War Crimes Prosecution Watch

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Verdict pronounced in the Mirko Todorovic and Another case
State Court of BiH
April 29, 2008

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found the defendants Mirko Todorovic and Miloš Radic guilty of the criminal offence of Crime against Humanity and sentenced each of the defendants to 17 years of imprisonment.

Mirko Todorovic and Miloš Radic were found guilty because: as the members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), on 20 May 1992, in the village of Borkovac near Bratunac, together with four other members of the VRS, they took part in the apprehension of 14 Bosniak civilians who were hiding in an abandoned quarry near the village. This group of the VRS soldiers took the apprehended civilians in a column towards the village. On the way to the village, one of the VRS soldiers shot one civilian from a firearm, after which all of the soldiers, excluding the defendants, started torturing the apprehended civilians and seizing money and valuables from them. Then, this group of soldiers took the civilians to a near-by creek, where 7 civilians were killed.

Verdict pronounced in the case of Paško Ljubicic
State Court of BiH
April 29, 2008

Following the consideration and acceptance of the Plea Agreement entered into by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and the Accused Ljubicic, the Court of BiH pronounced a verdict finding Paško Ljubicic guilty of the criminal offence of War Crimes against Civilians and sentenced him to imprisonment for a term of 10 years.

The Accused Ljubičić was found guilty because on 15 and 16 April 1993, as a commander of the 4^th Military Police Battalion of the Croat Defense Council (HVO), which functioned in the Central Bosnia Operative Zone, he conveyed the order he received from his superior officer Tihomir Blaškić to his subordinates to attack the village of Ahmići. In doing so, the Accused Ljubičić, aware that by conveying such orders to members of his subordinate unit he could cause death of a number of persons, physical and mental suffering of a large number of persons and destruction of property on a larger scale, to which he consented, he added and abetted the planning and execution of this attack. Bosniak civilians were expelled from the village of Ahmići during the attack, numerous suffered serious mental and physical injuries and two mosques were destroyed.

The Accused Ljubičić is also responsible by virtue of his position as a superior for the offences perpetrated by his subordinates, over whom he had effective control, and the fact that he acted upon the order of his superior commander Tihomir Blaškić does not relieve him of criminal responsibility.

The Court of BiH has issued a decision terminating custody of the Accused Ljubičić upon which the Accused is to be released forthwith. This case was referred to the authorities of BiH for further processing pursuant to a decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of 4 July 2006. The Accused was transferred to BiH on 22 September 2006.

Sentence pronounced in the case against Suad Kapic
State Court of BiH
April 29, 2008

The Court of BiH pronounced the verdict acquitting the Accused, Suad Kapic, of charges of the criminal offence of War Crimes against Prisoners of War.

Suad Kapic is acquitted of the charges that on 18 September 1995, along with other soldiers of the Army of RBiH, he participated in capturing of six members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in the area of the village of Dabar, the Municipality of Sanski Most. The Court found that it was not proven beyond reasonable doubt that Accused Kapic, after the prisoners had been captured and hand-tied, fired a firearm thus depriving three prisoners of their lives and severely wounding the fourth one. Further, the Accused is acquitted of charges of having ordered an unidentified soldier of the Army of RBiH to finish off the wounded prisoner.

Furthermore, the Court issued the Decision terminating the prohibiting measures that had been previously ordered.

Verdict pronounced in the Zijad Kurtovic case
State Court of BiH
April 30, 2008

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found the defendant Zijad Kurtovic guilty of the criminal offences of War Crimes against Civilians, War Crimes against Prisoners of War, and Violation of Laws and Practices of Warfare and imposed on him a compound sentence of imprisonment for a term of 11 years.

Zijad Kurtović was found guilty because, in the second half of 1993, as member of protection unit within the Independent Drežnica Battalion of the 4^th Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina Corps, in Donja Drežnica, Mostar Municipality, Zijad Kurtović acted contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions. Zijad Kurtović, inter alia, was found guilty because on several occasions during October 1993, the Accused physically and mentally tortured detained Croatian civilians and prisoners of war in the Roman Catholic Church of All Saints in Donja Drežnica.

Rade Veselinovic pleaded not guilty
State Court of BiH
May 8, 2008

At the plea hearing before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Accused Rade Veselinovic pleaded not guilty. Rade Veselinovic is charged with the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity.

As alleged in the Indictment, during the period from May to September 1992, as a member of the Military Police of the Republika Srpska Army (VRS) in Hadžići, together with other members of the VRS, the Accused Rade Veselinović participated in unlawful arrests of non Serb population in the Municipality of Hadžići, their taking to the camp in the hall of the Cultural, Sports and Recreational Center in Hadžići. Civilians captured in this camp, were allegedly beaten, taken to the front lines where they dug trenches, and men were forced to lewd acts with each other.

Allegedly on 16 May 1992, in a street, for no reason, during the taking of the unlawfully captured persons, the Accused fired from automatic weapon at one person who got injured. Further, the Indictment alleges that on an undetermined day in June 1992, together with a group of unidentified members of the VRS in Donji Hadžići, the Accused deprived one civilian of his life. The Accused is also charged that at the beginning of July 1992, together with Military Police members he took one person out of the building to unknown direction and that person has been unaccounted forever since.

Commencement of trial in the Ivica Vrdoljak case
State Court of BiH
May 8, 2008

A commencement of trial before the Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been scheduled for 6 May 2008, starting at 9:00a.m. in courtroom 3. Ivica Vrdoljak is charged with War Crimes against Civilians.

The indictment alleges, that the accused Vrdoljak in late June 1992, in the building Silos in Polje, Derventa Municipality, as a member of Croatian Defense Council (HVO) inhumanely treated detained Serb civilians. As alleged in the indictment, on an undetermined date in June 1992, the accused took out four (4) civilians and together with other persons bashed them with his hands and kicked them with his feet. As further alleged in the indictment, the accused Vrdoljak together with other persons, in the evening hours in July 1992, in the warehouse of Department Store „Beograd“ in the neighborhood of Tulek in Bosanski Brod, repeatedly took the detainees into a dark room and beat them.

Vrdoljak: Detainees' cries
BIRN Justice Report
May 6, 2008

At the start of the trial of Ivica Vrdoljak, the first Prosecution witness speaks about the indictee's participation in the crimes in the Derventa and Bosanski Brod areas.

The first Prosecution witness Cedo Prodic described how inductee Ivica Vrdoljak tortured him during his detention in Bosanski Brod in July 1992. For this reason, he allegedly still has wounds. In its introductory arguments the Prosecution said it had "solid evidence" concerning the indictee's participation in the crimes against Serbs, while the Defense denied that Vrdoljak was even present at the crime scenes.

The State Prosecution charges Ivica Vrdoljak, also known as Geza, as member of the 103^rd Derventa Brigade with the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), with having abused and beaten Serbian detainees, who were held in "Silos" building in Polje village, Derventa municipality, and "Beograd" store warehouse in Bosanski Brod in June and July 1992.

Prodic said that, on April 26, 1992 HVO members captured him and "about thirty" other residents of Derventa and took them to the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) Center located in that municipality. As indicated by the witness, he was transferred to a military warehouse in Rabid village two days later.

"We were naked when they brought us there. They gave us JNA uniforms and told us to put them on. While they were recording us, they said that we were Chetniks, whom they had captured," said Prodic, adding that there were about 160 prisoners at the time. According to him, the soldiers transferred the captives to "Silos" building in Polje village in late June. This is where he saw Ivica Vrdoljak for the first time.

"We were not allowed to go out, except for when they took us out to beat us. This is when I saw Ivica Vrdoljak, whose name I found out later, taking a few prisoners out. After that we heard crying. They played some loud music all the time and we had to sing insurrectionist's songs and kiss Ante Pavelic's picture," said the witness, but he added that the inductee did not beat him at that time.

After having been detained in "Silos", Prodic claims to have been brought to "Beograd" store warehouse in Bosanski Brod, where he stayed until the exchange, which took place on July 12, 1992.

"We had a hard time there. We were taken out to be tortured every day. I still have some scars from Vrdoljak. He cut my ear with pliers. Geza told me that I would not leave that place alive," the first Prosecution witness recalled, adding that detainee Luka Patkovic, who had known the inductee from before, told him his name and nickname.

In his introductory arguments Prosecutor Mirsad Strika said that the witness' statements concerning the indictee's participation in the abuse of detainees was "very persuasive."

Defense attorney Kresimir Zubak said that the "Defense is based" on the fact that Vrdoljak was not present at the crime location at that time.

The trial is due to continue on May 12, 2008, when two more Prosecution witnesses will be examined.

Kravica: Krstic refuses to testify
BIRN Justice Report
May 7, 2008

ICTY convict Radislav Krstic does not want to communicate with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina or testify in favor of the eleven inductees, who are charged with the genocide in Srebrenica.

Radislav Krstic, who was sentenced by the Hague Tribunal to 35 years imprisonment for having "abetted and supported the genocide" in Srebrenica, refused to testify in favor of the eleven inductees, who are tried before the Court of BiH for the genocide committed in eastern Bosnia in July 1995.

Krstic, former commander of Drina Corps with the Republika Srpska Army (VRS), who is currently serving his sentence in Great Britain, refused to appear in the conference room, from which he was supposed to testify via video link. Therefore he did not explain the reasons for which he does not want to testify.

"It seems that the witness refuses to testify and to appear in this room. He does not want to communicate with us via video link. He will submit a written note explaining why he does not want to testify," said Trial Chamber Chairman Hilmo Vucinic.

The Court managed to establish the link with the British police, who said that Krstic "wanted to talk to his legal advisor."

The Defense for Milos Stupar, Milenko Trifunovic, Petar Mitrovic, Brane Dzinic, Aleksandar Radovanovic, Slobodan Jakovljevic, Miladin Stevanovic, Velibor Maksimovic, Dragisa Zivanovic, Branislav Medan and Milovan Matic invited Krstic to testify as a Defense witness.

The indictment alleges that ten of them were members of the Second Special Police Squad and Matic was a member of the VRS. They are all charged with having participated in the shooting of more than 1,000 captured Srebrenica residents in Kravica village on July 13, 1995.

At this hearing the parties discussed the evidence proposed by some Defense teams in order to deny the Prosecution's additional evidence.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 15, when two witnesses from Brane Dzinic's Defense will be examined, as well as two witnesses from Milos Stupar's Defense.

Klickovic et al: A minor consequence of a great cause
BIRN Justice Report
May 8, 2008

The trial begins of senior officials who are charged with crimes in Bosanska Krupa.

At the beginning of the trial of Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca the Prosecution said that the crimes committed in the Bosanska Krupa area were done in a planned way, with the indictees' support. Klickovic's Defense said that the indictment was "a farce."

The indictments against Klickovic, Ostojic and Drljaca were merged, as per a motion filed by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, in April 2008. After Prosecutor Philip Alcock had read the three indictments, inductee Gojko Klickovic said he did not understand his indictment.

“Should you include genocide and apartheid in it, the indictment would become an indictment against all Serbs. I do not think that its authors understand it either. Nobody can understand this farce," said Klickovic, while Ostojic and Drljaca confirmed they understood the indictment.

The Prosecution charges Klickovic, former senior official of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and commander of the Crisis Committee in Bosanska Krupa, Ostojic, former commander of the 11^th Krupa Light Infantry Brigade with the Serbian Republic of BiH Army, and Drljaca, former member of the SDS municipal board and member of the Crisis Committee, with having participated in the persecution, murder and torture of non-Serbian civilians on the territory of this municipality.

In the Prosecution's introductory arguments, Alcock spoke about the situation in Bosanska Krupa in the course of 1991 and 1992, where "the violence was obvious, frequent and clear to the three indictees." He also said that there were "two joint criminal enterprises" in this municipality - "one was conducted with Gojko Klickovic's colleagues at the local level, while the other one was conducted at the state level."

"Imagine the amazing arrogance of the plans to join the municipalities and to clear them of all their former residents. The Serbian municipality of Bosanska Krupa was indeed cleared of all Bosniaks, step by step, going from one stage to another – by conducting murders, detentions and torture," said Alcock, adding that the civilians, who were deported from Bosanska Krupa, were helpless and they did not represent any kind of a threat.

The Prosecutor also said that the indictees must have been aware of "the stage," where all these abuses happened in the municipality.

"How could they not know about the murders in the prisons, if there were more people who entered those prisons than the ones who left them. How could you not hear the screams of non-swimmers, who were forced, by the guards, to jump into the water.

The SDS conducted all events, and Gojko Klickovic was in the centre of the events. At the same time, he was just a string puppet, who executed orders. Although he initially said that he would not present his introductory arguments, Klickovic's Defense attorney Dusan Tomic addressed the Court by saying that the fewest crimes were committed in Bosanska Krupa and that the Serbs became "the biggest losers of the tragedy that happened there." He also informed the Court that the inductee decided to participate in his defense.

"We agreed that, from now on, Gojko Klickovic must be present in this courtroom in order to reveal the great truth and to avoid being found guilty of all the happenings in Bosanska Krupa. Klickovic is just a minor consequence of a great cause. Radovan Karadzic, a great evil magician, is still at large. Had this not been the case, this indictment would have never been filed. Now, Klickovic is going to be tried for the crimes committed by that man," Tomic said.

Inductee Klickovic addressed the Trial Chamber, by saying that he was a puppet of his people, while the Prosecutor was "a puppet of some dirty games."

The Defense of Jovan Ostojic considers that the inductee was just "collateral damage," because they needed "someone who was in the military structure". He also said that he hoped the Prosecution would give up on the indictment in the course of the process.

The examination of the first two Prosecution witnesses is planned for May 13.

[back to contents]

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)

UN Insists Tribunal Strengthen Management
VOA Khmer
April 25, 2008

The UNDP called on Khmer Rouge tribunal administrators Friday to improve some of their operations in order for the courts to continue to meet international standards, but said a recent review had found some improvements.

A UNDP-sponsored review in February made “positive findings,” said Cambodia’s UNDP director, Jo Scheuer, said at a Press conference Friday. “The special review team noted significant improvement in all of these areas and there is no recent allegation of mismanagement in the ECCC.”

But that did not mean the management system of the courts was now perfect, he said.

The independent Open Society Justice Initiative said in 2006 the courts were facing allegations of corruption.

The corruption allegations and previous findings of poor management practices are important because donor countries like the US say the tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, must meet international standards before more money is promised.

“There is a need for continued capacity development support to the ECCC, [so that] systems are further strengthened in order to continue to meet international standards,” Scheuer, said Friday, referring to the tribunal by its official acronym.

“The report also identifies some areas that need to be further strengthened, such as in goal setting and performance evaluation, in the conduct of job interviews, job classification and the definition of appropriate minimum qualifications for recruited positions,” he said.

The tribunal’s administrative director, Sean Visoth, said at the press conference the tribunal was “capable and committed.”

“I am not satisfied with the results of this review,” he said. “But I was always confident to say [the courts were] maybe not perfect, maybe not the best possible, but capable and committed.”

As administrative director, he had never “resisted nor rejected” proposals to address shortcomings in the courts.

“The ECCC has suffered considerable damage, including to the morale of the staff, on this issue, over the past eighteen months, following certain broad-brush allegations that were raised in late 2006 and early 2007,” he said. “These included recruitment of unqualified staff, excessive salaries and supposed kickback by judges and other officials for appointment at the ECCC.”

Cambodian judges have strongly denied they pay kickbacks in order to sit in the courts.

Khmer Rouge trial will be bankrupt by September, officials say
Monsters & Critics
April 25, 2008

The tribunal set up to try surviving leaders of Cambodia's disastrous Khmer Rouge reign will be bankrupt by September without a new cash injection, officials said Friday.

Up to 2 million Cambodians perished under the 1975-79 regime and victims have waited nearly 30 years for justice up to an international standard, but although five former leaders have been arrested by the court, hearings are yet to commence.

Originally budgeted at 56 million dollars, UN and Cambodian representatives of the joint UN-Cambodia tribunal told a press conference Friday that it needed at least 117 million dollars more to continue past September.

'We hope and believe the international community will help,' government tribunal coordinator Sean Visoth said at a Friday press conference.

It was unclear what would happen to the elderly defendants currently in jail awaiting trial if the money does not appear, but they also face civil cases over their alleged crimes.

Due a post-war baby boom, most Cambodians were born after the Khmer Rouge era and allegations of graft, corruption and money problems within the court have shaken local confidence in the legal proceedings.

