"There is no reason there has been no trial until now," Sam Rainsy said. "I would like to call, on the behalf of 14 million Cambodians, on the international community not to drag on" the trial. "The former Khmer Rouge leaders must be judged as soon as possible for the sake of justice for the victims," he said.

Nearly 1,000 people joined Thursday’s ceremony, most of them victims somehow of the Khmer Rouge who said they feel impatient waiting for justice.

"Seven members of my family were killed," said Men Thol, a former prisoner of Khmer Rouge cadre in Kandal province. "I was imprisoned for a year with my feet cuffed. I came here for the first time [today] to demand a speedy trial."

After a bumpy start, the tribunal enacted the arrests of the five leaders in late 2007, and officials say they expect initial hearings in the first half of this year, nearly 30 years after the ousting of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese forces.

You Bunleng, Cambodia’s investigating judge, said the tribunal wants to act quickly, "faster than Sam Rainsy has urged."

However, she said, "the court has a full process to ensure complete justice and to ensure an international standard."

Khmer Rouge leader seeks bail
Aljazeera.net
April 23, 2008

The former head of state of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge government has appeared at United Nations-backed tribunal to appeal for release from his pre-trial detention.

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan, 76, with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed when the communist Khmer Rouge held power between 1975 and 1979.

Wednesday's hearing in a special court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh was closed to reporters and members of the public at the request of prosecutors.

Khieu Samphan, detained by the tribunal since November 19 last year, is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders in custody awaiting trial.

Up to two million Cambodians are thought to have died or starvation or execution during the Khmer Rouge's brutal four-year rule.

The group's leader, Pol Pot, known as Brother Number One, died in his jungle hide-out in 1998 without ever being brought to justice.

Duch, the former boss of the notorious Tuol Sleng detention centre, and Iengy Sary, Pol Pot's deputy, are both awaiting trial and have both had appeals for bail rejected.

The tribunal is expected to hold its first trial later this year.

Appearing in court on Wednesday Khieu Samphan said he had lived a very simple life since deserting Cambodia's once notorious regime 10 years ago.

"I've had no job since leaving the jungle. I have only my wife, who struggles to feed me and my family," he told the judges.

In its detention order, the tribunal alleged that Khieu Samphan "aided and abetted'' Khmer Rouge government policies that it said were "characterised by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts".

Khieu Samphan, in various public statements made before he was arrested, has blamed Pol Pot for the group's policies saying he had no real power in the Khmer Rouge.

Among the legal team representing Khieu Samphan is Jacques Verges, a French lawyer who has earned notoriety for representing accused terrorists, serial killers and a former Nazi officer accused of World War II atrocities.

His former clients include notorious hijacker Carlos the Jackal; Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav President; and Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.

Verges, who is 83, has known Khieu Samphan since they were both active in left-wing student activities in Paris in the 1950s.

He is expected to use a more aggressive approach than other lawyers at the tribunal have so far employed.

Say Bory, Khieu Samphan's Cambodian lawyer, said on Tuesday that the tribunal's decision to hold the hearing behind closed doors was "regrettable" because his client "desired to speak for the public to hear him".

Khieu Samphan himself has never denied the bloodshed suffered by the Cambodian people.

But in an interview in 2003, he urged Cambodians to let go of the past, saying: "We have much more problems to resolve at present and in the future, and we have to forget the past."

French lawyer for Khmer Rouge challenges Cambodia Court
Associated Press via Google News
By Ker Munthit
April 24, 2008

A French lawyer known for his provocative style and infamous clients has taken center stage at the tribunal for Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge leaders, challenging the judges and adding to the woes of an already troubled court.

The aggressive stance taken by Jacques Verges at an appeal by former Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan for release from pretrial detention augurs possible new hurdles for the tribunal, plagued over the past few years by political wrangling, corruption scandals and inadequate financing.

Conflict within the defense team surfaced Thursday when Khieu Samphan's other lawyer, Cambodian Say Bory, urged the Frenchman to tone down his aggressive style. "If he doesn't, it could be the end for him ... and then what would happen to the case?" Say Bory said. "I want this to move forward."

The long-delayed U.N.-assisted tribunal seeks justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died from starvation, disease, overwork and execution as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical attempt to build a classless society when it held power in 1975-79. Khieu Samphan has denied responsibility for the atrocities.

But the spotlight in a pretrial hearing Wednesday was on the 83-year-old Verges, who triggered a delay with an outburst over the court's failure to translate thousands of pages of documents into French, one of the tribunal's three official languages, along with Khmer and English. Verges is every bit as controversial as the people he defends, going back five decades to Algerian freedom fighters accused of terrorism. He was the subject of a feature-length documentary film last year, "Terror's Advocate."

His past clients include Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie and French collaborators, Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal, various Palestinian hijackers, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

He has also looked after the interests of Saddam Hussein and several brutal African dictators, but has represented some true underdogs as well, mainly working-class citizens from France's ethnic minority communities.

Verges was born in northeastern Thailand to a French diplomat and a Vietnamese mother, a union said to have hurt his father's career. He has suggested his ethnic background has made him sympathetic to underdogs and outcasts.

Verges has said he likes to employ what he calls a "rupture" strategy, questioning the legitimacy of the court and accusing it of being a tool of injustice. Verges and Khieu Samphan, 76, have said they have known each other since they both were active in left-wing student activities in Paris in the 1950s.

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes, detaining him since last November.

Wednesday's closed-door hearing on Khieu Samphan's appeal was abruptly adjourned when Verges refused to continue.

"There is not one page of the case file against Mr. Khieu Samphan translated into French," Verges explained to reporters. "I should be capable of knowing what my client is blamed for." The judges suggested Khieu Samphan might want to appoint a new lawyer to represent him — and then adjourned the hearing.

"I have been a lawyer for 50 years, it is the first time I have seen judges ask an accused to change his lawyer. This is a scandal!" Verges said. "This never happens except in dictatorships!" The tribunal's judges said in a statement late Wednesday that they will "issue a warning" to Verges for courtroom behavior causing the hearing's postponement.

One of the Cambodian prosecutors, Chea Leang, acknowledged that the tribunal is facing difficulty translating documents for all its cases into its three official languages.

But she said Verges' refusal to participate in the hearing was "unreasonable" because the proceedings were not part of the actual trial.

The long-delayed tribunal is expected to hold its first trial later this year. Four other former senior Khmer Rouge are being held for trial.

Khieu Samphan has blamed the late Khmer Rouge chief Pol Pot for the group's policies.

Cambodian genocide tribunal denies financial mismanagement
AFP via Google News
April 25, 2008

UN officials Friday denied allegations of financial mismanagement at Cambodia's genocide tribunal after ordering a review of the cash-strapped court in a bid to restore confidence among foreign donors.

International backers have appeared hesitant to pledge more money to the UN-backed court, which was set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, amid allegations of mismanagement and political interference.

"Through the various audits that have been conducted to date, there has never been any issue with regard to the management of the (tribunal)'s financial resources," said Jo Scheuer, country director of the UN development programme, which now oversees the finances of the Cambodian side of the court.

"All of their financial transactions have passed audit scrutiny," said Scheuer, who is also a member of the tribunal's project board.

Last year, the New York-based Open Justice Society Initiative alleged that Cambodian tribunal staff, including judges, had bought their jobs.

Tribunal administrative director Sean Visoth said the allegations were "unspecific, unsourced and unsubstantiated."

"There is no government policy to take kickbacks from staff," he said, but added no one could guarantee a system was 100 percent corruption-free.

"With the results of the special review we are sharing with you today we can finally close this chapter and move on to continue the very positive achievement the (court) has made in discharging its historic mandate," Visoth said.

The officials made the comments during a press conference to release an independent special human resources management review of the tribunal.

The review stated "there were no recent allegations of mismanagement" in the tribunal and found staff on the Cambodian side were "robust and ready to take on the challenges of the next phase of operation."

Scheuer said the review was important "to restore donors' confidence" and address all the allegations. He said the Cambodian side had sufficient funds until September.

Visiting French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade announced Friday that France will donate another million dollars to the tribunal.

"Human rights should not just be words," she told reporters here.

The court said Thursday it hoped the trial of former Khmer Rouge jailer Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, "could commence at the beginning of the last quarter of 2008."

Originally budgeted at 56.3 million dollars over three years, the tribunal, which opened in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and Cambodia, has significantly raised its cost estimates to 170 million dollars.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodian society in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during its 1975-1979 rule.

