Michael P. Scharf and |
War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 4 - Issue 25 |
Editor in Chief Managing Editor Senior Technical Editor |
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type "subscribe" in the subject line.
International Criminal Court
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Special Court for Sierra Leone
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Central African Republic & Uganda
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Uganda
Bemba War Crimes Trial Delayed
The Associated Press
March 8, 2010
The International Criminal Court announced Monday it has delayed the start of the war crimes trial of former Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba by more than two months after he claimed his case was inadmissible.
Bemba is charged with five counts of murder, rape and pillage for allegedly commanding a militia responsible for atrocities in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003. He has not entered a plea.
His trial had been slated to start April 27 but has now been pushed back to July 5.
Last month, Bemba's lawyers challenged the admissibility of his case in a confidential motion filed at the world's first permanent war crimes court.
They argue that the case is not serious enough to be heard in The Hague and that authorities in Central African Republic either have investigated or are planning to investigate it. Bemba also is claiming abuse of process. Further details of the defense claims have not yet been made public, court spokeswoman Sonia Robla said.
The court said in a statement that Bemba's challenge to the case's admissibility would be discussed at a hearing on April 27, the date the trial was to have started.
Bemba is the most senior political figure in the court's custody. He ruled a vast chunk of northeastern Congo during that country's 1998-2002 war, with support from neighboring Uganda. After a peace agreement ended the war, he became one of the country's four vice presidents in a reunited Congo.
Bemba was arrested in Belgium and transferred to the court in The Hague in July 2008.
MPS Pass ICC Bill
New Vision
March 10, 2010
Parliament yesterday passed the International Criminal Court Bill, 2006, three years after it was tabled. The Bill makes provision in Uganda's law for the punishment of the international crimes of genocide, crime against humanity and war crimes.
The suspects tried and convicted for the crimes will not be sentenced to
death. They will instead be liable to life imprisonment, under the provisions
of the Bill.
Although there is already a war crimes court in Uganda, it has not commenced
work because of the delay to pass the Bill.
The Bill is intended to enforce the law in Uganda after the Rome Statute was
adopted in July 1998 by the UN and ratified by Uganda in June 2002.
The Bill is also intended to enable Uganda cooperate with the International
Criminal Court (ICC) in performance of its functions, including the
investigation and prosecution of persons accused of having committed crimes
referred to in the Rome Statute.
It further provides for the arrest and surrender to the ICC of persons
alleged to have committed crimes against humanity in addition to enabling the
ICC conduct proceedings in Uganda.
The ICC has already indicted Lord's Resistance Army rebel chief Joseph Kony
and his top commanders.
Parliament passed the Bill with amendments, one of which was the deletion of
a clause on the death penalty for persons who commit such crimes.
Justifying the deletion, the chairperson of the legal and parliamentary
affairs committee, Stephen Tashobya, said the Bill was inconsistent with the
Rome Statute, which provides life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for
extremely grave crimes.
The committee, Tashobya said, observed that the Rome Statute applies equally
to all persons without any distinction.
Parliament also carried an amendment by the deputy Attorney General, Fred
Ruhindi, to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to give consent
before prosecutions begin, rather than the Attorney General as had been
proposed in the Bill.
The House, however, rejected a proposed amendment by the committee to delete
the clause on immunity of the president.
The committee had called for the deletion of the clause, arguing that the
Bill was inconsistent with the Constitution because it did not recognise the
immunity of the president from arrest or court proceedings while holding
office.
A total of 110 countries have ratified the Rome Statute, excluding the US and
China.
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in Darfur, Sudan
ICC Chief: Sudan's Bashir "Will Face Justice"
Reuters Africa
March 4, 2010
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will eventually face justice in The Hague, according to the head of the International Criminal Court.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Bashir, its president Judge Sang-hyun Song dismissed criticism that the man wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity has not been apprehended.
"When arrest warrants were issued against Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor, people laughed and said it was a joke, but it took less than three years to get them brought before the tribunal," Song said on a visit to London.
"President Bashir will be brought to the Hague to face justice."
Bashir has dismissed the ICC warrant and said any ruling by the court is worthless.
The United Nations believes that seven years of violent conflict in Sudan's Darfur region has left 300,000 dead.
ICC prosecutors say Bashir "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy three ethnic groups, the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, using a campaign of murder, rape, and deportation.
It was the first warrant ever issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state. Speaking at the event in parliament organised by the Henry Jackson Society, a geopolitical think-tank, Song said the ICC was successfully acting as a deterrent to despots across the world.
"Some at the U.N. have told me they have noticed a deterrent effect by the judicial actions we've taken. Perhaps the would-be perpetrators of atrocities fear us, and this is an indication of our progress," Song said.
Song also praised U.S. President Barack Obama for adopting a more positive attitude to the ICC than his predecessor.
"The U.S. government has ended its antagonistic stance towards the ICC and the key phrase that their officials use is having a 'positive engagement' with us," he said.
The United States has yet to ratify the 1998 Rome Statute which established the ICC and which has been signed by 60 countries.
Former President George W. Bush expressed concern that lawsuits could potentially be initiated against U.S. citizens abroad.
Sudan Radio Prevents Candidate from Addressing Bashir's
ICC Warrant
Sudan Tribune
March 4, 2010
The Sudanese state radio blocked the leader of the Umma Party and one of twelve runners in the presidential race from broadcasting his speech over a number of items that it labeled as 'inciting prejudices and hatred against the state'.
The twenty minutes pre-recorded audio message was to be broadcasted on radio as part of rules allowing presidential candidates to utilize the state media to deliver electoral campaign programs. Sudanese opposition parties however have said that time is unevenly distributed and leaning sharply in favor of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
The Umma party issued a statement saying that the radio director called them on Wednesday afternoon to express reservations regarding portions mentioned by the former prime minister Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi in his statement.
Among the twenty objectionable items is description of government officials as 'Inqazists' [Salvationists] in reference to the 1989 coup named at the time as the National Salvation Revolution.
The officials at the radio opposed a reference made to the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir as a 'head of state wanted internationally' by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for responsibility on war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.
The former prime minister's also spoke on the summary executions that took place since the 1989 coup against military officials, political opposition and individuals accused of trading in hard currency in the early 90's.
Al-Mahdi also accused the NCP of creating an atmosphere making the secession choice in the South Sudan 2011 referendum as 'inevitable'.
The Umma party statement said they attempted to dispute the assessment made with the radio top officials with no success asserting that Al-Mahdi's criticism 'was objective and not personal'.
'The NCP presidential candidate and its leaders threw competing parties with baseless allegations that were carried by state media with all humility and cursed at the democratic government with constitutional legitimacy [pre-1989 government led by Al-Mahdi'.
'They [NCP] said that their competitors are receiving funds from [Western] embassies and supplied no evidence for their unfounded allegations while the Imam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi did not throw baseless accusations since the military officers were already executed and he said that their execution was not fair, and the issue of separation being inevitable because of Inqaz policiesÉbecame essentially known in the nation'.
'The issue of the head of state being wanted internationally is an info that requires no proof since he is being sought whether we like it or not and the Ingazists themselves are talking about IngazÉdisputing the term is a pointless one in favor of the NCP'.
The statement said that 'it became clear' that the purpose is to 'muzzle' Al-Mahdi and threatened this incident to the National elections Committee (NEC) and until then they will cease any dealings with the state radio unless they receive a formal apology.
Sudanese opposition parties have complained about the credibility of the National Elections Committee NEC and restrictions imposed on political associations and gathering by the authorities. Furthermore, the political parties contest that they are not treated fairly in comparison to the NCP candidates.
The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) presidential candidate Yasir Arman has boycotted a recording at the state media for what he described as bias and control by the NCP over coverage of their activities.
Yesterday the opposition parties issued a joint statement announcing their withdrawal from the Joint Media Council for Elections saying they were not consulted in its formation and that it does not have fair representation.
The statement said that they have submitted their recommendations on the improving its work but were ignored by the NEC prompting their decision.
A Sudanese journalist in Khartoum who is following the elections closely told Sudan Tribune that it is to be expected that the state media will not broadcast a number of sensitive topics that may hurt NCP stakes in the elections.
'They cannot allow anyone to come on TV and say for example that Bashir cannot travel freely or speak of massive tortures and executions that took place in the hands of the very people running in today's elections' the journalist said.
'The NCP wants to shift people's attention away from the widespread corruption led by its figures since they came to power to how they extracted oils, stopped rationing, built roads and tall buildings' he added.
He further said that the government recognizes the 'bad deeds' they have done to its people but is attempting 'to erase it from people's memories'.
The NEC has urged political parties to refrain from tribalism and disseminating messages that fuel violence during the process.
Yesterday Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to the European Union (EU) urging its electoral observes heading to Sudan to 'look at entire human rights situation and how it is affecting the elections environment'.
'Authorities harassed, assaulted, and arbitrarily arrested political party observers and human rights activists, including Darfuri students who have spoken out about elections and other sensitive topics such as the role of international justice in Darfur. Southern Sudanese authorities were also responsible for human rights violations, arbitrarily arresting and detaining members of the northern ruling National Congress Party and political parties seen to be in alliance with it'.
The letter also highlighted the ICC's outstanding warrant against Bashir arguing that the EU should refrain from direct contact with him in view of the pending arrest warrant.
'Al-Bashir is a wanted man who needs to answer to charges of heinous crimes at the ICCÉ.EU silence on this issue risks tacitly endorsing Khartoum's total obstruction of justice for atrocities against Darfuris'.
Most candidates has avoided touching on this sensitive topic during their elections campaign which observers say is due to a fear of retaliation from authorities or political considerations.
In his banned message Al-Mahdi suggested that electing him will improve relations with the international community contrary to a government under Bashir indicted by the ICC.
'We can deal with the international community because we are not or accused or followed or criminals who committed crimes against anyone or shed anyone's bloodÉ..so that we can engage with the international community and ask the international community to forgive Sudan's debt which now stands at 34 billion dollars' he said.
The legislative, regional and presidential elections on April 11 will be Sudan's first since Mahdi was elected. Under electoral commission rules, the candidates are allowed an equal amount of airtime on national radio and television.
New Violence in Sudan, Darfur One Year After Indictment of
Bashir
The Christian Science Monitor
March 4, 2010
New Violence in Sudan, Darfur One Year After Indictment of Bashir
Yet in Khartoum, the African country's capital, ubiquitous campaign posters hail Bashir's run in April national elections. The president's most prominent challenger, however, is censured for even mentioning the ICC's indictment of the Sudanese leader.
Many observers of Darfur have retreated in recent months from calling the conflict in the province a 'genocide,' as President George W. Bush did during his tenure. But human rights experts say Bashir still must be held accountable for the government's legacy of intense violence in Darfur if the country is ever to know peace and justice.
'The fact is that peace and reconciliation and accountability are all intertwined, and you're never going to have the first two without the third element,' says Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition in Washington.
Mr. Fowler just returned from three weeks in Sudan, including a visit to Darfur. The national elections, he says, are virtually meaningless for Darfur - even though they will be the country's first multiparty voting in more than 20 years - because of unregistered, displaced populations and widespread insecurity.
'Darfur remains under a state of emergency, and the environment there is one of generalized insecurity, with a lot of people running around with guns,' Fowler says. 'So it is not at all conducive to any meaningful elections.'
On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a statement saying it is 'extremely concerned' about reports of new government offensives against rebels in Darfur.
According to United Nations officials, the result has been a new spike in civilian deaths.
The United States says the renewed violence is 'undermining the spirit of the peace process' between the government and rebel groups.
The government in Khartoum claims that any civilian deaths are the result of rebel attacks on the general population.
In addition, violence is rising in the southern part of the country, despite a comprehensive peace agreement signed with southern rebel groups. US Sen. Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin, chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, on Thursday called on the international community to recommit to bringing peace and security and fair elections to Sudan. He warned that a return to generalized violence would have far-reaching consequences.
'A renewed civil war in Sudan would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the entire country and the wider region,' Senator Feingold said following passage of a Senate resolution urging heightened international attention to Sudan.
Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup. Now, he and his ruling party see success in the national elections as a way to give the government legitimacy - and obscure Bashir's indictment as a war criminal, say experts like Fowler of Save Darfur. But with the cards apparently stacked in the ruling party's favor, Fowler says, it's hard to see how the elections will help resolve Sudan's crisis.
'The problem is the playing field is so unlevel to begin with that simply holding an election does not mean the results will be credible,' Fowler says. He was in Khartoum when the official campaign began, and he saw a sea of Bashir posters.
'There are other presidential candidates,' he notes, including Sadiq al-Mahdi, the former prime minister who was ousted in the 1989 coup and who was censured Wednesday for speaking of Bashir's ICC indictment. 'But I never saw one poster for any of them. So that tells you something about the sheer dominance of the ruling party.'
Al-Bashir Will 'Face Justice' Before ICC: President Judge
Jurist
March 5, 2010
The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Thursday that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will eventually face justice in The Hague. Speaking in London before the British House of Commons, Judge Sang-Hyun Song addressed controversy surrounding the ICC arrest warrant issued one year ago:
The Rome Statute created the possibility for a political body - the Security Council - to refer situations to the Court. In the case of Darfur, this is what happened in March 2005. Once a situation comes before the Court, we must let justice follow its course. States must accept that judges cannot and will not take political considerations into account.
Responding to questions, Song went on to compare the al-Bashir warrant with the successful surrender of Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor to the international criminal tribunals. Addressing supporters, al-Bashir said that he would continue to travel despite the warrant, though he declined an invitation to attend extraordinary summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Nairobi next week.
In February, the ICC Appeals Chamber ordered the Trial Chamber to reconsider adding an additional charge of genocide to the al-Bashir warrant. ICC prosecutors appealed the decision not to charge al-Bashir with genocide in July. The warrant, which charges al-Bashir with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, has been a source of tension, with Egypt, Sudan,the African Union, and others calling for the proceedings against al-Bashir to be delayed, and African Union leaders agreeing not to cooperate with the ruling. Al-Bashir is accused of systematically targeting and purging the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, three Arabic-speaking ethnic groups, under the pretext of counterinsurgency since 2003.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC)
Official Website of the International Criminal Court
ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Former UPC Man Testifies in Lubanga Trial
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 3, 2010
A witness who said he fought with the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) today started giving evidence in the trial of Thomas Lubanga at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC alleges that Lubanga headed the UPC, a group that used child soldiers in inter-ethnic conflict during 2002 and 2003.
The witness, the sixth called by the defense, mostly testified in closed session and had protective measures such as face and voice distortion to protect his identity. During the few moments when his testimony was in public session, he was questioned by defense counsel Jean-Marie Biju-Duval about the time he spent with UPC, and also about his brother.
It was not possible to know how the brother to the witness was connected to the trial, or to the UPC. Equally, from the small bits of evidence given by the witness in open session, it was not possible to get an idea of what the gist of his testimony was.
The witness said he was in the UPC until 2003. He deserted the group when the Ugandan army clashed with UPC's fighters in the town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He went to the town of Mongwalu and joined the Peoples' Armed Forces of Congo (FAPC), a militia group in that area.
The witness said he served with the FAPC for a year. Biju-Duval asked the witness whether during his time with FAPC he maintained contact with his mother, brothers and sisters. The witness responded that he had indeed maintained contact with them. Biju-Duval then asked that court goes into closed session for the witness to provide details about those contacts.
Earlier, the witness said his brother about whom he was questioned at length at one time fled to Uganda, but then he returned to Congo and stayed in Kasenyi and in Bunia. He said his brother went back to school when he returned to Congo.
'We did not meet all the time but he would come to my home to fetch some money in order to pay for his school fees,' the witness said of his brother.
The witness is expected to continue giving evidence tomorrow, and then the seventh defense witness will appear. Lubanga's defense team has indicated that its first 16 witnesses will show that intermediaries of the ICC concocted evidence and coached prosecution witnesses.
Meanwhile, judges today granted the prosecution's request to meet a defense witness who is expected to begin testifying this Friday. The meeting is anticipated to take place a day before the witness takes the witness stand.
The defense had opposed the application, arguing that the meeting would present an additional stress to the witness on the eve of his giving testimony in court. But the prosecution's Nicole Samson said they wished to ask the witness about some additional aspects of his likely testimony which the defense had only recently provided to the prosecution.