Due to Cold War politics, the United Nations recognized many of the five currently detained as legitimate leaders of the country until the end of the 1980s rather than the Vietnamese-backed government which overthrew them, further undermining local confidence in the process in some quarters.

France pledges extra US$1 mil. to Cambodian genocide court
AFP via The China Post
April 26, 2008

France will donate another million dollars to Cambodia's cash-strapped genocide tribunal, helping ease fears that money troubles could further delay proceedings, French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade said Friday.

Yade visited the U.N.-backed tribunal and met with officials on Thursday to be updated on its progress and reaffirm French support for the court set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for atrocities committed during their 1975-1979 rule.

"One of the priorities for French diplomatic action abroad is international justice" and the "fight against impunity," Yade told a press briefing at the French embassy here at the end of her three-day visit to Cambodia.

"Human rights should not just be words," she said.

After Japan, France is the second largest donor to the court which has charged five former Khmer Rouge leaders with crimes against humanity and war crimes. It contributed US$5 million to the first appeal for funding.

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 US$56.3 million over three years, the tribunal, which opened in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the U.N. and Cambodia, has significantly raised its cost estimates to US$170 million.

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.

Five former regime leaders have been detained by the tribunal for their alleged role in one of the 20th century's worst atrocities, the trials expected to begin later this year.

Ieng Sary Appeal Suspension Denied
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
May 2, 2008

Tribunal judges said Friday they were denying a request by Ieng Sary to have an appeals hearing suspended, while lawyers for the former foreign affairs minister say he should receive in-house detention.

Lawyers had requested a suspension of the appeal in order for Ieng Sary to recover in the hospital before proceedings against him proceed.

The courts posted an April 30 ruling on the tribunal Web site Friday, denying any suspension, but they have not yet ruled on house arrest for Ieng Sary, who suffers from heart problems and was hospitalized in March for urinating blood.

Lawyer Ang Udom said he was disappointed in the decision.

Duch To Be Tried in Early 2009: Tribunal Judge
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
May 5, 2008

Jailed Khmer Rouge prison director Kaing Khek Iev, known to many by his nom de guerre, Duch, will be the first regime cadre to be tried, some time early next year, a tribunal judge said Monday.

You Bunleng, an investigating judge for the tribunal, said the investigation of Duch’s case will be finished this month, after which responses from lawyers will be considered before the case is submitted for trial.

If all goes smoothly, the first case against Duch can be submitted by July or August, meaning a trial could start by the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009, he said.

Duch was arrested in 1999 and held by the military courts until his transfer to tribunal detention last year.

He faces charges of crimes against humanity for his role as director of S-21, or Tuol Sleng, a prison where as many as 16,000 Cambodians were tortured and later executed in “killing fields” on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Less than 10 survived.

“The case related to Tuol Sleng’s history is easier than others, and there is clear evidence,” said Sok Samoeun, director of the Cambodian Defenders Project. You Bunleng said Monday elements of Duch’s trial will be used in subsequent trials.

Ieng Sary Detention Hearing Set for June
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
May 8, 2008

Jailed former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary will have a June 30 hearing to determine the status of his detention, tribunal officials said Thursday.

Plagued by a number of health problems, Ieng Sary has sought in-house arrest, and his lawyers are asking that his hearing be limited in time.

The June 30 hearing will determine whether Ieng Sary is detained ahead of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It will also address the question of whether a 1996 amnesty is valid, tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

“Ieng Sary will be the last charged person in hearings among five suspects,” Reach Sambath.

Ieng Sary is currently under tribunal detention, along with his wife, Ieng Thirith, ideologue Nuon Chea, former nominal head Khieu Samphan, and former prison chief Kaing Khek Iev.

Ieng Sary has been hospitalized multiple times since his November 2007 arrest.

“I will propose to the court a limit to the hearing for a duration of only one hour and a half, cannot sit more than one hour and a half,” said lawyer Ang Udom. “He cannot sit for over one hour and a half.”

Ieng Sary had also lost weight while in detention, Ang Udom said.

[back to contents]

Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

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

Sudan says ICC demand of arrest is political blackmail
Sudan Tribune
April 28, 2008

Khartoum

A Sudanese official reiterated the refusal of his government to hand over Darfur war crime suspects wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), describing the demand of extradition as "blatant political blackmail that we will not respond to him."

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

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

Al Sahafa daily newspaper today quoted a presidential official without giving his name as saying that his government believes that the Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno Ocampo, emerged from the scope of his legal framework and playing a political role which is not in the jurisdiction of the ICC.

He further said that he believes that non-governmental organizations implement a political agenda of some countries with hostile attitudes toward Khartoum.

In a letter to the Security Council, part of a campaign called Justice for Darfur, 29 rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged it "to take immediate steps to ensure the prompt arrest and surrender to the ICC of these two suspects."

Friday’s appeal is likely to have little effect in Sudan, which does not recognize the International Criminal Court and has repeatedly refused to turn over Harun or Kushayb.

The Sudanese official stressed that his government sticks with its position of non-cooperation with the ICC as it does not have jurisdiction over his country, which has not ratified the charter. He added that Sudan is committed to prosecute any person accused of committing crimes in Darfur before the national judiciary.

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.

The EU threatened on April 5 to take certain measures if Sudanese officials continue to block attempts to extradite Haroun and Kushayb.

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

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

Ocampo threatened 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.

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.

[back to contents]

Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

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

DR Congo: The Special Representative is visiting the International Criminal Court after the submission of an 'amicus curiae' on the Lubanga's case
ReliefWeb
April 28, 2008

Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, is visiting the International Criminal Court after the official submission of an 'amicus curiae' with regard to the case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Lubanga is the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and will be tried before the ICC for the conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15 and the use of children for active participation in hostilities.

The Amicus Curiae is a legal brief containing observations on the definition of 'conscripting and enlisting' children and on the interpretation of the term 'participation in hostilities'. The office of the Special Representative is urging a case by case method with a broad interpretation of the terms so as to capture the true reality of the DRC. The submission of the document follows the decision of Trial Chamber I of the ICC inviting Observations from the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

'We believe that the Lubanga's trial represents a crucial step in the fight against impunity – Ms. Coomaraswamy said – and will have a decisive deterrent effect against perpetrators of this outrageous crime against humanity.

In the Hague, the Special Representative has met the Registrar and the Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Global court delays hearing for ex-Congo warlords<
Reuters Africa
By Alexandra Hudson
April 28, 2008

The International Criminal Court said it had postponed a confirmation of charges hearing for former Congolese warlords Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo until June 27 so parties have enough time to prepare.

The ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court, said in a statement on Monday it had delayed the hearing from May 21 at the request of Ngudjolo's defence, adding there were other issues that needed to be decided before matters could proceed.

Both Katanga and Ngudjolo face prosecution on charges of murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers. Ngudjolo was transferred to the court in February, while Katanga has been in detention in The Hague since October 2007.

The confirmation hearing is one stage of the criminal procedure at the court which seeks to ensure that no case goes to trial unless there is sufficient evidence to believe the suspects committed the crime.

Ngudjolo was the head of the Front of Nationalists and Integrationists (FPI) militia during a conflict in northeast Ituri Province that grew out of Congo's 1998-2003 war.

Katanga led the Patriotic Forces of Resistance of Ituri (FRPI) militia.

The ICC is due to begin its first trial, also of a Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, on June 23. His case has been similarly subject to delays.

Experts estimate that a decade of violence in Congo has killed 5.4 million people, mainly through hunger and disease.

Confirmation of charges hearing postponed in the case against Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
International Criminal Court Press Release
April 28, 2008

Situation: Democratic Republic of Congo
Case: The Prosecutor vs. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui

Pre-Trial Chamber I has decided to postpone the commencement date of the confirmation hearing in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui to 27 June 2008, previously scheduled to commence on 21 May.

The judges considered the request of the Defence for Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui to postpone the date of this hearing, and decided to allow the parties sufficient time to properly prepare. There are also various issues pending before the Appeals Chamber that need to be ruled on before the start of the confirmation hearing.

The confirmation hearing is one stage of the criminal procedure before the Court which aims at ensuring that no case goes to trial unless there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed the crime with which he or she has been charged.

Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui are both being prosecuted for their alleged co-responsibility for the crimes allegedly committed during and in the aftermath of the joint attack on the village of Bogoro, Ituri, by the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) and the National Integrationist Front (FNI), on 24 February 2003.

ICC Warrant of Arrest unsealed against Bosco NTAGANDA
International Criminal Court Press Release
April 29, 2008

Situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case: The Prosecutor v. Bosco NTAGANDA

On 28 April 2008, upon request of the Prosecutor, Pre-Trial Chamber I unsealed the warrant of arrest against Mr. Bosco NTAGANDA, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (FPLC), and current alleged Chief of Staff of the Congrès national pour la défense du people (CNDP) armed group, active in North Kivu in the DRC.

“Bosco NTAGANDA is a former associate of Thomas LUBANGA DYILO. Today, he is active in the Kivus. We count on all concerned States authorities and actors to contribute to his arrest and surrender him to the Court” said the Prosecutor.

The sealed warrant was first issued on 22 August 2006 by Pre-Trial Chamber I. The Chamber concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that from July 2002 to end of December 2003, Mr. NTAGANDA had played an essential role in enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen years into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities.

Mr. NTAGANDA is the second person charged in connection with the OTP investigation into crimes allegedly committed by leaders of the FPLC armed group in the District of Ituri. The first suspect in this investigation, Mr. Thomas LUBANGA DYILO, President of the UPC (“Union des Patriotes Congolais”) and former Commander-in-chief of its military wing, the FPLC, was surrendered to the Court on 17 March 2006. He will be the first person to stand trial at the ICC, which is scheduled to start on 23 June 2008.

Bosco NTAGANDA is at large and allegedly continues to be implicated in the commission of crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is reported to have moved from the District of Ituri to the Province of North Kivu, into the Masisi area, where he has reportedly taken the position of Chief of Staff within the political-military group CNDP. The CNDP is a group under the command of Laurent NKUNDA.

The CNDP is one of the groups against which there are credible reports of serious crimes committed in the two Kivu provinces- including sexual crimes of unspeakable cruelty - as well as the FDLR forces, local armed groups and individual members of the regular army.

The Office of the Prosecutor is in the process of moving on to its third case in the DRC, with other applications for arrest warrants to follow in the coming months and years. In particular, we are collecting information about crimes committed in the North and South Kivu. We are also considering the role of those who organized and financed the militia.

“Bosco NTAGANDA committed crimes in Ituri; he is today in the Kivus. He must be arrested. Like all the other indicted criminals in Uganda and in the Sudan, he must be stopped if we want to break the system of violence. For such criminals, there must be no escape. Then peace will have a chance. Then victims will have hope” said the Prosecutor.

Today, it is for the relevant authorities in the DRC, and other countries as appropriate, with the support of the international community, to arrest him and facilitate his surrender to the ICC.

International Criminal Court Calls for Arrest of Militia Leader
UN News Service AllAfrica.com
30, 2008

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called for the arrest of a militia leader accused of forcibly enlisting children as soldiers to fight in the volatile, resource-rich Ituri district in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from July 2002 until the end of 2003.

The ICC's pre-trial chamber yesterday published an arrest warrant for Bosco Ntaganda, currently alleged to be chief of staff of the militia known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which has been active in Ituri and other parts of North Kivu province in the DRC. The warrant was first issued in August 2006, but remained secret until prosecutors this week asked the pre-trial chamber to unseal it.

Prosecutors said Mr. Ntaganda is a former associate of the militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who in June is scheduled to become the first person to go on trial at the ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court.

"Today, he [Mr. Ntaganda] is active in the Kivus," prosecutors said in a statement to the media released today. "We count on all concerned States authorities and actors to contribute to his arrest and surrender him to the Court."

Mr. Ntaganda is accused of playing a central role in enlisting and conscripting children aged below 15 into the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo (FPLC), another militia group, and of using those children in active hostilities in 2002-03.

Prosecutors said Mr. Ntaganda remains at large in the Kivus and continues to be implicated in crimes committed in the DRC.

"He must be arrested. Like all the other indicted criminals in Uganda and the Sudan, he must be stopped if we want to break the system of violence. For such criminals, there must be no escape. Then peace will have a chance. Then victims will have hope."

The CNDP, a political-military group under the command of Laurent Nkunda, a former general with the Congolese national forces, is one of several groups facing "credible reports," prosecutors say, of serious crimes, "including sexual crimes of unspeakable cruelty."

Deadly violence involving militias and Government forces has continued to plague North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, which are rich in resources and border Rwanda and Uganda, despite the official end to the DRC civil war in 2003.

[back to contents]

Uganda (ICC)

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

Arrest Kony and get peace, says ICC
The Monitor
By Hudson Apunyo
April 30, 2008

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has said it’s bad that enough has not been done to arrest Joseph Kony, yet if arrested there will be peace tomorrow.

He renewed his call for the arrest of fugitives from Uganda and Sudan wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Quoted by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, IWPR, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo lamented that it was sad that Kony was still free
“It is very bad [that] we are not doing enough to arrest Kony,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo said during a conference in Chicago last weekend.

He said the UN troops deployed in the eastern regions of the DRC be provided with Special Forces that could move against Kony and arrest him. He reportedly said it was a mistake to halt operations to capture Kony when peace talks began.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Talks Tough
IWPR
By Peter Eichstaedt
April 28, 2008

Luis Moreno-Ocampo pushes for arrest of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony as well as Sudanese suspects wanted by court.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, ICC, has renewed his call for the arrest of fugitives from Uganda and Sudan wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The responsibility for this is with the [member] states,” Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said during a conference in Chicago at the weekend, held to mark the tenth anniversary of the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute.

Moreno-Ocampo lamented that Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA, which has fought a 20-year war in northern Uganda, was still free.

“It is very bad [that] we are not doing enough to arrest Kony,” said Moreno-Ocampo, adding that if Kony is arrested, “we will have peace tomorrow”.

Kony and two others under his command are wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the insurgency.

Moreno-Ocampo described the LRA as “a small militia”, but one that had a big impact in central Africa.

“Massive crimes affect world security across borders and effect different regions of the world,” he said.

In a special report, IWPR confirmed last week that the LRA had resumed violence, looting and abducting civilians, and was operating in the Central African Republic, CAR, and Sudan as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has spent more than two years in the remote Garamba National Park. (See LRA Prepares for War, not Peace, AR No. 168, 24-Apr-08.)

Kony failed to make an appearance on April 10 to sign a peace agreement after nearly two years of talks. Subsequently, it transpired that the leader had not communicated with his peace negotiations team for months.

Moreno-Ocampo, meanwhile, suggested to IWPR that United Nations troops deployed in the eastern regions of DRC could “be provided with special forces” that could move against Kony and arrest him.

The chief prosecutor said efforts to capture Kony had been suspended as a result of the peace negotiations. One operation from two years ago ended in the death of eight Guatemalan soldiers serving with the UN peacekeepers in DRC.

In retrospect, he said, it had been a mistake to halt operations to capture the LRA leader when peace talks began.

“[The] effort was stopped before, but all negotiations did was lead to impunity,” Moreno-Ocampo told IWPR. “It allowed Kony to rebuild.”

While the chief prosecutor acknowledged there was a need for negotiations, he said that “never again” would he acquiesce to suspending international efforts to capture individuals against whom there were pending arrest warrants issued by the court.

According to former Ugandan peace negotiator Betty Bigombe, the LRA may be defeated and in a weak state, but it continues to be a regional problem.

Kony may meet mediators on May 10, apparently to resume peace talks, she said. Yet she admitted she was frustrated that the LRA leader had failed to sign the peace deal earlier this month, and had apparently resumed abductions.

Many people are doubtful that further meetings with Kony will be useful, she said. The rebel leader clearly only acts at his own time and convenience, she added.

Bigombe, who was Uganda’s primary contact with Kony for the Ugandan government from 1994 to 2004, said she feared a military attempt to capture Kony would be bloody.

Such a move, she said, “will come at some cost of lives.”

Bigombe would like to see a special police force set up for the ICC to enable it to detain its own suspects.

“Why can’t the ICC have its own forces to effect an arrest?” she asked. Such a force would mean the court did not have to rely on the cooperation of member countries, because “governments do not have the capacity to do so”.

“Today, we are frustrated and humiliated,” she said. “At the moment, [Kony] is holding the whole world hostage. We are all waiting to see what happens.”

