War Crimes Prosecution Watch

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Indictment confirmed in the Radomir Vuković
State Court of BiH
September 3, 2008

On 2 September 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) confirmed the Indictment against Radomir Vuković. Radomir Vuković is charged with the criminal offense of Genocide.

As alleged in the Indictment, there is grounded suspicion that as a member of the Special Police Force Unit of the II Šekovići Detachment, during the period from 10 to 19 July 1995, with the intent to partly exterminate a group of Bosniak people, the accused Radomir Vuković participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of forcibly removing around 40 thousand civilians from the UN Safe Area Srebrenica and execute more than 7,000 Bosniaks.

According to the Indictment, on 12 July 1995 the accused Vuković participated in the search of Bosniak villages around Potočari aiming to expel them to the territories controlled by the Army of RBiH. On 13 July 1995 as further alleged in the Indictment, the accused Vuković participated in capturing thousands of Bosniak men who were trying to escape from the UN Safe Area. On the same day, the accused Vuković allegedly participated in escorting a column of about thousand of captured Bosniaks from the village of Sandići to the warehouse of the Kravica Farming Cooperative, knowing that they would be executed. After detaining the captured Bosniaks in the warehouse, II Detachment members started killing the captured Bosniaks by firing from automatic weapons and by throwing hand grenades. The Accused Vuković allegedly participated in the liquidation of the detained Bosniaks by throwing grenades on them.

Lucic: Retrial to start on September 16
BIRN Justice Report
September 4, 2008

The Appellate Chamber determines the start date for Kreso Lucic's retrial. As per a decision made by the Appellate Chamber, the retrial of Kreso Lucic is due to start on September 16, 2008.

Kreso Lucic, former commander of the Military Police Squad with the Croatian Defense Council, HVO, was sentenced, by a first instance verdict, to six years' imprisonment for the detention and torture of Bosniaks in detention camps located in Kresevo municipality.

In May 2008 the Appellate Chamber revoked the verdict, upholding the appeals filed by both parties, and ordered a retrial to be conducted.

Prosecutor Slavica Terzic agreed to the proposal that all statements, given by witnesses in the course of the first instance trial, be listened to in the courtroom, with the exception of the statement given by witness Meho Hodzic, who would be examined again. She also said that the Prosecution would like to invite a new witness, who was not available during the course of the first instance trial, adding that the Prosecution had just found out what his address was.

In his statement, given before the Trial Chamber on May 14, 2007, Meho Hodzic recognized Kreso Lucic, claiming that he personally abused him. Kresimir Zubak, Lucic's Defense attorney, objected this proposal, adding that, "for the time being", the Defense did not intend to present any new pieces of evidence. Zubak told the Appellate Chamber that he still stood upon his previous proposal, made during the course of the first instance trial, requesting the referral of this case to the Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik for further processing, as it was "not cost-effective" to conduct this case before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Objectively speaking, this case is not so complex as the other cases, which are still pending," Zubak said.

Appellate Chamber Chairman Dragomir Vukoje said that, by passing the verdict revocation decision, the Court determined that the retrial would be conducted before a State Court Chamber. However, he said that the Defense's proposal "could still be considered and a formal decision could be made prior to the start of the trial".

Radomir Vukovic: Contacts in Russia
BIRN Justice Report
September 4, 2008

The State Prosecution files a custody extension motion for Radomir Vukovic due fears the indictee might flee to Serbia or Russia.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed a motion, requesting the custody extension for Radomir Vukovic, who is charged with genocide in Srebrenica, because he might attempt to flee to another country should he be released. The Court will render its decision concerning this proposal at a later stage.

Vukovic, a former member of the Second Special Police Squad from Sekovici, was unavailable to Bosnian authorities for a long time. He was arrested in Serbia, as per a warrant issued by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following his extradition to Bosnia, the State Court ordered him into a one-month custody starting in early August this year. "The indictee has informed the Court that he does not have a registered place of residence in Bosnia. The Prosecution has been informed that the indictee's wife lives and works in Belgrade. Therefore, he does not have a motive to stay in Bosnia. Besides that he used to work in Russia, where he assumingly established contacts with local people. He probably can find a job in that country.

The Prosecution believes that he might leave his family and look for a job in Russia," Prosecutor Kwai Hong Ip said. The Prosecution said that Vukovic might "put pressure on accomplices and helpers, asking them to change their statements".

Defense attorney Radivoje Lazarevic said that the motion itself was "contradictory". "On the one hand the Prosecutor claims that there is a danger that the indictee might try to flee to Serbia, should he be released from custody. On the other hand, he claims that, should he be at liberty, he might attempt to influence witnesses, who live in another country. The witnesses have given their statements two or three times already. It is not clear how he can change those statements. I am absolutely certain that the conditions for extending his custody have not been met," Lazarevic considers.

Vukovic addressed the Court, stressing that he returned from Russia in 2006. "Had I felt guilty or had I done anything, I would not have come back from Russia," Vukovic said.

The indictment, which was confirmed on September 2, 2008, charges Vukovic with having participated in the murder of more than 1,000 Srebrenica residents, who were detained in the agricultural cooperative hangars in Kravica on July 13, 1995.

State Prosecution Unveils War Crimes 'Catalogue'
BIRN Justice Report
September 5, 2008

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has unveiled a new war crimes investigation catalogue.

The State Prosecution has created "a war crimes catalogue", which contains an overview of the crimes committed in the period from 1992 to 1995. The catalogue, which will not be available to the general public, does not elaborate on how many people nor crimes might be processed in the near future.

Nevertheless the document, which has been made available to the public, indicates that about 55 people have been tried before the local courts in Bosnia since the end of the war, while the Special War Crimes Section of the State Prosecution has filed indictments against 99 people over the past two years. It further states that it is extremely difficult to ascertain the exact number of people, who will be indicted at some point, because "there are hundreds of open investigations, conducted in various prosecutors' offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, dealing with thousands of suspects." "The Prosecutor's Office does not want to specify the exact number of these cases, because many of them deal with the same crimes or perpetrators, so, giving any figures at this stage would be misleading... However, the fact is that about 90,000 people were killed in the course of the war, many of whom were probably war crime victims," the strategy proposal states.

The catalogue, which the Prosecution calls "the yellow pages", is expected to contribute to the more efficient solving of war crime cases and, in particular, help prioritize cases. It is thought that, in its work, the Prosecution will "focus on the victims and the number of victims of each crime" and it will not focus on establishing "an artificial balance between different ethnic groups".

The following three principles will guide its work: the detection of most severe crimes, detecting the perpetrators who are responsible for certain crimes, and using these two principles to build a solid case.

The document indicates that the State Prosecution has already collected precise data on the time and locations at which the most severe war crimes were committed. As an example, it mentions Srebrenica in 1995 and Prijedor in 1992. In addition, it alleges that, on the basis of the research, the Prosecution has made a list of around one hundred municipalities in which crimes were carried out. This list will "be used for ensuring that the selection process is as fair as possible".

Hodzic: Additional medical reports required
BIRN Justice Report
September 5, 2008

Indictee Ferid Hodzic must provide additional medical reports, which will be reviewed by court experts prior to determining whether he is capable of following the trial.

At the status conference the State Court decided that indictee Ferid Hodzic should see a doctor, who will determine whether a coronography test can be obtained. According to experts, the results of that test are necessary in order to determine whether the indictee is capable of following the further course of the trial.

Ferid Hodzic is tried for crime against Serbian civilians and prisoners of war, who were detained in "Stala" ("Stable") detention camp in Rovasi village, Vlasenica municipality. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina considers that the indictee was commander of the Territorial Defense, TD, in Vlasenica in the period from May 1992 to January 26, 1996, when the prisoners were held in the detention camp. "After having reviewed the available medical documents pertaining to the indictee, court expert Radojka Golijanin determined that he had to undergo a coronagraphic and psychiatric test, in order to determine whether he is capable of attending the trial," Trial Chamber Chairman Tihomir Lukes said.

As explained by Lukes, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina rendered a decision ordering a neurological examination to be conducted. The indictee is supposed to see a neurologist on September 9. Besides that the indictee was ordered to consider undergoing a coronography, "with the doctors' consent".

Hodzic's Defense said that its client's family doctors told him that coronography "could endanger his life", bearing in mind that he had had a heart attack. Hodzic had a heart attack in early June 2008. He was admitted to a hospital in Tuzla. After some time he was released from the hospital and allowed to take his treatment at home. "The doctor, who takes care of the indictee's health, did not have a radical stand concerning the coronography test. He considers that this examination should be conducted," Defense attorney Asim Crnalic said, adding that his client would undergo the examination as soon as possible.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered him to undergo the coronography within the next eight days, if his doctors determine that the indictee is capable of doing it.

The trial was postponed on several occasions due to the indictee's health. As per the official timetable, the trial is due to continue on September 22. By this date the indictee is supposed to undergo the coronography test, which would enable the court experts to assess whether he is capable of following the trial.

Exclusive: Judge Kreso's War Crimes Strategy Revealed
BIRN Justice Report
by Nidzara Ahmetasevic
September 8, 2008

A copy of the War Crimes Processing Strategy, written by the President of Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Judge Meddzida Kreso and which Justice Report has seen, calls for radical reforms in the way war-crimes cases are handled by the country's courts.

Judge Kreso sets out goals for her draft strategy, and identifies deadlines and key benchmarks for success in the implementation of each aspect of the strategy. She says that once the strategy is agreed on, "relevant ministries need to come up with estimated costs of its implementation", adding that "a supervisory body to continually monitor the implementation of the strategy" is absolutely necessary. The document notes that a total of 2,098 war crimes involving 16,152 persons have been reported to various prosecutors' offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The largest number of reports, 1,037, had been filed with prosecutors' offices in the Federation of BiH. The Bosnian Prosecutor's Office had received 608 reports, and the Republika Srpska, 418. Another 35 reports involving 714 individuals have been forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office in the District of Brcko.

Money and personnel in short supply:

The draft, among other things, calls for the centralization and updating of records of war crime cases pending before Bosnian courts, harmonization of case law, time limits for war crimes trials, building up judicial capacities, and improving both regional cooperation on war crimes and witness protection.

Judge Kreso writes that in order to adopt and implement the strategy, "a tentative indicator of the number of pending cases" needs to be established. She notes that the available figures are incomplete because not all courts and prosecutors' offices have forwarded all their information about war crimes cases to the State Prosecutor's Office, although the law requires them to do so.

The draft also notes the "limitations of personnel and material-technical capacities of the judicial system and law enforcement structures" to prosecute war crimes cases, adding: "Most courts do not have adequate courtrooms; prosecutors' offices do not have adequate premises for parallel interviews and detention." It is further noted that "prisons are constantly overcrowded and there are some security concerns", while state and entity funds are limited.

Local prosecutors' offices are urged to regularly forward information about war crimes cases to the State Prosecutor's Office; likewise, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina should keep "centralized and updated records of all cases". All courts are asked to inform the State Court about this. "The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, HJPC, is required to make an estimate of the time-frame necessary for trying all war crimes cases in BiH… It should also make an estimate of the time needed for trying priority cases," Kreso writes.

Key problems - inefficiency and inconsistency:

Addressing the key problems, the President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina singles out inefficiency in prosecuting a large number of cases and inconsistent practices in the courts.

She also charges the Prosecutor's Office with "unburdening its capacities", by applying internal rules to select priority cases. "Pursuant to this, it transfers less sensitive cases that are in the investigative phase to cantonal and district prosecutors' offices, although this practice is not envisaged by applicable law". The document goes on to say that as a result, the State Prosecutor's Office had transferred 675 cases to local prosecutors' offices.

The problem of inconsistent case law – the application of different laws in different courts – is cited as a flagrant breach of "the principle of legal certainty and equality of citizens before law". The strategy offers a solution in line with the recommendation of the Constitutional Court, made following the appeal by the defense for Abdulah Maktouf, the first person convicted of war crimes by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maktouf's lawyers objected to the application of the 2003 Bosnian Criminal Code instead of the Yugoslav Criminal Code, which was effective at the time of his crimes. The Court decided that case law in war crimes cases must be urgently harmonized.

As a solution to both problems, the draft strategy suggests that all cases transferred to the local level should be reexamined and given to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina "to decide whether to prosecute them or not", as required by law. Amendments to the law in relation to the process of the transfer of cases are proposed in order to create "a functional mechanism for transfer of a large number of cases", to unburden the Court and the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also proposed is the strengthening of judicial capacities at state and local level, as well as of the law enforcement agencies that conduct investigations.

Better regional cooperation and witness protection:

A major issue in the strategy is regional cooperation, which the judge describes as "one of the challenges in achieving higher efficiency in conducting investigations and prosecuting persons charged with war crimes".

Judge Kreso said almost every war crimes case had a regional aspect. However, for the time being, no legal framework exists to regulate regional cooperation. Furthermore, important legal obstacles currently thwart investigations, the transfer of documents and extraditions of suspects or accused persons. Legal experts have been vainly trying to solve these issues for years. Some positive steps had been made, but they were "of a limited scope" because no mechanisms have been put in place to solve the root problems.

Turning to witness support and protection, the draft strategy described this as a major shortcoming that needed to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. Describing the importance of effective witness protection "during and after the trial", the document notes that witness statements are "the most important and most frequently used evidentiary tool". It says the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina offers the best protection measures, but at local level, capacities to enforce these measures remain almost non-existent. This is partly attributed to money shortages. "One of the greatest challenges... at all levels is the lack of sustainable sources of funding in highly complex cases where witness protection is necessary, such as change of identity," the draft says. "Because the country is relatively small, the relocation of witnesses within the country has not been shown to be an effective protection measure and may only be used as a temporary measure. Very often there are witnesses who testify in multiple cases... who testify with different measures being applied... which generate negative consequences," the document says.

Kreso recommends revising relevant laws and by-laws and merging proceedings in cases "where there are factual-legal links" as one solution. "In proceedings before BiH courts, we should in principle avoid summoning witnesses who have testified before the ICTY [the war crimes tribunal in The Hague], if possible, we should find another witness with the same credibility," she writes.

This is suggested as one measure, alongside a recommendation to improve the exchange of information about the application of protective measures in various courts "in order to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information about protected witnesses' identity".

International judges may stay on:

At the end of her draft, Judge Kreso considers the possibility of retaining international judges and prosecutors, although this issue occupies the top spot in the strategy proposed by the State Prosecutor.

The draft recalls that under the transition plan, all international staff ought to be replaced with local staff by the end of 2009. However, Kreso writes that "the transition process... does not rule out or jeopardize in any way the idea to extend the mandate of a certain number" of international staff. The strategy recalls also an initiative in 2007 to keep international judges in the Appellate Panel, while support has in principle been expressed for keeping foreign nationals in the State Prosecutor's Office after 2009.

Kreso advocates a consistent implementation of the transition plan, which envisages a full transfer of all leading functions from international to local staff. This has already been done in the Court, but not in the Prosecutor's Office. In order to extend the mandate of international staff, Kreso notes the need to amend legislation "to allow foreign nationals to hold judicial and prosecutorial positions after 2009".

Bozic et al: Release from Custody Requested
BIRN Justice Report
September 9, 2008

The defense for a former member of Bratunac Brigade's Military Police has requested release from custody, at the objection of the prosecution.

Zdravko Bozic's defense has requested the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to release Bozic, saying that there are "new facts" that could change the court's previous decision to place him in custody. "We ask that a higher degree of suspicion is required to show that our client committed the crime as charged. Also, the witnesses whom he might have allegedly influenced have already been heard," defense counsel Dragica Glusac said.

The State Prosecutor's Office has charged Zdravko Bozic, in his capacity as member of the Military Police of the Republika Srpska Army's (RSA) Bratunac Brigade, with guarding the buses that transported men from Srebrenica to the school in Bratunac, where they were held. The indictment charges another three military police members, Mladen Blagojevic, Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic, with the same crime.

Explaining her motion, Glusac said it was indisputable that Zdravko Bozic was a member of the military police, but "he may not be put on trial only for being a member" because the prosecution failed to prove anything else. "We are at the stage when the prosecution is presenting its additional evidence, and they are going to hear one foreign and one protected witness whose identity is not known to the defense. We do not see how Bozic could influence them," Glusac argued.

As for the risk of Bozic escaping, the defense said that the United States extradited Bozic to Bosnia and Herzegovina and his documents were confiscated during this. The US court decided to extradite Bozic after it established that he had not told the truth to immigration authorities about his military engagement during the war.

The prosecution objected to the defense's motion because they thought that the circumstances under which Bozic had been put in custody had not changed. "We are of the opinion that Bozic could influence the witnesses because after the prosecution presents additional evidence, the defense is entitled to present its additional evidence," the prosecution said, explaining that the accused could also influence the accomplices because he was charged with a joint criminal enterprise.

The Court will rule on the motion at a later stage.

Slavko Sakic admits guilt over war crimes
BIRN Justice Report
September 11, 2008

The State prosecution has made another plea agreement for war crimes.

As BIRN –Justice Report has found out, Slavko Sakic made an plea agreement with the Prosecution in which he admits guilt for the war crimes in Bugojno. Under this agreement, the Prosecution requested from the Court to sentence him from seven up to ten years.

Slavko Sakic, a former member of the Croat Defence Council (HVO) is indicteed for crimes against the civilian population in Bugojno. In accordance with the indictment, Sakic as a member of Unit for the special Garavi task force of the HVO, during the month of July 1993 participated in the capture of Bosniak civilians from Bugojno, who were later held in the basement of the Akvarijum hotel in Vrbanja settlement.

The Prosecution believes that Sakic, during the arrest of the civilians, ''was involved in looting and taking away their money and jewelry by force'' and that he, on the 17 and 28 of July 1993, participated in the torture of imprisoned Bosniaks.

Sakic, at the beginning of August denied his guilt in accordance with the prosecution's indictment which was confirmed on 30 July.He has been in custody since 18 May of this year, when he was arrested in Livno by members of the State Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA).The agreement has been submitted to the Court for further consideration.

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Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

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

Regime Survivor to Victims: Exercise Rights
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
August 29, 2008

Tuol Sleng prison survivor Chum Mey on Friday called on living victims of the Khmer Rouge to file further complaints against five former regime leaders now in the custody of the tribunal.

Chum Mey, who was imprisoned at Tuol Sleng until Vietnamese forces pushed the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh in January 1979, said victims must exercise their right to complain, as no such rights existed under Democratic Kampuchea.

"They closed our mouths and our ears, and they banned our eyes from seeing," he told seminar on victim compensation in Phnom Penh Friday. "But now I tell you we have full rights. I need to ask you to file complaints as much as possible to try those five."

Chum Mey, who is 77 now, spoke during a seminar held by the rights group Adhoc to discuss possible reparations for victims following potential trials of the five former leaders: "Brother No. 2" Nuon Chea, nominal president Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary, social affairs minister Ieng Thirith and Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, better known by his revolutionary name, Duch.

"Do not let them go free," said Chum Mey, who himself has filed a complaint to the Khmer Rouge tribunal as a civil party. "If we file many complaints, the evidence will be more solid to prove there was mass killing."

The Victims Unit of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, located behind the Cambodian Red Cross Hospital on Norodom Boulevard, estimates about 1,800 people have so far filed complaints. Not all of them have been accepted by the courts, but more than 60 complaints will be used against Duch, whose case is nearing the trial stage.

Victims still lack access to information on filing complaints, said Hisham Mousar, who monitors the courts for the rights group Adhoc.

The tribunal should have a budget to support victims in the complaint process, he added.

Some people know they can complain, but they don't know where to go, Chum Mey said. Many of them are poor and are more concerned about making a living than making a trip to Phnom Penh to file a complaint.

Chea Sorn, 71, who attended Friday's seminar, said she was among those who want to file but do not know how.

