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War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Taylor Frank FREDERICK K. COX Volume 13 - Issue 8 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER May 28, 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
Fox News: Rebels Strike Central African Republic City, Kill 6 Human Rights Watch: Central African Republic Showcases a Justice Model in Africa AAJ News: Twelve killed in clashes in Central Africa capital
Sudan & South Sudan
Daily Monitor: South Sudan group asks ICC to indict President Kiir, Riek Machar Bloomberg: South Sudan President's Plea to Police: Stop Killing and Robbing
Democratic Republic of the Congo
UN News: Children 'are dying' now in DRC's Kasai from malnutrition, warns UNICEF Relief Web: IRIN contributor expelled from Congo The Guardian: Two Britons held hostage in Democratic Republic of Congo freed News24: UN council calls on DRC to lift ban on demonstrations Burundi
Xinhua: Over 900 Burundians flee to Uganda over forced participation in vote Los Angeles Times: 26 killed in rural Burundi attack amid tensions over president's bid to keep power Anadolu Agency: UN expresses concern over violence in Burundi The Washington Post: UN rights chief says Burundi attack 'dangerous development' NPR: Tension Grows Around Referendum In Burundi Jurist: HRW reports violence in Burundi before referendum AlJazeera: Burundi opposition leader rejects referendum ahead of result WEST AFRICA
Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon
Vanguard: Army in final push against Boko Haram in Lake Chad All Africa: Nigerian, Cameroonian Troops Kill 15 Boko Haram Terrorists in Lake Chad
Mali
Norwegian Refugee Council: People flee violence in Central and Northern Mali I Politics: Government yet to establish benchmarks for Mali mission success CBC News: Mali delegation taps Canadian expertise documenting human rights abuses EAST AFRICA
Uganda
Modern Ghana: Ugandan Leader of Shadowy Rebel Group in Court Over Mass Murder Charges allAfrica: Children of the Cape Flats Are Child Soldiers
Kenya
The Star: Blow to war on graft after court quashes immunity
Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)
The New Times: Early release of Genocide convicts clouds ICTR legacy, Busingye UN News: Service born from sacrifice: Rwanda's commitment to UN peacekeeping
Somalia
All Africa: Isis Claims Assassination of Policeman in Mogadishu, Releases Photos to Prove The Star: Al Shabaab suicide bomber hits Somalia military convoy NORTH AFRICA
Libya
The Libya Observer: Tubu, Awald Sulaiman tribes fight over Sabha castle control leaving tens of casualties The Libya Observer: East Libya forces attack on Derna causes deaths, injuries on both sides The Libya Observer: Human Rights Watch says civilians are endangered by Dignity Operation attack on Derna The Libya Observer: Gaddafi cell planning to carry out terrorist acts in Tripoli arrested The Libya Observer: Three Dignity Operation fighters killed in attack in southern Ajdabiya
EUROPE
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
Balkan Insight: Bosniak Ex-Fighter Jailed for Crimes Against Serb Prisoners Balkan Insight: Bosniak Commander's Trial Resumes after Four-Year Break Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Indicted for Prijedor Detentions, Killings Balkan Insight: Sarajevo Court Acquits Serbs of Killing Family Balkan Insight: Bosnian Croat Commander Cleared of Prisoner Abuses Balkan Insight: Bosnia Tries Serb Ex-Policeman for Persecution, Murders Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Policeman Indicted for Six Bosniaks' Disappearances
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Eurasia Review: Serbian Policeman Admits Burning Homes In Bosnia Yahoo News: Convicted Serb radical buys house at persecution site Balkan Insight: Hague Tribunal Archive Centre Opens in Sarajevo
Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
Balkan Insight: Serbia to Probe Health Impact of NATO Depleted Uranium Balkan Insight: Serb Paramilitary's War Crimes Retrial Opens in Zagreb Balkan Insight: Red Berets Fighter: Serbian Official was Our Commander
MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
Iraq
The Guardian: 'They deserve no mercy': Iraq deals briskly with accused 'women of Isis' Iraqi News: Islamic State military commander arrested in Iraq's Mosul Iraqi News: Islamic State militants execute chieftain in Iraq's Kirkuk Iraqi News: Six people killed, injured in Islamic State attack, northeast of Diyala The Washington Post: Iraq says suicide bomber kills 7 in northern Baghdad park
Syria
The National: White Helmets vow to keep saving lives in face of funding freeze The Washington Post: Monitor: 42 killed by Israeli strikes in Syria this week Amnesty International: New property law punishes the displaced and could obstruct investigation of war crimes The Guardian: Chemical weapons watchdog may be given fresh powers in Paris talks Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch: Afghan President Offers Airstrike Victims Apology, Not Justice UN News: UN condemns blasts that leave 8 dead at cricket stadium Equal Times: Afghan media's "deadliest day" exposes the resolve, resilience and vulnerability of its journalists The Intercept: With Medal Of Honor, Seal Team 6 Rewards A Culture Of War Crimes