Moreno-Ocampo said the international community also had to get tougher with Sudan, and push for the arrest of two individuals wanted by the court for crimes in connection with the ongoing war in the western region of Darfur.

The ICC has released warrants for Ahmed Haroun, a former interior minister who is now in charge of humanitarian affairs, and “janjaweed” militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.

The janjaweed are government-backed Arab militias which are implicated in widespread abuses in Darfur.

The two suspects are accused of inciting murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villagers in Darfur. Some two million people have been driven from the region and an estimated 200,000 have been killed or have died of war-related causes.

“Arresting Haroun today will break the criminal system in Darfur,” Moreno-Ocampo said.

However, he would not support military intervention to accomplish this. “Arresting a minister is not a military operation,” he said, “but a political one.”

Obtaining cooperation from the Sudanese government is unlikely to be successful since the country has refused to work with the ICC and does not recognise its legitimacy.

Moreno-Ocampo said he discussed the arrest warrants with Sudanese officials for two years before the documents were issued, and was told by Khartoum that “we cannot allow you to do a case in Darfur”.

The Argentine lawyer said he told Khartoum that he was going to act with or without their cooperation. The court, he said, has vast amounts of information against both Haroun and Kushayb, including eyewitnesses willing to testify against both men.

However, he has been frustrated by the lack of action to arrest either suspect.

“A soft approach is not working,” said Moreno-Ocampo. “We are not winning something by ignoring reality.”

At the Chicago conference, Moreno-Ocampo also discussed the third situation at the ICC, relating to DRC. He said the court’s recent decision not to hold portions of the upcoming trials of Congolese militia leaders in the DRC was due to security concerns.

In DRC, “protection of witnesses is the biggest problem today,” Moreno-Ocampo said, in reference to the upcoming trial of militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo which is due to begin in The Hague on June 23.

Rebel leaders Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are also in detention in The Hague, after being transferred by the DRC authorities.

Although the militia leaders were in ICC custody, Moreno-Ocampo said, their armed forces still operate on the ground and witnesses are in danger.

“They know our witnesses and are looking for them,” he said.

Moreno-Ocampo said he was optimistic that the ICC has had an impact in DRC and will continue to do so.

“One ruling will have an impact in the world,” he said.

The prosecutor’s increasingly aggressive posture may have been spurred by comments from the United States that it is willing to help arrest the Sudanese fugitives.

Also speaking in Chicago, John Bellinger, the chief legal advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said his government might be willing to do more than it has in the past to secure the Sudanese arrests.

“If there were something we were asked to do in addition to diplomatic activity,” Bellinger told IWPR, then the US would consider it.

When asked if that included military action, Bellinger told IWPR that he couldn’t say. However, he added that action “within the bounds of the law” was possible.

Bellinger said US involvement in Sudan was limited by laws that preclude American armed forces from being involved in situations that might result in them being prosecuted by international courts.

His comments signaled an apparent softening of US policy towards the ICC, which has been decidedly hostile in the past. Not only has Washington refused to sign the Rome Statute, it has secured approximately 70 agreements from ICC signatory countries that they will not hand over US citizens to the court.

Bellinger said the US wanted to help the ICC with Darfur because there was “no other way to achieve accountability” in Sudan for what Congress has called a genocide.

This stance was further endorsed by Richard Williamson, the US special envoy to Sudan.

“We have taken no robust action to stop a genocide in slow motion. We have failed our humanity in Darfur,” he said.

Williamson, who recently met Sudanese officials, said it was difficult to negotiate “with those who have blood on their hands”.

[back to contents]

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

Reports on location of ICTY archives sparks discussion in leading international justice forum.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
By Merdijana Sadovic
April 25, 2008

A series of reports on the future of the Hague tribunal archive, sparked debate in the legal community and prompted a written response from a Bosnian official.

The future of the archive of the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, is a hot topic. There are many different opinions on where this immensely important archive – much of which is top secret – should be stored once the tribunal closes its doors in 2010.

However, in ICTY Archive Must be Open to All, which was published in Tribunal Update, University of Michigan history professor Robert Donia and Sarajevo-based commentator Edina Becirevic suggested that its future location is less important than ensuring that the public had sufficient access to it.

The piece prompted Bosnian liaison officer with the tribunal Amir Ahmic to write to the project, underlining the importance of the archive’s future location to those in the region.

In his letter, the official said he believed it important that the archive remained under United Nations protection.

"I believe that Bosnia should officially take over the tribunal’s archive, but only after a strict agreement is signed with the UN, which would ensure that the archive would be under UN jurisdiction and control," he said.

"The UN would be obliged to help Bosnia and Herzegovina in establishing and building the centre where the archive would be stored and would also educate the local staff, while Bosnia would help in providing proper location, necessary permits and legal aid."

Ahmic also agreed with Donia and Becirevic’s argument that the archive should be open to all.

"All necessary steps must be taken before the ICTY closes down to ensure that the archive is available in full [hard copies and electronic files] not only to investigators, prosecutors and judges in the region, but to the victims as well, so that they can use the documents to initiate civil procedures in order to get compensation for their sufferings during the wars in the Nineties," said Ahmic.

However, he said there was only one suitable choice of location for its future home, "It is important that the original ICTY archive is placed in Sarajevo."

On March 28, the project’s Belgrade-based IWPR-trained contributor Aleksandar Roknic wrote another article about a conference held the week before in Serbia’s capital, at which the future of the tribunal archive was debated.

The Belgrade Humanitarian Law Fund, FHP, which organised the event, said the only solution was to send copies of the archive – excluding protected documents – to all the former Yugoslav states.

Roknic’s piece, Future of Hague Archive Debated, prompted various reactions.

Those who commented on the article in the International Justice Watch Discussion List had their own suggestions on where these documents should be stored. The list is an online forum on the work of international war crimes courts and international humanitarian law, in which legal scholars and experts take part.

One forum participant said that "the archive should be transferred to Vienna, because the UN has a huge facility there". He also pointed out that "access would still be quite easy from the region".

Another believed that "whatever the archive's future location may be, an effort should be made to make it readily available over the internet".

Another important development last month was the start of a cooperation arrangement with the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, which is republishing Tribunal Update reports in its online weekly publication.

They’ve expressed a particular interest in the project’s analytical reports as well as its coverage of the Hague trial of Serbian ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj.

This republication means that project output will now reach a wider audience in Serbia.

Serb ex-security chiefs enabled murder, court hears
Reuters
By Alexandra Hudson
April 28, 2008

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Two former Serbian intelligence chiefs gave their forces a "license to commit murder" and enabled some of the most grievous crimes of the Balkans war, prosecutors at the Hague Tribunal said on Monday.

Jovica Stanisic, head of the secret service of late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and Franko Simatovic, a commander of elite Serb forces, are accused of arming and training militias who committed atrocities against non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia.

"Mr Simatovic and Mr Stanisic were willing members in a core group of persons who showed the intent to remove large populations of non-Serbs by force ... by perpetrating the crimes of murder and persecution," Prosecutor Dermot Groome said in his opening statement.

"Milosevic was the central driving force behind this criminal enterprise," he said, adding Simatovic and Stanisic had a close working relationship with the former leader who died of a heart attack in 2006 before a verdict in his trial.

Both accused have pleaded not guilty.

The start of the trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal had been delayed four times over concerns relating to Stanisic's health, but a doctor advised he was fit to stand trial if he followed proceedings from a video link in his detention centre.

He has been suffering from kidney stones and depression.

It is hoped their trial will shed more light on Serbia's involvement in the fighting in Bosnia and Croatia during the wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995.

The two men are charged with directing some of the most notorious militias of the wars including the Scorpions, the Red Berets and Arkan's Tigers. The indictment lists hundreds of execution-style murders.

SCORPIONS' KILLINGS

Groome showed a brief clip from a notorious video first shown at Milosevic's trial of the murder of six Muslims by the Scorpions after the fall of the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia.

"The perpetrators of these crimes were not paramilitaries, not a band of common criminals. No, the perpetrators of these crimes ... were a well-organized and equipped group, part of the units of the State Security Service of the Republic of Serbia," Groome said.

This had left many Serbs wondering how it was possible that some of the most grievous crimes committed during the war were committed in their name by men paid by the government, he added.

Declarations of independence by Croatia and Bosnia led Milosevic to require a paramilitary force that could ethnically cleanse parts of these countries to create "pure areas" for Serbs.

"If the state is going to engage in criminal conduct it will use its secret service to engage in that conduct," Groome said.

Stanisic, 57, and Simatovic, 58, were arrested by Serb police in 2003 for suspected links with organized crime in a sweep following the assassination of reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic, who had infuriated ultranationalists by sending Milosevic to The Hague.

They were indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal soon after that and transferred to the court.

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, edited by Richard Meares)

ICTY prosecution appeals Haradinaj's acquittal
Southeast European Times
May 2, 2008

Appealing parts of the acquittal of three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, including former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, UN prosecutors called Friday for their retrial on six war crimes charges.

UN prosecutors appealed Friday (May 2nd) parts of the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

A month after the trial, they urged judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to reopen the case on six of the 37 counts of war crimes they faced. Prosecutors, who had sought 25-year jail sentences for each of the accused -- Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj -- cited witness intimidation as a factor in the trial.

"Within the next 75 days, a more extensive document will follow; it will speak in detail about all the arguments the prosecution will use," Belgrade-based B92 quoted chief UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz's spokeswoman, Olga Kavran, as saying Friday.

On April 3rd, a three-member panel acquitted Haradinaj and Balaj of all charges, while Brahimaj received a six-year sentence for torture and cruelty.

Prosecutors accused the three of participation between March and September 1998 in a joint criminal enterprise, whose aim was to ensure the KLA's total control over the Dukagjin operative zone. They also alleged that, to achieve that goal, Haradinaj and his associates committed a host of war crimes, including murder, unlawful removal, torture and rape of ethnic Serb and Roma civilians, as well as of Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian forces.

Haradinaj, the overall commander of KLA forces in the Dukagjin area at that time, was prime minister of Kosovo in March 2005, when the ICTY unsealed his indictment. He resigned immediately and surrendered voluntarily to The Hague.

At the end of the trial last month, presiding Judge Alphons Orie alleged witness intimidation throughout the process. Some witnesses refused to testify. Of the 81 people who gave evidence, 34 had protected status.

Evidence presented by the prosecution "did not always allow the chamber to conclude whether a crime was committed or whether the KLA was involved as alleged," the judges said.

The verdict took severe criticism from Belgrade, with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica describing it as a "mockery of justice".

When Brammertz visited Belgrade after replacing Carla del Ponte, Serbian President Boris Tadic voiced hope that the UN prosecution would appeal the verdict.

"My office is currently studying the 300-page judgment to assess possible grounds to appeal," the Belgian lawyer said.

UN prosecutors, Brammertz noted, expressed discontent with the judges' ruling. They could not present all of their evidence, as several witnesses refused to show up in court. Kavran said Friday that appeals had no deadline but that the decision process "could take months or over a year".

War Crimes fugitives in Serbia’s reach – prosecutor
Reuters
By Ellie Tzortzi
May 4, 2008

BELGRADE, May 4 (Reuters) - Serbia could arrest four war crimes fugitives still on the run from the Hague tribunal, including top suspect Ratko Mladic who is likely in the country, the U.N. chief prosecutor was quoted on Sunday as saying.

The arrests are key to Serbia's progress towards European Union membership. A pact on closer ties, signed between Belgrade and the bloc last week, is due to go into effect only when all, and especially Mladic, are brought to trial.

Hague chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, the arbiter of whether Serbia is doing its best to capture the four men, told Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti "there is no reason to believe Mladic is not in Serbia."

"His support network is (in Serbia), his family is in Serbia, and that is where he was last seen," Brammertz said.

Along with his political boss Radovan Karadzic, Bosnian wartime commander Mladic is indicted on two counts of genocide, for the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims and for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

Commenting on the other fugitives -- Karadzic, Stojan Zupljanin and Goran Hadzic -- Brammertz told the paper the tribunal believes that "Serbia can get to all three".

"During meetings in Belgrade we received detailed information about a recent raid confirming Zupljanin was in Serbia," he said.

The fugitives' families and support networks were in Serbia, he added, so there was no reason to believe they were far away.

Brammertz, a Belgian, took over the Hague post in January and is due to make his first formal report on Serbia's cooperation to the U.N. Security Council in the coming weeks.

He replaced Switzerland's fiery Carla del Ponte, who for eight years put relentless pressure on Belgrade to deliver the fugitives. Many Serb nationalists consider Mladic and Karadzic heroes for their role in the Yugoslav wars. (Writing by Ellie Tzortzi; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Rights group: New information warrants investigation into claims Serbs were killed for organs
International Herald Tribune
May 5, 2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo: A human rights watchdog said Monday that new evidence has emerged to warrant an investigation into claims that ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo killed Serbs and sold their organs at the end of the war in Kosovo.

Human Rights Watch said it had information that bolsters allegations of abductions and cross-border transfers from Kosovo to Albania in June 1999.

At the time, NATO and the U.N. were moving in to Kosovo at the end of the war between separatist rebels and Serbian forces.

The claims first appeared in a book by former U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who wrote that she had been told by "credible journalists" of such an organ trafficking scheme.

Del Ponte wrote that, according to the sources, Kosovo Albanians transported between 100 and 300 people — most of them Serb civilians — by truck from Kosovo to a house near the Albanian town of Burrel, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the capital, Tirana.

At the house, "doctors extracted the captives' internal organs," Del Ponte said in the recently published book, "The Hunt: War Criminals and Me," according to the rights group.

Human Rights Watch said it had reviewed the inquiries conducted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the U.N.-run justice department in Kosovo and concluded that the claims should be fully investigated.

"Serious and credible allegations have emerged about horrible abuses in Kosovo and Albania after the war," Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher with the New York-based rights watchdog, said in a statement.

He said the governments in both Pristina and Tirana need to "show their commitment to justice and the rule of law by conducting proper investigations."

Human Rights Watch sent a letter in April to the prime ministers of Kosovo and Albania urging them to examine the claims, but said it received no response.

The group said it viewed information obtained by the tribunal from the journalists, including statements from seven ethnic Albanians guerrillas who "gave details about participating in or witnessing the transfer of abducted Serbs and others prisoners."

It also said it obtained a report by U.N. investigators in Kosovo who found an empty intravenous bag, syringes and empty bottles of medicine in a stream bed next to the house.

The U.N. investigators who inspected the house in 2002-2003 also found traces of blood, but were unable to determine if the blood was human and concluded the evidence was not substantial enough to support the claims.

Tribunal spokeswoman Olga Kavran said Monday that the court had no additional comment to make beyond a statement it released April 16 to say that it had looked into the allegations but found no substantial evidence to support them.

However, she said Monday that the tribunal has received requests for assistance or information from Serbian authorities and from the United Nations mission in Kosovo.

The U.N. in Kosovo was not immediately available to confirm whether it is investigating the claims.

The rights group insisted there was enough evidence to back the allegations.

"Collecting reliable evidence to launch a criminal prosecution and collecting evidence that adds weight to assertions are two different things," Abrahams said. "The evidence found near Burrel clearly adds weight to the assertions."

Kosovo's assembly said it would convene in the coming weeks to consider whether to sue Del Ponte for allegedly "tarnishing the image" of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, according to Kosovo legislators.

On Monday, Kosovo's deputy prime minister, Hajredin Kuqi, said it was up to prosecutors to investigate the allegations, not the government.

"We are not giving the chance to somebody to put some bad image on Kosovo's future, on Kosovo's policies or Kosovo's past," Kuqi said. "We have no facts, we have no data and we are not moving just because of speculation."

Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha has called the allegations "inventions and absurdities," but the rights group claimed Albania's top diplomat was withholding evidence.

It said Basha "personally investigated reports of detention facilities in northern Albania," at a time when he worked for the U.N.-run justice department in Kosovo, before beginning a political career.

Hundreds of Serbs and ethnic Albanians are still missing from Kosovo's 1998-99 war.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. Its split has been recognized by the United States and the bulk of nations in the European Union. Serbia and its ally Russia oppose Kosovo's statehood.

[back to contents]

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

Former Rwandan Mayor Arrested in Germany
Hirondelle News Agency
April 28, 2008

Onesphore Rwabukombe, former Mayor of Muvumba commune, eastern Rwanda, was arrested in Germany last Thursday, according to Rwandan state radio.