"I alone am still alive; 10 others died," she said, weeping. "I don't know how to file a complaint. I earn money by keeping a parcel of land for one owner. I would rather die and forget all these difficulties."

KRT Judges, Prosecutors Review Internal Rules to Open First Trial
Kampuchea Thmey via Khmer Rouge Trial Web Portal
By Chan Rainsy
September 3, 2008

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT)'s Cambodian and international judges and prosecutors on 01 September 2008 opened a five-day long meeting at the Phnom Penh's Raffles Hotel Le Royal to review or amend some articles of the KRT's Internal Rules (IRs) in order to ease the first trial proceedings.

Since its 2007 processes, the KRT is facing two major issues that may stall the hybrid-court tasks. The first is funding shortfall – the KRT administration is seeking supports by international community to grant more funds amounting to an estimated US$40 million for its proceedings until the end. Second, in addition to the funding shortfall, the corruption allegation is undermining the KRT.

More than 250 Cambodian staffers' monthly salaries were not paid for the month of July due to the corruption allegation complaints by the KRT Cambodian staffers on June 2008 at the ECCC. However, the issues were resolved on 15 August 2008 due to the unified formation of the internal anti-corruption committee headed by Helen Jarvis.

Court spokesman Reach Sambath said both UN and Cambodian side determined to fights against a so-called corruption inside the tribunal.

On 25 August 2008, before his departure from Cambodia, US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli whose term expired said of the US attention to grant assistance directly to the tribunal as the corruption allegation is resolved.

Supreme Court Chamber's Judge Kong Srim said in a meeting on 01 September 2008 that the present budget is sufficient for the ending of the coming month's trial of former Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) director Kaing Guek Eav aka Duch indicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

For the five-day long meeting, Reach Sambath said it was a crucial and the last meeting after the KRT has proceeded for over six months. The meeting is aimed to review both weakness and strength in the IRs of 113 articles which the Cambodian-UN judges and prosecutors adopted for nine months in 2007.

The KRT's IRs allow the judges and prosecutors to make use of Cambodian and international legal system in which France and Britain (Civil Law and Common Law) will try former Khmer Rouge leaders according to crimes committed during their reign in 17 April 1975 – 07 January 1979.

KR tribunal officials deny graft claims exist, despite judges' concern
Phnom Penh Post
By Georgia Wilkins
September 3, 2008

A spokesperson from the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Tuesday dismissed corruption allegations that were described a day earlier as a "major" issue by court judges.

Describing them as unsubstantiated "rumours", spokeswoman Helen Jarvis, who was recently appointed as one of the court's ethics monitors, said: "No specific complaints have ever been made."

The tribunal has been rocked by the re-emergence of allegations that staff on the Cambodian side of the UN-backed court were forced to kick back a significant portion of their salaries to their bosses.

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services in New York has been reviewing multiple formal complaints of graft since the beginning of August.

Addressing the fourth plenary session of judges Monday, Trial Chamber Judge Silvia Cartwright urged "all efforts to ensure that the [graft] allegations are dealt with ... and independent measures are put in place."

In the wake of the allegations, hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds were frozen by the UN Development Program.

UN public affairs officer Peter Foster said Tuesday he did not know at what stage the UN probe was at, saying "I have heard no information at all" and that the results of the review would be sent straight to the Cambodian government once completed.

Praise for Tolbert

Also on the first day of the weeklong plenary session, judges commended the work of UN financial expert David Tolbert, who was brought in when the scandal-plagued court had to justify a tripling of its original budget to donors.

"Without [Tolbert's] support ... the ECCC would by now be very weak indeed," said Cartwright, a New Zealander.

Tolbert, who will leave later this week, was to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An Tuesday to discuss financial issues related to the court, but the details of the meeting have not been made public.

"The meeting [with Sok An] was private," Jarvis said.

Tolbert has been trying to help ease donor concerns about financial management and pave the way to further funding for the genocide tribunal, which faces a US$40 million shortfall.

Amid ongoing financial and administrative hurdles, the plenary session is expected limit its discussion to internal issues, including scope of appeals and legal representation of civil parties.

'No Panic' in Dwindling UN Funds for Tribunal
VOA Khmer
By Mean Veasna
September 4, 2008

The UN side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal could run out of funding as early as the end of October and definitely by the end of the year, a spokesmen said Thursday, but he expressed confidence donors would continue to support the courts.

"We know the funds we have will only last through the fourth quarter of 2008," said Peter Foster, a spokesman for the UN side of the tribunal. "That means it could run out of money in October or September, or it could last all the way through December, depending on how much we spend each month. With the money we have, it's almost impossible for us to continue beyond the end of the year, no matter what adjustments we make. Then we are truly out of money."

However, tribunal administrators were "very confident" of getting the funding necessary to continue proceedings against five jailed leaders of the regime, Foster said.

"There is no panic about us not receiving the money," he said. "The donors have expressed their approval over the revised budget, and it's just a matter of finding out when and who will be providing funds."

The UN has enlisted the aid of special expert David Tolbert, who spent the last two weeks in Cambodia and left Thursday. Tolbert, who met with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on his visit, is traveling from country to country to seek additional funding from donors.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said Thursday the UN side of the courts did not have more funding from the international community to meet new budget requirements for continued operation through the end of 2009.

The new requirements seek $40 million for the UN side and $10 million for the Cambodian side.

There has been little contribution from the international community since fresh allegations of kickbacks arose

France has so far donated $1 million to the courts, including $250,000 to the Cambodian side earlier this year.

The Cambodian side is still looking for more than $6 million to complete its requirement, following donations from Japan, Australia and France and $1 million from the Cambodian government.

RIGHTS-CAMBODIA: Khmer Rouge Trials Bare Sexual Abuse
Inter Press Service
By Andrew Nette
September 8, 2008

In a move that could break the silence around sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge, a 68 year-old transgender woman has became the first person to submit a complaint about gender-related abuse to the international tribunal during the group's brief but bloody reign.

Som Southevy's story also highlights the contemporary situation with regard to sexual violence in Cambodia, which many observers and human rights organisations believe is getting worse.

Southevy told a press conference this week she had been accused of so-called ‘moral crimes' and acting like a woman by the Khmer Rouge and incarcerated in several detention centres.

Weeping as she spoke, Southevy said that while she was in these prisons she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and gang raped by Khmer Rouge officials and cadres.

Although she cannot reveal all of the details, many of which are the subject of the official complaint to the tribunal, she was also forced to have her hair cut and wear men's clothing.

"If I had not followed these orders I would have been killed," she said. "I was forced to marry a woman and after ten days they [the Khmer Rouge] investigated whether it was a genuine marriage -- that is they tested whether we had had sexual intercourse."

Forced marriages were a common occurrence during the Khmer Rouge regime.

"I was just one of many transgender victims, a lot of them died during the regime," said Southevy. "I am lucky to have survived and be able to tell my story."

"It is time to dispel the widespread myth that sexual violence did not occur under the Khmer Rouge," said Silke Studzinsky, Southevy's lawyer.

"It is my hope that this first complaint will encourage other victims of sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge to file complaints, speak out about their stories and help search for the truth."

Studzinsky said the acts committed against her client must be considered within the crime of rape, as they were committed without consent of the person concerned and at the coercion of another party.

Although sexual crimes are not specified in the law establishing the Khmer Rouge tribunal, Studzinsky said there was ample scope for the court to hear them as part of crimes against humanity.

Southevy is one of a number of people applying to be recognised as a civil party before the tribunal into the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, whose rule between 1975 and 1979 is estimated to have led to the deaths of nearly two million people through torture, starvation and murder.

All Cambodians are able to file a complaint with the tribunal, volunteer to be a witness and contribute information.

An individual who has suffered significant harm as a direct result of the commission of a crime falling under the tribunal's jurisdiction can also apply to be recognised as a civil party.

Although the exact details have yet to be worked out, civil parties have full rights to participate in the trial, including having legal representation, accessing documentation and participating in the proceedings.

Much of the process is being by driven by NGOs engaged in public outreach and education activities on how the tribunal works and what rights people have in relation to it. They are also helping those interested draft complaints, which are then processed by the Victims Unit attached to the tribunal.

Tribunal officials are hopeful Southevy's actions will encourage more people to come forward with stories of sexual abuse during the Khmer Rouge.

Victim's Unit spokesperson, Constanze Oehlrich, said that as of early September the tribunal had received approximately 1,800 complaints and civil party applications.

To date, 28 have been accepted in regard to the case of against Kaing Guek Eav, otherwise known as Duch, head of the infamous Tuol Sleng torture centre.

The tribunal announced in mid-August it had indicted Duch for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecution is seeking to widen the scope of these charges, which could delay the start of the trial until November.

Duch will be the first of the five senior Khmer Rouge leaders currently in custody to stand trial.

The four others are Noun Chea or ‘Brother No 2' as he was known in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy, former Democratic Kampuchea head of state Khieu Samphan, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, the regime's minister of social action.

Southevy's application for civil party status could open up debate about the little researched aspect of gender-based crime under the Khmer Rouge.

"It is an area that is not yet investigated," said Studzinsky. "There are some limited studies and interviews with victims of sexual violence, men and women." "The problem is no one has asked the people. If you ask them then the story comes out. It is hidden history."

"The topic of sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge has been taboo for a long time," said Dr Muny Sothara, a psychiatrist and Project Coordinator with Trans-cultural Psychosocial Organisation, a local NGO contracted to provide psychological support to victims and witnesses taking part in the tribunal.

"I myself know there was a lot of sexual violence during this time but I have not met many of my clients who talk about it freely with me."

"For woman in particular, the problems of talking about it are twofold: There is the trauma of the event, plus the cultural conditioning which makes something like rape so shameful."

"Dealing with gender-based violence under the Khmer Rouge can help us deal with the subject of sexual violence in Cambodian society today," said Studzinsky.

Human rights organisations have reported increasing cases of rape and domestic violence, with many of the perpetrators enjoying impunity in the same manner as that experienced by the Khmer Rouge.

"Increasing cases of rape can be partially attributed to the spread of drug use among youth gangs and to the inability of authorities to crack down on the perpetrators for fear of revenge," said the 2007 report by local human rights group ADHOC.

"Other contributing factors may include lack of attention to complaints and investigations by authorities in order to arrest the perpetrators before they can escape justice or commit other crimes," it said.

There is also an ongoing controversy about an anti-trafficking law introduced by the Cambodian government, which has resulted in a widespread crackdown on sex workers throughout much of the country.

Sex workers are being sent to rehabilitation camps in which they face rape and violence by the police as part of this crackdown, according to rights groups.

"It is shocking to me to see that after more than 30 years we are again sending sex workers to prisons, starving them and calling it rehabilitation or re-education," said Southevy. "This sounds me so similar to what the Khmer Rouge said when they locked us up for moral crimes."

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Central African Republic

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

Military Option Still Open for Government
UGPulse
September 7, 2008

The government has welcomed reports that the Central African Republic- CAR has expressed readiness to join the manhunt for the Lords Resistance Army rebels, if the LRA fail to sign a peace agreement with the government of Uganda.

The LRA leader, Joseph Kony is suspected to be staging in the CAR together with a handful of his soldiers. The CAR government announced this week it was willing to join in the regional military solution to curb the LRA insurgency from the region.

Capt. Chris Magezi, the spokesperson for the government peace talks team says the news that the CAR is willing to join the efforts to stop Kony if he doesn't sign peace agreement are welcome.

He says Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo had already committed themselves to deal with the LRA militarily if the rebels fail to sign the comprehensive peace agreement with the government.

But the LRA peace team and international observers are currently in Ri-Kwangba at the border between Sudan and DRC, where they are to meet and convince Kony to sign the peace agreement

In an interview yesterday, Capt. Magezi appealed to the LRA leader to sign the peace agreement, saying it is the only sure way of bringing total peace and ensuring Kony and LRA rebels return and are integrated into the community back in Uganda.

Kony failed to sign a highly anticipated peace agreement on April 30 but has maintained he is still interested in ending the war peacefully. The government and regional countries have said the military option is still being considered should the LRA fail to sign.

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Darfur, Sudan (ICC)

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

UNSC September agenda does not include Bashir's ICC indictment
Sudan Tribune
September 3, 2008

(UNITED NATIONS) – The UN Security Council (UNSC) received no request from any of its members to take up the issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) seek an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

"This issue was not raised by any delegation. No delegation raised that for the time being at least" Michel Kafando UN Representative of Burkina Faso told reporters in New York today.

Kafando briefed reporters at the UN today on programme of work for the UNSC in his capacity as the council's president for the month of September.

The announcement may come as a disappointment to Khartoum which had hoped that its allies at the UNSC would press for a resolution deferring ICC prosecution of Al-Bashir.

In mid-July the ICC's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue arrest warrants for the Sudanese president on charges of war crimes and genocide. The ICC judges have yet to make a decision which could take a few more months.

The African Union, Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) called for invoking Article 16 which allows the UNSC to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.

Libya and South Africa sought to force a suspension in the UNAMID extension resolution adopted on July 31st but failed to get the required number of votes and instead accepted a watered down paragraph taking note of the African Union (AU) concern regarding the ICC move.

Following that the Sudanese government dispatched its envoys for a number of countries including UNSC members such as Libya, South Africa, and Burkina Faso seeking a resolution freeze ICC prosecutions in Darfur.

Sudanese officials have also expressed confidence lately that China and Russia will use their veto power to freeze Al-Bashir arrest warrant.

This week the headline news of the Al-Rae'd daily newspaper, issued by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), came under "Chinese veto awaits Ocampo".

However the UNSC does not have the power to veto an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. China has reportedly informed Sudan not to rely on its ‘veto' and instead focus on reaching a negotiated settlement in Darfur.

Hopes for the introduction of an Article 16 resolution appear to be fading primarily due to the stances of the veto wielding Western members of the UNSC namely US, UK and France.

UK and France diplomats hinted to their desire to see concessions from Sudan before they would consider supporting such a resolution.

But the US, which had long standing opposition to the ICC, appeared uncompromising on bringing war crimes perpetrators to justice. Washington abstained from voting on the UNAMID extension resolution over the text which included reference to the AU concern over Bashir's indictment.

In explaining the abstention US deputy Representative to the UN Alejandro Wolff said his government strongly supports UNAMID but that the "language added to the resolution would send the wrong signal to the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice".

"The issue before us is to make clear to those who are guilty of criminal activity and complicit in the horrors that befallen on the people of Darfur that there can be no escape…anything that signals a way out or any easy way to circumvent that we believe need to be opposed" the US diplomat said.

He also said that the US "disagrees" with the AU request to block the ICC's prosecutor request of an arrest warrant against Sudan president.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UNSC 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.

French official offers Sudan a deal to settle ICC row
Sudan Tribune
September 4, 2008

(KHARTOUM) – The French government presented to Sudan a plan that may lead to blocking investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a news report.

The daily Al-Hayat newspaper published in London said that the French Presidential Advisor for African Affairs Bruno Joubert promised to support a deferral of ICC prosecutions through a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution.

In return for that Sudan would prosecute two suspects wanted by the ICC including Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.

Joubert reportedly also asked Khartoum to place Haroun under house arrest and investigate his role in the Darfur war crimes. However the French official also insisted that Khartoum deal with the ICC and proposed an international team to review the Sudanese judicial system.

Paris also pressed Sudan to resolve the Darfur crisis, remove obstacles facing the Darfur peacekeepers

The French Presidential advisor who was on a two-day visit to Khartoum expressed his country's desire to have good relations with the Sudanese government and to provide the necessary help to end Darfur crisis.

Joubert met with the Vice President Ali Osman Taha, Presidential Assistant Nafi Ali Nafi, Foreign Minister Deng Alor, Presidential Advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail and the chief of security and intelligence services Salah Abdallah Gosh.

Dr. Qutbi Al-Mahdi a senior figure at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) acknowledged that they have received new French proposals and said that his government accepted some of the items and rejected the others.

He also ruled out any dealings with ICC despite the French demands and accused Paris of not being genuinely interested in resolving the Darfur crisis.

French-Sudanese relations have been strained over hosting of Abdel Wahid al-Nur leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM). Officials in Khartoum also hinted that France provided support to an attack by Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on the capital last May.

The relations between the two countries went sour further after prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked pre-trial judges in mid-July to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

Sudan accused France of pushing Ocampo to proceed with his case against Al-Bashir.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the time urged Al-Bashir to respect the decisions of the ICC.

"It is a decision by the International Criminal Court that President al-Bashir must respect. He must take the court recommendations into account, period" Kouchner told reporters following talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Paris.

Asked whether France would support the ICC whatever the repercussions on the search for a political settlement in Darfur, he replied: "We know what the possible consequences are, but we are supporters of this international court".

"We know that it is not possible to protest against its decisions" Kouchner added.

Moreover the French envoy at the United Nations (UN) Jean-Maurice Ripert hinted that his government may freeze contacts with Al-Bashir if the ICC judges decide to issue an arrest warrant for him.

"The EU [European Union] rules are very clear. We have no dialogue and no cooperation with anyone indicted by the ICC; this is very clear" Ripert told reporters today at the UN headquarters in July.

The French diplomat further stressed that the "judicial process should go on" and suggested his country's opposition to invoking article 16 of the ICC Statute to suspend Al-Bashir's indictment.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute 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.

Sudanese official warns of "Tsunami" if Bashir indicted by ICC
Sudan Tribune
September 9, 2008

(AMMAN) – The Sudanese Justice Minister Abdel-Baset Sabdarat warned of a political "tsunami" if the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir.

"Things will be done differently and it won't be business as usual like many people think" Sabdarat cautioned. However he did not elaborate.

Some Sudanese officials hinted that they may ask UN missions in the South and Darfur to leave if Al-Bashir is charged by the ICC.

The ICC's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.

Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Sabdarat who was speaking to reporters in Jordan said that if the judges endorse the charges against Al-Bashir "it will lead the entire region into a devastating earthquake which will burn not only the fingers of those who are orchestrating these charges, but their livers as well".

"The Sudanese people are not like other people. If you describe them [Sudanese people] as Arabs then they are and if you said they are Africans then they are Africans. The Sudanese people staged three revolutions and they will refuse ousting their leadership and the government and will burn the region" he added.

The Sudanese official accused foreign powers of targeting his country through "sanctions, war and bombing factories". He further said that the ICC move aims to "break the respect of Al-Bashir has by his people".

Yesterday Sabdarat handed the Jordanian King Abdullah II a letter from Al-Bashir. The Jordanian news agency (PETRA) said that the letter contained Khartoum's view with regards to the latest developments of its row with ICC.

King Abdullah told the Sudanese official that Jordan is "keen on preserving the security and stability of Sudan as well as achieving national reconciliation and strengthening peace all over Sudan" PETRA reported.

The Sudanese delegation included some legal experts who, along with Sabdarat, met with the Jordanian Justice minister Ayman Ouda. The two sides reportedly discussed the ICC issue and "coordinating efforts in legal matters regionally and internationally".

Jordan is one of three Arab states which are party to the ICC Statute which may explain why King Abdullah avoided making public comment criticizing the Hague based court.

Some Sudanese officials have suggested that they may deal "indirectly" with the ICC through a third country that is a member of the court to challenge the proceedings in the Darfur case.

The country named to play that role was another Arab country. Djibouti. However under the ICC Statute only the State or the accused may challenge the admissibility of a case or the jurisdiction.

Sabdarat reiterated his country's position not to hand over any suspects to the ICC before adding that he does not accept "for someone to commit a crime and go unpunished".

"Sudanese courts are willing and able to investigate crimes committed" he stressed.

But today the United Nations special rapporteur on Sudan accused Khartoum of affording impunity to those who abuse human rights in the war-torn region.

"A culture of impunity is prevalent; the state fails to investigate, punish and prosecute perpetrators of human rights violations" she said.