While granting the prosecution's application, Judge Adrian Fulford warned prosecutors against making similar applications when witnesses are about to appear in court.
'We will look at each of them very carefully on their merits and it will need new information of the kind indicated for us to give serious consideration to an application of this kind because it could be very stressful for the witness,' said the judge.
Prosecutors Cross-Examine Former UPC Fighter
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 4, 2010
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) today cross-examined a defense witness in the Thomas Lubanga trial about three photographs which showed alleged former leaders of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the group Lubanga is said to have led.
The prosecution's Olivia Struyven showed the photographs to the unnamed witness, and asked him to identify the people in them. In two of the photographs, the witness who has said he was a member of the UPC identified Thomas Lubanga, as well as Bosco Ntaganda and Floribert Kisembo.
According to the prosecution, Ntaganda was the deputy chief of staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), an armed group that used child soldiers during 2002 and 2003. Although the ICC unveiled an arrest warrant for Ntaganda in April 2008, he remains at large in the DRC. The ICC prosecutors say Lubanga was the commander-in-chief of the FPLC.
Kisembo, the other person identified by the witness, is said to have been the chief of staff of the FPLC. The witness identified other former UPC leaders such as Rafiki Saba, whom the prosecution says was the chief of security in UPC.
Struyven asked the witness whether he knew when the pictures were taken, and he replied that he did not. He also said he did not know where the photographs were taken from, but added, 'It seems like the office in Mandro [village] that was burned up'. He did not elaborate what the office was and who had set it on fire.
The witness was also questioned about the uniforms most of the people in the picture were wearing, and he said they were Ugandan military uniforms. The person he identified as Thomas Lubanga was not wearing military fatigues.
Ugandan soldiers who were in Congo between 1997 and 2003 at some stage trained and armed the UPC's fighters.
Because today's witness gave most of his testimony in closed session, it was not known what the intent of showing him the pictures was. Lubanga is facing the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 into the FPLC and using them to participate effectively in armed conflict. He has denied the charges.
At the opening of his defense case on January 27, 2010, his lead counsel Catherine Mabille said they would produce witnesses to prove that 'Lubanga the political leader played no active role in the creation of the UPC military forces and in no way did he take part deliberately in a common plan to recruit minors.'
But the prosecution contends that Lubanga was in charge of the FPLC and that he visited and inspected FPLC military training camps, oversaw the conduct of military affairs and appointed the senior ranks within the FPLC, secured financing for the UPC/FPLC and negotiated the provision of their weapons and other military equipment.
A new witness -- the seventh called by the defense -- is expected to start giving evidence on Friday.
Two Testify As Lubanga Defense Reels Off Complaints
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 6, 2010
The Thomas Lubanga defense this week called two witnesses, but the highlight of the trial was the string of complaints made by the defense lawyers against the prosecution, as well as court reporters and translators.
Specifically, the defense protested that despite various interventions by judges, prosecutors were still failing to honor their disclosure obligations. Additionally, Mr. Lubanga's lawyers reported that there were serious errors in the court reporting and translations, which they said jeopardized the quality of testimonies made in court.
But it was not these issues that prompted an early adjournment to the hearings on Friday. Instead, it was the realization by prosecutors that the defense had not disclosed some crucial information about the current witness.
The witness, who gave his age as 25 years old, had told the trial that he was a former soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the group which prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) claim was led by Mr. Lubanga. Prosecutors told judges that the defense had withheld this fact from them, and they therefore were not ready to cross-examine this witness about certain aspects of his testimony.
Judge Adrian Fulford allowed the prosecution's application for more time to prepare their cross-examination of the witness, but pointed out that judges were concerned that such requests could lead to unacceptable delays to the trial.
From the way testimony by this witness had progressed, it appeared that the defense had failed to inform the prosecution that he was a former UPC soldier.
Moments before this witness -- the seventh called by the defense -- took the witness stand, the defense had complained that the prosecution were not honoring their obligations to disclose certain information they held about both defense and prosecution witnesses.
Defense lawyer Jean-Marie Biju-Duval reported that on February 26, 2010, the defense received two documents related to three prosecution witnesses which were relevant to a defense witness who had just testified. Mr. Biju-Duval said the prosecution had been in possession of these documents since 2005. This information should therefore have been disclosed to the defense before the prosecution witnesses testified to allow the defense to question them more precisely, he said.
Mr. Biju-Duval related a second instance in which the prosecution had reportedly failed to honor their disclosure obligations. During the cross-examination of Witness 26 earlier in the week, he said, the defense got the impression that prosecutors were in possession of documents that were unknown to the defense.
The question then was whether or not the prosecution had the obligation to disclose all the information and the documents they planned to use in their cross-examination, argued Mr. Biju-Duval.
Judges gave prosecutors up to March 11, 2010 to provide a written response to the defense complaints.
Lubanga's lawyers then told judges that it appeared that the defense team for Germain Katanga, another Congolese on trial at the ICC, had been given more information relating to four witnesses common to the two trials relative to what Lubanga's team had received.
Prosecutors disputed this claim. Judge Fulford agreed with prosecutors, pointing out that, in fact, greater disclosure had been made to the Lubanga's defense compared to Katanga's.
Meanwhile, the first witnesses that testified this week said he was a member of the UPC and he identified some of the former UPC leaders in pictures showed to him by prosecutors. He said the photographs showed the UPC leaders wearing Ugandan army uniforms. The person he identified as Thomas Lubanga was not wearing military fatigues.
The UPC's fighters were at one time trained and armed by Ugandan soldiers who were in Congo between 1997 and 2003.
The witness, who testified with face and voice distortion, also identified Bosco Ntaganda and Floribert Kisembo. According to prosecutors at the ICC, Mr. Ntaganda was the deputy chief of staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), an armed group that used child soldiers during 2002 and 2003. Although the ICC unveiled an arrest warrant for Mr. Ntaganda in April 2008, he remains at large in the DRC. Mr. Kisembo is said to have been the chief of staff of the FPLC.
The ICC prosecutors claim Lubanga was the commander-in-chief of the FPLC, and has charged him with the war crimes of enlisting, conscripting and using child soldiers in armed conflict.
The prosecution's Olivia Struyven asked the witness whether he knew when the pictures were taken, and he replied that he did not. He also said he did not know where the photographs were taken from, but added, 'It seems like the office in Mandro [village] that was burned up'. He did not elaborate on what the office was and who had set it on fire.
'If I suggest the picture was taken before the mutiny, before people [UPC fighters] were taken to Kyankwanzi and Jinja [military training camps in Uganda] would it change your testimony?' the prosecutor asked.
'I do not have any additional information,' said the witness, who went on to give most of his testimony in closed session.
The case resumes on Monday.
Prosecution Unaware of Witness's Membership of the UPC
Aegis Trust/All Africa Global Media
March 9, 2010
The Defence team calls the 7th witness, a former UPC soldier whose account catches the Prosecution off guard: according to Ms. Nicole Samson, the information about the witness's ties to Lubanga's group has been "deliberately removed" from the summaries the Defence provided to the OTP.
It appears that there has been a mistake on the Defence's
part and not a change in the witness's testimony. The first summary indicates
that the witness belonged to the Armee du Peuple Congolais (APC), while in the
second summary the witness' membership of the UPC has simply vanished. In light
of the circumstances, Ms. Samson feels she cannot cross examine the witness and
asks the Chamber to postpone her intervention. The Prosecution needs time to
explore the information that has just come up. The three Judges confer for
seconds. "We are very worried about this," says Judge Fulford. The
Prosecution recently submitted the same request for the preceding witness.
"If this is repeated, the delay of this trial is simply unacceptable,"
says the Presiding Judge, who thinks a Counsel must be able to cross examine
any material even without prior notice.
The application is granted with reluctance, and Ms. Samson uses the last
minutes of the session with some general questions about the witness's role in
the UPC and the reasons that led him to join Lubanga's group.
"I could no longer stay at home, there was fighting
everywhere. This situation forced me to join the UPC," explains the
witness. He had to defend his community. This young man aged 25, of the Hema ethnic
group, was just out of his teens when he became a soldier in the Lubanga
militia in 2002. He served as a bodyguard of Bosco Ntaganda's brother, the
former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la
Liberation du Congo (FPLC), the UPC's armed wing. "Chief Khawa [Panga
Mandro] was the Supreme Commander. Under him you had Bosco [Ntaganda] and
[Floribert] Kisembo. Those were the highest ranks in the military
structure," says the witness.
The witness explains to Ms. Samson that in 2007 he met a man called Mr. Mbuna.
The witness knew him as "a wise man" of his village. Mr. Mbuna was
the Defence investigator in Ituri. "He told me that some lawyers wanted to
talk to me," explains the witness. He says he did not notice anything
strange about such an encounter. "They contacted me because they knew I
was living with Madam X and therefore I was a soldier," says the witness.
Madam "X" is mentioned in different occasions during his testimony
but her involvement in the case remains unclear. According to the witness, the
woman was a soldier of the Armee du Peuple Congolais (APC), the military wing
of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie/Kisangani (RCD/K) led by
Wamba dia Wamba, the then Governor of Ituri. They met for the first time in the
battle of Mahagi, where the witness fought with the UPC. Afterwards in Bunia,
they saw each other regularly. "We had a good relation," he says.
Madam "X" was about his age. "Maybe I am one year older than
her," says the witness.
The daily session also brings up relevant Defence's demands which need the
Chamber's attention: Translation problems. The Defence says they have
identified "serious court reporting and translation problems," in the
course of certain testimonies. "There are uncertainties in meanings and
omissions," says Mr. Biju-Duval. "The interpreters are doing an
excellent job, however even the best interpreter in the world cannot meet the
demands of a trial," says the Lawyer. "We have to look for a solution
to this problem. We cannot continue in these conditions. It jeopardizes the
quality of the testimonies in court." In the search for a solution, the
Defence has requested the video recordings of those problematic testimonies.
But the tapes can currently only be provided with the witness' voice distorted,
an option which seems not to fully satisfy Lubanga's team.
Disclosure obligations. The Defence is unhappy with the disclosure recently
done by OTP as regards certain Prosecution and Defence witnesses. Mr. Biju
Duval gives an example: on 26 February 2010 the Defence received two documents
on three prosecution witnesses linked to another witness called by the Defence.
According to Mr. Biju-Duval, the OTP has had these documents since 2005.
"I think I don't need to say anything else," he says. The Lawyer
believes this information should have been disclosed long before the witnesses
testified in order to allow the Defence to question them more precisely.
Mr. Biju Duval also points out that during the cross examination of Witness 26,
they had got the impression that the Prosecution was in possession of documents
unknown to the Defence. "The question is whether or not the prosecution
has the obligation to disclose everything that may be used during
cross-examination," says Mr. Biju-Duval.
The Chamber asks the lawyer to summarize all his demands, indicating those
documents sent by OTP with delay and the prejudices caused as result of this
late disclosure.
Four common witnesses in the Lubanga and Katanga cases. The Defence has the
impression that there is a different disclosure regime in the Katanga case
concerning four common witnesses. The Prosecution admits the existence of
differences but assures that there is nothing the Lawyers of Germain Katanga
and Mathieu Ngudjolo got that Mr. Biju Duval had not received. The Chamber's
permission to exchange information between the Defence teams is still pending.
Remote testimony. The Defence requested for Witness 14 to testify via video
link from Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Lawyers argued
that this is an "extremely vulnerable" witness and her travel to The
Hague would cause her great prejudice and harm. Witness 14 is in her mid
forties, and resides in a rural area relatively inaccessible. She lives in
conditions of extreme poverty and had never travelled before.
Witness 14's evidence is important for the Defence case: she is the mother of a
Prosecution witness who claimed his mother was dead. On the contrary, she
maintains that she was living with her child until he was 3 years old and that
they met after the war in Ituri.
After consultation of the Victims and Witness Unit, the three judges allow the
Defence to use the remote facility. The Chamber believes this is a reasonable
alternative to protect the witness' psychological well-being.
Witness: ICC Agent Faked Death Threats Against My Family
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 9, 2010
An International Criminal Court agent forged a letter in which officials of a Congolese militia group purportedly threatened to kill a witness for agreeing to testify against Thomas Lubanga, ICC judges heard today.
An unnamed witness, testifying in Mr. Lubanga's defense, said an agent acting on behalf of ICC prosecutors and referred to in court as 'Mr. X,' wrote the threatening letter after the witness became reluctant to honor an earlier promise to the intermediary that he would lie to prosecution investigators that he was a former child soldier.
Continuing his evidence from yesterday, the witness said his family rebuked him when they were informed that he was part of a plot to fabricate evidence implicating Mr. Lubanga. When he informed 'Mr. X', the intermediary drafted a letter to a person whom the witness believes was an investigator for the ICC prosecution.
The witness said he objected when 'Mr. X' tried to append the name of Mr. Dieudonne Mbuna, an investigator for Lubanga's defense in the Congolese province of Ituri, as the author of the letter. Subsequently, the letter was sent with only a thumbprint and no author's name.
The letter was read out in court today, and was tendered by the defense as an exhibit. It was purported to be from 'authorities of the UPC' and it labeled the witness an enemy. 'Know that wherever you move to, we will not rest until we find you. You should know that it is your corpse that will go before the court with Thomas Lubanga,' said the letter.
It added: 'We know that wherever you are going to move to, we are going to find you. Do you think that our strength is finished? Even your offspring, we are going to wipe it out. Do whatever you like but know that you can not escape death. And do not imagine that it is going to come from elsewhere. It will come from us the authorities of the UPC.'
The witness told the trial of Mr. Lubanga that he had several times received money from this intermediary on the understanding that he would lie to OTP investigators that he was a former child soldier. 'Mr. X' also asked him to convince other people to lie to the investigators that they were also former child soldiers in the Union of Congolese
Patriots (UPC), and that they knew the commanders of the militia group.
This witness is the eighth to appear for the defense of Mr. Lubanga, who is on trial over the UPC's use of child soldiers in inter-ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during 2002 and 2003. Mr. Lubanga's lawyers have said their first 16 witnesses will provide evidence that OTP intermediaries concocted evidence and coached witnesses.
The defense also contends that all prosecution witnesses who were presented as child soldiers, as well as their parents in some cases, deliberately lied to the court.
Defense counsel Jean-Marie Biju-Duval today showed the witness three receipts and asked him whether he recognized the signatures on them. The witness said he recalled signing those receipts when 'Mr. X' gave him money while they were in Kampala, Uganda in September 2005 for meetings with OTP investigators.
'Do you remember having received this sum of money -- $400?' asked Mr. Biju-Duval.
'I was not given this sum in one swoop. I was not given it on one day,' replied the witness.
According to the receipt, the $400 was a 'reimbursement of services provided and expenses incurred'.
The defense counsel then asked the witness about another document with his signature acknowledging receipt of $700. 'Do you remember having received this sum?' Mr. Biju-Duval asked.
'Truth be told, I have no recollection of the precise sum,' responded the witness.
Two other documents titled 'loss of earnings' (for $30) and 'transport' ($10) were shown to the witness. He said he recognized his signature on the documents but he did not recall receiving the money.
The witness said he did not receive any money from the OTP investigators; it was 'Mr. X' who gave him all the money, he said.
Another receipt showed the witness had his bill at a store in Kampala paid for, but he declined to discuss those expenses in public session.
Previous defense witnesses have testified that intermediaries bribed, coerced or duped some people into claiming to the OTP investigators that they were former child soldiers and to tell stories intended to incriminate Mr. Lubanga.
Tomorrow the witness will be cross-examined by the prosecution.
ICC Prosecutors Tell Lubanga Witness He's Just a Liar
LubangaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 10, 2010
Prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Thomas Lubanga at the International Criminal Court (ICC) today dismissed a defense witness as a liar and a self-seeker whose testimony could not be believed.
'You have lied to the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) for the last four years. You cannot be believed now,' prosecutor Manoj Sachdeva told the witness.
The witness denied that he had told any lies in court, where he has testified for the last three days.
But Mr. Sachdeva pointed out that since the first interview the witness had with OTP investigators in 2005 in Kampala, Uganda, through to other interviews in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2007, 'not once did you tell the OTP that you had lied to them.'
The witness agreed with Mr. Sachdeva's assertion that ICC prosecution investigators interviewed him for six days when he and an OTP intermediary referred to as 'Mr. X' visited Kampala in September 2005.