The former official had been in the Rwandan government’s wanted list, accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between 1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994.

The radio quoted Jean Bosco Mutangana, spokesperson for prosecution, for the arrest.

Mr Rwabukombe was also accused of complicity with Jean Baptist Gatete, former Mayor of Murambi, in the massacres of ethnic Tutsis in Murambi and in the Parish of Nyarubuye.

Gatete has been indicted by the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the Prosecutor has already filed a motion to request his transfer to Kigali to stand a trial. The motion was yet to be heard by the Chamber.

However, According to a member of Gatete’s defence team questioned Monday in Arusha, Rwabukombe has not been mentioned in the indictment against Gatete.

Germany has no extradition agreement with Rwanda. However Mr Mutangana said that Germany had an obligation to either try him or extradite the accused because it has signed the international convention against genocide.

If Mr Rwabukombe was to be extradited to Rwanda, he would be tried by a Gacaca court, because according to the new law being revised, his status as a communal official places him in the second category of offenders.

The arrest comes just a week after the visit of the Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, to Germany.

During a press conference in Berlin, President Kagame, according to AFP, also denounced the presence on German territory of Ignace Murwanashyaka, leader of FDLR, an armed rebel group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, accused of being composed of former members of the Rwandan army and interahamwe militiamen.

Wanted for crimes of genocide, Muwanashyaka was arrested on 7 April 2006, then released after being briefly detained in Mannheim.

Chancellor Angela Merkel responded that Germany was following the situation very closely in connection with Muwanashyaka. The latter, reported AFP, claimed was a student in Germany during the 1994 genocide.

ICTR Could Face Many Requests for Review
Hirondelle News Agency
May 2, 2008

Eight months before the end of its mandate, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) could be confronted with an abrupt increase in the requests for review following the many revelations of false testimony that have occurred in several trials.

Theoretically a request for review can only be based on a "new fact"; but this concept can be flexible, as it was demonstrated in the review of the decision concerning Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, founding member of the RTLM.

ICTR has only known this case of judgment review. But considering the increasing number of witnesses affirming today to have lied in their testimonies, persons who were convicted might be tempted to have recourse to this procedure.

It is of a particular importance because it calls into question the fundamental principle in criminal law of res judicata. This principle prevents the same case from being tried again.

The judgment brings "into force res judicata" when the recourses for appeal are exhausted. The review of such a judgment is authorized by the Statute of the Tribunal, as well as by the Rules of Procedure and Evidence in exceptional cases and in particular with the aim of repairing an injustice.

The conditions of review are framed by Articles 25 of the Statute and 120 to 123 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal.

Barayagwiza, tried afterwards in the so called "Media Trial", had been acquitted in November 1999 by the Appeals Chamber which had answered favourably to the prejudicial exception by which he disputed the legality of his arrest in Cameroon and his detention. In front of the outrage in Kigali provoked by this decision, and the protests which were multiplying in Rwanda, the Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, asked for a review of this decision.

On 30 March 2000, the Appeals Chamber revised its ruling and, thus, quashed the acquittal of Barayagwiza. The new fact that was brought forth has not really remained memorable.

In this decision, the Appeals Chamber took care to point out all the criteria required for the examination of such a request. Four, enumerated by Article 120 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal, must come together:

"Where a new fact has been discovered; this new fact must not have been known by the moving party at the time of the proceedings before a Trial Chamber; the new fact could not have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence by the moving party, and, moreover, the moving party must prove that the new fact could have been a decisive element in the decision taken by the Trial Chamber".

The Chamber with the jurisdiction to examine a request for review is that which gave the final judgment targeted by the request. The Appeals Chamber reminded that only a final judgment, meaning "a decision which puts an end to the procedure", is allegeable for review. Barayagwiza, thus, saw the review of his ruling be rejected.

If the Chamber decides to revise the judgment, it thus renders another one. The Rules of Procedure and Evidence also envision that if it is the Trial Chamber judgment which was re-examined, then the new decision is allegeable for appeal.

Although regularly accused of hearing false testimonies, the ICTR has tried its first case, late last year, in case of Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, former Minister for Culture and Education (who has been sentenced to imprisonment for remainder of his life). The case had been tried in appeal and the judges had taken the precaution to reject the concerned testimony. But since then, and in several cases, witnesses have been going back on their testimonies. Also, this procedure should not be long in interesting the defendants convicted on the basis of these testimonies that have been called into question.

The facts at the origin of the request for review must be "authentically new" and not "complementary elements of evidence that is presented to corroborate a fact" (Barayagwiza, § 42). Thus, the simple discovery after the fact of the evidence of a fact known at the time of the trial does not constitute in itself a new fact within the meaning of Article 119 of the Rules.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has had several requests for review, but none have been granted. In the Blaskic case, the Appeals Chamber summarizes existing jurisprudence on the qualification of the new facts in these terms: "A new fact is comprised of all new elements of information tending to prove a fact which was not raised at the time of the procedure in first instance or appeal ". The fact in question "should not form part of the elements which the Chamber that rendered the decision could have held into account to form its judgment". In other words, "[what] is important to determine, is if the Chamber which rendered the decision [was] aware of this fact or not" (Blaskic, Decision on Prosecutor's Request for Review or Reconsideration, ICTY, 23 November, 2006).

In this case, the Chamber considered that the facts presented were not new because they had been already debated.

The referred Chamber must then "decide if the new fact, if it was thus decided, could have constituted a decisive element". If this is the case, it could then revise its judgment. All the demands for review which were rejected were done so because the motive fact could not be regarded as new. While persons convicted can ask for the review of their final judgment without a temporal condition, the prosecutor must do so within a year of the judgment.

Still it is necessary that he can do so. The ICTR registry recently announced to persons that have been convicted that they did not have the right to a lawyer after their final judgment.

Rwanda: Gov't Welcomes French Court Ruling to Transfer Key Fugitive
The New Times
By Felly Kimenyi
May 9, 2008

The Justice Minister has lauded the decision by the Court of Appeal of Paris to transfer former Sous-prefect of Gisagara in the Southern Province, Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for trial. Ntawukuriryayo lost an appeal in France's highest court, meaning that the ruling marks the end of his legal efforts to thwart the extradition.

"It is a good decision. He had his chance to plead his case right from the Court of First Instance," said Tharcisse Karugarama who is also the Attorney General.

He said that the decision showcases a good sign of judicial cooperation between the ICTR and the French authorities.

He urged the French judiciary to take a bold step and transfer some of the suspects who are staying in France to Rwanda for trial.

"This should only be the beginning to show further cooperation, it should not only stop with the ICTR. We are waiting for the day when they will decide to transfer suspects to Rwanda," added the minister.

Ntawukuriryayo was arrested on October 16 in Carcassonne, south-west France, under an arrest warrant issued by ICTR in September last year.

His arrest followed those of former parish priest of St Famille church, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and the former Prefet (Governor) of the former Gikongoro, Laurent Bucyibaruta.

The UN tribunal has however requested that Munyeshyaka, who was tried and convicted in absentia by the Rwanda Military Tribunal, be tried by French courts.

Munyeshyaka was convicted together with Maj. Gen Laurent Munyakazi over their responsibility in the killing of thousands who had sought refuge at the St Famille church during the Genocide.

Bucyibaruta is indicted for the massacre of over 25,000 Tutsi who had camped at Kabuye Hill, Southern Province, between 21 and 25 April 1994.

The ICTR which was established by the United Nations Security Council to try key architects of the Genocide, has until December this year before its mandate expires and it still has trials that have not yet began.

Apart from the three, France also has in its custody two other key Genocide suspects who were arrested on warrants issued by Rwanda's Office of the Prosecutor General.

They are former businessman Claver Kamana and Lt Col Marcel Bivugabagabo, a senior member of the former Rwandan army (Ex-FAR).

Last month, a French court ruled that Kamana be extradited to Rwanda but he has since appealed against this verdict in a higher court.

The Office of the Prosecutor, through the recently established Genocide Fugitives Tracking Team, has issued several arrest warrants against various fugitives most of are believed to be in European countries.

Rwanda: Fugitive Kabuga Still Makes Merry
The East African Standard
By Partick Wachira
May 10, 2008

(Nairobi) Wanted for genocide in his country, fugitive Felicien Kabuga has been said to be in Kenya on several occassions. Last week, it emerged that he has business ventures here. How the whole world could be after him without success.

That wanted Rwanda genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga has business interests in Kenya must be disturbing to many.

It has emerged that the genocide suspect has been collecting a cool Sh50 million in rent from apartments he is said to own in the posh Kilimani area of Nairobi, and other business ventures.

The apartment owned by Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga and his wife Mukazitoni Josephine in Kilimani, Nairobi.

This means that claims that he may be in Kenya may be true, much as the authorities consistently deny.

The last time Kabuga appeared in the news, six months ago, was when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said the fugitive might have resided in Kenya "at some point in time."

ICTR Spokesman, Mr Roland Amoussouga, told the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Kampala, Uganda, that there was "credible information" that Kabuga lived in Kenya at some stage in his long years of hiding.

Kabuga has a $5 million bounty on his head and is wanted for genocide crimes in his country, where close to one million people were killed.

It is not clear if the search for the man has been ongoing and in what countries, but Amoussouga said Kabuga's son-in-law was arrested in Germany early this year, giving some hope to the ICTR.

On Wednesday, Attorney-General, Mr Amos Wako, successfully sought court orders to freeze Kabuga's assets and proceeds from his apartments, managed by the Kenya FinanceTrust Company.

Curiously, the company has no physical address, but has been collecting some Sh290,000 every three months. The money is then banked into Commercial Bank of Africa and wired to an account in Belgium, according to the court proceedings.

The big question, therefore, is could Kabuga and his wife, Josephine Mukazitoni, be enjoying a luxurious life here, while the whole world is looking for them?

If that is the case, is the world really looking for him and where?

Kabuga reportedly bought the machetes used in the Rwanda genocide, which makes his participation as culpable as can be under the law. Amoussouga said Kabuga was still being "actively sought."

His snapshot, showing his greying hair at the temples, was widely circulated in police networks at the height of his search. But more than 14 years after the genocide, the search has yielded nothing.

That Kabuga may have been in Kenya, captured the national imagination in 2002-2003, but the Government did little to either probe the issue or placate the rumours.

Denial

The Government steadfastly denied that the genociduer was on Kenyan soil. The denial sort of aided the speculation, making it look like a Hollywood movie scene, rife with suspense, drama and intrigue.

The matter would have ended there, but a Kenyan journalist, William Gichuki Munuhe, was found murdered in his Karen house in February 2003.

It emerged that Munuhe had hatched a high profile plot to lure Kabuga out of his hideout and deliver the fugitive to the law. As anyone could guess, Munuhe would have pocketed over Sh300 million.

But something went tragically wrong. The hunted man apparently sensed danger and went after his pursuers.

Munuhe was found dead in his apartment, with a charcoal stove in the same room. Apparently, his killers wanted it to look like he died from carbon monoxide fumes.

But his relatives insisted Munuhe never had such a stove, nor did he use any such apparatus to cook.

Days later, it emerged that just before Kabuga could be ensnarled, Munuhe lost contact with his collaborators and calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

The police sensed something was terribly amiss and they went to his house, where they found that he had been dead for hours.

Since Munuhe was said to have been working alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigations, it did not make sense that the scheme could have been bungled so easily.

[back to contents]

Iraqi High Tribunal

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

Iraq opens trial against Aziz, others over merchant slayings
Associated Press via Washington Post
By Sameer N. Yacoub
April 29, 2008

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi court on Tuesday opened the trial of Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's best-known lieutenants, and seven other defendants facing charges in the 1992 execution of dozens of merchants.

But the court quickly adjourned because a co-defendant, Saddam's cousin known as "Chemical Ali," was too ill to attend. The trial was scheduled to resume May 20.

Aziz, the international face of Saddam's regime for more than a decade as foreign minister and other posts, entered the court room leaning on a walking stick.

Aziz, 72, and the other defendants present, including Saddam's half brother Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, were placed in a wooden pen and stood as the judge read their names and discussed legal issues.

No formal charges were read. Aziz and the others are facing charges stemming from the 1992 executions of 42 merchants accused by Saddam's government of being behind a sharp increase in food prices when the country was under strict U.N. sanctions.

If convicted, the defendants could face a sentence of death by hanging.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, who gained the nickname Chemical Ali for ordering chemical attacks on Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s, is already under a death sentence.

The presiding judge, Raouf Abdul-Rahman, said doctors had signed a medical report saying al-Majid was in critical condition and needed some three weeks to recover. Under Iraqi law, all defendants are supposed to attend the first session of a trial.

The U.S. military said Monday that al-Majid is under medical care at an American detention facility after suffering a heart attack during a hunger strike earlier this month.

Aziz's Italian lawyer, Giovanni Di Stefano, said his client has denied the accusations.

Di Stefano was one of several non-Arab attorneys who took part in the legal defense of Saddam, who was hanged on the last day of 2006.

Di Stefano said in a statement posted on his Web site that Aziz's lawyers have not received any notification of court hearings.

Human Rights Watch urged Iraq to hold a fair trial, saying the Iraqi High Tribunal in the past has "squandered" the opportunity to build a system of impartial justice.

"To achieve justice for the immense crimes committed by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Iraqi High Tribunal has an obligation to act fairly, independently and credibly," said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program.

Controversy over tribunal's justice
BBC News
By Rob Watson
April 29, 2008

To many outside Iraq, Tariq Aziz was the face and voice of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Fluent in English, he was the man sent to defend Iraq at the UN and around the world.

Now he stands accused of being part of the murder of 42 merchants in 1992 after they were blamed for raising food prices.

Though his detractors say he was clearly implicated in the crimes of the regime, others argue he was far more of a figurehead and never really part of Saddam's inner circle.

His trial, the fourth to be held by the Iraqi High Tribunal, may well be the last of well-known figures from the Saddam era.

Controversial justice

The tribunal has already handed down death sentences to several key figures including Saddam Hussein himself, who was executed along with two of his aides in 2006.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as "Chemical Ali", has also been sentenced to death for his role in the gassing of Kurds in 1998.

But controversy continues to surround the meting out of justice to former regime members.

Chemical Ali has yet to be executed in part because of a dispute surrounding the fate of two Sunni generals sentenced alongside him, including the former defence minister, Sultan Hashem Ahmad.

'Pack of cards'

The generals are popular among some Sunnis, who are anxious not to see them executed.

The Americans are also reluctant, having promised Gen Hashem he would be well treated when he surrendered to US forces after the invasion.

Both Sunni politicians and the Americans are pressing their cases with the Shia-dominated government in a dilemma that goes to the heart of modern-day Iraq.

More broadly, the tribunals have been criticised by international human rights and legal groups who have argued variously that either international lawyers should have been present or that the trials should have been conducted by the UN without the possible penalty of death.

The Americans and the Iraqis have countered, however, that it is a central principle of international law that trials should be conducted at a national level wherever possible.

As to the rest of the Pentagon's famous "pack of cards" of the most wanted regime members, nine are still unaccounted for, including Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the "King of Clubs".

Five are dead, including Saddam Hussein's two sons Uday and Qusay, and most of the others remain in custody.

Official: Saddam cousin Chemical Ali too sick for new trial
Associated Press via Google
By Sameer N. Yacoub
April 29, 2008

BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi government official says Saddam Hussein's cousin known as "Chemical Ali" is too sick to attend a trial to face new charges in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants.

Ali Hassan al-Majid faces charges with former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and six other defendants. The trial is to begin Tuesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, says al-Majid is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.

Al-Majid's defense team also says he's too ill to stand trial. He has been sentenced to hang for his role in separate case.

The U.S. military says al-Majid is under medical care at an American detention facility after suffering a heart attack earlier this month.

The Big Question: As Tariq Aziz goes on trial, who is left from Saddam Hussein's regime?
The Independent
By Patrick Cockburn
April 30, 2008

Why are we asking this now?

Tariq Aziz, the most articulate spokesman for Saddam Hussein's regime, went on trial in Baghdad yesterday. The 72-year-old is accused of being responsible for the execution in 1992 of 42 merchants, who allegedly raised food prices for no reason at a time when Iraq was under international sanctions. Aziz is on trial with eight others, including Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, and Ali Hassan al-Majid – also known as "Chemical Ali". Al-Majid is already on death row, having been convicted last year of leading a campaign in which tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds were massacred in the late 1980s. He is too ill to attend court because he has high blood pressure and diabetes.

