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War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Taylor Frank FREDERICK K. COX Volume 13 - Issue 9 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER June 11, 2018 Technical Editor-in-Chief Ashley Mulryan Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf Managing Editors Sarah Lucey Lynsey Rosales

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 [email protected] and type "subscribe" in the subject line.

Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.

Contents

AFRICA

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central African Republic

UN News: Guterres strongly denounces latest attack on peacekeepers in Central African Republic Human Rights Watch: Parliament Adopts Special Criminal Court Rules Punch: One UN peacekeeper killed in Central African Republic ambush NPR: 9 Aid Group Compounds Looted in Central African Republic

Sudan & South Sudan

IOL News: South Sudan army burned children alive, massacred civilians UN peacekeepers attacked in South Sudan's Leer area: Sudan Tribune Associated Press: South Sudan's latest civil war atrocities kept out of sight Norwegian Refugee Council: South Sudan worst-case hunger crisis looming

Democratic Republic of the Congo

ENCA: Children 'voluntarily join' armed groups in DR Congo BBC: Uganda to build 'Idi Amin museum' to attract tourists

Burundi

AlJazeera: Burundi accused of widespread rights abuses before referendum Concise: Stop Giving Ridiculous Excuses, End Senseless Killings — Atiku Tells Buhari Human Rights Watch: SA Must Help Resolve Burundi's Crisis WEST AFRICA

Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon

Mali

Bloomberg: Militant Attack in Mali's North Leaves More Than 20 Dead News24: Mali demonstrators call for clean elections EAST AFRICA

Uganda

Kenya

Standard Digital: Runaway corruption in Kenya is a project of political leadership News24: Hugs and apologies between Kenyan political rivals The Star: Create laws to protect corruption whistleblowers, TI tells Kenya

Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

World Politics Review: Under Macron, France Is Working to Repair Strained Ties With Rwanda The New Times: Rwanda's fourteen-year journey of peacekeeping

Somalia

Fox News: US airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabab kills 10 fighters VOA News: US Airstrike Kills 27 Terrorist Fighters in N. Somalia The Washington Post: Persian Gulf rivalries threaten to tear fragile Somalia apart, report warns NORTH AFRICA

Libya

The Libya Observer: UNHCR outraged by the killing of 12 illegal immigrants at the hands of smugglers The Libya Observer: Two killed in landmine explosions in Benghazi during May The Libya Observer: Decomposed bodies found in Sirte The Libya Observer: 70 migrants rescued from human traffickers' dens EUROPE

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Balkan Insight: Mostar Crimes Against Humanity Trial Opens in Bosnia Balkan Insight: Bosniak Ex-Soldier Jailed for Prisoner Abuses Balkan Insight: Bosnia Upholds Female Croat Fighter's War Crimes Sentence Balkan Insight: Bosnia Overturns Srebrenica Commander Naser Oric's Acquittal Balkan Insight: Bosnia Charges Ex-Fighter with Crimes Against Konjic Serbs

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Balkan Insight: Serbian Security Chief Denies Commanding 'Red Berets' Unit Balkan Insight: Serbian Red Berets Fighter's War Crimes Testimony Challenged

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

Balkan Insight: Croatia Identifies 20 Serbs Killed in 1995 Source: Serb Ex-Soldier Denies Knowledge of Kosovo Massacre

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Iraq

Human Rights Watch: Impartial Justice Effort Needed Iraqi News: Three Islamic State members killed in infiltration attempt into south of Kirkuk Iraqi News: Prominent Islamic State leader arrested, west of Anbar Iraqi News: Security personnel killed, injured in suicide attacks in Salahuddin

Syria

The Post and Courier: Cutting off Syria funds lets war criminals off the hook CNN: Amnesty International says US-led strikes on Raqqa may amount to war crimes Just Security: Where Civilians Became a Commodity for Settling Accounts

Afghanistan

Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 14 after Afghan clerics outlaw suicide bombings CBS News: Islamic clerics hit by bomber right after suicide attack "fatwa" Aljazeera: Kabul religious gathering hit by deadly suicide bombing

Yemen

ABC News: New bout of heavy fighting in Yemen kills dozens NHK World Japan: More than 100 killed in Yemen fighting

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Naharnet: MP Jamil Sayyed to Stand Witness Before STL in June The Daily Star: Former General Security head testifies at STL

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

Telegraph: Bangladesh accused of using drugs war to hide political assassinations Asia Times: Bangladesh courts handing out death sentences

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

Human Rights Watch: Joint Submission to CEDAW on Myanmar Sky News: Uncovered: 'Worrying evidence' of new genocidal campaign on Kachin Christian minority in Myanmar Premier: Religious cleansing spreads from Muslims to Christians in Myanmar

Israel and Palestine

Middle East Eye: Israel's top court approves use of live fire against Gaza protesters Haaretz: Israel Shells Gaza Outpost After Two Palestinians Breach Border; One Said Killed Haaretz: 'Palestinian Volunteer Medic Killed, Dozens Wounded' in Latest Protests on Israel-Gaza Border Aljazeera: Israeli forces kill Palestinian in occupied West Bank Gulf News Palestine: Israel kills slain Palestinian medic's cousin Aljazeera: Israeli army kills Palestinian youth in occupied West Bank

AMERICAS

North & Central America

The New York Times: Survivors of Massacre Ask: 'Why Did They Have to Kill Those Children?' BBC: Mexico seeks talks over 'silenced zone' The Sunday Times: US-led coalition committed 'potential war crimes' in Syria

South America

ABC News: Probable 'crimes against humanity' in Venezuela BBC: Venezuela frees 40 jailed activists and politicians

TOPICS

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The Nation: PM calls for formation of 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission' The Bush Chicken: War Crimes Court Discussion Reaches Slain President's Hometown The New York Times: Tunisia Truth Commission Brings One Court Case in Four Years Terrorism

BBC News: Spanish rapper on the run after 'terror lyrics' prison sentence Middle East Eye: Iraq court jails French woman for 20 years over Islamic State membership Times of Israel: JNF threatens to sue Hamas in international courts for kite arson damage

Piracy

Hellenic Shipping News: Pirates again prowling the Caribbean, Latin America U.S. News and World Report: Pirates of the Caribbean – and Africa, and Asia The Sun: Nigeria, China, France, Portugal navies combat piracy in Gulf of Guinea

Gender-Based Violence

The Guardian: Abuse is daily reality for female garment workers for Gap and H&M, says report The Guardian: Don't let Trump derail gender equality talks, experts warn G7 leaders The Conversation: Forced marriage convictions are welcome but for many victims stigma is still judge and jury

Commentary and Perspectives

Relief Web: Statement on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, 29 May 2018 Republic Broadcasting Network: 'Deliberate war crime': Palestinians decry murder of 21yo female paramedic at Gaza border NBC News: Hotel, hospital where war crimes occurred remain open in Bosnia-Herzegovina Newsweek: U.S.-Led Coalition Accused of War Crimes in Syria, May Have Killed Hundreds of Raqqa Civilians

WORTH READING

Joshua Decker: Is the United States Bound by the Customary International Law of Torture? Nancy Combs: Unequal Enforcement of the Law: Targeting Aggressors for Mass Atrocity Prosecutions

AFRICA

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central African Republic

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

Guterres strongly denounces latest attack on peacekeepers in Central African Republic UN News June 4, 2018

The attack by armed insurgents brings to four the number of peacekeepers killed in targeted violence in that country since the beginning of this year, according to a statement issued by UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

"The Secretary-General recalls that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and that sanctions can be applied against the perpetrators," said the statement, which also noted that Mr. Guterres urged national authorities to spare no effort in bringing them to justice.

The Secretary-General "reaffirms his unwavering support" to the UN Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA), added the statement, in its efforts to "protect civilians and stabilize the country".

The UN chief paid tribute to all those peacekeepers who had made the ultimate sacrifice in CAR, and offered his deepest condolences to the bereaved family as well as to the Government of Tanzania, wishing a swift recovery to the injured.

Parliament Adopts Special Criminal Court Rules Human Rights Watch June 4, 2018

The Central African Republic's parliament on May 29, 2018, adopted the rules of procedure and evidence for the Special Criminal Court, a war crimes court that is part of the Central African domestic justice system, but has international support and participation."Parliament's adoption of the rules of procedure and evidence is a major step towards making the Special Criminal Court operational," 40 Central African groups, Human Rights Watch, and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said. "We now look to the Special Criminal Court's special prosecutor to forge ahead with investigating the crimes, and for the court to fully integrate victims into the court's proceedings, so that justice can be done."

Ahead of the vote, these groups wrote to members of parliament and held a news conference calling for parliament to adopt the rules. The court faces other challenges, not least of which are victim and witness protection and support and security for court staff. But this vote is a step toward ending the impunity that has marked years of bloody conflict and human rights abuses in the Central African Republic, the groups said.

The Central African groups are:

1. Association chrétienne d'aide sociale (ACAS)

2. Association chrétienne pour l'abolition de la torture (ACAT-RCA)

3. Association des éleveurs centrafricains de volailles (AECV)

4. Association espérance pour la paix en Centrafrique (AEPAC)

5. Association des femmes juriste de Centrafrique (AFJC)

6. Association pour l'intégration des jeunes (AIJ)

7. Association des jeunes pour l'éducation chrétienne et les oeuvres sociales (AJECOS)

8. Association de secours aux enfants atteints de concert (ASEAC)

9. Association de solidarité pastorale pour un développement communautaire holistique (ASPDCH)

10. Association des victimes des événements de Fatima (ASVI-2015)

11. Association des victimes des événements de 2012-2014 (AVED)

12. AVIDESC

13. Association des victimes de la LRA en Centrafrique (AVLRAC)

14. Association des victimes solidaires (AVS-2013) 15. Centre d'alphabétisation pour la formation des aveugles en Centrafrique (CAFBAC)

16. Coopération agro-pastorale et minière pour le développement (CAMDCA)

17. Alerte humanitaire (CALL)

18. Carrefour des jeunes

19. Coalition pour la cour pénale spéciale (CCPS)

20. Centre de documentation d'information et de formation pour le développement (CEDIFOD)

21. Commission épiscopale justice et paix (CEJP)

22. Civisme et démocratie (CIDEM)

23. Conseil inter organisation non gouvernementale centrafricain (CIONGCA)

24. Coordination des organisations musulmanes de Centrafrique (COMUC)

25. Coordination des plates-formes des organisations nationales d'action humanitaire et de développement en Centrafrique (CPFON-AHDCA)

26. Femme homme action plus (FHAP)

27. Gestion durable des ressources naturelles et environnementales (GDRNE)

28. Groupe de travail de la société civile pour la justice transitionnelle (GTSC-JT)

29. Ligue centrafricaine des droits de l'Homme (LCDH)

30. Mouvement de défense des droits de l'Homme (MDDH)

31. Observatoire centrafricain de droits de l'Homme (OCDH)

32. OECSPAE

33. Organisation des partisans pour le développement communautaire (OPPDCH)

34. Radis-Formation

35. Réseau des peuples autochtones et locaux de Centrafrique (REPALCA)

36. Réseau national des organisations de la jeunesse pour les droits de l'Homme (RNOJDH)

37. Sewa maï (SEMA)

38. SOS-Environnement

39. SISSITIAKO

40. Volontaires unis pour la paix et le développement (VUPAD)

One UN peacekeeper killed in Central African Republic ambush Punch June 4, 2018

A UN peacekeeper from Tanzania was killed and seven others wounded when their patrol was ambushed by gunmen in the Central African Republic, UN officials said Monday.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said gunmen believed to be from the Siriri militia attacked the UN patrol on Sunday in the village of Dilapoko in southwest Mambere-Kadei prefecture.

One of the wounded peacekeepers is in critical condition at a Bangui hospital while three others were seriously wounded, he added. Three other peacekeepers from the MINUSCA mission are being treated in the local town of Berberati.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, which brings to four the number of peacekeepers killed in the Central African Republic this year.

MINUSCA has 12,000 troops and police deployed in the impoverished country, which has been struggling since it exploded into bloodshed after the 2013 overthrow of longtime leader Francois Bozize.

CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera governs with the support of the large UN peacekeeping operation, yet can only claim to control a fraction of the country.

9 Aid Group Compounds Looted in Central African Republic NPR By Cassandra Vinograd June 6, 2018

Armed men first subdued the compound's guards — then went room by room, seizing cash, computers, radios and more from terrified aid workers.

At least nine humanitarian compounds have been looted in recent weeks amid a new wave of violence in the Central African Republic's second-largest city of Bambari — prompting many NGOs to temporarily suspend or curtail assistance to an already- struggling civilian population.

"We reduced hugely the operations," said Baptiste Hanquart, spokesman for a coalition of international NGOs in CAR. "The situation is really bad."

The retreat of humanitarian aid risks creating further deprivation and hardship for one of the world's poorest countries.

Conflict has plagued CAR since 2013, when a predominantly Muslim rebel coalition overthrew the government. Largely Christian militias formed to fight back.

Violence has spread and intensified over the past year — nearly 700,000 civilians have been displaced by fighting, double the number from just over a year ago.

While CAR has long been one of the world's most dangerous countries for humanitarians — with more than 60 attacks targeting aid workers reported in the first quarter of 2018 — the incidents in Bambari are particularly troubling given the important role the city has occupied in broader peacekeeping and stabilization efforts.

Bambari, home to 54,800 people, had been hailed as a model for successful disarmament — dubbed the "villes sans armes," or weapon-free city, by the U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MINUSCA. That's because MINUSCA in February 2017 asked a rebel group known as the UPC to leave Bambari to prevent bloodshed — though the UPC set up a new base not too far away.

While UPC fighters no longer openly paraded with arms in Bambari's streets, humanitarians have long said their presence was still felt in the city. Many humanitarians said pushing the UPC out only moved the problem elsewhere — and now the fight has come back.

The new wave of violence in Bambari started in mid-May. Both the U.N. and the city's mayor blamed the UPC for playing a role in the events — which saw armed men attack the police station, torch houses and occupy official buildings. At least 24 people died.

The mayor told the AP the attacks were in retaliation for the deaths of UPC members during a robbery outside the city. But the real roots are unclear.

MSF said in a May 17 statement that the city was once again a "battlefield of armed men — its streets are deserted, houses burnt." The incidents have underscored the limitations of even a "model" city.

"We were all caught by surprise but it surprised no one," Hanquart explained. "We knew it was extremely fragile, we knew the capacity of MINUSCA to secure this city as soon as something unusual would happen, is none, because they are overstretched everywhere."

When the gunfire first broke out in Bambari, most aid organizations hunkered down and halted activities — such as medical services, food and water distribution — for two days. After a brief lull in fighting, some services resumed. But heavy fighting broke out again on May 26, prompting NGOs to regroup in one compound. Widespread looting accompanied the violence — hitting a Catholic church and a number of private homes. And the U.N. humanitarian agency said "looting of humanitarian organizations" and "aggressions" against aid workers "systematically" took place — with nine humanitarian compounds and warehouses looted in the last two weeks of May alone.

While the full scale of the looting was not immediately clear, the U.N. humanitarian agency said NGOs suffered "huge losses of equipment and materials."

Hanquart said "the whole town turned crazy" when the fighting started — "chaos reigned so everyone was taking the opportunity to loot" whatever they could. Bases evacuated by humanitarians were later ransacked.

"They really emptied the places," Hanquart added. "Air conditioning systems, beds, tables, everything they could."

The base and office of JUPEDEC — a leading Central African NGO — were "completely looted," the organization said.

In addition to temporarily suspending or limiting their activities in Bambari, several NGOs evacuated staff to the capital city of Bangui, some 236 miles away.

MSF — whose compound was also hit — was among them, according to Paul Brockmann, the organization's head of mission in CAR.

"I have a lot of traumatized people on the team," he said, adding that MSF organized an emergency transport to get more than a dozen employees out of Bambari — including surgeons and nurses. Only a handful felt comfortable remaining.

He praised the efforts of MSF staff and local partners in continuing to keep their hospital running as best they could.

"We do not want to suspend [fully]," he said. "The humanitarian medical needs have grown because of this insecurity Without our presence there, the population has even less access at a time when what they need is more."

CAR ranks last on the U.N.'s Human Development index. More than half the population of around 4.6 million is in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Against that backdrop, the international humanitarian response plan for CAR, calling for $515.6 million in 2018, is just 16.4 percent funded.

And the needs in Bambari are acute. Aid organizations offer a range of services — from health care to food and water distribution — in the city, which hosts around 37,000 displaced civilians.

"If NGOs in Bambari are being hit in this way, it's a bad indicator," Brockmann added. "If we're being hit, imagine how much worse it is for the population."

MINUSCA said last week that despite efforts to secure the city, "instability and violent incidents persist and fuel tensions within the local community."

"Deliberate and continuing attacks against MINUSCA and humanitarian workers could constitute serious crimes for which the perpetrators and their leaders will be held accountable," the mission said in a statement.

In the meantime, several NGOs are waiting for the situation to stabilize before fully redeploying.

Najat Rochdi, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, called the developments "very tragic."

"There's an immediate impact on the population of course and on our capacity to deliver the needed humanitarian assistance," she said. "It's the population who is paying a very high price."

But she said NGOs can't be blamed for taking precautions — security is of the utmost importance.

"We used to operate very peacefully and without any problems from the population or the armed groups," Rochdi said. "We are becoming a target which in itself is very worrisome."

She expressed gratitude and deep admiration for the dedication of Bambari's humanitarians.

"Other people would think we are crazy but we are not crazy — we are committed," Rochdi said.

"This is not the time to give up because otherwise it means that the spoilers are winning," she added.

[back to contents] Sudan & South Sudan

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

South Sudan army burned children alive, massacred civilians IOL News May 31, 2018

South Sudan's army massacred civilians, burned children alive and gang-raped women after a supposed ceasefire with rebels in December, according to reports by monitors appointed by the country's East African neighbours on a five-year-old civil war.

South Sudan, which won independence from Sudan in 2011, has denied targeting civilians and called the reports, compiled in the last three months by the Juba-based CTSAMM monitoring group, exaggerated.

The fourteen CTSAMM reports also accuse rebels led by former deputy president Riek Machar of using child soldiers, something a Machar spokesman denied.

The reports have not been publicly released despite pledges by the leaders of South Sudan's neighbours to name those who violated the December ceasefire and punish them.

CTSAMM released five reports on ceasefire violations within a month of the deal but has withheld its findings on other breaches since February.

A spokesman for the IGAD regional grouping that controls CTSAMM did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

In the worst incident detailed in the reports, a group of 200 government soldiers attacked the village of Nyatot in Upper Nile state on February 12. Civilian survivors interviewed said they were "shooting randomly at everything and everybody".

Twenty-two civilians were killed and 72 wounded, the monitoring team said.

Gordon Buay, an official at South Sudan's embassy in Washington, said troops had targeted rebels in Nyatot, not civilians.

"Any civilian killed in that was not intentional. It was crossfire," he told Reuters.

In an attack on the town of Modit in Jonglei state on February 26, government forces razed buildings, looted a Christian charity and killed five people, including four children burned alive when the hut where they had sought refuge was torched, one of the reports said.

"Soldiers stood at the door of the (hut) to ensure the children remained inside and they were eventually burnt to death," the report said.

Buay said that allegation was "politically exaggerated".

Although the reports blame government forces for the vast majority of documented abuses, one blamed Machar loyalists and another rebel group for fighting that led to civilian deaths.

Another report accused Machar rebels of using child soldiers around the northwest town of Wau.

A spokesman for Machar, who has been under de facto house arrest in South Africa for the last 18 months, questioned the accuracy of the report, saying the commander of the unit may have gone rogue.

"We are not in touch with that guy," the spokesman said.

Tens of thousands have been killed in South Sudan's war, which began in December 2013 with fighting been soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Machar, an ethnic Nuer.

Reports of ethnically targeted violence and killing have been widespread and a third of South Sudan's 12 million people have fled. Parts of the country experienced famine last year.

Talks in Ethiopia to revive a failed 2015 peace pact broke down last week.

UN peacekeepers attacked in South Sudan's Leer area Sudan Tribune June 5, 2018

A convoy of international peacekeepers patrolling in the Unity region came under direct attack when they were inspecting the security situation in Leer area, said the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Monday.

In a statement released after the incident, the UNMISS said the attack took place in Rubkway, about 20 km north of Leer town when the convoy, which was heading to Thaker in Mayendit County, stopped briefly to interact with a civilian.

According to the Mission, nobody was harmed or injured by the assailants and no damage was caused to the vehicles.

"UNMISS strongly condemns this attack against its personnel and calls on all parties to respect the freedom of movement of UN personnel carrying out their mandate, and to cooperate with the peacekeepers as they work to protect civilians; monitor human rights; create a conducive environment for delivery of humanitarian aid, and support efforts to restore peace," said the UNMISS.

The statement didn't identify the attackers but indicated that the patrol was dispatched to the area following reports about villagers fleeing Leer area amid increasing violence against civilians.

Government forces had been accused in the past of attacks on local populations as they are suspected of supporting the rebel fighters.

"The Mission continues to engage with local authorities and to urge the warring parties to stop the fighting and adhere to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed by all parties just over five months ago," further said the statement.

Last year, the UN Security Council condemned an attack against the UNMISS in Leer on 3 May 2017.

The Council recalled that individuals, who, directly or indirectly, engage in attacks against UN missions, other peacekeeping operations or humanitarian personnel, may be designated for targeted sanctions.

South Sudan's latest civil war atrocities kept out of sight Associated Press By Sam Mednick June 6, 2018

The accounts are horrific. A young girl strangled and gang-raped. Children burned alive as government soldiers blocked the door of their hut and set it aflame.

These are some of the atrocities revealed in 14 reports, seen by The Associated Press, that have not yet been released by the independent body charged with monitoring a failed cease-fire imposed in December in South Sudan, where civil war is now well into its fifth year. The reports should have been released last month at a meeting led by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission but South Sudan's government did not attend, preventing the accounts of abuses from being made public because there was not a quorum.

"The reports contain evidence that soldiers continue to kill, rape and destroy property. The decision to keep these ongoing atrocity crimes secret sends the wrong message," Jehanne Henry, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the AP. Only five such reports have been released this year.

The African Union and the East African regional bloc that mediates South Sudan's peace talks should take action, said Edmund Yakani, executive director for the local advocacy group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization.

"Silence on the violations only encourages further violations," he said.

While people attending the meeting said copies of the reports on atrocities were distributed to diplomats from the United States, the United Nations, Britain and elsewhere, none have released them publicly or made public the reports of abuses. South Sudan's government didn't respond to multiple requests for comment on why it didn't attend last month's meeting.

The unpublished reports describe violations by both government and opposition forces but most of the accounts blame government troops for instigating attacks and deliberately targeting civilians.

During an attack in February on a school in the town of Modit, children fled into a hut to hide. Government soldiers blocked the door and set it on fire, burning the children to death, said one report.

A young girl fetching water from a river in the town of Yei was strangled before she and her mother were gang-raped by government soldiers, another report said. More than 30 cases of sexual assault were recorded in Yei and surrounding areas in the three months following December's cease-fire agreement.

And in the nearby town of Morobo, a woman was raped and beaten so badly that she lost sight in one eye. A disabled woman, unable to flee the fighting, was thrown into a burning house by government soldiers, the report said.

The group that compiled the reports, the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism, told the AP its mandate doesn't require it to publish reports and that releasing them had been the task of its parent body, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission. The commission reports to the East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. Neither responded to several AP requests for comment.

The concealing of the atrocities comes as the international community loses patience with South Sudan's civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and created Africa's largest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The U.S., South Sudan's largest aid donor, has increased pressure on the Juba government amid widespread allegations that its officials are profiting from the conflict instead of working to end it.

Last week the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-sponsored resolution that warns of an arms embargo and sanctions against six high-ranking officials if the fighting doesn't stop.

The U.S. and others, however, insist that the East African regional bloc, along with the African Union, should take the lead in finding peace and holding perpetrators of abuses accountable. The U.S. urges the monitoring bodies to release the reports of atrocities as soon as possible and regrets that the South Sudan government's "refusal to attend the plenary on May 14 prevented those reports from being made public at that time," embassy spokesman Mark Weinberg told the AP.

Chris Trott, U.K. special representative for South Sudan, concluded that "it's important, for the sake of ordinary South Sudanese who are again falling victim to the violence and for the credibility of the peace process, that violators are held to account."

South Sudan worst-case hunger crisis looming Norwegian Refugee Council June 6, 2018

"The UN's deadly prediction of record numbers of hungry people in South Sudan is already unfolding from what I'm seeing," said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), who is currently visiting the country.

Food security experts warned in February that unless aid and access were maintained, a record 7.1 million South Sudanese would face 'crisis' or worse 'acute' food insecurity between May and July. This is equivalent to two out of every three people in the young nation.

"From what I've witnessed and what displaced people tell me, a worst-case nightmare scenario is already on our doorstep. Widows tell me how their villages were burned to the ground, their husbands killed, and they are left with children they cannot feed nor protect," said Egeland from Unity state. "I am outraged by how rape has become a common feature of the conflict," Egeland said.

Since the February warning, large parts of South Sudan have seen an upsurge in violence. Renewed fighting in parts of Unity State in April displaced thousands of civilians. Thousands of others have been forced from their homes in Equatorial State.

Much of Unity and the Equatorial States have become humanitarian black holes, where access to communities is close to impossible. We still do not see the full consequences of the widespread and indiscriminate violence.

Aid agencies face a relentlessly hostile operating environment. More than a hundred aid workers have been killed since December 2013. In April alone, there were 80 reports of aid workers prevented from delivering aid. In May NRC was forced to suspend an emergency food distribution in Unity State because of active fighting in the state.

In areas too insecure to travel by road, the only option is to airdrop food to communities in need. "Food drops are desperate measures in desperate times. But without this lifeline, an already bleak situation would turn into a total catastrophe. With peace South Sudan with its vast fertile lands could easily be a breadbasket for Africa," said Egeland.

"This is a brutal war carried out largely on civilians. Men with weapons and power are continuing a senseless conflict that end up costing lots of innocent lives including women and children," said Egeland

[back to contents]

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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

Children 'voluntarily join' armed groups in DR Congo ENCA May 22, 2018

The majority of children who join armed groups in Democratic Republic of Congo increasingly do so "voluntarily" because of a lack of alternatives, international charity War Child said Tuesday.

There has been a steady drop in the number of child soldiers forcefully recruited by guerrilla groups since the 2012 departure of notorious rebel leader Joseph Kony, the organisation said in a study presented in Kinshasa.