Last month Sudan appointed a special prosecutor to look into rights abuses committed in war ravaged region of Darfur since 2003. It was also reported that the prosecutor may investigate a militia leader wanted by the ICC who was previously cleared by Sudanese courts.

However many lawyers and politicians inside Sudan dismissed the step as "belated" and an attempt to circumvent the ICC work.

Tanzania and Nigeria to lead AU bid to block Sudan charges
Daily Nation
September 10, 2008

KHARTOUM, Wednesday - The chairman of the African Union, Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete, has declared that the AU Peace and Security Council will take the responsibility of handling attempts to halt the International Criminal Court's dispute with Sudan at the UN.

In a joint press conference he held with Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday in conclusion of his talks in Khartoum, President Kikwete said that Nigerian and Tanzanian ambassadors in New York, are currently seeking ways to halt the ICC's plans to charge President Bashir.

The ICC accuses President Bashir of genocide in Darfur.

President Kikwete affirmed that the AU and UN will work with the government of Sudan to realise peace and justice in Darfur and to handle the humanitarian crisis in the region.

President Kikwete expressed his appreciation for the commitment made by Sudan and President al-Bashir personally to endeavour to solve the issue of Darfur, stressing that the UN does not undermine the importance of justice in Darfur and that the AU believes that it's an important issue, but priority should be given to peace, humanitarian issues, protection of lives and alleviation of suffering in the western Sudan region.

He affirmed that the AU is trying to secure its previous stance through AU Peace and Security Council to freeze the ICC plans and through UN to secure this stance.

Also, he affirmed that the difficulties facing deployment of the hybrid forces will be discussed with the AU and UN, surmounting the stance of the government of Sudan and its commitment to protect the humanitarian convoys and humanitarian workers.

President Kikwete said that his talks with the officials of the government of Sudan and the chief of the joint mission focused on the peace process in Darfur and the difficulties that face deployment of the hybrid forces in Darfur.

For his part, President al-Bashir said that security and stability in Sudan are crucial for Africa, pointing out the efforts made by the government to realise peace at all levels, affirming that his talks with the chairman of the AU have been comprehensive, productive and constructive and forms a framework for solution of issues.

President al-Bashir added that President Kikwete would participate in the activities of the UN general assembly, and would meet with a number of leaders and "we are quite convinced that he would express our stance clearly and would support Sudan."

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Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)

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

Trial Chamber I maintains stay of proceedings in the Thomas Lubanga Dyilo case
International Criminal Court Press Release
September 4, 2008

On 3 September 2008, Trial Chamber I rendered a public redacted decision rejecting the application of the Office of the Prosecutor to lift the stay of proceedings in the case of The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo imposed on 13 June 2008.

"The proposals outlined in the application demonstrably fail to meet the prerequisites set out hitherto by the Chamber to enable it to lift the stay of proceedings, and they infringe fundamental aspects of the accused's right to a fair trial" states the decision.

On 13 June 2008, Trial Chamber I imposed a stay on the proceedings of the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. The Chamber came to the conclusion that the Prosecution had incorrectly used article 54 (3) (e) of the Rome Statute which allows the Prosecutor to receive information or documents, on the condition of confidentiality, which are not for use at trial but solely for the purpose of generating new evidence. The Chamber concluded that this misuse has had the consequence that a significant body of exculpatory evidence has not been disclosed to the accused, thereby improperly inhibiting the opportunities for the accused to prepare his defence. In this case some documents were obtained from information providers, such as the United Nations and NGO's with agreements not to be disclosed.

The Chamber noted that some of the requirements set previously by the Chamber had been met. However, in yesterday's decision, the Chamber reiterated the conditions which need to be satisfied before lifting the stay in the proceedings:

Firstly, that the Trial Chamber can adequately review - on a continuing basis for the entirety of the trial– the documents in question, in a way which is susceptible to a meaningful appeal.

Secondly, that there is some real prospect that the accused will be given sufficient access to any documents which the Chamber considers to be exculpatory.

However, the Chamber stressed that if the first condition is met, the Chamber would be prepared to assess which documents need to be disclosed and whether the proposed method for disclosure accord with the accused's right to a fair trial.

The Trial Chamber indicated its awareness of the importance of this decision to the peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the victims and the accused. Furthermore, the Chamber expressed gratitude for the attempts of the source providers of the documents concerned to resolve these difficulties, and underlined that these information providers had entered into the relevant agreements with the Prosecution in good faith. The Trial Chamber also noted that there have been some real developments in the position of the United Nations as a result of discussion between itself and the Prosecution.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo will remain in the custody of the International Criminal Court following the Appeals Chamber's decision to grant suspensive effect of the appeal of the Prosecution against the decision on the release of the accused until a final decision is taken on the appeal.

International Criminal Court's Trial of Thomas Lubanga
Human Rights Watch
September 5, 2008

What is the current status of the Lubanga case?

In its decision of September 3, 2008, Trial Chamber I rejected the prosecution's application to lift the stay of proceedings in the trial of Thomas Lubanga, which the trial chamber imposed on June 13, 2008. In that earlier decision, the trial chamber unanimously decided to "stay" the proceedings against Lubanga-therefore suspending the International Criminal Court's (ICC) first-ever trial- because the prosecution was unable to release more than 200 documents containing potentially "exculpatory" information that it gathered during its investigation. The court defines "exculpatory" material as documentation that shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused, that mitigates the guilt of the accused, or information which may affect the credibility of the prosecution evidence. According to the judges, "the right to a fair trial-which is without doubt a fundamental right-includes an entitlement to disclosure of exculpatory material."

The information at issue was collected under article 54(3)(e) of the Rome Statute. Under this provision, the prosecution can agree to receive documents or information on a confidential basis "solely for the purpose of generating new evidence." This confidential information is supposed to be a "springboard" for the prosecution to collect new evidence in its investigations that can be used at trial. If the prosecution wants to use any of this information at trial-or to fulfill its obligation to disclose exculpatory material collected under this provision to the defense-it must get permission from the source. The sources at issue had previously refused to consent to the disclosure of the potentially exculpatory information in the prosecutor's possession.

Does that mean Lubanga will be released?

This ruling does not mean that Lubanga will be released. On June 23, the prosecution filed an appeal of the trial chamber's June 13 decision challenging the court's decision to "stay" the proceedings, among other issues. Any decision relating to Lubanga's release is tied to the appeals chamber decision. That decision is still pending.

Then why did the trial chamber issue a decision?

While any decision regarding Lubanga's release depends on the outcome of the decision of the appeals chamber, in the meantime, the prosecution has been working to disclose the more than 200 documents containing exculpatory information in a manner that would address the trial chamber's concerns and would "restart" the Lubanga trial. The trial chamber retained the power to "lift" the stay that it had imposed at any time, provided certain conditions were met. The trial chamber decided that the prosecutor's proposals did not meet its conditions to restart the trial.

Why did the trial chamber reject the prosecutor's proposals?

The trial chamber felt that there were still too many restrictions on the potentially exculpatory documents to ensure that Lubanga would receive a fair trial. The more than 200 documents at issue were provided to the Office of the Prosecutor by the United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and could not be disclosed without the information providers' consent.

Of the roughly 200 documents, 152 were from the UN. Of these, the UN was imposing restrictions-in terms of the trial chamber's review of the documents and their disclosure to the defense-on 99 of them. Of the remaining more than 50 documents from NGOs, disclosure is currently being contemplated with respect to only 3 documents. It was uncertain how many of the remaining NGO documents would be disclosed and in what form.

Why cannot the information providers simply turn over the information?

As mentioned earlier, the information at issue was collected under article 54(3)(e) of the Rome Statute, which means that if the material is to be used in any way at trial-even if it is exculpatory-the prosecution must get permission from the source. Requiring consent from the information providers helps to ensure, for example, that these sources are not unknowingly or unwillingly exposed to safety risks because of their cooperation with the ICC. This is particularly relevant for sources that operate in countries where the ICC is carrying out investigations.

In its decision, the trial chamber stated that "responsibility for the continuing problems [ ] does not rest with the information providers, who have sought to discharge their respective mandates. As the Trial Chamber has previously observed, the United Nations and the NGOs entered into the relevant agreements in good faith, and thereafter have sought to assist the court to the extent that is consistent with their individual responsibilities."

ICC appeals for funds to aid sexual violence victims
Reuters Africa
By Aaron Gray-Block
September 10, 2008

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court launched an appeal for 10 million euros (8 million pounds) on Wednesday to fund rehabilitation programmes for 1.7 million victims of sexual violence during Africa's wars.

Previous war crimes tribunals have faced criticism for staging costly trials while not doing enough to compensate victims, but the ICC, set up as the world's first permanent war crimes court in 2002, offers a "Trust Fund for Victims" partly in answer to such criticism.

Denmark responded to the appeal with a donation of 500,000 euros -- the largest ever government contribution to the fund, which began operating in 2007.

Additional donations are expected when the assembly of 108 countries that have ratified the statute which established the court meet in The Hague in December.

The ICC is investigating conflicts in northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and the Sudanese region of Darfur for possible war crimes and human rights abuses.

The fund is intended to help victims in these areas, independently of any trials, although the ICC also has the power to ask it to make reparations to individual victims.

"When we look at sexual violence and abuse through the DRC or Darfur, we understand the horrific magnitude of the problem and the urgent need to address it," South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the trust fund's five board members, told a press conference in The Hague.

He added he hoped it would help: "the anonymous ones, the ones victimised by rape used as a tactic of war."

The fund will pay for rehabilitation and counselling programmes, help reduce the discrimination and stigmatisation faced by victims of sexual violence and improve their economic opportunities.

It will use donations to expand its existing work in the DRC and Uganda and to enter the Central African Republic in 2009. It aims to enter Sudan within three years, but Sudan has not yet granted the ICC the necessary conditions in order to work there.

"As soon as we resolve these legal and political problems, we are going to come back with a special plan to address the needs of Sudan," the executive director of the fund, Andre Laperriere, said.

The court has four suspects in its custody in The Hague, all from Congo, but has yet to start its first trial.

In July the court's chief prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur.

(Additional reporting by Alexandra Hudson)

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Uganda (ICC)

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

ICC Clears UPDF in the North
The New Vision
By Anne Mugisa and Hillary Nsambu
August 29, 2008

THE International Criminal Court has not found evidence against the UPDF to warrant the commanders arraignment over crimes in the Kony war, an official of the court has said.

Jimmy Otim, ICC's field public information outreach assistant in Uganda, said the prosecutor did not get evidence to pin the UPDF.

"The ICC needed evidence not hearsay and emotional feelings. So the Prosecutor said that there was evidence against Kony and not against the UPDF commanders," he said.

This was at a two-day capacity building and awareness workshop for selected judiciary officials held at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe.

Otim said that this does not mean that there were no crimes committed by the army, but the court needs concrete evidence. He was responding to queries from the judicial officials as to why the ICC was not investigating the UPDF.

According to Otim, Kony victims are expected to be among the witnesses once the trial starts. "The victims would ask the court for reparations and court can freeze assets of the perpetrators for this purpose," he said.

Joseph Kony and three of his top commanders are indicted by the ICC over war crimes. Charges against the fifth, Raska Lukwiya, were dropped by the ICC after the Court confirmed his death.

Otim, formerly an abducted child, is now working with the ICC. He, however, says his abduction falls outside the ICC pre- 2002 time limit and therefore does not qualify as one of the beneficiaries.

Apart from the LRA case, the ICC is investigating other cases including the one against Sudanese president Omar Bashir over the Darfur murders and crimes against humanity. He said that nobody would commit crimes with impunity.

Deputy Chief Justice Laeticia Kikonyogo, however, said the issue of double jeopardy should be addressed where the ICC feels that national courts have not handled the trials independently or impartially.

"Another difficult question I would like the experts to comment on is in regard to the relationship between peace efforts and the need for prosecutions, where the players in peace talks are the perpetrators," she said.

The Judge, however, praised the provision for reparations for the victims of the crimes.

LRA Leader Ready to Sign Peace Pact
Sunday Vision
September 6, 2008

A Government team headed by UN envoy on Northern Uganda Joachim Chissano and UPDF Spokesman Maj. Paddy Ankunda are travelling to Nabanga, where they will contact LRA leader Joseph Kony, to have him sign the final peace agreement.

Ankunda told Sunday Vision yesterday that he was tasked by the Commander-in-Chief, President Yoweri Museveni, to join the team two weeks ago.

According to the army spokesman, the renewed initiative to sign the agreement came from Kony himself, who contacted chief mediator Riek Machar to request for a team to be dispatched.

"The people in the bush called and said a team should proceed and that Kony is ready to sign," Ankunda said.

He, however, said that by yesterday, they were still trying to make contact in Juba, and Kony couldn't be reached on phone.

"We are trying to get connection to Nabanga in order to reach Kony and have him sign the agreement," Ankunda explained.

"As of now, this seems not to be forthcoming because we can't communicate to him since he seems to be outside the network. We are trying to proceed to Nabanga tomorrow."

He said they are not sure where Kony is, "but we are trying to reach him". He said they have the blessing of President Yoweri Museveni to carry out the mission.

The group also comprises of Uganda's ambassador to Southern Sudan, Busho Nyinenka. Sources said that signing the peace agreement was one of the issues that the president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, discussed with Museveni during his visit to Uganda in August.

Contacts were made recently to arrange for Chissano's visit to Juba to urge Uganda and the LRA to sign the peace agreement.

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The Trial of Alberto Fujimori

Fujimori on Trial

Argentine expert says orders for state crimes are never written
Fujimori On Trial
September 3, 2008

Ninety-sixth session. Former Argentine military official, José Luis García, who spoke as an expert, said that the Cantuta crime shares many similarities with the crimes committed in El Salvador since in both countries there was a national policy of impunity for the perpetrators.

1. Incidents during the hearing

Fujimori’s health

After the Court’s approved for former President Alberto Fujimori to have a post-op evaluation, the Institute of Neoplastic Illnesses (INEN) read its medical report, recommending that the defendant receive dentistry and gastroenterological treatments. The medical report also indicated that Fujimori has a 1.5 cm cyst on his pancreas and recommended tests to see what the nature of the cyst is. The Court has called for the Institute of Legal Medicine to coordinate with the INEN for these medical exams to be carried out as soon as possible.

Regarding the role of evidence

The Court ordered that the rules regarding the role of document evidence be published and that both the prosecution (the Public Prosecutor as well as the lawyers for the victims’ families) and the defense be notified of these rules in order to continue with the next phase of the criminal trial.

2. International expert – Among the most outstanding parts of what expert José Luis García said, divided into five topics according to his knowledge of them:

1. Peru’s situation with terrorism in 1990

2. Similar military formation and doctrine in Latin America

According to García, the majority of Latin American countries adapted to the "National Security Doctrine," which was imposed by the United States with the aim to confront international communism in the region. For this reason, the United States prepared approximately 60,000 military officials in the School of the Americas in Panama for combating guerrillas through torture, extortion and extrajudicial executions. Members of the Colina Military Detachment, such as Santiago Martín Rivas and Carlos Pichilingüe Guevara, are some of the many who participated in this coursework at the School of the Americas.

3. Anti-terrorist strategy in Peru at that time

The Peruvian Constitution, the Peruvian Army manuals and especially the Directive No. 003-91 — signed by Fujimori during his first government in order to combat terrorism, which Fujimori’s defense uses as one of the main proofs of his innocence — at all times manifests that the president, then Alberto Fujimori, had power to order and command over the Armed Forces.

The expert also referred to the similarities between the Cantuta crime committed by the Colina Military Detachment and the extrajudicial execution of seven priests in El Salvador, saying that in both crimes the State gave "safety to the murderers" through the Armed Forces.

4. How orders were given and carried out

The orders were verbal, never written: "The orders, guidelines, regulations […] were all always done verbally, never written. The whole world knows that these are undercover operations, they leave no trace." José Luis García said that in his country, Argentina, these orders in exceptional regimes (regimes during which certain fundamental rights, such as the right to gather, were suspended), were never written.

5. Low-intensity war

García also said that based on his experience in Argentina and other Latin American countries, in the 1990s in Peru, a low-intensity war was carried out, which has been confirmed in United States national security documents: "They defined the enemy as the communists and everything that focused on the misery of the poor. Now they say the enemy is terrorism, drug-trafficking and migration that do not affect our countries […] Since then, the countries divided themselves in security zones, security sub-zones and security areas for internal control, as was seen in Peru."

3. Next session

At 12:45 — with the session having lasted less than four hours, after being suspended since Wednesday, Aug. 28 — Fujimori’s lawyer, César Nakazaki, requested that the session be suspended once again in order to organize his documentation. Thus the Court suspended the hearing until Friday, Sept. 5, when Argentine expert José Luis García will continue to speak.

Documents show Fujimori had order and command over Armed Forces, says international expert
Fujimori On Trial
September 5, 2008

Ninety-seventh session. Former Argentine military official José Luis García continued to speak from the last session. García said that Directive No. 003-91, established during Fujimori’s government, gave the president (then Alberto Fujimori) order and command over the Armed Forces in counter-subversive efforts.

1. Incidents during the hearing

Fujimori’s health

The Court announced that the necessary medical exams were carried out for the cyst found on Fujimori’s pancreas. The Institute of Neoplastic Illnesses (INEM) and the Institution of Magnetic Resonance (RESOMASA) were in charge of the exams, in order to discover the nature of the cyst.

2. International expert – Among the most important things said by international expert José Luis García are:

Directive 003-91

This directive has been provided by Fujimori’s defense as proof of innocence. However, according to García, this document gave Fujimori order and command over the Armed Forces in counter-subversive operations. Thus the directive came from Fujimori’s command as Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces, making it obligatory.

Command Responsibility

García asserted that according to the "command responsibility doctrine," three elements need to be proven in order to demonstrate command responsibility:

The perpetrators of the crimes are in an effective line of command.

Regardless of the head of command’s level, he or she must know the acts or have the means to know that these acts occurred.

When the acts (the crimes) have been committed, adequate mechanisms are adopted in order to avoid punishing the perpetrators and fail to prevent the acts from happening again.

Shining Path’s strategic equilibrium

Fujimori’s defense has argued that subversive group Shining Path’s had strategic equilibrium — was reaching its objectives to take power and overturn the government — in order to justify the coup d’état in April 1992, known in Peru as the "self-coup." However, the Argentine expert said Shining Path did not threaten the government’s vital areas, such as the capital Lima, meaning it had not reached strategic equilibrium in 1992.

3. Next session

The Court announced that at the next session on Sept. 8, US legal analyst Kate Doyle will be presented as an international expert.

US expert says declassified documents demonstrate that state crimes were committed
Fujimori On Trial
September 8, 2008

Ninety-eighth session. US expert Kate Doyle, of the National Archives at George Washington University, spoke during the session. The lawyers for the victims’ families had asked Doyle to testify as an international expert on the understanding and implications of US government declassified documents. According to the expert, there was a double strategy in Fujimori’s government, one that respected the Rule of Law and another that violated human rights.

1. Incidents during the trial

Fujimori’s health

At approximately 10 am, after the trial session had already begun, pro-Fujimori Congresswoman Keiko Sofía Fujimori — Alberto Fujimori’s daughter — gave a press conference in Congress, where she announced that the tumor on her father’s pancreas was not cancerous. She also said that the doctor who examined her father recommended reducing the trial’s daily duration. Trial sessions currently last less than six hours, with recesses every two hours, and are held three times a week. However, the Court made no mention of Fujimori’s medical exams, implying that it has not yet received them.

2. International expert – Among the most interesting aspects of what expert Kate Doyle said:

According to Doyle, the 49 declassified documents from the US State Department demonstrate that Alberto Fujimori’s government had two government strategies:

A public strategy that respected the Rule of Law

Another secret strategy that was not considered legal, which was used to commit state crimes in the counter-subversive struggle.