Aziz, who was not a key decision-maker in Saddam's regime, is accused of signing the execution orders as a member of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council – but he would have had no choice but to do so. It is unlikely he would have been directly responsible for ordering the executions. Indeed, it was one of the few mass killings for which Saddam was mildly apologetic. His victims were later referred to as "martyrs of the moment of rage".

What is the significance of these trials?

They are important because they underline the determination of the Shia-Kurdish government to bring to justice the Baathist leaders who persecuted them for so long. Iraq's new rulers see all of Saddam's ruling Baathist elite as being guilty of hideous crimes. But the trials also emphasise the depth of the divisions between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq.

In Saddam's birthplace, Awaja, schoolgirls threw flowers on his grave and sang songs in praise of him this week. But for all of the Kurds, and most of the Shias, Saddam and his lieutenants were the equivalent of Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler. Many Sunnis see these trials, particularly of those leaders not directly involved in security, as a sign that none of their community has a place in the new Iraq.

What is left of Saddam's regime?

The Baathist regime which held power from 1968 to 2003 was destroyed by the US-led invasion of 2003. In the final war, even its most elite military detachments did not fight and went home. It was very much a family government, whose inner core consisted of Saddam (executed at the end of 2006) and his sons Uday and Qusay, who were trapped in a house in Mosul in 2003 and killed in a gun battle. Other top members of Saddam's government were his three half-brothers and more distant cousins such as Ali Hassan al-Majid. The important survivors of the regime who still matter did not feature in the pack of "most wanted" cards issued to US troops (though the former vice-president, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, is still on the run) but younger men. These are the majors and colonels from Saddam's security services who have been at the heart of the resistance to the occupation.

What was the long-term outcome of Saddam's trial and execution?

The gruesome execution of Saddam and the jeers of his executioners in December 2006 excited sympathy among the Iraqi Sunnis and abroad. Iraqis have become so used to appalling violence that they were probably less shocked by the hanging than many foreigners. They also spend most of their time worrying about the violence that threatens them and their families and not that done to the old dictator.

Many Iraqis say their lives were safer under Saddam but this does not mean they want him back. They know he ruined their country. The Americans orchestrated Saddam's trial, although they wanted it to have an Iraqi face. These days, the US has less enthusiasm for trying and executing former Iraqi leaders because its policy is to conciliate the Sunnis, including former insurgents who have denounced violence and allied themselves with the Americans.

Will Tariq Aziz be given a fair trial?

Iraq is still engulfed in war and no trial will be regarded as fair by all of the population. Evidence is difficult to collect. Saddam seldom gave a direct order for mass killings, although it is known that atrocities such as the murders of 150,000 Shias after the uprising of 1991, would not have taken place without his instructions.

There was more evidence against Chemical Ali, who gassed 180,000 Kurds in 1988-89, because government archives were captured during the Kurdish uprising of 1991. Those giving evidence know that they and their families might be killed. The trials are not fair but then neither was Nuremburg.

Should the trials be stopped because they inflame hatreds?

No. The problem for the US and Iraqi governments is that instead of pursuing the 5,000 leading henchmen of Saddam's regime in 2003, they targeted the whole Sunni community of six million people. The army and security services were dissolved and former officers reduced to selling their furniture in order to feed their families. Not surprisingly, they joined the resistance.

The Americans are now pressing the Iraqi government to re-employ many of these former Baathists but it is doubtful this will happen. Here, the trials are more a symptom than a cause. Most former Baathist officers do not fear a formal trial as much as being shot dead on their doorsteps – as has happened to thousands of them. But there are very real criminals who killed and tortured at Saddam's command who should be brought to justice.

How will history judge Saddam and his lieutenants?

Saddam Hussein was a monster. He seized power in a country with enormous oil reserves, a well-educated population and an efficient administration – and then ruined it. There was no need for him to crush any sign of dissent as if it was an attempted coup. His regime prided itself on its violence. It recorded its most vicious crimes on video tape.

Saddam was in some ways like Stalin, but there was also an element of Inspector Clouseau about him: he launched disastrous wars and described humiliating defeats as victories. But many Iraqis find it difficult to believe the revulsion expressed by the British and US governments at Saddam's crimes against humanity following the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, when the West had said so little about them previously. For instance, George Bush laments Saddam's use of poison gas at Halabja, which killed 5,000 civilian Kurds in 1988. But the US and Britain said so little to condemn Iraq's use of poison gas against Iranian soldiers and civilians during the Iran-Iraq war that, in practice, they were complicit in its use.

So does this trial bring the Saddam chapter to a close?

Yes...

* It shows that Saddam Hussein's regime really did lose the war and is not coming back.

* If the executions go ahead, there will soon be few of the old leadership left alive.

* The trials send out a clear message about the strength of the present Iraqi government.

No...

* The legacy of Saddam Hussein and of the events that took place during his rule still affects every aspect of Iraqi life.

* Most Sunni and many Shia Muslims see the trials as victors' justice, so they cannot be regarded as fair.

* Many of Saddam's supporters will never accept the present government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

[back to contents]

Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)

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

Liberia: "Taylor Must Be Treated Innocent"
The News
April 28, 2008

As defendant Charles Taylor answers to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Liberia's Information Minister has cautioned the media in Sierra Leone and Liberia to treat Taylor as innocent until the court determines otherwise.

Liberian Information Minister Dr. Laurence K. Bropleh told about 50 Liberian and Sierra Leonean journalists that Mr. Taylor was a former head of state, and as such, the media should not be seen as propagating sentiment either for or against the accused.

The Liberian and Sierra Leonean journalists gathered at the Krystal Overview Hotel in Mamba Point to participate in a three-day media training on International Tribunals and International Criminal Proceedings organized by the Advocates for International Development (A4ID) in collaboration with the International Center for Media Studies and Development in West Africa (INCEMSADWA).

Speaking at the opening of the training which basically centered on "Reporting the Taylor Trial in a Balanced, Fair and Objective Context", Minister Bropleh said media coverage on Taylor's trial demands optimal professional and ethical standard.

"The stories you write, the interviews and questions you ask, and the analyses you provide, indeed, have seroius implications in our both countries," Bropleh noted.

He wants the media to see itself as a critical linchpin to the agenda of making post-conflict Liberia and Sierra Leone success stories.

Dr. Bropleh called on the media in both countries to devise a mechanism whereby there can be monitoring and evaluation of both media coverage during the trial in The Hague.

"We can establish an independent group to assess the performance of the coverage during the trial and its impact on the publics in Liberia and Sierra Leone," Dr. Bropleh suggested.

He observed that the media training was significant because, according to him, it will improve their knowledge and understanding of the working of international justice system.

He assured the Liberian government's committment to due process and a free and fair trial of all of its citizens including Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor stands accused of an eleven count charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, terroror, rape, sexual slavery, as well as conscripting child soldiers into armed forces, among others.

Taylor has since denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.

Sierra Leone: Ex-Child Soldier Tells of Harrowing Experience
Concord Times
By Adolphus Williams
May 7, 2008

The trial of the former Liberian leader, Charles Taylor resumed at The Hague on Monday after a three-day Dutch holiday break, with the prosecution putting a former child soldier in the witness stand.

The new prosecution witness, known only as TF1-143, is taking questions from the prosecution and testifying to alleged cruel treatments of civilians by rebel soldiers blamed on Mr Taylor.

The witness alleged that AFRC/RUF rebels used razor blades to mark some 50 boys and girls from among 150 abducted in Koinadugu District.

The former child combatant, now aged 22 years, said children were later assigned to various rebel commanders.

"When they started to mark us, the first person that they marked among us, they carved on his forehead 'AFRC' and on his chest 'RUF'", he said.

Under cross-examination, he said he was marked himself. He also narrated how he took orders from a rebel commander known as Kabila who had instructed him to rape an old lady, which he refused and for which he was punished.

He continued: "We met an old woman there, so Kabila ordered me to rape [her] and I started crying Because the old woman could - was able to give birth to my own mother... At that time I had not even started sex. At that time I didn't even have a girlfriend... So he punished me. He asked me to lie down under the sun and open my eyes for the rest of the day...He took me into a bush and he defecated and asked me to eat it up, because he said I had started disobeying his orders.

He said I would never have peace in my life. He said if I did not do that he would kill me and leave me there and if anybody asked him he would tell that person that I had run away." He said at this point he complied.

The witness said he was given tablets to strengthen his courage to using a machete to cut off limbs and kill civilians The cross-examination continues.

Courtesy of BBC World Service Trust and Search for Common Ground

Ex-vice president to testify at Liberia war crimes trial
AFP via Yahoo! News
May 8, 2008

THE HAGUE - Ex-Liberian vice-president Moses Blah is to testify May 13 at the trial against his former boss and war crimes suspect Charles Taylor, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) said Thursday.

"Blah will likely take the stand by Tuesday 13 May, depending on the testimony of the preceding witness," said SCSL in a statement.

Blah was Charles Taylor's vice-president and then became president himself in 2003, before being forced into exile in Nigeria later the same year.

His testimony could be particularly useful for shedding light on Taylor's relationship with the Revolutionary United Forces (RUF), the SCSL said.

Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and recruiting child soldiers. He is currently on trial in The Hague for what the prosecution presents as a key role in supporting and controlling the RUF, which ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 and 2001.

The former war lord allegedly funded and armed the RUF in exchange for diamonds and other resources, while rebels terrorised civilians by cutting off arms, legs, ears and noses, leaving thousands of people mutilated.

Taylor's trial before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone was moved from Freetown to The Hague because there were fears his presence in the African country could destabilize the region.

Tears Flow At Taylor's Trial
Concord Times
By Alphonsus Zeon
May 9, 2008

THE HAGUE - Prosecution witness at the trial of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, broke down in tears in the middle of her testimony in court on Wednesday as she gave a graphic description of yet more rebel atrocities.

The witness, known only as TF1-028, told the Special Court sitting in The Hague that there was no shortage in the cruel acts of the AFRC/RUF rebels in their dealings with civilians.

When she began narrating how her two uncles were allegedly killed by rebels with machetes, tears streamed down her cheek.

"I saw my uncle lying down. He had been hacked on his neck... he was saying, 'God is great' ... then I saw my other uncle ... my uncle was asking what his elder brother had done when they hacked him... then they hacked him across his face, saying that was the answer...[and] he died," she said.

She narrated another incident in which rebels beat up people in Karina town, and dropped a burning plastic on the body of her brother. The rebels allegedly raped small girls and killed people.

The witness said that in one instance a boy was killed for simply taking soap without permission to wash. He was tied up on the orders of a rebel commander and "dragged like a goat" to the bush where, despite pleas that he would be taking his school leaving O level exams in the following year, they shot him dead.

Prosecution lawyer Shyamala Alagendra is expected to continue the direct examination of TF1-028.

Courtesy BBC World Service Trust and Search for Common Ground

Sierra Leone: Taylor Had $5 Billion in U.S. Banks - BBC Blunder?
Concord Times
By Olusegun Ogundeji (OPINION)
May 9, 2008

While still considering the various concerns and objections raised by the ongoing trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor in The Hague, including its impact on the current political and justice situation in Liberia and Sierra Leone as well, British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC as it is commonly known, gave us a shocker on Friday.

The acclaimed world's largest broadcasting corporation reported that last Friday, Head Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Stephen Rapp stated that former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor controlled about five billion dollars held at two US banks during his presidency.

Though Rapp was not in town to confirm the report, his Special Assistant Jeremy Waiser took his stead to clarify things.

"BBC did not report it accurately properly. BBC said Mr. Taylor had an account with about $5 billion. That is not what the Prosecutor said and that is not what we believe," he said.

Waiser explained that it was recently discovered -'in the last few months'- that Charles Taylor operated two accounts in the US as Rapp was said to have mentioned at a press conference in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

He however said that the BBC reporter erred along the line; that the reporter does not seems to understand that it is the transaction that took place back and forth in the accounts in the last few years that totaled about $5 billion and not the actual amount in the accounts.

"There was never a $5 billion though we have seen evidence to suggest that a total of $375 million was taken out of one of these accounts. The account was closed in December 2003. We can't say exactly where the money went. It may be to another account in the US or elsewhere," Waiser said.

"It is possible that money from this account and other accounts has been spread around the world in banks and safe havens," he added.

What is the purpose of finding the money at this point in time when the former Liberian leader has not been pronounced guilty? Waiser responded by saying it will do them a little good.

"Though we can't get the money even if found now until we get the judgment. We hope to follow the trail of the money for further links and many countries have been cooperating with us." Waiser reiterated Rapp's earlier statement that they are still tracking Taylor's money for a possible reparation and reimbursement of defence team's charges. He cited that if the money was confirmed stolen, either through illegal dealings in diamonds from Sierra Leone or taken from the Liberian treasury while serving as president, such recovered money will be used for compensation or returned to where they were stolen.

"If we can find where this money is and where it is taken from, we'll like to return it to where it came from and then compensate those who suffered during the war." When Taylor's defence team was asked if they have any objection to Rapp's $5 billion claim, Logan Christi Hambrick wrote in an email that: "The recent comments by the Prosecutor in this regard are definitely a concern to the Defence team, and we are meeting as a team this (Wednesday) afternoon to discuss our response." Hambrick promised to get back to the writer as soon as he gets clearance from their Lead Counsel on the matter.

The Charles Taylor trial is the first of its kind for an African head of state to be tried by an international tribunal as we have in the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Virtually everything about international tribunal is new to Africa. BBC should lay a good precedent for many local journalists in terms accurate reporting as their reception goes far and wide.

It is quite understandable when Mr. Peter Anderson, spokesperson for the Special Court of Sierra Leone, always decline to give local journalists information on phone, citing inaccuracy on the parts of the reporters.

Another issue of keen interest is how to grapple with what could possibly be the response of Sierra Leoneans and Liberians by the time the verdict of the trial would have been read - and the likely aftermath effect it would have on the two countries' relationship.

Inaccuracy on the part of BBC is not the best practice for a renowned media institution in the ongoing trial of Charles Taylor at this point in time if enough room is not being created for suspicion - that is if we are to consider the magnitude of the case and the perception that Britain has been anti-Taylor all these while.

Taylor was transfered for trial in The Hague due to his influence in the region as well as fears that his trial could spark renewed violence. He has denied all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[back to contents]

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)

First Official UN-Backed Tribunal on Lebanese Killings Starts Work
UN News Center
April 29, 2008

The first official of the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon to take up his functions, the registrar Robin Vincent, began his duties yesterday as the court continues to make progress in its start-up phase.

In a statement issued today by his spokesperson, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Mr. Vincent will work closely with the Special Tribunal’s management committee and with the UN Secretariat to take the necessary steps to formally establish the court, in line with Security Council resolution 1757 from last year.

“He will initially concentrate his activities on preparing the premises of the Tribunal, coordinating the transition between the International Independent Investigation Commission(IIIC) and the Tribunal, recruiting core staff, and finalizing the Tribunal’s budget,” the statement added.

The Council asked Mr. Ban last year to set up the court after Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora informed the 15-member body that all domestic options had been exhausted, due to the country’s ongoing political crisis.

The Special Tribunal is designed to try those accused of recent political murders in Lebanon, particularly the February 2005 assassination of the former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in a massive car bombing in downtown Beirut that killed 22 others.

Last month, in a report to the Council, Mr. Ban said the selection of the judges and the prosecutor has also been completed and a draft budget will be submitted soon to the management committee of the Tribunal.

[back to contents]

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Official Website of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Chairman Verdier Jeers Pessimists as Public Hearing Opens in Gbarpolu
The New Liberian
April 27, 2008

MONROVIA, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) chairman Jerome Verdier says despite attempts by some to cast aspersion on the TRC process and waylay its success, the Liberian people remain resolute in their support for the commission

“Slowly but surely the veil of impunity is being lifted, and the wall of silence has begun to crumble. Healing is taking place while history of the conflict and its root causes are unfolding,” Verdier said last Monday when he officially opened rural public hearings of the TRC in the provincial capitol of Bopolu, Gbarpolu County.

Counselor Verdier said the commission will remain unwavering in its commitment to see the TRC process through its logical conclusion, adding, “we shall be steadfast and undeterred.”

He said the response of ordinary Liberians to the TRC hearings has been overwhelming, public support high as there has been no shortage of witnesses, victims and perpetrators coming forward to tell their stories and share their experiences.