"The recruitment of children, even if not forced, nonetheless appears to arise less out of a desire (to join) than a choice made within a limited set of socio-economic options," said War Child, which supports and protects children around the world affected by conflict.

The "voluntary" adherence to armed rebellion is "a last resort" for children, particularly in the North and South Kivu provinces where dozens of militia groups are fighting for control.

Poverty, unemployment, hunger, and violence are some of the main issues driving children to join militia groups in those regions, the study said.

War Child noted that DR Congo's military had "improved" its fight against rebel groups in recent years.

Last year, the UN removed the country's army from its annual blacklist of national militaries recruiting child soldiers.

But it also warned that the number of child soldiers recruited "by armed groups and militia is on the rise again" due to a recent flare-up in regional conflicts, filling the void left by Kony.

For three decades, the self-styled prophet and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has cut a swathe of murder, mutilation, rape and abduction across central Africa.

The LRA has slaughtered more than 100,000 people and kidnapped 60,000 children since it was established by Kony in northern Uganda in 1987, according to the United Nations.

Wanted on war crimes charges, Kony fled from Uganda to DR Congo more than 10 years ago, before heading to the Central African Republic in late 2012.

Uganda to build 'Idi Amin museum' to attract tourists BBC June 1, 2018

Uganda hopes to attract tourists with a war museum showcasing some of the darkest moments from its history.

Atrocities committed under ex-President Idi Amin's brutal eight-year rule and by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are to be documented. "We want to put the record straight," Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Stephen Asiimwe told the BBC.

The Uganda war museum, which has yet to be built, will also showcase pre-colonial and colonial history.

"History gets richer, it's like red wine — it gets more interesting as the years go by," Mr Asiimwe said.

He told the BBC's Newsday programme that the project was not intended to be insensitive or voyeuristic.

"I lived through the Idi Amin era as a young boy, my fellow students lost their parents to the regime," he said.

"However you cannot run away from history. These are facts."

Idi Amin:

Joined the army — the King's African Rifles — in his 20s

Seized power in 1971, less than 10 years after Uganda's independence

Some 400,000 people are believed to have been killed under his rule

Expelled Uganda's entire Asian population in 1972, accusing them of milking the economy

A convert to Islam, he took five wives, fathered dozens of children and insisted on being called "Big Daddy"

He declared himself King of Scotland, banned hippies and mini-skirts, and awarded himself the Victoria Cross

Ousted by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles in 1979

Died in Saudi Arabia in 2003

Mr Asiimwe said that every destination had its own traditional culture and attractions.

"In Uganda we have wildlife — mountain gorillas. But we are trying to retrace the past."

Showcasing Uganda's history would make the East African country a richer place for tourists to visit, he added.

More recently, Ugandans have had to deal with the LRA, which has claimed to be fighting to install a government based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Formed in Uganda more than two decades ago, the group became notorious for chopping off people's limbs and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.

Its leader, Joseph Kony, is wanted for war crimes and the group continues to operate in northern Democratic Republic of Congo and eastern Central African Republic.

He was the subject of the #Kony2012 social media campaign six years ago which detailed his alleged crimes. An online video became a viral sensation with more than 100 million views.

Presentational grey line

Colonial records were systematically destroyed by Britain in a purge known as "operation legacy". But the war museum is expected to document some events from the period.

Construction has not yet begun, but the museum already has its detractors.

John Sempebwa, the deputy executive director of the tourism board, told VOA he disagrees with his colleagues who suggest Ugandans are ready to revisit the more painful details of their past.

"Society is divided. There are people who are still around who don't have good memories of Amin. Now, not only won't they come, they might burn this place down," he said

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Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Investigation: Burundi

Burundi accused of widespread rights abuses before referendum AlJazeera By Catherine Soi May 24, 2018

The country has just voted in a referendum on constitutional amendments boosting the powers of President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Since anti-government protests and a coup attempt in 2015, unrest has killed hundreds of people, and about 400,000 are still in refugee camps.

The UN Security Council is meeting to review the security situation in Burundi amid reports of widespread human rights abuses.

Stop Giving Ridiculous Excuses, End Senseless Killings — Atiku Tells Buhari Concise By George Ogbolu May 29, 2018

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to stop giving excuses and end the killings in Nigeria.

In a statement on Tuesday, to commemorate Democracy Day, Atiku said the history of Somalia, Burundi, and Rwanda should be "strident warning to all of us."

"Let us spare some time to reflect and to mourn all those murdered in the ongoing needless killings across our dear country," he said.

"These Nigerians have been killed in the continuing murderous rampage of criminal elements across the country but especially in Borno and Yobe, and the Benue River Valley, stretching from Adamawa through Taraba to the confluence of Kogi and Benue, and including Nasarawa, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, and Zamfara.

"Others have been killed by armed robbers, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and other marauding bandits. The killings have even extended to sacred places of worship where innocent Imams and Christian clergy and worshipers are slaughtered.

"This carnage has gone on for too long and must stop. In a letter that I sent to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria recently on these killings, I pointed out, and I repeat it here, that only government can stop these senseless killings if we are to avoid major and further damage to the fabric of our fragile unity.

"The recent history of Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Central African Republic, among others, should be a strident warning to all of us, especially those in government whose primary responsibility is the protection of the citizens, but who have been dithering, making contradictory and ridiculous excuses and engaging in diversionary finger-pointing."

SA Must Help Resolve Burundi's Crisis Human Rights Watch By Lewis Mudge June 1, 2018

The resolution of Burundi's protracted civil war was a milestone in African politics, highlighting regional leaders' ability and determination to organise a peace settlement based on human rights. Yet the gains made nearly two decades ago, involving strong South African leadership, have all but vanished.

After the announcement in 2015 by Pierre Nkurunziza — the country's president since 2005 — of his intention to run for a controversial third term, the government cracked down on opposition with widespread violence. The crisis deepened earlier this year, with widespread intimidation of the opposition during the campaign for a constitutional referendum to allow the president to stay in power until 2034.

Strong regional leadership, especially from South Africa, is desperately needed to stem the abuse and get the country back on track.

South Africa, together with Tanzania, played a critical role in broking the 2000 Arusha Accords, which helped to end a deadly conflict, in which an estimated 300 000 people were killed in largely ethnically motivated attacks. Then deputy president Thabo Mbeki led South Africa's mediation efforts. The intervention in Burundi was an African solution to an African problem.

The accords created conditions to end the human rights abuses that defined much of the conflict. The agreement opened the way for the Constitution adopted five years later and became the cornerstone of a consensus-led system in which ethnic Hutu and Tutsi governed together. It also set the stage for a decade of relatively steady progress toward peace, reconciliation, economic development, a burgeoning civil society and an independent media.

Yet since 2010, the ruling party, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy — Forces for the Defence of Democracy, has chipped away at key tenets of the accords. The opposition boycotted elections that year after a crackdown on human rights. During the election period, political opponents faced surveillance, arrest, torture and even death. After 2010, the only checks on the government came from the media and civil society, which were more and more at risk.

In late April 2015, demonstrations broke out in response to Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term. The ruling party contended that his first term didn't count because Parliament had appointed him. The police responded to the protests with excessive force. Violence escalated in the second half of 2015, with targeted killings of high-profile government and opposition figures, deadly police search operations, abuses by members of Imbonerakure, the ruling party's youth league, and attacks by armed opposition groups against the security forces and the ruling party.

The government now seems to regard activists, journalists, and political opponents as enemies. Many have fled into exile following persistent threats and intimidation.

In 2016, some abuses became more covert, with increasing abductions and unexplained deaths. Since early last year, security forces and Imbonerakure members have killed, raped, beaten, detained, threatened and harassed scores of opponents. Nearly 400 000 people have fled the country since 2015.

The new Constitution, adopted in the referendum earlier this month, does more than enable Nkurunziza to stay on. It is designed to strengthen the ruling party's grip, reducing the majority needed to adopt legislation and setting the scene for dismantling the ethnic balances embedded in the accords. The guarantees that the Tutsi minority hold some government posts will now be up for discussion with an increasingly authoritarian government. The ruling party's control of state institutions, the absence of space for a genuine opposition and the rampant impunity for state agents clearly threaten the system defined by the accords.

But the core tenets of the accords can still be salvaged — if regional leaders step up and take a strong stance.

President Cyril Ramaphosa should put South Africa at the forefront in helping to restore the gains of the Arusha process and to prevent a further deadly escalation of the crisis in Burundi before elections in 2020. He should work with other African leaders and indicate clearly that there will be real consequences unless Burundi's leaders call a halt to state repression. African leaders should make full use of the African Union, including its powers to address crimes against humanity.

South Africa justified its leadership role during the Arusha negotiations by citing its moral obligations to support peace efforts on the continent after so many African countries contributed to the struggle against apartheid. With further large-scale human rights abuses on the horizon, and the need for strong regional engagement greater than ever, Ramaphosa should recommit to holding Burundi to the Arusha agreement.

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WEST AFRICA

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire

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Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon

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Mali

Militant Attack in Mali's North Leaves More Than 20 Dead Bloomberg By Katarina Hoije May 28, 2018

At least 20 people have been killed in a militia attack on an ethnic Tuareg organization in Mali's Gao region, which has witnessed a surge of violence between armed groups even as French and West African troops are carrying out anti-jihadist operations in the area.

Gunmen in vehicles and on motorbikes attacked a checkpoint close to the Niger border that was manned by militants from the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, a Tuareg group, Agence France-Presse reported Monday, citing local officials. It wasn't immediately clear who was responsible for the raid, the Paris-based agency said.

Intercommunal violence in Mali's northern Gao and Menaka regions has escalated in recent weeks, killing scores of civilians from Tuareg and Fulani communities. The clashes occurred as a French military operation targeting the jihadist group Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is underway.

The al-Qaeda affiliated organization Group of Support for Muslims and Islam, known as JNIM, is also active in the region. There have been at least 94 extrajudicial killings in the Menaka region since the beginning of the year, the United Nations said last month.

Mali demonstrators call for clean elections News24 June 8, 2018

Thousands of people marched peacefully through Mali's capital on Friday to call for clean presidential elections next month, AFP journalists said, after recent violent protests.

The West African country's opposition, which organised the rally in the capital Bamako, said it had attracted up to 300 000 people, but local reports put the figure at 10 000 to 20 000, all of whom dispersed without incident afterwards.

Earlier this week the European Union urged the government to respect "freedom of expression" and "show restraint" after dozens of people were hurt in banned opposition protests.

The United Nations similarly called for calm.

"We turned up to call for transparent elections and equal access to state media, and also to denounce current government policy," opposition leader Soumaila Cisse told AFP. Cisse, 68, who lost in 2013, is one of some 15 candidates running against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, who is seeking a second term in the July 29 election.

After the recent violence, the UN and the African Union brokered a deal with the government to allow Friday's march.

"No to fraud" and "Equal access to national radio and TV" read two banners at the rally.

"The mark is not only to demand clean elections and equal media access. It is also to denounce the regime, the cost of living and corruption," one demonstrator, Mahamane Toure, 51, said.

Mali has been badly hit by an Islamist insurgency in the north which has spread south and into neighbouring countries Burkina Faso and Niger despite peace efforts.

France, the former colonial overseer, intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to help government forces combat al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.

The election campaign is due to begin July 7.

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EAST AFRICA

Uganda

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

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Kenya

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

Runaway corruption in Kenya is a project of political leadership Standard Digital By Francis Karugu May 31, 2018

A recent report by the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission shows that bribery, favoritism, nepotism and embezzlement of funds are the most prevalent forms of corruption in both the national and counties governments. The report singled out departments within the Office of the President as the defending champions in this "sector."

Perhaps the best illustration is best described by the recent public spat between Nandi governor Stephen Sang and Nandi Senator Kiprotich Cherargei. According to a story carried by The Standard, the Senator accused the governor of corruption, nepotism, flawed and unfair appointments to public offices. To drive the point home, the senator accused his governor of employing "slay queens" in high offices. If these allegations are true, Nandi County is a sample of what is rampant across all levels of government. Today, high political offices are manned by relatives, sycophant cheerleaders and consorts of political leaders. It becomes a problem for the political biggie to give up a member in his harem for prosecution in corruption charges. This is why the fight against corruption has only scored on the rhetoric front, and President Kenyatta's angry proclamations on corruption have now become high comedy.

Untouchables?

His pronouncements for the last six years have become tired, and almost deceptive, as scandal after scandal happens under his watch, right under his nose by folks well known to him. The fact that perpetrators of big dollar corruption are big shots aided by untouchable wheeler dealers in high offices can only lead to the assumption that corruption in Kenya is a state project.

The concept of state sponsored corruption was first alluded to in Russia during the years of Boris Yeltsin and the resultant Putin-Medvedev years, where a class of ultra-rich emerged with disreputably close ties to the political leadership.

This was replicated in Namibia, as the Black Economic Empowerment Policy was abused by those close to the post-apartheid SWAPO administrations of Sam Nujoma and Lucas Hifikepunye Pohamba. Consequently, party stalwarts became business tycoons, with a strong influence on parliamentary decisions, lobbying for legislation that would ultimately secure their stolen wealth. In essence, Namibia's state corporations became a playground for post-election party bartering, with top company posts offered to loyal party supporters, and as becoming cash cows for top politicians.

But it is in Kenya where state sponsored corruption has reached fever pitch. Many public corporations that were invigorated in Mwai Kibaki's era have all but tripped back to near-bankruptcy status given the wanton despoliation that has happened during the last six years of Jubilee leadership.

With little or no action from the government on these ineptitudes, it is hard to believe that this looting is not happening without the blessings of political leadership. The bigger scandal is that the maladroitness of gatekeepers in high political offices is borne of their attitude toward public office.

Overnight billionaires

To these underlings, public office is a golden chance to become an overnight billionaire and to showcase ill-gotten riches with brazen exhibitionism of big cars, fine dining, ivory tower homes and the occasional fundraising extravaganza in poor, desolate villages amidst hungry, praise singing serfs.

The effect of this larceny seems to bother neither the political leadership nor the government functionaries. The ripple effects of corruption have been laid bare for everyone to see. It was reported that genuine suppliers to the National Youth Service wait for eternity to be paid, while suppliers of goods and services whose prices have been highly inflated are paid promptly. Another illustration is that of the National Cereals and Produce Board, where the genuine smallholder farmers have gone for months without their dues.

The macroeconomic ripple effect of this has a direct bearing not only on agriculture and food security sustainability, but also in secondary sectors such education and healthcare, as the affected poor farmers are left without disposable income to afford these facets of livelihood. The irony of it is that, the sectors most hit by corruption form the bulwark of President Kenyatta's much hyped Big Four Agenda.

The fact that lackeys in government can't see how corruption is undermining the Big Four agenda gives credence to the hypothesis that these advisers are "slay queen" material, sourced through nepotism and blind personal loyalty as opposed to meritocracy.

Marie Antoinette

It will remain a circus of empty rhetoric to talk tough on corruption if the perpetrators hobnob in high offices planning for next heist. I submit that it is not that the perpetrators of corruption are not known, it is not that the evidence is not there.

The issue is that they are sacred cows whom political leadership protects, cushioning them from prosecution and consequences of their kleptomania. The lack of political will to contain graft within the corridors of power despite the lamentations of Kenyans is the loud, cynical sneer of "if they don't have bread, let them eat cake."

Hugs and apologies between Kenyan political rivals News24 May 31, 2018

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, opposition leader Raila Odinga and their deputies on Thursday exchanged hugs and apologies, cementing their pledge to promote unity after a fractious and bloody election.

The unusual scene unfolded at the country's annual national prayer meeting.

It came eight months after Kenyatta's re-election in a drawn-out poll that divided the nation and left at least 92 dead, according to rights groups.

Longtime rivals Kenyatta and Odinga in March shook hands and pledged reconciliation in a move that stunned the nation, as well as members of Odinga's opposition alliance who said they had not been consulted.

What is now known as "The Handshake" had spurred endless speculation but little concrete action.

But on Thursday, the two men shook off any scepticism by repeatedly hugging each other and calling each other "my brother" at the prayer breakfast.

Vice President William Ruto and Odinga's running mate Kalonzo Musyoka also apologised to each other for any election rancour, and hugged.

"We have campaigned against each other, we have said nasty things against each other, and today, I ask forgiveness and I would like to apologise," said Kenyatta.

"Never again shall a Kenyan die because of an election. On my own behalf and that of all those behind me, I tender my apology," said Odinga, who had claimed the election was stolen from him, and whose supporters were the vast majority of those killed by police during protests.

Also present at the event was Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga, who rose to international fame as the man who annulled Kenyatta's victory in a first August election and ordered the poll held a second time.

The rapprochement between Kenyatta and Odinga has left the opposition in disarray, and headlines have swung straight onto the 2022 election race and its potential alliances.

Despite the display of unity, numerous questions remain about the concrete implementation of the reconciliation deal.

So far a joint committee has been established to work on a "national dialogue" in a country where politics and ethnic rivalry go hand in hand.

Create laws to protect corruption whistleblowers, TI tells Kenya The Star By Samuel Kisika June 6, 2018

The Jubilee administration's reinvigorated fight against corruption requires urgent enactment of a law to protect whistleblowers, Transparency International (TI) has said.

The lobby group has proposed amendments to Bribery Act, 2016 amended for all government institutions and private companies to have a whistleblower protection system.

Executive Director Samuel Kimeu said on Wednesday that the Act limits protection to law enforcement agencies and leaves out other stakeholders, thereby undermining the fight against corruption.

Some of the law enforcement agencies are the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, police and the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission.

"Laws are in place but enforcement is a key issue. There are gaps that need to be tightened once identified," Kimeu said.

He spoke during the launch of the TI Kenya Business Integrity Country Agenda report (BICA-Kenya) in Nairobi.

The report aims to encourage civil society groups, the public and private sector to use a raft of findings and recommendations to improve business integrity and level the playing field for everyone.

"The Act has provisions that protect whistleblowers from retaliation from employers but does not offer remedial action for those that suffer detrimental action as a result of whistleblowing," reads part of a 31-page BICA-Kenya report. Kimeu, however, confirmed that the office of the Attorney General is finalising a draft Bill seeking to protect all whistleblowers in mega-scandals that have seen taxpayers lose billions of money.

"We need a comprehensive whistleblower protection law. We have whistleblowers who don't want to be witnesses in court and all these need protection," he said.

His sentiments followed arrests and investigations into scandals at organisations including the National Youth Service (Sh9 billion) and the National Cerelas and Produce Board (Sh1.9 billion).

TI collaborated with organisations including the Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, EACC, Kenya Bankers Association and UN Global Compact Kenya in carrying out research to come up with the report.

Although, the Bribery Act requires companies listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange to have a whistleblower policy, the report reveals that there is limited information on implementation by the firms.

It pokes holes into the Act over delayed enforcement on provisions prohibiting passive and active commercial bribery, such as inducements to secure tenders.

"The enforcement of the Act on these provisions is yet to start as no cases have been investigated or prosecuted so far. The development of regulations to boost implementations and enforcement is ongoing," reads the report.

The BICA-Kenya report also pokes holes into the proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009, on the provision that prohibits laundering of proceeds of crime such as concealment or disguise of property.

"The Act does not have provisions that prohibit the conversion or transfer of property, knowing that such property is the proceeds of crime, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property."

Kimeu noted that the loophole in the provision has made it difficult to establish real beneficiaries or owners of companies named in various mega-scandals.

"Whenever scandals emerge, companies are revealed but people benefiting from all mega scandals are faceless. We would made a step forward in the fight against graft if their faces had been revealed," he said.

Kimeu faulted President Uhuru Kenyatta's proposal for lie detectors to be used in the fresh vetting of hundreds of government procurement and accounting officers before the end of June.

The Executive Director said evidence obtained from the gadgets is not yet admissible in Kenya's court system and warned that the move may be used to victimise innocent professionals.

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Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

Official Website of the ICTR

Under Macron, France Is Working to Repair Strained Ties With Rwanda World Politics Review By Robbie Corey-Boulet May 25, 2018

In many respects, the Africa policy of French President Emmanuel Macron has looked similar to that of his predecessor, Francois Hollande. Both men have overseen large- scale military deployments on the continent while stressing the need for African governments to, eventually, provide for their own security in combating terrorism and other threats. Both men have also talked about the potential of economic development to curb the migration of Africans to Europe. But in his management of one relationship that has significant implications for France's reputation in Africa, Macron is charting a somewhat different path: He is pursuing a more vigorous rapprochement with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, a leader with whom French officials have had a stormy relationship since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

On Wednesday, Kagame met Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, his first visit there since 2011 and his third meeting with Macron this year. Afterward, Macron announced he would support the bid by Rwanda to have its foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, serve as the next secretary-general of the International Organization of la Francophonie, a body of French- speaking countries that promotes economic and political ties among members.

As AFP notes, Kagame, who fought his way to power in 1994, has long accused Paris of complicity in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 Rwandans during the genocide—allegations he reprised in 2014, the 20th anniversary of the slaughter. There has been no French ambassador in Rwanda since 2015. And last year, in a move that angered Kagame, French judicial officials re-opened an investigation of the assassination in April 1994 of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, the event that kicked off the killing.

This discord went unmentioned on Wednesday, however. Kagame is currently serving as the chairperson of the African Union, and he and Macron discussed a range of security issues on the continent. They also had lunch with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, a meeting that highlighted Kagame's reputation for innovative approaches to development.

The warming of ties with Kagame has already opened Macron to criticism, in large part because of Kagame's poor human rights record and strongman tendencies. As Jonathan W. Rosen wrote in a briefing for WPR ahead of Rwanda's presidential election last year, Kagame "has failed to assure both his own citizens and his cadre of foreign backers that the Rwanda he's created can outlive him."

Like many other world leaders, Macron seems to have decided to focus on Kagame's achievements rather than his flaws. Addressing reporters Wednesday, he summed up his stance by saying that "what's important is to build the future."

Rwanda's fourteen-year journey of peacekeeping The New Times By James Karuhanga May 30, 2018

Every time Rwandan troops leave Kigali to join other UN personnel serving in some of the world's hotspots, their commanders' message is always similar: maintain highest levels of discipline, focus on the mission at hand – protection of civilians whose lives are at risk – and be the country's ambassadors, while at it.

It is, therefore, no surprise that, for example, Rwanda Defence Force soldiers deployed in the United Nations Mission in Central Africa Republic, besides minding security in parts of the capital, Bangui, are the ones in charge of security at the Presidential Palace and other important national installations there.

Rwanda is among the top five UN troop and police contributing countries in international peacekeeping missions.

According to the UN, May 29 is a day to pay tribute to all men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

The theme for the 2018 International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Tuesday was "70 Years of Service and Sacrifice."

The day also marked Rwanda's 14 years of peacekeeping.

Ten years after stopping the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda deployed its first peacekeepers (155 soldiers), in August 2004, in Sudan to curtail the humanitarian catastrophe that was boiling in the western part of the Sudan – in Darfur.

While addressing delegates at a conference on peacekeeping, in Kigali, in May 2015, President Paul Kagame said: "The central purpose of peace operations is the protection of civilians. This cannot be said often enough. It is not the protection of peace agreements or UN mandates, even peacekeepers for that matter, much less the protection of politicians. The mission is to protect the ordinary people who, in most cases, are at most risk."

During the recent national security symposium held in Musanze District, Rwanda Defence Force Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba, said the President's remarks inform Rwanda's participation in peace support operations. The RDF maintains 5,860 personnel including troops, staff officers, military observers and liaison officers in peacekeeping missions, and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) – which started peacekeeping deployments in 2005 – has about 1,200 officers serving as peacekeepers in different countries.

Police is deployed to Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Haiti.

"Despite the challenging working conditions, which we prepare the officers to face, Police officers have professionally discharged their mandated tasks, keeping the Rwandan flag always high," said RNP's Commissioner for Peace Support Operations, Commissioner of Police William Kayitare.

Apart from leveraging the liberation struggle experience, Rwandan peacekeepers' distinctive approach to peacekeeping has seen them replicate the annual 'army week' medical outreach programme that sees thousands of Rwandans get free medical care, in their areas of operation abroad.

New models

During the May 14-16 National Security Symposium, Nyamvumba who served as UN–AU Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Force Commander from 2009 to 2013, suggested that if they are to be more effective, peace support operations must be judged in the context of the evolving international geopolitical situation rather than seeing them on the basis of the legal texts of the UN charter.

"Having seen what we saw here [during 1994 Genocide] those of us who were in Rwanda, this kind of approach to peace support operations, if not improved upon, would lead us to nowhere."

Nyamvumba explored strategic options available to African states as a way forward.

Since most UN peace support operations today are located in Africa, he said, African states need to be at the forefront of designing new appropriate and effective models of peace support operations while being prepared to foot the bill for implementing these models.

He proposed that African states need to take up a deliberate and active role in conceptualising a fresh and original doctrine for peace support operations and be prepared to foot the bill for its implementation.

There is a proposal to implement a 0.2 levy on all eligible imports into all AU member states with proceeds from this levy estimated at $1.2 billion, an amount almost double AU's 2017 budget of approximately $700 million.

Another option, which Nyamvumba said is about prevention, "is to improve on our governance," because it is the lack of governance, and bad governance that remain the root cause of all these interventions".

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Somalia

US airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabab kills 10 fighters Fox News May 24, 2018

The U.S. military says it has carried out an airstrike outside Somalia's capital that killed 10 extremists.

The U.S. Africa Command says it has carried out 14 such airstrikes so far this year against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which continues to hold some rural areas of the Horn of Africa nation.

Dozens of U.S. airstrikes were carried out last year after the Trump administration approved expanded military operations against al-Shabab, which was blamed for an October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people.

The new statement says the U.S. military assesses that no civilians were killed in Wednesday's strike about 15 miles southwest of Mogadishu. The U.S. has faced accusations in recent months of killing civilians in joint operations with Somali forces against al-Shabab.

US Airstrike Kills 27 Terrorist Fighters in N. Somalia VOA News June 4, 2018

A U.S. airstrike in northern Somalia Saturday killed 27 al-Shabab militants, the U.S. Africa Command said.

It posted a Twitter message Monday saying the strike near Bosaso, in semi-autonomous Puntland state, was carried out in coordination with the Somali government.

U.S. commanders said no civilians were killed.

"U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect U.S. citizens and to disable terrorist threats," the command said.

Targets will include terror training camps and safe havens throughout Somalia and the region.

Another U.S. airstrike killed 12 al-Shabab militants Thursday south of Mogadishu.

Saturday's airstrike came after al-Shabab extremists attacked a military base in Puntland, claiming to have killed five soldiers, wounding seven and destroying Somali military equipment.