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Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

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

Plane carrying Darfur war crimes suspect forced to make emergency landing
Sudan Tribune
April 21, 2008

(KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese government minister wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) escaped death as a plane he was boarding almost crashed during severe thunderstorms. The state minister for humanitarian affairs, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun was on a plane returning from the Southern city of Malakal in the Upper Nile state. The ICC suspect was accompanied by Philip Ton, minister of transportation and Haroun Lawal minister of humanitarian affairs. The delegation also included senior military figures such as the head of the army engineering unit and the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) representative in the Joint Integrated Units (JIU).

The pro-government Akhir-Lahza said that the weather quickly deteriorated minutes after the plane took off from Malakal airport. The newspaper said the pilot "barely maneuvered through the thunderstorm causing all the passengers to hold their breath".

As the plane approached Khartoum it was forced to divert to another airport in central Sudan’s Al-Obeid region after a sandstorm hit the Sudanese capital. The control tower in Khartoum airport authorized the plane to return after the weather improved half an hour later. Haroun was part of a delegation observing the process of demining the road between the cities of Malakal, Bor and Juba.

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 and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects. 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.

Justice for Darfur Campaign Launched
Human Rights Watch
April 25, 2008

(The Hague) – One year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two war crimes suspects in Darfur, human rights organizations around the world are launching a "Justice for Darfur" campaign, calling for the two to be arrested.

The organizations behind the campaign, including Amnesty International, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, and Sudan Organization Against Torture, have joined forces to call on the United Nations Security Council, regional organizations and individual governments to press Sudan to cooperate with the ICC.

The ICC has been investigating crimes in the region following a decision three years ago by the UN Security Council to refer to it the situation in Darfur. One year ago – on April 27, 2007 – the ICC issued two arrest warrants against Sudan’s former State Minister of the Interior Ahmad Harun and "Janjaweed" leader Ali Kushayb for 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today the two men – who face charges of persecution, rape, and killing of civilians in four West Darfur villages – remain at large.

"The thousands of people who suffered murder, rape and persecution in Darfur deserve justice," said Dismas Nkunda, co-chair of the Darfur Consortium, a group of African and Middle Eastern nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). "Instead, all they have had is disdain from their own government, and empty words from the international community. It is time for that to change."

The Sudanese government has publicly and repeatedly refused to surrender either Kushayb or Harun to the court. Instead, Harun has been promoted to state minister for humanitarian affairs, responsible for the welfare of the very victims of his alleged crimes. As well as having considerable power over humanitarian operations, he is responsible for liaising with the international peacekeeping force (UNAMID) tasked with protecting civilians against such crimes. The other suspect, Ali Kushayb, was in custody in Sudan on other charges at the time the ICC warrants were issued, but in October 2007 the government announced he had been released, reportedly due to "lack of evidence."

"The Sudanese government has shown blatant disregard both for the authority of the Security Council and for the victims of their brutality," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "So far, Sudan has faced no consequences for this brazen snubbing of the court and the council".

The members of "Justice for Darfur" are urging the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling on Sudan to cooperate fully with the ICC and immediately arrest Harun and Kushayb and surrender them to the court.

"Now is the time for the Security Council to act to ensure that the men are arrested and surrendered to the ICC without further delay, as a first step towards ending impunity for the vast scale of horrific crimes committed in Darfur," said Christopher Hall, senior legal adviser for Amnesty International’s International Justice Project.

The "Justice for Darfur" campaign organizers called on states and regional organizations – including the European Union, a strong supporter of the ICC and a key player in bringing the Darfur crimes to the ICC prosecutor – to press Sudan to cooperate with the ICC and comply with the warrants.

"Through the ‘Justice for Darfur’ campaign, organizations will work together to generate as much pressure as possible on the international community to follow through on its commitment to justice for the victims of these crimes," said Moataz El Fegiery, executive director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

Global court could indict more over Sudan's Darfur
Reuters
By Emma Thomasson
April 27, 2008

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned Sudan on Saturday he will move against more officials soon if Khartoum fails to arrest suspects he has sought for a year over crimes in Darfur.

Luis Moreno Ocampo told Reuters in an interview he planned to present evidence against new suspects to ICC judges before the end of the year if Khartoum does not hand over two suspects by the time he reports to the U.N. Security Council on June 5.

Judges at the ICC, set up in 2002 in The Hague as the world's first permanent court to try individuals for war crimes, issued arrest warrants for two Sudanese suspects on April 27 last year, but Khartoum has refused to hand them over.

The wanted men are Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.

They are suspected of inciting murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villagers in Darfur. Haroun has since been made state minister of humanitarian affairs.

"They have 2.5 million people displaced in camps, full of fear and they put Haroun in charge of them. Imagine that your rapist is your teacher. It is another way to keep them under attack," Moreno-Ocampo said in a telephone interview.

"Each morning I wake up and I think about those people," he said. "The question is who put him (Haroun) there. Whose instructions is he following? The lack of arrest is interesting evidence for us ... Who promised immunity?"

More than 2 million Darfuris have fled their homes since a revolt in 2003 by mostly non-Arab rebels which government forces and allied militias have tried to crush in a conflict that international experts say has claimed as many as 300,000 lives.

FASCINATING NOT FRUSTRATING

Asked how many new suspects he might name, Moreno-Ocampo said it would depend on the evidence, noting his other cases involved up to five people: "We are trying to define who is the most responsible for the current situation."

His office is also investigating alleged rebel attacks against peacekeepers, but said that could take longer to come to court because it was harder to establish who was in command.

The Security Council asked the ICC to investigate the situation in Darfur in early 2005 in what was seen as a major victory for the new court given that the United States was hostile to its work but refrained from vetoing the referral.

On Friday, a group of human rights organisations launched a "Justice for Darfur" campaign, calling on the Security Council, regional organisations and individual governments to demand that Sudan cooperate with the court and arrest the two suspects.

"The Sudanese government has shown blatant disregard both for the authority of the Security Council and for the victims of their brutality," said Richard Dicker from Human Rights Watch. "So far, Sudan has faced no consequences for this brazen snubbing of the court and the council".

Along with Darfur, the court is also investigating war crimes in Uganda, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, it has three people in custody, all Congolese militia leaders, and its first trial should start soon.

Moreno-Ocampo rejected suggestions the court was moving too slowly in the Darfur inquiry and other cases and said his experience as a prosecutor of Argentina's military dictatorship taught him to be optimistic that the powerful will face justice.

"Things change. People in power lose power," he said. "We can wait but people in the camps cannot wait for a solution."

"It's not frustrating. It's fascinating. We have transformed an idea into an operational institution in five years," he said. "We are changing the way the world deals with violence."

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Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

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

Setting-up of listening clubs in Ituri (DRC)
International Criminal Court Press Release
April 16, 2008

From 28 March to 4 April, a delegation from the International Criminal Court went to Ituri, and successively visited the town of Njurara and the villages of Gotchana in the chiefdom of Dukotht and Akojkani in the chiefdom of Anghal to educate the various communities on the activities of the Court and the evolution of cases. The reception and readiness of the population were very positive. Close to 1200 persons attended these sessions.

The team also gave out radio sets and mini-recorders to the listening clubs recently set up in Bogoro, Mambasa, Kasenyi, Aru, Ariwara, Mahagi and Bunia. This equipment will enable the village communities to listen to radio broadcasts and news on the Court and to react by sending back their taped questions and concerns on cassettes or other media.

Organized around local radios, the listening clubs bring together a representative number of village communities to listen to radio broadcasts on the ICC. The membership in each club varies from 50 to 100, depending on the village. 27 clubs have already been set up in Ituri and this figure will rise steadily.

In Mahagi, for example, 3 listening clubs were set up and are linked to Radio Colombe, the only radio station which broadcasts to this territory and which has experimented with listening clubs for many years.

In the entire region, programs on the Court are currently broadcast by community radios and the first interactive programs will be aired at the end of April. These programs are broadcast in French and in the local languages.

New registrar of International Criminal Court vows to strive to protect witnesses
UN News Centre
April 17, 2008

Protecting witnesses will be a major challenge for the International Criminal Court as the tribunal prepares to conduct its first trial this year, the incoming ICC registrar said today.

Silvana Arbia, who was sworn in as registrar at a ceremony today at the ICC seat in The Hague, said her office would "dedicate its energy to the first trial" – that of the former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

Mr. Lubanga Dyilo faces war crimes charges, including that he recruited children to serve as soldiers in the armed wing of his militia, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), which fought with Government forces in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002-03.