Verdier said the hearings have developed a dynamics of its own and proving beyond expectation that the shield of impunity and the culture of silence can indeed be broken.

But the TRC chairman said the process can be undermined when victims are afraid to speak out openly against the abuses they suffered and when perpetrators continue to gloat over their exploits.

Cllr. Verdier: “While the TRC process is about mending and restoring broken relationships, regaining the dignity of victims and helping perpetrators rediscover their lost humanity, it is equally important to understand that the TRC process is undermined when victims are afraid to speak out openly against the abuses they suffered, when perpetrators continue to gloat over their exploits, and when officials of government, through acts of omission or commission abuse the public trust without reckon.”

He commended partners of the commission, the Government of Liberia and Liberians for their solidarity and continued support.

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 ongoing rural public hearing in Bopolu City is being held under the theme: “Confronting Our Difficult Past, For A Better Future.”

UP Calls for Unity Among TRC Commissioners
The News via allAfrica.com
By Benjamin B. Sworh
April 30, 2008

MONROVIA, The National Chairman of the ruling Unity Party, Dr. Charles Clarke has called on members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to unite for the common good of the country.

He wants peace and reconciliation to be the focus of the commissioners and should work collectively for the success of the TRC.

Dr. Clarke made the call Tuesday when he spoke to reporters at his Broad Street office.

"TRC is a symbol of reconciliation, therefore members must work together as a team, "he emphasized.

Commenting on the indefinite suspension of Commissioner Pearl Brown Bull, Clarke urged TRC Chairman Jerome Verdier to see reason to reconsider his decision because according to him, only one who appoints has the power to suspend or dismiss.

He observed that the dismissal of any government official rest with the President and not the head, adding, the head can only recommend to the president but cannot suspend or dismiss.

NPFL Fighters Massacred 450 Civilians in Belle District...Survivor Tells TRC in Bopolu
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Press Release
April 16, 2008

Testifying at rural public hearings of the TRC in Bopolu City, Gbarpolu County, a survivor and former commissioner of Belle District now Gbarpolu County said rebels of the NPFL during a counter offensive against ULIMOD fighters massacred hundreds of inhabitants and burned down their towns and villages.

According to the survivor, on May 15, 1993 rebels of Charles Taylor’s NPFL massacred hundreds of civilians in Belle District during a counter offensive against a rival rebel group, ULIMOD.

Seventeen years later the killings became the focus of the ongoing hearings of the TRC, which is Liberia's way of trying to make amends for the horrors of the country from 1979 to 2003. Now full disclosures of what became known as the Belle Fassama Massacre has unraveled.

“I told my family NPFL has captured the town. Please put me in the ceiling because I have no means of going outside. I was there and saw everything that was happening. They were singing a song: “no more Fassama, no more Fassama.” The commander name was George Woepor who ordered his fighters to open every house and fire,” Mr. Ziama explained.

He explained that the commander ordered his fighters to begin the slaughter saying do anything you want to do.

“Those that can walk bring them. Those that will not be able to walk, do anything you want to do. They opened the doors and started killing, chopping people head off and firing them with gun.

They had cutlasses, knives and guns. They caught all the civilians and came in my house. My son-in-law who was under the bed they brought him outside and cut his throat. In the other house one man call Mamadu, they brought him out and cut his throat. They went in another town and they killed 300 plus persons,” he narrated.

At Belle Yalla, Mr. Ziama explained, the fighters massacred another 100 inhabitants before their commander ordered them to raze the entire town. He said the fighters set all of the houses in the town ablaze before they continued their mass slaughter of other civilians in other neighboring towns and villages.

Ziama: “From there I heard the commander say soldiers single five and bring those people, we will carry them in Bong County. Anyone that will not be able to reach, that his business. From Fassama to Belle Yalla they killed about 100 civilians on the road. So these guys were in town about three hours. Their commander gave command to set the town on fire. The smoke was giving me hard time but I couldn’t come outside.”

“I came down and couldn’t believe my eyes because of what I saw. All over the town was bloody with dead bodies all over the place,” he continued.

He said they buried 350 of the dead in one mass grave in Fassama while the rest of the bodies were dumped in the various toilets in the town. He said the fighters also killed 41 Sierra Leonean refugees on a mission in Fassama.

As a result of the mass burial, Ziama explained, there are no toilets in the town of Fassama.

Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Hold Public Hearings in the United States
The New Liberian
May 1, 2008

The Advocates for Human Rights, Minneapolis/St. Paul: For the first time in history, a nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will hold official public hearings in the United States. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia, along with its U.S. implementing partner, The Advocates for Human Rights, are pleased to announce that this historic event will take place in St. Paul, Minnesota during the week of June 9-14, 2008.

All TRC Commissioners will travel from Liberia to Minnesota to preside over these thematic public hearings, which will be the only hearings held outside of Liberia.

Liberia is recovering from years of conflict characterized by egregious violations of human rights, including arbitrary killing, use of child combatants, rape and sexual violence, separation of families, and looting and destruction of property.

Out of a population of 3 million, an estimated 250,000 people were killed, with as many as 1.5 million displaced. Of those who were forced to flee this violent conflict, many came to the U.S. because of the strong historical ties between the two countries.

An estimated 30,000 Liberians live in Minnesota, but there are also tens of thousands of Liberians living in other U.S. cities. The Liberian TRC was agreed upon in the August 2003 peace agreement and created by the TRC Act of 2005.

The TRC was established to “promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation,” and at the same time make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law that occurred in Liberia between January 1979 and October 2003.

The U.S. public hearings will present the experience of Liberians in Diaspora. Witnesses will testify about the human rights abuses in Liberia that forced them to flee, their experiences in flight and in refugee camps, and the experience of resettlement in the U.S.

The U.S. hearings will also provide an important opportunity for Liberians in the Diaspora to submit their experiences and recommendations directly to the TRC, which is mandated to make binding recommendations to the government of Liberia.

More Revelations on Mahel Massacre...Babies Heads Smashed, Pregnant Women Disemboweled
Truth and Reconciliation Commission - Press Release
May 2, 2008

Tubmanburg, May 30, 2003 (TRC): A survivor of the Mahel River Massacre in Bomi County said Charles Taylor’s government militiamen under the command of General Benjamin Yeaten smashed the heads of scores of babies and disembowel pregnant women during the killings.

Moses Bridge, 77, said the fighters mutilated the dead before dumping their bodies in the Mahel River.

He was testifying Monday before commissioners of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission at ongoing rural public hearing in the auditorium of the C.H. Dewey High School in Tubmanburg City, Bomi County.

Mr. Bridge said those massacred were transported from Tubmanburg City under the pretense of evacuating them to Monrovia for relief supplies and safety.

He said three truck loads of civilians were transported one after another to the Mahel Bridge where Yeaten and his men were awaiting them.

“After the empty truck returned to Tubmanburg after carrying the first batch of people I saw blood stains all over the vehicle and suspected that our people had been killed by General Yeaten and his men.”

Following the returned of the truck, Bridge explained dozens of others including him and his wife boarded the truck headed again for the Mahel.

At the Mahel River Bridge, the witness explained, the fighter responsible to carry out the slaughter first singled out his wife to disembark from the truck. Drawing the emotion of the audience, he said his wife bided him farewell saying, “I know I am going to die so goodbye. Remember we promised each other that only death will do us apart.”

Mr. Bridge explained that after saying those words, the fighter carrying out the killings shot his wife in his presence before mutilating her body.

He said the fighter then asked him: “you see what happened to that woman,” and he responded in tears: “that is my wife you have just killed.”

Following the verbal exchanges with the fighter, Bridge said he requested that he wanted to say his last prayer, but the fighter responded: “we are not here for God business.”

He said he was then asked to sit on the rails of the bridge and was pushed by another fighter into the river accompanied by hails of gunfire. He said he successfully evaded the bullets and swam to the fringes of the river where he witnessed the execution of hundreds of people all night.

The witness said the heads of dozens of babies were smashed on the bridge while the guts of the pregnant women were opened by the fighters.

“The next day after the killings, when I came from my hiding place, the entire surface of the water and bridge were covered with blood.

'Fambul Tok' Reveals the Untold Stories
Concord Times via allAfrica.com
By Abdul Karim Koroma (opinion)
May 5, 2008

FREETOWN, After the nine years rebel war and political instability that marred Sierra Leone, the country remains divided as ever before. Even though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) tried to reconcile and unite people, this was to no avail.

One fundamental thing, which 'Fambul Tok' has succeeded to achieve, is that the scheme has enabled both victims and perpetrators to tell their stories at community level which the TRC failed to do. More importantly the untold stories of the war are been voiced out during the 'Fambul Tok' meetings.

'Fambul Tok' is an initiative whereby traditional methods of reconciliation are been used at community level to heal the wounds of the decade war. 'Fambul Tok' is a partnership between Forum of Conscience or FoC, a local human rights group and Catalyst for Peace, a US based foundation which supports locally rooted reconciliation process in post conflict African societies adding that the project will reconcile victims, perpetrators and witnesses. Six years after the end of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war, there is still a need for sustainable peace in the country.

Since the country's eleven-year-long war ended in 2002, an internationally-designed TRC has come and gone, while the United Nations backed criminal court is about to wrap up its final deliberations in the prosecutions of the handful of men deemed most responsible for fomenting the conflict. Despite millions of dollars spent on these proceedings, neither body has succeeded in fundamentally changing the daily lives of Sierra Leoneans who still grapple with the aftermath of war.

This community healing process of reconciliation and forgiveness is designed to address the roots of conflict at the local level, and to restore dignity to the lives of those who suffered from violence. The work will help war-affected individuals reflect on the past in ways which will enable them to be a part of averting renewed aggressions. And it will also help create healthy communities capable of building new foundations of peace through honoring traditional methods of reconciliation.

'Fambul Tok' answers the call of Sierra Leone's official Truth and Reconciliation Commission to create local reconciliation activities. And its organizers will draw on extensive nation-wide networks developed as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group.

'Fambul Tok' is a distinctly Sierra Leonean initiative, rooted not in western concepts of crime and punishment but in communal African sensibilities which emphasize the need for communities to be whole - with each member playing a role - if peace and development are to be achieved for the nation.

The communities are of the notion that the TRC and Special Court are Freetown based while 'Fambul Tok' is been implemented at chiefdom and village level. FoC Executive Director John Caulker Wednesday showcased the video clips of the reconciliatory ceremonies that started in Kailahun including Bormaru where the war stated.

Caulker said the choice of Kailahun district is significant. 'This was where the war began on March 23, 1991 when RUF rebels crossed into Sierra Leone from Liberia,' he said. 'It is the first time perpetrators are meeting face-to-face with victims as well as friends and relatives... to apologise for offences they committed during the conflict.' Caulker stated that thousands of such forgiveness ceremonies are to take place throughout the country over the next five years. The ceremonies are differs from community to community. A total of 14 ceremonies have been held in seven chiefdoms.

From the clip it is crystal clear that the people welcomed the initiative from all indications. At Kakodo in the Kailahun district, a woman whose only son was thrown into the river publicly forgives her perpetrator.

In interestingly a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) ex-combatant came out willingly to confess all his evil deeds during the war including the ambushing of a vehicle and in the process lots of people lost their lives.

"My heart is heavy I can't afford to leave with thing tormenting my life." He asked a memorial service be organized for all those that he killed during the war.

In Sakiema a former fighter who has thought all the while that confessing his wrong doings during the war will be killed came out during one of the burn fires organized by 'Fambul Tok' to explain what he did during the war.

TRC Probes Bribery Claims
The News via allAfrica.com
By Alloycious David
May 6, 2008

MONROVIA, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has begun investigation into claims of bribery brought against one of its commissioners.

Witness David Sayweh recently recounted his testimony against Marcus Davies alias Sundaygar Dearboy and alleged that he was hired by Commissioner Massa Washington to 'lie' on Dearboy.

Sayweh, until recently, told a public hearing at the Centennial Pavilion that as commander of a group of the defunct NPFL, Dearboy ordered his sister gang raped and, according to him, the incident led to the death of his sister.

Commissioner Washington denied paying Sayweh to tell lies and demanded an immediate investigation into the claim because it demeans her.

As part of her demand for an investigation, Madam Washington boycotted a public hearing in Voinjama, Lofa County.

A Special Magistrate last week commenced investigating the bribery allegation.

At one of the hearing, which attracted some observers, Commissioner Washington had the opportunity to face her accuser, Sayweh.

[back to contents]

United States

Letters Give C.I.A. Tactics A Legal Rationale
The New York Times
by Mark Mazzetti
April 27, 2008

The Justice Department has told Congress that American intelligence operatives attempting to thwart terrorist attacks can legally use interrogation methods that might otherwise be prohibited under international law.

The legal interpretation, outlined in recent letters, sheds new light on the still-secret rules for interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency. It shows that the administration is arguing that the boundaries for interrogations should be subject to some latitude, even under an executive order issued last summer that President Bush said meant that the C.I.A. would comply with international strictures against harsh treatment of detainees.

While the Geneva Conventions prohibit “outrages upon personal dignity,” a letter sent by the Justice Department to Congress on March 5 makes clear that the administration has not drawn a precise line in deciding which interrogation methods would violate that standard, and is reserving the right to make case-by-case judgments.

“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, a deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter, which had not previously been made public.

Mr. Bush issued the executive order last summer to comply with restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court and Congress. The order spelled out new standards for interrogation techniques, requiring that they comply with international standards for humane treatment, but it did not identify any approved techniques. It has been clear that the order preserved at least some of the latitude that Mr. Bush has permitted the C.I.A. in using harsher interrogation techniques than those permitted by the military or other agencies. But the new documents provide more details about how the administration intends to determine whether a specific technique would be legal, depending on the circumstances involved.

The letters from the Justice Department to Congress were provided by the staff of Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who is a member of the Intelligence Committee and had sought more information from the department.

Some legal experts critical of the Justice Department interpretation said the department seemed to be arguing that the prospect of thwarting a terror attack could be used to justify interrogation methods that would otherwise be illegal.

“What they are saying is that if my intent is to defend the United States rather than to humiliate you, than I have not committed an offense,” said Scott L. Silliman, who teaches national security law at Duke University.

But a senior Justice Department official strongly challenged this interpretation on Friday, saying that the purpose of the interrogation would be just one among many factors weighed in determining whether a specific procedure could be used.

“I certainly don’t want to suggest that if there’s a good purpose you can head off and humiliate and degrade someone,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was describing some legal judgments that remain classified.

“The fact that you are doing something for a legitimate security purpose would be relevant, but there are things that a reasonable observer would deem to be outrageous,” he said.

At the same time, the official said, “there are certainly things that can be insulting that would not raise to the level of an outrage on personal dignity.”

The humiliating and degrading treatment of prisoners is prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

Determining the legal boundaries for interrogating terrorism suspects has been a struggle for the Bush administration. Some of those captured in the first two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were subjected to particularly severe methods, including waterboarding, which induces a feeling of drowning.

But the rules for interrogations became more restrictive beginning in 2004, when the Justice Department rescinded a number of classified legal opinions, including a memorandum written in August 2002 that argued that nothing short of the pain associated with organ failure constituted illegal torture. The executive order that Mr. Bush issued in July 2007 was a further restriction, in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 2006 that holding that all prisoners in American captivity must be treated in accordance with Common Article 3.

Mr. Benczkowski’s letters were in response to questions from Mr. Wyden, whose committee had received classified briefings about the executive order.

That order specifies some conduct that it says would be prohibited in any interrogation, including forcing an individual to perform sexual acts, or threatening an individual with sexual mutilation. But it does not say which techniques could still be permitted.

Legislation that was approved this year by the House and the Senate would have imposed further on C.I.A. interrogations, by requiring that they conform to rules spelled out in the Army handbook for military interrogations that bans coercive procedures. But Mr. Bush vetoed that bill, saying that the use of harsh interrogation methods had been effective in preventing terrorist attacks.

The legal reasoning included in the latest Justice Department letters is less expansive than what department lawyers offered as recently as 2005 in defending the use of aggressive techniques. But they show that the Bush administration lawyers are citing the sometimes vague language of the Geneva Conventions to support the idea that interrogators should not be bound by ironclad rules.

In one letter written Sept. 27, 2007, Mr. Benczkowski argued that “to rise to the level of an outrage” and thus be prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, conduct “must be so deplorable that the reasonable observer would recognize it as something that should be universally condemned.”