The expert said that since 1990, there was an early and constant concern not only from the ambassador but also in Washington. The cables sent by officials asked questions, requiring more investigation into certain issues. This concern was expressed by the US ambassador in Peru, Anthony Quainton, due to the Peruvian army’s and National Intelligence Service’s supposed involvement in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta crimes.

Doyle also said that the US ambassador’s concerns reveal that the illegal operations were a result of the government’s policies and were not a result of the army, police force or intelligence service. It was clear, she said, that Fujimori’s government was trying to cover up the security services’ human rights abuses, since neither the Barrios Altos nor La Cantuta crimes were investigated.

Other trials in which US declassified documents have been used

Doyle said that declassified documents have helped prove cases against former heads of state, such as Juan María Bordaberry, the former Uruguayan president who was condemned in 2006 for state crimes. She also mentioned the cases of Guatemala and Argentina.

Request by Fujimori’s lawyer

César Nakazaki, Fujimori’s lawyer, asked the Court to request the Directive No. 001 – 90 – MD/FDM "Strategic Planning for National Defense" from the Defense Ministry. This Public Prosecutor and the lawyers for the victims’ families backed this request, which the Court said it would resolve next session.

3. Next session

The Court announced that for the next session on Wednesday, Sept. 10, the three experts from the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) will speak.

[back to contents]

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

A new trial chamber for Radovan Karadzic
SENSE Tribunal: ICTY
August 21, 2008

The case of the former Bosnian Serb political leader charged with genocide and other serious crimes in BH has been reassigned to Trial Chamber III: Judge Robinson, Judge Bonomy and Judge Antonetti. This decision was not motivated by Karadzic’s motion for the disqualification of Judge Orie, but has rendered it irrelevant

ICTY president Fausto Pocar today assigned the Radovan Karadzic case to Trial Chamber III, consisting of judges Patrick Robinson, Iain Bonomy and Jean-Claude Antonetti.

One of the three judges will preside at the trial of Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb political leader charged with genocide and other grave crimes in BH. Scottish judge Bonomy is the most likely candidate for the presiding judge. He is about to complete the trial of six former Serbian officials charged with crimes against Kosovo Albanians in 1999. Judge Robinson from Jamaica is currently the presiding judge in the trial of former chiefs of the Serbian state security service. As this trial has been suspended because of the ill health of the first accused Jovica Stanisic, Judge Robinson took over the trial of Milan and Sredoje Lukic, charged with crimes in Visegrad. French judge Antonetti is currently presiding in two trials, that of former Herceg Bosna leaders and the Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj.

After Karadzic’s arrest and his transfer to The Hague in July 2008, his case was assigned to Trial Chamber I, with Dutch judge Orie presiding. As the president made clear in his order, this decision was motivated by the prosecution announcing it would be applying for the joinder of Karadzic’s case with the case of Momcilo Perisic, former chief of the VJ General Staff. Perisic is also charged with shelling of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre; his case was assigned to Trial Chamber I. In the meantime, the prosecution decided not to join the two cases, and President Pocar decided to reassign the Radovan Karadzic case to a new trial chamber; this is usual practice at the Tribunal.

There is no mention in the ICTY president’s decision of Karadzic’s motion for the disqualification of Judge Orie. Karadzic’s motion has thus been rendered irrelevant as his case has now been assigned to Trial Chamber III.

Kosovo Six Prosecutors Demand Severe Sentences
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Simon Jennings
August 22, 2008

They say if the accused are convicted, they should receive long prison terms.

Prosecutors called for sentences of between 20 years and life imprisonment for six former Serb officials on trial for the murder, persecution and deportation of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in 1999.

In its closing address this week, the prosecution in the trial of former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic and his five co-defendants said that all six men should be convicted.

It argued that it had proven their involvement in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at changing the ethnic balance of what was the Serbian province to maintain Serb control.

According to the indictment, forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, FRY, and Serbia forcibly expelled and displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians. Civilians were "frequently intimidated, assaulted or killed in public view to enforce the departure of their families and neighbours", it said.

The ex-president is on trial with former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, ex-chief of staff of the Yugoslav army, VJ, Dragoljub Ojdanic, former Yugoslav military commanders Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir Lazarevic, and police chief Sreten Lukic.

According to prosecutor Thomas Hannis, the expulsions and killings of ethnic Albanians can be traced to ex-Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, who told Klaus Naumann, then president of the NATO Military Committee, and NATO commander Wesley Clarke in October 1998 that "a final solution to the Kosovo problem would be found in the spring".

Asked to clarify, Milosevic said that he would repeat what happened in Drenica in 1946 when Albanians were gathered together and shot, Hannis told the court.

Prosecutors told judges that although there were no documents detailing any common Serb official objective, evidence of coordinated action between the army and the Ministry of the Interior, MUP, together with the testimony of villagers who survived the massacres, pointed to a shared criminal purpose.

"[The office of the prosecutor’s] position is that the departure of over 800,000 Kosovo Albanians from Kosovo was mainly due to the actions of the forces of the FRY and Serbia and to the actions of the VJ and the police acting in a coordinated manner under the command of the accused," prosecutor Daniela Kravetz told the court.

The prosecution sought this week to undermine the arguments of the defence teams as to why this mass exodus occurred, including the suggestion that Serb forces were escorting Kosovo Albanians to the border with Macedonia to protect them.

According to the prosecution, those who fled had their identity cards confiscated at the border and the license plates taken off their cars.

"This practice…of identity cleansing was aimed at forcing people out and preventing them from returning. This was not a humanitarian evacuation," Kravetz told the court.

During the trial, defence lawyers have also argued that civilians were fleeing a NATO bombing campaign – not Serb atrocities. Kravetz cast doubt on this, using the testimony of one witness who said the border area between Albania and Macedonia was hit by 80 per cent of the NATO bombing.

"Why would civilians…flee precisely to the areas where the bombs were falling?" asked Kravetz.

"The evidence clearly shows that [the NATO bombing] was not the reason for the departure of the population."

Prosecutors also dismissed defence arguments that civilians died because they were caught in the cross-fire or as a result of a legitimate anti-terrorism campaign against the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

Kravetz highlighted two atrocities carried out in April 1999 against civilian targets where there was no KLA presence.

At one house, policemen forced women and children out of a basement and then shot them dead. In another incident, 40 Kosovo Albanians were shot at a pizzeria, she said. Their bodies were then transported over 280 kilometres to Belgrade and hidden in mass graves, continued Kravetz.

"Clearly, these were not legitimate killings. These were civilians who were specifically targeted because they were Kosovo Albanians," she added.

Prosecutor Chester Stamp dismissed claims made on behalf of the defendants – particularly Ojdanic – that the attacks in Kosovo were random violence. Supporting his argument with a map showing where people were killed before being transported to Serbia to be buried, Stamp said that the conflict was not a matter of a few victims, but a "massive organised criminal enterprise".

Addressing Milutinovic’s responsibility, Stamp rejected the defence argument that the former president had not contributed to the crimes and had done nothing about them because he lacked authority to act.

"The reports that he received [from] the media is sufficient evidence of notice that imposed on him a duty to do…everything…within his power to stop and to prevent these massive crimes," said Stamp.

Stamp also countered defence efforts to "marginalise" Milutinovic and cast him as a peripheral figure in government.

The prosecutor questioned the evidence of defence witness Ratko Markovic, who said that under Serbian law Milutinovic did not have a significant role in foreign affairs.

Stamp said that as a member of the government ruling party, Markovic lacked impartiality, and therefore his testimony should be treated with "extreme suspicion and caution".

The closing arguments are scheduled to be completed by August 27.

BIA denies regional Mladic meeting
B92
August 26, 2008

BELGRADE -- BIA Director Saša Vukadinovic has denied media reports that regional secret services met in Belgrade recently.

Sarajevo's daily Dnevni Avaz said yesterday that Serbian security agency, BIA, had a meeting with Montenegrin, Bosnian and Croatian counterparts to discuss locating and arresting of Hague fugitive Ratko Mladic.

Vukadinovic, in a statement sent to the Danas newspaper, today denied this.

Allegations which appeared in the press citing a source who said that "groundwork is being prepared for the arrest and extradition of Mladic to The Hague", and that "Belgrade, the BIA and MUP of Serbia, along with the military intelligence structures, know where the general currently is and that it is a matter of days when they will reveal that they were able to arrest him", has not been confirmed by the Serbian Prosecution Office, nor by any of the MUP top brass.

Karadzic says he has no hope of a fair trial
International Herald Tribunal
August 26, 2008

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called for the U.N. genocide and crimes against humanity case against him to be dismissed because negative publicity means he can not get a fair trial.

In a three-page filing dated Aug. 24 and released Tuesday, Karadzic said any presumption of innocence "has been ... reduced to a joke" by what he called "demonization in the media."

The document's release came just days before Karadzic was due to make his second appearance at the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

On Friday he will be asked by Scottish judge Iain Bonomy to enter pleas to 11 charges. If Karadzic refuses, the court will enter not guilty pleas on his behalf and begin preparations for trial. If convicted, he faces a maximum life sentence.

Karadzic was extradited to The Hague after his arrest in Serbia in July while posing as a bearded new age guru. He had been on the run for 13 years.

Since his arrival in The Hague, Karadzic has been held in a cell at the tribunal's detention unit built inside the walls of a Dutch jail near the North Sea coast.

He is charged with genocide for allegedly masterminding atrocities, including the slaughter of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in July 1995 and the deadly siege of Sarajevo, when he was president of the breakaway Bosnian Serb republic.

In the written statement, Karadzic wrote that "nobody in the world believes that there is any possibility of an acquittal."

The filing released Tuesday was Karadzic's latest attempt to draw attention to a deal he claims he cut with the United States to disappear from the public eye in return for immunity from prosecution at the U.N. court.

Karadzic says he agreed to the deal with U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke in the aftermath of the peace deal known as the Dayton Accord that ended Bosnia's bloody 1992-95 war.

Holbrooke has rejected the claim, calling it "an invented story" that no one should believe.

In his latest filing, Karadzic says the deal meant that he was unable to defend himself against "the systematic, continuous and total demonization of my person" in the media following his disappearance in 1996.

UN court charges ex-spokeswoman with revealing Milosevic secrets
AFP
August 27, 2008

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The UN war crimes court said Wednesday it has charged a former court spokeswoman with divulging confidential information over the trial of late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Florence Hartmann, a French national, has been ordered to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on September 15 to answer two counts of contempt of court, the ICTY said.

She could face a punishment of seven years in jail or a fine of 100,000 euros (150,000 dollars) if found guilty.

A court statement said the tribunal "orders the prosecution of Florence Hartmann for knowingly and wilfully disclosing information in knowing violation of an order of a Chamber."

It added: "Hartmann is alleged to have authored text published in 2007 and 2008 that disclosed information relating to confidential decisions of the Tribunal's appeals chamber in the case of Slobodan Milosevic."

Hartmann covered the Balkan wars of the 1990s as a journalist for French newspaper Le Monde and went on to become spokeswoman for the former chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponti from 2000 to 2006.

After leaving she published a book, "Peace and Punishment: The Secret Wars of Politics and International Justice" and wrote several articles on the court's work, notably for Paris Match magazine.

The charges say three pages of her book give details on decisions by the appeals court between September 20, 2005 and April 6, 2006 and the confidential nature of those decisions.

The statement said Hartmann "knew that the information was confidential at the time disclosure was made, that the decisions from which the information was drawn were ordered to be filed confidentially, and that by her disclosure she was revealing confidential information to the public."

Hartmann's lawyer denounced the charges and said in a statement that they were motivated by non-legal concerns.

"This decision is incredible," lawyer William Bourdon said from Paris.

"Taking action against Ms. Hartmann means that all those who, legitimately, in the interest of the public and of history, wish to bear witness to their actions in the service of international penal justice will be muzzled," he said.

Hartmann, who also wrote a book about Milosevic before joining the court, was not immediately available for comment.

The court said a specially named lawyer would lead the prosecution so that no-one from the same department that Hartmann worked in would be involved.

Judges suspend Seselj's war crimes trial
AFP
August 27, 2008

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The war crimes trial of Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj has been adjourned as judges await a decision on his right to defend himself, the UN war crimes tribunal said Wednesday.

"It was an oral order given by the judges yesterday (Tuesday) at the audience," Nerma Jelacic, spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), told AFP.

"The trial is adjourned awaiting a decision of the appeals chamber."

Earlier this month, the trial prosecutor asked judges to strip Seselj of the right to defend himself, arguing he was holding up the trial. He also requested the trial be suspended while a decision is taken on whether to appoint a lawyer to represent the 53-year-old Serbian.

Serge Brammertz, who has accused Seselj of deliberately obstructing the trial, appealed against a first ruling, in which judges decided not to suspend the proceedings. They know decided to adjourn awaiting the outcome of this appeal.

In a July 28 submission published in part, the Belgian prosecutor warned that Seselj is "substantially and persistently obstructing the proceedings of this trial, both in and out of court."

Brammertz also said that Seselj was "interfering with witnesses" and using the courtroom as a "platform to espouse his political agenda and to intimidate witnesses."

Seselj's second trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1990s Balkan wars began in November 2007.

After he surrendered to the UN court in 2003, he forced his first trial to be nullified by going on a hunger strike in 2006 to insist on his right to defend himself.

Head of the biggest party in the parliament in Belgrade (the Serb Radical Party), Seselj denies joining with former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic to "ethnically cleanse" large parts of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.

His trial is expected to run for another year.

INTERVIEW-Serbia on intense manhunt for Mladic-prosecutor
Reuters
Daria Sito-Sucic
August 28, 2008

BELGRADE, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Serbia is hunting intensively for Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, the last genocide suspect from the Bosnian war still on the run, and could arrest him soon, the country's top war crimes prosecutor said on Thursday.

Mladic's arrest is the last key condition for Belgrade's closer ties with the European Union, after Serbia seized his wartime political chief Radovan Karadzic last month and handed him over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

"All our services have been engaged to the maximum extent possible. If we continue with the dynamics of the arrests from the past two years, I expect it (the arrest) will happen soon," Vladimir Vukcevic told Reuters in his office in central Belgrade.

The West and the U.N. prosecutors have long criticised Serbian leaders for failing to arrest top war crimes suspects, out of fear they could lose public support in Serbia where many still see them as national heroes.

But since Vukcevic took the office in 2006, Serbia has arrested four out of six war crimes fugitives from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and sent them to The Hague to face trials.

In addition to Mladic, it still needs to arrest Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic, indicted for war crimes in Croatia's 1991-95 war of independence from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.

Local media have speculated Mladic's arrest could be imminent, but Vukcevic declined to be more precise.

"It's very unhelpful to make prognoses. No one can say," Vukcevic said.

Both Mladic and Karadzic, who led the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-95 war, are indicted for genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.

Karadzic was caught in Belgrade after 11 years on the run, living in disguise. Mladic has reportedly also lived in Belgrade under the protection of his diehard military aides.

Vukcevic said Mladic was "a completely different psychological profile" from Karadzic, a former psychologist.

"He was a professional soldier and had an illusion that he was fighting for Serb interests. It would be best for him, his family and us if he surrendered voluntarily," he said. "This Hague (tribunal) story must be finished."

Karadzic is due to enter a plea to 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Friday.

Analysts say he might try to delay the start of the trial, a tactic already used by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj. Milosevic died in jail in 2006 before the trial could end.

"They all hope to gain from delays of the trials in light of the tribunal's exit strategy," said Vukcevic, referring to the scheduled 2010 closure of the tribunal. "But Karadzic would then be tried in Sarajevo," he added.

Vukcevic said Serbia's judiciary would crack down on anyone who helped war crimes suspects stay at large by providing fake identity documents.

"We shall be rigorous ... Someone has obviously helped them and we shall investigate it." (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Zoran Radosavljevic and Caroline Drees)

War crimes court hears Kosovo intimidation case
International Herald Tribunal
September 8, 2008

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: U.N. judges began hearing the case Monday of two men accused of interfering with a key witness during the war crimes trial of Kosovo's former prime minister.

Astrit Haraqija, Kosovo's former culture minister, is accused of trying to persuade a protected witness not to testify at former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's trial.

Haradinaj, the most prominent ethnic Albanian to appear at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, was acquitted of murder, rape and torture charges in April. Prosecutors have appealed, arguing their case was derailed by widespread witness intimidation.

Haraqija was indicted together with one of his employees, Bajrush Morina, who allegedly carried out his instructions to meet with the protected witness and try to talk him out of appearing.

Both Haraqija and Morina have pleaded not guilty.

According to the indictment, during the meeting — which was secretly recorded by police — Morina pointed to the example of other witnesses who refused to testify in Haradinaj's case.

Haradinaj is now seeking to resume his political career back in Kosovo.

"I must admit that I'm quite affected to be here behind the desk of the accused," Haraqija said in opening remarks that were eventually curtailed by judges for rambling.

The first prosecution witness was a police officer who helped record the meeting between Morina and the unnamed witness, whose identity is protected by court order.

"Mr. Haraqija's guilt is not diminished by the fact that he sent Mr. Morina as a messenger," prosecutor Daniel Saxton said.

"Indeed, this conduct by a person in a position of authority aggravates Mr. Haraqija's level of personal responsibility."

Prosecutors have yet to say what punishment they will seek in the case, which is expected to run through next week. The charges carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and €100,000 (US$142,500) fine.

Prosecutors called 81 witnesses during Haradinaj's trial, including the protected witness who testified despite the alleged harassment.

But other witnesses refused to appear, and two have been indicted for contempt of court. The court guaranteed anonymity to 34 witnesses, but still had to subpoena 18 of them.

Acquitting Haradinaj, trial judges wrote they "gained the strong impression that the trial was being held in an atmosphere where witnesses felt unsafe."

Who Burned Houses ‘More Professionally’?
SENSE Tribunal: ICTY
September 9, 2008

In his testimony at the trial of generals Gotovina, Cermak and Markac, Soren Liborius, former member of the EU monitoring mission in Krajina, contends that in August 1995 Crotian forces burned and destroyed Serb property ‘far more professionally’ than the Serb troops did when they targeted Croat houses in Krajina in 1991

Former member of the EC monitoring mission Soren Liborius came to Knin in late July 1995 and remained there until late November 19995. He gave five statements to the OTP investigators from 1995 to 2008, describing the systematic and 'professional' destruction of abandoned Serb property and presented his conclusions regarding the reasons behind the campaign. The prosecutor tendered these statements into evidence today together with dozens of reports by the EC monitors about the situation in Krajina. Many of the documents were signed by Liborius.

During the first two weeks after Operation Storm, the campaign of destruction and burning of Serb property was particularly well organized. Croatian soldiers and police were primary perpetrators; this lead Liborius to conclude that the campaign was implemented on the orders issued by higher authorities in order to ‘destroy the material basis’ for the return of the Serbs who had fled the area. As the time went by, civilians also joined the campaign. According to the witness, this indicates that revenge was becoming the key factor in the campaign. Liborius estimated that the one-month campaign resulted in the partial or total destruction of 60 to 70 percent of abandoned Serb houses.

When he and other observers wanted to enter the villages where there was looting and arson, Liborius recounted, they were not allowed under various pretexts; the first and foremost was 'security reasons'. At the same time, the witness said, civilians could enter the villages easily and proceeded to loot the houses and take the stolen items; the police and troops never stopped them. When he asked why the 'security reasons' prevented the monitors from entering the villages, while the civilians could go in, he would get no answer; in most cases, the personnel manning the checkpoints would 'just laugh' at his questions.

General Ivan Cermak was the only person who could help them to go through the blockade at the checkpoints. In his evidence today, Liborius called Cermak the 'commander of the Knin military district'. Just one phone call to Cermak was enough to make the civilian or military police at the check point change their minds and allow the monitors to pass.