Yemen
Tampa Bay Times: Yemeni officials say Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills 6 StarTribune : Yemeni officials say fighting kills 115 in western Yemen The National: Seven killed by Houthi missile in Marib
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Naharanet: Defense Case Begins at Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Daily Star: Defense team expert talks witness reliability at STL The Daily Star: Defense criticizes suspect identification methods at STL The Daily Star: Expert affirms criticism of witness selection
Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal
bdnews24.com: War crimes tribunal takes Prosecutor Tureen off all cases for 'meeting suspect' bdnews24.com: Mymensingh's Riaz Uddin Fakir to die for war crimes bdnews24.com: War crimes convict Billal Hossain dies in Dhaka bdnews24.com: Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee opens probe into ICT prosecutor Tureen Afroz The Globe Post: War Crimes Judges to Hold Closed Talks on Rohingya Crisis Human Rights Watch: War Crimes Verdict Based on Flawed Trial New Age Bangladesh: Five 'war crimes suspects' held in Pirojpur New Age Bangladesh: War crimes convict Mahidur dies at RMCH
War Crimes Investigations in Burma
Frontier Myanmar: War crimes judges to hold closed talks on Rakhine crisis Relief web: Update from Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) on Burma Army war crimes against Kachin IDPs
Israel and Palestine
Aljazeera: UN rights chief: Israel's Gaza response 'wholly disproportionate' Aljazeera: UN votes to send war crimes investigators to Gaza US News: Palestinians Ask ICC to Investigate Alleged Crimes by Israel
AMERICAS
North & Central America The Crime Report: Mexican Drug Cartels, Officials Collude in 'Crimes Against Humanity' Reuters: Guatemala sentences four military officers for civil war crimes
South America
The Epochtimes: The Life and Crimes of Daniel Ortega Wall Street Journal: Hezbollah Said to Be Laundering Money in South American Tri-Border Region
TOPICS
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
allAfrica: Gambia: Truth Commission Will Partner With Tango Daily Maverick: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has still not resulted in restorative justice Daily Observer: Female Victim Pleads for War Crimes Court
Terrorism
Iraqi News: Iraqi court sentences Russian terrorist to death over joining Islamic State Daily Times: 13 terrorism-related cases sent to military courts NBC News: Alexander Ciccolo, Boston police captain's son, pleads guilty to terror plot The Guardian: Isis supporter encouraged terrorists to target Prince George, court told
Piracy
U.S. News and World Report: Pirates Burn, Beat, and Toss Fishermen Overboard off Suriname New China: Piracy incidents double off coast of East Africa in 2017 U.S. News and World Report: Pirate Attacks Grow in South America and Caribbean
Gender-Based Violence
Saudi Gazette: Rape as a weapon against Rohingya Sudan Tribune: S. Sudan's Kiir, rebel leader Machar must face ICC/a> GroundViews: Conflict-Affected Women in Sri Lanka – Still Waiting For Answers
Commentary and Perspectives
CNN: The only way to bring justice to ISIS 'Beatles' The Intercept: With Medal of Honor, Seal Team 6 Rewards a Culture of War Crimes Gulf News: ICC prosecutions can deliver justice
WORTH READING
Sandesh Sivakumaran: Armed Conflict-Related Detention of Particularly Vulnerable Persons: Challenges and Possibilities Muttukrishna Sarvananthan: ‘Terrorism’ or ‘Liberation’? Towards a Distinction Lori A. Nessel: Deliberate Destitution as Deterrent AFRICA
CENTRAL AFRICA
Central African Republic
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic
Rebels Strike Central African Republic City, Kill 6 Fox News May 15, 2018
A mayor in Central African Republic says members of a rebel group known as UPC have stormed his city with assault rifles and knives, killing at least six people.
Mayor Abel Matchipata told The Associated Press the armed rebels made their way into Bambari overnight and struck on Tuesday. Matchipata says they attacked his office and police and radio stations in retaliation for the deaths of three UPC members during a robbery outside the city Monday.
The rebel group is considered an offshoot of the mostly Muslim coalition known as Seleka, which overthrew Central African Republic's longtime president in 2013. Violence has since plagued the country.
Medecins Sans Frontieres representatives in the capital, Bangui, says more than 300 people sought refuge at Bambari hospital, where one civilian died.
Central African Republic Showcases a Justice Model in Africa Human Rights Watch By Elise Keppler May 23, 2018
Governments across Africa should take note of developments in the Central African Republic to deliver justice to victims of grave crimes committed in the country.