Mr. Wyden said he was concerned that, under the new rules, the Bush administration had put Geneva Convention restrictions on a “sliding scale.”

If the United States used subjective standards in applying its interrogation rules, he said, then potential enemies might adopt different standards of treatment for American detainees based on an officer’s rank or other factors.

“The cumulative effect in my interpretation is to put American troops at risk,” Mr. Wyden said.

Ruling Clears Khadr for Trial
The Toronto Star
by Michelle Shephard
April 30, 2008

A Guantanamo judge has dismissed an argument that Omar Khadr was a child soldier when he was captured in Afghanistan and so in need of protection, not prosecution. The ruling clears the way for the Toronto detainee’s trial.

U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback’s ruling today, which upholds the Pentagon’s position that there is no minimum age for prosecution for war crimes, comes on the heels of an appearance by Khadr’s U.S. military lawyer before Canadian legislators.

U.S. navy Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler told parliamentarians yesterday that Canada should not support the Guantanamo trials, which he argued violate international law.

“This ruling is an embarrassment to the United States,” Kuebler wrote in a statement following the release of Brownback’s ruling. “The military commission process has now clearly failed and Canada will share in the embarrassment if it does not act soon.”

Kuebler and his civilian co-counsel, Rebecca Snyder, will meet with Liberal leader Stephane Dion and Senator Romeo Dallaire today continuing their campaign to raise awareness about the case and encourage the federal government to intervene. Both Dallaire and Dion have chastised Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government for not demanding Khadr’s repatriation.

Khadr was 15 when shot and captured following a firefight with U.S. Special Forces. The Pentagon has charged him with five war crimes including murder for the death of U.S. Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer, who was fatally wounded by a grenade thrown at the end of the battle. Khadr’s trial before a military commission in Guantanamo will set history as the first war crimes trail of anyone under the age of 18.

Now 21, Khadr is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing in Guantanamo next week. Yesterday, Kuebler and Snyder appeared before parliament’s subcommittee on international human rights, marking the first time Canadian politicians have held a public hearing to discuss Khadr's continued detention and upcoming trial.

“Omar's story is one of victimization by everyone who has ever had authority over him and punishment for misdeeds of others,” Kuebler told members of the foreign affairs committee, urging them to intervene in the case as other Western governments have done for their citizens.

“It's not a question of giving this young man a second chance. He has never had a first one. The only blessing he's had is being born in Canada and this country now represents his only hope.”

Kuebler argued that Khadr would not have a fair trial and be convicted because the special U.S. military commissions trying Guantanamo cases are designed to ensure convictions. The commissions were created under the Military Commissions Act, signed into law in October 2006.

While 275 prisoners remain at Guantanamo, so far only 14 detainees, including Khadr, have been charged with war crimes.

House Judiciary Asks Former Administration Advisers to Testify on Torture
Congressional Quarterly
by Keith Perine
May 6, 2008

A House Judiciary subcommittee opened a new offensive against the Bush administration Tuesday, by authorizing a subpoena for the vice president’s chief of staff and holding the first in a series of hearings on Justice Department legal opinions regarding harsh interrogation techniques.

The panel’s Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee voted to authorize a subpoena for David Addington, who served as Vice President Dick Cheney ’s legal adviser before becoming chief of staff in 2005, in an effort to have him appear at a future hearing, perhaps before the full committee.

The subcommittee was also prepared to authorize a subpoena for John Yoo, a former Justice Department official involved in writing the controversial memoranda. But committee aides said that Yoo has now agreed to testify at a subsequent hearing.

Democrats are trying to unearth as much information as they can about the provenance and rationale of a series of department memoranda on the legality of harsh questioning of detainees held by the United States in prisons around the world.

The administration says the techniques were necessary to protect the country from another terrorist attack. Critics say they amount to torture that is illegal under U.S. and international law, and they have charged that the legal memos were drafted as little more than cover for use of the controversial tactics. Some of those memos were later disavowed by the Justice Department.

Underlying the issue is a Democratic desire to raise new questions about President Bush’s robust view of his constitutional authority. In a series of upcoming hearings, Democrats plan to spotlight the interrogation issue in order to turn up the political heat on the administration’s broad interpretation of executive power.

Looking to Rein In the President

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. , D-Mich., has expressed concern “that some in the administration view the President’s power as that of an imperial presidency — not a democracy.” Conyers has said the committee will be looking at “whether we need to write stronger laws to prevent a future imperial presidency from steamrolling Congress and the American people.”

Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler , D-N.Y., echoed those thoughts.

“We’ve got to constrain the power of the executive to ignore the law,” he said.

Addington had refused to testify voluntarily, and it’s still not clear whether he will. In an April 18 letter, Cheney’s office questioned whether lawmakers have the power to require him to appear, but in a May 1 letter said Addington is “prepared to accept timely service” of a subpoena for testimony while “reserving all legal authorities, immunities, questions and privileges, including with respect to the lawfulness of the inquiry.” That could mean that Addington will appear but refuse to answer many questions.

Besides Addington and Yoo, the Judiciary panel also wants to hear from former Attorney General John Ashcroft; former CIA director George Tenet; former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith; and Daniel Levin, a former Justice Department official. Ashcroft, Feith and Levin have agreed to appear, and Tenet is in negotiations with committee staff. It is not clear when subsequent hearings will be held. Republicans on the subcommittee indicated Tuesday that they regard the whole effort as a political charade. Trent Franks of Arizona, the top Republican on the subcommittee, played an audio clip of New York Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer at a Senate Judiciary hearing in 2004 in which Schumer said, in part, “It’s easy to sit back in the armchair and say that torture can never be used. But when you’re in the foxhole, it’s a very different deal.”

House Judiciary Asks Former Administration Advisers to Testify on Torture

Franks said that harsh techniques were used as part of “efforts to save thousands of innocent American lives.”

Some of the witnesses at the hearing Tuesday said that high-level administration officials could be liable for war crimes prosecutions under domestic and international law.

“War crimes were committed,” said Philippe Sands, a University of London law professor. Marjorie Cohn, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, said, “Torture does not work,” and added that less coercive interrogation methods produce better results.

Franks countered that it was “naive” to think that suspected terrorists should be questioned only without using harsh methods. And another witness, former Justice Department official David Rivkin, said he thought “it would be madness to prosecute anybody given the facts involved.”

It is too early to tell whether the committee probe will result in legislation either this year or after Bush leaves office. He is likely to veto any new legislative constraints on detainee interrogations.

Democrats in the Senate want to include language in the fiscal 2009 intelligence authorization measure that would limit the government’s interrogation techniques to those approved in a September 2006 Army field manual.

That would outlaw a number of controversial tactics, such as waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning. But a similar proposal led Bush to veto the fiscal 2008 version (HR 2082).

U.S. Rejects Canadian's 'Child Soldier' Defense
Reuters
by Jane Sutton
May 2, 2008

A Canadian captured in Afghanistan at age 15 can be tried for murder in the Guantanamo war crimes court, a U.S. military judge ruled in rejecting claims that he was a child soldier who should be rehabilitated rather than prosecuted.

Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr, now 21, is charged in the Guantanamo court with throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.

His military lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, had argued in February hearings at the Guantanamo naval base that Khadr was a child soldier illegally conscripted by his father, an al Qaeda financier. He urged the judge to drop the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, issued a ruling on Wednesday agreeing with prosecutors' position that the law authorizing the Guantanamo trials contained no minimum age.

Brownback's ruling clears the way for Khadr to be tried in the special tribunals created by the Bush administration to try non-U.S. captives it considers "unlawful enemy combatants" outside the regular civilian and military courts.

Kuebler called the ruling "an embarrassment to the United States" and said Canada would share in the embarrassment if it allows its citizen to be tried at Guantanamo. He said Khadr would be the first child soldier tried for war crimes in modern history.

The United States and Canada have ratified an international treaty, the Child Soldier Protocol, that outlaws recruitment of combatants under age 18 and requires governments to help child soldiers recover and reintegrate into society.

It does not specifically bar prosecution of child soldiers but says they should not be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and that they cannot be subjected to life imprisonment without possibility of release.

Khadr, who was shot twice in the back by U.S. soldiers during the battle that led to his capture, is charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiring with al Qaeda, providing material support for terrorism and spying on U.S. military convoys in Afghanistan.

Call for Inquiry into US Role in Somalia
The Independent
by Steve Bloomfield
May 7, 2008

Amnesty International has called for the role of the United States in Somalia to be investigated, following publication of a report accusing its allies of committing war crimes.

The human rights group yesterday listed abuses carried out by Ethiopian and Somali government forces, and some committed by al-Shabaab, an anti-government militia which the US designated a terrorist group.

According to the report, based on the testimonies of refugees who have fled Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, in recent weeks, Ethiopian troops have killed civilians by slitting their throats. Ethiopian and Somali forces were also accused of gang-raping women and attacking children.

A refugee, named Haboon, accuses Ethiopian troops of raping a neighbour's 17-year-old daughter. When the girl's brothers – aged 13 and 14 – tried to help her, Ethiopian soldiers gouged out their eyes with a bayonet. The Ethiopian government last night issued a statement strongly rejecting the Amnesty allegations and criticising the organisation's "uncritical use of sources."

Amnesty called for an international commission of inquiry into allegations of war crimes and said the role of other countries that have given military and financial support to perpetrators should also be investigated.

US troops trained Ethiopian forces involved in military operations in Somalia, and the US government supplied military equipment to the Ethiopian military.

"There are major countries that have significant influence," said Amnesty's Dave Copeman. "The US, EU and European countries need to exert that influence to stop these attacks."

After attacks by Ethiopian and Somali forces on civilian areas in Mogadishu last year, European lawyers considered whether funding for Ethiopia and Somalia made the EU complicit. The results of their deliberations were never made public.

The Amnesty report detailed a pattern of attacks. Refugees who fled the violence said al-Shabaab would launch an attack from a residential area. Ethiopian troops would respond with a security sweep, often going from door-to-door attacking civilians. Those who did not flee faced further reprisals.

Increased military activity has turned Mogadishu into a ghost town. About 700,000 people have fled – out of a population of up to 1.5 million. The UN estimates that 2.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance – more than one quarter of the population.

Peace talks between the Somali government and the main opposition alliance are scheduled to begin later this month.

[back to contents]

UN Reports

In Move Welcomed by UN, Sengal Can Now Try Former Chadian Leader
UN News Service
April 25, 2008

A Bosnian Croat military commander convicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal for his role in the torture and persecutions of Muslims living in the Mostar area of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Balkan wars of the 1990s will serve the remainder of his 20-year sentence in Italy.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which sits in The Hague, announced today that Mladen Naletili? was transferred yesterday to detention in Italy.

Also known as Tuta, Mr. Naletili? founded and commanded the convicts’ battalion, a military unit within the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) that operated in the area around the city of Mostar in 1993-94.

Mr. Naletili? was convicted in 2003 of persecutions, unlawful labour, torture, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, the unlawful transfer of civilians, wanton destruction and plunder. His co-accused, Vinko Martinovi?, was also convicted and sentenced to 18 years’ jail.

During the trial the ICTY heard how Mr. Naletili? was personally involved in forcibly removing about 400 Bosnian Muslims from Sovi?i and Doljani villages and then ordering that all their homes be burned to the ground. He also used prisoners of war to perform forced labour in the vicinity of his villa.

The trial chamber found that Mr. Naletili? repeatedly caused great suffering to Muslims held at the Heliodrom detention centre, in Doljani and at the Tobacco Institute in Mostar. Italy is one of 15 European countries that have signed an agreement with the ICTY to enforce sentences imposed by the Tribunal on convicted individuals.

Kosovo Duo Facing Trial at UN Tribunal Over Alleged Intimidation Witness
UN News Service
April 28, 2008

Kosovo’s ex-minister for culture, youth and sport and a former newspaper editor will appear tomorrow before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after being charged with contempt of court for allegedly trying to intimidate a witness in a war crimes trial.

Astrit Haraqija and Bajrush Morina are accused by prosecutors – in an indictment filed in January and made public by the ICTY on Friday – of attempting to persuade a protected witness with the codename PW not to testify against Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo.

Mr. Haradinaj, who was a prominent commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict with Serb forces in 1998-99, was acquitted by the ICTY earlier this month of a series of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, abduction, cruel treatment, imprisonment and the forced deportation of Serbian and Kosovar Roma civilians.

When they announced the verdict, the judges said the tribunal had encountered many difficulties in securing testimony from witnesses during the trials of Mr. Haradinaj and his two co-accused.

The indictment released on Friday states that Mr. Haraqija, a former minister of culture, youth and sport in Kosovo, was one of the three co-founders of the “Defence Committee for Ramush Haradinaj.” Mr. Morina was his employee, working as a political adviser, and then also as a part-time editor at Bota Sot, a Kosovo newspaper.

PW was granted protective measures in 2005 and early last year his unredacted witness statements were disclosed by prosecutors to the defence teams of Mr. Haradinaj and his co-accused.

The indictment alleges that after learning of the identity of the witness last July, Mr. Haraqija instructed Mr. Morina to travel to PW’s country of residence to persuade him not to testify, and that Mr. Morina met with the witness on 10-11 July in a trip paid for by the ministry.

PW eventually did testify at the trial, according to the indictment.

Meanwhile, a former senior Bosnian Croat figure, Jadranko Prli?, facing trial on war crimes charges has been granted temporary provisional leave by the ICTY on humanitarian grounds. On Friday the tribunal agreed to release Mr. Prli? until the start of his defence case, scheduled for Monday.

Mr. Prlic and five other co-accused, all former high-level leaders in the Bosnian Croat wartime entity known as Herceg-Bosna, stand accused of war crimes committed in 1992 and 1993 against Bosnian Muslims and other non-Croats in south-western and central Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the municipalities of Prozor, Gornji Vakuf, Jablanica, Mostar, Ljubuški, Stolac, Capljina and Vareš.

The many charges include murder, rape, unlawful deportation, imprisonment, cruel treatment, unlawful labour, the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds.

Trial of Congolese Defendant 'Crucial Step' to End Impunity - senior UN Official
UN News Service
April 28, 2008

The trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with recruiting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will be “a crucial step in the fight against impunity and will have a decisive deterrent effect against perpetrators of this outrageous crime against humanity,” according to the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Mr. Lubanga is the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of DRC. He will be tried for the conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15, and the use of children for active participation in hostilities.

Special Representative Radhika Coomaraswamy spoke today after submitting a legal brief to the court, which is located in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The brief contains observations on the definition of “conscripting and enlisting” children and on the interpretation of the term “participation in hostilities.” Ms. Coomaraswamy is urging a case by case approach with a broad definition of the terms in order to capture the true reality of what has happened in DRC.

The trial of Mr. Lubanga will be the first to be held by the court, and is set to begin in June.

International Criminal Court Calls for Arrest of Congolese Militia Leader
UN News Service
April 29, 2008

The ICC’s pre-trial chamber yesterday published an arrest warrant for Bosco Ntaganda, currently alleged to be chief of staff of the militia known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which has been active in Ituri and other parts of eastern DRC. The warrant was first issued in August 2006, but remained secret until prosecutors this week asked the pre-trial chamber to unseal it.

“Today, he [Mr. Ntaganda] is active in the Kivus,” prosecutors said in a statement to the media released today. “We count on all concerned States authorities and actors to contribute to his arrest and surrender him to the Court.”

Prosecutors said Mr. Ntaganda remains at large in the Kivus and continues to be implicated in crimes committed in the DRC.

“He must be arrested. Like all the other indicted criminals in Uganda and the Sudan, he must be stopped if we want to break the system of violence. For such criminals, there must be no escape. Then peace will have a chance. Then victims will have hope.”

The CNDP, a political-military group under the command of Laurent Nkunda, a former general with the Congolese national forces, is one of several groups facing “credible reports,” prosecutors say, of serious crimes, “including sexual crimes of unspeakable cruelty.”

UN Prosecutors Files Appeal Against Haradinaj Acquital
VOA News
May 2, 2008

The chief prosecutor of the United Nations war crimes tribunal has formally appealed the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

In the appeal, prosecutor Serge Brammertz called for a retrial on several charges against Mr. Haradinaj and two co-defendants. He said widespread intimidation and fear prevented key witnesses from fully testifying in the trial.

Brammertz said the court denied the prosecution a fair trial and did not grant it enough time to compel testimony from prosecution witnesses. He said a retrial must include their testimony.