Al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed government. It is blamed for countless terrorist attacks, including an October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people.

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NORTH AFRICA

Libya

Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

UNHCR outraged by the killing of 12 illegal immigrants at the hands of smugglers The Libya Observer By Housam Najjair June 2, 2018

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the killing of 12 illegal immigrants at the hands of human smugglers in Bani Walid in late May makes it a major challenge to protect migrants.

The UNHCR said in a statement that they received 140 immigrants from Bani Walid after they escaped from their smugglers. The migrants were then taken to a shelter in Ghassir Bin Gasheer town, noting that there was a large presence of unaccompanied children among the migrants.

The UNHCR called on the international community to open more resettlement centers in other countries and to identify measures to protect the most vulnerable migrants in Libya.

Two killed in landmine explosions in Benghazi during May The Libya Observer By Safa Alharathy June 3, 2018 An official medical report clarified that the landmine explosions in the city of Benghazi has caused at least two deaths and one injury during the month of May.

Al-Jalaa hospital for surgery and accidents announced that it had received the bodies of three dead and four others injured who were victims of landmine explosions between March and April.

Several civilians have been killed and others injured of landmines because of the war which started in the city in May 2014.

Decomposed bodies found in Sirte The Libya Observer By Safa Alharathy June 4, 2018

A source from the Libyan Red Crescent (LRC), Sirte branch, said Sunday, that it had found decomposed bodies in a farm located in the Taweelah district in Sirte.

The source added that the LRC informed the Security Operations Chamber of Sirte, the Demining Society and the Public Prosecution of the incident after receiving a tip-off from a local citizen of the presence of a number of decomposed bodies in the district.

The competent authorities have set a date for the recovery of the bodies from the site during the coming hours, anticipating that the site might be a mass grave containing other bodies of persons killed during the control of ISIS of the city.

70 migrants rescued from human traffickers' dens The Libya Observer By Safa Alharathy June 6, 2018

Major Ramzi Al-Hasi, head of the Illegal Immigration Control Agency, Shahhat branch, said, that they have succeeded to free over 70 migrants from a human trafficking gang in Shahhat town, east of Libya.

Al-Hassi clarified in a press statement Tuesday that some migrants were tortured, robbed and left without food for several days.

He pointed out that the migrants were of Eritrean, Sudanese and Chadian nationalities and were handed over to the Illegal Immigration Agency of Shahhat where they underwent medical checkups.

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EUROPE

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

Official Court Website [English translation]

Mostar Crimes Against Humanity Trial Opens in Bosnia Balkan Insight By Admir Muslimovic May 25, 2018

The trial of the 11 former Croatian Defence Council fighters opened at the Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Friday, with the defendants accused of detaining, persecuting and committing grave abuses against Bosniak civilians in Mostar. "The defendants detained more than 100 Muslim civilians in the Heliodrom detention camp. After that, they took them out in order to do forced labour. They were then taken to the Vojno detention camp," said prosecutor Remzija Smailagic.

Nedzad Coric, Jure Kordic, Drazen Lovric, Dario Susac, Nedzad Tinjak, Nuhan Sikalo, Dario Mihalj, Stanko Skobic, Tomislav Ancic, Marinko Sunjic and Slavko Golomec are all charged with crimes against humanity.

"Many of the civilians were brutally tortured and beaten, they suffered severe bodily and mental injuries and a large number of them were even killed. Many old people, children and women, who were sexually abused, were also held in those detention camps at some stage," the prosecutor said.

The defendants were members of the Second Brigade's First Battalion and the Convicts' Battalion of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO.

Smailagic said the crimes were committed with the aim of establishing the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, a wartime unrecognised Bosnian Croat statelet with its headquarters in Mostar.

The first witnesses are due to testify on June 12.

Bosniak Ex-Soldier Jailed for Prisoner Abuses Balkan Insight By Emina Dizdarevic May 25, 2018

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Friday convicted Edhem Zilic of war crimes against the civilian population, but accepted a defence appeal and reduced his sentence to six years in prison.

Zilic was the acting manager of a detention facility at the Musala sports hall in Konjic, where Croat and Serb detainees were beaten and forced to engage in sexual intercourse.

He was initially convicted in November last year of ordering, participating in and failing to prevent the inhumane treatment of the detainees who were at the sports hall from May to October 1993.

"His failure to stop the perpetrators of the crime carries the same weight as the actions of his subordinates," the judge said when passing last November's verdict.

Friday's verdict cannot be appealed.

Bosnia Upholds Female Croat Fighter's War Crimes Sentence Balkan Insight By Admir Muslimovic May 31, 2018

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Azra Basic, a former member of the wartime Bosnian Croat force, the Croatian Defence Council, and jailed her for 14 years.

Basic was found guilty of committing crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in the Bosnian municipality of Derventa in 1992.

Her appeal against the state court's verdict was rejected as unfounded.

Basic was found guilty of having participated, alone or in collaboration with other fighters, in the murder, torture and inhumane treatment of Serb civilians in the premises of the Yugoslav People's Army Hall in Derventa and in the nearby village of Polje from April 26 to May 1992.

On the basis of testimonies by witnesses, some of whom recognised the defendant in court and stated clearly that she killed a man called Blagoje Djuras, the verdict determined that Basic was guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

"She was the only female person at the Yugoslav People's Army Hall," the verdict said.

The verdict also determined, on the basis of witnesses' testimonies, that the defendant ordered detained civilians to eat Yugoslav banknotes, walk barefoot on glass and lick blood from Djuras' dead body. She was also found guilty of having caused severe physical pain and mental suffering to two men called Boro and Petar Markovic in the village of Polje on May 2, 1992.

Basic's time spent in custody since she was extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the US will count towards her sentence.

Croatian-born Basic left Bosnia and Herzegovina after the war and settled in the US, eventually becoming a naturalised citizen.

But she was arrested in the state of Kentucky in 2011 and prosecuted for immigration fraud after allegedly giving false information about her role in the Bosnian war when she arrived in the US.

She then waged a long battle against deportation, arguing that she took part only in ordinary military operations against Serb troops and did not commit any war crimes, and that she herself had been badly mistreated in a Serb prison camp.

However she was eventually extradited to Sarajevo from the US in November 2016.

Thursday's verdict is final and cannot be appealed.

Bosnia Overturns Srebrenica Commander Naser Oric's Acquittal Balkan Insight By Albina Sorguc June 4, 2018

The appeals chamber of Bosnia's state court has overturned the first-verdict acquitting Naser Oric and his subordinate Sabahudin Muhic and ordered a retrial, the prosecution confirmed to BIRN on Monday.

Oric's defence lawyer Lejla Covic said she had not received any notification from the court about its decision yet.

The state court in October 2017 acquitted Oric and former Bosnian Army soldier Muhic of killing three Serb prisoners of war in the Bratunac and Srebrenica area.

The prosecution had alleged that Oric, who was a commander of Bosnian Army territorial defence units, and Muhic, who was his subordinate, killed the Serb captives in the villages of Zalazje, Lolici and Kunjerac in 1992.

But the court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Oric and Muhic committed the killings.

Last month, the state prosecution asked for the first-instance verdict to be overturned and a retrial ordered, alleging substantial violations of criminal proceedings, as well as incompletely and incorrectly determined facts.

The defence argued however that the prosecution's appeal was "confusing, unclear and incomprehensible".

The trial was highly controversial because Oric is seen as a hero by many Bosniaks for his role in defending Srebrenica in the years before the 1995 massacres, while some Serbs have claimed that the charges against him should have been more severe.

Before the trial started, the defence asked the UN tribunal in The Hague to order a halt to the proceedings against Oric, arguing that he had already been tried for and acquitted of war crimes in Srebrenica by the Hague court and should not stand trial for the same crimes twice.

The Hague Tribunal rejected the request, with the judge saying that "the murder charges in the Bosnian indictment fundamentally differ from the murder charges in the Hague indictment with respect to the alleged victims and the nature, time and location of the alleged crime".

Bosnia Charges Ex-Fighter with Crimes Against Konjic Serbs Balkan Insight By Lamija Grebo June 5, 2018

The Bosnian state prosecution on Tuesday filed an indictment accusing Omer Boric, the wartime commander of the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defence force in Konjic, of being responsible for crimes against humanity.

The prosecution said that Boric knew that "subordinate members of the army, police and other formations were getting ready to commit and committed murders, abuse, beatings, unlawful detentions in detention camps, torture and other inhumane acts against Serb civilians".

"In his capacity as a superior, he failed to undertake measures to prevent the commission of those crimes and punish the perpetrators," a prosecution statement said.

The indictment includes the murders of at least 43 people during an attack on the village of Bradina. The remains of 36 of them have been found and exhumed.

It also includes the burning of the Serbian Orthodox church in Bradina, as well as houses and other buildings, and the pillaging of property owned by Serbs.

It says that several hundred Serb civilians were persecuted, unlawfully detained and held in a school building in Bradina, or taken to the Celebici and Musala detention camps.

According to the prosecution, Boric has Austrian citizenship.

The indictment has been filed to the state court for confirmation.

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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Official Website of the ICTY

Serbian Security Chief Denies Commanding 'Red Berets' Unit Balkan Insight By Radosa Milutinovic May 24, 2018

Franko Simatovic's defence lawyer told the Mechanism for International Tribunals in The Hague on Thursday that the former Serbian State Security official did not give orders to the Red Berets during wartime in 1995.

Under cross-examination, a protected prosecution witness codenamed RF-150 - a former member of Red Berets - confirmed that Simatovic had never given an order to him personally or to his unit.

The orders had come from chiefs "ranked below Franko", RF-150 said.

However, the witness added: "I heard from instructors that [head of Serbian State Security] Jovica Stanisic was the main boss, while Simatovic was his special advisor and commander of our instructors."

He insisted that the instructors and the unit's commanders called Simatovic "the chief commander, the top figure".

Stanisic and his former State Security Service deputy Simatovic are on trial for persecution, murders and deportations during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the charges, the Red Berets were under the control of the Serbian State Security Service.

The indictment alleges that Stanisic and Simatovic committed their crimes as part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at forcibly and permanently removing Croats and Bosniaks from large parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would then be incorporated into a unified Serb state.

Defence lawyer Vladimir Petrovic claimed that Simatovic's meeting with members of the Red Berets, which the witness described in court on Tuesday, was held in December 1995 - after the war in the former Yugoslavia had been ended by the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The witness confirmed this, also saying this was the only occasion in which he personally saw or heard Simatovic. Stanisic and Simatovic both pleaded not guilty in December 2015 after the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia overturned their acquittal in their first trial.

The appeals chamber ruled that there were serious legal and factual errors when Stanisic and Simatovic were initially acquitted of war crimes in 2013, and ordered the case to be retried and all the evidence and witnesses reheard in full by new judges.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

Serbian Red Berets Fighter's War Crimes Testimony Challenged Balkan Insight By Radosa Milutinovic May 30, 2018

Jovica Stanisic's defence lawyer told the Mechanism for International Tribunals in The Hague on Wednesday that Radojica Bozovic, who was the commander of the 'Red Berets' unit in Doboj in the spring of 1992, was an officer of the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry, not the Serbian State Security Service.

A protected prosecution witness codenamed RFJ-165, who said he was a member of the Red Berets when they expelled and murdered Bosniaks in Doboj in 1992, testified on Tuesday that Bozovic was a member of the Serbian State Security Service.

But Jovica Stanisic's defence lawyer Ian Edwards presented the court with an order which Mico Stanisic, who was the Bosnian Serb interior minister at the time, gave to Bozovic on January 13, 1993.

Addressing Bozovic as commander of the Special Police Brigade of Bosnia's Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, Stanisic ordered him to establish "an independent squad" in Doboj.

Edwards also quoted an entry from a wartime diary of the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladic, indicating that Mico Stanisic ordered Bozovic to form an independent squad.

The defence lawyer further suggested that the Stanisic who according to another document gave the authorisation to establish a Red Berets camp on Mount Ozren in Bosnia was Mico Stanisic, not Jovica Stanisic.

RFJ-165 responded by commenting that he "couldn't say".

Stanisic, the former chief of the Serbian State Security Service, and his former assistant Franko Simatovic are being retried for persecution, murders and deportations during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the charges, the Red Berets were under the control of the Serbian State Security Service.

The indictment alleges that Stanisic and Simatovic committed their crimes as part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at forcibly and permanently removing Croats and Bosniaks from large parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would then be incorporated into a unified Serb state. The enterprise was allegedly led by Slobodan Milosevic.

Stanisic and Simatovic both pleaded not guilty in December 2015 after the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia overturned their acquittal in their first trial.

The appeals chamber ruled that there were serious legal and factual errors when Stanisic and Simatovic were initially acquitted of war crimes in 2013, and ordered the case to be retried and all the evidence and witnesses reheard in full by new judges.

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Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

Croatia Identifies 20 Serbs Killed in 1995 Balkan Insight By Sven Milekic June 4, 2018

The Croatian War Veterans Ministry announced on Monday that the remains of 20 Croatian Serbs who killed in 1995 have been successfully identified at the Department for Forensic Medicine in Zagreb.

Minister Tomo Medved and his assistant who heads the Administration for Missing and Imprisoned Persons, Stjepan Sucic, were present as the remains of 20 Serbs, found in five different counties - Zadar, Karlovac, Sisak-Moslavina, Pozega-Slavonia and Brod-Posavina - were identified using DNA samples.

All of them were killed during Croatia's 'Flash' and 'Storm' military operations in 1995. Offering his condolences to the families of those who were identified, Medved said that the government treats the subject of missing persons as "a priority humanitarian issue".

He insisted that the ministry deals with resolving the fate and whereabouts of all missing Croatian citizens "independently of their ethnicity".

Croatia is still searching for 1,509 missing citizens from the 1990s war. A further 414 people are known to have died, but their remains have yet to be found.

Serb Ex-Soldier Denies Knowledge of Kosovo Massacre Balkan Insight By Filip Rudic June 4, 2018

Defence witness Dejan Milosavljevic, a former Serbian Army cook, told the trial of two Serbian officers on Monday that the fighting happened around, and not inside, the village of Trnje in March 1999 during the Kosovo war.

Milosavljevic said that his unit was deployed on a hill overlooking a distant village whose name he did not know at the time.

"In front of us was a valley, a flatland from where gunfire was heard," Milosavljevic said. He said that he did not see the two defendants, Serbian Army officers Pavle Gavrilovic and Rajko Kozlina, on the hill – although the presiding judge noted that the two men have not denied being there.

Milosavljevic further denied observing smoke rising from the village, seeing any of the locals, or hearing about any incidents after his unit returned to the barracks.

Milosavljevic is not the first witness for the defence who denies knowledge of the massacre. At the last hearing in January, two commanders of the Yugoslav Army's 549th Brigade, which was deployed near Trnje, claimed ignorance of the incident.

Another officer however told the court in 2016 that he saw "people in military and police uniforms" crossing a bridge while Serbian forces were withdrawing from the village after the operation, and dead bodies in the nearby river.

At Monday's hearing the defence lawyers also demanded that forensic reports not be accepted as evidence, since exhumations and autopsies were performed by international experts not recognised by Serbian courts.

The reports were filed by the war crimes prosecutor's office, which obtained them from the UN war crimes court in The Hague.

Serbian Army officers Pavle Gavrilovic and Ranko Kozlina are on trial for the killings of 27 people including elderly people and a four-year-old boy during the attack on Trnje on March 25, 1999.

Gavrilovic is accused of ordering the attack and saying that "there should be no survivors", according to the indictment.

A commander of a unit in the Yugoslav Army's 549th Brigade, Gavrilovic is alleged to have split his men up into three groups, with Kozlina being part of the one of these three, and ordered them to enter the village and ethnically cleanse the area.

Kozlina, together with three other soldiers, opened fire on 18 civilians including women and children, killing 16 of them, the indictment alleges.

Other civilians were shot in several other houses in the village, it also claims. [back to contents]

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Iraq

Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog

Impartial Justice Effort Needed Human Rights Watch May 31, 2018

A new United Nations investigation of crimes committed by the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) in Iraq was not given the mandate that the situation calls for, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 31, 2018, the United Nations secretary- general appointed Karim Khan to head a team tasked with collecting and preserving evidence of serious crimes committed by ISIS in Iraq.

The team was created based on a UN Security Council resolution unanimously adopted on September 21, 2017. The resolution mandates the investigative team to document serious crimes committed by ISIS but failed to include within its scope of work the abuses, including war crimes, by anti-ISIS forces.

"In limiting the team's focus, the Security Council effectively gave cover to one-sided justice in Iraq," said Balkees Jarrah, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Though this new investigation could help further expose violations by ISIS and identify those responsible, it should not serve as an excuse to delay inquiries into crimes by all sides."

Khan will undoubtedly face considerable challenges in his new post, Human Rights Watch said. They include the need to coordinate with Iraqi and Kurdish Regional Government authorities on correcting an array of flaws plaguing the Iraqi justice system, to build bridges with victims, and to collaborate with other documentation efforts.

While an initiative aimed at addressing the atrocities committed by ISIS is a positive first step to support accountability efforts in Iraq, it falls short of the comprehensive approach that would be needed to end the selective justice that has plagued Iraq for decades, Human Rights Watch said. Indeed, the ongoing lack of impartial justice in Iraq threatens to open new divisions at a moment when the Iraqi government has a unique opportunity to move the country toward meaningful reconciliation. It could also set a dangerous precedent for governments around the world to pursue a selective approach to justice in the wake of conflict.

Khan was a legal adviser in the prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He also served as defense counsel on various cases at the International Criminal Court, the Yugoslav tribunal, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Khan has a difficult assignment, Human Rights Watch said. To have any chance of credible, enduring gains in the fight against impunity in Iraq, he will need to execute his mandate independently and innovatively.

Khan will need to ensure that the investigative team does not contribute to proceedings that could lead to capital punishment, in line with the longstanding United Nations policy of not supporting or assisting processes that could lead to the death penalty. Death sentences are a common penalty for those convicted of ISIS affiliation in Iraq.

In addition, he will need to address the ongoing, serious legal shortcomings that undermine the Iraqi justice system. His team will need to press Iraqi authorities to significantly improve respect for due process rights of ISIS suspects and detainees if the team is to share the information it gathers for use in fair and independent proceedings, consistent with their terms of reference.

The team should also urge Iraqi authorities to bring charges against ISIS suspects for the most serious crimes they have committed, and to take a more victim-centered approach to national accountability efforts. Iraq is prosecuting thousands of detainees under counterterrorism legislation for their affiliation with ISIS. But it has not charged any suspects for serious international crimes such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide – which are not criminal offenses under Iraqi law – or even specific violent crimes like murder, rape, or slavery – which are. The authorities have made no efforts to solicit victims' participation in the trials.

"As things stand, the team won't be in a position to share its information without significant improvements to the justice system and guarantees on the death penalty," Jarrah said. "The effort to bring about justice for serious crimes in Iraq will require thoughtful, steadfast, and principled leadership by Khan."

Three Islamic State members killed in infiltration attempt into south of Kirkuk Iraqi News By Nehal Mostafa June 6, 2018

Three Islamic State members were killed as security troops foiled an attack, south of Kirkuk province, security source was quoted saying on Wednesday.

Speaking to Almaalomah website, the source said "al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) thwarted, today, an infiltration attempt by Islamic State members near al-Riyad town, south of Kirkuk. Three militants were trying to sneak into the town, but they were all killed."

PMFs as well as other security troops, are still deployed there to prevent any infiltration, the source added.

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled "caliphate" from Mosul in June 2014.

In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, the group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.

Prominent Islamic State leader arrested, west of Anbar Iraqi News By Nehal Mostafa June 6, 2018

A prominent leader with the Islamic State militant group has been arrested in a security operation, west of Anbar, a security source said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Almaalomah website, the source said "security troops managed to kill a prominent Islamic State member in an operation in the 5 kilometers region, west of Anbar."

The militant, according to the source, "was taken to a detention cell for investigations."

Last week, Eight Islamic State members were killed in airstrike launched by the Iraqi army in al-Ogeirsha region in the desert of Hit town, west of Ramadi. Earlier in May, the Iraqi military intelligence department announced foiling a terrorist scheme against troops in the desert of Anbar province. On the same day, a paramilitary leader was quoted saying that Iraqi army warplanes killed seven Islamic State militants after bombarding their locations in Wadi Jaal in Hit, west of Anbar.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled "caliphate" from Mosul in June 2014.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced, in December, full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.

Security personnel killed, injured in suicide attacks in Salahuddin Iraqi News By Nehal Mustafa June 6, 2018

Tens of Islamic State suicide bombers carried out a suicide attack, leaving many people killed and injured in Salahuddin province, Iraqi media channels quoted security sources as saying.

Around thirty militants carried out the attack against headquarters of the pro-government al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), north of Samarra city in Salahuddin.

The attacks, which occurred on Monday evening, left many personnel killed and injured, the sources said. Around 15 militants blew up themselves during the attacks, while others ran away.

On Tuesday, two PMFs personnel were killed and four others injured in an armed confrontation with Islamic State militants in al-Farhatia district, southwest of Samarra. Scores of Islamic State militants were killed and wounded.

Last week, a family, composed of 12 members, was killed by an Islamic State member in the same village.

A report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said 94 Iraqis were killed, while 163 others were wounded due to Violence and armed conflicts during the month of May.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled "caliphate" from Mosul in June 2014.

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Syria

Cutting off Syria funds lets war criminals off the hook The Post and Courier By Josh Rogin May 28, 2018

For several weeks, President Donald Trump has refused to release any of the $200 million of U.S. stabilization assistance his own administration allocated to help protect civilians and promote stability in Syria. Caught up in that confusion is the one international program that is working effectively to collect evidence of war crimes in Syria committed by Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran and Islamic State.

In January, Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced that the United States would commit approximately $350,000 to help fund the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, a U.N. organization created in 2016 to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those who have committed the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria over the past seven years.

"The United States strongly supports the IIIM as a valuable tool to hold the Assad regime accountable for its atrocities, including its repeated and ongoing use of chemical weapons," Haley said Feb. 5, pointing out that Russia effectively killed the only other functioning investigative mechanism by vetoing its renewal.

Several Trump administration officials confirmed to me that this funding is now on indefinite hold. A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations simply said, "We are reviewing our current Syria assistance programs at the President's request." The National Security Council declined to comment. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was confronted about the funding during a committee hearing Wednesday.

Pompeo praised the White Helmets, Syria rescue workers whose U.S. support is also in limbo, but didn't say what Trump will decide. Lawmakers are pressing the administration on the IIIM funding because they believe it's crucial to maintaining American credibility and leadership as a defender of war crimes victims worldwide.

"Now is not the time to withhold this critical funding," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., wrote in a May 11 letter to Haley. "Bashar al-Assad, along with his Russian and Iranian backers, has continued to kill and injure civilians with impunity as he seeks to consolidate his power over the last rebel-held areas in the country. ... We must remain vigilant and remember that those conducting these acts are war criminals and they must be brought to justice."

Stephen Rapp, the former State Department ambassador at large for war crimes, told me that the IIIM's work is the best chance to see justice not only for Syrians but also Iraqis, Yazidis, Europeans and even Americans who have fallen victim to atrocities at the hands of Assad, Iran, Russia or ISIS.

The actual amount of the funding is only a fraction of the organization's budget, but the symbolism of America reneging on its pledge to help is devastating, Rapp said. European allies are contributing far larger sums. The IIIM has even supported investigations conducted by the FBI.

Trump also is sending the message that the United States doesn't follow through on its commitments, said Susannah Sirkin, director of international policy and partnerships at Physicians for Human Rights. The group praised Haley for announcing the funding in January.

Trump has been very clear that he wants to remove all U.S. troops from Syria. He seems not to understand that stabilizing the humanitarian situation there is what will allow him to bring our troops home. He doesn't realize that in the long term, justice is a prerequisite to peace.

Trump's Middle East and Iran strategies depend on a long-term approach for Syria that promotes stability in areas not already under Assad and Iranian control. The United States has an interest in giving the millions of Syrian civilians there a fighting chance to survive, rebuild and heal so that Iran doesn't take over and extremism doesn't return.

Amnesty International says US-led strikes on Raqqa may amount to war crimes CNN By Angela Dewan and Hilary McGann June 5, 2018

Airstrikes by the US-led coalition in Raqqa, Syria, probably breached international humanitarian law and potentially amount to war crimes, according to a report by Amnesty International that is being hotly contested by the Pentagon.

The rights group accuses the coalition of killing and injuring thousands of civilians in attacks that were at times "disproportionate or indiscriminate," during its offensive to flush ISIS militants from their de facto capital.

"The coalition's claims that its precision air campaign allowed it to bomb (ISIS) out of Raqqa while causing very few civilian casualties do not stand up to scrutiny," said Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, Donatella Rovera.

"On the ground in Raqqa we witnessed a level of destruction comparable to anything we've seen in decades of covering the impact of wars."

A spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting ISIS slammed the report, saying that Amnesty never approached the Pentagon about its findings and was out of line for suggesting the coalition has violated international law.

"They are literally judging us guilty until proven innocent, that's a bold rhetorical move by an organization that fails to check the public record or consult the accused," Col. Thomas Veale told reporters at the Pentagon via a video briefing from Baghdad.

"They never asked us for a comment, an interview, or a courtesy check of the draft, they also failed to check the public record thoroughly," Veale said.

He also criticized Amnesty for recommending that the coalition develop a process for canceling a strike if it's deemed indiscriminate or disproportionate, saying that the coalition already had this process in place.

Veale added that the number of civilian casualties can't ever be really known.

"As far as how do we know how many civilians were killed -- I'm just being honest, no one will ever know," Veale said. "Anyone who claims they will know is lying."

The report, "War of Annihilation," details the loss of civilian life in Raqqa, based on interviews with 112 civilians at the sites of 42 coalition airstrikes.

It illustrates the cases of four civilian families who, between them, lost 90 relatives and neighbors, including 39 from one family alone. Almost all were killed by coalition airstrikes, the report alleges. "They are part of a wider pattern and provide a strong prima facie case that many coalition attacks that killed and injured civilians and destroyed homes and infrastructure violated international humanitarian law," the report states.

The report illustrates the difficult choice many civilians faced of either choosing to flee and be killed by ISIS snipers or risk being hit in coalition strikes.

The Badran family, which lost 39 members and 10 neighbors in four separate coalition strikes, fled from place to place as front lines in the city rapidly shifted.

Rasha Badran, one of the survivors, told Amnesty that she thought the coalition forces would target only ISIS militants.