Describing the situation in a number of villages near Knin, Liborius said that although the houses were destroyed, the churches remained intact. In the weeks to come after Operation Storm, Orthodox places of worship were guarded by the Croatian army. Croatian soldiers told Liborius that they were there under General Gotovina's orders. Although this part of Liborius' testimony might play into the hand of the accused general, it also incriminates him because Liborius said that the soldiers guarding the churches observed the burning of the nearby houses or were themselves involved in it.

Moreover, the evidence of the former EC monitor is contrary to Gotovina's defense argument that units under Gotovina's command left Krajina immediately after Operation Storm and headed into BH.

Soren Liborius continues his testimony tomorrow.

Security services targeting anti-Hague lobby
B92
September 10, 2008

Security services in Serbia and the RS are working to uncover the members of the anti-Hague lobby.

Belgrade daily Danas writes that this lobby is allegedly planning to liquidate War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.

The ever growing number of threatening letters sent to the prosecutor, as well as published texts and photographs showing his car’s number plates, have lately acquired a form of personally discrediting the prosecutor.

So far, the Prosecutor’s Office has received about 40 letters and each time the threats are more serious and contain a private dimension.

Certain texts published in the press are also under investigation, as they are believed to contain encrypted messages to Hague fugitives, especially Ratko Mladic, about the progress of the investigation, how close the security services are to him, when to change his location, and who the major threat is coming from.

The daily’s sources claim that classified ads and texts published in some newspapers are the main means of communication between Mladic and his helpers, who provide him with logistical support.

The anti-Hague lobbies in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska (RS) have changed their operating methods since Radovan Karadžic’s arrest, as they have seen that there is finally a political consensus for bringing Hague cooperation to an end.

Milutinovic granted temporary release
B92
September 10, 2008

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic has been granted temporary release from the Hague Tribunal for three weeks.

Milutinovic’s lawyer Toma Fila informed Beta that his client had been released for health reasons.

The court ordered that during his stay n Belgrade, Milutinovic should be under 24-hour observation by the Serbian authorities, and that he should surrender his passport to the Justice Ministry.

The former president is accused of the forced displacement, deportation, murder and persecution of Albanian civilians from Kosovo in the first half of 1999.

His co-accused are then Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Šainovic, Yugoslav Army (VJ) Chief-of-Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic, VJ Third Army Commander Nebojša Pavkovic, VJ Priština Corps Commander Vladimir Lazarevic, and Serbian MUP in Kosovo Commander Sreten Lukic.

The trial of Milutinovic and his co-accused began on July 10, 2006, and ended on August 27.

ICTY to assess Serbia assistance
BBC News
Helen Fawkes
September 10, 2008

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Serge Brammertz, is due to visit Serbia later on Wednesday.

Mr Brammertz will spend two days assessing Belgrade's efforts to find remaining suspects wanted by the court.

His priority is the arrests of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic and Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

The European Union has said Serbia's bid for membership depends on its full co-operation with The Hague tribunal.

Belgrade received widespread international praise in July following the arrest of the wanted former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic.

Mr Brammertz will present his report on the extent of Serbia's co-operation to the UN Security Council at the end of the year.

Efforts 'intensified'

This is the first time that the ICTY's chief prosecutor will visit Serbia since the arrest of Mr Karadzic.

The former Bosnian Serb leader was caught in Belgrade on 21 July, 13 years after he was indicted by the UN tribunal.

Serbia is now hoping for positive signals from the prosecutor on its co-operation with the court.

While the extradition of Mr Karadzic has been praised by both the ICTY and the EU, it is still not enough.

Serbia has to arrest the two main remaining fugitives, Gen Mladic and Mr Hadzic, if it is to move closer to Europe. It is widely speculated that the men are hiding somewhere in the country.

Gen Mladic, who commanded the Bosnian Serb army, was indicted by the ICTY in 1995 on 15 counts of of genocide and other crimes against humanity in Bosnia-Hercegovina - including the massacre of at least 7,500 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica in 1995.

Mr Hadzic was a central figure in the self-proclaimed Serb republic of Krajina from 1992 to 1993.

In 2004, he was indicted by the ICTY on 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his involvement in atrocities committed by Serb troops in Croatia during the 1991-95 civil war.

Belgrade has been criticized for years for its failure to capture some of the most wanted war crimes suspects.

But Serbian officials have said that since a pro-western government came to power in July, the hunt for Mr Mladic has intensified.

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International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Official Website of the ICTR

Rwanda does not need International Approbation- Its Judicial System is Ready
The New Times
Charlotte Kingsman
August 18, 2008

A recently released report by the Rwandan government accusing France of having a role in the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, is a crucial step for Rwanda, let alone Africa.

The report accuses thirty-three French politicians, officials and soldiers, including former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the late former president Francois Mitterrand, of playing major roles in the genocide.

Such allegations are extremely meaningful in light of this year’s recent events.

In its World Report in January 2008, Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that the Rwandan government was still "struggling with the consequences of the genocide".

It took issue with the Gacaca jurisdiction in which the accused have no right to counsel and claimed that the popularity of Gacaca had declined following numerous cases of "faulty procedures, judicial corruption and false accusation".

Gacaca is an indigenous form of restorative justice in Rwanda.

HRW’s report released in July, entitled Progress and Judicial Reform in Rwanda, was little more satisfying.

Despite acknowledgements that there have been noteworthy achievements in the delivery of justice in the last five years, the report claimed that "the technical and formal improvements in laws and administrative structure have not been matched by gains in independence in the judiciary and assurance of rights to a fair trial".

The judiciary is said to be dominated by the executive and that official antipathy to views diverging from those of the government and its dominant party hamper the full realization of the potential of the reforms.

Allegedly, basic fair trial rights are not fully assured, including the right to presumption of innocence, the right to humane conditions of detention and the right to freedom from torture.

The report also argued that Rwandan political considerations have made it practically impossible for victims of crimes committed by Rwanda Patriotic Army soldiers in 1994 to receive justice.

The ICTR Trial Chambers took a similar position as they have consistently been denying the transferal of certain accused to Rwandan national jurisdiction, agreeing with HRW’s statement that "at this time, the independence of the courts and the assurance of fair trials are too limited".

Requests for the transfer of Kanyarubiga’s case, as well as of Munyakazi and Hategekimana, were denied.

The Judges were not satisfied that the accused would have received a fair trial and, if sentenced to life imprisonment, the accused might have faced solitary confinement.

In such a context, accusing the French government of involvement in the 1994 genocide is a very meaningful political statement.

The head of HRW claimed that the accusation deliberately coincided with international pressure on Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front to bring to trial those RPA soldiers accused of crimes in 1994.

The investigative journalist Linda Melvern, on the other hand, argued that the report was far too serious to be "a sort of tit-for-tat as part of a diplomatic spat". She added that "this is a European army being accused of human rights abuses in Africa.

It thus needs careful consideration by international human rights groups".

But here lies the paradox. International human rights groups deem that the country’s judicial system is not ready to try the most important persons accused of Genocide.

Yet, Rwanda releases a report officially accusing another country’s government of participation in the genocide.

This is a serious matter and the message is clear enough. Indeed, Rwanda’s Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama warned that "this report is not just going to lie down but it’s going to be used to help bring to justice people that were involved in committing Genocide".

He said that his country would try to press charges in an international body.

Rwanda is asking that the concept of "Challenging Impunity", which has been the ICTR’s motto, be applicable to all, including western powers.

Rwanda is asking the international community to bring those accused of genocide to trial, in this case French officials, in the same way that the international community has been urging Rwanda to try the accused RPA soldiers.

The Rwandan government is making a point; no one must escape accountability.

As Linda Melvern said, "What is needed here is the release of a lot of information". For instance, regarding the assassination on April the 6th of Juvenile Habyarimana, the former president of Rwanda.

She claimed that "It’s incredible that two African presidents were assassinated that night over the skies of Kigali and that there’s been no international inquiry. Had it been two European presidents assassinated, there would have been an immediate inquiry".

The journalist told Democracy Now that she believed certain western governments, including France, the US, and Belgium, are holding back information.

Beyond the question of whether the French government will be held responsible in the events of 1994, the way the international community will respond to the report might prove to be a turning point in African politics.

Kigali, Arusha Favoured for ICTR Archives
The New Times
Kagire Edmund
August 20, 2008

RWANDA should be home to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Archives if the United Nations permits the retention of the archives in Africa.

The argument was fronted by the majority of the participants in the just concluded consultative meeting on the ICTR archives that was held in Arusha over the weekend.

During the two-day meeting organised by the East African Law Society, many participants disagreed with the suggestion that the archives remain housed in the current ICTR Headquarters in Arusha after the tribunal ends its mandate scheduled for 2010.

The suggestion came up after archivists and curators from East Africa presented their case, seconding Arusha as the most suitable location to host the records and documentation accumulated by the ICTR from 1994 to 2010 when it is expected to wind up.

The archivists from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar had earlier presented a paper justifying the retention of the Repository in Arusha on reasons ranging from security to neutrality of the Tanzanian town.

Though the original archives would remain in Arusha, Kigali would be given electronic and microfilm copies of the archives.

"We chose Arusha for all reasons and purposes that the United Nations should make the archival institution close to the ‘Heart and Soul’ of the people of Rwanda as much as possible," pronounced Kenyan chief archivist, J. Odhiambo Omollo.

In response to the suggestion, the Dean, Faculty of Law, National University of Rwanda, Didas Kayihura challenged the argument of the archivists by asking them what Arusha has that Kigali does not.

"It would make little sense if something that concerns Rwanda and is for Rwandans and was provided by Rwanda is kept outside Rwanda. The documentation centre should be put in Rwanda and Arusha retains the electronic and Microfilm copies if need be," argued Kayihura.

He further said that the ICTR role is doubted by many because it’s located outside Rwanda and that though its achievements need to be commended, taking the archives away from Rwanda to the Hague or New York would be an idea that Rwanda would not buy.

Another member from Rwanda, Alice Buhinja, working with The Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace (AMANI Forum) questioned the suggestion of keeping the archives in Arusha because it is near to the ‘Heart and Soul’ of Rwandans instead of Kigali and wanted to know what role the archives would serve in Arusha.

"If I was a student from Canada and I wanted to do research on Genocide, the first place I would think of is Rwanda and not Arusha where documents that can help me more in my research on Genocide are kept," reasoned Buhinja.

Turyahebwa Robert, the UNILAK Faculty of Law Dean who was one of the presenters challenged the ICTR to prove its case by handing over the archives to Rwanda for future use.

He added that Rwanda has the capacity to keep the highly sensitive archives safe and secure and put them to use, than taking them to The Hague where they will be covered in dust.

Meanwhile as the question of the permanent home for the archives remains a contentious issue, participants came up with recommendations to the United Nations which they handed to Judge Richard Goldstone to take to the United Nations.

The two-page proposal is a request to the United Nations to retain the archives, records and related equipment on African soil when the tribunal closes in 2010.

An agreement was reached that the United Nations remains the sole owner and responsible for the archives.

"The consultative meeting acknowledges and accepts that the United Nations (UN) retains ownership of UNICTR records, archives and related equipment after the completion of its activities, and that all records, archives and related equipment, regardless of form, remain the property of the UN.Custodian" the proposal reads in part .

Among other things in the proposal is the assurance of confidentiality of some of the records especially of secret witnesses who may not be exposed to the public for fear of persecution and revenge from the accused parties.

The security of the records and material will be placed under secure confines and will be kept in their original form unless there is a court order to unseal such materials.

Also discussed were the accessibility, funding, infrastructure, technology and expertise required to keep the archives.

"Taking cognizance of the resources necessary, there is need for the UN, and its African Member States, the East African Community, the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Private sector to pool resources together," the proposal continued.

Goldstone assured the participants that the case will be presented to the United Nations and their request will be considered.

"You are presenting a strong case and its understandable that the UN will have to consider it for the sake of Africans and Rwandans especially who would love to use them in many aspects," he remarked.

In a related development the meeting was informed that the Government of Rwanda, the National Courts and the Kigali Bar Association have reached an agreement to unseal some of the evidence used in Genocide cases if need be.

The evidence will be used in other cases as evidence, research and reference propose.

ICTR to Ask for One Year Extension
The New Times
Kagire Edmund
August 20, 2008

THE International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will ask the United Nations Security Council for a one year extension of its mandate so that it can deliver judgments on the pending cases and also try to apprehend five remaining Genocide master minds still on the run.

The one-year extension means that the court will wind up in 2011 instead of 2010 as expected.

This was revealed by the Spokesperson to the ICTR Prosecutor, Dr. Timothy Gallimore while addressing participants in the East African Law Society consultative meeting on the future of the UNICTR archives.

"The tribunal has not been able to deliver judgment on certain cases due to their complexity and notoriety, while some individuals are still at large," noted Gallimore citing it as the reason the Chief Prosecutor will ask the next Security Council meeting to extend the mandate for at least a year.

He mentioned the case of Theoneste Bagosora, and three other individuals accused with him, that has lasted seven years. He said it involves joint military trials which the ICTR cannot convene.

Another case he mentioned was that of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, currently the only woman ever charged with Rwanda Genocide atrocities and her five other co-accused.

Current Status

Currently the ICTR has 28 detainees on trial.12 are awaiting judgment, 14 are awaiting transfer while two are pending on appeal.

Arusha has a total of 56 detainees while seven: Jean Paul Akayesu, Jean Kambanda, Clement Kayishema, Alfred Musema, Obed Ruzindana and Omar Serushago are serving sentences in Mali.

Another detainee Georges Ruggiu is serving a 12 year sentence in Italy, putting the total of current detainees at 63.

In its 14 years of existence, the ICTR has acquitted several of the suspected Genocide perpetrators who include Ignace Bagilishema, Emmanue Bagambakil, Andre Ntagerura, Jean Mpambara and Andre Rwamakuba while four were released on grounds ranging from lack of insufficient evidence, withdrawal of indictment and completion of sentences.

Two individuals died in detention while the cases of Munyeshyaka and Bucyibaruta were transferred to a National Jurisdiction (France). Another case involving Ngirabatware is awaiting transfer to the ICTR.

According to the ICTR, the number of the accused whose cases have been completed is 35 while 32 have had their judgment rendered after appeal, bringing the total of arrests to 44.

Though the statistics above may project a success story, Gallimore was put to task to explain why most Rwandan’s may not give credit to the ICTR as far as delivering justice and reconciliation, of which the Court was set up, is concerned.

Another delegate asked why the ICTR came up with a list of only 90 people yet thousands were involved in the planning of the genocide and also compared the success of the ICTR to Gacaca Local courts.

"There are over half a million people involved and all these could not be tried under the ICTR. We only targeted the ‘big fish’ or the Master minders and others would be charged under National courts," explained Gallimore.

Kabgayi Killings: Soldiers Back in Court
The New Times
Felly Kimenyi
August 21, 2008

Four Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) officers who are charged with the killing of several clergymen in Kabgayi in 1994, yesterday appeared for the second time before the Military Tribunal.

The quartet which includes Brig. Gen. Wilson Gumisiriza, were arrested in connection with the murder of 15 catholic clergymen who included bishops in the now Southern Province.

During the hearing that was presided over by Brig. Gen. Steven Kalyango, who is also the tribunal’s Vice President, Gumisiriza maintained his plea of innocence to the crime of complicity in the killing of the clerics who had been evacuated from Kabgayi Diocese.

Together with Maj. Wilson Ukwishaka, the then commander of the soldiers who allegedly commited the crimes, the two are charged with complicity to murder as a war crime as stipulated in the Geneva Convention.

Gumisiriza, who was the Intelligence Officer (IO) of the Operational Brigade that was operating in that sector at the time, led the evacuation mission of the clerics who were later killed at a Catholic parish called Gakirazo.

The priests were killed by some members of the then Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), two of whom, Capt. John Butera and Capt. (Rtd) Dieudonée Rukeba have pleaded guilty.

Military Prosecutor Capt. Kayijuka Ngabo said that there had been an early warning that the priests would be harmed especially because they were being referred to as Interahamwe by refugees who were in that area.

"As the commander of that operation, he should have known that such utterances by these refugees would intoxicate the soldiers who were there at the time to later turn around and harm the priests," Kayijuka told court in Nyamirambo yesterday. He added that the commanders would have done something to avert the killings.

On their initial appearance Tuesday, both Butera and Rukeba said that they were angered by the fact that a colleague called Deo Nyagatare had found his entire family killed where the clerics were.

In his defence, however, Gumisiriza said that all he did was to evacuate the priests from the war zone and hand them over to their fellow clergymen who were at the parish.

"How would I sense that a soldier who was not even there at the time I dropped them off would eventually turn and kill them long after I had left?" pleaded the General.

Athanase Rutabingwa, his attorney also contested the scenario presented by the prosecutor arguing that it was presumption of knowledge.

"What other form of protection would he give the priests other than appointing soldiers to guard the parish? Was there any other befitting force than RPA soldiers?" Rutabingwa retorted.

The trial was adjourned to September 2 and witnesses are expected to be called by both State and the Defence. The officers were arrested on June 11 following a joint investigation between Rwandan prosecution and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Genocide Trial of Former Top Rwandan Army Officer Begins at UN Tribunal
UN News Centre
August 26, 2008

26 August 2008 – Prosecutors at the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide have opened the trial of a former senior military officer alleged to have been one of the key architects of the mass killings.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ephrem Setako, 55, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of genocide, or alternatively complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity (murder and extermination), and violations of the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols.

During their opening statement yesterday in Arusha, Tanzania, where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based, prosecutors said they would present 25 witnesses to testify that Lt.-Col. Setako was one of the principal planners and executors of the genocide.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed – often by machete or club – during a 100-day period starting in early April 1994.

Ojemeni Okali, one of the prosecutors, told the ICTR that the accused had carried out his role in the genocide despite the fact that he was a highly educated and privileged man in Rwanda who was a lawyer as well as a soldier.

Given his seniority as a former top officer in the Rwandan armed forces and the Director of the Defence Ministry’s Judicial Affairs Division, she said Lt.-Col. Setako was closely associated with other high-ranking military officers, businessmen, militia leaders and politicians in then president Juvénal Habyarimana’s government.

Lt.-Col. Setako, who was arrested in the Netherlands in 2004, stands accused of planning, instigating, ordering and participating in the killing of Tutsi civilians in two prefectures, and of distributing arms to members of the Rwandan armed forces, the presidential guard, the notorious Interahamwe and other groups engaged in the killings.

Defence lawyer Lennox Hinds, who said he did not want to make an opening statement at this stage, cautioned the ICTR to seek the truth about the alle

UN Appeals Chamber Reproaches ICTR, Prosecution over Indictments
Hirondelle News Agency
September 2, 2008

Arusha, 2 September, 2008n(FH)-The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Appeals Court has exhorted Trial Chambers and the Prosecution to ensure that charges against an accused and the material facts supporting those charges must be pleaded with sufficient precision in the indictment so as to avoid any miscarriage of justice or prejudices.

"The prosecution is expected to know its case before proceeding to trial and cannot mould the case against the accused in the course of the trial depending on the how the evidence unfolds,'' stated Appeal Court President Fausto Pocar, when delivering an appeals judgement in the case of former Commander of the Non-Commissioned Soldiers (ESO) College, Tharcisse Muvunyi on Friday.

In the ruling, the Appeals Court quashed Muvunyi's 25-year-sentence imposed by Trial Chamber and ordered a partial retrial of one count.

"Defects in an indictment may come to light during the proceedings because the evidence turns out differently than expected; this calls for the Trial Chamber to consider whether a fair trial requires an amendment of the indictment, an adjournment of proceedings, or the exclusion of evidence outside the scope of the indictment,'' noted Judge Pocar, in a judgement which was unanimously backed by his four-other bench colleagues.

For example, Muvunyi challenged the Trial Chamber's ruling in an attack at the Butare University Hospital during the 1994 genocide where between 20 and 30 Tutsis were killed, the Trial Appeal observed that the dates did not collaborate with the event. "...the indictment and the evidence with respect to the dates of the attack reflect a different criminal event than the one for which he was convicted."