The Special Criminal Court (SCC), established in 2015, is a domestic court that operates with significant international support. The court is staffed by international judges, prosecutors, and administrators, who work alongside practitioners from the Central African Republic. The United Nations is contributing to the court's security, staff recruitment, the training of investigators, and witness protection. (We examine the court in a report released last week.)
Too often, countries that suffer widespread atrocities lack the capacity or the will to try such crimes. The SCC is an example of how governments can demonstrate commitment to victims by teaming up with international partners to work to overcome the challenges. Also, trials at — or close to — home can have more impact and resonance than trials in distant courthouses. Trying war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic will not be easy. The court will need to manage security challenges—armed groups still control large parts of the country and violence has recently resurfaced in the capital, Bangui. The court also needs far more funding from donors to succeed.
The court has made important progress. Key staff — including the special prosecutor, chief registrar, investigators, and judges — are now in place and working out of make-shift premises in Bangui. Outreach about the court's work with local communities has begun. If the court can conduct credible prosecutions of atrocities, it would represent a major break from the country's troubled history of violence driven by impunity.
The SCC will also operate alongside the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC has two investigations in the Central African Republic, which were referred by the government, and is likely to prosecute a few highest-level perpetrators. The SCC will not be a cure for all that ails the Central African Republic, but it could help put the country on the right track. Lack of justice is fueling further crimes there, as it has in many different countries. To achieve lasting peace, accountability for the many grave international crimes that civilians suffered is crucial.
Governments across the globe who need to grapple with grave crimes committed in their countries should see the SCC as a model they can explore to hold their perpetrators to account.
Twelve killed in clashes in Central Africa capital AAJ News Afshan Zahra May 24, 2018
Twelve people were killed in clashes in a flashpoint Muslim-majority district in Bangui, the Central African Republic's capital, after a grenade went off, the Red Cross said Thursday.
The UN peacekeeping mission in CAR said it had launched an investigation into the violence, which erupted on Wednesday.
The Red Cross's account of the event was confirmed by Aouad Al Karim, imam of the Ali Babolo mosque in a business quarter of the volatile district.
Several wounded people were being treated at a Red Cross clinic.
The district, PK5, saw clashes between local militia and UN peacekeepers on April 10 that left 27 dead, including a UN soldier, and more than a hundred injured, according to hospital workers. On May 1, religious-tinged violence spread when armed men stormed a Christian church in the middle of a service, killing worshippers and a priest.
In response, a mob burned a mosque and lynched two people believed to be Muslim. Twenty-four people died and around 170 were injured.
The CAR is one of the world's poorest and most volatile countries.
It plunged into bloodshed in 2013 after the country's longtime leader Francois Bozize was ousted by a predominantly Muslim rebel alliance called the Seleka.
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Sudan & South Sudan
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in Darfur, Sudan
South Sudan group asks ICC to indict President Kiir, Riek Machar Daily Monitor By Joseph Oduha May 13, 2018
A lobby group wants the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and main rebel leader Riek Machar for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The South Sudan Equatorial Community in Diaspora said the two leaders have been incriminated in various reports for gross human rights violations, war crimes, displacement of the populations and destruction of livelihoods.
Group leader Federico Vuni said Upper Nile and Equatorial regions were the worst-affected by the war between the factions loyal to the two protagonists.
"There are already reports incriminating them and they should be indicted for the crimes committed in the ongoing conflict," Mr Vuni said. He added that the two leaders' respective deputies, Mr Taban Deng Gai and Mr James Wanni Igga, should equally be charged with similar crimes.
"All the four bear the responsibility for the crimes committed in South Sudan and deserve to face the international court. If we want a just peace, then they must account for the heinous crimes they have committed," he added.
Mr Vuni also asked the international community to join efforts and unseat all the four leaders.
"They are the obstacles to peace. They have led the country since 2005 but have only achieved destruction to lives, the economy and social fabric. They must be sent home," he noted.
South Sudan attained independence from Sudan in 2011 but descended into a civil war two years later.
The war erupted following a power wrangle between President Kiir and his former deputy Dr Machar.
The war has caused one of the largest humanitarian crises in the continent, according to the UN.
About two million South Sudanese have become refugees in neighbouring countries. The International Crisis Group estimates that more than 100,000 lives have been lost in the young nation from from 2013 to 2015 alone.
South Sudan President's Plea to Police: Stop Killing and Robbing Bloomberg By Okech Francis May 17, 2018
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir lambasted his nation's soldiers and police for robbing and killing civilians during a crime wave in the war-torn country that's facing economic collapse.