The prosecutor read a passage from the interviews, in which the witness stated: 'I arrived here entirely on my own free will because I myself wanted to cooperate so as to help find a solution to the problems in Congo.' The witness recalled saying those words, and affirmed that he was not forced to travel to Kampala.
The witness testified that he received money from 'Mr. X' so that he could lie to the OTP investigators that he was a former child soldier. He said 'Mr. X' asked him to convince other people to lie to the investigators that they were former child soldiers in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the group which ICC prosecutors allege was led by Mr. Lubanga, who is being tried for using child soldiers in armed conflict.
The witness said he abandoned that scheme when former UPC soldiers threatened him and after his own family members rebuked him when they found out that he was part of the alleged conspiracy against Mr. Lubanga.
In his interview with the OTP investigators, the witness recounted how UPC soldiers abducted him, bundled him into a four-wheel drive vehicle and took him to a UPC commander. He also told investigators how some soldiers at a UPC camp were tied to a tree and shot dead.
Mr. Sachdeva asked him whether these were all lies.
'Yes,' responded the witness, who testified with face and voice distortion to protect his identity. 'As I said earlier, I have never served in the army. These were plans that we made up, lies we had fabricated and I had to repeat them.'
The prosecutor asked the witness whether 'Mr. X' was present during the interviews with OTP investigators. He responded that the intermediary never attended the meetings, but every evening he briefed him on what to tell investigators the next day.
According to Mr. Sachdeva, the prosecution's investigators provided the witness with a number which he was advised to call in case of an emergency. He said the witness routinely called this number, on many occasions while he was drunk, either demanding for money or asking to be relocated from the DRC.
'If I called, sometimes when you are confused, I don't know. I don't remember,' the witness responded.
On Monday, the witness testified that 'Mr. X' promised that he would be relocated if he joined the conspiracy against Mr. Lubanga. The witness said he was never a soldier. Before the war broke out, he was a barber in Bunia town. When the war ended, he returned from Uganda and continued his hairdressing business in the town.
Meanwhile, lead defense counsel Catherine Mabille has today told court about the difficulties they are facing in getting some of their witnesses to travel from DRC. She said two of their witnesses who are lined up to testify next week are still stuck in Congo because authorization for their travel has not been received from their employers.
Ms. Mabille said an official from the Victims and Witnesses Unit (VWU) who is currently in Congo has so far failed to trace the supervisors of these witnesses.
The defense said one of their witnesses lost his job in January this year because he traveled to the Congolese capital Kinshasa for several days for meetings with Mr. Lubanga's lawyers. Officials of the VWU said the ICC's Registry was going to offer compensation to that witness. Judge Adrian Fulford ordered that this compensation should be processed expeditiously.
The defense will call their ninth witness tomorrow.
'Hostile' Prosecution Witness to Testify Afresh
LubganaTrial.org
By Wairagala Wakabi
March 11, 2010
A former prosecution witness who testified briefly in the Thomas Lubanga war crimes trial last June and told court that he had lied to prosecutors is expected to give fresh testimony next week.
The prosecution has indicated that it considers 'Witness 15' to be a hostile witness and will examine him to challenge the veracity of the new information which he has provided.
The witness will also be cross-examined by the defense on the brief testimony he gave last year as a prosecution witness and the additional information which he provided after he declared that he had lied to prosecutors.
Judge Adrian Fulford today indicated that next week would be a good time for the appearance of 'Witness 15' since a defense witness whose testimony related to 'Witness 15' has completed testifying.
Dieu Merci Patient Nobirabo Todabo, 21, today appeared as the ninth witness for Mr. Lubanga, who is on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the use of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The witness testified in full public view, and gave his brief testimony in public session -- except when he was shown a picture of his friend about whom both the defense and the prosecution questioned him.
Mr. Todabo said this unnamed friend was his classmate in Bunia in eastern Congo during 2001 and 2002. Because of the war, the witness fled Bunia, as did his friend. But Mr. Todabo sated that he later learnt that his friend had joined the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) militia group. Prosecutors at the ICC allege that Mr. Lubanga was the leader of a different armed group in the area -- the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and its armed wing.
When 'Witness 15' appeared in court on June 16, 2009, he said he had given the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) a false name, that he had told several lies to investigators, and that a third party -- presumably an intermediary of the OTP -- was involved in the fabrication of his evidence.
According to a filing made by the prosecution last September, subsequent to his dramatic and short-lived moment as a prosecution witness, 'Witness 15' made a statement before defense and prosecution lawyers. In that statement, he stated that he had provided a false identity to the OTP, including his name, his wife's name and the names of his parents.
The OTP filing says 'the witness stated that he had never trained at the UPC training center in Mandro and did not in fact witness any of the activity at the camp as he had previously stated. He also denied, contrary to his earlier information, having seen certain individuals from the UPC at the Mandro training center or witnessing daily reporting from Bosco Ntaganda in Mandro to Thomas Lubanga.'
The ICC has an arrest warrant out for Mr. Ntaganda, who it alleges was the deputy chief of staff of the UPC's armed wing. Mr. Ntaganda remains at large.
Additionally, 'Witness 15' reportedly stated that he had lied about being involved in the move of the UPC headquarters to Bunia and about being a soldier in the UPC.
According to the OTP filing, 'Witness 15' also stated that he had lied about having undergone training in Rwanda for the UPC, and that contrary to what he had earlier told prosecution investigators, he had never met certain individuals connected to the UPC.
Besides the fact that a defense witness who has testified about 'Witness 15' has completed giving evidence, the recall of the former prosecution witness at this stage is expedient as the defense team is reporting delays in getting some of their witnesses to The Hague on time. Some witnesses expected to testify next week were today still trying to acquire passport, visas or clearance from their employers to enable them to travel to The Hague, defense lawyers said.
Threats after Kenya's Vote Violence Derail Justice
Associated Press
By Ronald Bera
March 6, 2010
Threats against Kenyan human rights activists and victims of violence could undermine the quest for justice from Kenya's 2007-2008 postelection violence, a state-funded human rights group said Friday.
Human rights activists are being exposed to threats by government security agencies who are sometimes entrusted with protecting them, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said.
The group said threats against witnesses and victims of post-election violence have been on the rise since International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo began investigating Kenyan violence. More than 1,000 people were killed in the weeks following the country's December 2007 presidential election.
"If you threaten a human rights defender, then you're equally threatening justice," said Hassan Omar Hassan, the commission's vice chairman during an event to mark the anniversary of the death of two Kenyan human rights activists. Last year the two provided evidence of police death squads to a U.N. investigator on extra-judicial executions. The two were then killed on March 5. Fellow activists blamed the killings on the police.
Moreno Ocampo this week said he believes top officials from Kenya's two major political parties were responsible for crimes against humanity. He gave a list of 20 suspects to ICC judges, who must decide whether Moreno Ocampo may open a formal investigation.
Moreno Ocampo said both parties organized, financed or spurred the violence against civilians because of their political or tribal allegiance.
More than 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 forced from their homes after President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the December 2007 poll. Raila Odinga's opposition party claimed the vote was rigged, leading to two months of upheavals. Many protesters who clashed with police were killed, but the violence also erupted along tribal lines.
Odinga was later made prime minister under a power sharing deal that ended the violence.
Moreno Ocampo said senior leaders of both parties "utilized their personal, government, business and tribal networks to commit the crimes."
Panic Over Ocampo's List to ICC
Daily Nation
By Lucas Barasa
March 7, 2010
The handing over of list of suspected perpetrators of Kenya's post-election violence of 2008 to the International Criminal Court judges has caused fear, panic and anxiety across the country especially in areas that were hardest hit by the chaos.
Senior officials of the three arms of the police: Regular, Administration and General Service Unit have also not been spared as ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated that they were used in the chaos.
The Waki Commission report on post-election violence linked more than 400 deaths of the 1,133 people killed during the two months of the post election violence to the police.
A survey by the Sunday Nation in some of the areas that were affected by the skirmishes indicated that many of the suspected financiers and organisers of the chaos had been thrown into a panic.
There is also fear among the victims.
“No one knows what is going to happen. It is as if it is now clear some of the perpetrators will be taken to the Hague,” Mr Ken Wafula whose organisation, Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has been championing for rights of victims of the chaos, said.
A former Eldoret councillor Mr Kipkorir Menjo said: “People are fatigued. They want the truth to come out. The naming of the suspects will bring new political equation ahead of 2012 polls.”
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights whose report together with that of the Waki Commission is being used by Mr Moreno-Ocampo to push for the trial of the suspects said the biggest part will be if prosecutor will be authorised to conduct investigations and later demand that the suspects be handled to ICC.
“If the names are made public will there be political will to hand over the suspects to the ICC. President Kibaki refused two ministers to step aside to allow investigations of graft in their ministries, will he accept to hand over some of the ministers to the Hague?” KNCHR vice-chairman Hassan Omar, questioned.
Mr Omar said following the handing over of further information to the pre-trial chambers by the prosecutor, it is expected the judges will expeditiously deliberate on the application within shortest time possible.
“The fact that the judges asked for further information means they had started working of the prosecutor’s application which they have been having for the last four months,” Mr Omar said.
If granted the request, Mr Omar elaborated, Mr Moreno Ocampo could come to the country soon to start his investigations and within four to six months Kenyans could be able to know the names of suspected key perpetrators of the killings.
Mr Omar agreed that the handing over of the 20 names had caused anxiety with many Kenyans wondering whether the authorisation will be allowed, who were in the list and that the more the process delayed the country would be nearing the 2012 elections.
“The prosecutor should be allowed to come as soon as possible when there are still avenues to collect evidence and ensure witnesses are protected,” Mr Omar said.
The vocal vice-chairman said although the prosecutor had given 20 names they could be increased or reduced depending on investigations. The names, he said, were only given to clarify to the pre-trial chambers the kind of investigations to be done and the levels of the perpetrators.
He said by naming the three arms of the police, Mr Moreno-Ocampo showed that there were more people he needed to interrogate.
Once the list of the perpetrators is made public the credibility of the public office holders will be diminished and Mr Omar said they would be expected to step aside.
“It would be impractical for them to continue with functions of their offices,” he added.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo could also be required to summon some of those named to the pre-trial chambers if he gets hurdles in his investigations.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo has accused leaders from across the political divide and businessmen over their role in the post-election violence.
Details of Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s submission to the Pre-Trial Chamber show how the suspects planned and executed what he refers to as a “criminal policy” against civilians.
Their motivation, he says, was to retain or gain power.
At least 1,133 people were killed and more than 650,000 evicted from their homes in the wake of the madness that followed Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo says the 20 leading suspects hired, financed, and transported gangs to kill, destroy, and block roads.
He told judges at The Hague on Wednesday that while PNU used State agencies, their opponents in ODM used criminal gangs to execute their politically motivated schemes.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo has asked the judges in the 19-page submission to keep the lists of suspects confidential.
Naming the suspects publicly, he says, may prejudice independent investigations and endanger the safety of potential witnesses.
He adds that Kenyan authorities had not carried out any investigations or prosecutions targeting the 20. The prosecutor says the violence comprised hundreds of incidents with varying degrees of organisation.
Inflammatory statements and hate speech disseminated via radio, e-mails, and SMS before the elections were part of the strategy to incite the public, he says. PNU and ODM channelled their criminal policy through community structures, he says.
And in related news, Kenyan lawyer Professor Githu Muigai has been admitted to the International Criminal Court list of counsel, meaning he is eligible to represent suspects facing trial at The Hague.
The ICC wrote to Prof Muigai on Thursday informing him of the decision. Regulation 73.1 of the court’s rules requires that the ICC prepares an approved list of counsel to ensure suspects receive the highest level of legal representation at the court.
Prof Muigai will also be eligible to represent other suspects facing war crime trials such as Congolese militia leader Laurent Nkunda.
Kenya invited Bashir despite arrest warrant
Daily Nation
March 10, 2010
Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir received an invitation to participate in the just ended summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Nairobi.
Foreign minister Moses Wetang’ula delivered the invitation from his boss President Kibaki during a meeting in the Sudanese capital with his counterpart Deng Alor.
Mr Wetang’ula was accompanied by Ethiopian minister of foreign affairs Seyoum Mesfin.
Mr Alor said that the visit came as part of an ongoing effort by IGAD to review the progress on the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and preparations for the upcoming elections in April.
He said that IGAD is concerned over the CPA implementation and relations between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) which controls the South.
The Sudanese top diplomat also disclosed that his government requested a rescheduling of the IGAD summit to from March 9 to a date after the elections. But, IGAD did not heed the request.
Kenya which is a signatory of the Rome Statute treaty which forms the basis of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has an obligation to arrest Bashir (pictured) given an outstanding arrest warrant for him issued a year ago on charges related to crimes committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
Furthermore, the ICC judges are currently mulling a request from the prosecutor to open a high profile investigation into post-election violence events in 2007 and 2008.
Last week, the ICC prosecutor filed a brief with the Pre-Trial judges in response to a clarification requested on the nature of the violent acts committed and proof that it can be classified as crimes against humanity with links to state as part of organisational policy.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
Rwanda President's Widow Held in France Over Genocide
BBC News
March 2, 2010
The widow of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose assassination triggered the Rwandan genocide, has been arrested in France.
Agathe Habyarimana is accused by the current Rwandan government of helping to plan the 1994 genocide, and has long been sought by prosecutors there.
Mrs Habyarimana, who has been living in France for several years, denies the accusations.
More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the massacres of 1994.
French officials said Mrs Habyarimana was detained in the Paris region by police executing a Rwandan-issued international arrest warrant.
Mrs Habyarimana, who was flown out of Rwanda by the French military in the early days of the violence, has been seeking political asylum in France, without success.
Her arrest follows a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he admitted that France - and the wider international community - had make "mistakes" over the genocide.
His comments followed years of strained relations between the two countries.
Extradition?
Diplomatic relations were restored late last year having broken down after a French judge said President Paul Kagame had been behind President Habyarimana's assassination, and Rwanda accused France of arming the Hutu militias involved in the 1994 genocide.
Mrs Habyarimana's lawyer said her arrest was directly linked to Mr Sarkozy's visit.
"You can't not draw a link," said Philippe Meilhac. "The extradition request from Kigali dates back to November and was obviously re-activated."
Rwanda has welcomed her arrest.
"We are encouraged by these new developments and the fact that the long arm of the law has finally taken its course," said Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama.
Mrs Habyarimana has now been freed on bail.
The BBC's Catherine Zemmouri in Paris says it is not clear if France will extradite her to Rwanda.
She says that French magistrates have recently refused to send three suspects to Rwanda fearing they would not receive a fair trial - an argument repeated by Mrs Habyarimana's lawyer.
France has, however, extradited suspects to the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Arusha, Tanzania.
President Habyarimana died in April 1994 when his jet was hit by a missile over the Kigali airport.
Hardline ethnic Hutu supporters of the president then launched the apparently pre-planned massacres.
ICTR to Render Two Appeal Judgments
The New Times
By Gashegu Muramira
March 4, 2010
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will soon deliver two judgments, The New Times has learnt.
The judgments will be in the cases of convicted former musician Simon Bikindi and ex-Rwandan Deputy Prosecutor, Simeon Nshamihigo.
Bikindi was convicted in December 2008 on a single count of direct and public incitement to commit genocide by the first instance court, a crime for which he got 15 years of imprisonment.
His defence, led by Andrea O'shea of the United Kingdom, presented six grounds of appeal on September 30, 2009 and asked that the punishment be reduced to between two and 10 years.
Bikindi composed and performed songs aimed at inciting the Interahamwe militias and the civilian population to exterminate their Tutsi neighbors.
After his conviction, legal analysts, who spoke to The New Times on condition of anonymity, described the judgment as highly contradictory and the punishment as too minor, saying that the court should have handed him a heavier sentence.
Nshamihigo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 by the lower UN Court.
His lead defence Counsel, Denis Turcutte from Canada, maintained that the lower court erred in law and facts in its judgment and requested the conviction overturned, enter an acquittal on all counts and order an immediate release of the accused.
The appellant was convicted on four accounts of genocide, crimes against humanity (murder), crimes against humanity (extermination) and crimes against humanity (other inhuman acts).