While the Appeals Chamber has previously held that a pre-trial brief can, in certain circumstances, cure a defect in an indictment, the circumstances presented in the Muvunyi instance are different, stated Judge Pocar, explaining that the pre-trial brief and the annexed witness summaries expand the charges "specifically pleaded in the indictment...this does not amount to clear and consistent notice adding specificity to a vague paragraph; rather it is a de facto amendment of the indictment, citing another appeals judgment of Mikaeli Muhimana [ex-Councillor of Gishyita Sector, confirmed imprisonment for life on appeal in 2007] where it determined that a witness summary annexed to a pre-trial brief did not simply add greater detail with more general allegation, materially altered key facets of it.

In the case of Muvunyi, the Appeal Chamber noted that by convicting the suspect for abductions and killings at the Butare University Hospital, the lower court erred in law by expanding the charges against the accused to "encompass unpleaded crimes."

The ICTR upper court also explained that an aider and abettoir carries out acts specifically directed to assist, encourage or lend moral support to the perpetration of a certain specific crime, which have a substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime.

"An accused may be convicted of aiding and abetting when it is established that his conduct amounted to tacit approval and encouragement...'' according to Judge Pocar, observing that the Appeals Chamber's factual findings revealed that Muvunyi had no tacit knowledge of or tacitly approved the attack of Tutsis civilians at Groupe Scolaire on 29 April, 1994. "The Trial Chamber did not make any explicit or detailed factual findings on the killings of these refugees," he said, adding that a Trial Chamber as a matter law can base conviction on circumstantial or hearsay evidence but caution was warranted in such circumstances.

The supreme UN Court also gave another example of the attack at the Mukura Forest for which Muvunyi was convicted by the lower court. Muvunyi challenged this convinction on ground the indictment does not mention the attack and thus he lacked notice of the material fact.

"The Appeals Chamber considers that Muvunyi could not have known, on the basis of the indictment alone, that he was being charged in connection with the attack at the Mukura Forest because this attack is not mentioned in the indictment...if the prosecution had intended to establish Muvunyi's liability for the Mukura Forest attack, both the occurrence of this attack and the details of his liability should been pleaded in the indictment,'' stressed Judge Pocar.

On road blocks in Butare town, the Appeals Court again observed that the indictment was defective in relation to Muvunyi's conviction for genocide based on crimes committed by ESO Camp soldiers at roadblocks.

"Even accepting the Prosecution's argument that the indictment, when read as a whole, connects Muvunyi and ESO Camp soldiers to events at roadblocks, there remains fundament problem with the indictment in this respect: It does not allege that ESO Camp soldiers engaged in killings at roadblocks...it refers only to beatings,'' the Appeals Court explained, underlining that the prosecution did not point to no timely, clear and consistent information that the accused would be held responsible for killings perpetrated by ESO Camp soldiers at roadblocks.

The Appeal Court judges also faulted the alleged speech made by Muvunyi in Gikonko, Mugusa Commune which incited killings.

Noting that in certain circumstances, the sheer scale of alleged crimes makes it impracticable to require a high degree of specificity in such matters as the identity of the victims and dates of the commission of the crimes, however, they stated that this was not the case with respect to Muvunyi's address in Gikonko at the end of May or June, 1994. "The indictment was thus defective because it did not adequately plead the material facts related to the approximate time or place of this crime."

The Appeals Chamber judgement also cautioned on credibility of witnesses and collaborating the evidence. "It is within the Trial Chamber's discretion to assess any inconsistencies in the testimony of witnesses, and to determine whether, in the light of the overall evidence, the witnesses were nonetheless reliable and credible." However, the Trial Chamber also has an obligation to provide a reasoned opinion when rejecting evidence of witness (es), ruled Judge Pocar.

For example, the Appeals Court judges were puzzled why Trial Chamber preferred testimony of protected witnesses YAI and CCP over that of witness MO78 regarding Muvunyi's speech at GikoreTrade Centre. "The Trial Chamber appears to have deemed witness MO78 unreliable solely on the basis that his evidence differed from that of witness YAI and CCP,"concluded the judges.

Trial of Four Former Military Officers Resumes Monday
Hirondelle News Agency
September 5, 2008

Arusha, 05 September, 2008 (FH) - The trial of four former senior Rwandan army officers charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes resumes on Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) following about two months adjournment.

At the time of adjournment on July 16, 2008, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, former Commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion, was still presenting his defence case. A total of 19 witnesses have already testified for him.

A motion filed by the Nzuwonemeye's defence indicated that seven of their witnesses are being withdrawn, instead one previous witness-a communications expert during 1994 genocide-would be included in their list.

Next in defence who will testify will be Nzuwonemeye's deputy, Captain Innocent Sagahutu.

Other defendant in the case is two former Chiefs of Staff of the Army, General Augustin Bizimungu and that of the Gendarmerie national, General Augustin Ndindiliyimana who had already completed their defence.

All the accused have denied to genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial commenced September, 2004.

1994 Genocide: Kagame Warns of Arrest Warrants Against French Officials
Hirondelle News Agency
September 8, 2008

Brussels, 8 September 2008 (FH) – Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said that Kigali was considering the possibility of issuing arrest warrants against French officials implicated by the Rwandan Commission for their role in the 1994 genocide, according to Belgian Newspaper Le Soir (The Evening) Saturday’s edition.

"It is a possibility that we are considering […]. Moreover, on a legal level, the French established a precedent. If they did it –- issue arrest warrants against Rwandan leaders -- we can also do it against them", the Rwandan President told Le Soir in an interview, referring to the arrest warrants issued in 2006 by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere against nine officials of the Kigali regime for their alleged role in the attack, on 6 April 1994, against the plane of President Juvenal Habyarimana.

Early August, the special Rwandan Commission made their findings public, which implicated the French military and civilian officials in the genocide. More than 800 000 people were killed, mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, between April and July 1994, according to the UN.

Before resorting to legal recourse, Mr. Kagame stated that he was waiting for the French authorities. France as such, was examining, through its institutions its government, the findings of the Rwandan Commission, he said.

"They cannot simply sweep aside this report, moreover that many points had already been raised by the parliamentary investigation mission that was organized in France ten years ago", he stressed, criticizing reactions [heard] on the radio, where the commentators swept the Rwandan report aside…"

The Rwandan president also brushed aside any possibility of a particular arrangement with the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner or President Nicolas Sarkozy. "In a situation like this one, it is very difficult; things have gone too far. It is the French themselves, by their attitude, which made all of this much more difficult" claimed President Kagame.

He added: "the question asked exceeds by far the relations between Rwanda and France; it is a question of international justice, to know how European judges, acting within an individual capacity, can thus misuse justice and attack other countries, whereas the opposite is not true. Until now, such steps have always been from North to South, and I do not see why it should continue in this way."

In the same edition of Le Soir, Rwandan Minister of Justice, Tharcisse Kavugarama, announced that Rwanda would call upon the legal cooperation between States to continue the investigations into French officials among them Edouard Balladur and Alain Juppe, respectively Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during the 1994 events, as well as other high ranking military officials.

In case this does not work, Mr. Kavugarama warns that "international arrest warrants […] should be ready within a month or two [for French officials]".

Exit Strategy: Experts Urge ICTR Archives, Equipment to Remain in Africa
Hirondelle News Agency
September 8, 2008

Arusha, 8 September, 2008(FH)-A consultative meeting of African experts and stakeholders in Arusha has suggested that the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UN-ICTR) records, archives and related equipment should remain on the continent.

"The option of UNICTR archives and equipment being housed outside Africa is opposed '' according to a communique obtained by Hirondelle on Friday.

The experts, however, accepted that the records, archives and related equipment remain the property of the UN.

"All sealed records and materials that need to remain confidential should be maintained and retained so, unless by a Court order. The security of such sealed records and materials needs to be guaranteed,'' explained to Hirondelle Agency, Bobi Odiko, one of the participant.

Regarding funding, it was resolved that the UN and its African member states, the East African Community, the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the private sector to pool resources together.

"There are available African infrastructures and sufficient technical capacity to manage the UNICTR archives,'' added Odiko, who is a senior officer with the East African Law Society.

The recommendations have been forwarded to Justice Richard Goldstone, Chairman of the joint five-man experts team established to propose on the future of the archives of the UN-backed Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and ICTR.

"We're in final stages of our report ...it is expected to be ready next month," Tanzanian Judge Othman Chande, a member of the panel told Hirondelle last week. Judge Chande is a former Chief of ICTR Prosecutions and ex-Prosecutor of East Timor UN administration.

The experts committee is expected to provide the ICTY and ICTR with an independent analysis of how best to ensure future accessibility of the archives and propose different locations that may be appropriate for housing the sensitive materials, composed of an extremely large records, testimonies and several tens of thousands of hours of videotaped courtroom proceedings --in a manner in which their security and preservation can be protected.

The many benefits of uses for the archives include their role to facilitate ongoing and future prosecutions; serve as a historic record, as well as contribute to peace and reconciliation in the regions.

The study was commissioned on behalf of the Tribunals by the two Registrars, Adama Dieng (ICTR) and Hans Holthuis (ICTY) last October.

The UN Security Council has directed ICTR to complete all pending trials by end of December, 2008. However, the tribunal has requested for an additional one year to smoothly wrap up the cases. The ICTY is expected to wind up all first instance trials by end of next year.

gations concerning Lt.-Col. Setako.

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Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)

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

Liberian ex-warlord dodges questions at hearing
Associated Press
Jonathan Paye-Layleh
August 27, 2008

A former Liberian warlord whose drugged fighters once appeared on camera holding up a human heart dodged questions Wednesday and refused to accept any wrongdoing during an appearance before a public commission.

Sekou Conneh is the former head of the rebel group that encircled Liberia's capital and heavily shelled it in the final months of Liberia's 14-year conflict in 2003.

Conneh appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and argued he should be treated as a hero for having launched the attack that led to the defeat of President Charles Taylor, himself on trial for war crimes at The Hague, Netherlands.

Taylor's forces have been accused of numerous atrocities - including eating the hearts of their slain enemies. But the rebel group Conneh led is also blamed for barbaric actions.

Besides shelling the capital, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy is tied to massacres of entire villages. The group's siege of Monrovia led to so many deaths that Liberians began piling up the bodies in front of the U.S. Embassy in a plea for help.

Conneh argued the shelling was the work of Taylor's forces, even though Conneh's rebels allowed themselves to be filmed as they assaulted the city. During the war, both sides blamed each other for shelling civilian populations in the capital.

He made a brief opening statement before the commission, then said he was willing to answer questions. But the ex-rebel asked more questions of the commissioners than he answered.

"If a minister embezzles or carries out any act of corruption, would you hold the president liable? The president is not responsible for a minister's mistake," Conneh said in response to a question of whether he was accountable for his men's actions.

Conneh, who was a candidate in the 2005 presidential election, expressed surprise that "as a liberator you are questioning me, when you should be happy about my role."

He described his group as a resistance force that only fought to restore democracy in Liberia.

"If we had not fought to get Charles Taylor out of your backs you wouldn't be sitting here today," he told the commission.

Liberia's postwar government setup the truth commission, inviting both victims and perpetrators to retell their version of events. But critics say the commission is toothless since it cannot send war criminals to jail. Many argue that what is needed is a war crimes court so that those most responsible for atrocities can face real justice.

Conneh's rebel group was founded in Sierra Leone in 1998 and organized its attacks on Liberia from neighboring Guinea with that country's help. It was made up of members of the Mandingo and Krahn ethnic groups that suffered under Taylor's regime. They first assaulted Liberia's forested north in 1998.

Over the next five years, they fought their way to Monrovia and attacked the capital three times in 2003 - battles so devastating Liberians refer to them as World War I, World War II and World War III.

The U.S. sent warships off the country's coast. Cornered, Taylor and his family went into exile in Nigeria. He was later arrested on war crimes charges for his role in fueling an equally horrific rebellion in Sierra Leone and sent to The Hague.

Taylor assisted Sierra Leone's rebel army RUF with arms and ammunition, fuel, money and food
Cocorioko
Joseph Cheeseman
September 3, 2008

The Prosecution 37th witness at the Special Court for Sierra Leone has testified to Charles Taylor’s role in the release of some UN Peacekeepers captured by the RUF, the change of the RUF leadership, the supply of arms and ammunition and the safekeeping of the RUF’s diamonds and money. BBC World Service Trust Joseph Cheeseman reports from The Hague.

CHEESEMAN: The insider witness, in a distorted voice being interpreted, said it was Charles Taylor’s desire to become Chairman of ECOWAS that caused him to facilitate the release of the UN Peacekeepers in 2000.

He said Mr. Taylor invited RUF Commander Issa Sesay to the Executive Mansion in Monrovia and ordered him to release the captured UN Peacekeepers.

WITNESS: Charles Taylor said the United Nations was after him to talk to the RUF to release the UN peacekeepers. So because he had even been promised that if he spearheaded the release of the UN peacekeepers he’d be made the ECOWAS chairman. He discussed that he should help to release the UN peacekeepers that he had with him – that was Issa – and so if Issa released, he will help Issa in the struggle.

BRENDA HOLLIS: In what way Charles Taylor would help Issa in the struggle?

WITNESS: He said he would help him with anything that he asked for, because he had been promised to become the ECOWAS chairman.

CHEESEMAN: The witness testifying on direct examination, said on July 26, 2000, in the presence of four African Heads of State, Charles Taylor effected the change of the RUF leadership.

The witness named President Olusegun Obasango of Nigeria, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia and Omar Konare of Mali. The witness said in a meeting held at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia with the four heads of state, Mr. Taylor stated why the RUF leadership should be changed.

WITNESS: Charles Taylor himself said that it was necessary to change the leadership of the RUF because he said Foday Sankoh was too old and that he was too stubborn and he was always being arrested and that he was a lazy leader so that he should be changed. It was necessary that he be changed. Augustine Gbao and Issa emphasised that "no, that should not happen". But Charles Taylor spoke with them to listen to what the leaders were telling them. So they went on and appointed Issa. First he suggested that he would want to take Mosquito back, and Issa said no.

The witness said when Issa Sesay was appointed leader of the RUF, he made several trips to Monrovia where he presented diamonds to Charles Taylor. He testified that after Issa made several trips to Monrovia with diamonds, Mr. Taylor told him to stop bringing diamonds.

WITNESS: When he went and handed over the diamonds, Charles Taylor told him that he shouldn’t be coming frequently with diamonds to him. He said because the UN Observers and the international community was having eyes on him to see whether he had connections with the RUF, and that they were always bringing diamonds to him. He said Issa shouldn’t be bringing diamonds to him, but that he was going to try and present somebody to him who would be assisting him, when he got diamonds from him, to get certain items for him.

CHEESEMAN: The witness who continues his direct examination on Tuesday told the court Foday Sankoh or anyone in the RUF did not take back the 5,000 carets of diamonds and the 150-thousand United States Dollars that Charles Taylor kept for the RU. The prosecution 37th witness however, said Taylor assisted the RUF with arms and ammunition, fuel, money and food.

Sierra Leone: Witness Links Charles Taylor to RUF's Issa Sesay
The Concord Times (Freetown)
Olusegun Ogundeji
September 4, 2008

Foday Sankoh gave his blessings to Issa Sesay to take over the leadership of the RUF and told him to take all orders from Charles Taylor, says witness TF1-338 yesterday while being examined by prosecution counsel Brenda Hollis.

TF1-338 testified using voice and facial distortion and there were closed/private sessions when necessary.

Before the court adjourned on Monday, the witness stated that Issa Sesay had traveled to Liberia to meet with Charles Taylor immediately he took command of the RUF after Sankoh was arrested in May 2000. At this meeting, Taylor asked to know why Sankoh was arrested and someone who was present in Freetown when Sankoh was arrested gave an explanation.

On the invitation of Charles Taylor, Issa made another trip to Liberia in 2000 where the RUF delegation met with four West African heads of state namely Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, late Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Yayah Jammeh of The Gambia and Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali.Witness TF1-338 said Taylor told them that they were supposed to discuss the change of leadership in the RUF at the meeting and he hinged the necessity on the fact that Sankoh was now old and was already under arrest. The witness added that Obasanjo too, addressed the delegation and told them to maintain a good relationship with Charles Taylor as he is a very good leader and if there are ten other heads of state like him (Taylor), Africa will be a better continent.But after the meeting, the witness said Taylor had a separate meeting with the RUF delegation between 11:00pm to 12:00 midnight. It was in that meeting that Taylor told them they should not be moved by the suggestions of the ECOWAS heads of state as they were British-elected presidents and were remote controlled by the western powers. He said Taylor told them not to take what the heads of states said and that they should refuse if they were asked to disarm. Taylor told Issa Sesay to work to keep the revolution together and assured them of his support. The witness said Taylor later gave Issa Sesay $15,000.The witness also narrated how diamonds were moved from Sierra Leone to Liberia.

He said that on several occasions, Issa took diamonds to Taylor. He cited that the first time Issa took diamonds to Taylor, the former Liberian president told him he was going to keep the diamonds and hand them over to Sankoh upon his release. He said it was that time that Issa told Taylor that they (RUF) were being disturbed by Kamajors and UN peacekeepers so while returning to Sierra Leone, they took along arms and ammunition and other materials for the RUF. The witness added that in early 2001, Issa took another set of diamonds to Taylor and he returned with arms and ammunition for the RUF.In April/May 2001, when Issa took another set of diamonds to Liberia, Taylor cautioned him not to be traveling with diamonds to Liberia regularly because the UN were monitoring his relationship with the RUF. So Taylor devised a means of getting someone who will be getting the diamonds from the RUF and, in return, provide materials for them.The witness said that during this visit, Benjamin Yeaten introduced two Belgians to Issa.

Though the witness said one of the Belgians introduced himself as Alpha Bravo, Issa identified the two of them as people who once traveled to Kono with Sam Bockarie. Issa gave some diamonds to Alpha Bravo who, in turn, gave him $300,000 of which Issa gave $150,000 to Taylor for safe keeping and took the remaining $150,000 to Sierra Leone, the witnessed said.The witness mentioned that during a meeting between Taylor and Issa in Liberia, they discussed the release of UN peacekeepers that were held hostage. He said Taylor told Issa that he (Taylor) had been promised ECOWAS chairmanship if he can secure the release of the peacekeepers. And in that capacity, he will be able to offer more help to the RUF.So after the meeting, Issa called other RUF commanders in Sierra Leone via radio set and asked them to take the Zambian peacekeepers to Manowa Crossing Point from where they were taken to Liberia and handed over to Taylor.At another point in time, during one of Issa Sesay's visits to Liberia, the witness said that Issa said he told Taylor that the UN peacekeepers had spoken to him about the disarmament of child soldiers but Taylor told him not to allow the RUF to be disarmed.

He said Taylor told them that if they disarmed, they would be arrested later. On his return to Sierra Leone, the witness said Issa told other commanders that he was not going to take Taylor's advice and that he was going ahead to cooperate with the UN and disarm.When the defence counsel asked to know the basis of the witness' knowledge of these events, whether they were based on hearsay or direct evidence, prosecution counsel explained that the basis of his knowledge will be determined without disclosing the witness' identity at some point in the course of his testimony.At a point, prosecution made an application to continue the examination of the witness in private session as the questions she intended to ask will identify the witness. Application was granted and the court went into private session.

Charles Taylor Defence scores points at war crimes tribunal
Cocorioko
Joseph Cheeseman
September 7, 2008

The Defence Team in the trial of the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor seems to be making headway in its stride to shift allegations of arms supply to the former Sierra Leonean rebel group, the RUF from their client to other groups.