"We were naive. By the time we realized how dangerous it had become everywhere, it was too late; we were trapped," she told Amnesty.

Veale said that the coalition was willing to work with anyone to assess allegations of civilian casualties.

"I can tell you with confidence we are always willing to re-evaluate cases based on new or compelling evidence," Veale said, adding that, "as I speak people are looking at that article and trying to correlate those claims to the strike log and how the battle of Raqqa unfolded as our participation went in it."

"We are open to working with anyone," Veale said. "We are just as willing to work with Amnesty International, as I said I wish we had worked with them earlier but they didn't come to us, they just went ahead and published"

Coalition 'leveled' Raqqa

The coalition's offensive in Raqqa began a year ago, with US, British and French forces taking part.

Tens of thousands of airstrikes were carried out in the city, Amnesty said, adding that US forces "admitted to firing 30,000 artillery rounds during the offensive." It said US forces were responsible for 90% of coalition strikes.

Amnesty said that ISIS' four-year rule in Raqqa was "rife with war crimes," but that did not relieve the coalition of its obligation to minimize harm against civilians.

"What leveled the city and killed and injured so many civilians was the US-led coalition's repeated use of explosive weapons in populated areas where they knew civilians were trapped. Even precision weapons are only as precise as their choice of targets," Rovera said.

Responding to the report, the US-led mission to Syria said it made rigorous efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

"The coalition applies rigorous standards to our targeting process and takes extraordinary efforts to protect non-combatants," it said in a statement sent to CNN.

It added that it had been transparent about its strikes and routinely assessed any allegations of civilian casualties. It is committed to transparency "when civilian casualties unintentionally occur," the statement said.

A British Ministry of Defense spokesperson said its mission in Syria fully complied with international humanitarian law, also adding it had been open and transparent throughout the offensive and detailed each of its nearly 1,700 strikes.

"We do everything we can to minimize the risk to civilian life through our rigorous targeting processes and the professionalism of the (Royal Air Force) crews but, given the ruthless and inhuman behavior of (ISIS), and the congested, complex urban environment in which we operate, we must accept that the risk of inadvertent civilian casualties is ever present," the spokesperson said in statement.

Where Civilians Became a Commodity for Settling Accounts Just Security By Bassam al Ahmad June 6, 2018

Over the first six months of 2018, the situation in Syria has steadily deteriorated for the civilians caught amidst warring powers who appear to view them as assets rather than people and victims who must be protected. The April strikes by U.S. and European allies on Syrian military facilities in response to the Assad regime's alleged chemical attack in Douma city, the March bombings by Syrian-Russian forces in Eastern Ghouta, together with the Turkish-led military operation in Afrin (backed by Syrian opposition forces) in January, all opened new fronts in Syria's long and complicated war, and created new tensions among Syrian Arabs, Kurds (who were disappointed by the operation in Afrin), and the international community. As long as military operations are seen as a solution to the problem in Syria, there can be no hope for parties to come together to establish peace in Syria.

Meanwhile, the civilians who are vital to any peace process are stuck in the middle and used for strategic gain by the powers enmeshed in the war. The Syrian government has, for example, used civilians as bargaining tools in their prisoner exchange negotiations with armed militias. Meanwhile, as civilians continue to die, permanent U.N. Security Council members — such as the United States and the United Kingdom on one side, and Russia on the other — have been at odds over how to put an end to hostilities and meaningfully investigate accountability for war crimes by all sides in the conflict.

All of this belies a lack of genuine commitment to ending civilian suffering and reaching a lasting peace in Syria.

Rather than treat civilians as mere tools to be used as bargaining leverage, the powers involved in the Syria crisis must pursue an inclusive peace strategy that does not rely on violence or fuel divisions. A lack of such a process means that impunity, conflict, and a lack of accountability will persist.

Attacks in Eastern Ghouta.

A prime example of the cynical approach to civilian deaths in Syria are the April airstrikes by the U.S. and supported by European allies on Assad's alleged chemical weapons facility that took place after years of Western silence and indifference to other acts of violence against Syrian civilians. Yet there are countless other examples that go unseen. Take, for instance, the story of Osama al-Toukhi, a boy less than five years old who has suffered from the blockade of Ghouta. The eastern portion of that city, a few kilometers away from Damascus, has been under siege and aerial bombardment by Syrian and Russian government forces and affiliated militias since 2013. The attacks have crippled the flow of medical supplies and food in Ghouta, leaving many at risk of hunger or death. Osama fell ill with a minor viral infection, according to medical staff who examined him in Ghouta. Despite the relative simplicity of the disease Osama suffered from, doctors were unable to provide him with medication because such medicine is unavailable in Ghouta. Osama's name was registered on the "evacuation lists" of hundreds of critically-ill civilians in urgent need of evacuation to the nearest medical center in Damascus that were created by an agreement negotiated by the Russian government and the Jaysh al-Islam rebel group.

Despite his father's contact with the Syrian Red Crescent branch in Damascus, Osama died on September 23, 2017, about a week after he fell ill, amidst the Syrian government's siege on Ghouta that prevented his evacuation.

The Russian-Jaysh al-Islam "evacuation idea" in Ghouta is just one dozens of other initiatives that have taken place over the years in the Syrian conflict — where the government and rebel fighters in the conflict have used the civilians are used as bargaining tools to negotiate for pro-Syrian detainee releases in the war.

Osama's case is sadly one of many thousands of Syrian men, women, and children at risk of death who have been trapped and ignored in an ongoing war between armed opposition groups, the Syrian regime, and international forces like the Russia, Turkey, and the United States.

The post- ISIS strategy and the need to protect civilians.

Civilians in other parts of Syria have also suffered as a result of U.S. and international intervention. For instance, the major battle by the U.S.-coalition against ISIS in Raqqa and Deir ez Zur resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths and the displacement of countless more. The end of the battle opened the door to new challenges, confronting which is as important as combating ISIS itself. These include safeguarding the return of internally displaced people and refugees, eliminating the tens of thousands of ISIS-manufactured mines and booby traps, and establishing sound Syrian institutions capable of preventing ISIS from reemerging due to a vacuum caused by their departure.

These challenges cannot be met if the U.S. moves forward with plans to withdraw troops from Syria in six months. Syrians greatly fear the prospect of renewed fighting and instability that would result if the Americans were to withdraw without any strategic plan in place. As others have noted, the U.S. needs to collaborate with key local, regional, and international actors to establish sound Syrian institutions that are capable of preventing ISIS from reemerging due to a vacuum caused by their departure.

Failed International Efforts to Protect Syrian Civilians.

But what does genuine international coordination mean? Syrians seem to have given up on a solution from the United Nations Security Council, which throughout the conflict has used the language of protecting civilians while failing to make firm decisions ensuring civilians are protected from hostile operations. Though the Council recently agreed on a ceasefire resolution in Syria to stop bombing and allow humanitarian access, attacks by Syrian government forces continued against rebel-held areas such as Ghouta. Similarly, before the end of 2017, Russia and China passed international Resolution No. (2393) to allow humanitarian access to needy people in Syria; but nothing came of it. Resolutions remain just words if not followed up with any real action. The same Council that failed to find a solution for the inhabitants of the besieged areas in Syria, like Ghouta, failed to take action after the Joint Investigative Mechanism on Chemical Weapons Use in Syria (JIM) found that the Syrian government was behind the horrific chemical attack that killed almost a hundred Syrians in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province in April 2017.

The actions of international relief organizations on the ground are no better. There is a lack of genuine coordination between international organizations and the local Syrian organizations working in the humanitarian and human rights field. Instead, dozens of international and local organizations replicate efforts of their predecessors without trying to build on lessons learned from the previous experiences of others. This has led to fragmented efforts and advocacy campaigns on everything from general issues such as the protection of civilians, to the treatment of detainees, missing persons, or sieges.

Failures seem most evident in cases of detainees and missing persons in Syria. Hundreds of meetings, workshops, and statements, could not make significant progress to address the issue of detainees and missing persons in Syria. The inability of advocacy groups to coordinate has encouraged the emergence of the "black market," where thousands of deals have taken place between brokers from various parties and parents of detainees and missing persons. In many cases, families are forced to pay middlemen or brokers bribes just to hear any news about their children. A large number of detainees and other missing persons depend more on these black market operations than on any solution from the United Nations or international humanitarian aid organizations.

Looking ahead, recommendations for the international community

The international community should shift its focus from military solutions towards ensuring a real political transition in Syria which gives all Syrians, regardless of their gender, religion, ethnicity, and political background the full right to rebuild their country and implement a transitional justice process.. The countries responsible for the loss of lives, destruction of homes, and the displacement of Syrians, owe it to the people of Syria to develop a strategy that strives to build institutions with and by the people of Syria.

It is no secret to anyone that solving the Syrian issue is not up to Syrians anymore. It is also well known that Syria has become a geographical area divided among different spheres of influence: Russia and Iran, Turkey, the United States, and others. The second half of 2018 presents an opportunity for these countries to work with the United Nations to lead a genuine political transition in Syria, one where all Syrians, groups are represented in the peace-building process, including Arabs, Kurds, men, and importantly women – who have so far been excluded from the peace process. This can only be done if there is a genuine pursuit of peace talks rather than a resort to guns.

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Afghanistan

Suicide bomber kills 14 after Afghan clerics outlaw suicide bombings Reuters By Qadir Sediqi June 4, 2018

A motorcycle suicide bomber killed 14 people near a gathering of Muslim clerics in the Afghan capital on Monday after they had issued a fatwa against suicide bombings, officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks to hit Kabul.

The bomb exploded at the entrance to a giant tent, near residential buildings in the west of Kabul, after most the clerics had left, a witness said. Women living nearby were crying as they gathered with their families.

The bomb killed seven clerics, four security officers and three people whose identities were unknown, a senior government official said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which underlines deteriorating security ahead of parliamentary and district council elections set for Oct. 20. The Taliban, fighting to restore strict Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster at the hands of U.S.-led troops, denied involvement.

More than 2,000 religious scholars from across the country began meeting on Sunday at the Loya Jirga (Grand Council) tent, denouncing years of conflict. They issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, outlawing suicide bombings and demanding that Taliban militants restore peace to allow foreign troops to leave.

A series of bombings in Kabul has killed dozens of people in recent months and shown no sign of easing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

On Wednesday, gunmen armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers stormed the heavily fortified headquarters of the interior ministry, battling security forces for more than two hours.

In April, two explosions in Kabul killed at least 26 people, including nine journalists who had arrived to report on an initial blast and were targeted by a suicide bomber.

A week earlier, 60 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration center in the city.

Militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for many attacks in Kabul but security officials say several are much more likely to be the work of the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Taliban.

Provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban have stepped up operations across the country since they announced the beginning of their annual spring offensive in April.

Islamic clerics hit by bomber right after suicide attack "fatwa" CBS News June 4, 2018

An attack targeting a meeting of Afghanistan's top religious body on Monday left at least seven people dead and nine others wounded, according to Kabul police. Ghafor Aziz, the police chief of Kabul's 5th District, said officers were working to secure the area after the attack.

A suicide bomber struck at one of the entrances of the compound where the meeting of the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was taking place in the traditional tent of the Loya Jirga, or the council of elders.

It was not immediately clear how many of the clerics were among those killed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it appears to be the latest in a series of attacks by Islamic militants in Kabul. Both the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan and the Taliban have launched several attacks in Kabul in recent months, killing hundreds of people.

Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the Loya Jirga, which earlier on Monday issued an Islamic ruling, or a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks "haram," or forbidden under Islamic law. The explosion struck as the gathering was ending and the participants were about to leave.

The council appealed to both the Afghan government forces and the Taliban and other militants to halt the fighting and agree on a cease-fire. It also called for peace negotiations between the two sides. It was the first time the council has issued such an appeal.

Less than an hour before the attack happened, Ghofranullah Murad, a member of the council, read out a written statement from the gathering saying that innocent Afghan men, women and children are the true victims of the 17-year-long war.

"The ongoing war in Afghanistan is illegal and has no root in Sharia (Islamic) law," the statement said. "It is illegal according to Islamic laws and it does nothing but shed the blood of Muslims."

"We the religious Ulema call on the Taliban to respond positively to the peace offer of the Afghan government in order to prevent further bloodshed in the country," it added.

The fatwa also said that killing people by any means - such as bombs and suicide attacks - as well as violent acts, including robbery and kidnapping, count as sins in Islam.

Kabul religious gathering hit by deadly suicide bombing Aljazeera June 4, 2018

Several people have been killed in a suicide attack targeting Muslim scholars who had gathered in a tent near the Polytechnic University in Afghanistan's Kabul, officials said.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least seven people have been killed and nine others wounded in Monday's attack. He had earlier reported the death toll was 12 people. Police officials also confirmed there were seven deaths.

"The attackers was on foot near the gate of the university," Danish told Al Jazeera.

Waheed Majrooh, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health, told Al Jazeera that at least 12 wounded were transferred to emergency units.

Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said the religious scholars across the country had gathered in the tent to issue a 'fatwa' - a religious edict issued by an expert in Islamic law - against suicide bombings and the ongoing war in the country.

"The gathering had just finished and the clerics were coming out of the tent when that suicide bomber went off," she said.

"They had just come to an agreement saying that suicide bombing was un-Islamic."

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which underlines deteriorating security ahead of parliamentary and district council elections set for October.

Both the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) have stepped up attacks on Kabul, making it the deadliest place in the country for civilians in recent months.

Security around Kabul has been on high alert in recent days with more checkpoints and patrols as the government warned of attacks by the Taliban on government installations.

On Wednesday, gunmen stormed the heavily fortified headquarters of the interior ministry, battling security forces for more than two hours.

In April, at least 26 people, including nine journalists were killed who had arrived to report on an initial blast and were targeted by a suicide bomber.

A week earlier, at least 57 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the doorway of an ID distribution centre in the voter registration centres.

The Taliban often claim their fight against the foreign forces and their followers in the country is a holy war. They are seeking to return the country to strict Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster by US-backed troops.

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Yemen

New bout of heavy fighting in Yemen kills dozens ABC News By Ahmed Al-Haj May 27, 2018

Heavy fighting in Yemen between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 150 people in the last four days, Yemeni officials and witnesses said Sunday.

Government forces have been trying to seize rebel-held areas along the western coast, while an allied Saudi-led coalition has been targeting the rebels with airstrikes in the northwestern Saada province, a rebel stronghold.

The offensive is being waged by ground troops carrying sophisticated weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, with air cover from the coalition, the officials said.

Security officials say a Saudi-led airstrike near a gas station in the capital, Sanaa, killed four civilians on Saturday and wounded 10.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, while the witnesses did so for fear of reprisals.

In March, an international rights group said fighting along Yemen's west coast has displaced 100,000 people in recent months, mostly from the Red Sea port city of Hodeida. Amnesty International warned that the "the worst could be yet to come."

The port is a vital lifeline from which most of the Yemeni population's food and medicine comes. The coalition accuses the Houthis of using Hodeida and other ports to receive weapons and ammunition from Iran, which denies arming the rebels.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war pitting the coalition against the Iran-backed Houthis since March 2015. The coalition aims to restore the government of self-exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The three-year stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than 3 million. It has also damaged Yemen's infrastructure, crippled its health system and pushed it to the brink of famine.

The U.N. considers Yemen to be the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance. Malnutrition, cholera and other diseases have killed or sickened thousands of civilians over the years.

More than 100 killed in Yemen fighting NHK World Japan June 3, 2018

A battle for a key western port in Yemen reportedly has killed more than 100 soldiers and insurgents since late May.

The AFP news agency reports that government forces have been stepping up their offensive since last week in an attempt to close in on the insurgent stronghold of Hodeidah.

Fighting has been ongoing for more than 3 years between Houthi insurgents and forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The government forces are supported by Saudi Arabia, while the insurgents are backed by Iran.

The Red Sea port of Hodeidah is the most important base for the insurgents to receive weapons, as well as food and other daily commodities from abroad.

As the insurgents respond with heavy resistance, the United Nations is warning that 200,000 people might be displaced if fighting spreads to the city center.

It's estimated that 8.4 million people in Yemen are facing the risk of starvation due to serious food shortages.

The port of Hodeidah has received about 70 percent of humanitarian supplies. International aid groups are increasingly concerned that humanitarian lifelines could be severed.

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Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Official Website of the Extraordinary Chambers Official Website of the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) Cambodia Tribunal Monitor

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Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Official Website of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)

MP Jamil Sayyed to Stand Witness Before STL in June Naharnet June 1, 2018

MP Jamil al-Sayyed is set to stand as witness before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination case of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and companions, Naharnet sources said on Friday.

According to the sources, former General Security head Sayyed will stand before the tribunal on June 5, 6 and 7.

Hariri was assassinated in a massive car explosion on February 14, 2005 in Beirut which killed 21 others, and injured 226 more.

Al-Sayyed was one of four generals ordered jailed by the STL in connection with the assassination of Hariri, father of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

The four generals were eventually released due to lack of evidence.

Al-Sayyed has accused so-called "false witnesses" of framing him and the other three generals.

Sayyed, elected lawmaker in Lebanon's May 6 elections, has demanded that the justice ministerial portfolio be allocated to his pro-Damascus March 8 political camp.

Former General Security head testifies at STL The Daily Star June 5, 2018

Pro-Hezbollah MP Jamil al-Sayyed testified Tuesday at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, having been called by the defense team for one of the men accused of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The defense for Hassan Oneissi is the only defense team out of four that has elected to present a case before the tribunal.

Sayyed is one of two witnesses called by the defense, the other being Professor Siegfried Sporer, who testified last month on the general principles of eyewitness testimony and identification.

A former General Security head, Sayyed was one of four top security officials arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of Hariri.

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Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh accused of using drugs war to hide political assassinations Telegraph June 1, 2018

When Habibur Rahman last month joined scores gunned down by Bangladesh's elite paramilitary anti-crime taskforce, officers told a vivid tale of how he had met his end.

The alleged drug dealer had been killed in a gunfight with officers, they said, after he and his associates were cornered in their hideout and fired on police first.

Such shootouts with the police Rapid Action Battalion are daily occurrences after the government launched a deadly crackdown on the drugs trade which has drawn comparisons with President Roderigo Duterte's similarly violent purge in the Philippines.

More than 120 people have been killed in just over a fortnight and thousands arrested in what the country says is a campaign to stem the trade of addictive stimulant pills known as yaba flowing to Bangladesh's addicts.

But as the death toll soars there are growing allegations the campaign is a cover for a wave of extrajudicial killings and political intimidation ahead of a general election later this year.

Mr Rahman's family told The Telegraph that far from being killed in a shootout in his drug hideout, the 42-year-old activist for the main opposition party was last seen being accompanied from his local mosque in Chittagong by men thought to be plain clothes officers.

One close relative who declined to be named in fear of retaliation said: "[He] was taken after he came out from the mosque. He was killed in custody.

"He was neither a drug seller nor a drug addict. It was because he was involved in politics against the government and protested about land affairs."

The scale of the bloodshed and reports of summary executions have led the American embassy to voice worries over the killing.

"Of course I express concern about the number of people dying," Marcia Bernicat, the US ambassador, said this week. "Everyone in a democracy has a right to due process.

"Everyone in a democracy has a right to due process. If there is a violent confrontation people may not survive that, but the goal should be zero tolerance, the goal should be to try and bring everyone to justice," she said.

Bangladesh has an estimated seven million drug addicts, with up to four-fifths addicted to yaba which streams across the border from labs in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who launched the crackdown in early May, said it would continue until Bangladesh was free of the drug menace and she said no drug "godfathers" would be spared.

"No innocent people are being harassed or targeted, but if any such incidents happen it will be addressed through proper investigation," she said.

Asaduzzaman Khan, the interior minister, dismissed suggestions of wrongdoing. "These aren't extra-judicial killings. Our forces are bound to use arms only to save themselves," Mr Khan said.

Yet in a country where the lucrative drugs trade is entwined with politics and police corruption, the crackdown may be providing the opportunity for officers to intimidate rivals, settle scores and silence those who know too much, sources told The Telegraph.

As well as the dead, more than 9,000 people have been arrested and more than 7,000 criminal prosecutions brought in mobile courts with little due process.

Jyotirmoy Baru, a lawyer at Bangladesh's supreme court, said the campaign was illegal, with police apparently acting as judge, jury and executioner.

He said the campaign had little to do with stopping drugs because the trade was so vast. Instead it was likely to be intimidation ahead of a general election pencilled in for the end of the year, he said. He said: "Even as the election approaches, there will be more killing in the name of the war on terror and all the other excuses the government uses to kill people."

A tide of methamphetamine, much of it from Burma, is this year sweeping through swathes of Asia.

Malaysia last week made its largest ever seizure of crystal methamphetamine, with customs officials saying they had found close to 1.2 tonnes disguised in golden yellow tea packets in a shipment from Burma.

Indonesia and Thailand have also made record seizures since the start of the year.

The market for the drug is expanding at a frightening rate, despite harsh penalties in many Asian nations and an ongoing war against drugs in the Philippines which has seen thousands of suspected users and dealers gunned down in cold blood.

Burma has emerged as the source of most of South East Asia's meth, which is mostly produced in lawless border regions that are difficult to police.

Bangladesh courts handing out death sentences Asia Times By Bertil Litner June 6, 2018

Courts in Bangladesh are continuing to hand out death sentences to people who sided with Pakistan and were involved in mass killings during the 1971 liberation war.

The Indian website South Asia Terrorism Portal reported on June 4 that the special International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced Reaz Uddin Fakir, a member of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami's student organization during the war, to death for murdering eight Hindu villagers in 1971.

"Thus far," the website reported, "the War Crimes Trials, which began on March 25, 2010, have indicted 124 leaders" of various then pro-Pakistani and mostly Islamic organizations. "Verdicts have been delivered against 69 accused, including 43 death penalties and 26 life sentences." Six of those 43 have been hanged.

Sheikh Hasina Wazed's Awami League (AL)-led government, which came to power after winning the December 2008 elections, had made it one of its pledges during that the campaign to go after what those who assisted the Pakistan Army in 1971 and then, according to her and her party, were guilty of complicity in genocide.

Sheikh Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, led the fight for separation from Pakistan, which led to the formation of Bangladesh in 1971. He was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers in August 1975.

The problem is that new elections should be held in Bangladesh this year, and the opposition consists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and various Islamic-oriented allies. The BNP, led by Begum Khaleda Zia, the widow of Ziaur Rahman who was president from 1977 until he was assassinated in 1981, was prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006.

She will not be able to contest the election because she was given a five-year sentence in a corruption case in February, and the law prohibits a convicted person sentenced to over two years from taking part in an election. But if her party and its allies should win, Bangladesh could be entering a day of reckoning when the BNP and its allies take revenge on the AL, and that could plunge the country into yet another political crisis. If the AL-led coalition wins, the purge of pro-Pakistani and Islamic elements will most likely continue.

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War Crimes Investigation in Burma

Joint Submission to CEDAW on Myanmar Human Rights Watch May 24, 2018

Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights welcome the opportunity to provide joint input into the November 2017 request by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for an exceptional report from the Myanmar government on the situation of women and girls from northern Rakhine State.

This submission outlines the findings of our organizations through several separate on-the-ground investigations in 2016, 2017, and 2018 that documented widespread human rights violations committed against ethnic Rohingya women and girls by Myanmar security forces.

Our organizations have documented numerous mass atrocity crimes—including widespread killings, torture, rape and other sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and mass arson—committed by Myanmar's army and other state security forces. Human Rights Watch has found that these atrocities against the Rohingya amount to crimes against humanity. Fortify Rights, along with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Allard K. Lowenstein Clinic at Yale Law School, found strong evidence of genocide being committed against the Rohingya. In November 2017, Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said the Myanmar army's widespread use of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls was "a calculated tool of terror aimed at the extermination and removal of the Rohingya as a group," adding that she documented the basis for characterizing the crimes as genocide. In December, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said that one "cannot rule out the possibility that acts of genocide have been committed." In March 2018, UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said the crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar "bear the hallmarks of genocide."

This latest campaign of violence against Rohingya comes in the context of a long history of abuse and discrimination against Rohingya women by Myanmar authorities. These include sexual harassment and violence as well as denial of access to sexual and reproductive health care for women and girls protected under international law.

We have organized key findings of our research in response to some of the questions posed by CEDAW to the Myanmar government.

Information concerning cases of sexual violence, including rape, against Rohingya women and girls by state security forces, and details on the number of women and girls who have been killed or have died due to other non-natural causes during the latest outbreak of violence.

In December 2016 and January 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers in Bangladesh interviewed 18 women, of whom 11 had survived sexual assault, as well as 10 men, all of whom had fled military-led "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State in late 2016. Altogether, Human Rights Watch documented 28 incidents of rape and other sexual assault. In September and October 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed 52 Rohingya women and girls, including 29 survivors of rape, who fled to Bangladesh since the 2017 "clearance operations" began. Rape survivors were from 19 different villages in Myanmar's Rakhine State, mostly in northern Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships.

In December 2016 and March 2017, Fortify Rights spoke to eight Rohingya women who were raped and gang raped by Myanmar army soldiers in October and November 2016 in seven villages in Maungdaw township. Six of these cases were gang rapes; two were rapes followed by attempted gang rapes. All but one rape survivor who spoke to Fortify Rights witnessed soldiers rape other Rohingya women and girls as well. Fortify Rights also documented and analyzed the testimony of more than 17 witnesses to rapes in October and November, and from 14 Rohingya who provided additional information related to rape committed by Myanmar army soldiers in the above villages and other villages during that period. Five medical doctors and physicians treating Rohingya rape survivors in Bangladesh and three international aid workers provided further information to Fortify Rights on the rape of Rohingya women during "clearance operations" in Maungdaw township in October and November 2016. Fortify Rights also documented rape and sexual violence in August and September 2017 in all three townships of northern Rakhine State, including through interviews with nine witnesses to rapes, gang rapes, and post- rape body mutilation by Myanmar army soldiers.

Witnesses and survivors of rape described to Fortify Rights how Myanmar army soldiers gang raped Rohingya women and girls in homes, schools, paddy fields, forested areas, and other community buildings, often in plain view of other soldiers and civilians.