Ms. Arbia described the trial, set to begin in June, as "the final and most visible result of the joint effort of all the organs of the court… One major challenge will continue to be the protection of witnesses. The systems we put in place have to be efficient and sustainable."

She added that the "first trial shall strive to be a model for national jurisdictions and also a positive benchmark for regions and States which have not yet accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC."

The ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern – namely genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is currently investigating cases in the DRC, Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Darfur region of Sudan.

The registry is responsible for the overall administration and management of the tribunal and must ensure that witnesses are protected and that the rights of all accused are respected.

Outreach on International Criminal Court for teachers in Aru, DRC
International Criminal Court Press Release
April 18, 2008

The Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held a panel discussion on "The ICC, its role and activities in the world" at Adja-Lemi Secondary School in Aru. The ICC delegation addressed an audience of mainly primary and secondary school teachers. This meeting was one of a number of activities intended to provide teachers with accurate information on the Court, to foster greater understanding of how the Court operates and thereby prepare the ground for mass outreach to pupils.

The issues addressed included general information on the Court, as well as the two ongoing cases. At the end of the presentation, the audience wanted to know whether other Ituri militia leaders would be prosecuted. Questions were also asked about victim participation and the Trust Fund for Victims.

The session ended in a unanimous commitment to pass on the information about the Court to pupils and parents at school meetings. A total of 112 teachers attended the meeting, including 17 women.

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Uganda (ICC)

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

Uganda: Optimism Prevails, Despite Setback in Peace Talks
IRIN
April 18, 2008

KAMPALA - Josephine Akello had hoped the peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) would finally end with rebel leader Joseph Kony signing a peace accord on 10 April. Then she heard that the elusive Kony had failed to show up at a much-publicised signing ceremony due in Ri-Kwangba, near the border between Southern Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "We all waited anxiously and hopefully that at last Kony will sign, but what came out gives me a lot of fear," she told IRIN from Unyama near Gulu.

Violence, she added, could resume in northern Uganda, where thousands have been killed, almost two million displaced from their homes and an estimated 25,000 children abducted in more than two decades of war between government troops and the rebels.

Ugandan officials, diplomats, observers and reporters spent a day in the bush waiting for Kony, only to be told the rebel leader wanted some more clarifications before he could sign. "He said he is still committed to the peace process," the talks' mediator and Southern Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar told reporters in the capital, Juba. Machar had spent some time trying to contact Kony, but failed.

In the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the head of the government delegation tried to put a positive spin on the latest setback in talks that have lasted two years and cost millions of dollars. "Government is committed to a negotiated settlement of the conflict and continued peace in northern Uganda," Ruhakana Rugunda, who is also Internal Affairs Minister, told IRIN. "Kony should come and take advantage of this gesture." The government, he added, was waiting for a report from the mediators, who were still trying to establish contact with Kony before deciding the way forward. But days earlier, President Yoweri Museveni had hinted that his military could resume hostilities against the LRA. "Kony is the one now to blame for the failure to end hostilities as scheduled; he has once again told the whole world that he is not interested in peace," he said on a visit to Juba on 14 April.

ICC charges Diplomats in Juba say Kony is scared he will be arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he would face charges of crimes against humanity, rape and war crimes. "He wants reassurances that he would be safe," one diplomat said.

The court prepared indictments in 2005 against five LRA leaders, at the request of the Ugandan government. However, the government has since backtracked, saying the rebel leaders can be subjected to traditional justice instead. The ICC insists the charges stand.

"We can save him because we are the ones who sought assistance from the ICC," Museveni told reporters in London recently. "Because he was not under our jurisdiction, we sought assistance from the ICC. If he signs the peace agreement and returns to our jurisdiction, it becomes our responsibility, not any other party's, including the ICC." Locals in northern Uganda, who have enjoyed relative peace since the talks began, say they would forgive the rebel leader. They largely believe the ICC indictments should be lifted so he can come home.

"The ICC was the impediment to the final agreement," Odoki Lamaka, commandant of Unyama camp for internally displaced persons in Gulu, said. "It is now the ICC that is between us and peace." Herron Okello agreed: "We have been ready and we are still ready to forgive any wrongdoing against us but it seems the ICC is spoiling the party. We hear that Kony refused to sign because he fears the ICC."

Relative peace?

Humanitarian workers hope the situation in northern Uganda continues to be relatively peaceful. "The failure to sign the agreement has had no immediate negative impact on what we are doing. We hope that this continues because it is good for the people of northern Uganda," Kirsten Knutson, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in Kampala, said.

"The LRA has not been active in the region and we do not have any indication of a situation that could force us to prepare for the worst-case scenario," she added. In a March situation report, however, OCHA noted incidents during the movement of LRA men from the DRC to the Central African Republic (CAR). The first was a raid on the village of Ezo between the DRC, CAR and Sudan on 16-17 March, in which the rebels reportedly abducted 20 people. The second involved looting at Nabiapai, 21km south of Yambio, on 22 March.

LRA Escapees Speak Out - ICC Express Concern
The Monitor (Kampala) via AllAfrica.com
By Frank Nyakairu
April 22, 2008

Former captives of the Lords Resistance Army have said the rebels are increasing their numbers through abductions and military training in DR Congo's Garamba forest.

Other intelligence reports estimate that from a spree of abductions in DR Congo, Sudan and Central African Republic, the LRA has kidnapped over 500 youths in the last three months, who are currently being subjected to military training.

A UN report obtained by Daily Monitor includes accounts of abductees who have, at separate times spoken of mass abductions and re-organisation in the LRA ranks.

Two former abductees escaped from their captivity on the night of April 1, 2008 and arrived at Dungu (DRC) on April 7.

They reported that the "LRA strength is 1,200 with almost half being new abductees. They lived in two main bases in Garamba Park. They were taken to the two camps where they were to undergo military training which had just started before they escaped on day four."

The report also quotes a Congolese administrator it did not name, who said; "A local of Duru (90 km South of Garamba) was kidnapped at Bitima (120km South of Garamba) by LRA fighters and taken to a base in Garamba Park forest where he joined others who were undergoing military drills.

" Other people who were reportedly attending the same training included Congolese, Sudanese and Central Africans (CAR) residents. "He also reported that the training was being conducted in another language," the report said.

The reports said the LRA moved "to and from CAR in two groups of about 300- 500 people each together with families and that they all arrived back at their Garamba bases on March, 19 and 31, 2008 respectively where they rejoined rebels who had been left behind. It was estimated that the number of captives equals the number of LRA fighters."

Following the abductions, the International Criminal Court has expressed concern and called for their release. The statement issued by the ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo added: "These are worrying developments and provide additional urgency to executing the warrants of arrest."

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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

UN war crimes trial of former Serb security chiefs postponed again
International Herald Tribune
April 14, 2008

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A U.N. court on Monday delayed for the fourth time the trial of two former Serb security chiefs charged with training, arming and directing notorious paramilitary units who fought in Croatia and Bosnia.

One of the defendants, Jovica Stanisic, is suffering severe depression and kidney stones, and doctors say he is too ill to attend his trial at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.

Stanisic and Franko Simatovic face five counts of murder, persecution, forced deportations and inhuman acts during the 1991-95 Balkan wars. They have both pleaded not guilty and face life sentences if convicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.

According to the indictment, they set up paramilitary units such as Arkan's Tigers and the Scorpions who rampaged through villages in Croatia and Bosnia, driving out or murdering non-Serbs.

Tribunal judges last week ordered a video link to be set up so Stanisic could follow the trial from the court's detention unit. However, the link was not ready Monday when prosecutors were due to present their opening statement, and court officials told judges it is unlikely to be ready until April 28.

Presiding Judge Patrick Robinson said the trial could not start without Stanisic being able to participate either by being in court or following proceedings on a two-way video link.

Robinson sounded frustrated by the fourth delay at the court, which is under pressure from the U.N. Security Council to complete all its cases by 2010.

"This is not the first time we have been met with a disruption of the proceedings on account of the illness of the accused," Robinson said.

No new date has was set for the trial to begin. It appears unlikely to start on April 28 since that date is Easter Monday for members of the Serb Orthodox church.