Under cross-examination a witness affirmed that the RUF got ammunition from another Liberian rebel group the United Liberian Movement (ULIMO). The Defence successfully led the 37th prosecution witness to admit that the RUF and their allies the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) also received arms from Ukraine. The insider witness admitted to Defence Lawyer, Terry Munyard that arms supplied to the AFRC and the RUF by the Ukrainians were negotiated by the then military junta leader Johnny Paul Koroma.

He said the Ukrainians dropped the arms and ammunition from a helicopter at the Magburaka airstrip in the north of Sierra Leone. He said the Ukrainians supplied GMG and G 3 and AK 47 rounds of ammunition as well as "Stick Grenades which had a long handle that had stick on it, and the bottom of it was black, iron black." The witness told the court that the arms were bought from ULIMO in Lofa County in Liberia by the then RUF battlefield commander, Sam Bockarie in 1996, and that two rebel generals of ULIMO, Farah Idee and Musa Sedibay led the sale.

He said that when another Liberian rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) entered Liberia, Charles Taylor requested the assistance of the RUF. RUF supplied manpower and Mr. Taylor provided the arms and ammunition to fight the LURD rebels. According to the witness, Mr Taylor was against the RUF disarming because he wanted the weapons he supplied to be returned to him. "He told us not to disarm to the SLPP government, and not even UNAMSIL" he went on.

Sierra Leone: Conspiracy Irrelevant in Taylor's Case - Chief Prosecutor
The Concord Times
Olusegun Ogundeji
September 8, 2008

Prosecutor at the Special Court has told Concord Times that international conspiracy against former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is being tried for war crimes at The Hague, was irrelevant to his trial.

Stephen Rapp said: "Whether Taylor is guilty of embezzlement during the Doe government; whether he broke out of jail on his own or was helped...that's not relevant to the crime. That's not, in our view, a material issue. The issue 'was Charles Taylor responsible for atrocities in Sierra Leone?'"

He added that though a variety of issues mentioned may say something about how Taylor came to be who he was and could therefore serve a kind of smokescreen if they could not prove that he committed war crimes in Sierra Leone trial judges would not look at them.

"My enemies are nasty people, is not a defence. Some people don't like me in the world is not a defence. Some people love me is not a defence. It doesn't make any difference at all to our case," Rapp said.

This dialogue with the prosecutor came in the wake of a revelation made last week by former warlord on the war in Liberia, Prince Johnson, while testifying before the country's truth and reconciliation commission.

Johnson told the hearing that the United States (US) released Taylor from jail in 1985 to engineer the overthrow of President Samuel Doe contrary to widespread report that Taylor escaped from a US jail to return to Liberia.

To Johnson's claim, Rapp said: "I don't know if what Prince Johnson said is true or not. I'm skeptical about that." Earlier, there have been reports that the US and United Kingdom, the major financiers of the Special Court, conspired to incarcerate and silence Taylor because he constituted a security threat to both nations.

In April over 50 journalists from Sierra Leone and Liberia, who gathered at a training programme in Monrovia on reporting the ongoing trial, had a lengthy debate on the issue of a conspiracy against Taylor.

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Special Tribunal for Lebanon

In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)

Bellemare's Report on the Hariri Assassination Due in November
Naharnet.com
September 4, 2008

The head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination and related crimes, Daniel Bellemare, is to issue a report on his findings by the end of November, instead of in September as was expected.

The daily An-Nahar on Thursday attributed the report to an assistant spokesman for the U.N. chief.

The repot said the U.N. Security Council's current chairman, Burkina Faso ambassador Michel Kafando, circulated the council agenda for September and it did not include a session to review an expected report by Bellemare on progress of the investigation into Hariri's murder.

An assistant spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, answering a question by An-Nahar, said: "The Security Council has decided that head of the Independent Commission (Bellemare) should present his report every six months instead of three."

"The forthcoming report is expected by the end of November," he said.

The official recalled that the Security Council had asked Bellemare to accept the post of the international tribunal prosecutor when the commission's term expires on Dec. 31.

A diplomatic source at the U.N. headquarters in New York also told An-Nahar that Bellemare is "not obliged to present a report every three months. His forthcoming report is expected before year end."

The international tribunal is to try suspects in Hariri's 2005 assassination and related crimes.

UN chief to discuss timing of Hariri tribunal with Lebanese authorities: Ban 'working to obtain more contributions' to finance court
The Daily Star
September 13, 2008

BEIRUT: UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in comments published Friday that he would discuss with Lebanese authorities the timing of the start of operations of the international tribunal that will try former Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins. Ban told An-Nahar daily's correspondent in New York that he has given instructions to UN personnel to continue administrative preparations to officially start the work of the tribunal.

He said he was working on obtaining more contributions to finance the tribunal, though there was currently enough money for the first 12 months of the court's operations.

Ban also said the UN was concerned about alleged "illegitimate" arms smuggling across the Syrian-Lebanese border.

"We are trying to implement Resolution 1701," he added.

He vowed to help in efforts aimed at fortifying the border, saying he had asked Syrian President Bashar Assad during his visit to Damascus to upgrade border control systems.

In August, the Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team said in a report that progress in fortifying Lebanon's border with Syria has been minimal.

The four-member team was dispatched by the UN chief to examine progress made in enhancing border management and security as called for in Resolution 1701, which ended the summer 2006 war with Israel.

About the indirect Syrian-Israeli peace talks brokered by Turkey, Ban told An-Nahar that he hoped the negotiations would help reduce security threats in Lebanon.
He welcomed all efforts to reconcile bickering sides in Lebanon, saying "security and stability" in the country were very important.

In an interview in August, registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Robin Vincent said preparations at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon were proceeding as if the prosecutor would take office and the tribunal would begin functioning on January 1 next year, even though the UN official managing the tribunal said he did not have any information about when Ban would officially inaugurate the court.

The mandate of the UN commission investigating the assassination of Hariri and other political violence here expires on December 31, and the politically explosive issue of the tribunal has lately revolved around when chief investigator Daniel Bellemare will take office as the court's first prosecutor and submit indictments to pre-trial judges.

"I'm having to plan to be in a position to support [a functioning tribunal] from January 1," Vincent said.

Vincent and his staff of 10 moved in July from the UN headquarters in New York into the former Dutch intelligence building in The Hague which will house the court, he added. But by the end of the year, Vincent should have hired most of the roughly 180 nonjudicial personnel who will be responsible for the tribunal's security, witness-protection program, accounting, public relations and human resources, he said.

Vincent plans to complete the construction of the courtroom by next June, and speeding up the establishment of the tribunal would present a "challenge," he said.
Renovations to the structure in The Hague should cost about $13 million, and in addition to that the UN has long estimated the tribunal's first year of operations would cost about $35 million.

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Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Official Website of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia

Historical Review Hearing Opens Monday …Expert Historians To Testify
TRC Press Release
August 30, 2008

Prominent Liberian and foreign historians will next week testify at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Thematic Hearing on Historical Review in Monrovia.

Under the theme: “Examining Liberia’s Past: Reality, Myth, Falsehood and the Conflict”, the hearings which will convene at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion from 1-6 September, will provide a critical review and expert perspectives into Liberia’s past not only for the purpose of understanding the historical antecedents to the conflict, but to ensure the country’s history or national narrative reflected the experiences, beliefs and aspirations of Liberians of all backgrounds.

The hearing featuring the testimonies and presentations of historians, anthropologists, journalists, lawyers, politicians, diplomats and clergymen is intended to help Liberians rewrite their history by seeking to identify the issues that underpinned our history, divided us as a people and nearly eviscerated the state.

Already, as part of the TRC’s endeavor to provide a critical review of Liberia’s past, several Liberian and foreign historians have been invited as expert witnesses to present testimonies during the hearing.

They include Dr. Joseph Saye Guannu, prominent Liberian historian; Monsignor Reverend Father Robert Tikpor, of the Catholic Church in Liberia; Professor Elwood Dunn, the Alfred Walter Negley Professor of Political Science at Sewanee: The University of the South (Tennessee, USA). Dr. Dunn is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles notably on Liberia.

Also to testify is Dr. Augustine Konneh, a professor and former Chairman of History at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Konneh also teaches at Clark Atlanta University and Agnes Scott College and his area of instructional concentration includes African, African-American, United States, Caribbean and World histories. His academic self interest is in economic history, particularly West Africa, and in conflict and conflict resolution in Africa.

Professor Svend Einar Holsoe, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Delaware will also give his historical perspective during the hearing. Professor Holsoe has authored several publications including books, book reviews monographs, edited works, bibliographic documentation and articles on Liberia. He is the founding editor of the Liberian Studies Journal, Liberian Working Papers and Liberian Monograph Series, member of the African Studies Association and a founding member of the Liberian Studies Association.

Another witness, Joseph Edward Holloway is a professor of Pan African Studies at California State University and a prolific writer on Liberia.

The TRC Historical Review Committee is chaired by Commissioner Pearl Brown-Bull. As part of the commission’s mandate to promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation following the country’s long running conflict, the TRC is required to adopt appropriate mechanisms and procedures to document the experiences of Liberians and address varying issues including the country’s historical myths that impacted the conflict.

The commission has been conducting investigations and research into cases of abuse and other violations during the conflict, as well as holding several individual, institutional and thematic hearings.

1980 Coup Created Opportunity For Disputes…Professor Holsoe Diagnoses Liberia’s Problems
TRC Press Release
September 2, 2008

The April 12, 1980 military coup created an opportunity for disputes to flare up in Liberia, which the True Whig Party (TWP) government had difficulty quashing, Professor Svend E. Holsoe said.

Dr. Holsoe, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Delaware said the overthrow of the TWP leadership in 1980, and with the new leadership favoring people of certain regions resulted into the weakening of the overarching control by force of the central government.

As a consequence, he said, there was an opportunity for disputes to flare up, which the authorities had difficulties quashing.

Professor Holsoe, author of several publications including books, book reviews monographs, edited works, bibliographic documentation and articles on Liberia, was testifying Tuesday at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) ongoing Thematic Hearings on Historical Review at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmun Street, Monrovia.

“The top was off the box, and disputes spilled out, thereby allowing local warlords to arise. As a consequence, some of the patterns of violent disruption, known from the past, began to re-emerge,” Dr. Holsoe founding editor of the Liberian Studies Journal, Liberian Working Papers and Liberian Monograph Series, member of the African Studies Association and a founding member of the Liberian Studies Association said.

He said regional variations in Liberia are real and continue to exist, but recommended the need to re-impose central authority all over the country in order to return to tranquility.

He said it is necessary to acknowledge in any new political structure, that there are regional political and social differences, which any new structure of local governance will need to pay attention.

In the matter of dispute settlement, Dr. Holsoe said mechanisms need to be put in places that are appropriate. At the same time, he said a standardized legal system needs to be made operative across the country.

He said local people must be left to design within a general structure and political system that works best for themselves and not have the specifics of it imposed.

Dr. Holsoe said that Liberia has had dual legal system (the traditional and statutory) which he said had been a troubled boundary and proposed a unified legal system that would alleviate competitiveness between the two systems.

Under the theme: “Examining Liberia’s Past: Reality, Myth, Falsehood and the Conflict”, the hearings will provide a critical review and expert perspectives into Liberia’s past not only for the purpose of understanding the historical antecedents to the conflict, but to ensure the country’s history or national narrative reflected the experiences, beliefs and aspirations of Liberians of all backgrounds.

Prince Johnson Displayed Doe’s Skull.…Commany Wesseh
TRC Press Release
September 8, 2008

Defunct INPFL leader Prince Johnson displayed the skull of late President Samuel Kanyon Doe to a delegation of the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) at his Caldwell Base, Commany Wesseh, then sports minister of IGNU said.

Mr. Wesseh said during a meeting with the INPFL leader to discuss the intention of IGNU President Amos Sawyer to resign, Mr. Johnson told he and others that he had killed Doe who wanted to kill him (Wesseh). He said during the meeting with Johnson he was accompanied by his special assistant Brownell Swen and former judge Luvenia Ash-Thompson.

“Johnson said look Commany, the Doe man who wanted to kill you, I finished with him. You believe it. I was scared and Johnson asked, you scare,” Mr. Wesseh said.

Mr. Wesseh, now ambassador designate to the United Nations was testifying Monday at the ongoing “Contemporary History of the Conflict” Institutional and Thematic Inquiry Hearing of the TRC at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmun Street, Monrovia.

He said Johnson ordered one of his female fighters, only identified as Musu to bring the skull of President Doe. Wesseh said when Musu returned, she brought the skull of Mr. Doe on a platter and Johnson exclaimed “here the Doe man here.”

“So I am curious what happened to the rest of the body. If it was embalmed for 25 years what happened,” the deputy minister for economic cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Mr. Wesseh said if the objective of the TRC is to put closure to what happened to all Liberians that died during the conflict, Liberians need to come together and say the truth.

“Unless Mr. Johnson says the truth, then what I experienced with him was not the truth, “he said.

Johnson, now senior senator of Nimba County told commissioners of the TRC recently that the body of Doe was exhumed and cremated at the order of the late General Samuel Varnii, then deputy leader of the INPFL.

The senator said that the body, which was embalmed for 25 years, was exhumed during a visit of a team of foreign journalists to his former base.

He claimed that following the exhumation of the body, Varnii contended that one body cannot have two graves so he ordered that Mr. Doe’s corpse be cremated and thrown into the river.

“When we dug out Doe’s body, the body was hard like iron rock. Doe body was embalm for 25 years, but after we dug the body, Varnii said we should burn it because one man cannot have two graves. We cremated the body and threw the arches into the river,” Mr. Johnson said during his marathon testimony.

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United States

Bush Administration Agrees to Turn Over Documents in Torture Case
International Herald Tribune
By Raymond Bonner
August 29, 2008

In a significant reversal, the Bush administration has agreed to turn over documents that allegedly support allegations by a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that he was tortured while in American custody in Pakistan in early 2002, a British court said in a ruling Friday.

The administration strenuously sought to keep secret the documents about the detainee, Binyam Mohamed, and its changed position came in response to pressure from the British government and the British court, which has indicated that if the defense could not get the documents from the United States, it was inclined to order the British government to do so.

The High Court had ruled on Aug. 21 that the Foreign Office must provide Mohamed with information relating to his time in detention. His lawyers said the material supported his claim to have been "extraordinarily rendered," tortured and forced into a confession on terrorism charges.

The court described the American reversal, which came a few days ago, as "welcome" and "significant."

Mohamed is a British resident, and he was interviewed in Pakistan by British intelligence officials, who expressed concern about the way he was being treated by U.S. military and intelligence officials, the court said in an earlier ruling. The government turned documents in the case over to the Bush administration earlier this year.

The court action was begun by Mohamed's lawyers to gain access to the documents and so prove his contentions that he was tortured, not only in Pakistan, but later in Afghanistan and in Morocco, where he says he was secretly taken by the CIA.

As the court proceedings progressed, and appeared to be going against the United States, the State Department sent a letter to the court on Aug. 21 saying that it would provide the documents to the convening authority - the senior Pentagon official who decides whether a case should be brought to trial. But they would only be provided if she requested them, the department's legal adviser, John Bellinger, said in the letter, major paragraphs of which were included in the court's 11-page ruling.

The convening authority for the Guantánamo cases is Susan Crawford, a retired military judge. Mohamed is facing a trial on several charges of planning to commit acts of terrorism against the United States, including the detonation of a "dirty bomb."

In the letter, Bellinger also said that documents would not be automatically turned over to Mohamed's lawyers, and in any case not to his civilian counsel, Clive Stafford Smith. But on Wednesday, the day before a hearing in the case, the State Department sent another letter saying that the documents had been turned over to Crawford.

"This second letter effects a further significant change in the position of the government of the United States," the court said.

Nevertheless the court said that the demands of the defense team must still be met. The lawyers want to be assured access to the documents before Crawford rules. It also wants some of the redacted information. In his letter, Bellinger said that information on where Mohamed was held was being edited out of the documents.

Mohamed has charged that in May 2002 he was secretly taken to Morocco by the CIA, where he says he was brutally tortured, including being cut on the chest and his genitals with a razor.

CIA flight logs, uncovered by journalists, support Mohamed's claim that he was taken to Morocco and held there for more than a year before being flown to the Guantánamo prison camp.

The British government has argued that in the interests of national security it should not be required to release the documents.

The release "would seriously harm the existing intelligence sharing arrangements between the United Kingdom and the United States," the court said, summarizing the Foreign Ministry's briefs to the court.

The court said the ministry had failed to weigh the national security interests against "the abhorrence and condemnation accorded to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."

US Seeks Delay in Guantanamo Detainees Habeas Appeal
AFP
September 2, 2008

The US government is seeking a new one-month delay in hearings on 250 Guantanamo detainees challenging the legality of their detention, saying it needs more time to review and declassify key documents.

Gregory Katsas, a US Department of Justice assistant attorney general, said in a brief obtained by AFP Tuesday that the sensitive nature of documents in the case requires security clearances for the roughly 50 attorneys assigned to it.

"It may take several weeks for them to obtain the necessary security clearance," he wrote in his request seeking a delay through the end of September.

More than 250 detainees, some of whom have spent several years at the US Navy-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have submitted habeas corpus petitions to the court, arguing that they are being held illegally without charge or trial.

Katsas added that cooperation among various law enforcement and intelligence operations working on the trial also is "a complex and time-consuming process that requires coordination."

"We needed to secure computers, copiers, and other infrastructure to ensure the lawful and secure handling of classified information," Katsas said in his filing to the court, which had sought the documents by August 31.

But critics of the process accused the administration of President George W. Bush of trying to delay the whole process, which weighs one of the most fundamental US constitutional rights -- protection against illegal detention -- until he leaves office in January.

"The administration made this a mess by seeking to avoid judicial review at all costs, causing years of delay and profound uncertainty," said Senator Patrick Leahy, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a law group that has challenged the Guantanamo detentions in court, said the government was making "a shocking attempt to drag us into years of further legal challenges and delays."

Detainee Transfer Announced
United States Department of Defense Press Release
September 2, 2008

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of three detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two detainees were transferred to Afghanistan and one detainee was transferred to Pakistan. These detainees were determined to be eligible for transfer following a comprehensive series of review processes.

The transfer is a demonstration of the United States’ desire not to hold detainees any longer than necessary. It also underscores the processes put in place to assess each individual and make a determination about their detention while hostilities are ongoing – an unprecedented step in the history of warfare.

The Department of Defense has determined – through its comprehensive review processes - that more than 60 detainees at Guantanamo are eligible for transfer or release. Departure of these detainees is subject to ongoing discussions between the United States and other nations.

Since 2002, more than 500 detainees have departed Guantanamo for other countries including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.

There are approximately 255 detainees currently at Guantanamo.

Mother of Three, Aafia Siddiqui, Accused of Planning ‘Mass Casualty Attacks’
Times Online
By James Bone
September 4, 2008

An American-educated neuroscientist with alleged ties to the al-Qaeda leadership was captured with a list of potential targets for a “mass casualty attack” that included New York landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, according to prosecutors.

Details of the handwritten list were disclosed as formal charges were lodged against Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani mother of three with a biology degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a doctorate in behavioural neuro-science from Brandeis University.

Ms Siddiqui, 36, is due to appear in court in New York today to face charges that she snatched a US soldier’s rifle and tried to kill her interrogators after her arrest in Afghanistan on July 17. She was wounded in the exchange of fire. Her lawyers say that she is innocent.

Ms Siddiqui, the daughter of a British-trained Pakistani doctor, became a cause célèbre when she disappeared with her three children in Pakistan in 2003. Her family claim that she was abducted and held in a secret US detention facility.

The US Government denies that she was in custody until her arrest in July and says she is married to a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks. In 2004 Washington named her as one of seven suspected al-Qaeda associates feared to be planning an attack against the US.