"Shame on you — you are the custodians of the law," Kiir told a police conference Thursday in the capital, Juba, decrying acts by law enforcement and army officers he said had forced people to flee the country. In Juba, "people are still being killed in their homes at night," he said. "By day-time they are soldiers and by night they are criminals."
The world's newest country is embroiled in a more than four-year civil war that's claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced more than 4 million people from their homes. There's been an upsurge in armed robberies and killings in Juba in the past year, with witnesses often blaming men in uniform. The United Nations has repeatedly accused the army of atrocities including the rape and killings of civilians.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Children 'are dying' now in DRC's Kasai from malnutrition, warns UNICEF UN News May 11, 2018
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued the warning on Friday, as it scales up its response to those in need.
[Before violence flared in mid-2016 between government forces and tribal militia across the vast region, the people of the Kasais had little experience of conflict, according to UNICEF Spokesperson Christophe Boulierac.
He has just returned from DRC, where he said he was personally affected by the desperate situation he encountered.
"What I saw really shocked me at a personal level...The situation there is absolutely scary, in the sense that people had to flee in the bush (with) family, children", he said.
"They had to stay a few months because of the violence. They had no proper food, they had no proper water to drink. And now that the violence has decreased they come back."
Clearly moved, the UNICEF official who has worked in the field in Asia, African and the Carribean, said: "Often we say that children are at risk of dying; no, that's not what we are saying in Kasai. We say that children are dying; I saw that."
Some 3.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the Kasais, including 2.3 million children. At least half of all children under-5 years of age in the region — that's 770,000 — are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 400,000 who are severely malnourished, according to a UNICEF report published this week.
UNICEF says that many families driven from their homes have been unable to plant and harvest their crops for three successive seasons. It also warns that thousands of children have been recruited into armed groups and militias and that hundreds of schools and health centres have been looted, burned or destroyed.
To support its programmes for the children of Kasai in 2018, UNICEF has appealed for $ 88 million, which to date is only 25 per cent funded.
IRIN contributor expelled from Congo Relief Web May 12, 2018
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have expelled British freelance journalist Philip Kleinfeld.
Kleinfeld was detained on 7 May in the Rutshuru region of North-Kivu Province while reporting on inter-communal violence and its effects on the civilian population. He was working for IRIN, an independent news organisation that reports from the front lines of humanitarian crises.
Two Britons held hostage in Democratic Republic of Congo freed The Guardian By Ben Quinn May 13, 2018
Two Britons and a local driver who were taken hostage on Friday in one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's national parks have been released.
Bethan Davies and Robert Jesty — the two British nationals — said they were "very relieved", in a statement issued through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
They said: "We are very relieved that there has been a positive outcome to the kidnapping and are very grateful for the excellent support we have received. We do not plan to comment further."
Earlier the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, paid tribute to the kidnap victims and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation for their help in securing the release.
A park ranger, Rachel Makissa Baraka, who was travelling with the pair, was fatally injured when the men and their Congolese driver were seized during a visit to the Virunga national park, a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the African country.
A number of kidnappings have taken place during the past six weeks in the park, which is home to about one-quarter of the world's remaining mountain gorillas. They come against the backdrop of rising violence across the province of North Kivu.
Johnson said: "I am delighted to announce that two British nationals who were held hostage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been released. I pay tribute to the DRC authorities and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation for their tireless help during this terrible case.
"My thoughts are now with the family of Virunga Park ranger Rachel Makissa Baraka, who was killed during the kidnapping, and with the injured driver and the released British nationals as they recover from this traumatic incident."
A statement issued by the park authorities said the men and their driver were receiving support and medical attention.
The park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, said: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Virunga national park ranger Baraka, whose life was tragically cut short whilst protecting the passengers and driver. We wish to extend our deepest condolences to her family and our sincerest gratitude for her bravery and service to Congo."
Baraka, who was one of the park's 26 female rangers, died in hospital from injuries sustained on Friday. Eight rangers have died in Virunga since the start of the year, according to the park authorities.
No further details were provided about the circumstances in which the pair were released. Congolese soldiers and park rangers have been conducting an operation to locate them after unidentified armed men ambushed the group on Friday morning north of Goma, the capital of DRC's North Kivu province.
The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the cities of Goma. The advice adds: "Opportunities for gorilla trekking in the Virunga national park in North Kivu are limited, and armed groups are sometimes active within the park."
Eastern Congo has been the scene of successive waves of violence in the past two-and-a-half decades and was at the epicentre of two wars between 1996 and 2003.
Rebel groups and militias still control large swathes of the territory. More than 175 rangers have died protecting Virunga national park, which is located in the rugged mountains and volcanic plains adjacent to neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.