Last month, the tribunal acquitted Mr. Haradinaj and an associate, Idriz Balaj, of war crimes during the Kosovo conflict of the 1990s. The court sentenced a third defendant, Lahi Brahimaj, to six years in prison for cruel treatment of detainees at a prison camp run by the ethnic Albanian guerrilla group, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

All three men held senior positions in the KLA.

Prosecutors had indicted the three on 37 counts, including involvement in the murder, persecution, rape and deportation of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo areas under their control in 1998.

Mr. Haradinaj was the highest-ranking Kosovo Albanian politician to go on trial before The Hague tribunal. He stepped down as Kosovo's prime minister in 2005 after being indicted.

UN Genocide Tribunal Begins Trial of ex-Rwanda Minister
UN News Service
May 6, 2008

The trial of a former Rwandan minister, who allegedly coordinated the killing of Tutsis, began today before the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the 1994 genocide in the small African country.

Callixte Kalimanzira, former Acting Minister of Interior from April-May 1994, is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide and with direct and public incitement to commitment genocide, and pleaded not guilty to all three counts in November 1995.

The defendant, who surrendered to authorities on 8 November 1995, allegedly organized the killing of Tutsis in Butare prefecture between 6 and 19 April 1994.

Christine Graham, who heads the Prosecution, told the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, that she will present evidence showing that Mr. Kalimanzira abused power, authority and influence during the country’s genocide.

She noted that the Prosecution will call victims, co-perpetrators and bystanders as witnesses.

“As you will hear, some of these witnesses are victims of genocide, whilst others were used by the accused Kalimanzira as tools to implement his genocidal plan,” Ms. Graham said.

In April, the Court increased the jail term to life in prison of Athanase Seromba, a Roman Catholic priest in Rwanda who directed the demolition of a church where about 1,500 Tutsis were trying to take shelter, killing those trapped inside.

[back to contents]

NGO Reports

AMICC’S Analysis of Remarks By US Department of State Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III, “The United States and the International Criminal Court: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going,” Chicago, Illinois, April 25 2008
AMICC
April 25, 2008

On April 25, 2008, US Department of State Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III addressed the Midwest Regional Conference on International Justice in Chicago on “The United States and the International Criminal Court: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going” (available at http://www.state.gov/s/l/rls/104053.htm). There are several elements of this speech regarding US policy toward the Court which require analysis and clarification.

In his remarks, Bellinger argued that “a relatively straight line” runs from the positions of Congresses of the 1990s and the Clinton Administration through the Rome negotiations to the current Bush Administration. While some, but not all, of the objections made by President Bush were shared by President Clinton, Bellinger’s speech did not describe the sharp differences in policy between the two administrations which are still formally in effect. Further, he did not acknowledge that a future administration which has similar concerns about the ICC may choose to address them and deal with the Court much differently.

Soon after taking office, the Bush Administration departed from Clinton policy and stopped attending all meetings of the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC. On May 6, 2002 US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman formally announced the Bush Administration’s policy on the ICC which is still in effect. Grossman stated that the US would not support the Court and would completely disengage from it, but would respect the decision of those nations which chose to join the ICC.

During its first term, in contradiction of the formal policy of benign disengagement, the Bush Administration began negotiating Bilateral Immunity Agreements (BIAs) intended to protect American citizens from the Court’s jurisdiction. Many UN member states which support the ICC have good reason to believe that the conduct of the BIA campaign was designed to discourage ratifications of the Rome Statute. This effort to deny the Court support, as well as US-sponsored Security Council resolutions intended to shield US nationals on UN peacekeeping missions from the ICC, made it clear that the US did not respect other nations’ decisions to join the Court.

Changing circumstances also forced the Bush Administration in its second term to diverge from the Grossman policy statement, especially because of the profound effect of the crisis in Darfur. In response to pressure from its constituents and internationally, the Bush Administration did not block the March 2005 Security Council referral of the situation in Darfur to the ICC. Subsequent US dialogue with and offers of cooperation to the Court on Darfur are also in conflict with current US policy of complete disengagement. Statements regarding the US willingness to cooperate with the ICC on Darfur are not new but have become more qualified over time. The US stated in 2005 that it “stands ready to assist” on Darfur but now, according to Bellinger, “we would be prepared to consider an appropriate request from the ICC for assistance in its Darfur work consistent with applicable U.S. law.” (More statements are available at http://www.amicc.org/docs/CooperationUSICC.pdf.)

Bellinger also suggested that the next US administration may share the same concerns as previous administrations, despite positive yet cautious statements on the ICC by the current leading candidates of both parties (available at http://www.amicc.org/docs/2008%20Candidates%20on%20ICC.pdf). Nevertheless, in contrast to the current policy of disengagement, Bellinger stated that the 2010 Review Conference could provide an opportunity for the next administration to address US concerns about the Court. He did not acknowledge, however, that future administrations will approach the ICC and their concerns about it taking into account other aspects of their foreign policies and other factors such as the performance of the Court. The commitment of 106 nations to the Rome Statute, including most American friends and allies – far more than at the end of the Clinton Administration and the start of the Bush Administration – will also influence a future President’s engagement with the Court. In sum, the Bush Administration established an ICC policy quite different from that of the Clinton Administration. In addition, the Bush policy has not been consistent, failing to fully disengage from the Court or to respect the decision of other nations to join it. Bellinger’s remarks in Chicago did not recognize these policy differences or inconsistencies, giving the false impression that the next administration would have to continue a consistent 20-year policy toward the ICC.

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

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.

ICC Unseals Fourth DRC Arrest Warrant
ICC Press Release
April 25, 2008

Situation: Democratic Republic of Congo
Case: The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda

On 28 April 2008, Pre-Trial Chamber I decided to unseal the warrant of arrest against Bosco Ntaganda, 35 years old, also known as “the Terminator”. Still at large, he is alleged to have committed war crimes of enlistment and conscription of children under the age of 15 and of using them to participate actively in hostilities in Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from July 2002 until December 2003. The warrant of arrest was delivered on 22 August 2006 under seal.

Factual allegations

The Chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that members of the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (FPLC) repeatedly carried out, from July 2002 to December 2003, acts of enlistment, conscription and active participation in hostilities of children under the age of fifteen, who were trained in the FPLC training camps of Bule, Cantrale, Mandro, Rwampara, Irumu, Bogoro and Sota.

The Chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Ntaganda, as former Deputy Chief of General Staff for Military Operations of the FPLC, had during the mentioned period of time, de jure and de facto authority over the FPLC training camp commanders and used his authority to actively implement the policy adopted at a higher level of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC)/FPLC of enlisting, conscripting and using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities. According to the judges, Ntaganda was subordinated to Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, alleged FPLC Commander-in-Chief, currently under the custody of the ICC.

There are also reasonable grounds to believe that Ntaganda, “often visited the FPLC training camps where children under the age of fifteen were trained to become FPLC soldiers and that he took part directly in attacks in which FPLC soldiers under the age of fifteen actively participated”.

Reasons for the unsealing

The warrant of arrest, issued in 2006 by Pre-Trial Chamber I, remained under seal amongst other reasons, because ‘public knowledge of the proceedings in this case might result in Bosco Ntaganda hiding, fleeing, and/or obstructing or endangering the investigations or the proceedings of the Court’.

According to the judges the circumstances that led to the sealing have changed. Both the Prosecution and the Registry, which is the competent organ of the Court to execute the Court's warrants of arrest and is in charge of the Court's Witness Protection Programme, agreed that ‘the unsealing of the warrant of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda will not endanger the witnesses of the DRC cases’ and that this was the ‘right moment’ to make it public.

Background information

The warrant of arrest against Ntaganda is the fourth issued by the judges of the ICC in the situation of the DRC. Three persons are currently into custody: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ndgudjolo Chui. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the founder and leader of the UPC will be the first person to stand trial at the ICC, scheduled to start on 23 June 2008. The confirmation of charges in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is scheduled to start on 27 June 2008.

Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Donors Should Ensure that Prosecutions Not Fall Short
Human Rights Watch
May 1, 2008

The long-delayed court process to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice is underway in Cambodia. The hybrid tribunal made of both Cambodian and international judges, officially called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), was established to try those most responsible for the deaths of as many as two million Cambodians during their four-year rule, which ended in 1979.

On a recently held on-site investigation, three remaining prison survivors were brought face-to-face with Kaing Gech Eav (Duch), the former chief of the regime's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and executed.

Though the tribunal has started to move forward, for the ECCC to successfully find justice for the victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities, it must overcome several major hurdles.

Cambodia's judiciary is widely known for its lack of independence and corruption, and for most Cambodians, a courthouse is not a place to seek justice.

Often the accused do not have access to a lawyer. Judges have been known to arbitrarily refuse to admit defense evidence and issue verdicts written in advance of trials. In politically sensitive cases, judges receive instructions from senior government figures.

In contrast, the ECCC is expected to meet international standards of justice. However, the majority of its 19 judges are Cambodian. The UN initially opposed the arrangement, fearing that the Cambodian government would try to manipulate the tribunal. The tribunal’s office of administration is split into a Cambodian-administered side and a UN side, with serious allegations of corruption plaguing the Cambodian side including wage kickbacks to the Cambodian government.

In this context, what needs to be done for a fair trial? Chief among the issues yet to be resolved is how far the ECCC will be willing to go in following the evidence and identifying additional individuals to investigate and prosecute. So far, five former Khmer Rouge leaders have been detained including Duch. ECCC budget projections presented to the donors in January indicate that at most three more individuals may be prosecuted.

However, can the ECCC be credible if it only tries a pre-selected handful of individuals? Many former Khmer Rouge government officials and senior military officials continue to live freely.

Donors should insist that the ECCC promptly implement proper witness and victim protection programs, without which prosecutions will be hard to conduct.

Donors should also support the ECCC so that their international investigators can carry out thorough investigations needed to bring additional accused to justice and to enable victims to participate the process.

As Japan and other international donor countries now consider a request for an additional US$170 million, they should insist upon significant reforms including conditioning their pledge on the ECCC improving its transparency and addressing the alleged corruption charges. Japan, which has already made significant contributions to the ECCC’s budget to date, and has one judge sitting in the ECCC’s supreme court chamber, is uniquely position to lead the call for reform.

Only if key donors insist on all possible safeguards will it be possible for the Khmer Rouge tribunal to deliver to Cambodians the justice for which they have long been waiting.

Lawless in Guantanamo
Human Rights Watch
May 2, 2008

"Everyone tells me the law. But where is the law?" asked Salim Hamdan, in a courtroom here on Monday morning. Hamdan was dressed in his khaki prison garb, his forehead wrinkled and eyes dulled, his shoulders hunched. The 37-year-old detainee's military commissions case once made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which delivered a powerful rebuke to the Bush administration in Hamdan's favor. But you wouldn't have known it now, nearly two years later.

By Tuesday afternoon, Hamdan had reached the conclusion that there was no law in Guantanamo. Or at least no law that could justify his continued presence at his trial.

The military judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, tried to convince him otherwise. "You should have great faith in the law," the judge urged. After all, it was Hamdan's previous court challenge that led the Supreme Court in June 2006 to strike down the first round of military commissions as unlawful. "You won. Your name is all over the law books," the judge said.

But the victory was short-lived. Four months later, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, authorizing another system of commissions to begin – and the government charged Hamdan once again.

"You even won the very first time you came before me," Allred added.

And that too was true. When Hamdan first appeared before Allred in June 2007 – in his second round with the military commissions – the judge concluded that he did not have jurisdiction over Hamdan and dismissed the case. Whereas the military commissions' authority is limited to cases brought against "unlawful enemy combatants," Hamdan had been determined to be an "enemy combatant" – a term that encompasses both lawful and unlawful statuses.

Within months, however, Allred's decision was overturned by the hastily assembled Court of Military Commission Review. Hamdan was brought back before the military commissions for round 3. He was charged with conspiracy and material support to commit terrorism based on allegations that he had served as Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard and helped transport weapons to al-Qaida.

Hamdan was then rewarded by being moved from a communal living setting to what is effectively solitary confinement. His lawyers say he has suffered a serious deterioration in his mental health as a result, becoming increasingly despondent and embittered as time goes by. On Monday, an initial attempt to boycott the system in which he is trapped – Hamdan has now been in U.S. custody for more than seven years – quickly devolved into the most basic of requests: to be able to use the toilet without being watched.

And to locate the law.

For the next day and a half, Hamdan, now changed into a flowing white robe and a black-and-white checkered suit jacket, sat quietly at his counsel's table, listening intently and waiting for the law to appear. But in a commission system in which the government asserts the right to continue to detain even those who are ultimately acquitted, the law can be hard to find. And the proceedings this week did little to assuage concerns that the rule of law will ever prevail at this prison conceived and continued under the Bush administration.

First to take the witness stand on Monday was Air Force Col. Morris Davis. Once the chief military commission prosecutor, Davis resigned his post in October 2007 in protest and has since become one of the system's boldest critics.

Davis strode into the courtroom with the same confident air he once wielded as a fire-and-brimstone prosecutor. But his message has changed. He took a seat about 10 yards away from the prosecutor's table he'd formerly occupied. Now he explained – on behalf of the defendant that he once charged – the many ways in which the commissions system was politicized and unfair.

His first year on the job had been relatively free of interference, Davis explained. But by September 2006, 14 so-called high-value detainees – including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – were transferred from secret CIA detention facilities to Guantanamo. Soon, the Military Commissions Act was passed, and presidential elections were on the horizon.

These events conspired against Davis' prosecuting approach. It was like "the train leaving the station before the tracks were built," he said. He said that he butted heads with the Department of Defense's then-general counsel, William Haynes II, and Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartman, legal advisor to the top Pentagon official overseeing the military commissions process. Neither of them could understand why he was taking so long to put together the cases, why he would refuse to introduce evidence obtained through waterboarding (or other approved torture techniques), and why he insisted on declassifying evidence so that trials could be held in open proceedings.

In August 2007 he reportedly was told that he better get cracking on the high-value detainees before the 2008 presidential campaign got too far under way. It was a clear attempt to railroad cases to trial and get convictions, without regard for principles of fairness and transparency. The underlying theme, Davis said, was that 9/11 suspects had better be charged soon, to make it hard for the next president to stop the process.

When Davis was put directly under Haynes' chain of command, he finally quit. "I would not take direct orders from a guy who said waterboarding was A-OK," Davis said, glancing sidelong at his successor and former colleagues who had stayed on the job.

On Tuesday, Hamdan's lawyers tried to suppress the use of statements taken from Hamdan by law enforcement officials (far from any battlefield), without ever informing Hamdan of his right against self-incrimination. Under virtually any other legal regime – the court-martial system, federal criminal law, state criminal law, the Constitution and international law – these statements would be deemed inadmissible.

Lawyers for the Bush administration, however, insisted that was irrelevant. True, these statements from Hamdan might be suppressed under a different legal system, they acknowledged, but not here. Not in the special courts designed solely to try alien, unlawful enemy combatants. In these courts, the only law that mattered was the Military Commissions Act, and its protections against self-incrimination did not apply to any statements made before the trial began.

After a break, Hamdan changed out of his formal wear and returned to the courtroom in his prison garb. He was ready to call the process quits. He apologized to the judge. He praised his lawyers. He smiled and even laughed and joked a little. But he had made up his mind.

"The law is clear. The Constitution is clear. International law is clear," he said to the judge. "Why don't we follow the law? Where is the justice?"

Hamdan pleaded for a fair trial, reminded the judge of his Supreme Court victory, and questioned why the U.S. government then proceeded to change the law and keep him locked up. "Is it just for my case?" he asked.

The judge listened intently and patiently. He thanked Hamdan for expressing his frustration. He promised to do everything in his power to give him a fair trial. He promised Hamdan a chance, after seven years' confinement, to finally hear the evidence against him. He told Hamdan he would finally be able present his own side of the story.

But Hamdan's central question remained: "By what law will you try me?"

The judge responded with the only answer he could: The military commissions law passed by Congress in 2006.

"But the government changed the law to its advantage," Hamdan replied. "I am not being tried by the American law."

And Hamdan left the courtroom, having made clear that he would no longer participate in a commissions system unmoored from American criminal law, the Constitution and international law.

The court closed down for the night. It reassembled in the morning and went straight into scheduling. But its star figure was missing. A trial date was set for June 2. With or without Hamdan.

[back to contents]