US officials see Ms Siddiqui as a potential treasure trove of information about terrorist supporters or sleepers in the US. “She is the most significant capture in five years,” John Kiriakou, a retired CIA officer who led the team that apprehended the first key al-Qaeda figure, Abu Zubaydah, told ABC News.

“Her education troubled us. We know that she’s extremely bright. She’s radicalised. We knew that she had been planning, or at least involved in the planning, of a variety of operations, whether they involved weapons of mass destruction or research into chemical or biological weapons, whether it was a possible attempt on the life of the President,” Mr Kiriakou said.

“We knew that she was involved with a great deal.”

The US Government alleges that Ms Siddiqui has links to at least two of the 14 high-level al-Qaeda suspects who were moved from secret detention facilities to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in September 2006.

Ms Siddiqui allegedly opened a post office box in Maryland for Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident now being held in Guantanamo Bay who allegedly planned to attack petrol stations in the US.

Ms Siddiqui also married Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, an alleged al-Qaeda fixer now in Guantanamo, who is a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a cousin of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York.

An indictment that was issued on Tuesday says that Ms Siddiqui was carrying handwritten notes referring to a “mass casualty attack” and listing a number of US locations, including Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as an animal-disease laboratory that works with viruses on Plum Island, off the east end of Long Island, New York.

The indictment says that other notes referred to the construction of radiological “dirty bombs” and chemical and biological weapons, and discussed the mortality rates of such weapons. Also included were notes about bringing down reconnaissance drones and using underwater bombs and gliders for attacks. Prosecutors say that Ms Siddiqui had a computer flash drive containing correspondence that referred to specific cells and attacks by cells.

Gideon Oliver, Ms Siddiqui's lawyer, said she that would enter a plea of not guilty in court today. He said that her legal team has been unable to see her in person since her first court appearance almost a month ago because she refuses to undergo the strip search required for every visit.

U.S. charges Afghan Prisoner at Guantanamo
Reuters
By Jane Sutton
September 11, 2008

U.S. military prosecutors filed charges on Wednesday against an Afghan prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, alleging he committed war crimes by storing and hiding anti-tank mines in his homeland.

Obaidullah, who like many Afghans is known by one name, is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism.

The charges allege he hid mines and other explosives in the Khost area of Afghanistan from October 2001 to July 2002 and carried a notebook describing "how to wire and detonate explosive devices in preparation for acts of terrorism."

The Pentagon released a copy of the charges, which did not specify with whom or against Obaidullah is accused of conspiring.

In an administrative hearing in 2005 to justify his detention at Guantanamo, U.S. military officers said more than 20 anti-tank mines were found at his family's home near Khost and were intended for use against U.S. forces.

Obaidullah said the mines belonged to a commander who lived in the house while Afghanistan was under Soviet rule, according to a transcript.

He said the Taliban government forced him to attend a technical school to learn about mines, where he made the notes in the notebook, but that he had left after two days and gone into hiding from the Taliban.

He also said he gave false confessions while in U.S. custody at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan after his capture, where he said he was deprived of sleep and threatened at knifepoint.

"They were standing me on the wall and my hands were hanging above my head. There were a lot of things they made me say," the transcript quotes him as saying through an interpreter.

The charges must be approved by the Pentagon appointee overseeing the Guantanamo war crimes trials, Susan Crawford, before the case can proceed.

Obaidullah, who would face life in prison if convicted, is the 24th Guantanamo prisoner charged with war crimes. U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the Guantanamo tribunals to try non-U.S. captives on terrorism charges outside the regular civilian and military courts after the September 11 attacks.

The military plans to try as many as 80 Guantanamo prisoners but has completed only one trial, which ended in August with the conviction of Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan, on charges of providing material support for terrorism.

Another case was resolved when Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty to the same charge and finished his nine-month sentence in his homeland.

Both major-party candidates vying to succeed Bush in January have said they would close the Guantanamo detention operation at the U.S. naval base in Cuba and it was unclear whether the tribunals would survive into the next administration.

Human rights activists and U.S. military defence lawyers have condemned them as rigged to convict.

The U.S. military still holds about 255 prisoners at Guantanamo and has sent home about twice that many.

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UN Reports

Former staffer at UN’s Balkans war crimes tribunal facing contempt charges
UN News Service
August 27, 2008

A former prosecution spokesperson at the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s was today charged with contempt of court for allegedly disclosing confidential information relating to the case of Slobodan Miloševi?.

Florence Hartmann faces two counts of contempt and has been ordered to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 15 September for an initial hearing, according to an order issued by the tribunal’s trial chamber today in The Hague.

The order states that Ms. Hartmann is alleged to have twice disclosed information relating to confidential decisions of the ICTY appeals chamber in the case of Mr. Miloševi?, the former Serbian leader.

The first occasion was in her book, Peace and Punishment, published in September last year, and the second was in an article entitled Vital Genocide Documents Concealed, published by the Bosnian Institute in January this year.

“Florence Hartmann knew that the information was confidential at the time disclosure was made, that the decisions from which the information was drawn were ordered to be filed confidentially, and that by her disclosure she was revealing confidential information to the public,” the order said.

Judges suspend Seselj’s war crimes trial
AFP
August 28, 2008

The war crimes trial of Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj has been adjourned as judges await a decision on his right to defend himself, the UN war crimes tribunal said Wednesday.

"It was an oral order given by the judges yesterday (Tuesday) at the audience," Nerma Jelacic, spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), told AFP.

"The trial is adjourned awaiting a decision of the appeals chamber."

In a July 28 submission published in part, the Belgian prosecutor warned that Seselj is "substantially and persistently obstructing the proceedings of this trial, both in and out of court."

Brammertz also said that Seselj was "interfering with witnesses" and using the courtroom as a "platform to espouse his political agenda and to intimidate witnesses."

Seselj's second trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1990s Balkan wars began in November 2007.

After he surrendered to the UN court in 2003, he forced his first trial to be nullified by going on a hunger strike in 2006 to insist on his right to defend himself.

His trial is expected to run for another year.

International Criminal Court rejects appeal to start trial of Congolese militiaman
UN News Service
September 4, 2008

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed an appeal by prosecutors against its earlier decision to suspend the trial of the Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, accused of recruiting child soldiers to serve in his militia.

The court announced the decision in a statement today, noting that judges with the ICC’s trial chamber had made the ruling yesterday.

“The proposals outlined in the application demonstrably fail to meet the prerequisites set out hitherto by the Chamber to enable it to lift the stay of proceedings, and they infringe fundamental aspects of the accused’s right to a fair trial,” according to the decision.

On 13 June the ICC trial chamber imposed a stay on proceedings against Mr. Lubanga after finding that prosecutors had failed to disclose more than 200 documents to the defence that have the potential to prove the militia leader’s innocence.

Mr. Lubanga, the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been charged with a series of war crimes, including conscripting and enlisting child soldiers into the military wing of his group and then using them to participate in hostilities between September 2002 and August 2003.

The trial of Mr. Lubanga was due to have been the first to be held by the ICC, and it had been scheduled to begin on 23 June. He remains in the ICC’s custody until the court makes a final decision on the appeal.

African Union to seek UN delay to Sudan war crimes process
AFP
September 8, 2008

The African Union will ask the United Nations to defer any proceedings for alleged Darfur war crimes against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, its chairman said in Khartoum on Monday.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who holds the rotating chair of the AU, met with Beshir amid rising tensions over the possibility of charges being brought by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Peace and settling the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is the number one priority now," Kikwete told reporters, standing alongside Beshir.

"It is on this basis that the AU supports the deferment of the indictment ... The AU is pursuing the implementation of that matter within the United Nations system."

The 15-member UN Security Council has the option of deferring for one year, renewable, any investigation or prosecution by the ICC.

Such a move would require a majority of nine votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members.

The leader of the AU was warmly welcomed by Beshir.

"President Kikwete is on his way to (UN headquarters in) New York soon, and we believe that he is going to meet the dignitaries of the world," said Beshir, speaking in Arabic. "We are hopeful ... that he will support Sudan."

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court in July for an arrest warrant for Beshir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

The court, charged by the Security Council in March to probe the Darfur conflict, has already issued warrants for the arrests of Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister Ahmed Haroun and militia chief Ali Kosheib.

Beshir has consistently refused to hand them over to the court.

However, Kikwete warned that those responsible must ultimately be held to account.

"Justice is critical, and we do not in any way want to be perceived as sending the wrong signals of condoning impunity," the Tanzanian leader told reporters.

"Justice must be done, (and) justice, as the lawyers say, must be seen to be done."

Kikwete said he was working to ensure a full deployment of the joint United Nations-African Union (UNAMID) force in Darfur, barely a third of which is so far on the ground, and appealed to Darfur rebels to return to peace talks.

"We have a problem of a lack of participation with all the players in Darfur," he said. "I again appeal to the rebels to take the negotiations seriously and to participate in the (peace) processes."

According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since the conflict erupted in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.

The war began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.

Nigeria: Obasanjo Indicted at UN Court
Leadership (Abuja)
By Prince Charles Dickson
September 9, 2008

Olusegun Obasanjo has been accused at the UN-backed War Crimes Court in The Hague as the main man who fueled the relationship between ex-president Charles Taylor and the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF). Some ECOWAS leaders were also implicated for the role they played in the war.

Testifying from behind a shield with a distorted voice for security reasons, an insider witness of the prosecution alleged that on July 26, 2002 at a meeting in the Liberian capital Monrovia, the former Nigerian president praised the relationship between Taylor and the RUF and further urged them to maintain it.

"He told (the RUF) that they were to continue with the good relationship that they had with Charles Taylor… because Charles Taylor was doing good things to them:, he quoted Obasanjo as saying, adding that the then Nigerian leader continued, 'If Africa could only get ten of his (Taylor's) type, then the unity Africa is fighting for, they would be able to achieve it'."

The witness alleged that Gambian President, Yaya Jammeh, was also present at the said meeting and he thanked the RUF delegation for coming. Jammeh was quoted to have said it was Taylor who had invited them to talk to the RUF delegation for a new leadership to be able to continue with the peace process in Sierra Leone, according to the BBC.

The testimony further revealed that Taylor later held a separate meeting with senior members of the RUF where he allegedly dished out $15,000 to Issa Sesay, RUF Commander, and told them not to abide by the peace talks because the West African leaders by then were "remote- controlled" by the British Government. He promised continuous support for the RUF.

Meanwhile, the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is presently hearing testimonies of gruesome acts that occurred in the 14-year Liberian civil war, has requested for Taylor to give testimony.

Taylor is standing trial on 17 counts of crimes against humanity for his role in supporting the Sierra Leonean civil war, which ended nearly six years ago. He was forced to step down and flee his country in August 2003 as rebels laid siege to Monrovia.

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NGO Reports

The Need for Comprehensive Justice Across the Former Yugoslavia
Amnesty International
By Nicola Duckworth
August 29, 2008

As the trial of Radovan Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague resumes, his prosecution is undoubtedly a huge step forward towards bringing justice to the tens of thousands of victims of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But are a small number of high profile trials in The Hague enough to heal the wounds caused by the horrific violations of human rights committed by all sides to the conflict?

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the work of the Tribunal to be complemented by comprehensive national efforts in the region to investigate and prosecute the tens thousands of other crimes, involving middle and lower ranking suspects that the Tribunal does not have the capacity to deal with.

While the resumption of the trial of Radovan Karadzic has thrown the spotlight back onto The Hague Tribunal, for which the UN Security Council has recommended an arbitrary 2010 deadline for closure, we have serious concerns about whether enough work is being done to enable local criminal justice systems to administer justice in the region. Victims of crimes like murder, rape and forcible deportation have been waiting for justice for almost 13 years since the war ended and continue to suffer without truth or reparations.

We are not saying that there have not been some efforts at a national level to investigate and prosecute crimes of the 1990s conflict. But the reality is that they have been impeded by a wavering political will, coupled with limited judicial capacity and a lack of co-operation between countries on the sharing of evidence as well as the arrest and extradition of the accused. In addition, only a handful of suspects are being tried.

In Croatia, Amnesty International has criticised the failure to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by the Croatian army and police forces, including the murder and disappearance of more than 100 Croatian Serbs in the Sisak area during the 1991-1995 war.

Montenegrin cases have been the subject of political obstruction and there are concerns about the effectiveness of national proceedings. No progress has been made in the criminal case of the disappearance of 83 Bosniaks, while civil claims brought by the families have been rejected by the National Appeals Court.

In Serbia, the pace of investigations is slow and the independence of the judiciary is questionable. Sixteen years after the forced exodus of hundreds of Vojvodina Croats which left 14 people dead, no investigative action has been taken. Furthermore, in those cases that are being prosecuted, national prosecutors involved in cases have been regularly threatened and there are concerns about the effectiveness of national witness protection systems.

In Kosovo there is a lack of effective investigations and prosecutions, particularly of crimes of sexual violence, an absence of witness protection and a declining number of international judges and prosecutors. Impunity remains in over 3,000 cases of enforced disappearances and abductions.

And while a War Crimes Chamber has been established with international support in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amnesty International is concerned that the planned withdrawal of international staff could undermine its effectiveness, unless sufficient resources and training programmes are established for local judges, prosecutors and staff. While other cases have been prosecuted by cantonal and district courts, serious doubts remain about their capacity to deal with such complex cases.

As pressure mounts for the closure of the ICTY, more work must be done to deliver the longer-lasting benefits of strengthened national justice systems. Likewise international monitoring of local war crimes trials must continue until we witness the political commitment and comprehensive reform required to equip them to deliver justice.

The international community should use its influence in relations with these countries to call for an end to impunity for all cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In doing so, we also have to make sure that national justice systems in the region receive the necessary support for training national staff, capacity-building of local judicial systems and establishing effective witness protection programmes and truth and reparation mechanisms.

While the trial of Radovan Karadzic is likely to be completed before the Tribunal closes, trials at the ICTY are not enough for the victims of the Balkans conflict. We have a duty to make sure their rights to justice, truth and reparations are realised. If not, the dispensation of justice across the former Yugoslavia may remain an unfinished task. And it is the thousands of victims of the crimes who will pay the price.

Nepal: End Cycle of Impunity and Deliver Justice to Victims
Human Rights Watch
September 11, 2008

The new Maoist-led government of Nepal should investigate and prosecute those responsible for thousands of extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances during the country’s decade-long armed conflict, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum said in a joint report released today.

“The Maoists claimed they took up arms because of the denial of justice,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “Now that they are in government, we hope they will show the courage to bring perpetrators to justice.”

The 118-page report, “Waiting for Justice: Unpunished Crimes from Nepal’s Armed Conflict,” documents in detail 62 cases of killings, disappearances, and torture between 2002 and 2006, mostly perpetrated by security forces but including a couple of cases involving Maoists. The families of those killed and disappeared have filed detailed complaints with police seeking criminal investigations but the Nepali justice system has failed miserably to respond to these complaints.

“People took to the streets in 2006 demanding a new Nepal built on justice, human rights, and rule of law,” said Mandira Sharma, executive director of Advocacy Forum. “It’s time for the new government to honour that call.”

To date, not a single perpetrator has been brought to justice before a civilian court. Fearing both the army and Maoists, at times police refuse to register complaints altogether, saying they will be dealt with by a proposed transitional justice body.

For instance, almost four years after eyewitnesses saw army personnel seize and shoot Madhuram Gautam dead in Morang District on December 18, 2004, police are still refusing to file a criminal complaint into his death. This is despite interventions by lawyers, representatives of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal, and even an order from the Biratnagar Appellate Court requiring police and the chief district office to register the complaint. But when Madhuram’s family and Advocacy Forum visited Morang police on September 1, 2008, to file the complaint, the superintendent of police still refused to register it.

When police do register complaints, they often fail to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct the most rudimentary of investigations. Public prosecutors have been reluctant to scrutinize ongoing police investigations, and courts have been unreceptive and submissive to political influences. Meanwhile the army flatly refuses to cooperate with investigations.

Fifteen-year-old Maina Sunuwar was “disappeared” after her arrest in February 2004, and Kavre police registered a complaint in November 2005 only after considerable national and international pressure. But slow action by police in the process of identifying and verifying human remains has hampered investigations. In July 2008, DNA test results finally confirmed that human remains found buried at the Panchkal army camp were Maina’s. Despite a February 2008 court order issuing summons for the arrest of four accused army officers, none has yet been arrested.

“Due to fear, ignorance, or incompetence, police and prosecutors have time and again failed in their duty to investigate and prosecute these crimes,” said Sharma. “If the political will is there, then we can achieve justice. The government needs to support the police to do their job of investigating crime and restore people’s trust in the rule of law and state institutions.”

While only two of the 62 documented cases in the report implicate Maoists, Maoist forces have also abducted, tortured, and killed civilians. During the conflict and since, many victims have been afraid to file complaints against them. Maoists abducted and allegedly killed Arjun Bahadur Lama in December 2005, but police refused to register a complaint fearing reprisals from the Maoists. More than a hundred Maoists intimidated police and relatives when the relatives tried to file a complaint with police. Following a Supreme Court order for the police to register a murder case against five Maoist members and a Maoist Central Committee member on August 11, 2008, the Kavre police finally registered a complaint. Human Rights Watch also documented Maoist and security force abuses in the October 2004 report, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Civilians Struggle to Survive in Nepal’s Civil War”

In the new report, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum called on the new government of Nepal to:
• Vigorously investigate and prosecute all persons responsible for abuses, including members of the security forces, in all 62 cases highlighted in this report, as well as other cases of human rights violations;
• Criminalize “disappearances” and torture – whether committed by the security forces, Maoists, or other actors – and ensure these offenses when committed by the army will be subject to investigation and prosecution by civilian authorities and courts; and
• Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a commission of inquiry into disappearances that does not grant amnesty for serious human rights abuses.

The report also calls on influential international actors to promote security sector reform including the establishment of effective oversight and accountability mechanisms for the security forces and vetting procedures. On September 1, 2008, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bamadev Gautam told journalists that the main target of the new government would be to establish law and order in Nepal within six months and end the state of impunity. While some politicians maintain that justice for past abuses has to be balanced against progress in the peace process, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum believe this is a dangerous misconception, and that without justice there cannot be a lasting peace.

“Actions speak louder than words. The only real proof of the government’s commitment to human rights will be when perpetrators are finally held to account in a court of law,” said Adams. “The new government and law enforcement agencies have a historic chance to show that they will investigate and prosecute abusers and send a message that no one in Nepal can get away with murder.”

Selected accounts from the report:

“The soldiers forced me to go into the other room. Then I heard the shots and I ran out. My son and his wife, both of them were asking for water. I saw them crying out with pain. I was holding my granddaughter, who was also injured. I saw my son and his wife struggling for the last minute of their life, they were dying in front of my eyes.”
– Bhumisara Thapa, the mother of Dal Bahadur Thapa, who was killed by security forces in 2002.

“I went to the [Chief District Officer] and the District Police Office at least 20 times. Officials in both places took the application from me but did not register a complaint. I met the CPN-M [Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist] leader Prachanda and asked him for the whereabouts of my husband. He asked me to give him two or three days. It’s been two years.”
– Purnima Lama, wife of Arjun Lama, abducted by Maoists on April 19, 2005, and still missing.

“I visited many places to knock on the door of state authorities for justice, however I haven't got justice yet. The skeleton of my daughter is still kept in the hospital. I am tired yet still visiting the authorities to get justice in my daughter’s case but I am not sure when I will get justice....”
– Bhakta Bahadur Sapkota, father of 15-year-old Sarala Sapkota, abducted by soldiers on July 15, 2004, and whose remains were found on January 11, 2006.

“The army investigation and court martial was a mere formality. They were not even put in jail and in any case being [sentenced to] jail for six months for the torture and killing of a minor is not just punishment.”
– Devi Sunuwar, mother of 15-year-old Maina Sunawar, abducted by soldiers on February 19, 2004, and whose remains were found in March 2007.

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