INTERVIEW-Croatia must be tougher on war crimes – Amnesty
Reuters
David Brunnstrom
April 15, 2008

BRUSSELS - The European Union should demand that candidate country Croatia do more to prosecute war crimes against ethnic Serbs before it can join the bloc, the head of rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Irene Khan also said the 27-nation EU should stick to its insistence that Serbia fully cooperate with the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia before it signs an agreement that is a first step towards EU membership.

Khan told Reuters after a visit to Croatia that while some progress had been made in prosecuting war crimes, a clear bias remained against Serb victims and in favour of Croatian accused.

"That bias has to be removed," she said. "The European Union has an obligation to ensure that Croatia tackles its justice system and ensures impartial justice to all victims of war crimes there prior to acceding to the European Union."

"There is a risk of course that in the political negotiations, political concerns will supersede issues of justice for past war crimes," she said after presenting a film about war crimes in Croatia at the European Parliament.

"But from Amnesty International's perspective and our experience around the world we know that when issues like this are pushed under the carpet they create problems in the future."

Croatian nationalists ruling until 2000 did little to investigate war crimes against Serbs. Since reformists came to power in 2000 and there have been a number of Croats sentenced, including some high profile cases.

Leading Croatian general Ante Gotovina went on trial in the Hague last month charged with orchestrating a campaign of murder and plunder to drive up to 200,000 Serbs from the Krajina region in Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war.

The EU sees membership for all Western Balkans nations as vital to ensuring stability on its southeastern borders.

Member states have been debating whether to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia ahead of elections there in May, despite Serbia's failure to hand over war crimes suspects Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic to the U.N. tribunal in the Hague.

Khan said the EU should stick to its condition that Serbia cooperate fully with the tribunal: "Amnesty certainly believes it is something on which the European Union should insist."

The European Union has called on Zagreb to do more on minority rights as part of its EU accession process.

It had said Croatia should be able to conclude talks in 2009 to become the next country to join the bloc -- provided it meets all EU benchmarks -- including judicial reform -- by June.

Just over a quarter of Krajina's original ethnic Serb population have returned and most who have not blame poverty, a lack of jobs and discrimination. (Editing by Stephen Weeks)

Serbia: New UN war crimes prosecutor urges arrest of fugitives
International Herald Tribune
April 17, 2008

BELGRADE, Serbia: The new chief U.N. prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal said Thursday his office may appeal the acquittal of ex-Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and again called for the arrest of the most wanted Serb fugitives.

Serge Brammertz's visit to Belgrade was his first since taking over from Carla Del Ponte this year.

Serbian officials have been angered over the tribunal's acquittal last month of Haradinaj, a rebel leader who was cleared of all charges of killing Serbs during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a nationalist and longtime critic of the U.N. court, called the ruling anti-Serb and questioned the court's legality.

"Serbia has the right to demand that the legitimacy of the Hague court be determined," Kostunica said in a statement after meeting Brammertz.

Brammertz said the prosecution office is considering appealing the Haradinaj acquittal.

"My office is not satisfied with the ruling," he said. "The office is now studying the 300- page judgment in order to make an assessment on the possible grounds to appeal."

"My office was unable to present all evidence to the court because some witnesses failed to appear," Brammertz added.

The tribunal's judges cited "vague, inconclusive or nonexistent" evidence as the reason for the acquittal. But they also acknowledged that many witnesses were too afraid to testify, even when the court indicted them for contempt.

Serbia's pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, said after meeting Brammertz "the Serbian public is unhappy with the ruling," and urged the prosecution to launch an appeal.

Brammertz also said that he urged Serbian officials to do more to arrest Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic and two other most wanted war crimes fugitives still sought by the tribunal.

"I insisted on the search and the arrest of the four remaining fugitives," Brammertz said after meeting Serbian officials in charge of cooperation with the Netherlands-based court. "It is crucial that they face justice as soon as possible."

Serbia has long been under pressure to arrest and transfer former Bosnian Serb army commander Gen. Mladic and his wartime political leader Karadzic to the U.N. court for prosecution on genocide charges. The two allegedly orchestrated the 1995 murder of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Serbia officials have warned Haradinaj's acquittal will lead to tensions in Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in February, and diminish chances that top fugitives such as Mladic and Karadzic will be arrested any time soon.

The two other suspects still on the run are Stojan Zupljanin, a wartime Bosnian Serb police officer, and Goran Hadzic, a political leader wanted for war crimes in Croatia.

US Officers 'to Defend' Croatia Generals
BalkanInsight.com
April 17, 2008

Zagreb _ The United States Defense Ministry has allowed its officers to testify at the war crimes trial of a Croatian general.

Local media reported it was the first time that U.S. officials were permitted to testify in the defence of a war crimes suspect in The Hague.

Zagreb's Hrvatski list newspaper reports Richard Herrick, John Sadler and Ivan Sarac were granted permission to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, as defence witnesses in the case against Croatian General Ante Gotovina, charged with committing war crimes against local Serb civilians during and after the 1995 Operation Storm.

During Operation Storm, Gotovina was the chief commander of Croatian forces in the Krajina's Sector South, which covered the towns of Benkovac, Gracac, Knin, Obrovac, Sibenik, Sinj and Zadar.

The three Americans are said to have been the U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Croatia during the 1991-1995 Balkan war.

Hrvatski list speculates that the testimonies of the U.S. officials could lead to a twist in the case against Gotovina and two other generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, who stand at a joint trial. The newspaper charged that so far the Tribunal's Prosecution "has ignored evidence which were in favour of the generals' defence and have, according to the newspaper, challenged the main points of the indictment against them."

Earlier in the trial, a United Nations' official testified he witnessed looting, arson, and destruction, and saw bodies of civilians killed during the Operation.

Edward Flynn, the head of the then UN Human Rights Action Team, HRAT, said in his report from August 13, 1995, which he read before the Trial Chamber, that "it would be fair to say that Krajina is on fire."

Croatian Serbs, helped by the then Belgrade regime and the former Yugoslav army, took control of some 25 per cent of Croatia’s territory and held it until Operation Storm began on August 4, 1995.

The centre of the rebellion was the Krajina town of Knin, where Serbs made a pre-war majority.

During and after Storm, up to 800 Serb civilians were killed and some 200,000 fled to Serbia before the advancing Croatian army.

Flynn, who now serves as a high-ranking official on the UN Security Council’s Anti-Terrorism Committee, told the trial that Cermak was regularly informed by HRAT about what its patrols had found, and that if he had wanted to, he could have easily seen for himself what was going on in the territory under his command.

Cermak, who was the Knin military governor at the time, replied that “he couldn’t deny there is serious anarchy in the sector,” adding that the authorities were taking appropriate measures.

UN panel reduces Bosnian Muslims' sentences
ABC News
Mike Corder
April 22, 2008

A U.N. appeals panel overturned the murder conviction and reduced the sentence Tuesday of a Bosnian army commander in charge of Muslim fighters who murdered and tortured Bosnian Serbs and Croats in 1993.

Enver Hadzihasanovic was convicted of murder in 2006 by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal for failing to prevent so-called mujahedeen volunteers from killing two prisoners and for refusing to punish them afterward.

But the U.N. court's appeals chamber ruled the foreign volunteers, some veterans of the war in Afghanistan that ended in 1989, were beyond the control of Hadzihasanovic's 3rd Corps of the regular Bosnian Muslim army.

The court reduced his sentence from five to 3 1/2 years and overturned part of his conviction for failing to prevent or punish the cruel treatment of prisoners held at a makeshift detention camps in Bosnia.

Presiding Judge Fausto Pocar said the mujahedeen were not subordinate to the Bosnian army. "The only way to control the detachment was to attack them as though they were a distinct enemy force," he said.

Hadzihasanovic's deputy, Amir Kubura, had his conviction for failing to prevent the mujahedeen from plundering overturned and his sentence cut from 2 1/2 years to two years.

They men were credited for time served and will be set free. They smiled and hugged their attorneys after Tuesday's hearing.

The two were among the highest ranking Muslim officers brought to trial by the war crimes court, which has been criticized in Serbia for prosecuting far more Serbs than members of other ethnic groups.

Their trial marked the first time the Yugoslav tribunal dealt with crimes by the mujahedeen, who came mainly from North Africa and the Middle East to fight on the Muslim side in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

UN tribunal and justice research institute start project to safeguard court’s legacy
UN News Centre
April 23, 2008

The United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s and the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) have begun a joint project to transfer the knowledge gained from the tribunal’s work to future courts and institutions dealing with the issues.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), with the assistance of UNICRI, will draft a compilation of its best practices that can then be used by other international and domestic regimes tackling war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the tribunal said in a press release issued today in The Hague.