UN council calls on DRC to lift ban on demonstrations News24 May 22, 2018
The UN Security Council on Monday urged the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to lift a blanket ban on demonstrations ahead of key elections meant to end President Joseph Kabila's rule.
The council met behind closed doors at France's request to hear a report by the UN envoy Leila Zerrougui on preparations for the December 23 elections that could pave the way for the first peaceful transfer of power in the resource-rich country.
Council members called on Kinshasa authorities to put "an end to restrictions of the political space, and encouraged them to lift the blanket ban on demonstrations," Polish Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, who holds the council presidency this month, told reporters after the meeting.
The ban was imposed in September 2016 when anti-Kabila protests turned violent.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this month urged the government to end the ban, saying the move would "greatly contribute to the opening of political space."
The government has authorized some opposition protests in recent weeks but security forces cracked down on demonstrators in late March and early April in the second city of Lubumbashi and in other areas of the country.
In power since 2001, Kabila has not clearly stated whether he will step aside despite appeals from the United States, France and Britain for him to clearly state that he will not seek re-election.
The Security Council is stepping up its focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo as it heads toward the December polls, with concerns over violence.
The DRC hosts the UN's biggest peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, with some 17 500 troops and police.
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Burundi
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Investigation: Burundi
Over 900 Burundians flee to Uganda over forced participation in vote Xinhua May 11, 2018
Over 900 Burundians have fled to Uganda claiming that they are being forced to participate in the voting exercise for a new constitution, an operation update by the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.
The update by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued here said in the month of April 994 Burundians crossed into Uganda seeking refuge.
"The latest wave of new arrivals from Burundi revealed that they fled due to forced participation in the voting exercise for new constitution scheduled in May 2018," the report said.
The new arrivals bring the total number of Burundian refugees who have fled to Uganda to 2,074 individuals since the beginning of this year, according to UNHCR figures.
The refugees are mostly from the provinces of Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke and Karusi.
The others are from Kayanza, Kirundo, Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi and Ruyigi.
The UN agency said the refugees are also reporting persecution by the Imbonerakure militias as well as forced repatriation from Tanzania and Rwanda.
Burundians will vote in a referendum on the country's draft constitution on May 17. The draft constitution extends the presidential term from five years provided in the 2005 constitution to seven years and allows the president to serve two consecutive terms.
The draft does not ban the current president Pierre Nkurunziza to run again in 2020.
26 killed in rural Burundi attack amid tensions over president's bid to keep power Los Angeles Times May 12, 2018
Twenty-six people were killed and seven wounded in an attack in a rural area of Burundi, the country's security minister said Saturday, calling it the work of a "terrorist group" he did not identify.
Speaking at the scene, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni told reporters that 24 people were killed in their homes Friday night and two others died of their wounds at a local hospital.
He gave no further details about the attack in the Ruhagarika community of the rural northwestern province of Cibitoke.
The attack came shortly before a May 17 referendum that could extend the president's term. It was not immediately clear if the attack was related.
One survivor told the Associated Press the attackers came around 10 p.m. local time and "attacked households and set fire on houses." Some victims were hacked with machetes and others were shot or burned alive, she said.
Her husband and two children were killed, she said. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.
This East African country has seen deadly political violence since early 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully pursued a disputed third term. An estimated 1,200 people died.
Now Burundians are being asked to vote on a proposed constitutional change to extend the president's term from five years to seven, which would allow Nkurunziza to rule for another 14 years.
Campaigns ahead of the referendum have been marred by hate speech, with one ruling party official sent to prison after he called for those who oppose the referendum to be drowned.
The United States earlier this month denounced "violence, intimidation and harassment" against those thought to oppose the referendum and expressed concern about the "nontransparent process" of changing the constitution.
Human Rights Watch has noted "widespread impunity" for authorities and their allies, including the ruling party's youth wing, as they try to swing the vote in the president's favor. Many in Burundi, a poor country that still relies heavily on foreign aid, worry that a new round of bloodshed will follow the referendum, no matter its results.
Already more than 400,000 people have fled the country since the political unrest began in April 2015, according to the United Nations.
Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, rose to power in 2005 after Burundi's civil war, which killed about 300,000 people. He was reelected unopposed in 2010 after the opposition boycotted. He said he was eligible for a third term in 2015 because lawmakers, not the general population, chose him for his first term.
UN expresses concern over violence in Burundi Anadolu Agency By Felix Nkambeh Tih May 15, 2018
UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein on Tuesday expressed concern about a possible upsurge in violence in Burundi during Thursday's controversial constitutional referendum.
Last Friday 26 people, among them 10 women and 11 children, became the victims of an attack launched by unidentified armed men on the village of Ruhamagara in the Cibitoke Province, some 60 kilometers north-west of the capital Bujumbura.