The two decisions will be the first appeals' judgments for this year. Seven more judgments on appeal are still pending before Chambers.
ICTR to Digitalize Court Proceedings
The New Times
By Gashegu Muramira
March 8, 2010
In an effort aimed to preserve court records, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has started digitalizing recordings of proceedings from its trials.
The project, will see video recordings changed to high-resolution digital video files to ensure long-term preservation.
The tribunal, has since 1999 been producing video recordings of its trial proceedings. However, video tape is subject to deterioration over time, thus the need to transfer the video recordings to a new medium.
"This new development aims at enabling the Tribunal to permanently preserve the recordings which are expected to be 30,000 hours long by the end of the ICTR's mandate," an ICTR statement reads.
ICTR recently signed a contract with the renowned Front Porch Digital (FPD) to digitize the recordings.
FPD is a global leader in the migration and preservation of video tape to digital files, and is dedicated to developing technical solutions for the preservation, access and management of digital content.
The process will also enhance the accessibility of these video recordings to the users of the ICTR's archives, while also ensuring their long-term viability.
The development comes at a time when the world is waiting to know which country will be home to the tribunal's archives, once the court closes down at the end of next year.
The archives include, testimonies and tens of thousands of hours of video-taped court proceedings.
With the new arrangement, all digital audio and video files created as a result of this project will be reviewed and edited by the Audio-Visual staff.
As a result, edited versions of all recordings of the trial proceedings will be generated, which can then be made available to researchers, legal professionals, broadcasters and news agencies, thepeople of Rwanda, and the international community at large.
Gatete Was Not in Murambi in April 1994, Witness Claims
Hirondelle News Agency
March 8, 2010
A self-confessed killer denied on Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that Jean-Baptiste Gatete, the former director of the Ministry for Family and Women Affairs, ever came to his hometown of Murambi during the 1994 genocide.
" I didn't see Gatete [in Murambi] in April 1994. He was not the kind of person who could go unnoticed," said the defence witness, code-named LA16 to protect his identity.
He thus refuted allegations that Gatete played a role in the April 7 murder of the Tutsi wife of
Murambi businessman Seleman Mirindi.
"I knew Gatete well, he was not part of that attack", maintained LA16, who admitted his own participation in the killing.
According to LA16, Mirindi's home in Kiramuruzi's commercial center was attacked in broad daylight. Mrs. Mirindi was forced out of the house and killed in the middle of the road.
Jean Baptiste Gatete was bourgmestre - mayor - of his native Murambi commune,in Byumba prefecture from 1987 until June 1993. He was a member of the National Congress of former ruling party MRND and was active in party politics both at national and provincial level.
Gatete was ousted as bourgmestre in 1993 amidst allegations that he persecuted the Tutsis of Murambi. He was then appointed Director in the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs, at the time headed by Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who is also on trial before the ICTR.
According to the Prosecution, Gatete continued to hold sway over local police, gendarmes and militiamen in the Byumba and Kibungo prefectures after his dismissal. He is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. He pleads not guilty.
The defendant was arrested in Congo-Brazzaville on September 11, 2002, and subsequently transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha.
His trial started on October 20, 2009. The prosecution closed its case on November 16 having heard 22 witnesses.
Prosecution Will Not Appeal Nsengimana Acquittal
Hirondelle News Agency
March 9, 2010
The prosecution will not appeal the acquittal of Father Hormisdas Nsengimana before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the UN court says in its latest newsletter.
This means that the judgment of the lower court, pronounced orally on November 17, 2009 and issued in writing on January 18, 2010, can be considered final.
"On 17 February 2010, the prosecution indicated that it did not intend to appeal Nsengimana's acquittal," the Newsletter reads.
Nsengimana was rector of the Christ-Roi College in Nyanza during the genocide in 1994.
In February 2009, the prosecution urged a life sentence for the Catholic priest accused of supervising the killings of ethnic Tutsis at his College. However, the Chamber considered the evidence brought against Nsengimana too shaky for conviction.
The defendant was acquitted on November 17.
The ICTR already has three other acquitted persons in its care whilst seeking a host country for them: former Minister of Transport Andre Ntagerura, General Gratien Kabiligi and Protais Zigiranyirazo, a brother-in-law of the late president Habyarimana.
Other persons acquitted by the ICTR are former mayors Ignace Bagilishema and Jean Mpambara, who are now in France; Emmanuel Bagambiki, who lives in Belgium; and former Minister of Education AndrŽ Rwamakuba, who joined his family in Switzerland.
Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
Offical Website of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme
'Nobody is lying', Witness Says, As Prosecutors Suggest That
His Account Is Different From Charles Taylor's
All Africa
By Alpha Sesay
March 01, 2010
A defense witness for Charles Taylor has dismissed prosecution assertions that his testimony is contradicting that of the former Liberian president, telling the court that neither him, nor Mr. Taylor, is lying to the judges.
Between July 2009 and February 2010, Mr. Taylor, who stands accused of supporting Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, testified as a witness in his own defense. After the completing his testimony, Mr. Taylor's first witness has been Yanks Smythe - a Gambian national who became a Liberian citizen and was appointed by Mr. Taylor as Liberian charge d'affaires to Libya and Tunisia in the late 1990s. Mr. Smythe has been rebutting prosecution evidence that the former Liberian president provided support to RUF rebels through the supply of arms and ammunition to the rebels in return for Sierra Leone's blood diamonds.
The witness has also been responding to questions about Mr. Taylor's activities as leader of his rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), and as president of Liberia.
During today's cross-examination, prosecution counsel Nicholas Koumjian questioned the witness about Mr. Taylor's presence in the former NPFL headquarter town of Gbangha.
According to Mr. Koumjian, the witness seemed to be contradicting what the former president said in his own testimony. Mr. Koumjian suggested to the witness that in October 1996, Mr. Taylor moved to Gbangha and instructed RUF leader Foday Sankoh via a radio message to go and acquire arms for the RUF. After agreeing with Mr. Koumjian that Mr. Taylor did indeed go to Gbangha in October 1996, the prosecutor read a portion of Mr. Taylor's previous testimony in which the former president had denied ever going to Gbangha during that period. Upon hearing what Mr. Taylor said about the same incident in his testimony, Mr. Smythe sought to clarify his response, saying that he was in agreement with Mr. Taylor's account.
"You just told us Charles Taylor moved to Gbangha after the 31st of October 1996, was that correct?" Mr. Koumjian asked the witness.
The witness responded that "when there was an attack on his life, he left Monrovia during that period and he went to Gbangha but he never stayed there, he came back to Monrovia, this is what I am saying."
"Sir, who is lying when we talk about Charles Taylor being in Gbangha in 1996, you or Charles Taylor," Mr. Koumjian again asked the witness.
"Nobody is lying here," the witness responded.
Mr. Koumjian further asked the witness that "when Charles Taylor says 'I am not in Gbangha in 1996,' that is a lie, correct?"
"That is not a lie, that is not a lie," the witness insisted.
As Mr. Koumjian pressed to know whether Mr. Taylor was "in Gbangha in 1996," the witness explained that "when Charles Taylor was attacked in Monrovia, he went to Gbangha briefly and came back to Monrovia."
As Mr. Taylor's defense lawyers now lead their witnesses to rebut the evidence of prosecution witnesses, prosecutors will also seek to discredit the evidence of such defense witnesses through cross-examination. In said cross-examination, prosecutors will seek to discredit the testimony of defense witnesses, just like Mr. Taylor's defense lawyers did with prosecution witnesses. It is in this light that prosecutors have been pushing to point out that Mr. Smythe's testimony is contradicting some aspects of Mr. Taylor's prior testimony.
Also in his cross-examination today, Mr. Koumjian attempted to point out that Mr. Smythe's evidence that Mr. Taylor's personal security personnel had heavy weapons contradicted that of the former president's Ñ who prosecutors say told the court on September 30, 2009 that he did not even have arms and ammunition to give his personal security personnel and so could not have had same to supply RUF rebels in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor testified that the United Nations took away all his arms and ammunition during the disarmament process in Liberia. Mr. Koumjian today asked the witness to describe the kinds of weapons that Mr. Taylor's personal security carried.
"That weapon is ah, I think its GMG," the witness said, adding that GMG means "General Machine Gun."
Asked whether it was an "anti-aircraft type of weapon," the witness responded that "I don't know what you are talking about, I know it's GMG, General Machine Gun."
"And it was actually somehow fixed to the back of like a Pick Up truck, correct?" Mr. Koumjian enquired further.
"It's in a Pick Up truck," the witness responded.
Mr. Taylor during his testimony told the court that he never had an anti-aircraft weapon during the entire period of the Liberian conflict.
"My Statement Was Misrepresented," Witness Says as
Prosecutors Point Out Inconsistencies in his Written Statement and Oral
Testimony
CharlesTaylorTrial.org via All Africa
By Alpha Sesay
March 2, 2010
Charles Taylor's defense witness, Mr. Yanks Smythe has said that certain aspects of his written statement were misrepresented as prosecutors today pointed out inconsistencies in his written statement to defense lawyers and his oral testimony in court.Prosecution counsel Nicholas Koumjian today tried to point to Mr. Smythe that certain things about which he has testified in court differ from what he had said to Mr. Taylor's defense lawyers when they obtained a statement from him in June 2009.
For example, Mr. Koumjian pointed out that the witness has testified in court that Mr. Taylor's rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) did not use child soldiers. However, his written statement made to defense lawyers in 2009 differed from this account. In his response, Mr. Smythe said that such inconsistencies were as a result of misrepresentations made of what he had said in his written statement.
The witness in his testimony has said that contrary to what
prosecution witnesses said in court, there was no group for child soldiers
called Small Boys Unit (SBU). He said that the term SBU was created by NPFL
commanders who had rescued and were taking care of children abandoned in the
frontlines. Mr. Koumjian pointed out that the witness's written statement
revealed a different story.
"Mr. Witness, you told the defense last year, didn't you that there was an
SBU unit, that these were under-aged, and they were part of the NPFL," Mr.
Koumjian put to the witness.
"This is a complete misrepresentation of what i said, i never said that. This was not what i said," the witness responded.
"The defense invented this, is that what you are saying?" Mr. Koumjian again put to the witness.
"I don't know what you mean by they invented but this is not what i said. I said SBU as i stated in my testimony here, yes, this is what i know about SBU," the witness again responded.
As Mr. Koumjian pressed further on what the words "SBUs were under-aged" meant when he said so in his written statement, the witness responded that "I'm saying this is a complete misrepresentation of what i said in my statement. This is not what i said."
Mr. Koumjian also pointed out that while the witness in his testimony in court said that he never fought on the frontlines for the NPFL, his written statement revealed a different story. In the witness's statement, he was quoted as having taken part in an attack during "Operation Octopus," a 1992 attack on Monrovia by NPFL rebels. The witness insisted that he had again been misrepresented by those who obtained his statement.
Asked whether he had taken part "in an NPFL attack from Mount Barkeley during 'Operation Octopus'," the witness responded that "I didn't take part, I was on that side but I was not at the frontline." When Mr. Koumjian asked him whether he had said he "attacked from Mount Barkeley" as stated in his written statement, the witness again said that "I'm saying I don't know whether the person that wrote this misquoted me but i didn't say i attacked."
The witness also in his testimony in court had said that the first time he met Mr. Taylor was in 1987 at the Mataba guesthouse in Libya where Mr. Taylor reportedly lived alongside dissident leaders from Gambia and Sierra Leone. Mr. Koumjian pointed out that the witness's written statement revealed that he had met Mr. Taylor at the Libyan revolutionary training camp Tajura, not Mataba.
Reading from the witness's written statement, Mr. Koumjian quoted that "the first time witness met CT [Charles Taylor] was in 1987 in Tajura, not at Mataba meetings."
"Did you tell the defense that last year?" Mr. Koumjian asked the witness.
Again, the witness said that "this was a misrepresentation of what i said."
"The person that wrote it is misrepresenting what you said?" Mr. Koumjian asked further.
"This is not what i said, that's what i am saying," the witness insisted.
"So you are saying that the person who wrote this has told something that isn't true," the prosecutor again put to the witness.
Mr. Smythe insisted that that was a complete misrepresentation of what he said. "I never saw Mr. Taylor in Tajura," he said.
While Mr. Smythe in his testimony has been rebutting prosecution evidence against Mr. Taylor, prosecutors have also under cross-examination been trying to discredit the witness's testimony.
Like defense lawyers did with prosecution witnesses under cross-examination, prosecutors have also been trying to highlight inconsistencies in Mr. Smythe's oral testimony in court and his written statement made to defense lawyers. It will be left with the judges to determine the credibility of the witness and whether his testimony can be relied upon.
As prosecutors concluded the cross-examination of Mr. Smythe today, Mr. Taylor's defense lawyer, Morris Anyah commenced the re-examination of the witness. Under re-examination, Mr. Anyah will seek to clarify some of the issues that have been covered by prosecutors under cross-examination.
Mr. Smythe's re-examination continues tomorrow.
Taylor's Witness Rebukes Blah's Claim
The Inquirer
March 3, 2010
Defence Witnesss, Yanks Smythe, has begun his cross-examination with a heated exchange between him the Prosecution Lawyer, Nicholas Koumjian. Mr. Smythe has again denied the Prosecution's allegation that Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) used child soldiers in a unit called the Small Boys Unit (SBU). John Kollie transcribed reports from The Hague of the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
Mr. Smythe's cross-examination started with a robust exchange between him and Prosecution Lawyer, Nicholas Koumjian. In some instances, Mr. Smythe refused to answer some questions regarding his income.
It took the intervention of Presiding Judge Julia Sebutinde for Mr. Smythe to respond to the Prosecution Lawyer's questions. Mr. Kumjian questioned the Defence Witness about his ownership of a commercial vehicle in Monrovia.
The Defence Witness denied that Mr. Taylor's rebel faction, the NPFL, used child soldiers. The Prosecution Lawyer drew the attention of the witness to the testimonies of Former Liberian President, Moses Blah about child soldiers in Mr. Taylor's rebel faction. Mr. Blah had said there was a unit in the NPFL called Small Boys Unit. But Mr. Smythe said Former President Blah's testimonies regarding child soldiers in the NPFL were not true.
The Prosecution Lawyer alleged that enlisting Gambians into the NPFL was part of Mr. Taylor's plan to later assist the Gambians with the destabilization of their country. Mr. Smythe disagreed and said the Gambians joined the NPFL to protect Mr. Taylor. But Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Koumjian pressed the witness about why the Gambians joined the NPFL. The cross-examination of Defence Witness, Yanks Smythe, continues on Monday.
As Witness Concludes His Testimony, He Says Charles Taylor
Did Not Take Part In The 1999 Rebel Attack On Sierra Leone's Capital Freetown
CharlesTaylorTrial.org via All Africa
By Alpha Sesay
March 3, 2010
Neither Charles Taylor nor his security forces supported or participated in the Sierra Leonean rebel attack on the country's capital Freetown in 1999, the Special Court for Sierra Leone heard today as Mr. Taylor's first defense witness ended his testimony.
Mr. Yanks' testimony consistent on this point with Mr. Taylor's own testimony stands in contrast to that of several prosecution witnesses, who had testified that the former Liberian president provided the support needed for the rebels to attack Freetown. Prosecution witnesses had also testified that both Mr. Taylor and his Special Security Services (SSS) director, Benjamin Yeaten, were in radio contact with one of the top Sierra Leonean rebels, Sam Bockarie, during the attack. In his re-examination today, Mr. Smythe dismissed the allegations as lies, adding that no member of Mr. Taylor's security apparatus travelled to Sierra Leone for the operation.
"To your knowledge, did Benjamin Yeaten travel overseas at any point in time around the first week of January in 1999?" Mr. Taylor's defense counsel, Morris Anyah, asked the witness.
"I'm not aware of him making any trip outside of Liberia at that time," Mr. Smythe said.
"To your knowledge, were any employees or members of the SSS during that period of time engaged in any fighting in Sierra Leone?" Mr. Anyah asked.
"No, to my knowledge, none of the SSS were involved in any fighting in Sierra Leone," the witness responded.
Seeking to clarify the issues further, Mr. Anyah asked the witness whether "to your knowledge, were any members of the SSS, in particular Benjamin Yeaten, engaged in any radio communications with persons in Sierra Leone during that period of time?"