The document will include all of the ICTY’s expertise on its proceedings, ranging from investigations to the enforcement of its sentences, and drawing from the work of the Office of the President, Chambers, Prosecution and Registry at the tribunal.

The manual is due for completion later this year and a digest of ICTY jurisprudence is also being considered for publication, the tribunal said. UNICRI will organize the publication and distribution of the documents.

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International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

Arbia Says UN Completion Strategy Risks of Inadequate Action Against Impunity
Hirondelle News Agency
April 16, 2008

Arusha -The new Registrar of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sylvana Arbia, has cautioned that the UN Security Council's strategy for the completion of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) mandate risks of inadequate action against impunity "especially because most national jurisdictions are not able or not willing to prosecute ICTR cases."

The Security Council has directed to close all first instance trials by end of the year and the appeals by 2010.

In her maiden interview since taking up her office in The Hague, the former ICTR Chief of Prosecutions told Hirondelle Agency that the Security Council's decision had created additional limitations to the prosecutions." A lot of work for the preparation of trials has been frustrated because of those limitations," she added.

"It is my view that before taking such a decision the Security Council should have ensured actions aimed at making the national jurisdiction ready for a transition," said 54-year-old Ms Arbia, an experienced Italian lawyer, who had prepared 12 indictments which were all confirmed and had been in charge of 22 pre-trail cases at the ICTR before assuming last week her new five-year post.

Ms Arbia was also in charge of the ICTR's biggest and largest trial popularly referred as "Butare Trial" which is currently underway. The Trial includes the only woman, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, ex-Rwandan Minister for Family and Women Affairs during the 1994 genocide.

On ICC, Ms Arbia said among the first things she intended to undertake was to fill vacancies with view to enhancing efficiency.

She considered modern organization of the court management before the start of the first trial this year "involving for the first in the history of the international criminal justice, the participation of the victims."

Ms Arbia said her experience at the ICTR would be an asset for the ICC.

The soft spoken top attorney stressed that ICC's role was crucial for global justice, especially in areas where judiciary was not effectively independent from other public powers.

Ms Arbia has replaced French magistrate Bruno Cathala, who is expected to take the chair of Court of First Instance near Paris.

Cathala set up ICC in 2002 after having left the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he had also created an association of defence counsels.

Recipient of a Master's degree in law acquired in 1976 from the University of Padua, Italy, Ms Arbia practiced as a lawyer and later as a magistrate in various courts. She initially was a prosecutor and judge in Venice, Rome and Milan. There, she chaired the first criminal chamber of the Court of Appeal and in particular dealt with cases of organized crime (Mafia) and sexual assault. Before joining the ICTR in 1999, she had been for several months a judge at the Supreme Court and the Final Court of Appeal of Italy.

She was also member of the Italian delegation during the 1998 diplomatic negotiations for drafting of the Treaty of Rome.

She was promoted to the post of ICTR chief of prosecution in June 2007, succeeding Steven Rapp, who was appointed the Prosecutor for the UN Sierra Leonean Tribunal.

WFP Employee Cleared of Genocide Charges
Hirondelle News Agency
April 18, 2008

Arusha - An employee of the World Food Programme (WFP), an independent body of the United Nations, Mr Jean Nepomuscene Munyangabe, who was accused of participating in the 1994 genocide, has been acquitted by semi-traditional Gacaca court, southern Rwanda, after an appeal trial, reports Hirondelle Agency.

The UN employee was acquitted a fornight ago by court of the Mbuye sector, Nyanza district, Southern Province, according to an observer from the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LIPRODHOR).

He was prosecuted for the murder of two women and for having taken part in a road block during the 1994 genocide, according to the observer reached by telephone in Kigali.

Munyangabe had initially been convicted in absentia to 18 years in prison while he was away working for the WFP in Chad. After having learned the news, he returned to the country to file an appeal before being arrested on 3 January.

The source said that the appeal trial had attracted observers from the organization of genocide survivors (IBUKA), Rwandan Leagues and Associations for the Defence of Human Rights (CLADHO), Penal Reform International (PRI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) as well as the Rwandan Human Rights Commission (CNDP).

"We do not know if Munyangabe has returned to his work in Chad after his acquittal ", added the source.

Witness: Rwanda Govt, RPF Rebels Engaged in Secret Talks Prior to Genocide
Hirondelle News Agency
April 22, 2008

Arusha - A protected witness testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Tuesday that secret negotiations had proceeded on several occasions between the then pro-Hutu Rwandan government and the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) between 1990 and 1993.

Called by the defence of Edouard Karemera, a former Vice President of the then ruling party, the MRND, the witness, known only by pseudonym "LLK " and who seems to have been involved in the Rwandan diplomacy under the former regime, explained that these meetings had initially been held in Gbadolite then in Kampala, Brussels, Harare and Paris.

They preceded the opening of official negotiations in Arusha, Tanzania.

The last meeting, specified LLK, coincided with an agreement concluded between the RPF and some Rwandan opposition parties following a meeting which was held in Brussels between 23 May and 9 June 1992. "The RPF then felt strong enough to negotiate", he responded when questioned by defence attorney Felix Sow of Senegal.

After the RPF attack from Uganda in October 1990, the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) had charged President Mobutu Sese Seko with mediation, but he had been quickly rejected.

It was only in 1992 that another official mediation was launched under the chairmanship of the then Tanzanian President, Ali Hassan Mwinyi.

Rwanda Should Host ICTR Archives, Says University Don
The New Times
Eugene Kwibuka
April 23, 2008

HUYE — Prof. Anastase Shyaka, a prominent researcher at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) has said Rwanda has the sovereign right to keep the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) when the court winds up its work.

Prof. Shyaka, the Director of NUR’s Center for Conflicts Management (CCM), said ICTR records are part of the country’s history. He stressed that the United Nations (UN) court shouldn’t ponder where to take the archives when it closes its business.

Talking to The New Times from his office on Monday, Prof. Shyaka, said, "The UN did a mistake to establish ICTR outside Rwanda. It would be a double mistake if they take outside Rwanda archives of ICTR."

The tribunal’s mandate is expected to expire by December 2008 but the UN is yet to decide where to re-locate its archives for future reference.

Prof. Shyaka said that Rwanda should seriously continue negotiations with the UN to bring the archives to Rwanda.

"We would be losing sovereignty over our own history and that would be wrong," he said.

Shyaka holds a PhD in Political Sciences and he has conducted research on several issues ranging from History to conflicts management. He is worried that many Rwandans will not have access to ICTR archives if they are taken to other places.

"Many Rwandans are having problems entering in developed countries like accessing visas yet people from there can easily come here," he said.

"We are no longer in the 1950s when Belgium could take all archives, and whatever materials from here," he added.

The Director of the ICTR documentation centre in Arusha, Louis Ndiaye, said last month that Rwanda stands the chance to host the archives despite many applications from different online libraries and document centres.

"I think Rwanda stands more chances of hosting it and deserves it," Ndiaye was quoted as saying.

But as Rwandans wait for UN’s decision, Prof. Shyaka said that the country could be doing two things to bring its history home. It needs to build appropriate infrastructure to host the archives and continue negotiations with the United Nations.

"We won’t launch any war against UN," he said.

"The best thing is still to negotiate and not to give up at all." He suggested that the infrastructure to host ICTR documentation be digital to help people from other countries access some of the archives. He observed that the UN is the right institution to help Rwanda develop the needed infrastructure.

"It should have been UN’s responsibility to prepare where to re-locate the court’s archives for its phase-out. They can’t claim that Rwanda doesn’t have necessary infrastructure," he said.

Landmark Hearing Over Transfer of Genocide Accused to Kigali Begins
Hirondelle News Agency
April 24, 2008

Arusha - The landmark hearing of transfer motion to Rwanda in case of genocide accused former businessman Yussuf Munyakazi,73, began Thursday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) with heated arguments from both the Prosecutor and the defence.

The debate was interjected by the so called "Friends of the Court(Amicus Curie)-the Human Rights Watch, Bar of Kigali, Government of Rwanda and the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association (ICDAA).

The ICTR Prosecutor, Hassan Jallow, stressed that Rwandan legal framework grants fair trial, adding that this was demonstrated by the latest decision of the French Chamberry Court of Appeal on 2 April which approved extradition of former Rwandan businessman Claver Kamanya to Kigali. "it is an indication of confidence in the Rwandan judiciary system," he told the three-bench Chamber presided by Judge Ines Weinberg de Roca (Argentina) and assisted b Lee Muthoga (Kenya) and Robert Fremr (Czech).