Human Rights Watch found that Myanmar security forces raped and sexually assaulted women and girls both during major attacks on villages following August 25, 2017, as well as in the weeks prior to these major attacks, sometimes after repeated harassment. In every case described to Human Rights Watch, the perpetrators were uniformed members of security forces, almost all military personnel. Rape survivors described brutal circumstances of the rapes. All but one of the rapes reported to Human Rights Watch were gang rapes, involving two or more perpetrators. In eight cases, women and girls reported being raped by five or more soldiers. They described being raped in their homes and while fleeing burning villages. Human Rights Watch documented six cases of "mass rape" by the Myanmar military, including in Tula Toli village, officially known as Min Gyi, in Maungdaw township. In these instances, survivors said that soldiers gathered them together in groups and then gang raped or raped them. Ethnic Rakhine villagers, acting alongside and in apparent coordination with government security forces, were also responsible for sexual harassment, often connected with looting.

The rapes were accompanied by further acts of violence, humiliation, and cruelty. Security forces beat women and girls with fists or guns, slapped them, or kicked them with boots. In two cases, women reported that their attackers laughed at them during gang rapes, and more frequently attackers threatened their victims either verbally or through actions like putting a gun to their heads. Some attackers also beat women's children during the attacks. Fortify Rights documented instances of soldiers killing Rohingya women and mutilating their bodies after raping them, including cutting off breasts and cutting vaginas and stomachs with long knives.

Rape survivors spoke of enduring numerous abuses at once. In addition to being gang raped, three women described with great distress seeing security forces murder their young children. Other women and girls said they witnessed killings of their elderly parents, their husbands, other family members, and neighbors. Many reported witnessing cruelty toward those especially vulnerable, such as a soldier killing a 5-year-old girl who could not keep pace with her fleeing family, or security forces pushing older persons who could not flee back into burning houses.

None of the rape survivors interviewed by Human Rights Watch or Fortify Rights received post-rape care in Myanmar. Survivors did not receive urgent interventions that must take place within days of the rape, such as emergency contraception (within 120 hours) or prophylaxis against HIV infection (within 72 hours). The Myanmar government continues to obstruct humanitarian access to much of Rakhine State.

Humanitarian actors in Bangladesh have said that they have received and treated or provided support to dozens or, in some cases, hundreds of women who survived rape or other attacks. The UN reported that humanitarian organizations had provided support to 2,756 survivors of sexual and gender based violence. These likely represent only a small proportion of the actual number of women and girls raped, given that they do not include those who were raped and subsequently killed, that survivors may be reluctant to seek assistance due to the stigma attached to sexual assault, and that various other factors discourage reporting, including concern about paying fees for medical care and lack of confidence in future criminal investigations. Of the survivors interviewed by Human Rights Watch, almost two-thirds had not reported their rape to authorities or humanitarian organizations. Most of the survivors with whom Fortify Rights spoke had not reported their rape to anyone at the time—even members of their families.

UN humanitarian reports indicate that sexual violence has been widespread in the recent attacks against Rohingya, with a cumulative total of 6,097 incidents of gender-based violence reported from late August through late March, including, but not limited to, sexual forms of violence. Between October 22 and 28 alone, 306 gender-based violence cases were reported, 96 percent of which included emergency medical care services. These UN figures aggregate different organizations' cases. One Bangladeshi organization that does outreach work with survivors of sexual violence told Human Rights Watch in September 2017 that they had received hundreds of new cases of rape and other sexual violence since the August 25 attacks. Another organization said they had provided services to 58 survivors of rape and 12 survivors of sexual assault that had arrived since August 2017. A third organization said they had identified 50 recent rape survivors as of September 2017.

Rohingya women and girls were also raped and subjected to sexual harassment by Myanmar security forces during security operations in late 2016. Human Rights Watch documented 28 incidents of rape and other sexual assault in this period. Some incidents involved several victims.

Fortify Rights met a local physician in December 2016 in Cox's Bazar who had treated 13 Rohingya women and girls who survived rape and sexual violence in villages in Maungdaw township between October and December 2016. When Fortify Rights met him again in March 2017, he had treated more than 60 Rohingya women and girls, ages 13 to 30, for rape and sexual violence.

Rohingya women and girls told Human Rights Watch they had been afraid of rape for many months prior to these events, and had often experienced sexual harassment and assault from security forces and civilians aligned with those forces as part of their lives beforehand.

Women continued to suffer even after reaching Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch spoke to 10 women who continued to experience physical injuries, including vaginal tears, bleeding, or infections as a result of rape, without accessing care. Many women interviewed by Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, including suicidal ideation. Despite donor governments' important contributions to the humanitarian crisis, Rohingya rape survivors still lack access to long-term post-rape care. Access to safe abortion care, including for rape survivors, has also been in short supply.

Information on investigations, arrests, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences or disciplinary measures imposed on perpetrators, including members of the armed forces, found guilty of such crimes.

As best as we have been able to ascertain, there have been no meaningful, impartial investigations into sexual violence committed by Myanmar security forces, nor arrests, prosecutions, or convictions since the security force operations began in August 2017. On the contrary, Myanmar authorities have on multiple occasions offered wholesale denials of allegations of rape and sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls by state security forces. During an April 2018 meeting with UN Security Council members in Naypyidaw, Commander-in-Chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing responded to concerns from the delegation about sexual violence by the armed forces by stating "that the representatives need to consider the fact that it is a nature to exaggerate the rape case any country does not accept," according to his office.

The findings of the final report of the Tatmadaw investigation team led by Lt. Gen. Aye Win concerning the conduct of the armed forces during the security clearance operations.

The Myanmar armed forces, or Tatmadaw, issued a report on Facebook on November 13, 2017, laying out the key findings from the investigation headed by Lt. Gen. Aye Win. The report claims that state security forces committed no wrongdoing, including that "security forces did not commit shooting at innocent villagers and sexual violence and rape cases against women." The wholesale denial contradicts considerable evidence to the contrary, including photographic evidence and testimony of thousands of witnesses, as well as satellite imagery collected by Human Rights Watch that shows the partial or complete destruction of 362 Rohingya villages. The military has stated that "all the findings [from the Tatmadaw investigation] are true and correct" as recently as April 30.

The Myanmar government has established several separate commissions to investigate the patterns of violence beginning in Rakhine State in 2016, none of which have been credible or impartial.

Whether instructions have been or are being issued to all branches of the state security forces that torture, gender-based violence including rape and other forms of sexual violence, expulsions, and other human rights violations are prohibited and that those responsible will be prosecuted and punished.

Myanmar authorities have repeatedly said that their forces are aware of and have followed Myanmar law, military codes of conduct, rules of engagement, and international law, and that forces will be held accountable for any breaches.

Our organizations are troubled by the authorities' denials of attacks on women. In September, the Rakhine State border security minister denied the reports of sexual violence. "Where is the proof?" he said. "Look at those women who are making these claims—would anyone want to rape them?" When Human Rights Watch, Fortify Rights, and others documented widespread rape of women and girls during military "clearance operations" in late 2016 in northern Rakhine State, the Myanmar government crudely rejected these allegations as "fake rape."

The gender-specific measures taken by the state party to rehabilitate and compensate Rohingya women and girls who are victims/survivors of such violence.

Our organizations are unaware of any such measures taken by the Myanmar government. Nor has the government claimed to have taken such action. Rather, the government has maintained its wholesale denials of any assault perpetrated against Rohingya women and girls. In a May 2018 statement on his meeting with the UN Security Council delegation, the military commander-in-chief claimed that "he heard refugees who fled to Bangladesh said they were raped by the Myanmar Tatmadaw.… If rape cases happen, the victims need to inform the committee [on Rakhine State, led by Aung San Suu Kyi] which will take action against all complaints.… However, there is no complaint till today."

The number of Rohingya women and girls who have died during childbirth.

We do not have estimates on how many women and girls died in childbirth.

In September 2017, Human Rights Watch documented three cases in which Myanmar security forces obstructed women from accessing emergency maternal health care. For example, one 40-year-old woman from Maungdaw township told Human Rights Watch that she knew of two neighbors who had died during childbirth after soldiers guarding her village would not allow them to leave the village to get medical help. Another woman, also from a village in Maungdaw township, said that her cousin died "on the road" because soldiers at a checkpoint refused to allow her to travel to a hospital. In a third example, highlighting restraints on Rohingya prior to the late 2017 "clearance operations," a woman from Buthidaung township said her sister died in childbirth around May 2017: "My sister Mumena died giving birth.… We had to wait to get money for a bribe. We needed to get money by phone from outside and then get cash and then go bribe the military. Then we knew we would need to bribe the nurse too. But she died before we got the money."

The "clearance operations" and violence against Rohingya in late 2017 made no exceptions for pregnant women, including those who were heavily pregnant during the attacks on villages. Women in late stages of pregnancy described fleeing from their homes—walking up and down steep hills slippery from monsoon rains, through rivers and dense vegetation, often with little to eat and on sore hips and swollen legs. Several interviewees told Human Rights Watch that six weeks after having fled, they still felt pain that they believed was linked to their forced migration. Human Rights Watch also interviewed three women who gave birth on their journey to Bangladesh without any medical support.

Human Rights Watch collected testimony from women and girls about their lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care in their home villages in Rakhine State. Of the 52 women Human Rights Watch interviewed, only two knew what a condom was, and only one had received prenatal care when she was pregnant. Humanitarian aid workers and Bangladeshi health officials working to provide health care to Rohingya women and girls who had arrived since August 2017 said that they generally found knowledge and experience of maternal and sexual care to be extremely low.

For many years, the Myanmar authorities subjected Rohingya women to a strict two-child policy. Rohingya found to have violated restrictions on childbirth were prosecuted under Criminal Law section 188, which could result in imprisonment for up to 10 years, fines, or both. For several years, Rohingya women told Fortify Rights they feared repercussions from authorities for unauthorized childbirth. This fear, compounded by lack of access to safe, modern birth control options to prevent unwanted pregnancies, forced pregnant Rohingya women to either flee the country or resort to illegal and unsafe abortions. Clandestine efforts to terminate pregnancies rather than face government retaliation for unsanctioned childbirth resulted in death and harmful medical repercussions. Abortions among Rohingya women in northern Rakhine State have traditionally been conducted using the "stick method," whereby a stick is inserted into the uterus to terminate the pregnancy. Women report being afraid to seek necessary medical attention for subsequent health complications.

The number of clinics providing obstetric services and the ratio of doctors and midwives to the Rohingya population.

We do not have precise figures detailing the number of clinics and doctors available to provide obstetric services, or the ratios. However, several contextual features and figures should be considered with respect to the provision of, and access to, these services. The Rohingya population in Rakhine State has extremely poor access to health care of any kind in all parts of the state due to multiple factors, including the limited number of health care facilities and restrictions on freedom of movement that make routine access to any facilities or care difficult. Prior to the violence in northern Rakhine State beginning in October 2016, UN sources estimated that there was one physician per 75,000 persons and one physician per 83,000 persons in the Rohingya Muslim-majority townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, respectively, whereas in Sittwe, the Rakhine Buddhist- majority capital of Rakhine State, there was one physician for every 681 persons. Additionally, Rohingya in northern Rakhine State have for years been subjected to a network and series of checkpoints where they were often forced to pay bribes, and frequently faced harassment or arbitrary detention, further decreasing the odds of their seeking or receiving health care. Currently, humanitarian access to northern Rakhine State is severely restricted, including lifesaving medical care.

Throughout Rakhine State, access to health care is extremely limited, particularly for Rohingya. Outside of northern Rakhine State, the government confines more than 124,000 Rohingya to dozens of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps located in five townships. Access to health facilities for these displaced people is mostly limited to in-camp provisions by nongovernmental organizations whose access is needlessly restricted by the authorities. Rohingya in IDP camps in Sittwe township may be referred to Sittwe General Hospital, but only for life-threatening cases, and they are treated in a Muslim-only ward. Referrals are difficult to acquire, and Rohingya in these camps told Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights in 2017 that they are required to pay for their own security and transportation to the hospital, which is cost prohibitive. Rohingya women in Sittwe township camps reported in 2017 to Fortify Rights that access to health care is the most common reason for taking out loans, and some Rohingya women explained that they elected not to seek medical help in order to avoid acquiring debt that they would be unable to pay off.

In general, state security forces require all Rohingya confined to IDP camps to obtain permission to travel, and Rohingya must also pay a fee to authorities. Moreover, once permission is granted and a fee is paid, Rohingya can only travel in the presence of security forces, if the security agents on duty agree to escort them. This escort "service" is not considered a right but a privilege, and it is not always forthcoming—for example, the authorities only escort Rohingya in the morning or afternoon, regardless of the situation. These restrictions have impacted women's health and maternal mortality.

The number of Rohingya families displaced by the violence, disaggregated by sex, and measures taken by the government to ensure their voluntary and safe return, economic reintegration, and compensation for loss of land or property.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), an estimated 94,500 people were displaced in northern Rakhine State in October and November 2016, including more than 74,500 men, women, and children who fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Since August 2017, more than 717,000 have fled to Bangladesh. In addition, untold numbers of Rohingya have fled Myanmar steadily since 2012, including from violence, draconian restrictions, and avoidable deprivations in humanitarian aid. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that from 2013 to 2015, more than 200,000 fled by sea toward Thailand and Malaysia from the Myanmar-Bangladesh border area. Many ended up in the custody of transnational human trafficking syndicates who held Rohingya women in conditions of enslavement and, in many cases, sold women and girls to the highest bidder.

The Myanmar government has announced plans for the repatriation of refugees, including hastily built processing centers and transit camps, yet has failed to establish any means of ensuring that returns are safe, dignified, and voluntary, as provided by international standards. Photos of the transit camps reveal buildings enclosed by high barbed-wire perimeter fencing.

The Myanmar government has a poor record of treating Rohingya displaced by past abuses or providing sustainable conditions for their return, such as in the case of the confinement of more than 124,000 Rohingya who fled ethnic cleansing in 2012 and remain in supposedly "temporary" camps in central Rakhine State. Humanitarian conditions in central and northern Rakhine State remain abysmal, with access for aid agencies reduced since August 2017, according to the UN and aid groups. Protecting returning refugees will not be possible without significant monitoring efforts by international observers. The Myanmar government has largely rejected international demands to allow free access for international aid agencies, the media, and rights observers, allowing only a small number of humanitarian agencies to deliver aid in northern Rakhine State, and denying genuine access to independent journalists and rights monitors.

We recommend that CEDAW call upon the government of Myanmar to:

Ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid organizations in Rakhine State, including organizations assisting sexual violence survivors and providing sexual and reproductive health care.

Ensure unimpeded access for journalists and human rights monitors in Rakhine State.

Cooperate fully with international investigations into alleged crimes in Rakhine State, including the UN Fact-Finding Mission established by the Human Rights Council.

Comply with the UN Security Council November Presidential Statement, which called on the Myanmar government to "implement measures in line with UN Security Council resolution 2106 (2013) to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual violence and … work with the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict."

Immediately repeal all discriminatory laws, regulations, and local orders and cease practices that restrict the marriage, movement, childbirth, and livelihoods of Rohingya. Communicate to central, state, and local governments and the general public that the relevant authorities are to immediately cease all official and unofficial practices related to discriminatory restrictions against Rohingya.

Amend the 1982 Citizenship Law to end discriminatory provisions against Rohingya and reduce statelessness by providing Rohingya equal access to citizenship rights.

In accordance with the universal prohibition of racial discrimination, amend the 1982 Citizenship Law to use objective criteria to determine citizenship, such as descent, through which citizenship is passed through one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident.

Revise the Citizenship Law in accordance with article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to ensure that Rohingya children have the right to acquire a nationality where otherwise they would be stateless because they have no relevant links to another state.

Ensure full access to quality sexual and reproductive health care, including prenatal care and emergency obstetric care. This includes making sure such services are available and accessible to Rohingya populations and lifting restrictions on travel and movement.

Take appropriate measures and provide means to allow women victims and their families willing to return to their original homes to return in safety and with dignity, and take effective and adequate measures to rebuild the homes and basic infrastructure destroyed.

Facilitate the safe reintegration of women victims and their families. Special efforts should be made to ensure the full participation of returned victims and their families in the planning and management of resettlement, reintegration, and rehabilitation programs. Myanmar has the duty and responsibility to assist returned victims and their families to recover, to the extent possible, their property and possessions that they left behind or were dispossessed of. When recovery of such property and possessions is not possible, competent authorities should provide or assist these people in obtaining appropriate compensation or other forms of just reparation. Repeal the four so-called race and religion protection laws, which are discriminatory and violate the rights of religious minorities and women.

Ensure that the draft Prevention and Protection of Violence Against Women Law includes measures for accountability for sexual violence, in particular conflict-related abuses, with provisions for military perpetrators to be tried in civilian courts. Publicize the draft law to solicit input from all civil society prior to its tabling in parliament.

Uncovered: 'Worrying evidence' of new genocidal campaign on Kachin Christian minority in Myanmar Sky News By Alex Crawford June 4, 2018

The investigation, which involved travelling to remote parts of Myanmar, follows months of persecution against Rohingya Muslims by the country's military.

More than 700,000 have been forced to flee to Bangladesh in what the United Nations called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Now another ethnic group - the mainly Christian Kachin people - believe they are being increasingly targeted because the Myanmar military's persecution of the Rohingya went unpunished.

The attacks by the military are increasing in intensity and severity.

Kachin rebels, who mostly live in the northern mountainous area of Myanmar bordered by China and India, say one in eight of their population has been displaced.

The area which they call Kachin state is cut off by borders and Myanmar troops.

Authorities in Myanmar have been denying journalists, aid agencies, international observers, foreign diplomats and politicians access to the state.

Sky cameraman and producer Neville Lazarus and myself managed to reach this remote region with the help of a Kachin network that stretches from Myanmar to Europe.

What we found in this forgotten part of the world was worrying evidence of a second genocidal campaign - at least that's certainly what the Kachin people believe.

They have been fighting for self-determination since Burma (later renamed Myanmar, but the Kachin people are reluctant to recognise this) gained independence from the British in 1948.

Over the decades they have formed an effective army, known as the the Kachin Independent Army (KIA), and an administrative body called the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).

Thousands have died in bombings and attacks against them carried out by the Myanmar military - and these attacks have increased substantially since January after the same forces had spent months driving the Rohingya out from the west of the country.

The national forces have been using helicopters and heavy artillery to bomb Kachin rebel positions.

Thousands of civilians have been stranded in the thick jungle and fled several times to escape the attacks.

We spoke to many Kachin civilians who had moved multiple times to try to reach safety, some on the backs of elephants.

A number spoke of attacks in or near civilians who had taken shelter in the camps for displaced people dotted across the region.

Lashi Ókawn Ja, a mother of four now living in one of the dozens of camps in the north of Myanmar, told Sky News: "I am convinced the Burmese government is trying to ethnically cleanse the Kachin people.

"Whenever they see Kachin people they try to kill us and they rape the women, even the women who are pregnant."

The vice president of the Kachin Independence Council (KIC), General Sumlut Gunmaw, also believes Myanmar's authorities want to crush them. "Maybe their actions against us are not so sudden as their violence against the Rohingya, but their intentions are just the same. They want to eliminate us," he said.

The attacks against the Kachin are random and indiscriminate.

They are mostly done from the air or by using artillery.

The Myanmar military has targeted some of the many amber and jade mines in the area, which serve as a valuable source of income for the Kachin people.

These mines have funded their rebellion and enabled them to buy weapons by trading with their foreign neighbours.

The vice president said he had handed over several documents detailing the violence and the repeated attacks against Kachin civilians to British and UN diplomats but the allegations of war crimes had been ignored.

Religious cleansing spreads from Muslims to Christians in Myanmar Premier By Tola Mbakwe June 6, 2018

Myanmar's military has been accused of turning its guns from Rohingya Muslims on another ethnic minority in the country, the Kachin people.

Release International, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, said the military stepped up its campaign against the mainly Christian Kachin people in April.

They launched attacks using artillery, helicopter gunships and infantry. Troops have displaced thousands, driving them from their burning homes.

The military have also occupied churches and interrogated entire congregations.

There are reports that the soldiers are using rape as a weapon of war and are deliberately targeting camps for the displaced, which is a war crime. They are also said to be sowing landmines to make villages uninhabitable.

Andrew Boyd, spokesperson for the charity, told Premier the oppression amounts to war crimes.

"We're talking about something like 10,000 people displaced and what we saw happening with the Rohingya Muslims, all of the brutality of that, exactly the same kinds of tactics, we're now seeing happening with the largely Christian Kachin people," he said.

"People have been displaced. They've been moved from their homes to camps, they've been moved from one camp to another camp. If that's true, and the evidence certainly points in that direction, these are war crimes."

According to Release International, conflict between the controlling Myanmese people and other peoples erupted after World War Two. Some Christian tribes, who sided with the British against the Japanese, expected a homeland of their own in return. Instead they have faced 60 further years of conflict.

Christians make up around nine per cent of the population and have long been targets for religious persecution in Myanmar.

Release International said Buddhist monks have led violent attacks against churches and church leaders, house churches have been banned and there have been attempts to outlaw religious conversion. There have also been legal moves to enforce the notion that to be Burmese is to be Buddhist

Boyd added: "There is a very powerful movement within Burma to say that if you are Burmese, you must be a Buddhist. In fact there have been moves to try to enshrine that in law and prevent religious conversion there."

Release International is working with partners in Burma to support families impacted by persecution. Release is also supporting efforts by the International Christian Association to train Christians and supply Bibles - the authorities have outlawed Bibles translated into the languages of the indigenous tribes.

[back to contents] Israel and Palestine

Israel's top court approves use of live fire against Gaza protesters Middle East Eye May 24, 2018

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously dismissed a petition by two human rights groups that accused Israel's military of violating the law by using snipers and live ammunition against peaceful Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

The court ruled that the use of live fire was legal because the protesters constituted a real danger to Israeli soldiers and citizens. It also said that Hamas, which controls Gaza but is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, intentionally mixed its members with civilians.

This ruling comes as protests are expected to take place this evening in the Gaza Strip.

A 24-year-old Palestinian man died on Friday after succumbing to wounds sustained several days ago from Israeli fire, according to the Gaza health ministry. Officials did not give further details of when he was shot but said that the incident took place during demonstrations along the buffer zone.

Funerals also took place on Friday to commemorate the deaths of Palestinians who died after being wounded last week by Israeli fire Gaza's buffer zone with Israel.

The Gaza health ministry confirmed it had removed Leila al-Ghandour, an eight-month-old baby who died last week, from the list of those killed by Israeli forces during the protests. The ministry said health officials were still determining her cause of death, claiming she may have had a "pre-existing condition".

Adalah and Al Mezan filed the petition on 23 April in response to the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers over weeks of protests near the Gaza border fence.

However, the death toll rose sharply on 14 May when more than 60 people were shot dead and thousands were injured while taking part in protests to mark the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Smaller protests, and further deadly shootings, took place on Tuesday 15 May, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or 'catastrophe', when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced into exile as Israel was created in 1948.

The casualties raised the death toll since 30 March, the day when the six-week Gaza "Great March of Return" began, to at least 115, with hundreds more still in hospital with serious injuries.

Those killed include 12 children, two journalists, and three people with disabilities, with 45 percent of casualties shot in the head, face or neck, according to figures published by Adalah.

In a statement on Thursday, Adalah and Al Mezan said: "The Israeli Supreme Court completely ignored the broad factual basis presented to it by the petitioners, which includes multiple testimonies of wounded and reports of international organisations involved in documenting the killing and wounding of unarmed protesters in Gaza."

The human rights organisations said the court had "refused to watch video clips documenting Israeli shootings of demonstrators and, rather than actually examining the case, fully accepted the claims presented to it by the state. The extreme nature of the ruling is also highlighted by the striking absence of any mention of the casualty figures that had been presented to the court."

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's defence minister, praised the ruling on Twitter, writing: "The High Court of Justice unanimously rejected the petitions of the pestering left-wing Zionist organisations against the IDF's strong and steadfast stance against the enemy in Gaza.

"It is time for you to understand that while you are trying to strengthen our enemy, the IDF is also protecting you," Lieberman wrote, referring to Israel's military.

The petition had called out Israel for using "excessive force" and said that its "open-fire policy is illegal".

"The military informed the supreme court that it shoots people in Gaza who are allegedly 'leading inciters or breachers of order'; they did not claim that the people shot were armed or that they posed an immediate threat to the lives of others," it read.

"This is a violation of international law, amounting to willful killing and injury, and constituting war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute," the petition said.

The Israeli army insists its actions are necessary to defend the frontier between Israel and Gaza and prevent mass infiltrations. Still, rights groups said many people who were killed were nowhere near the fence that Israel had erected on Palestinian territory in Gaza.

The United Nations Human Rights Council last week voted to assign war crimes investigators to look into Israel's response to the protests which was condemned by international human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

During the session, UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein condemned Israel for its systematic abuse of Palestinians, including 1.9 million "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death" in Gaza, as he voiced his support for an independent inquiry into the killings.

Israel Shells Gaza Outpost After Two Palestinians Breach Border; One Said Killed Haaretz By Yaniv Kubovich and Jack Khoury May 28, 2018

The Israeli military said it fired shells at an outpost in the northern Gaza Strip Monday after Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians for breaching the border and crossing into Israel from Gaza.

Shots were fired toward Israeli forces while chasing the two, who, according to the Israel Defense Forces, were found to be carrying knives, flammable material and tools to cut the border fence. The IDF added that the two entered Israel with the aim of carrying out an attack.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, a man was killed in the Israeli strike and a second sustained moderate wounds. The ministry identified the former as Mohammad Ardia, 30, and said one of the men was a member of an armed faction.

Meanwhile, the ministry said a Palestinian man who was shot by Israeli forces near the border fence in the Gaza Strip died of his wounds. The man, Nasser Arf al-Arini, 28, was critically wounded two weeks ago in eastern Jabalya, a city in northern Gaza.

The death of al-Arini raised the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since March 30, the start of the demonstrations, to 117. In the past few days, two other Palestinians succumbed to wounds they sustained protesting along the fence: Yasser Habib, 24, and Hussein Abu Awida, 41.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 330 Palestinians who were wounded by Israeli army fire during the weekly demonstrations are still in serious condition. During last Friday's border protest, 109 wounded Gazans were evacuated to hospitals. No fatalities nor serious injuries were reported.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli army struck a Hamas target in the southern Gaza Strip with tank fire, killing three Palestinians. The Israeli army said the attack came in response to an explosive charge being placed near the fence, which exploded while being dismantled.

The reports come hours after the Israeli air force attacked Hamas targets near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip Saturday night. The IDF said the targets were struck in response to an incident earlier Saturday, in which four Palestinians from Gaza crossed the border fence into Israel and threw a firebomb before fleeing back under Israeli fire.