Again, Mr. Smythe responded that "to my knowledge, no."
Smythe also today told the court that a document bearing the name and signature of Mr. Yeaten did not reflect the correct spelling and signature of the former SSS director's name. In his 2008 testimony for the prosecution, Abu Keita, who reportedly served in Mr. Taylor's government in Liberia, testified to the authenticity of a document titled 'Operation Orders' and attested that the document bore Mr. Yeaten's name and signature. During his re-examination today, Mr. Smythe told the court that the name Benjamin had been misspelled and that the signature did not reflect that of Mr. Yeaten's as he knew it. Mr. Anyah sought to clarify the issue.
"In the time you were assistant director for operations when you worked with Benjamin Yeaten, have you ever know him to sign a document containing an incorrect spelling of his name?" Mr. Anyah asked the witness.
In his response, the witness said that "no, I've never known him to sign any document containing an incorrect spelling of his name."
Looking at the document that bore Mr. Yeaten's name, the witness observed: "that doesn't look like Benjamin Yeaten's handwriting."
As Mr. Smythe concluded his testimony, Mr. Taylor's defense team called the next witness to testify in defense of the former president. The witness, with pseudonym number DCT-125 will testify as a protected witness because, like some prosecution witnesses, security reasons demanded that his identity not be revealed to the public. The witness testified mostly in private session with the exclusion of the general public. For the short periods that his testimony moved from private session, the witness testified with voice and image distortion measures. Voice and image distortion measures ensure that the witness's voice and image are not identified by members of the public.
Charles Taylor Wanted Power To Empower The Liberian People
To Develop Their Country, Witness Says
All Africa
By Alpha Sesay
March 04, 2010
Charles Taylor wanted power to empower the Liberian people to develop their country, a defense witness told Special Court for Sierra Leone judges today.
'Charles Taylor wanted power, control his people and to empower them with the authority to develop their country in Liberia,' the witness said today as he testified about the former president's motivation to wage a rebel war in the West African country of Liberia.
The witness, only identified by pseudonym number DCT-125 started his testimony yesterday.
The witness is testifying as a protected witness whose identity cannot be disclosed to the general public. When he started giving his evidence yesterday, the witness' testimony was heard mostly in private session to the exclusion of the general public. In his testimony today, the witness testified in open session but with voice and image distortion, meaning, no one can identify his face and voice.
The witness described himself as a founding member of the Mataba: that is, the 'Libyan Bureau' which provided military and ideological training for revolutionaries from different parts of the world. Testifying about the character of Mr. Taylor, the witness described the former Liberian president as a very secretive person and an 'intellectual bourgeois capitalist' - a description which drew a smile from the very attentive Mr. Taylor.
The witness said that like Mr. Taylor, he is a Pan-Africanist who was trained in Libya alongside other revolutionaries from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and many other countries with an aim of liberating Africans from 'neo-colonialism.'
Reading from the Mataba manifesto, the witness told the court that the document called on all revolutionaries around the world to come together and fight against 'state sponsored terrorism.'
Mr. Taylor is accused of providing support to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a Sierra Leonean rebel group which prosecutors say committed heinous crimes in Sierra Leone such as rape, murder and 'terrorizing the civilian population.' Some prosecution witnesses also testified before Special Court for Sierra Leone judges that with Mr. Taylor's involvement, terrorist operatives from the fundamentalist group Al Qaeda visited Liberia and RUF controlled territories in Sierra Leone. Defense counsel for Mr. Taylor, Courtenay Griffiths, today asked the witness the Mataba's position on terrorism.
'The Mataba, according to our aim and objectives, is not a terrorist organization. The Mataba is a combination of all revolutionary forces to device strategies to face imperialism and its allies wherever they are,' the witness said.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Taylor met with RUF leader Foday Sankoh at the Mataba in Libya in the mid to late 1980s and that the two men formed a common plan to destabilize the West African sub-region through assistance to each other in their respective wars in Liberian and Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor has denied these assertions, insisting that he never met Mr. Sankoh in Libya. He has denied providing support to RUF rebels in Sierra Leone.
There will be no hearings on Friday and Monday as the court room will be used for other trials conducted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Witness DCT-125's testimony will continue on Tuesday.
Witness Never Heard of Charles Taylor Giving Orders For His
Rebels To Kill, Rape, Loot, Or Burn People's Houses
All Africa
Alpha Sesay
March 09, 2010
A witness defending Charles Taylor today said he never heard of the former Liberian president giving orders to his own rebel forces to kill, rape, loot or burn people's houses, as alleged by prosecutors.
A protected witness, testifying under the pseudonym DCT 125 and with face and voice distortion, said if any crimes were committed under Mr. Taylor's rule, they were isolated incidents which could have taken place without Mr. Taylor's knowledge. The witness maintained this position in a direct question and answer session with Mr. Taylor's defense counsel, Courtenay Griffiths, at the Special Court for Sierra Leone today.
"Were you ever aware of Charles Taylor giving an order to kill?" Mr. Griffiths asked the witness.
"Never," the witness responded.
"To burn people's houses?" Mr. Griffiths went on.
"Never," the witness responded again.
"To rape?" Mr. Griffiths went further.
"Never," again, the witness responded.
"To loot?" Mr. Griffiths asked again.
"Never," the witness said for the fourth time.
The witness added that "maybe if that had happened, it would be an isolated incident without Charles Taylor's knowledge."
The witness explained that he had been a pan-African revolutionary colleague of Mr. Taylor, adding that he personally did not have any specific interest in helping to start a conflict in Liberia. He said that he did not help Mr. Taylor in his invasion of Liberia in 1989, but that together with some other colleagues who were not named in court today, he moved to Liberia to help provide security for the former Liberian president whose NPFL rebel group was split into two when one of Mr. Taylor's former rebel colleagues, Prince Johnson, led his break-away faction from the NPFL at the initial stages of the Liberian conflict.
Asked by Mr. Griffiths why he and his colleagues had decided to join Mr. Taylor in Liberia, the witness explained that "we don't have any interest in Liberia. With notice that his life is threatened and there is a split within his movement, we decided that we should provide him with security to safeguard his life."
DCT 125 has been on the witness stand since last week and a huge part of his testimony has been heard in private or closed session. He has been rebutting prosecution evidence against Mr. Taylor, including allegations that the former president gave orders to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebels to commit crimes such as rape, murder of civilians, looting of civilian property and burning of houses and public buildings. Similar crimes were committed by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone, a rebel group which Mr. Taylor is on trial for allegedly supporting during the West African country's 11-years civil conflict. Mr. Taylor has denied providing support to the RUF.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
Official Website of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
UN Special Representative: Liberians Should Decide How to
Implement TRC Recommendations
Voice of America
By Kate Thomas
February 26, 2010
A top United Nations representative for Liberia says Liberians should decide how to approach its mandate to promote and protect human rights in post-conflict Liberia.
Ellen Margaret Loj, the United Nations' Special Representative for Liberia, says there is an urgent need for balancing peace and justice in Liberia. And, one of those ways, she says, is for the Liberian people to debate the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which released its final report in December.
"How do you balance the urgent need for maintaining the peace in Liberia and on the other hand, ensuring that impunity is not accepted? You balance that by ensuring that the recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have Liberian ownership," she said.
Loj said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is asking Liberians to discuss the issues, including the controversial recommendation that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf be barred from holding public office for 30 years.
"That is why you will see, in the recent report by the Secretary General, that he is strongly urging the Liberian people to debate these recommendations, to arrive at conclusions as to how they want to follow them up," she said.
She said delays in establishing Liberia's Independent Human Rights Commission were impeding the process. But the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations are only one part of Liberia's transition from conflict to peace and security. "The police force, in order to function, needs equipment - communications equipment, transport, etc, and there we need bilateral donors," said Loj.
She said the Liberian government's budget is still too small to fund a fully-operational army and police force. The U.S. Military is currently leading the effort to train Liberia's army.
"You cannot, in a country like Liberia with a very limited government budget, expect them to foot that bill. It will take a long time for the security institutions to be fully up and running if international partners do not come in and support," said the special representative.
Loj added that Liberia has made steady progress in the past year. Critical for the future development of the country will be the presidential and legislative elections scheduled to take place in October 2011.
President Sirleaf Not Bound by Timeline on TRC Report,
Says Minister
Voice of America
By James Butty
March 10, 2010
The act creating the TRC calls for the president to report to the legislature 90 days after the commission has submitted its report
Tuesday this week marked 90 days since Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) submitted its final edited reported to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Under Article 10, Section 48 of the TRC act, the president is to report to the national legislature within three months after receiving the TRC report and on a quarterly basis after the implementation of the commission's recommendations.
Information minister Cletus Sieh said while President Sirleaf is concerned about the report being implemented, she is not bound by some timeline.
'All we are saying is that the TRC has submitted her report and let's forget about timeline. Those recommendations that are implementable will be implemented; those of course that have constitutional implications, definitely the courts or whatever institutions available will be the ones to make such a determination,' he said.
Sieh said President Sirleaf has taken some steps towards implementing the TRC report, including the appointment of a Human Rights Commission.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
But Sieh said the Liberian legislature has yet to approve members of that commission.
He also said members of the Liberian legislature have been hearing from their constituencies on the way forward about the TRC report.
'Town hall meetings had been held by members of the legislature; the reaction has been mixed but we think overwhelmingly from most quarters they are saying that they prefer restorative justice and the maintenance of peace,' he said.
Sieh said President Sirleaf would not be in violation of Liberian laws if she fails to implement the TRC report.
'Our constitution says any law that contravenes the constitution of the Republic of Liberia such laws are none and void. Our supreme law of the land is the constitution of the Republic of Liberia. So any law or act passed by the legislature that seems to contravene the constitution, the constitution will be maintained,' Sieh said.
He said President Sirleaf is not invoking technicalities as a means to avoid implementing the TRC report.
Instead Sieh said some of the Truth Commission's recommendations are unconstitutional.
'It's not a matter of technicality. It's a matter of doing what is proper under our constitution. For example, if the TRC is calling for people to be banned for 30 years, our constitution says the only penalty or crime that carries banning from public office is treason. And it calls for five years. So there's no where in our laws that calls for 30 years. So you see clearly this is in contravention of our constitution,' Sieh said.
Newly elected Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff of George Weah's Congress for Democratic Change said President Sirleaf is under obligation to inform the national legislature about her plans to implement the TRC report.
'As far as we are concerned the TRC act which said that within 90 days after the final draft has been done with and presented to the president within 90 days the president shall report to plenary. I think the three months are enough and it's incumbent on the President in this month of March to make a presentation to the plenary. We hope she will do that within the shortest possible time before the month ends,' Doe-Sheriff said.
She said the Liberian Senate passed a resolution calling on the President to begin implementing the TRC report.
But Doe-Sheriff said a member of the senate has filed a motion for reconciliation which she said is holding up the process.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
Batko's Extradition Initiated
BIRN Justice Report
March 8, 2010
altasar Garzon, judge with the State Court of Spain, has ordered Veselin Vlahovic, known as Batko, into custody and called for the submission of documents for the extradition process to be submitted within the next 40 days.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro have requested the extradition of Vlahovic, who is suspected in Bosnia and Herzegovina of crimes committed in Grbavica settlement in Sarajevo during the course of the war. As reported by the Spanish daily El Mundo, Vlahovic is resisting extradition.
As stated by El Mundo, once all three countries have submitted the necessary documents to Spanish authorities, a decision will be made on whether to extradite Vlahovic and to which country.
Veselin Vlahovic was arrested on the basis of an international warrant in Altea, Spain, on March 2 this year, on suspicion that he took part in "armed robberies and falsification of documents".
Jusuf Halilagic, Secretary of the Justice Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirmed to Justice Report that Bosnia and Herzegovina has requested the extradition of Vlahovic, but he said it was not known whether he has Bosnian citizenship.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina suspects that Vlahovic committed "54 criminal legal actions", including murder, torture, forcible disappearances and rape of civilians in Grbavica settlement in Sarajevo.
Montenegro authorities requested the extradition of Vlahovic because of an investigation into war crimes against civilians committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The authorities of that country issued a warrant against Vlahovic in 2001, following his flight from a prison in Spuz, where he was serving a sentence for banditry and violent behavior.
Considering the fact that the District Court in Novi Sad pronounced a second instance verdict sentencing Vlahovic to seven years in prison for murder, the Ministry of Justice of Serbia announced it would file a request for his extradition.
War Crimes Shrouded in Silence in East Herzegovina
BIRN Justice Report
By Erna Mačkić
March 8, 2010
War criminals responsible for pre rapes and murders in the Trebinje area have little to fear; barely anyone has been convicted so far - and that's how it looks likely to remain.
Prosecutions of war crimes in eastern Herzegovina area have ground to a halt over the past two years, mainly because of a shortage of prosecutors and of measures to protect witnesses.
Many war victims and NGO representatives feel tempted to give up, doubting the willingness of the local police or the courts to work seriously on such cases in future.
Local judicial officials insist the employment of new staff would partly solve the problem. They say they already requested this from the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But no one has yet been appointed to the vacancies, after existing candidates were deemed inadequate.
The District Prosecutor's Office in Trebinje covers ten municipalities, including Bileca, Ljubinje, Berkovici, Gacko, Nevesinje, East Mostar, Kalinovik, Foca and Cajnice.
At the start of the war in 1992, Bosnian Serb forces drove out the non-Serb minorities – Croat and Bosniak (Muslim). Some were raped and tortured. Thousands were killed, or went missing and are presumed dead. According to the data of the Research and Documentation Centre, more than 6,000 people, mostly Bosniaks, remain missing, believed killed.
Few survivors of this campaign of ethnic cleansing returned to their old homes. Today, the town of Trebinje is populated almost entirely by Serbs, apart from a handful of Bosniak families, about 20, who returned after the war. The situation is replicated in the other municipalities of eastern Herzegovina.
In spite of the high death toll in the regional the District Court in Trebinje has handled only six war-crime cases - and only two persons were convicted.
In July 2008, Mile Govedarica was found guilty of crimes against civilians and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. After his appeal, the Republika Srpska Supreme Court raised his sentence to nine years imprisonment.
Zoran Pljevaljcic was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008.
The District Prosecutor's Office in Trebinje says that the main reason for this inaction is lack of prosecutors. Srdjan Vukanovic, the Prosecutor's Office spokesman, says they have only five prosecutors working on all cases, and there are not enough to devote a special section to war crimes.
"We repeatedly addressed the issue to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH on staffing issues," he said."We've had a vacancy for a Deputy Chief Prosecutor since December 2008 and still no one is employed, so investigations in progress can't be finished."
The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, HJPC, at a session in early February, decided to repeat the selection contest for the post of Deputy Chief Prosecutor in Trebinje. Marjana Popovic, a HJPC spokeswoman, said this was done for reasons of ethnic balance. "The Deputy Chief Prosecutor should not be of the same nationality as the Chief Prosecutor," she said. "The competition was canceled in order to meet the nationality balance."
Dzevad Muratbegovic, a Bosniak, was Deputy Chief Prosecutor in Trebinje, until December 2008 but then became the Prosecutor in the State Prosecution Office.
Many believe the weaknesses of the Trebinje Prosecution Office are reflected in the outcome of the existing war-crime trials, in which four of the six accused were acquitted.
Dusko Popic, Trebinje's District Court judge, blames the Prosecutor's Office in Trebinje for this poor record. "The problem is that the evidence presented by the Prosecution Office has not been sufficient," he maintained.
Another problem is that the District Court in Trebinje cannot offer protection for witnesses that would meet the terms of the Law on the Witness Protection Program, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH in June 2003.
Vukanovic said the failure to implement this law had seriously impeded the ability of the District Prosecutor's Office in Trebinje to prosecute war crimes. "Witnesses feel fear [and] É they are looking for our protection but we cannot provide it," Vukanovic admitted.
Witnesses suspect that if they spoke out they would suffer revenge attacks from former neighbors and be driven from their homes or even killed.
Blazo Stevovic, of the NGO "Alternative Club", who is investigating war crimes committed in the East Herzegovina region, claims the Prosecution Office and the court in Trebinje "does not want not to see about 20 people killed in Trebinje, 177 killed in Gacko, and 350 killed in Nevesinje".