Munyakazi, from Cyangugu province southern Rwanda, is charged of genocide, complicity to genocide and extermination. He has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution's motion requesting his transfer was filed on 7 September 2007, within the framework of the ICTR completion strategy, which wants to transfer some cases to national jurisdictions in order to finish by the end of the year all first instance trials as directed by the Security Council.

"We are submitting that Rwandan is able to try the case," he pleaded with the Court.

Professor Jwani Mwaykyusa, lead defence counsel, strongly opposed the Prosecutor's move, saying Rwandan judicial lacked competence and was partial. "It is absurd to transfer a case to a system which should be answering the same charges," he said, apparently referring to the alleged atrocities committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) during the 1994 genocide and the indictments issued by French and, more recently, by Spanish judges against RPF soldiers. The ICTR Prosecutor has also said on many occasions they are also investigating the alleged RPF atrocities.

RPF, which is credited for stopping the genocide, is currently in power under President Paul Kagame.

"Rwandan judicial Independence and impartiality are doubtful," he stressed, underlining that the Rwandan system was not suitable to try this case. "In Africa, it's very common for the text of the law is extremely appealing, but in practice is extremely horrible," underscored Professor Mwaykyusa.

The Human Rights Watch representative, Aisling Reidy, said that they have evidence of intimidation and harassment of legal officers and witnesses in Rwanda, adding that the defence had difficulties in securing witnesses.

She also doubted the financial ability of the Rwandan government to carry out a fair trial.

Rwandan Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, said that his country launched judicial reforms since 2003 without any external pressure. "What is important is to consider the policy [in place]...we brought the reforms so that we don't violate them," said Mr Ngoga, a former Rwandan government representative to the ICTR.

The Kigali Bar representative, Gatera Gashabana, said that the Rwandan law provided protection to an accused. "Legal aid is guaranteed," he stated.

Ms Hawa Ibrahim, an official of the ICDAA, said that they wanted to see sufficient evidence to believe that Rwandan judiciary was capable to try in an impartial manner. "We find difficulties if thera are sufficient materials on the ground [for a fair trial]".

The case continued in the afternoon.

Since June 2007, ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow has filed motions to transfer to Kigali five accused persons, including Munyakazi.

The others accused targeted by transfer requests to Kigali are: former Commander of Ngoma Camp Lieutenant Ildephonse Hategekimana, businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga, former Mayor Jean Baptist Gatete and former Inspector of Judicial Police, Fulgence Kaysihema. The latter is still at large.

Headquartered in Arusha, northern Tanzania, ICTR has, to date, delivered 30 convictions and 5 acquittals. Seven accused held in Arusha are currently awaiting their trials. Three others are detained in Europe awaiting their transfers to the ICTR, whereas 13 suspects are still on the run.

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Iraqi High Tribunal

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

Hussein Henchman Has Heart Attack
The New York Times
April 22, 2008

BAGHDAD — Saddam Hussein’s cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is known as Chemical Ali, has been taken to an American military hospital after suffering a heart attack while in custody awaiting execution, officials said.

Maj. Brad Leighton, an American military spokesman in Baghdad, confirmed that Mr. Majid was in a hospital after "falling ill," saying only that he was "in a stable condition."

He was admitted on Sunday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his condition.

Mr. Majid was among three of Mr. Hussein’s lieutenants who were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court last June after they were found guilty of using poisonous gas against Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s.

However, their executions have been delayed because of a disagreement between Iraq’s Shiite-led government and its Presidency Council about whether the death penalty should be carried out. In the meantime they remain in American custody.

Chemical Ali Released from Hospital
The Associated Press
Sameer N. Yaccoub
April 22, 2008

BAGHDAD -- A cousin and top deputy of Saddam Hussein, whose execution has been delayed for months, was returned to a U.S. detention facility on Tuesday after being hospitalized for a heart attack, U.S. officials said.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for the strikes he ordered against Kurds in the 1980s, was admitted to a U.S. medical facility on Sunday.

His lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said al-Majid had suffered a heart attack after going on a hunger strike with other defendants.

A U.S. military official familiar with the medical records confirmed that al-Majid had a heart attack but said he was in stable condition and had been returned to a U.S. detention facility.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, said he had no information about a hunger strike or the involvement of other defendants.

Al-Majid has been sentenced to hang for his role in a brutal crackdown with chemical weapons against the Kurds in the 1980s. He is also on trial in a separate case stemming from the suppression of a 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.

Aref, the defense attorney, said earlier this week that both al-Majid and co-defendant Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Ghafour were admitted to the medical facility on Sunday after they passed out.

He said the two men, along with 13 other co-defendants in the Shiite case, started a hunger strike on Friday to protest an order forcing them to stay in cramped quarters at the courthouse instead of their regular cells at the U.S. detention facility Camp Cropper.

Al-Majid and six other defendants had been returned to Camp Cropper on Tuesday and the rest were to be returned on Wednesday, he said.

Al-Majid was one of three former Saddam officials sentenced to death in June after being convicted by an Iraqi court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas.

But influential Sunni Arabs and President Jalal Talabani intervened and insisted that one of the three others _ former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie _ be spared the gallows.

That delayed the execution of all three.

In February, the three-member presidential council, which includes Talabani and the two vice presidents, agreed to al-Majid's execution, but did not approve the death sentences against the other two. Still, no date for his execution has been announced.

Former Iraqi Deputy PM Tariq Aziz to Face Trial
Reuters
Dean Yates
April 24, 2008

BAGHDAD - Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, the public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, will face trial next week over the execution of dozens of merchants in 1992, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

Jaffar al-Moussawi, a prosecutor with the Iraqi High Tribunal, said Aziz and several other former members of Saddam's regime would appear in court on Tuesday over the case.

Aziz, who also served as foreign minister under Saddam, has appeared as a witness in earlier trials of ex-regime members, but this will be the first time he has faced charges himself.

"Tariq Aziz will be presented for trial at the special tribunal over the execution of around 40 merchants in 1992," Moussawi told Reuters.

Asked what the specific charges would be, Moussawi said: "It's believed he was involved in the case."

Another defendant will be Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half-brother to Saddam. Moussawi said he was interior minister when the executions took place.

The merchants were accused of increasing prices of essential goods against state policy at a time when Iraq was suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Aziz surrendered to U.S. forces in April 2003. He has long complained of ill health.

The Iraqi High Tribunal was set up to try former members of Saddam's regime. Saddam was executed in December 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and boys after a 1982 assassination attempt.

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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

Ex-combatants at 'healing ceremonies' in Sierra Leone
Frost Illustrated
April 23, 2008

Dozens of ex-combatants from Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war are taking part in "healing ceremonies" to make peace with victims of the brutal conflict that left thousands dead.

The ceremony was started by a local NGO, Forum of Conscience, in the Kailahun District. "The choice of Kailahun 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 apologize for offenses they committed during the conflict."

Abdul Sowa, a one-time farmer who now uses crutches, could not hold back tears. "At last, they [the ex-combatants] have acknowledged their crimes," he said.

According to Caulker, thousands of such "forgiveness ceremonies" are to take place throughout the country over the next five years.

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Special Tribunal for Lebanon

In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)

Rizk Hopes Barter Will 'Expedite' Hariri Inquiry
The Daily Star - Lebanon
By Michael Bluhm
April 22, 2008

BEIRUT: Justice Minister Charles Rizk has proposed that the head of the UN commission investigating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination begin on June 15 his planned role as prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in exchange for the government approving the extension of the investigation commission's mandate, Rizk told The Daily Star on Monday.

"We are prepared to ask for an extension of the commission, but in return we ask [UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon] to appoint him prosecutor," Rizk said.

Rizk wrote a letter to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora last week asking the premier to put the two items on the Cabinet's agenda, after commission chief and Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare asked Rizk last month to have the government request an extension beyond June 15 for the commission.

The minister said his move was motivated only by a desire to speed up the establishment of the tribunal, which was created by the UN Security Council on May 30 last year through Resolution 1757 after the dormant Lebanese Parliament never met to vote on the bilateral agreement between the UN and Lebanon to form the tribunal.