There are very differing accounts as to who the attackers were and what their motive was, al Hussein said.
"It may have been political — designed to impact on the referendum — or it may have been carried out for other reasons, including revenge. Local residents have reported the men wore military uniforms, but this does not necessarily indicate who they were," he said.
A referendum is set to take place on May 17, 2018 in Burundi, and if President Pierre Nkurunziza wins it, it would allow him to extend his rule until 2034 although he is already serving a controversial third term.
"Burundi is awash with rumors, political negotiations are deadlocked, and tensions are rising sharply in the wake of this attack, with many dreading what may happen during and after Thursday's referendum.
"Everyone will suffer if Burundi explodes into violence during or after the referendum," al Hussein added.
He also called on the Burundian government "to live up to its responsibilities to provide the people of Burundi with peace, security and a fully functioning democracy where everyone's human rights are observed, and the rule of law is applied equally to all. "
The unrest in Burundi started in April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his candidacy for a controversial third term whereas only two terms are allowed by the constitution.
The crisis so far has led to hundreds of deaths and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the country and seek refuge in neighboring states, according to the UN.
UN rights chief says Burundi attack 'dangerous development' The Washington Post May 15. 2018
The United Nations' human rights chief calls last week's deadly attack in Burundi a "very dangerous development" ahead of Thursday's referendum that could extend the president's rule.
Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein spoke Tuesday following Friday's attack in rural Burundi that killed 26 people, including 11 children. The government blames the attack on a "terrorist group."
Zeid says the attack in Cibitoke could have been motivated by politics or other reasons.
He also warns that "everyone will suffer if Burundi explodes into violence during or after the referendum."
Burundians will vote on a proposal to extend the president's term from five years to seven, which would allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to rule for another 14 years when his current term expires in 2020. Burundi has faced deadly protests over Nkurunziza's rule.
Tension Grows Around Referendum In Burundi NPR By Eyder Perlta May 16, 2018
Preparing for a controversial referendum, the central African country of Burundi is on edge.
The Thursday referendum would not only extend the rule of President Pierre Nkurunziza until 2034, but it would also roll back some key aspects of the Arusha Agreement, which paved the way for ending the country's long and bloody civil war in 2005. The fear is that the referendum could spark more violence in the country.
Yolande Bouka, a research fellow at the University of Denver who has studied Burundi's current political crisis in detail, says the proposed constitutional amendment makes it easier for the ruling party "to get its way." It gives the president broader powers to control the legislative agenda, for example, and it also makes it easier for the president to minimize the influence of other political parties and ethnic minorities.
"The very basis on which the Arusha Agreement was designed, which was to make the political system more inclusive to avoid the type of violence Burundi experienced since the '60s and the '70s all the way to civil war in the 1990s, all of that is undermined with the new constitution," she said.
In some ways, Burundi is already seeing some of the consequences of the consolidation of power in the country.
Human rights groups have charged that the lead-up to this referendum has been marked by intimidation, beatings and even killings. In a report released last month, Human Rights Watch detailed more than a dozen cases of intimidation, many at the hands of the Imbonerakure, the ruling party's youth league.
One man, reports Human Rights Watch, was heading home when he was stopped at a roadblock by members of the Imbonerakure. He could not prove that he had registered to vote, so the young men beat him yelling that not registering to vote meant he was "against the referendum."
Reached by telephone, Ndayizeye Sylvestre, the chairman of the Imbonerakure, said he could not speak to the media about the referendum or about the allegations against the group.
The government, however, has vehemently denied any repression, calling the reports propaganda. Last month, the government jailed a supporter who called for the drowning of government opponents. And the ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy — Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), issued a statement saying they were "surprised" by the comments. They added: "The party urges all its members to exercise political tolerance and asks for justice in this case."
The most recent bout of violence in Burundi started in 2015. President Nkurinziza, who came into power as the war ended in 2005, announced he would seek a third term. Critics called it illegal, because the constitution based on the 2000 Arusha Agreement limited a president to two terms. But Nkurunziza ultimately prevailed in court, arguing that in 2005 he was elected by parliament and not the people, so he was entitled to a third term.
His party splintered and it all came to a head when one of his former allies attempted a coup. Nkurinziza survived, but the country has been in a slow-burn conflict since.
The now-banned human rights group ITEKA League found that between April 2015 and May 2018, 1,710 people were murdered, 558 were tortured and more than 8,000 were arrested. Over that same period, more than 400,000 Burundians fled the conflict into neighboring countries.
A commission created by United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016 has consistently found that crimes against humanity have likely been committed in Burundi and that in a country with a history of tribal-based violence, government leaders have used ethnic attacks to "help create a dangerous climate of hate [that] could rekindle ethnic tensions."