"The prosecution of war crimes is knowingly obstructed because of the intense pressure of political leaders, some of whom are suspected for war crimes in BiH, as well as in Croatia," he said.
"So, judges and prosecutors stick to saying "Let sleeping dogs lie.' Everything is known but nothing is being done," he added.
Victims' representatives take a similar line, claiming the prosecution Office in Trebinje has no desire to take on war criminals. "The District Prosecutor's Office in Trebinje does not have the will to arrest the suspects," Bakira Hasecic, president of the Association of Women – Victims of War, said. "It's left to the victims to take police officers and lead them to the perpetrators of war crimes."
Hasecic said that she'd spoken several times with Trebinje's prosecutors, and their answer was always the same; that "They are searching for the perpetrators of war crimes.'"
Two years ago, Hasecic went with witnesses to testify in the case against Momir Skakavac, accused of war crimes in Foca, in the District Court in Trebinje only to be exposed to open, public intimidation. On entering the court building, people "from the nearby cafs started shouting abuse", she said.
A straw poll conducted in the town by Balkan Insight revealed strong resistance to the idea of Serbs facing further war-crime trials, with many people maintaining that "not only Serbs" must answer for the crimes.
"All those who committed war crimes should be brought to justice. But not only Serbs, they are not the only ones who committed the crimes," one local in Trebinje told BIRN TV Justice.
Another local, who said he took part in the war, insisted that war crimes were not being processed fairly. At The Hague Tribunal "the Serbs are being sentenced to more than 1,000 years in jail, while almost all Muslims are acquitted".
Fuad Serdarevic, a returnee in Trebinje, disagrees. Some crimes have not been punished. It known who committed them, he said, but no one in this area is going to come forward in such an atmosphere. He recalled an incident where local youths insulted people attending the mosque.
"Personally, I have not had any threats, but the incidents that took place in the mosque does make you feel scared", Serdarevic said.
In such a climate, many doubt whether processing of war crimes in Eastern Herzegovina will ever get far.
Koricanske Stijene: Another Guilt Admission Agreement May Be
Signed
BIRN Justice Report
March 9, 2010
Indictee Ljubisa Cetic has given up on testifying for his defense, and his attorneys announced the possibility that he may sign a guilt admission agreement with the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If Cetic signs the agreement, he will testify for the Prosecution.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Ljubisa Cetic, Zoran Babic, Milorad Radakovic, Milorad Skrbic, Dusan Jankovic and Zeljko Stojnic, former members of the Interventions Squad and Public Safety Station in Prijedor, with the murder of about 200 civilians at Koricanske stijene. The indictment alleges that the civilians were separated from a convoy moving from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992.
The same indictment originally charged Damir Ivankovic and Gordan Djuric, former members of the Interventions Squad, who admitted participation in the crime in mid 2009 and testified against the other indictees. During his testimony Ivankovic said he saw Zoran Babic, Milorad Skrbic and Ljubisa Cetic taking part in the shooting of civilians at Koricanske stijene.
Ivankovic was sentenced to 14 and Djuric to eight years in prison.
At this hearing the Defense of the fourth indictee presented material evidence by which it sought to prove that "there was a conflict between two belligerents" in Prijedor and not ethnic cleansing or persecution, as stated in the indictment. The Defense also presented evidence by which it wanted to prove that Cetic was not a member of the Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor at the time when the crimes were committed.
The Prosecution objected to the bulk of this evidence, arguing that it was irrelevant to the case.
The trial is due to continue on Monday, March 15.
Hodzic et al: Another Indictment for Trusina Crimes Filed
BIRN Justice Report
March 12, 2010
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted to the Court, for confirmation, an indictment against Nedzad Hodzic, known as John Wayne or Dzoni, charging him with war crimes committed in Trusina, near Konjic.
Hodzic is charged, as a member of the "Zulfikar" Special Purposes Squad of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, with having participated in an attack on Croat civilians in Trusina village, while "leading the attack on one side" of the village.
The unconfirmed indictment alleges that on April 16, 1993 Hodzic participated, together with other members of the ABiH, in the shooting of captured civilians and members of the Croatian Defense Council, HVO, who had previously surrendered, in Gaj hamlet, Trusina village.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina contends that "during the course of the well-planned and prepared" attack on the civilian population of Trusina village 18 civilians and four HVO members were killed and four people, including two children, were wounded.
Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin and Senad Hakalovic are charged with the crime committed in Trusina. The Prosecution suspects Nihad Bojadzic, Jusuf Hadzalija and Zulfikar Alispaga of having participated in the crime.
Rasema Handanovic and Edin Dzeka, who are suspected of the same crime, are reported to have been arrested in the US.
All the indictees and suspects, except for Hodzic and Hadzalija, are being held in custody.
Hodzic was in custody from September 17, 2009 to January 19, 2010, when prohibiting measures were ordered against him.
Ljubo Tomić and Krsto Josić Acquitted
State Court of BiH
March 12, 2010
Tomić and Krsto Josić acquitted of charges that they committed the criminal offence of War Crimes against Civilians under Article 173 (1) (c) of the Criminal Code of BiH (CC BiH), as read with Articles 29 and 180 (1) CC BiH. The Trial Panel found that the charges against the accused had not been proven.
According to the Indictment, Tomić and Josić shot and killed three Bosniak civilians in the forest called Marhoši in Kozluk, Zvornik Municipality, on 26 June 1992.
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Prosecution Case Begins At the Trial of General Tolimir Case
SENSE Tribunal: ICTY
March 7, 2010
The prosecution will call its first witness at the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa. New witnesses will take the stand at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic and at the trial of Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin. The Trial Chamber will call yet another witness in the Vojislav Seselj case. The defenses of general Milivoj Petkovic, Momcilo Perisic and Vlastimir Djordjevic go on with their cases
At the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, former assistant commander for intelligence and security in the VRS Main Staff, the prosecution will call its first witness on Thursday. Tolimir is indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Srebrenica and Zepa in the summer of 1995.
Next week, the prosecution will continue cross-examining General Milivoj Petkovic. The former chief of the HVO Main Staff is testifying in his own defense. Together with five other former Bosnian Croat leaders, Petkovic is on trial for taking part in the joint criminal enterprise and other crimes in the conflict between the HVO and the BH army. The aim of the joint criminal enterprise was to annex parts of BH to neighboring Croatia.
At the trial of the Serbian Radical leader Vojislav Seselj, another Chamber's witness, with the pseudonym VS 1058, is expected to appear on Tuesday. According to the prosecution pre-trial brief, the witness should talk about the pattern of conduct of the accused.
Next week the prosecution will call its next witness at the trial of Bosnian Serb police officials Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin. Stanisic and Zupljanin are indicted for crimes in 20 BH municipalities in 1992.
At the trial of the two former chiefs of the Serbian State Security, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, the court will hear the evidence of a prosecution witness testifying under the pseudonym JF 015. The prosecution has estimated that the witness would testify for five hours.
At the trial of former chief of the VJ General Staff Momcilo Perisic, the defense will continue the examination-in-chief of General Stamenko Nikolic. Last week, Nikolic spoke in detail about the establishment and operation of the 30th and 40th Personnel Centers. As alleged by the prosecution, the VJ personnel were transferred through those centers to serve in the VRS and SVK. Perisic is charged with providing substantial support to the SVK and VRS personnel contributing thus to their crimes in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Srebrenica.
Finally, the defense case will continue at the trial of police general Vlastimir Djordjevic, charged with crimes of the Serbian police against Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999.
Karadzic Wants His 3,800 'Lost Hours' Back
SENSE Tribunal: ICTY
March 10, 2010
The accused filed an appeal against the Trial Chamber's decision of 26 February 2010 to dismiss his motion to suspend the prosecution case until 17 June 2010. Karadzic is on trial for genocide and other crimes in BH
On 2 March 2010, the Trial Chamber granted Radovan Karadzic leave to appeal against the decision dismissing his motion to suspend the trial. Yesterday Karadzic submitted his brief demanding once again that the prosecution case be adjourned until 17 June 2010.
Karadzic's motion has two ground of appeal. First, Karadzic stated that when the Trial Chamber overstepped its bounds when it ordered his trial to continue on 1 March. The Trial Chamber, Karadzic argues, in effect overruled the decision of the ICTY president granting Karadzic's defense team a total of 4,800 billable work hours during the four-month adjournment of the trial, from last November to this March. The president's decision thus could not be implemented. Before the president intervened, Karadzic was granted 250 billable hours per month by the ICTY Registrar. Karadzic contends that while his trial was adjourned he could employ only two of the total of eight legal advisors and associates in his defense team. In four months, from November 2009 to March 2010, they worked only about 1,000 hours. The accused now wants his 3,800 'lost hours' back to be able to prepare for the trial with the full complement of advisors and assistants.
In his second ground of appeal, Karadzic claims that the Trial Chamber abused its discretion when it ordered the trial to go ahead on 1 March 2010 despite the conclusion of the ICTY President that the Registrar had acted 'unreasonably' when it approved only 250 billable hours per month to the defense team. The Trial Chamber thus violated the rights of the accused depriving him of adequate funds to prepare the defense.
Karadzic submitted his motion yesterday, right on the deadline for the appeal. The prosecution now has 14 days to reply to the brief. Since the accused then has the right to respond to the prosecution's reply, the decision of the Appeals Chamber is still weeks if not months away.
The ICTY president today appointed the judges who will consider Karadzic's motion: Mehmet Gunay, Fausto Pocar, Liu Daqun, Andresia Vaz and Theodor Meron. On 13 October 2009, the Appeals Chamber, with the same judges, dismissed Karadzic's initial motion in which he demanded a ten-month adjournment of the trial. Karadzic is accused of genocide and other crimes in BH from 1992 to 1995. If the Appeals Chamber now grants Karadzic's motion to postpone the trial until 17 June 2010, it will in fact give Karadzic the ten months it refused to give him in October 2009.
Interview-Patrick Robinson: 'Mladic Could Be Tried After
Tribunal Closes'
BIRN Justice Report
By Dragana Erjavec
March 11, 2010
Tribunal president says court 'exit' strategy would not affect trials of outstanding fugitives, praises Bosnia's war-crimes court and insists victims should receive compensation.
The president of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, says if the court's two outstanding fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, are not arrested by the end of the court's mandate, they will still be judged by the ICTY under the terms of the so-called "legacy mechanism".
"We hope Mladic and Hadzic will be arrested and brought to justice before the end of our mandate, and they will be assured a fair trial," he told BIRN/Justice Report.
"[But] If it does not happen, they will be tried under the 'legacy mechanism' of The Tribunal," he added.
The Hague Tribunal is expected to complete its work no later than February 2014.
Mladic, former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, and Hadzic, former leader of the Croatian Serbs, have both been indicted before the court for graves crimes, in Bosnia and Croatia respectively. Despite international arrest warrants, both are still at large.
According to Robinson, besides Mladic and Hadzic, the biggest pressure on the work of the Tribunal is the widespread opinion that the court's so-called exit strategy is affecting the fairness of the trials currently ongoing.
"Some critics argue that the Tribunal's exit strategy in some way affects the fairness of the trials before this court. That is simply not true but that attitude is present in the public, and we are very concerned because of it," Robinson said.
Established as an ad hoc court, the UN Security Council endorsed the Tribunal's completion strategy for a staggered and ordered closure. Estimates as of end 2009 suggest all trials should be completed by mid-2011, except for that of Radovan Karadzic, which is expected to finish in late 2012. All appellate work is scheduled for completion by mid-2013, and the appeal in the Karadzic case would be completed by February 2014.
Because of the exit strategy and the limited time remaining to the Tribunal, Robinson says they face another problem of reducing the number of staff, which must soon be addressed.
"By the beginning of next year, we will lose 40 per cent of the staffÉ. Currently, the main task of the Tribunal is to try to find ways to retain the best people," Robinson said.
Robinson referred approvingly to the work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to which the Tribunal has transferred several war-crime cases for further processing.
"The Court of BiH has proved excellent so far in its cooperation with The Hague Tribunal and is a bright example of judicial practice in the region," he said. "The situation is good and the trials are fair", he added.
"Of the ten cases that the Hague Tribunal has transferred to the Court of BiH for further processing, nine have been successfully completed," Robinson said.
The Sarajevo-based court has not yet completed the trial of Milorad Trbic, accused over the 1995 slaughter by the Bosnian Serb army of 7,000 Bosniaks in the eastern town of Srebrenica.
His case has recently been transferred to Bosnia by decision of the Tribunal. Under a first-instance verdict in October 2009, the Court of BiH sentenced him to 30 years' jail. The case is now before the Appellate Chamber of the State Court in Sarajevo.
"My personal view of international criminal justice is that it is residual – it should take place only when national courts are unable or have no interest in judging people for international crimes," Robinson said.
In 2009 The Hague Tribunal published The Practice Manual to help the work of the Court of BiH, as well as other courts in the former Yugoslavia. The Manual contains measures to be used to successfully complete trials. "The purpose of this manual is to provide work information for the people in the countries of former Yugoslavia," Robinson explained.
The Hague Tribunal, he adds, is now trying to correct previous mistakes in its work, and to translate the transcripts of previous trials into local languages.
"It is a great pity that all the transcripts from the trials taking place before this Tribunal are in English, instead of the local languages of the countries in the region," he said.
"We're trying to correct this error, since in my opinion this is another element that could contribute to a feeling in the Western Balkan countries that the legacy of the Tribunal belong to them," Robinson said.
Robinson, 66, from Jamaica, was elected president of the Tribunal by the UN General Assembly in November 2008. Before that he spent three decades in Jamaica serving as Crown Counsel and Attorney-General, among other posts.
As a member of the International Law Commission From 1991 to 1996, he was part of the Working Group that elaborated the draft statute for an international criminal court.
In addresses to the UN Security Council, he has twice demanded that the United Nations compensate victims of the wars in former Yugoslavia. The Hague Tribunal has no mandate to do so.
"This is something in which I believe, since justice at the international level in relation to the victims of mass crimes is not only reflected in securing the verdicts for war criminals," he said.
"We must take into account the welfare of those who suffered and care enough to ensure concrete measures [are there] to help victims to re-build their lives. "The lives of the victims were destroyed by war and this is undeniable fact," he concluded.
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)
New KRT Budgets Win Approval
Phnom Penh Post
By James O'Toole
February 25, 2010
International donors approved the 2010 and 2011 budgets for the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Tuesday night, UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said.
The donor countries, Olsen said, allocated US$42 million to the court for 2010 and $43 million for 2011, not including "contingencies". The new figures mark an increase from the $36.4 million budgeted for 2009, as the court seeks to accommodate the increasing demands it may face in the coming months.
"The budget reflects the possibility that we will have in the near future maybe three different processes going on at the same time," Olsen said.
These processes may include an appeal in the tribunal's first case, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, as well as a trial of the regime leaders investigated in Case 002 and investigations of additional suspects not yet in custody.
The new figures, set to be released in full later this week, include $1.5 million in funding for outreach activities over the next two years. This is an increase by "four to five times" from previous budgets, Olsen said, calling the new funds "a breakthrough for the outreach efforts of the court".
Tribunal Asked To Call Hun Sen: Letter
VOA Khmer
By Sok Khemara
March 2, 2010
Khmer Rouge tribunal investigators were requested to call Prime Minister Hun Sen to testify with other key government figures, but declined, according to a confidential court order obtained by VOA Khmer.
In the days before they concluded their investigation of the tribunal's second case, judges Marcel Lemonde and You Bunleang decided Hun Sen "was not likely to provide additional evidence" and that he should not be interviewed.
The decision was a response to a request from the defense teams of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, who wanted Hun Sen interviewed along with Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon, and other senior government leaders.
"They are not likely to provide any additional evidence in relation to that already obtained from a large number of documents or from interviews of other witnesses, 725 in total," You Bunleang wrote.
In January, judges closed the investigation of Case No. 002, which will try Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Kaing Kek Iev for atrocity crimes.
Defense for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have reportedly filed a complaint to the Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed court over the decision.
The decision raises more questions about the independence of the court, which had sought to question senior Cambodian People's Party members last year but was refused.
"A critical test for the success of the [tribunal]—as for all courts trying international crimes—is that the judicial process be allowed to run its course without political interference," James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, in New York, told VOA Khmer.
The group remains concerned over government objections to trials of lower-tiered Khmer Rouge and of the senior officials' refusal to testify, he said.