According to the military, the four Palestinians were in Israel for about a minute and left behind a tent that read "The March of Return. Returning to the land of Palestine.

'Palestinian Volunteer Medic Killed, Dozens Wounded' in Latest Protests on Israel-Gaza Border Haaretz By Jack Khoury, Almog Ben Zikri and Yaniv Kubovich June 1, 2018

A Palestinian woman was killed by live fire and 40 others were wounded during demonstrations near the Israel-Gaza border on Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Razan Najar, a 21-year-old volunteer for a medical team helping wounded protesters, was shot near Khan Yunis.

"Najar was shot in the neck while wearing a medical staff uniform and this is a war crime," said the Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Jawad Awaad. "Najar volunteered to help the medical teams back when the marches started and was hurt from gas inhalation several times." He added Najar gave an interview this afternoon, in which she said she was proud to help the wounded.

Israeli firefighters, meanwhile, took control of forest fires in communities near the border. The Israeli military reported thousands of demonstrations in five locations along the border, where protesters burned tires and attempted to damage security infrastructure. The military also reported that an armed Gazan opened fire at IDF vehicles and another Palestinian manage to cross the border in northern Gaza, detonate a grenade and return to the Strip.

Since the confrontations along the border of May 14, the number of participants has fallen dramatically, and Hamas and other Palestinian factions have set June 5 as the date for a march by tens of thousands to mark 51 years since the Six-Day War, known as Nakba Day by the Palestinians.

On Thursday, Physicians for Human Rights sent a shipment of medicines and medical equipment worth 400,000 shekels ($112,000) to Gaza. The shipment included 10 hospital beds for the intensive care wards in Gaza's public hospitals, and dozens of types of equipment and drugs whose supplies have run out in the Gazan Health Ministry's warehouses.

The equipment was bought with money from donations collected by the group in recent weeks from Israelis. Next week a PHR delegation of 14 doctors is expected to enter Gaza over the weekend to provide medical aid to the Palestinian health system. The delegation includes general and pulmonary surgeons, orthopedists, pediatricians, internal medicine specialists, neurologists, gastroenterologists and mental health experts. The physicians will conduct surgery, examine patients and help train the Palestinian medical staff.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian in occupied West Bank Aljazeera June 2, 2018

Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian man in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

Residents identified the man as construction worker Ramy Sabreen, 36, who was working on a site in the old city of Hebron when he was shot on Saturday, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Citing eyewitnesses, WAFA reported that Sabreen was shot after he did not hear the Israeli soldiers' commands to stop his vehicle, which was being used at the construction site. The witnesses told WAFA that Sabreen did not pose a threat to the soldiers.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the man was shot after he attempted to "run over" soldiers with his vehicle. It added that no soldiers were injured.

WAFA also reported that soldiers prevented emergency services from reaching the site where the shooting occurred.

Saturday's incident comes after a 21-year-old Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli soldiers near the border fence in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Razan al-Najjar, a volunteer paramedic with the Gaza health ministry, was wearing the white uniform of a medic when she was shot in the chest.

According to the health ministry in Gaza, another 40 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire during protests along the Gaza-Israeli borders on Friday.

Palestinians in Gaza have been protesting along the border for more than two months, demanding the right of refugees to return to their homes.

At least 119 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the weekly border demonstrations in Gaza, which were launched on March 30.

Israel kills slain Palestinian medic's cousin Gulf News Palestine June 6, 2018

Israel has shot and killed Ramzi Najjar days after his cousin Razan Najjar, a paramedic, was murdered by snipers last Friday on the border fence of Gaza, while she was trying to help a demonstrator who was injured.

Israeli Occupation soldiers fired two or three bullets across the fence, hitting Razan in the upper body.

She was pronounced dead soon after.

Three days after, on Monday morning her cousin Ramzi Najjar was killed the same way, bullets fired by Israeli Occupation soldiers.

Ramzi was there trying to express his anger over his cousin's killing, according to his father who spoke to the media.

On Tuesday morning, Red Cross confirmed Ramzi's death to his family, not giving any details on when will the body be given back to them.

Expression fo anger

Ahmad Tibi, a member of Israeli parliament, expressed his anger on Monday in a speech in the weekly Knesset session, in which he described the shooting "a despicable war crime committed by a cowardly and criminal sniper who saw a paramedic with a white coat and pulled the trigger."

"A pure, angelic girl in white, makes me wonder what was the sniper thinking at that moment, what bothered him about what Razan was doing?"

Then he asked: "Why didn't the US express any concern for Razan's life, instead protecting the terrorism of the snipers here?"

Tibi saluted Razan in Arabic saying "To Razan Najjar, the martyr of Humanity, I say from here on my behalf and on behalf of all your family in Haifa, Taibeh, Nazareth: a flower goes to your precious soul.

In the video, Tibi directed his speech towards the Israeli Knesset member Anat Berko, telling her: "Razan represents life and you sanctify death, her values were higher than the values of Anat Berko (MK) and Nikki Haley (US ambassador to UN)."

Adding in anger "the shoe of Razan Najjar is equivalent in worth to the head of the US ambassador Nikki Haley". While Razan was rushing to her death on Friday, Haley vetoed the Palestinian protection resolution put forward by Kuwait on behalf of Arab countries at the United Nations.

The US ambassador to the UN has described the draft resolution as a "grossly one-sided approach" to the conflict.

Haley blamed Palestinian resistance, and demanded them to "cease all violent activity and provocative actions, including along the boundary fence."

Israeli army kills Palestinian youth in occupied West Bank Aljazeera June 6, 2018

An Israeli soldier has killed a Palestinian youth during a raid in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

Ezzadin Tamimi was shot dead when troops came to arrest him over alleged stone throwing, the Maan news agency said on Wednesday.

The soldier struck the 21-year-old with three bullets to the neck from a distance of around 45 metres, according to Palestinian activists.

Villagers said paramedics were prevented from treating Tamimi as he bled out from his wounds.

Video shared on YouTube by villagers shows the young man wounded on the ground as an Israeli army medic appears to administer first aid.

The Israeli army said one of its soldiers was hit by a rock while conducting the arrest and responded by shooting.

"The soldier hit by the rock opened fire on the Palestinian who was (then) injured and received medical treatment on the spot. Despite this, the suspect is dead," it said in a tweet, adding that an investigation was ongoing.

Israel's killing of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza has earned it severe criticism in recent months.

Since March 30, at least 119 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza - a besieged territory of nearly two million people on the Mediterranean coast.

On Friday 21-year-old volunteer medic, Razan al-Najjar, was shot dead by Israeli troops as she tried to evacuate a wounded protester.

[back to contents]

AMERICAS

North & Central America

Survivors of Massacre Ask: 'Why Did They Have to Kill Those Children?' The New York Times By Elisabeth Malkin May 26, 2018

After the soldiers left, the survivors crept out from the ravines and the caves where they had hidden from the slaughter to see a land laid to waste. Some tried to quickly bury the charred bodies of their mothers and their children. Then they fled.

For decades, these witnesses grieved in silence over the massacre in the Salvadoran village of El Mozote and nearby hamlets. But after a recent court decision, they have finally begun to speak out publicly, describing in grim detail the four days in December 1981 when Salvadoran military units, trained and equipped by the United States, killed almost 1,000 people in the largest single massacre in recent Latin American history.

"Miraculously, God spared us so that we could tell what happened," said Dorila Márquez, 61, sitting on the covered terrace of the rebuilt house she fled with her husband and small children when she was 25. As the young family ran that day, they heard screams and gunfire behind them.

Survivors like Ms. Márquez had faint hope they would ever see justice. But a provincial judge has reopened a long-dormant trial over the massacre at El Mozote, ordering the retired military commanders who once sowed terror across El Salvador to hear charges of war crimes in his 40-seat courtroom.

"Why did they do it, why did they have to kill those children?" said Ms. Márquez, reliving her anger and grief at the moment when she finally saw the generals in the courtroom.

The massacre occurred in the midst of a conflict in El Salvador that became a singular focus of Washington's battle against communism in the final decade of the Cold War.

As soon as President Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981, he increased military aid and sent Special Forces instructors to El Salvador, whose army was fighting the leftist guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, or the F.M.L.N.

In December of that year, the Salvadoran army began a campaign to flush out insurgents from the northern hills of eastern Morazán province. According to accounts by a United Nations truth commission and a later ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the operation began with an aerial and artillery bombardment of El Mozote before the soldiers marched in on Dec. 10 and began interrogating villagers about the guerrillas.

The following morning, they ordered everyone into the town square, separating the men and women, and shoving the children into a small building known as the convent alongside the village church.

Throughout that day, the soldiers methodically executed everyone in the village. They killed the children last, firing a barrage of bullets into the convent and then setting it aflame. An exhumation more than a decade later found the remains of at least 143 victims in that building. The average age was 6.

The same day, the soldiers continued on to La Joya, a hamlet tucked along a valley, where they hauled people out of their homes, shot them and set fire to their houses.

After the government and the F.M.L.N. signed peace accords in 1992, a United Nations-backed truth commission described 32 cases of human rights abuses during the civil war, including El Mozote, and named those whom investigators believed were responsible.

Five days after the United Nations issued its report in 1993, the national assembly in El Salvador granted amnesty for crimes committed during the war. Impunity for the atrocities carried out — as many as 85,000 civilians were killed or disappeared in the conflict — was now enshrined in law, and it appeared military leaders would remain untouchable.

That ended two years ago, when the Salvadoran Supreme Court overturned the amnesty.

Lawyers for the survivors asked a provincial judge to reopen a trial that had begun in 1990, and he agreed.

While the Mozote case is one of the few exceptions where evidence was compiled before the amnesty law, prosecuting a crime that occurred more than 35 years ago will not be easy.

"The amnesty law was pernicious," said Naomi Roht-Arriaza, a law professor at the Hastings College of the Law at the University of California who follows historical human rights violations in Latin America. "Now we're at a point where the courts are starting these cases in very difficult conditions regarding evidence."

For many witnesses, though, the events remain seared on their memories.

In the attack on La Joya, soldiers killed 24 relatives of Rosario López, 70, including her parents, two sisters and 17 nieces and nephews.

When the shooting started, her husband, José de los Angeles Mejía, now 72, took his three children up a hill to hide, then went back for his wife. The two of them escaped just ahead of the troops.

"I heard the commotion, the prayers, from where I was hiding up in the mountain," he said. "There was shooting at a bunch of kids and some of them cried — and others had stopped."

Mr. Mejía clambered down the mountain five days later to La Joya's silent horror. He found the body of one of his wife's sisters, her dress hiked up, her underwear tossed on a rock. He covered her.

The bodies of children were stacked in a pile, their faces unrecognizable. "I said to myself: What barbarity!" he recalled.

Another survivor, José Amparo Martínez, 66, returned to La Joya to look for his mother, days after he had fled with his wife and four young children. He found her body under the collapsed wood of her burned house. "Everybody did what little they could to bury the bones," he said.

After La Joya, the troops moved on to surrounding villages, killing 978 people in total. Almost half the victims were younger than 12, according to government records provided late last year to El Faro, an online newspaper in San Salvador.

The slaughter was akin to genocide, said the Rev. José María Tojeira, the director of the Human Rights Institute of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in San Salvador, the capital. "The country has to be aware of that brutality, and in a democracy, that awareness is acknowledged in the judicial system," he said. "It is the only way."

As the trial has slowly unspooled in the provincial capital of San Francisco Gotera, the evidence given by survivors has helped to establish what happened. But it has yet to show why the soldiers killed civilians so relentlessly, and who had ordered them to do so.

Eighteen elderly men are facing preliminary charges of murder, aggravated rape and terrorism — accused of being the architects and executors of the scorched earth assault.

"What is so compelling about this trial is that the prosecutors for the victims have finally gone up the chain of command," said Terry L. Karl, a Stanford University political scientist who follows El Salvador. "The trial hopefully will provide more understanding about what the military strategy was and why these families died."

At the top of the pyramid of those standing trial is a retired general, José Guillermo García Merino, 84, who served as the defense minister from 1979 to 1983.

Granted asylum by the United States in 1990, he was sent back to El Salvador in 2015. In the immigration court ruling ordering his deportation, Judge Michael C. Horn rejected Mr. García's argument that the abuses occurred without his knowledge or against his orders. Instead, the judge wrote, the atrocities were part of Mr. García's "deliberate military policy."

For decades the Salvadoran military denied anything had occurred in El Mozote. Six weeks after the massacre, The New York Times and the The Washington Post published witness accounts, but General García told the United States ambassador the reports were nothing but Marxist propaganda, according to State Department documents published by the journalist Mark Danner in his 1994 book about the massacre.

Lizandro Quintanilla, a prominent defense lawyer representing one of the accused, retired Gen. Walter Salazar, said there are still questions about what occurred in El Mozote and that it was impossible to link the exhumed remains to the commanders facing trial.

"It isn't a history from which we can infer any responsibility," Mr. Quintanilla said, "to my client or the accused."

The military men have appeared in court once to hear the charges. Survivors watched in silence.

"I wasn't scared, but I felt angry, enraged," said Ms. López, one of the witnesses in attendance. "I wanted to say something to them, but in front of the judge, it's not permitted."

The trial could run well into 2019, according to the judge, Jorge Guzmán Urquilla, who said in an interview he was committed to a fair trial, and uncovering the truth for survivors.

"These gaps, these holes in our history cannot persist," Mr. Guzmán said. "They have to be filled."

For the victims, the trial could finally answer essential questions, said María Sol Yañez, a social psychologist at Central American University.

"The survivors say they don't even know who to forgive," she said, adding a refrain she hears from the witnesses: "'What were we doing that they wanted to inflict so much harm on us?'"

The explanation could lie in the military archives, but the army has told the court that records of the operation do not exist.

What may help uncover the military secrets are records kept far from El Salvador.

American support means that "the U.S. archives are chock-full of information about the El Mozote massacre," said Kate Doyle, an El Salvador expert at the National Security Archive, an organization that seeks to declassify government documents.

The Clinton Administration did release many records, but Ms. Doyle said there are more that El Salvador could ask the United States to declassify.

In El Mozote today, children ride bicycles across the plaza just steps from a monument to the victims. Some are identified simply as "son" or "daughter" along with the names of their parents. There was nobody left who knew their names.

A few survivors have returned after decades away.

Sofía Romero Pereira, 55, was raped by soldiers a few weeks before the massacre and fled the village. She stayed away until 2010. Her parents and four siblings were killed and she had long feared she could not bear the memories of her mother.

"Remembering is reliving the past," Ms. Romero said, able now to repeat her story as many times as she must to obtain justice.

Finding justice is also what has been driving Ms. Márquez, the woman who escaped with her family in 1981 and has been a leader in the village's efforts to finally hold those responsible accountable.

Looking out over a garden of bamboo and orange trees, she spoke of the men who had destroyed her village. "They will face God — but they also have to respect the law," Ms. Márquez said. "What is the law if you don't apply it?"

Mexico seeks talks over 'silenced zone' BBC June 1, 2018

Mexico has requested urgent talks with the UN after a report linked security forces to mass disappearances in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas.

The UN report says at least 21 people have gone missing since February after being detained by the security forces in and around Nuevo Laredo.

A number of reporters have been killed in Tamaulipas, with UN officials calling the state a "silenced zone".

This week, journalist Hector Gonzalez was found beaten to death in the state.

Mexico police officers sought over three missing Italians

The Mexican government said it would take immediate measures to stop the violence and find those still missing.

It also asked for more information from the UN.

The UN published its report on Wednesday, documenting the disappearance of at least 21 people.

"Many of these people are reported to have been arbitrarily detained and disappeared while going about their daily lives," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said.

"It is particularly horrific that at least five of the victims are minors, with three of them as young as 14. These crimes, perpetrated over four months in a single municipality, are outrageous."

Human rights activists in Mexico put the actual number of disappearances in Nuevo Laredo at more than 40.

More than 200,000 people have been killed or have disappeared since Mexico's government declared war on organised crime in December 2006.

The military offensive has led to the destruction of some drug gangs, splits within others and the emergence of new groups.

But with widespread corruption and impunity exacerbating Mexico's problems, there is no end in sight to the violence.

In 2014, 43 students disappeared in the southern state of Guerrero.

The state prosecutor in that case said that the students had been handed by corrupt local police to a criminal gang, who killed them and burned their bodies.

US-led coalition committed 'potential war crimes' in Syria The Sunday Times June 5, 2018

The US-led military campaign to oust the Islamic State (IS) group from the Syrian city of Raqa in 2017 killed hundreds of civilians in indiscriminate bombing, committing possible war crimes, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The military operation failed to take "adequate account" of civilians and the "precautions necessary to minimise harm" to them in the city, which IS had declared its de facto capital in Syria, the human rights group said in a report.

"Coalition claims that its precision air campaign allowed it to bomb IS out of Raqa while causing very few civilian casualties do not stand up to scrutiny," the report concluded.

"The coalition strikes detailed in this report appear either disproportionate or indiscriminate or both and as such unlawful and potential war crimes."

The United States led a four-month campaign of air strikes from June last year, dubbed a "war of annihilation" by US Defence Secretary James Mattis, to liberate Raqa from IS control. Amnesty researchers travelled to the devastated city in February and spent two weeks visiting 42 coalition air strike sites, interviewing 112 witnesses and survivors.

The report -- "'War of Annihilation': Devastating Toll on Civilians, Raqa – Syria" -- details the experiences of four families "whose cases are emblematic of wider patterns".

Between them, they lost 90 relatives and neighbours -- 39 from a single family –- almost entirely from coalition air strikes, according to Amnesty.

"The cases provide prima facie evidence that several coalition attacks which killed and injured civilians violated international humanitarian law," the report said.

The probe, which also analysed satellite imagery and other publicly available material, found the coalition fired vast numbers of imprecise explosive weapons in populated areas.

Amnesty has written to defence officials in the United States, Britain and France -– whose forces carried out the air strikes over Raqa -– seeking additional information about these cases and about other attacks, it said.

"When so many civilians are killed in attack after attack, something is clearly wrong, and to make this tragedy worse, so many months later the incidents have not been investigated," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser. "The victims deserve justice."

Coalition spokesman US Army Colonel Sean Ryan told Britain's Press Association that Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen should "leave the comforts of the UK " and travel to Iraq and Syria to see how coalitions forces were "fighting an enemy that does not abide by any laws, norms or human concern".

He insisted the coalition made "painstaking efforts" to assess allegations of civilian casualties and any "non-combatant death or injury is a tragedy".

A spokesman for the UK ministry of defence said it had been "open and transparent" over its nearly 1,700 Syrian strikes.

"We do everything we can to minimise the risk to civilian life," he added. "We must accept that the risk of inadvertent civilian casualties is ever present."

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South America

Probable 'crimes against humanity' in Venezuela ABC News May 29, 2018

Venezuelan officials in the government of President Nicolas Maduro have committed crimes against humanity, a panel of experts said Tuesday, recommending their finding be forwarded for possible prosecution.

Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, said he will forward the three-member panel's 400- page report and a mountain of supporting evidence to the International Criminal Court.

Senior government officials in Venezuela clearly used the state as an instrument to terrorize its people, he said.

"These crimes are an affront to the conscience of humanity and the welfare of all," Almagro said in a statement.

The report — drawing a sharp response from Venezuelan officials who called it "nothing more than a grotesque media farce" — documents 131 alleged murders perpetrated by security forces or pro-government armed civilian groups — known as "colectivos" — during street protests in 2014 and 2017.

It identified 8,292 executions outside of the judicial process since 2015 and more than 12,000 people arbitrarily detained since the presidential elections of 2013, including more than 1,300 political prisoners.

"The widespread and systematic targeting of opponents of the regime or suspected 'enemies of the state,' constitute the crime against humanity," the report says. "These acts, for which there is no legal basis, did not take place spontaneously or in isolation, but instead reflect a policy put in place by the Government of Venezuela through acts directed by the highest State authorities." The international panel designated by the OAS secretary general included Argentine Santiago Canton, Canadian Irwin Cotler and Costa Rican Manuel Ventura.

They drew their conclusions after five hearings held at the OAS headquarters in late-2017 with testimony from 26 witnesses. They collected documents from victims, relatives of victims and more than 40 non-governmental and international organizations.

Venezuelan diplomats in Washington fired back saying the findings were prepared by "anti-Venezuelan activists" relying on testimony of "criminal fugitives."

It is part of a "propaganda campaign against the Venezuelan state, whose sole objective is to overthrow the Constitutional Government of President Nicolas Maduro," Venezuelan diplomats said in a statement.

Maduro in recent days won an election to a second six-year term as president in a vote his leading challenger called fraudulent and banned opposition parties rejected as an illegitimate victory.

The panel presented its report after the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, announced a preliminary investigation had been launched into alleged crimes committed by Venezuelan police and security forces.

A preliminary investigation is the first step toward a possible full investigation that could lead to charges before the international court.

The International Criminal Court, governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, is the first permanent international criminal court. It investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Venezuela was the first Latin American country to ratify the Rome Statute in December 2002.

Venezuela frees 40 jailed activists and politicians BBC June 3 2018

The Venezuelan government has released another 40 opposition politicians and activists, bringing to 79 the number of people freed in the past two days.

Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the government was reviewing other dissidents' cases. He said it was a goodwill gesture to help ease tensions.

The announcement comes after the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro to a new six-year term last month.

The opposition boycotted the poll. Many countries did not recognise the result.

Fourteen countries including Argentina, Brazil and Canada recalled their ambassadors from Caracas in protest.

Those released on Friday and Saturday include politicians, the son of a dissident former general, a former army general who took to the roof of his house with an assault rifle in defiance of an arrest warrant and the former mayor of the city of San Cristobal.

Many had taken part in protests against Mr Maduro in 2014 and again in 2017; about 170 people died in clashes.

Many of those released had taken part in protests against Mr Maduro

Opposition leader Julio Borges tweeted that they "should never have been in prison".

"There is nothing to thank the dictatorship for," he added.

All those freed have all been banned from using social media or travelling abroad.

The opposition says about 300 people remain in jail on charges that they say are designed to stifle dissent.

Among those considered political prisoners by the opposition is one of Mr Maduro's best known critics, Leopoldo Lopez.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of incitement to violence during protests in 2014. Last year he was placed under house arrest for "health reasons" and was one of two people barred from standing against Mr Maduro in last month's election. The US has said Mr Maduro is a "dictator" and has imposed sanctions on Venezuela. Mr Maduro says his opponents are waging an "economic war" against him. Venezuela is five years into an economic crisis, suffering from hyperinflation and severe shortages in food and medicine.

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TOPICS

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

PM calls for formation of 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission' The Nation May 24, 2018

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has floated the idea of formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with consensus of all the political parties to unearth major historical events, reported by Radio Pakistan.

Speaking with a private TV channel in Islamabad, the prime minister said that the objective of formation of such a commission would not be to persecute, award or punish anyone but to reveal facts behind major events to the people.

To a question the prime minister said all the institutions in the country should work within their constitutional domains.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said elections would be held on time as any delay would amount to constitutional violation.

To a query, he regretted that judicial activism and NAB have paralyzed the functioning of the government and he has brought this issue on the floor of the House.

About FATA, the Prime Minister said mainstreaming of the tribal areas with consensus of all parties is in the best national interest.

War Crimes Court Discussion Reaches Slain President's Hometown The Bush Chicken By Gbatemah Senah June 3, 2018

Amid growing pressure for the government to establish a war crimes court to prosecute atrocities committed during the country's 14-year civil war, citizens of Tuzon, the hometown of slain President Samuel Kanyan Doe in Grand Gedeh, have condemned the calls.

A resident of Tuzon, Deko Diahn said establishing a court to try war criminals would further create animosity among Liberians and undermine the reconciliation that has been achieved.

"Let's just forge ahead with the development of this country instead of bringing war crimes court to investigate war criminals," Diahn said.

He said citizens of Nimba and Grand Gedeh, for example, are now living happily together and having intermarriages, despite knowing that Doe was killed by a Nimbian.

Diahn said one of the surest ways to achieve sustained reconciliation is through a fair distribution of development across all parts of the country. He said reconciliation cannot be sustained when some regions are flourishing, while people in other areas feel ostracized because they are far behind. He referenced the bad road network in the southeast of the country as a key example of counties being underprioritized.

"From Ganta to Grand Gedeh, if you see the road, you regret; but if you are between Ganta and Monrovia, you feel like a Liberian," he said.

According to him, the pavement of the Ganta-Harper highway was a plan of President Doe before his execution but said the plan has since been abandoned by his successors.

Recently, a group of citizens representing several organizations, including the Global Justice and Research Project, Coalition for Justice, National Student Movement, Flomo Theatre, Fubbi Foundation for Development and Sustainability, Citizens Action, and Liberia Trust Communications presented a petition to the legislature calling for the establishment of a war and economic crimes court in the country.

William Gbladeh, an elder of Tuzon, told The Bush Chicken in an interview that establishing a war crimes court would renew their wounds and remind them of their bitter experiences of the civil war.

"We already forgot about it, and then they want to bring back to say this one is black or this one is red? We don't want it," Gbladeh said.

In 2009, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, created as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that restored peace to Liberia, released its final report of testimonies from victims and perpetrators of atrocities committed during the war, which claimed over 250,000 lives.

The commission made over 200 recommendations, including prosecution of individuals it found responsible for various kinds of gross human rights violations and war crimes.

One of those recommended for prosecution is current Nimba senator, Prince Johnson. Johnson headed the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, a breakaway faction of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia and took responsibility for the execution of Doe.

A 2011 publication that surveyed Liberians' reactions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission saw 62 percent of respondents say they wanted the report's recommendations implemented.

Sam Roland Doe, a first cousin of the former president, said his family and members of the Krahn ethnic group have forgotten their bitter past and have also forgiven all those responsible for the death of the former president and atrocities committed against his kin.

Doe, who commanded the Special Security Service during his late cousin's regime, said establishing a war crimes court would bring back bitter memories which might lead to another civil unrest.

Like many others, he seemed to think that development was the way to move forward with reconciliation, which he felt was not done during the former administration. Doe said Tuzon had not been connected to the West Africa Power Pool project, which draws electricity from neighboring Ivory Coast, even though the power lines pass over the home of the former president, which he says attracts tourists each year.

Doe criticized former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for not doing enough to reconcile the country. He accused Sirleaf of refusing to carry out major developments in Grand Gedeh because of her hatred for citizens of the county.

He also said Sirleaf refused to go ahead with the pavement of the road between Ganta in Nimba and Harper in Maryland, even though a plan to pave the stretch of the road was announced by the former president prior to his assassination.