Stephanie Mbanzendore, who runs Burundian Women for Peace and Development, an organization that focuses on reconciliation, says after Nkurunziza took power in 2005, she was hopeful. She had left Burundi in 1994, but the government was open and inclusive she said.
After 2015, she says things changed. "Again, this division came back. Now we are talking again more and more about ethnic group," she said. "And I hope that we come back to when we were talking about inclusivity ... when you felt this was my country, not because you are this or that but because you are a Burundian."
Bouka sees this referendum as a naked power grab by Nkurunziza and says it goes beyond tribal conflicts between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis.
"Some of these measures are not meant only to exclude the Tutsi minority. They are also meant to undermine the possibility of the political elites on the Hutu side from challenging Nkurinziza and other people in his circle," she said.
Back in 2015, Bouka points out, it was Hutus who wanted a chance at the presidency who began a rebellion that spiraled into months of intense violence.
HRW reports violence in Burundi before referendum Jurist May 18, 2018
Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported [press release] on Friday that members of Burundi's security forces and ruling party youth league "killed, raped, abducted, beat, and intimidated suspected opponents in the months leading up to a constitutional referendum."
The referendum on whether Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, can hold office past the two-term limit (potentially allowing him to stay in power until 2034) occurred on Thursday. Nkurunziza has been in office [HRW report] since 2005.
According to the report, security forces and the youth league targeted victims for refusing to contribute funds to Nkurunziza's campaign, or for not registering for his political party.
HRW interviewed more than 100 people since last February and from these interviews documented 15 murders, six rapes, and eight kidnappings, among other crimes. Of those interviewed, 67 had fled the country. This is an increase from the 19 cases of abuse HRW documented [JURIST report] in a report released last month. "The full scale of abuse is difficult to determine and most likely significantly higher than the cases documented," said HRW.
HRW urged the Burundian government to hold the perpetrators accountable and to prevent violations by its own forces. The organization called on African leaders to pressure Nkurunziza to end the "violence and repression" in Burundi. Finally, HRW urged the European Union and the United States to expand their targeted sanctions on Burundi and for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions.
In November an International Criminal Court prosecutor was authorized [JURIST report] to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burundi. In September a UN commission called on [JURIST report] Burundi to end ongoing human rights violations.
Burundi opposition leader rejects referendum ahead of result AlJazeera May 19, 2018
An opposition coalition in Burundi has said it will not accept the results of a referendum on constitutional reforms that could extend President Pierre Nkurunziza's time in office, calling the process a "parody" and undemocratic.
In comments made on Saturday to The Associated Press, Agathon Rwasa, head of the Amizero y'Abarundi bloc, alleged that government forces had arrested perceived opponents ahead of Thursday's ballot and threatened to assassinate those who voted against amending the constitution.
The referendum asked voters to decide "yes" or "no" on proposed constitutional amendments, including whether the current five-year presidential terms will be increased to seven years. No change to the limit of two terms in office is proposed.
If approved, Nkurunziza, whose current term expires in two years, could run for two more terms and be in power until 2034.
"We will not accept the outcome of this referendum because it is a fantasy," said Rwasa, one of the few opposition leaders still in Burundi, a country plagued by a political and security crisis since 2015.
"Some of our members have been kidnapped, others beaten ... while some people were forced to vote 'yes' and during counting our representatives were expelled." Rwasa called on Burundi's Electoral Commission to redo the ballot in a free and fair manner.
More than five million people registered to vote in the referendum, according to the commission, with official results expected to be announced imminently. The changes will be adopted if more than 50 percent of voters selected "yes".
Results published on Friday by a group of 15 public and private radio stations showed a majority "yes" vote in at least 14 of Burundi's 18 provinces.
'Widespread abuse, fear and pressure'
Before the vote, human rights groups said the campaign period had been marked by intimidation and abuse.
And after the ballot, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said at least 15 people opposing the referendum had been killed, while six others were raped and eight abducted.
The "full scale of abuse" is likely "significantly higher", HRW said on Friday, with "many victims and witnesses unwilling or unable to report abuses".
Ida Sawyer, HRW's central Africa director, said the vote had taken place amid "widespread abuse, fear and pressure — a climate that is clearly not conducive to free choice".
But Willy Nyamitwe, Nkurunziza's presidential spokesman, praised the "peace" in which the ballot was held.
Constitutional controversy
The referendum comes three years after Nkurunziza won a controversial third term as president during a 2015 election, which was boycotted by the opposition.
Nkurunziza first came to power in 2005, five years after the signing of a nationwide peace deal known as the Arusha Accords, which paved the way for the ending of a 12-year-long civil war that saw more than 300,000 people killed.