"It is important for the rule of law in Cambodia that decisions about whom to charge, what to charge and who should testify be made by judges, not politicians," he said.
Cambodian officials have denied political influence at the court, and tribunal officials say the court works independently, according to agreements between the UN and Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the tribunal retains the right to issue arrest warrants along with subpoenas but has no real way to enforce them.
KKrom Appeal Ruling on Genocide at ECCC
Phnom Penh Post
By James O'Toole
March 3, 2009
Lawyers for Khmer Krom civil parties at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have appealed the co-investigating judges' January decision not to bring genocide charges specific to the ethnic group, arguing that a narrow scope of investigation will prevent their clients and other civil party applicants from meaningfully participating at the court.
In the appeal, filed last month, lawyer Mahdev Mohan said his team had requested a public hearing before the Pre-Trial Chamber after judges declined to consider evidence of crimes against the Khmer Krom. In the decision, judges said that such evidence had not been included in prosecutors' introductory or supplementary submissions and was therefore outside the scope of their investigation according to court rules.
Four of Mohan's clients who had received preliminary acceptance of their civil party applications last year were then rejected based on the judges' January decision, a fate that Mohan said was likely to be repeated for many other applicants in the months to come.
"There's a likelihood that there are going to be a lot more rejections coming down based on this same issue," he said.
Mohan said the scope of the court's two-and-a-half year long investigation in its second case was released belatedly, and questioned to the extent to which crimes perpetrated against the Khmer Krom and others could be circumscribed to particular locations and events.
"When you're talking about genocide, it's very difficult to look at geographic scope, because it's not limited to a place – it's limited to a targeted group," he said.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mohan and other civil party lawyers said the restriction of civil party participation to those who suffered at sites within the scope of the investigation in Case 002 was shutting out victims who had been led to believe that they would be accepted.
The lawyers objected to a rule change adapted in the court's latest plenary session, which concluded last month, stipulating that admitted civil parties must "demonstrate as a direct consequence of at least one of the crimes alleged against the Charged Person, that he or she has in fact suffered physical, material or psychological injury". In the original draft of the court's internal rules, released in June 2007, the court merely stipulated that civil parties must prove that they suffered as a consequence of crimes committed under the jurisdiction of the court.
Anne Heindel, a legal adviser for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said she did not see the new rules as significantly changing the way in which civil parties are defined.
"In any system, civil parties have to be connected with the crimes that are being prosecuted," she said. "This is the first [international war crimes] court to have civil parties, but if you're going to call them civil parties, it's appropriate that they should have a harm related to what's being prosecuted."
The ultimate rejection of civil party applications that were initially accepted is likely to upset many people who are unaware of the limitations on the scope of investigation, Heindel added, saying the court has "never adequately explained" this issue.
Cambodia: War Crimes Court Juggles Public Demands
IRIN
March 10, 2010
Competing pressures in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal could work against the victims it is supposed to represent, human rights groups warn.
Since its establishment in 2006, the UN-backed tribunal has sought to provide a greater voice to victims of the regime, while at the same time expediting a legal process bogged down by delays. As a result, the court decided last month to filter the representation of all victims through two lawyers because of the high number of applicants seeking to participate in the second case.
Known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the tribunal includes a "civil party" system designed to give lay people an official role to provide testimony, question suspects and request reparations.
More than 4,000 people applied and about 250 had been accepted by the end of last year. By contrast, just 90 civil parties participated in the tribunal's first case.
Court delays
In the tribunal's first case last year against the regime's most notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, civil parties were represented by four legal teams, giving victims a strong presence in the courtroom.
But participation was often muddled by repetitive and irrelevant questions from some lawyers that steered testimony away from the core issues of the trial and slowed proceedings.
This, coupled with the ballooning number of civil parties, prompted the tribunal to seek victim participation reforms for its remaining case.
Still awaiting trial in the second case are four ageing leaders, widely considered the architects of the Khmer Rouge's vision to transform the country into an agrarian utopia. Some 1.7 million Cambodians died in the process, according to estimates.
In a 9 February ruling, the court said victims would be represented in the second case by two lead lawyers, one Cambodian and one international, whose strategy and views are supposed to reflect a consensus among the individual civil party lawyers.
"The number of Civil Party applicants, combined with the complexity, size and other unique features of the ECCC proceedings, make it necessary to adopt a new system of victim representation during the trial and appeal stage," the court said in a statement.
But while most observers recognize that the original system of individual legal representation would be impractical in the much larger second case, they warn that their diminished role could make victims feel disenfranchised.
"A lot of people's stories will be lost," says Thun Saray, president of the local rights group Adhoc. "The victims have an important role to play and this gives them a smaller role."
Applications limited
The charges against the suspects in detention are restricted to particular crime sites, which means prospective cases pertaining to other sites will not be able to participate in the trial.
"It's common in all courts dealing with crimes of this magnitude to limit the investigation to a representative sample of all the crimes committed because of time and resource constraints," court spokesman Lars Olsen told IRIN.
While the court's investigation into the second case began in 2007, the public was not told which sites were involved until last November – leaving them little time before the deadline in January.
"I think it will be a very big problem when many of the victims who want to be civil parties are told the crimes against them don't apply [to the trial]," said Sok Sam Oeun, director of the Cambodian Defender's Project, a legal aid group. "Many didn't know about the guidelines until very late."
The court, in turn, says victims should not regard their status in the court as an official judgment of their suffering.
"It's a technical decision as to how they relate to the particular cases," Helen Jarvis, head of the court's Victims' Support Section, told IRIN.
"Even if they're not designated a civil party, their information is valuable to the court's investigation of the systematic nature of the crimes. There is bound to be some disappointment but they should not feel there are first-class victims and second-class victims."
Official Website of the Iraqi High Tribunal
Grotian Moment: The Saddam Hussein Trial Blog
Iraqi Tribunal Recognizes Halabja Case as Genocide
PUKmedia
By Fuad Othman & Safin Ahmed
March 1, 2010
A source from KRG Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs told PUKmedia correspondent "the ministry appealed for cassation to the Iraqi High Tribunal to amend the description of Halabja case from crimes against humanity into genocide. Today, the tribunal officially agreed to name Halabja crimes as genocide."
Adham Goran, the head of Halabja Victims Defense Committee told PUKmedia "we won this case legally, where we appealed for cassation to the Iraqi High Tribunal regarding our case. The tribunal officially agreed to amend its decision from crimes against humanity into genocide."
Bearing in mind, the Iraqi High Tribunal ordered in January 17, 2010 to execute Ali Hassan al-Majid (Chemical Ali) and sentenced the former minister of defense Sultan Hashim Ahmed and head of military intelligence Sabir al-Duri to 15 years in prison, while the military commander of the area Farhan Mutlaq al-Juburi was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)
Cassese Submits First Annual Report of STL to UN, Lebanon
The Daily Star
March 3, 2010
President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Antonio Cassese submitted the first Tribunal's Annual Report to the UN secretary general and the Lebanese government pursuant to Article 10(2) of the Statute, an STL statement said on Tuesday.
"The Annual Report aims to illustrate the steps taken, the achievements made a well as the hurdles encountered during the STL's first year [March 2009-February 2010]," it said.
"Subject to the consent of the secretary general and the government of Lebanon, the Annual Report will be made public in due course," it added.
Commenting on the STL's first anniversary, Cassese said the aims of the STL "are to render justice, to provide truth and peace of mind for the victims [and] to contribute to reconciliation in Lebanese society."
The Tribunal "further intends to strengthen the culture of accountability," he said.
"We aim at dispensing justice impartially, fairly and free from any political or ideological bias, in full respect for the rights of defendants and victims," he added.
Cassese stressed that the STL is aware of the challenges it has to face. But the Tribunal, he added,is prepared to meet these challenges and successfully complete its mandate.
In other STL-related news, Herman von Hebel was appointed as Acting Registrar. The appointment is effective from 01 March 2010.
Von Hebel will be in charge of the organ of the Tribunal which provides administrative, legal and other support essentials for the successful completion of the institution's mandate.
He has been the STL's Deputy Registrar since 2009. He served as Registrar and Deputy Registrar of the Special Court of Sierra Leone. Before joining the Special Court, he served as Legal Advisor to the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry (1991-2000) and as Senior Legal Officer in the Chambers of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (2001-2006).
Roux: Tribunal Will Go On for Many Months, Facts Will Be
Kept Confidential
Naharnet Newsdesk
March 5, 2010
The Head of the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Franois Roux, has said the court will go on for many months, stressing that all the facts disclosed will be kept confidential given that the scope of charges is being expanded in the absence of evidence. His remarks were made during training seminars on international criminal law which have been organized with the Bars of Beirut and Tripoli.
On Thursday, Roux met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri where he discussed the nature and role of the Defense Office.
A statement issued by the STL said Roux underlined that the Defense Office does not represent accused, but shall assist future Defense Counsel by providing legal advice and practical support.
Roux also underlined that his office is fully committed to achieving fairness in the pursuit of justice for the assassination attack on former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others as well as the related crimes falling within the Tribunal's jurisdiction.
Roux emphasized that the Defense plays an important role towards the credibility and legitimacy of an independent and impartial Tribunal.
He also discussed with Hariri the responsibilities of the Head of Defense Office under the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, notably concerning the list of Defense Counsel and monitoring the effectiveness of Defense teams.
Cassese's First Report: Murder Executed by Small Cell
Induced by Wider Network, Suicide Bomber Geographic Origin Almost Identified
Naharnet Newsdesk
March 6, 2010
Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Judge Antonio Cassese confirmed the achievement of "significant progress towards building a case which will bring perpetrators to justice" in the case of murdering ex-PM Rafik Hariri in 2005, revealing that the investigation got closer "to identifying the suspected suicide bomber by narrowing down the individual's geographic origin and partially reconstructing the individual's face."
"Significant progress was achieved despite the obvious discipline and sophistication of those behind the attack," Cassese said in his report submitted to Lebanon's premier Saad Hariri and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who referred it to the Security Council member states.
Cassese said the investigation has obtained "additional information to support the fact that the perpetrators of the attack carried out the attack with the complicity of a wider group."
In his 60-page report, Cassese mentioned that the investigation has developed "existing leads relating to elements of connectivity between the Hariri attack and other attacks" that targeted Lebanese parliamentary, journalistic and military figures such as Gebran Tueiny, Francois al-Hajj, Wissam Eid, Samir Qassir, Walid Eido, Pierre Gemayel and others.
"During this reporting period, over 280 interviews with witnesses were conducted by investigators on mission or by investigators stationed at the Beirut Field Office," Cassese added in his report.
"The aims of the Tribunal as a whole – Chambers, Registry, Office of the Prosecutor, and Defense Office all together – are to render justice in a fair and transparent process, to provide truth and peace of mind for the victims as well as reconciliation to Lebanese society. The Tribunal's work also intends to strengthen the culture of accountability in Lebanese society."
"The Lebanese authorities are bound to cooperate with the STL and must therefore comply, without undue delay, with any request for assistance or any order issued by the STL," Cassese stressed.
Cassese called for providing sufficient funding through expanding support to encompass other countries and international organizations.
He noted that his report "covers not only the Tribunal's accomplishments, but also the challenges it is facing, in particular due to the extreme complexity and novelty of dealing with terrorism at the international judicial level."
Cassese Confident Tribunal Will Start Prosecution Within
Year
The Daily Star
By Dalila Mahdawi
March 8, 2010
The president of a UN-backed tribunal charged with prosecuting suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former Premier Rafik Hariri said Saturday he was confident it would move to prosecution within the next 12 months.
Writing in the first annual report of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Antonio Cassese said "significant progress" had been made in putting together a case against Hariri's killers.
Critically, prosecutors were "getting closer to identifying the suspected suicide bomber by narrowing down the individual's geographic origin and partially reconstructing the individual's face."
Such progress came in spite of the sophisticated nature of the crime, the 60-page report said. Cassese also noted as progress the fact that prosecutors had obtained "additional information to support the fact that the perpetrators of the attack carried out the attack with the complicity of a wider group" and developed leads connecting Hariri's killing with other politically motivated killings that followed.
"Now that it has efficiently and rapidly put in place all the legal and practical infrastructures required of a court of law, the Tribunal is bracing itself for a prompt, fair and expeditious administration of justice. It is confident that in the next 12 months it will efficiently move to judicial action," the report said.
Cassese noted that because of the terrorist nature of Hariri's killings, investigations needed to be pursued carefully "amidst real dangers for staff and their contacts."
The report has been submitted to the Lebanese government and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has in turn referred it to Security Council member states.
Tribunal officials have conducted over 280 interviews since it began work in March 2009, Cassese said.
"Despite the challenges ahead, the Tribunal intends to dispense justice free from any political or ideological fetter and based on the full respect for the rights of both the defendants and the victims," said the report, noting the critical importance of continued funding and judicial assistance from the international community in order to achieve those goals.
The tribunal has a budget of $55.4 million for 2010, up from $51.4 million in 2009.
In remarks on Sunday, Hariri's son and current Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the report offered hope that those responsible would soon be identified. "The report gives us hope," AFP quoted Hariri as telling reporters in Kuwait, where he is on an official visit. "The report is an indication to the credibility of the tribunal É [and] shows the tribunal needs more time to reach the truth, and the Lebanese government and people should wait," he added.
The STL was established by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 and is the first international tribunal of its kind to deal with terrorism as a distinct crime. Unlike most other tribunals, the STL applies Lebanese law to acts of terrorism, gives a greater active role to its judges, allows for trials in absentia, and employs a pre-trial judge with considerable authority. The tribunal currently has 276 staff from 59 countries.
Five-time former premier and billionaire Hariri was killed on February 14, 2005, along with 22 others in a truck bombing as his convoy passed through Beirut's seafront. His murder, the first in a string of similar political assassinations targeting anti-Syrian politicians and journalists, was widely blamed on Syria. Damascus has repeatedly denied allegations of involvement and has cooperated with UN investigations into the killing.
In April 2009, four Lebanese generals held since 2005 without charge in connection with Hariri's killing were released from prison.
The STL currently has no known suspects in custody and has yet to issue any indictments.
Justices Won’t Hear Uighur Case
New York Times
By Adam Liptak
March 1, 2010
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not decide a case involving Chinese Muslims detained for eight years at Guantánamo Bay that had been set for argument this month.
The prisoners, captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks, have been determined to pose no threat to the United States, but the government has opposed their request to be released in the United States.
In October, the court agreed to decide whether a federal judge in Washington had the power to order the men released from the prison at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, into the United States. But other countries have recently said that they would accept the detainees, and on Monday the justices said that factual developments since it had agreed to hear the case might “affect the legal issues presented.”
In an unsigned three-paragraph decision, the court erased the appeals court decision in the case and sent it back to the lower courts for re-examination.
The case involves seven prisoners at Guantánamo from the largely Muslim Uighur region of western China. The prisoners do not want to be returned to China, where they are considered terrorists and where they fear torture or execution.
In ordering the release of the detainees, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District Court here acknowledged that the case involved a difficult separation-of-powers question. But he said indefinite imprisonment in the circumstances was not constitutionally permissible.
“Because their detention has already crossed the constitutional threshold into infinitum and because our system of checks and balances is designed to preserve the fundamental right of liberty,” Judge Urbina wrote, “the court grants the petitioners’ motion for release into the United States.”
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Judge Urbina did not have the power to override immigration laws and force the executive branch to release foreigners into the United States.
“An undercurrent of petitioners’ arguments is that they deserve to be released into this country after all they have endured at the hands of the United States,” Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote for the majority of a three-judge panel. “But such sentiments, however high-minded, do not represent a legal basis for upsetting settled law and overriding the prerogatives of the political branches.”
Since then, the government has continued its efforts to relocate the men, and it had a breakthrough last month when Switzerland agreed to take two of the prisoners who had proved most difficult to place. Five other Uighurs at Guantánamo have rejected resettlement offers from Palau and an unidentified second country.
“No court has yet ruled in this case in light of the new facts,” Monday’s Supreme Court decision said, “and we decline to be the first.”
Instead, the justices vacated the appeals court decision and instructed that court to determine what was “necessary and appropriate for the full and prompt disposition of the case in light of the new developments.”
False starts in the court in this area are not uncommon. Last March, the court dismissed a case it had agreed to hear about whether the president had the power to detain a Qatari student in the United States as an enemy combatant.