"Sirleaf came in as president and jumped over this piece of road from Ganta to Zwedru; she took it from Fish Town to Harper," he said.

He noted that Sirleaf would not have abandoned the road between Ganta and Zwedru if she held a good mind for the people of Grand Gedeh: "Because she didn't like we the people of Grand Gedeh, that is the reason she did that."

Tuzon was destroyed during the civil war, allegedly by forces loyal to Charles Taylor, who headed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which led the first civil war in December 1989 with a rebellion against Doe's government.

Doe became Liberia's first military leader in 1980 after staging a bloody coup that killed President William R. Tolbert. He then won as president in 1985 during an election he conducted that was marked by fraud.

Tunisia Truth Commission Brings One Court Case in Four Years The New York Times By Lilia Blaise June 6, 2018

A commission that has been working for four years to deliver justice to victims of Tunisia's decades-long dictatorship has brought one case to court, which began last week with a single hearing.

And the commission's four-year mandate expired on May 31, although the government granted it an extension until the end of the year to wrap up its work.

Parliament had the option in March to prolong the Truth and Dignity Commission's mandate for another year, but voted against it. The commission's president, Sihem Bensedrine, said in a recent interview that this was the latest in a series of obstacles that officials at the highest levels of government have thrown in the path of her panel's work.

"This vote was a last attempt for those who fear accountability, especially the president of the republic and his entourage who have never supported the process of transitional justice," she said.

Tunisia, where the wave of Arab Spring uprisings began in late 2010, has been held up as the most successful in the string of revolutions that followed. It ended nearly 60 years of dictatorship and brought a modicum of democracy and greater individual freedoms.

The mandate of the truth commission was also a first in the Arab world for its scope and ambition. It stemmed from a transitional justice law passed in 2013, and the following year, the commission began its work.

Tunisia looked to Kenya and Latin America for models of transitional justice systems, and there was hope that it, in turn, could serve as an inspiration for other Arab nations that have been in upheaval since 2011.

The commission had several missions. One was to mediate between the victims and the perpetrators to try to promote national reconciliation outside of the judicial system. Families could confront the accused, seeking public apologies and a commitment to reveal the truth.

In the case of more serious crimes, the commission was asked to uncover and record past injustices and refer those responsible for prosecution to a network of special courts. The commission received more than 62,700 complaints to investigate, and of those, some 23,000 victims were willing to go to mediation rather than the courts.

Last week, the special court in the southern Tunisian town of Gabès held the first hearing in its first case, which dates back nearly 30 years. It was groundbreaking, according to some of those present, because it was the first time witnesses — including the police — openly detailed systematic torture and violence under the past dictatorships.

For Ms. Bensedrine and many families who suffered under decades of dictatorship, the hearing offered a glimmer of hope that justice would be served.

"The vote at the Parliament was clearly a move to stop us," Ms. Bensedrine said days before the first trial opened. The vote against extending the commission's mandate came just days after she referred that case to the court.

The decision was one of numerous hurdles placed in the commission's way. The most serious of them was a new reconciliation law passed in September 2017 that, according to its opponents, bypassed and undermined the transitional justice process.

President Beji Caid Essebsi, who served in prominent positions under both of Tunisia's former dictators, supported a government-controlled reconciliation process rather than the independent commission, and he proposed the law.

The new law offered many business leaders and officials the option of dealing with the government instead of cooperating with the independent panel. It allowed business leaders accused of corruption to avoid charges by reaching a financial settlement with the government to reimburse at least part of their illegal gains.

The law also held that former civil servants who had not been directly involved in political crimes or corruption could not be held responsible for their actions under the dictatorship.

Members of the Truth and Dignity Commission said this contradicted their mission, which was to hold the accused accountable before the Tunisian public. The reconciliation law does not oblige them to make public apologies or even to publicly reveal their crimes.

"A lot of the accused stopped coming to the Truth and Dignity Commission after the law passed," said Oula Ben Nejma, the head of investigation for the commission. "They saw an opportunity to get an easy pass."

Commission officials said another way the government obstructed their work was to block full access to the archives of some government ministries, which hold potential evidence of past crimes.

The Tunisian minister for human rights and civil society, Mehdi Ben Gharbia, insisted that the government still supported the Truth and Dignity Commission, citing the granting of a handover period as a sign of that.

"Despite the political tensions, we all support transitional justice now," he said in a telephone interview. "We all want to ensure that the process goes on even after the Truth and Dignity Commission finishes its work."

The case that began last week dates to 1991, when a young man named Kamel Matmati was taken by the police, was tortured and then died in detention, according to witness testimony. He was 21.

His mother had to wait 25 years for a death certificate, and she has never received his body.

Fourteen people — including a former president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali; a former interior minister, Abdallah Kallel; and several police chiefs — were charged with his forced disappearance, torture and killing. None of them turned up in court.

Raoudha Karafi, president of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, expressed surprise that none of the defendants had turned up for the first day of the trial.

"Apparently only one of them was summoned by the court. The others did not receive the summons," she said in an interview after the hearing.

"It is really unfortunate, because this trial is historic," she added. "It stands as a real opportunity for justice in Tunisia, and for the accused not to come, it means that they don't respect the justice process and they still live in impunity."

Even without the defendants present, last week's hearing was seen as a victory for those who have supported the work of the transitional justice commission.

"I really hope to discover the truth," Fatma Bouanaya Matmati, the mother of the victim, told one of the five judges hearing the case, "and to be able to give a proper funeral to my son. He was my only son."

Last week's trial began the first of more than a dozen expected at the special courts. In apparent frustration as it neared the end of its mandate, the commission rushed to issue 16 indictments since March, and more are expected.

Each indictment can have multiple victims or suspects, and the commission said that the 16 submitted covered the cases of 245 victims.

Mr. Matmati's is one of 194 cases registered by the commission of people who were forcibly disappeared during the dictatorships of Habib Bourguiba, the first president of Tunisia, and his successor, Mr. Ben Ali. Part of the mission of the special court is to question the accused, some of whom spoke in closed hearings with the truth commission but who refused the reconciliation process.

The special court can pass sentence even in torture cases that would usually be past the statute of limitations, such as that of Mr. Matmati. It also has mechanisms to compel defendants to appear, although it does not yet appear to have used them.

The testimony at the hearing broke new ground, according to some of those present in the court.

"I wrote down every word of their testimony," said Samir Dilou, a member of the Islamist party Ennahda, himself a former political prisoner and now a lawyer for Mr. Matmati's family, "because I have seen so many trials about torture but never heard such admissions."

A cellmate of Mr. Matmati, Abdellah Ben Amor, graphically described the abuse.

"They would let us hang from a window head down or make us sit on bottles," he said. "They would even beat us without asking any questions."

Another cellmate and a key witness, Ali Amri, a doctor, said he had verified Mr. Matmati's death for his persecutors after they had beaten him to death. The truth commission's investigation confirmed that Mr. Matmati's body had been transported to a police hospital in Tunis.

No one could say what had happened after that. [back to contents]

Terrorism

Spanish rapper on the run after 'terror lyrics' prison sentence BBC News By Georgina Rannard May 25, 2018

"Tomorrow is the day. Disobedience is legitimate and a duty. Here, no one surrenders," - the final words by Spanish rapper Valtonyc before he went on the run on Wednesday.

Now his whereabouts are a mystery.

An international arrest warrant has been issued and Spanish social media is up in arms about freedom of speech.

The 24-year-old, whose real name is Josep Miquel Arenas Beltran, was due to begin a three-and-a-half year prison sentence on Thursday for producing lyrics the Spanish courts ruled glorify terrorism and insult the Spanish monarchy.

In one song Valtonyc rapped: "I want to send a message of hope to Spaniards: Eta is a great nation," in a reference to the Basque militant group.

"The king has a rendezvous at the village square, with a noose around his neck," he says in another.

The musician's appeal to the Supreme Court, on the grounds that he was protected by his right to freedom of expression, was rejected.

The defiant tweet, in which he calls Spain a "fascist state," has been retweeted almost 40,000 times and #FreeValtonyc was used to express support for the rapper, featuring in more than 350,000 tweets, largely supporting the musician.

Catalonia's ex-leader Carles Puidgdemont, recently detained in Germany after himself going into exile following the Catalan independence referendum last year, tweeted support for Valtonyc:

"All my affection to you for a difficult decision, but it allows you to continue defending values and fundamental freedoms without which there is no democracy." Journalist Fonsi Loaiza wrote: "Rapper @valtonyc is 24 years old and has had to leave his family to go into exile. He was going to prison for rapping, when he was 19, a song in Catalan against the King. In Spain there are 1,900 politicians charged with corruption, just 80 are in prison."

"You are very brave. I would leave and denounce it away from here. Whatever you do, I'll stick with you," wrote Twitter user Lulu, and others called on him to challenge the ruling while in exile.

Meanwhile, Ica Inca commented that it was "shameful" people were turning a blind eye to the challenges to freedom of expression in Spain.

However others criticised the rapper for the violent lyrics, saying he was content to rap "violent" lyrics but fled when it landed him in trouble.

Another suggested the country he has fled to will not be happy if he begins to rap about "killing their policeman". In a recent concert, Valtonyc shouted, "Kill a Civil Guard (police) officer tonight."

'Extremism or intolerance' The case is the latest in a series of convictions of artists, filmmakers and journalists who have fallen foul of anti-terrorism laws in Spain.

Human rights group Amnesty International has called the actions "draconian" and "a sustained attack on freedom of speech".

The Spanish government has defended the legislation: "We have to fight against any sign of extremism or intolerance," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said.

Turkish rapper arrest In a similar case this week, Turkish police arrested rapper Ezhel, real name Sercan Ipekcioglu, claiming his lyrics encourage drug use, although no specific song was mentioned.

Thousands are using #FreeEzhel on Twitter to defend the singer, who was due to appear at popular music festival Sziget in Hungary in August.

"I should tell you something funnier than your jokes about Ezhel. The mentality which puts artists in prison due to their lyrics is the mentality that will one day want to meddle with the length of your skirts while walking on the streets, the colour of your hair, your beard and your earring," one user wrote.

Ezhel has more than 570,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and his song Sehrimin Tadi (Taste Of My City) has had 31 million views on YouTube since July 2017.

Iraq court jails French woman for 20 years over Islamic State membership Middle East Eye June 3, 2018

An Iraqi court on Sunday jailed a French woman for 20 years for belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group as her lawyers accused authorities in Paris of "interference" to prevent her returning to France.

Melina Boughedir, a mother of four, was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for "illegal" entry into the country, and was set to be deported back to France.

But another court ordered the re-trial of the 27-year-old French citizen under Iraq's anti-terror law.

On Sunday, she was found guilty of membership of IS and handed a life sentence - which in Iraq is equivalent to 20 years.

"I am innocent," Boughedir told the judge in French.

"My husband duped me and then threatened to leave with the children" unless she followed him to Iraq, where he planned on joining IS, she said.

"I am opposed to the ideology of the Islamic group and condemn the actions of my husband," she added.

Her Iraqi lawyer, Nasureddin Madlul Abd, urged the court to acquit Boughedir, describing her spouse as a "jailkeeper not a husband" who had "forced" her to join him in Iraq.

Her French defence team - William Bourdon, Martin Pradel and Vincent Brengarth - said they were "relieved" she had been spared the death penalty, but vowed to appeal the verdict.

"We've escaped the death penalty, and obviously that was our greatest fear. But this is still a very heavy sentence," Brengarth told FRANCE 24 from Baghdad. "This decision was taken at the end of a trial that did not respect the principles of a fair hearing.

"We have the feeling that the verdict had already been decided upon, and indeed it was delivered immediately," he added.

In Paris, the foreign ministry said France respected sovereign Iraqi justice.

"We note that the judicial procedure is not over," the ministry told AFP.

"France will continue to respect the sovereignty of Iraqi jurisdiction and the independent judicial proceedings."

Boughedir, who wore a black dress and headscarf, arrived in the courtroom carrying her youngest daughter in her arms. Her three other children are now back in France.

Hers is the latest in a series of verdicts doled out to foreigners who flocked to join IS in its self-declared "caliphate" after the militant group seized the northern third of Iraq and swathes of Syria in 2014.

On 22 May, an Iraqi court sentenced Belgian militant Tarik Jadaoun, also known as Abu Hamza al-Beljiki, to death by hanging - although he pleaded not guilty to a range of terror charges.

Jadaoun had earned the moniker "the new Abaaoud", after his compatriot Abdelhamid Abaaoud, one of the organisers of November 2015 attacks in Paris. Even before she was sentenced, Boughedir's case sparked anger from her defence team, who had accused French authorities of interfering.

On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Boughedir was a "Daesh (IS) terrorist who fought against Iraq" and should be tried on Iraqi soil.

Her French lawyers sent a letter of protest to Le Drian, seen by AFP, in which they denounced "pressure on the Iraqi judicial system" and "unacceptable interference".

Earlier in the week, Le Drian called on Iraq to avoid giving Boughedir the death penalty, but reiterated past comments that she should stand trial in Iraq, FRANCE 24 reported.

"When you go to Mosul in 2016, it's to go fight, and she will be judged where she acted. It's common sense," Le Drian said.

Bourdon on Sunday condemned the verdict, saying it had been influenced by "extra-judicial reasons".

During the hearing, which lasted about one hour, the judge asked Boughedir - who was arrested in the summer of 2017 in Mosul - to explain why and under what circumstances she had arrived in Iraq.

He then declared that "the proof that has been gathered is enough to condemn the criminal" to a life sentence.

Bourdon said Le Drian wanted his client to be tried in Iraq to "ensure that she won't be heading back home to France any time soon", as part of efforts to prevent the return of militants.

Boughedir's family and her defence team want her to face a court in France, Bourdon said.

After being sentenced in February to seven months in prison for "illegal" entry, she was set to be deported home.

But upon re-examining her file, an Iraqi court said she had "knowingly" followed her husband to Iraq to join IS.

France would intervene if French militant faced death penalty in Iraq or Syria

Boughedir's husband is believed to have been killed during operations by US-led coalition-backed Iraqi forces to regain control of Mosul, Iraq's second city and the militants' former stronghold.

On Sunday, she told the court that the man she had been married to for five years had disappeared one day, walking out and saying he was going out "to look for water".

Since then, she said, she has received no information about his fate or his whereabouts.

Boughedir is the second French citizen sentenced to life in prison by an Iraqi court for belonging to IS, after Djamila Boutoutaou, 29, in April. Boutoutaou also said she had been tricked by her husband.

Thousands of foreign fighters from across the world flocked to the black banner of the militants after the group seized swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Multiple offensives have since reduced their "caliphate" to a sliver of desert in the east of war-torn Syria.

Iraqi courts have sentenced to death more than 300 people, including dozens of foreigners, for belonging to IS, judicial sources have said.

Dozens of French citizens suspected of having joined IS are believed to be in detention in Iraq and Syria, including several minors.

JNF threatens to sue Hamas in international courts for kite arson damage Times of Israel BBy Michael Bachner June 5, 2018

Nonprofit, which owns much of the land near the Strip that has been ravaged by fires, accuses Palestinian group of 'environmental terrorism.'

The Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) on Tuesday threatened to sue Hamas in an international court for severe damages caused to land it owns in the Gaza border area by incendiary kites sent into Israel, as well as by firing rockets and mortar shells. Since the "March of Return" protests began along the Gaza border at the end of March, hundreds of kites and helium balloons have been flown into Israel outfitted with Molotov cocktails and containers of burning fuel, setting fire to large swaths of land.

The Israeli nonprofit said in a statement that it intends to recruit international law attorneys who specialize in lawsuits of the kind.

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The move echoes longstanding attempts by Palestinians to internationalize the conflict by suing Israel for war crimes in international courts.

"It is inconceivable that the international community would allow Hamas not to be held accountable and pay for its criminal acts — not only against the citizens of the state of Israel, but also against the environment, which has been severely hurt by this criminal environmental terrorism," said KKL-JNF world chairman Daniel Atar after touring the damaged area on Tuesday.

"Hamas has proved it has no humanity," Atar added. "Not just toward human beings, but also toward animals and natural resources."

The JNF also said it was launching a planting campaign involving children from the communities surrounding Gaza.

"Hamas burns forests – we plant them," said Atar. "We will prove that our lives here are founded on strength and growth."

Firefighters, soldiers and local residents have worked on an almost daily basis to try to contain fires in Israeli fields ignited by the burning kites.

Israeli officials have said that since the start of the protests at the Gaza border, there have been more than 250 fires in the Gaza periphery, destroying some 17,500 dunams (4,300 acres) of land, the majority of it in nature reserves and parks.

Some 2,820 dunams (approximately 697 acres) of KKL-JNF forests have been burned, the organization said in its statement.

On May 29, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups launched hundreds of mortar shells and rockets at Israel, in apparent retaliation for the killing of three Islamic Jihad men in a shelling a day earlier. Israeli aircraft hit dozens of sites belonging to the two groups in response.

On Sunday, the heads of the local governments in the Gaza periphery sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Interior Minister Arye Deri calling for increased investment in the area in light of the precarious security situation.

"In the past week, including last night, almost 200 mortar shells and Qassam rockets have landed in Gaza periphery communities, serving as a painful reminder that the Gaza periphery must manage a fragile and complicated way of life, under constant threat to its residents," the local mayors wrote.

The JNF, known in Hebrew as Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, owns 13 percent of all the land in the country and brings in some $3 billion a year, most of it from land sales.

Establish in 1901, it bought land, founded settlements and planted hundreds of millions of trees in Israel. The not-for-profit group also focuses on land reclamation and the development of communities outside central Israel.

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Piracy

Pirates again prowling the Caribbean, Latin America Hellenic Shipping News May 29, 2018

Piracy was once the scourge of the high seas from the Caribbean to Africa's Barbary Coast.

Wars have been fought over it and pirates continue to live in the imaginations of little boys everywhere. But according to a recent report, buccaneers are back with a massive spike in attacks in the Caribbean, Latin America and the coast of South America.

According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, 2017 saw a whopping 163% spike in attacks. About 59% of the pirate attacks involved robbing yachts.

"Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region," report author Maisie Pigeon told Reuters.

But the pirates plying the ancient trade in the warm tropical waters aren't loveable characters out of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Blood is in the water.

According to the report, the bad-assed buccaneers raided the waters off the coast of Suriname. During April, at least a dozen fishermen were reported missing or dead following a big attack, labelled a "massacre" by the president of Guyana.

In one incident, pirates shot dead a fishing boat captain after attacking his ship. His crew were spared.

There appears to be no safe port.

Attacks have been reported in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia. It's estimated the pirates escaped with more than $1 million in stolen loot.

The coast of East Africa has also been plagued by pirates for more than a decade, a bizarre gumbo of greed and Islamic ideology.

In 2017, four vessels were hijacked out of 54 incidents. The Horn of Africa has been particularly susceptible to pirate attacks with the U.S. sending in their Navy SEALs on a number of occasions.

However, the price of piracy along the continent's Indian Ocean coast was $1.4 billion in 2017. That's a long way from the $7 billion bounty the bucs earned in 2010.

"There is now a wide range of threats to shipping near the Horn of Africa that have been complicated by the conflict and instability in Yemen," said Phil Belcher, marine director with the association INTERTANKO, which represents the majority of the world's tanker fleet.

Elsewhere, there was a spike in piracy along the coast of West Africa with 97 attacks in 2017. There were 95 the year before, including 21 kidnappings.

About 100 crew members were taken hostage by pirates. Two were killed.

"Kidnap-for-ransom continues to plague the region, which is a trend that has unfortunately continued from 2016," Pigeon said.

The seas of southern Asia also remain a hotbed of pirate activity, particularly in the Yellow Sea.

Twelve Chinese pirates and one Indonesian were strung up and executed for piracy-related crimes. They hijacked a ship and murdered the crew.

So far, there have been 13 reported incidents of piracy in the Yellow Sea between the start of 2015 and the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Pirates of the Caribbean – and Africa, and Asia U.S. News and World Report By Kevin Drew and Kevin Lau May 31, 2018

The men who work aboard the ships in the global commercial maritime industry are a reticent group. Moving cargo by sea is hard work that offers long hours and few thanks, shaping the deckhands into people who avoid complaining while focusing on the job to be done.

Still, the Rev. Stephen Miller has witnessed a lot of trauma from ship crews over the years, and he is succinct about what raises the anxiety levels of the seafarers he meets across Asia.

"If they are leaving to go toward Africa or East Africa, they are worried because of the hostage situation," says Miller, the Hong Kong-based East Asia regional director for The Mission to Seafarers, an international Christian charity serving merchant crews.

Those worries are borne out in a recently released report, which provides a stark reminder about how deadly large swathes of the high seas remain in the second decade of the 21st century. While the number of incidents involving pirates around the world declined in 2017 compared with the previous year, the number increased off the coasts of Africa, South America and in the Caribbean, according to the annual "State of Maritime Piracy" report released by One Earth Future, a nonprofit organization that studies piracy. The NGO's Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) program released the report.

"Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region," says Maisie Pigeon, the report's lead author. OBP defines incidents as including attacks, hijackings and kidnappings.

Of particular concern: The number of incidents in the Horn of Africa between ships and pirates sharply increased in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to both the OBP report and the International Maritime Bureau's annual report on piracy. Piracy incidents in the Horn doubled in 2017, particularly off the coast of Somalia, a focus of international headlines on piracy as recently as 2012. Incidents also were recorded off the coast of Yemen, a country torn since 2011 by a political crisis that has led to a protracted civil war and an impotent government.

"Pirates never went away," says Pigeon, noting that in recent years many seagoing criminals increasingly moved ashore to focus on illicit activity with drugs, arms and wildlife.

Elsewhere, piracy remains a problem on the other side of Africa, according to the OBP report. Threats remain in the Gulf of Guinea despite countermeasures implemented by coastal states such as Nigeria and maritime security companies.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, pirate incidents increased by 160 percent in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to OBP. The report singles out Venezuela and Suriname as countries that experienced upticks in piracy.

The surges in pirate incidents off Africa and in the Western Hemisphere come after years of good news about improved safety on the open waters for the shipping industry, which by one estimate generates more than $500 billion annually in revenue. Attacks on commercial ships by pirates have been on the decline overall, thanks to better tracking, more responsive navies and increased readiness by the crews aboard cargo ships.

The news is especially upbeat across Asia, where pirates have long bedeviled the commercial maritime industry. The region still accounts for the greatest number of pirate incidents in the world, but it saw an overall drop in reported incidents of 23 percent in 2017 from 2016 and a 51 percent decrease from 2015, according to the OBP report. Kidnap-for-ransom incidents, for example, decreased by 80 percent, according to the report.

Cooperation between countries in the region has been key to fighting pirates, says Pigeon, who points to the agreement between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to launch joint patrols in waters known to harbor pirates as key to lowering the overall number of attacks.

Type of maritime vessel also affects whether a ship may come under attack, Miller says.

"The seafarers we see in Hong Kong are not going to be affected a lot by this because they are on big container ships," he says. "Most of this is happening on small tankers where they are coming out, they're robbing the ships, the ships are slow-moving ships, the guys will come on board, they'll stick a gun in the face of the crew and they'll say, 'Give us what you got onboard.'"

What is the lesson from 2017? Increased vigilance and communication, Pigeon says. A perception of increased safety may have lulled some governments into false security, she says. NATO wrapping up its naval missions in the Indian Ocean also may have encouraged pirates, she adds.

Piracy is "a crime of opportunity," she says. "Criminals are increasingly adaptive and that needs to be factored in."

Miller is just as direct on how to fight pirates: "The one thing that happens that will put pirates off is if the punishments fit the crime. How many of these people do get taken to court? Or is it just that they are chased off?"

Nigeria, China, France, Portugal navies combat piracy in Gulf of Guinea The Sun By Philip Nwosu June 5, 2018

Six foreign warships and 12 Nigerian Navy combat vessels exhibited their prowess in international maritime policing in a joint multinational navies maneuver, code name EXERCISE EKU KUGBE, which was held at the Bight of Benin.

The Exercise which was concluded early Friday with a debrief staged to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the Nigerian Navy.

Flagging off the Exercise onboard the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) OKPABANA, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, said that the maneuver was to promote regional cooperation, especially as it enjoys the support of other friendly navies beyond the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Economic Community of Central African States regions.

"Twelve Nigerian Navy ships and one each from Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, China, France and Portugal participated in the exercise," the naval chief said.

"The exercise is aimed at promoting regional cooperation and coordination for the enhancement of maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG)."

The CNS said that the Gulf of Guinea was rich in both living and non-living resources, including oil and gas, and fisheries.

"It is also the primary conduit of international trade and is central to the economy of the associated regions.

"The gulf is increasingly looked upon today as a resource provider and critical contributor to national growth and prosperity of the several nations lining its coasts, and even those landlocked and with no shared boundaries," he explained.

According to the naval chief, the Gulf of Guinea is faced with a myriad of potent threats in and around its environment, including maritime terrorism, resource theft and sabotage of their supporting infrastructure.

"Other notable threats are piracy and armed robbery which target maritime trade and, therefore, the economy of the nations.

"The use of unregulated movements at sea for seaborne trafficking in humans, narcotics and arms, and the incidents of smuggling, are pervasive and remain issues of grave concern.

"It is imperative that an environment conducive for the unhindered conduct of shipping, fishing and offshore exploration and other maritime interests that contribute vitally to economic growth and national development, is established," Ibas noted.

The Exercise, which was led by Nigerian Navy frigate NNS OKPABANA, and supported NNS UNITY, saw also the deployment of Chinese guided-missile frigate Yancheng to Lagos to participate in the maneuver.

Yancheng, a People's Liberation Army Navy Type 054A class frigate, is frequently deployed for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, near China's military base in Djibouti. China recently built a new pier to accommodate its naval vessels at Djibouti, and its Ministry of Defense clarified to state media the improvement was for "anti-piracy work."

China has a vested interest in halting piracy off Nigeria's coast, as it is Nigeria's second-biggest trading partner and imports nearly $1.5 billion worth of oil and gas per year.

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Gender-Based Violence

Abuse is daily reality for female garment workers for Gap and H&M, says report The Guardian By Kate Hodal June 5, 2018

Pressure to meet fast fashion deadlines is leading to women working in Asian factories supplying Gap and H&M being sexually and physically abused, according to unions and rights groups.

More than 540 workers at factories that supply the two retailers have described incidents of threats and abuse, according to two separate reports published last week by Global Labour Justice on gender-based violence in Gap and H&M's garment supply chains.