Bartering Bellemare taking office as prosecutor for prolonging the commission's mandate is "simply expediting the implementation of [Resolution] 1757 in accordance with the secretary general's report" on the tribunal from March 12, Rizk said. "The secretary is very clear, saying that the tribunal is in the last steps of its formation. I'm very much in line with the secretary general's latest report.

"The letter to the government is very candid."

In his March report, Ban divided the evolution of the tribunal into three stages: "a preparatory phase; a start-up phase; and the commencement of functioning."

"All the actions relating to the preparatory phase have been undertaken, if not completed ... The start-up phase has now commenced," Ban said.

Rizk and his compatriots in the March 14 governing coalition have long been staunch backers of the tribunal and outspoken critics of Syria, whom many March 14 members have blamed for Hariri's assassination and the string of political violence that has since plagued the country.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied any involvement in Hariri's killing and has said that Syria will not allow its citizens to appear before the tribunal, while some in Lebanon's Syrian-backed March 8 opposition have voiced concerns that the tribunal could be manipulated for political ends.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on March 31 that the tribunal had been used as a political tool against Damascus, saying Syria had received and rejected "bargain offers" to terminate the tribunal in exchange for expediting a presidential election in Lebanon.

In his first report to the Security Council, Bellemare said the commission believed Hariri's killing and the other assassinations and attempted assassinations were "politically motivated."

The UN has not set a date for the formal establishment of the tribunal, with Ban saying the investigation would have to make sufficient headway before final UN consultations with the Cabinet. UN Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel said last month that the time was "not ripe" for those talks to begin.

In his April 8 report, Bellemare did not give any details about when he would submit indictments or when he would assume his duties as prosecutor for the tribunal, which will be housed in a former Dutch security office in The Hague.

"I will only state that the filing of eventual indictments will not be immediate after the establishment of the tribunal," Bellemare said. "No one can predict or dictate how long this process will take ... Ideally, the time between the establishment of the operations of the tribunal and the eventual filing of indictments should be as short as possible.

"Any illusion of immediacy must be dispelled. Our progress is neither slow nor immediate: It is deliberate," he added.

Rizk also said the growing controversy over the ongoing detention of the four former security chiefs did not play a role in his drive to expedite the operations of the tribunal.

The four heads of the major security services at the time of Hariri's February 2005 assassination have been held in Lebanese custody on the orders of the investigation commission since September 2005 without being charged, and in recent weeks the lawyers representing the four have frequently appeared in the media to plead for the release of the four generals.

"It's just one aspect of the investigation," Rizk said.

Members of opposition leader Hizbullah said the detention had become politicized, after which Hariri's son and parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri said that calls to free the four were "a despicable attempt to exert pressure on the investigation."

In the justice minister's own words ...

Editor's note: Following is the transcript of a letter sent to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on April 18 by Justice Minister Charles Rizk.

"On June 15, 2008, the mandate of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will come to an end. On this occasion, I would like to present you with the following:

1. Pursuant to UNSC Resolution 1595, dated April 7, 2005, the Security Council established an International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) to assist the Lebanese authorities in investigating the terrorist bombing of February 14, 2005, in Beirut that resulted in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and others. This step was considered necessary as investigation of the crime was regarded as beyond the capacity of the relevant Lebanese authorities, therefore requiring the assistance of the international community.

2. In light of the UN resolution and based on the results of the UNIIIC investigation at the time, on August 30, 2005 the UNIIIC commissioner, German judge Detlev Mehlis, recommended to the Lebanese judiciary that it arrest four senior officers: Gen. Jamil al-Sayyed, Gen. Ali al-Hajj, Gen. Raymond Azar, and Gen. Mustapha Hamdan. This was implemented on the orders of the Lebanese investigative judge in agreement with the prosecutor of the Court of Cassation.

3. UNIIIC continues to pursue its work, three years after its mandate was extended according to UNSC Resolutions 1636, 1644, 1664, and 1748. Belgian judge Serge Brammertz replaced Judge Mehlis on January 11, 2006. In a meeting upon judge Brammertz's arrival attended by me, Chairman of the Lebanese Supreme Judicial Council Antoine Kheir, and Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation Saeed Mirza, I asked Judge Brammertz whether he abided by the UNIIIC recommendation to arrest the four generals, or whether he cancelled it. Judge Brammertz answered that he did not cancel the recommendation, so the generals remained under arrest.

4. On May 30, 2007, the UN Security Council issued Resolution 1757, establishing, under the authority of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, a special tribunal for Lebanon to prosecute those responsible for the February 14, 2005 attack. The decision to resort to Chapter VII was the result of obstacles from within Lebanon to creating the tribunal through a Lebanese process. The UN decision again confirmed that international collaboration was required to assist the Lebanese judiciary not only at the level of the investigation, but also in preparation for a trial, and it was based on the same rationale that the UN had earlier applied to provide international assistance to investigate the Hariri assassination.

5. On November 14, 2007, the United Nations Secretary General appointed Canadian Judge Daniel Bellemare as the new UNIIIC commissioner, until the time Judge Bellemare takes over as the general prosecutor of the special tribunal. Judge Brammertz, meanwhile, moved to a new assignment as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

6. On March 12, 2008, the UN Secretary General confirmed in his second report on UNSC Resolution 1757 that "[t]he start-up phase has now commenced. Work on the preparation of the premises and on the organization of a coordinated transition between the Independent Commission and the Tribunal is being conducted." (Par. 31 & 37.)

7. Given the June 15, 2008 deadline for UNIIIC's mandate, I held a meeting with Judge Bellemare on March 20, 2008, during which the latter asked that the Lebanese government request from the Security Council a new extension to the commission's mandate. I answered that the legal position of Judge Bellemare was very different than that of Judge Brammertz, because of the temporary nature of his function as UNIIIC commissioner while waiting to begin his duties as general prosecutor of the special tribunal, whose accelerating establishment had been mentioned by the UN Secretary General in his report of March 12.

I emphasized to judge Bellemare that while Lebanon understood his need to benefit from UNIIIC while awaiting the establishment of the general prosecutor's office, by the same token Lebanon expected from Judge Bellemare that he be aware of the need to shift his duties and take over as general prosecutor of the special tribunal. I also reminded Judge Bellemare that the special tribunal for Lebanon was unique among international tribunals, because it was preceded by a UN-mandated investigative commission, while other international tribunals did not enjoy such a privilege as their prosecutors conducted investigations and gathered evidence themselves.

Therefore I informed Judge Bellemare that he would submit the following suggestions to the Lebanese government:

A. He would request that the UN Secretary General formally assign Judge Bellemare as general prosecutor beginning on June 15, 2008.

B. He would to request from the UN Secretary General that the UN extend UNIIIC's mandate to assist General Prosecutor Bellemare until the time the General Prosecutor's Office was established.

I ask that this proposal be placed on the agenda of the Council of Ministers for approval."

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Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Official Website of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Rebels Beheaded My Mother
Afrol News - allAfrica.com
April 9, 2008

A Liberian woman threw the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) into somber mood when she explained how her mother and her two-month old baby were behead by rebel fighters loyal to George Boley, the leader of defunct Liberia Peace Council (LPC) in 1995.

The TRC was established by the government to heal the wounds of the west African country's 14-year-old brutal war.

Frances King told the commission that she had witnessed the traumatic event in Toe Town in southeastern Rivercess County.

She said Boley's fighters later threw the headless bodies, including that of her brother's baby into a river.

Testifying in tears, the witness said during the Toe Town raid, the rebels led by one McDonald Tarpeh killed her sister-in-law by pounding her head with a stick before killing her husband and their entire family.

The commission also heard that LPC fighters massacred 40 inhabitants of Wrobo and Zoryeah towns when they invaded Rivercess County in 1993 and 1994. The late Gen. Augustine Zor was accused of leading the massacre.

Elijah Wroboa, a witness accused Zor's fighters of raiding and slaughtering 27 inhabitants in Wrobo Town.

Tarpeh also blamed Zor for ordering the massacres. During the raid, the fighters set the town on fire, raped women as well as conscripted several young boys into rebellion.

Gen Zor's ordered raid on Zoryeah resulted to the killing of the town's 13 males in 1995.

The fighters said they were furious over the use of the town as base by Gen. Roland's fighters to repel the LPC from the area.

"When the fighters entered the town, they ordered all males to assemble in a palaver hut to meet their commander," Zoryeah somberly state. He said Gen. Zor ordered the fighters to open fire on the men after they had assembled, resulting to the killing of "13 of our brothers."