There, too, there were factual developments after the court had agreed to hear the case; the government had transferred the former student, Ali al Marri, to the criminal justice system. And there, too, the court wiped out the lower court decision as it dismissed the case.
The central issue in Monday’s case, Kiyemba v. Obama, 08-1234, is likely to reach the court again, as there remain other cases in which prisoners cleared for release with nowhere to go remain at Guantánamo.
Former Gitmo Detainee Said Running Afghan Battles
Associated Press
By Kathy Gannon
March 3, 2010
A man freed from Guantanamo more than two years ago after he claimed he only wanted to go home and help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan intelligence officials say.
Abdul Qayyum is also seen as a leading candidate to be the next No. 2 in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy, said the officials, interviewed last week by The Associated Press.
The story of Abdul Qayyum could add to the complications President Barack Obama is facing in fulfilling his pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo by sending some prisoners back to their home countries or to other willing nations, while putting others on trial.
U.S. intelligence asserts that 20 percent of suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison have returned to the fight and the number has been steadily increasing.
Qayyum's key aide in plotting attacks on Afghan and international forces is another former Guantanamo prisoner, said the Afghan intelligence officials as well as a former Helmand governor, Sher Mohammed Akundzada. Abdul Rauf, who told his U.S. interrogators he had only loose connections to the Taliban, spent time in an Afghan jail before being freed last year.
He rejoined the Taliban, they said. Akundzada said he warned authorities against releasing both him and Qayyum.
Like Qayyum, Rauf is from Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. During the Taliban's rule, which ended in late 2001, Rauf was a corps commander in the western province of Herat and in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said Akhundzada.
The intelligence officials were interviewed in Helmand, where the Taliban control several districts, and spoke on condition of anonymity lest they attract the militia's attention.
They said Qayyum was given charge of the military campaign in the south about 14 months ago, soon after his release from the Afghan jail to which he had been transferred from Guantanamo. That includes managing the battle for the town of Marjah, where NATO troops are flushing out remaining militants.
Qayyum, whose Taliban nom de guerre is Qayyum Zakir, is thought to be running operations from the Pakistani border city of Quetta. A Pakistani newspaper report that he was recently arrested was denied by Abdul Razik, a former governor of Kajaki, Qayyum's home district, which is under extensive Taliban control.
One of the intelligence officials also questioned the report. He said a house Qayyum was in was raided about two weeks ago and three assistants were arrested but he escaped. A week ago he was seen in Pishin, a Pakistani border town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Quetta, the official said.
"He's smart and he is brutal," said Abdul Razik. "He will withdraw his soldiers to fight another day," he said, referring to the Marjah campaign.
Qayyum, who is about 36 years old, is close to the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. He has been tipped as a candidate to replace the militia's second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was among several Taliban leaders arrested recently in Pakistan.
A Taliban commander in the 1990s who was notorious for brutality and summary executions, Qayyum was captured in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and taken to Guantanamo. According to interrogation transcripts, he identified himself to his American captors by his father's name, Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, and said he had been conscripted by the Taliban but left at the first opportunity.
According to a military transcript of his subsequent hearing, he said, "I want to go back home and join my family and work in my land and help my family." In December 2007 he was among 13 Afghan prisoners released to the Afghan government and held in Pul-e- Charkhi jail, on the eastern edge of the Kabul.
A year later he was set free, despite warnings he would return to the Taliban, said Akundzada.
Afghanistan's deputy attorney general said Qayyum went before an Afghan court, which ruled he had served his time. The U.S.-backed Afghan government generally gets a promise from former Guantanamo prisoners that they won't join the armed opposition. Qayyum made no such promise.
"The court decided time served was enough," said Faqir Ahmed Faqiryar. "When the court is involved there is no need to promise anything."
Abdul Razik, who knows the family well, said he wrote to Qayyum's father warning him to keep his son under control. "He told me, 'I have no control over him.' "
Through interviews from Kabul to Helmand province, the AP traced Qayyum's steps from the Afghan prison, across the border into Pakistan, through Peshawar to Quetta, back into Afghanistan to his village of Soply, and then to Quetta again.
A loner who trusts few people, his only company was a driver known to the Taliban and who has since been arrested, Razik said.
In Soply, his native village in Helmand, Qayyum stayed for two days with his sister, according to a neighbor who saw him outside the house and was quickly warned to "say nothing." He returned to Quetta, from where he oversees four southern provinces: Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul, said Sharifuddin, a former Taliban official who lives near Soply, Qayyum's village. His information was confirmed by Razik and the intelligence officials interviewed by the AP.
"From his houses in Quetta he appoints the (Taliban) governors, the district governors," Sharifuddin said. "Nothing happens in these provinces without his approval."
Senator Offers Guantanamo Bay Deal if 9/11 Trials Move to Military Tribunals
Associated Press
March 8, 2010
A Republican senator is offering the White House a deal on terrorism trials.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) said that if President Obama agrees to try alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four accused henchmen in military tribunals, he will press fellow Republicans to vote to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Graham, interviewed Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," said reversing a plan by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to try the suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York would be seen by the public as an act of leadership.
The White House is reviewing Holder's plan, and no new recommendation has been presented to the president. A decision is not expected for several weeks.
Beyond Mohammed's case, Graham also said a new legal framework is needed to deal with the most dangerous detainees at the U.S. military prison.
"We need a legal system that gives due process to the detainee but also understands they didn't rob a liquor store," he said.
Closing Guantanamo Bay was a key promise Obama made when he took office, but it remains unfulfilled as he battles pressure from both sides of the political aisle.
In a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union said that if Obama does not back Holder, he will be extending the policies of the George W. Bush administration. The ad shows an image of Obama on the left and in subsequent panels moving to the right, the image morphs into a portrayal of Bush, who set up Guantanamo Bay for suspected terrorists.
"As president, Barack Obama must decide whether to keep his solemn promise to restore our Constitution and due process, or ignore his vow and continue the Bush-Cheney policies," the ad states.
US Weighs Guantanamo Inmate’s Return to Canada: Report
Agence France Presse
March 8, 2010
The US government is quietly seeking a way to repatriate the youngest Guantanamo inmate, Canadian Omar Khadr, local media said Monday.
"They don't have the stomach to try a child for war crimes," a source with knowledge of the matter told the Canwest newspaper group.
US forces in Afghanistan took Khadr prisoner when he was just 15 years old in July 2002. He was later charged with war crimes for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier.
The last Westerner at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Khadr has been held at the controversial detention center for the past seven years, and is scheduled to face a US military trial in July.
Canadian officials have repeatedly insisted they would wait until the United States has dealt with the serious charges against Khadr before making any request for his repatriation.
"There are political repercussions" if Khadr is not prosecuted, the source told Canwest. So US administration officials are "looking for a Canadian" outreach, the official added.
In a slight softening of its position, Ottawa asked the United States last month to avoid using shared evidence to prosecute Khadr after Canada's top court ruled Canadian officials had violated his rights by sharing his statements to them with Washington.
In its decision, the high court pointed to three instances in 2003 and 2004 when Canadian foreign affairs and spy agency officials interrogated Khadr at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, in one case after he had been deprived of sleep to make him more inclined to talk.
The extracted statements shared with US authorities could "prove inculpatory in upcoming proceedings against him," it said.
UK Justices Hear Detainees’ Torture Appeal
Associated Press
By Jill Lawless
March 8, 2010
Lawyers for six former Guantanamo detainees on Monday appealed a ruling that the British government can use secret evidence to fight a claim that it was complicit in their abuse.
The former terror suspects, all British citizens or residents, are suing the government and intelligence agencies over their alleged mistreatment in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and elsewhere. They deny any involvement in terrorism and allege that British spy agencies abetted their unlawful imprisonment and extraordinary rendition to locations around the world where they were tortured.
The government says some evidence is too sensitive to be released to the claimants, their lawyers or the public. But the former detainees say having access to the British government evidence is vital to open justice.
Dinah Rose, a lawyer for several of the claimants, said the secrecy the government seeks "has never been allowed in the history of the common law.
"The process is fundamentally incompatible with the very notion of what a civil trial is," she said.
In November, the High Court ruled that some evidence could be heard in secret if its disclosure was considered a threat to national security or international relations. In that case, the material could only be reviewed by a specially appointed lawyer who could not discuss it with the former inmates or their attorneys.
The system of secret evidence, known as a "closed material procedure," has been used only in a handful of terrorism cases, and never in civil courts.
Lawyers for the men claim that the extension of its use would be dangerous to the judicial process, and say the courts have no power to allow the procedure.
"Does the civil court have the power to conduct a trial in the absence of the claimant and to entertain oral and written submissions that are concealed from the claimant and ultimately to give a judgment that is concealed from the claimant?" Rose said. "Our submission is that the answer is no."
The case is the latest legal battle by the government to keep information secret in cases of alleged torture. Last month, a court ordered the release of a summary of CIA documents detailing ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed's mistreatment in Pakistan in 2002, rejecting the government argument that it should be kept secret.
The claimants are Ethiopia-born Mohamed, who was released from Guantanamo last year; Libyan-born Omar Deghayes, Iraqi Bisher al-Rawi and Palestinian-Jordanian Jamil el-Banna, all British residents who were released in 2007; and Britons Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar.
The hearing before three appeals judges is scheduled to last three days.
Guantanamo Prisoner Known as Hambali Seeks Release
Reuters
By James Vicini
March 11, 2010
The Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of helping plan the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort area of Bali that killed more than 200 people on Thursday revived his legal bid to be released from the U.S. military prison.
A habeas petition was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of Riduan Isamuddin, who is also known as Hambali. He was a senior member of the Asian group linked to al Qaeda Jemaah Islamiah.
He also has been accused of helping arrange financing for the bombing of the Jakarta Marriott Hotel in 2003 and U.S. authorities say he admitted that 17 of his operatives were being groomed for attacks in the United States.
A U.S. Justice Department spokesman had no comment on the filing. He said no final decision has been made on whether to prosecute Hambali in a military court or in a U.S. federal court or on the location for any prosecution.
His lawyer said Hambali had completed a form that requested the appointment of counsel in 2007 in the U.S. Court of Appeals when that was the proper place to file petitions seeking review of detention at Guantanamo.
But there were delays, for various reasons, in attempting to visit Hambali at Guantanamo and in getting the petition filed, the attorney said in a letter to the court last month.
The attorney said the case should go forward in the U.S. District Court, which is now the proper place for Guantanamo prisoners to file petitions seeking their release. Hambali's case, filed on Thursday, was assigned to U.S. District Judge John Bates.
There currently are 188 prisoners at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Obama's administration's efforts to close the prison have been delayed by political and legal hurdles.
UN Rights Chief Slams Abuses in Sri Lanka, Iran
Times of Oman
March 5, 2010
Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka are damaging prospects for reconciliation after 25 years of civil war and a violent crackdown on dissent in Iran is deeply worrying, the top U.N. human rights official said on Thursday.
Repeating her call for an independent investigation into war crimes allegations in Sri Lanka, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the U.N.'s Human Rights Council she was singling out outstanding cases in different countries.
"I am convinced that Sri Lanka should undertake a full reckoning of the grave violations committed by all sides during the war, and that the international community can be helpful in this regard," she said in a speech presenting her annual report.
The opportunity for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka was marred by the treatment of journalists, human rights defenders and other critics of the government.
Her comments on Sri Lanka and other states will reassure critics of the council who argue that the 47-member body often fails to deal with human rights violations as countries unite in regional alliances to shield each other from scrutiny.
Last May, the council held a special session on Sri Lanka just after the end of the war against the Tamil Tigers, but the government deflected criticism by introducing its own resolution praising its defeat of the separatist group, which was then passed, boosting the Colombo stock exchange.
Rajiva Wijesinghe, former secretary in the human rights ministry who has resigned to stand in April 8 parliamentary elections, rejected the charge of abuses linked to the war.
Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge, said she had talked with Iranian officials about the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, which is seeking a seat on the council, and suggested her office should visit the country.
Demonstrators, rights activists, journalists and prominent politicians had received harsh sentences, including capital punishment, for their role in protests after the disputed election last year following questionable trials, she said.
Pillay said continuing executions in Sudan were deeply troubling, and she repeated her call for an independent inquiry into killings by Egyptian forces of unarmed migrants trying to enter Israel via the Sinai Desert.
Sri Lanka Says UN War Crimes Panel 'Unwarranted'
Lanka Business Online
March 6, 2010
Sri Lanka's president Saturday rejected a proposed panel by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to look into alleged war crimes during the island's civil war as "unwarranted and uncalled for."
President Mahinda Rajapakse views Ban's plan for the panel to advise him on "accountability issues" involving the final phase of fighting with Tamil rebels last year as interference in Sri Lanka's internal affairs, his office said.
Rajapakse was "emphatic" in his objections when Ban, in a telephone conversation Friday, disclosed his intention to set up the panel of experts, the president's office said in a statement.
The president had "pointed out that the intention of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a panel of experts to advise him (Ban) on Sri Lanka is totally uncalled for and unwarranted," the statement said.
"No such action had been taken about other states with continuing armed conflicts on a large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the deaths of large numbers of civilians due to military action."
Rajapakse told Ban the appointment of such a panel would compel Sri Lanka to take "necessary and appropriate action," the president's office said, without disclosing details.
There was no immediate comment from the UN office in Colombo.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for investigations into alleged rights abuses and war crimes said to have been committed in the last weeks of fighting that culminated in May with the killing of the top rebel leadership.
Sri Lanka has resisted calls for any investigation, saying no civilians were harmed by government forces in its fight.
Sri Lanka insists it carried out a "humanitarian operation" to free Tamil civilians from rebel control.
However, the United Nations has reported that at least 7,000 civilians perished during the last four months of fighting, with many more wounded.
The UN has also accused Tamil Tigers of holding civilians as human shields.
Advisors
Professor Michael P. Scharf
and Brianne M. Draffin
Editor in Chief
Sarah Greenlee
Managing Editor
Matthew T. Wholey
Senior Technical Editor
Alexander McElroy
Associate Technical Editors
David O’Brien
Heather Noel Ludwig
Shelley Starzyk
Steven Chang
Contact: warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org
ICC - Central African Republic &Uganda
Alexis Parker, Senior Editor
Selene Geoppo, Associate Editor
ICC - Darfur, Sudan
Nicole Estock, Senior Editor
James Pasch, Associate Editor
ICC - Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jacqueline Greene, Senior Editor
Adrienne Cavender, Associate Editor
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Jennifer Mesko, Senior Editor
Sarah Pierce, Associate Editor
Special Court for Sierra Leone
David Vineyard, Senior Editor
Brandon Wheeler, Associate Editor
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
Kate Gibson, Senior Editor
Shannon Pagano, Associate Editor
Uganda (Truth & Reconciliation & Domestic Prosecutions / Non-ICC)
Kevin Griffith, Senior Editor
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Section
Sarah Kostick, Senior Editor
Andrea Ball, Associate Editor
Nicole Cellone, Associate Editor
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Michael McGregor, Senior Editor
Elisabeth Herron, Associate Editor
Thomas Renz, Associate Editor
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Lindsay Baruffa, Senior Editor
Allison Kretz, Associate Editor
Rochelle Swan, Associate Editor
Iraqi High Tribunal
Gadeir Abbas, Senior Editor
Esben Munksgaard, Associate Editor
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Christine Chambers, Senior Editor
Martha Allee, Associate Editor
Canada's Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
Matthew Wholey, Senior Editor
Melissa Yasinow, Associate Editor
The Trial of Alberto Fujimori
Jacqueline Greene, Senior Editor
United States
Matthew Wholey, Senior Editor
Melissa Yasinow, Associate Editor
NGO Reports
Amanda Koeth, Senior Editor
Jennifer Hoover, Associate Editor
UN Reports
Traci Pribbenow, Senior Editor
Elizabeth Ford, Associate Editor
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is prepared by the
International Justice Practice of the Public International Law & Policy Group
and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center of
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
and is made possible by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York
and the Open Society Institute.
Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog:
http://law.case.edu/grotian-moment-blog/
Frederick K. Cox International Law Center:
http://law.case.edu/centers/cox/
Cox Center War Crimes Research Portal:
http://law.case.edu/war-crimes-research-portal/
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org.