The reports claim that these allegations, recorded between January and May this year in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are a direct result of pressure for quick turnarounds and low overheads.

Publication of the reports comes as negotiations are being held this week at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to tackle workplace harassment.

Tola Moeun, director of Central Cambodia, an NGO involved in the research, said abuse was a daily reality for female garment workers driven to meet unrealistic targets in H&M and Gap's supply chains. "Most of these cases are not reported due to fear of retaliation in the workplace."

Gap and H&M both told the Guardian they would investigate the allegations and that they welcomed initiatives to tackle violence, including an ILO convention.

Jennifer Rosenbaum, US director of Global Labour Justice, said: "We must understand gender-based violence as an outcome of the global supply chain structure. H&M and Gap's fast fashion supply chain model creates unreasonable production targets and underbid contracts, resulting in women working unpaid overtime and working very fast under extreme pressure.

"Unions and many governments agree an ILO convention on gender-based violence is essential, although there is still opposition from some employers."

H&M lists 235 Indian garment factories among its suppliers, the report says. In one dispute last month in a Bangalore factory over wages and working conditions, a female tailor said to researchers that she was grabbed by the hair and punched, then told: "You whore, your caste people should be kept where the slippers are kept."

One worker in another H&M supplier factory told researchers she was beaten as punishment for not meeting production quotas.

"[My] batch supervisor came up behind me as I was working on the sewing machine, yelling, 'You are not meeting your target production.' He pulled me out of the chair and I fell on the floor. He hit me, including on my breasts. He pulled me up and then pushed me to the floor again [and] kicked me."

At an H&M supplier factory in Sri Lanka, one woman complained: "When girls scold machine operators for touching them or grabbing them, they take revenge. Sometimes they give them machines that don't function properly. Then they don't come and repair it for a long time. After that, supervisors scold us for not meeting the target."

In a factory supplying Gap in Indonesia, a woman talked about daily being called stupid, mocked for not working faster and threatened with contract termination.

"They also throw materials. They kick our chairs. They don't touch us, so they don't leave a mark that could be used as evidence with the police," she said.

Debbie Coulter, of the Ethical Trading Initiative, of which both Gap and H&M are members, said: "These allegations are deeply concerning. Gender-based violence is unacceptable under any circumstances, and brands need to make sure that women working in their supply chain are protected.

"We expect H&M and Gap to investigate these allegations, and to work with supplier factories so that any women affected have swift access to remedy.

"ETI will be in regular contact with these members and will offer support where appropriate to ensure a swift resolution for all workers affected."

In an email, H&M told the Guardian: "All forms of abuse or harassment are against everything that H&M group stands for. Violence against women is one of the most prevalent human rights violations. Gender-based violence makes women all around the world suffer daily and undermines their health, dignity and security. This is why we welcome any initiative strengthening the human rights of women at work, such as the international convention against gender-based violence in the workplace being discussed within the ILO.

"We will go through every section of the report and follow-up on factory level with our local teams based in each production country."

Gap said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations and was now conducting due diligence to investigate and address these issues.

"We are committed to making sure that the people who make our clothes work in safe conditions and are treated with respect. We've consolidated our supplier base to focus on partners that share our values and goals, and an increasing number of factories we source from are audited by ILO's Better Work programme.

"Our Code of Vendor Conduct, which closely aligns with our environmental and human rights policies, prohibits any form of discrimination. We conduct assessments of our branded apparel suppliers on a regular basis to ensure compliance, and when we encounter any discriminatory or retaliatory practices in our supply chain, we require that our suppliers promptly remediate the situation.

"Gap Inc agrees that gender-based workplace violence is a significant issue and an appropriate subject for ILO action."

Don't let Trump derail gender equality talks, experts warn G7 leaders The Guardian By Karen McVeigh June 8, 2018

Members of the G7's first gender advisory council have vowed that talks about US tariffs will not overshadow discussions about women's empowerment as they prepare to meet world leaders this weekend.

Justin Trudeau created the advisory council to provide leaders with expert guidance on gender equality and to ensure the issue takes centre stage at the which begins in Quebec on Friday.

The Canadian prime minister, whose country holds the G7 presidency this year, has established gender parity and female empowerment among five core themes to be tackled at the meeting.

On Saturday morning, heads of state will meet with members of the gender equality advisory council, co-led by Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The council includes figures such as Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Members want G7 leaders to officially institute the advisory council to ensure commitments to gender equality made by heads of state are tracked.

Trudeau said earlier this week that gender equality at the summit, despite concerns Canada's agenda could be derailed by debate over US tariffs.

Katja Iversen, a member of the 21-strong council and president of Women Deliver, a global advocacy group for women's rights, said: "These are world leaders who can walk and chew gum at the same time. They can talk trade and also gender equality."

In a report published ahead of the summit, which referenced #MeToo and other grassroots feminist movements, the council called for a "fundamental transformation of unequal power in gender relations".

Iversen said the emphasis on gender equality at the summit was unprecedented.

"We've been privy to some of the documents and we have never seen such a focus on gender equality," she said. "We will be briefing the heads of states, including Theresa May, on Saturday morning for a full hour. Afterwards, they will have 45 minutes between themselves to talk about gender inequality. So, out of two days, we will, for the first time, have almost two hours dedicated to gender equality."

She added: "To those who think gender equality is a soft issue, we would say it is a steel hard issue. There will be discussions on tariff and trade, but has shown that we would see a growth of 26% in GDP if we had gender equality. That's a lot of money and a significant driver of the economy, which is untapped at the moment. It is a security and economic and social issue."

Iversen welcomed calls from May for a united front to , and agreed that it was vital that any action is followed up with a legal framework to tackle online persecution.

Iversen said: "I commend her for doing this. We see it in a broader context. What is online can become offline and real. Online bullying is a democratic issue as well. I don't know any women who has participated in debates and policy who has not been attacked online – from demeaning comments to death and rape threats."

The council's recommendations include pledges to "mandate" gender parity on boards and leadership positions by 2030, to follow Britain's example in providing 0.7% of gross national income to foreign aid, and to fight gender-based violence and sexual harassment. It also urges leaders to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, and to support developing and conflict-affected nations in offering a minimum of 12 years of free, safe and gender-responsive education.

Michael Kaufman, writer and co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, which seeks to engage men in the fight to end violence against women, said: "It's important to push our political leaders beyond making nice statements, but to put in place policies and make these thing happen."

Kaufman, who is the only male member of the gender inequality advisory council, said: "We're not naive. We don't think this is the road to Damascus for certain leaders, but we hope to have an impact.

"People assume G7 is an annual photo op, but it is a year-long process of ministerial meetings. It's an opportunity not just to meet a handful of leaders but a broader range of people who have an impact."

Another council member, Farrah Khan, manager of Consent Comes First, at Ryerson University, Toronto, said she was buoyed by the decision in Ireland last night to overturn the country's ban on abortion. "I hope the G7 see this as something to fight for."

Forced marriage convictions are welcome but for many victims stigma is still judge and jury The Conversation By Geetanjali Gangoli June 8, 2018

In the four years since a change in the law regarding forced marriages in England and Wales, there have been two cases where parents have been convicted of forcing their daughters to marry by taking them out of the country to their countries of origin.

One case, in Birmingham in May 2018, involved taking a daughter to Pakistan, the other – in Leeds, also in May 2018 – involved a couple luring their daughter to Bangladesh for a forced marriage. These were the first convictions of their kind in England. In 2015, a man was jailed for forced marriage (among other offences) after a Welsh court found he had raped and blackmailed a woman into marrying him.

These cases are remarkable, not least for the courage demonstrated by the young survivors in speaking out. But to what extent do these judgements represent justice in the eyes of those who have survived forced marriage – and what hurdles must they overcome to obtain it?

Our research team at the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol have researched forced marriage as part of the wider work on justice, inequality and gender-based violence. A key issue that emerged from our interviews with survivors was that those escaping forced marriage felt a strong sense of injustice, often experienced as a sense of loss of identity, and loss of belonging with their family.

Earlier research drawn up for a report into honour violence by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found that survivors of forced marriage are hesitant to approach the police and seek criminal justice relief due to fear of reprisals, particularly of being ostracised by their community.

Yet most victims of forced marriage are coerced into the marriage by parents, siblings and wider family members through a range of physically and emotionally abusive behaviours. Most significantly there is a lack of acceptance that young women have a right to self-determination, particularly in the choice of their partner. Our current research on justice lends further weight to this – survivors we interviewed explained that the lack of acceptance by the wider community of their right to their own life was itself a form of injustice.

The voices of unwilling wives One survivor was a British woman of Pakistani origin, forced into marriage with a man, in and from her country of origin, who escaped the marriage and divorced her husband, but felt that she was still treated as married by the community before she managed to obtain a religious divorce. She stated:

I just wanted that piece of paper [divorce] because that's the way the community see it and I want it, you know .. He's claiming I'm his wife … you see there's technically no divorce so he's continuing to claim that.

She also felt that the community's stigmatising of her was unfair:

I was blamed, I was seen as the bad one, I was being further targeted as somehow not doing what I should do as a dutiful daughter, wife or whatever. Among British Asian women, the fear of and experience of isolation was a barrier in escaping forced marriage situations. A young British woman with Bangladeshi heritage, who was forcibly taken to Bangladesh for marriage reflected on her situation at the time:

My friends [in the UK] were very concerned, they didn't know what was going on … I did write to them but I didn't know if my letters did got sent.

Another British Asian woman, who had escaped a forced marriage at age 13 and is now in her 30s, has had no contact with her birth family, due to her decision to refuse the marriage.

Because I was shunned I left home, it was a choice I had to make … Because you've taken away my culture, my identity away from me by not allowing me to be … in contact … I couldn't have contact with my siblings … And I think that is unfair.

Earlier research has also indicated that while there are multiple factors that lead to forced marriage, immigration plays an important role – young women living in Britain are often forced into marriage with men from their countries of origin in order to make it easier for those men to immigrate to the UK. Forced marriage survivors argued that current marriage visa policy is discriminatory and, in addition, is a form of gendered discrimination, as one British Asian woman recalled:

And now he's even got a visa on the backing of me … he should not have a visa, he's got that falsely, using my marriage certificate … he forced me to go in and sign papers you know … why can't that just go even if they can't get him.

What we've found is that survivors of forced marriage and other forms of gender-based violence value the involvement of the police and ultimately criminal intervention. Timely response from the police at the point of crisis is particularly appreciated – and can be what prevents a young woman from being forcibly removed from the country. But the fact remains that complexity – of these women's ethnicity and feelings of identity toward their country of origin, of immigration laws, and of their place at the heart of a family and wider community – mean that, for many, justice eludes them.

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Commentary and Perspectives

Statement on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, 29 May 2018 Relief Web May 29, 2018

On this International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect pays tribute to peacekeepers deployed around the world and recognizes the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives in the service of peace and the protection of civilians.

We also recognize that UN peacekeepers are increasingly called upon to uphold the international community's Responsibility to Protect civilians from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The UN currently deploys more than 100,000 military, police and civilian personnel across fourteen peacekeeping missions on four continents. Eight current UN missions – incorporating more than 95 percent of all UN peacekeepers – have a Protection of Civilians mandate. UN missions in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Sudan and Mali also have mandates that specifically reference the state's primary responsibility to protect its population from mass atrocity crimes.

The theme of this year's commemoration, "70 Years of Service and Sacrifice," acknowledges the more than one million men and women that have served under the UN flag in 71 Peacekeeping Operations since 1948. Despite tragic failures and shortcomings, throughout those 70 years UN peacekeepers have contributed to protecting vulnerable civilians from violence and mass atrocity crimes, and saved countless lives.

Tragically, 3,733 peacekeeping personnel have lost their own lives while serving the UN. In 2017 alone 134 peacekeepers were killed while on active duty, including 61 killed in malicious acts: 24 in Mali (MINUSMA), 15 in Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and 21 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). This marks the highest number of deaths due to malicious acts since 1994. Attacks on UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes and those who incite or perpetrate these attacks must be held accountable.

During 2017 the UN Secretary-General commissioned an investigation into the increasing number of peacekeepers killed in the field. Authored by Lt. Gen. Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz and others, the report notes that one reason an increasing number of peacekeepers are being killed in malicious acts is due to the general erosion of respect for International Humanitarian Law. Increasing threats from non-state armed groups also compound the challenges that peacekeepers face while protecting civilians.

In these times of increased global insecurity – with over 65 million people displaced by conflict, atrocities and persecution – the international community must strengthen its commitment to UN peacekeeping. Dr. Simon Adams,

Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, noted that, "today we acknowledge that in too many parts of the world, the presence of a blue helmet can still mean the difference between life and death for vulnerable civilians. Every day UN Peacekeepers uphold the international community's responsibility to protect through both conflict prevention and civilian protection. The world is a safer place because of their efforts."

'Deliberate war crime': Palestinians decry murder of 21yo female paramedic at Gaza border Republic Broadcasting Network June 3, 2018

The killing of a 21-year-old female medical worker during the Great March of Return at the Gaza border is nothing short of a war crime, Palestinian officials said, calling on the international community to hold Israel responsible.

The murder of 21-year-old medical volunteer, Razan Al-Najar, is a direct violation of all "international treaties and conventions" that ensure the protection of the medical staff in the conflict zones, Palestinian Minister of Health, Jawad Awwad, said late Friday, noting that the shooting of the paramedic must have been "deliberate" and amounted to a "war crime."

The volunteer was shot in the chest by the Israeli Defense Forces on Friday near the border fence east of Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, while she was helping wounded Palestinians.

An anonymous witness told Reuters that, at the time of the tragedy, the medical worker wore a white uniform, which clearly distinguished her from the rest of the Palestinian crowd taking part in the 10th weekly Great March of Return protests.

Furthermore, the medical volunteer "raised her hands high in a clear way, but Israeli soldiers fired and she was hit in the chest," the witness told Reuters.

Commenting on the incident to RT, the Israeli military blamed Hamas "terror organization" for igniting violence at the border fence and endangering civilians. At the same time, it defended the actions of the troops, who "operated in accordance with standard operating procedures." Cases in which civilians are "allegedly killed by IDF fire are thoroughly examined," the military said in the statement to RT.

Najar became the latest victim of the Israeli crackdown on protesting Palestinians at the Gazan border. More than 100 protesters were injured by Israeli fire, including 40 by live bullets, directed at them by the IDF during the 10th Great March of Return rally. Another four paramedics were among those wounded while helping the injured.

The shooting of a medical worker is a "heinous crime committed by the occupation forces," the Palestinian Minister of Justice, Ali Abu Diak, said in a statement, calling on the International Criminal Court to document Israeli brutality and to "try leaders, officials, officers, soldiers" and all those who committed "crimes against humanity."

International humanitarian law affords special protection to medical personnel whose mission is to save lives in conflicts, under four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Article 24 was especially adopted to protect "medical personnel exclusively engaged in the search for, or the collection, transport or treatment of the wounded or sick."

The West Bank's ruling Fatah party also condemned the murder of the 21-year-old medic. "This crime…reflects a terrorist fascist mentality that deliberately kills, destroys and persecutes [Palestinians]," spokesman Osama al-Qawasmi said in a statement.

Hotel, hospital where war crimes occurred remain open in Bosnia-Herzegovina NBC News By Carlo Angerer and Vladimir Banic June 3, 2018

Hotels, hospitals and other facilities where rape and torture were used as weapons of war while Yugoslava splintered a generation ago are still functioning as if nothing happened. A hospital in Brčko — which remains operational today — was among the places that witnessed horrific scenes during the ethnic conflict, which raged from 1992 until 1995.

"I was raped every night," one victim who was a patient there in 1992 told NBC News, her hands trembling as she lit a cigarette. "It lasted more than a month."

Now aged 52, the woman didn't tell anyone about her ordeal until 2011. She recounted being raped by six or seven soldiers in succession, sometimes in her hospital bed.

"I went through all the terrible things," she recalled from an office just a few blocks from the hospital. "They pulled my teeth out, they beat me, they dragged me down the corridors. When the night came, I knew what would happen to me."

The Bosniak — or Bosnian Muslim — woman asked to remain anonymous, fearing retribution for speaking freely about her experience.

Between 12,000 and 50,000 women were raped during the Bosnian war, experts believe.

A 2001 ruling against three Bosnian Serbs by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia declared systemic rape and sexual enslavement a crime against humanity for the first time.

A group called "Žena žrtva rata" — or Association of the Women Victims of War — is fighting to have a memorial plate installed on the front wall of another war crimes site: the Vilina Vlas hotel and spa in Višegrad.

Bakira Hasečić, who is one of the organization's founders, said that based on interviews with survivors around 200 people were tortured there.

"Women were tied to beds with cables and raped and tortured," she said. "Often cries and screams could be heard from rooms."

Some women said they had been raped in a swimming pool at the complex.

On a recent morning, visitors sipped on coffees at Vilina Vlas' bar. Little at the hotel appears to have changed since those dark years.

The Association of the Women Victims of War believes that even the bed frames are still the same today as when the rapes occurred.

"We believe that the place may be whatever it is, but it is important for future generations that it is marked a place of sacrifice of Bosniaks, a place of rape and sexual torture and murder," Hasečić said.

A worker at Vilina Vlas referred all questions to local officials. Repeated requests for comment by e-mail and telephone went unanswered by the mayor's office in Višegrad.

Dr. Branka Antić-Štauber is the president of the "Snaga Zene" association, which provides support to victims of the Bosnian war. She said many women who were raped or sexually assaulted during the conflict stayed silent for years due to fears of being stigmatized.

"If women don't talk, it is as if the crimes never happened and as if there are no culprits," Antić-Štauber said.

In group therapy sessions at the association, victims have slowly opened up. The woman who was raped at the hospital in Brčko joined them after trying to kill herself in 2011.

"I couldn't take it anymore and I had to talk about it," the victim said, adding that she now finds joy in tending to her small vegetable garden at her house on the outskirts of town.

However, she said a normal life feels beyond her reach.

Antić-Štauber said such a feeling is typical for women raped during the war.

"Most are unable to work. Many have difficulties sleeping and eating," she said. "They're practically paralyzed."

Today, her goal is to not only help the victims, but to also begin a larger conversation in the community.

"Young people need to know what happened," Antić-Štauber said. U.S.-Led Coalition Accused of War Crimes in Syria, May Have Killed Hundreds of Raqqa Civilians Newsweek By David Brennan June 5, 2018

The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS may have committed war crimes as its airstrikes rained down on civilians trapped by the brutal fighting in the Syrian city of Raqqa last year, a new report claims.

According to an investigation by Amnesty International, American, British and French strikes on the city from June to October 2017 "decimated extended families and neighborhoods" as the coalition embarked on a "war of annihilation."

Amnesty alleged that the western powers did not do enough to protect civilians during the assault on Raqqa, claiming its investigation provided "prima facie evidence that several coalition attacks that killed and injured civilians violated international humanitarian law."

The last major city held by ISIS, Raqqa's fall became a powerful symbol of the group's ongoing collapse. June 6 marks the one- year anniversary of the beginning of the operation to take the city, as Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias advanced under the cover of coalition strikes.

After heavy fighting, surviving ISIS fighters were allowed to leave the city in October 2017. The U.S., British and French militaries claimed they did everything possible to minimize the risk of collateral damage during the operation, but Amnesty says hundreds died and thousands more were injured during the assault.

The U.S. said it fired more than 30,000 artillery rounds during the five-month operation, and American forces were responsible for 90 percent of the airstrikes on the city, Amnesty reported.

The organization interviewed 112 civilian residents of Raqqa and visited the sites of 42 air, artillery and mortar strikes. The report focused on four cases in particular, which Amnesty said amounted to war crimes. The group detailed attacks on the Aswad family, which lost eight family members in a single airstrike; the Badran family, which lost 39 members; the Hashish family, which lost 18 members; and the Fayad family, which lost 16 members.

In all cases "witnesses reported that there were no fighters in the vicinity at the time of the attacks," Amnesty said. "Such attacks could be either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks."

Amnesty acknowledged that the situation in Raqqa was dire, as ISIS used minefields, booby traps and snipers to stop civilians fleeing the besieged city. Many innocent residents died alongside the militants, used as human shields.

Despite these challenges, Benjamin Walsby, an Amnesty International Middle East Researcher, asked: "If the coalition and their SDF allies were ultimately going to grant ISIS fighters safe passage and impunity, what possible military advantage was there in destroying practically an entire city and killing so many civilians?"

"When so many civilians are killed in attack after attack, something is clearly wrong, and to make this tragedy worse, so many months later the incidents have not been investigated," said Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International. "The victims deserve justice."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Britain's Ministry of Defence asserted its forces "do everything we can to minimize the risk to civilian life through our rigorous targeting processes and the professionalism of the [Royal Air Force] crews." The statement said ISIS tactics and Raqqa's "congested, complex urban environment" meant "the risk of inadvertent civilian casualties is ever present."

The ministry explained that all reports of civilian deaths "are and will continue to be taken very seriously," and said all missions "comply fully with international humanitarian law" and are planned "meticulously" to avoid civilian casualties.

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WORTH READING Is the United States Bound by the Customary International Law of Torture? A Proposal for ATS Litigation in the War on Terror By Joshua Decker Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 6, No. 803, 2006 June 5, 2018

Most agree that torture is wrong, but the American norm against torture did not stop the United States from torturing detainees in the War on Terror.

This Article argues first that these detainees have a legal right under customary international law to not be tortured by the United States, and that War on Terror detainees could vindicate this right by suing in federal court under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350. Then, this Article argues that rather than relying on the ineffective moral suasion of anti-torture norms, these lawsuits are a better way of reducing torture, because they would force the government to internalize torture’s costs and, even if the litigation did not end torture, it would at least reduce it to an “efficient” level.

Unequal Enforcement of the Law: Targeting Aggressors for Mass Atrocity Prosecutions By Nancy Combs Arizona Law Review, Vol. 61, 2019, Forthcoming May 30, 2018

It is a central tenet of the laws of war that they apply equally to all parties to a conflict.

For this reason, a party that illegally launches a war benefits from all the same rights as a party that must defend against the illegal aggression. Countless philosophers have shown that this so-called equal application doctrine is morally indefensible and that defenders should have more rights and fewer responsibilities than aggressors. The equal application doctrine retains the support of legal scholars, however, because they reasonably fear that applying different rules to different warring parties will substantially reduce overall compliance with the international humanitarian law system as a whole. My article seeks to bridge these divides. It does so by shifting focus from the application of international humanitarian law rules to the enforcement of these rules. Although a vast body of scholarship has centered on the equal application doctrine, none of it considers the way in which that doctrine intersects with post-conflict enforcement of international humanitarian law. On the one hand, such neglect is unsurprising because, historically, there was no post-conflict enforcement of international humanitarian law violations. However, in the last twenty-five years, a series of international criminal tribunals have been established to prosecute large-scale violations of international humanitarian law, among other crimes. The creation of these tribunals provides a powerful opportunity to re-conceptualize and refashion the equal application doctrine. Specifically, this article advocates unequally enforcing international humanitarian law as a means of bridging the divide between the moral imperatives that excoriate the equal application doctrine and the practical imperatives that maintain it.

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War Crimes Prosecution Watch Staff

Founder/Advisor Dean Michael P. Scharf

Editor-in-Chief Taylor Frank

Managing Editors Sarah Lucey Lynsey Rosales

Technical Editor-in-Chief Ashley Mulryan

Senior Technical Editors Lysette Roman Jaclyn Cole

Associate Technical Editors Demari Muff Kurt Harris

Emerging Issues Advisor Judge Rosemelle Mutoka Contact: [email protected]

Africa

Central African Republic Amy Kochert, Senior Editor Megan Maccallum, Associate Editor

Sudan & South Sudan Amy Kochert, Senior Editor Vito Giannola, Associate Editor

Burundi Alexandra Hassan, Senior Editor Regen Weber, Associate Editor

Democratic Republic of the Congo Amy Kochert, Senior Editor Elizabeth Connors, Associate Editor

Kenya Stephen Keller, Senior Editor Aji Drameh, Senior Associate Editor Alexandria Serdaru, Associate Editor

Libya Alex Lilly, Senior Editor Jessica Sayre Smith, Associate Editor

Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) Stephen Keller, Senior Editor Aaron Childs, Senior Associate Editor Lauren Garretson, Associate Editor

Mali Alexandra Hassan, Senior Editor Alayna Bridgett, Associate Editor

Lake Chad Region Taylor Frank, Senior Editor Alexandra Hassan, Associate Editor

Somalia Stephen Keller, Senior Editor Angela Kengara, Associate Editor

Uganda Stephen Keller, Senior Editor John Dagon, Senior Associate Editor Logan O'Connor, Associate Editor Europe

Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Section Mary Preston, Senior Editor Mark Antiporda, Senior Associate Editor Julia Ozello, Associate Editor

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Mary Preston, Senior Editor Benjamin Boggs, Associate Editor

Domestic Prosecutions in the Former Yugoslavia Mary Preston, Senior Editor Andreana Paz, Associate Editor

Middle East and Asia

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Morgan Austin, Senior Editor Ariana Pike, Associate Editor

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Mary Preston, Senior Editor Mark Antiporda, Senior Associate Editor Mary Preston, Associate Editor

Iraq Alex Lilly, Senior Editor Gloria Neilson, Associate Editor

Afghanistan Morgan Austin, Senior Editor Ariana Pike, Associate Editor

Syria Alex Lily, Senior Editor Elen Yeranosyan, Associate Editor

Bangladesh Estefanía Sixto Seijas, Special Senior Editor Chris Lauer, Associate Editor Sofia Panero, Associate Editor

War Crimes Investigations in Burma Estefanía Sixto Seijas, Special Senior Editor Nicolette Creegan, Senior Associate Editor

Yemen Morgan Austin, Senior Editor James Nichols, Senior Associate Editor

Israel/Palestine Morgan Austin, Senior Editor Arne Bussare, Senior Associate Editor Teresa Azzam, Associate Editor

Americas North and Central America Morgan Austin, Senior Editor Julie Menke, Associate Editor

South America Amy Kochert, Senior Editor Shelby Wade, Senior Associate Editor

Topics

Terrorism Richard Urban, Senior Editor Jordan Dinsmore, Associate Editor

Piracy Richard Urban, Senior Editor Fritz Darnell, Senior Associate Editor

Gender-Based Violence Estefanía Sixto Seijas, Special Senior Editor Rachel Adelman, Associate Editor

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

Richard Urban, Senior Editor

Commentary and Perspectives

Richard Urban, Senior Editor Tia Garcia, Associate Editor

Worth Reading

Taylor Frank Andrew Schiefer, 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.

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