Former Liberian Vice-President Says that He Will Testify in Taylor Trial
Voice of America
By James Butty
April 11, 2008

(Washington, D.C.) The Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), charged with investigating crimes committed during the country’s civil war, is claiming that elements in higher places of society are trying to discredit its work. But TRC chairman Jerome Verdier told a news conference in Monrovia Thursday that all those who committed crimes during Liberia’s civil war from 1979 to 2003 would be brought before the commission irrespective of their status.

The latest episode stemmed from an allegation that the commission or one of its members might have bribed a witness to testify that Liberian singing sensation Sundaygar Dearboy committed war crimes while he was a member of Charles Taylor’s rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia. Dearboy, who now works in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government, admits being a rebel commander but denied committing atrocities.

John Stewart is a member of the Truth Commission. He told VOA the TRC believes there are some people in President Sirleaf’s government who are working with Dearboy to thwart the commission’s work by applying political and financial pressure.

“This press conference was prompted by stories surfacing in the media by a witness (David Sayweh) who had appeared before the TRC months earlier that his sister was gang raped on the orders of Sundaygar Dearboy, and she died as a consequence. Since that testimony, we have received reports that Mr. Sundaygar Dearboy had sent a team of people to the town in Grand Bassa County from which the boy comes. And this is being orchestrated by Mr. Dearboy and some of his supporters, some of whom work in high places because they fear that the TRC is uncovering things that they will not want to bring before the public,” he said.

Stewart reiterated that there are some people in the Sirleaf government who are trying to discredit the work of the TRC.

“I’m not saying that it is the Liberian government as a government. But there are individuals within the government. You see, one must not lose sight of the fact that we have still lingering with us the cult of the presidency, and there are people who are trying to make themselves appear favorable in the eyes of the government or the president, that they are doing a good job in protecting the image of the government. The line they are pushing is that because the Sundaygar Dearboy had made songs which praise the president, therefore embarrassing Sundaygar Dearboy is tantamount to embarrassing the president, particularly so when Sundaygar Dearboy works at the Executive Mansion. I don’t know whether he is still there because I understand that he has been withdrawn. I’m not sure,” he said.

Stewart said the commission is not out to embarrass anybody, but that it was committed to bring to justice all those who played a leading role in the Liberian civil war from 1979 to 2003 irrespective of the status.

He said Dearboy, who has admitted being a part of Charles Taylor’s rebel movement must face the consequences of his past actions.

“He was a commander in the National Patriotic Front. He has not denied that. There are scores of villagers who have affirmed, who have appeared from his own village before the TRC affirming yes indeed Sundaygar Dearboy did commit atrocities. So all of this is designed to bring the TRC into disrepute to stop its work because they know that on the TRC there are people who are committed to seeing to it that the mandate of the TRC is fulfilled, that the TRC is looking at not only crimes against humanity but we are also looking at economic crimes,” he said.

Stewart said Dearboy showered David Sayweh, the one had previously testified against Dearboy with money and gifts to recant his story. But commissioner Stewart said Sayweh could be charged with perjury.

“He took an oath and he is saying in his letter that he is lying and alleging that Commissioner Massa Washington gave him money to induce that (his previous) statement which is a preposterous statement, a lie. The commission does have powers of contempt, and as I told you this young man, David Sayweh, testified to the commission under oath. Now that he has written a letter saying that he has lied, he’s subject to a charge of perjury, and the commission would not hesitate employ all means at its disposal, including charging with perjury,” Stewart said.

LWHR Wants Government Probe Allegation of Officials ON LAC Payroll
The News (Monrovia) via allAfrica.com
April 16, 2008

The Liberia Watch for Human Rights (LWHR) has written Justice Minister Philip Banks to begin an independent investigation into allegation that the names of some officials of Grand Bassa County were on the payroll of the Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC).

LWHR, in a release said, its decision to write the Justice Minister comes in the wake of denial by LAC General Manager Dr. Samuel Barnett that no official of the county was on his payroll.

The group said the allegation has caused the public to speculate that there is more to unearth about the alleged "revised/adjusted government relations" document dated May 1, 2006 and signed by the company's former General Manager George Quateng Mensah.

The human rights organization said whether these allegations are true or not, democracy has to be put to test in order to appease public opinion and the Unity Party led-government's stance on zero tolerance for corruption.

LWHR: "Justice is increasingly accepted as the core principle of good governance; it becomes more and more clearly the most effective way of implementing the principles of transparency and rule of law as such, we herein appeal to your kind offices to ensure that independent and impartial investigations are carried out; it is not enough for Dr. Bennett to simply shrug, down play or treat with scorn such a matter given the negative potential such allegations may have regarding the integrity of the nation of Liberia especially at a time when the criminal justice system still has a lot to deliver relative to impartial jurisprudence in the court."

According to the group, the public reaction to such allegation could only be laid to rest through credible independent probe as a means of not bringing out the facts but to serve as a deterrent to would-be corrupt companies and government officials in other resource-rich communities and also to reveal what drastic legal actions await perpetrators of thievery, dishonesty and misuse of office.

LWHR said "here is no telling for how long these 'underhand' games have permeated the ranks and files of successive governments; notwithstanding, our organization insists that the matter is probed to its rational end."

The group called on the Justice Ministry to quickly constitute the investigation panel to investigate the matter so as to lay it to rest.

Chilling Testimonies in Lofa, Grand Bassa Countries
The Analyst (Monrovia) via allAfrica.com
April 18, 2008

Witnesses and "victims" in Buchanan in Grand Bassa County and Voinjama in Lofa County said NPFL commanders subjected them to inhumane treatment including cannibalism, a TRC press statement said here Wednesday.

Militiamen loyal to former President Charles Taylor forced civilians to eat human flesh and dogs after they massacred scores of civilians in 2003 in Popalahum, Lofa County, a witness told commissioners of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

25 year-old Siafa Amadu said government fighters under the command of Zigzag Mazzah and one Stanley fed the town's inhabitants with dogs and human flesh and threatened to kill anyone who refused to eat them.

"When they killed dogs and human beings they used to force us to eat them. If you failed to eat the dogs and human beings they cooked, they will kill you. So we were forced to eat what they gave us, he explained.

Amadu said during repeated onslaughts of rebel fighters of the defunct Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) on the towns and villages of Kolahun District, government fighters massacred hundreds of villagers and inhabitants accusing them of being sympathizers of the advancing rebels or Muslims.

He said the civilians, including his father, were slaughtered by the fighters and survivors were given their flesh to feed on or be killed by the government fighters. He explained that Mazzah and his men dismembered the bodies of victims by extracting parts including their hearts, legs and hands and then piled their remains in a house and burned them.

Amadu was testifying Wednesday at the ongoing rural public hearings of the TRC in Voinjamin City, Lofa County. He narrated that government fighters killed 33 inhabitants of Kailahun Town and left the bodies in the open to rot.

He said the decomposed bodies of the dead were buried when fighters of LURD overwhelmed government troops and briefly captured the town. The witness said he was compelled to join LURD rebel forces in their military campaign against the Taylor government because most of his relatives were killed.

The TRC is an independent body set up to investigate the root causes of the Liberian crisis, document human rights violations, review the history of Liberia, and put all human rights abuses that occurred during the period from 1979 to 2003 on record.

The TRC mandate is to also identify victims and perpetrators and make recommendations on amnesty, prosecution and reparation. The public hearings are being held under the theme: "Confronting Our Difficult Past For A Better Future."

At the same time, a witness told commissioners of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Buchanan this week that popular musician "Sundaygar Dearboy" ordered the killing of her son in 1994 when rampaging fighters of the defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) under his command captured the town of Sagbah, Grand Bassa County.

Weeping profusely while testifying recently at rural public hearings in the port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, the witness, Madame Tohn Suah said Michael Davis ordered fighters to tie her son before they slaughtered him on the outskirt of the town.

"So they took us to one town call Sagbah town. When we got there, they started singing one song that means: that place is hot, don't put your self there. They had their commander call Michael Davis. He said they should tie my son. When they tied him, I started crying. Even his father wanted to talk, they started putting fire on him," she explained.

"So they carry my son. We were sitting down and one boy came and asked: oldma how many children you got? I say I get three children. Then the boy said, your son they carried, they not finish killing him," the distressed mother continued.

Madame Suah said the fighter later displayed the cutlass used to slaughter her son after she disputed the story of his death, saying, "I asked him if that true you talking so? He said here is his blood here on the cutlass. I wanted to cry but the soldiers said if I cried they will kill me."