According to a provision in the peace deal, no leader could serve more than two five-year terms.
But in early 2015, Nkurunziza claimed it was legal for him to run in the elections because for his first term he had been appointed to the presidency by parliament — as opposed to being voted in.
A political crisis ensued, with the opposition calling Nkurunziza's bid unconstitutional. An attempted coup was quashed, while a crackdown on anti-government protests resulted in the killing of at least 1,200 people.
More than 400,000 others, including opposition leaders, fled the country.
The International Criminal Court has said it is investigating alleged state-sponsored crimes against humanity in the country. Last year, Burundi became the first country to leave the Hague-based court.
As well as allowing Nkurunziza to prolong his rule, Thursday's proposed changes to Burundi's constitution would also allow the revision of ethnic quotas currently protected under the accords.
The new document would also scrap one of the country's two constitutionally enshrined vice presidents and shift a number of powers away from the government to the president.
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WEST AFRICA
Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon
Army in final push against Boko Haram in Lake Chad Vanguard May 15, 2018
The Nigerian Army says on Tuesday it has lunched a new operation to totally flush out remnants of Boko Haram insurhents in the Lake Chad region.
Lt. Gen. Tukur Burutai, disclosed at a press conference in Maiduguri that Operation Last Hold began on May 1, and has a target of August 31, to accomplish it's mission. Represented by Maj.- Gen. Abba Dikko, the Commander of Operation LAST HOLD explained that it was intended to facilitate the clearance of the Lake Chad waterways of sea weeds and other obstacles obstructing the movement of boats and people across the water channels. "It will also ensure the destruction of Boko Haram Terrorist camps and strong points in the Lake Chad Basin general area. The operation will also facilitate the rescue of hostages," he said.
Buratai said that the Army was determined to consolidate on its recent gains in the ongoing push especially in the Northern most part of Borno. "Operation LAST HOLD is expected to last for 4 months and it will entail deployment of additional manoeuvre brigades and other critical assets in Borno State. "The end-state of Operation LAST HOLD is the total defeat of the Boko Haram Terrorist Sect in northern Borno. This will pave way for the return of local administration and people to their responsibilities and communities."
According to him, "The operation will facilitate the restoration of fishing, farming and other economic activities in the Lake Chad Basin. "Additionally, it will facilitate the relocation of Internally Displaced Persons from IDP camps back to their communities, "said Burutai NAN
Nigerian, Cameroonian Troops Kill 15 Boko Haram Terrorists in Lake Chad All Africa By Senator Iroegbu May 17, 2018
The combined troops of the Nigerian Operation Lafiya Dole and the Cameroonian Defence Forces have killed 15 Boko Haram insurgents in separate encounters in Southern Lake Chad Basin.
The Deputy Director Public Relations, Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the troops neutralised the insurgents while conducting operations to clear remnants of Boko Haram insurgents in the Lake Chad Islands and surrounding villages of northern Borno on Tuesday.
Nwachukwu said the troops dislodged the insurgents from their hideout after a fierce battle, killing 11 insurgents in Gomaran village of Southern Lake Chad Basin.
The Nigerian troops are already engaged in Operation Final Push to clear the North-east of Boko Haram remnants.
Nwachukwu said that in a two other separate encounters with the fleeing insurgents in Firgi and Moula, both in Bama and Dikwa Local Governments Areas of Borno State, troops also ambushed and neutralised four Boko Haram insurgents who were fleeing troops ' onslaught in the northern fringes.
According to him, the clearance operations also led to the recovery of one single barrel gun, one Dane gun and one locally made pistol.
He said: "Other items recovered from the dislodged insurgents include: four motorcycles, motorcycle spare parts, two tricycles, six pumping machines, and two power generating sets. Additionally, the valiant troops captured two Boko Haram flags, a pair of camouflage uniform, a pair of combat boots, a camera, a bag of mechanical tools and medications.
"Four men, 33 women and 16 children were rescued by the troops from the insurgents' hideouts. The rescued hostages are currently being profiled for subsequent hand over to officials of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp for documentation and administering."
In another development, Nwachukwu said an aged Boko Haram terrorist also on Tuesday, killed himself in a suicide bomb attack around a telephone mast in Konduga in Borno State.
He said the elderly man pretending to be weak and feeble was being searched by men of the Civilian Joint Task Force, when he detonated a suicide vest contained in a bag he was carrying. Unfortunately, he added, three Civilian Joint Task Force members paid the supreme price in the incident. He said the wounded have been evacuated for medical attention. "Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives as well as those injured in the callous attack.
"This singular incident points to the variation in the tactics of the Boko Haram terrorists in their uncanny resolve to deceptively infiltrate communities and towns to mindlessly attack vulnerable and soft targets. Aside using women and children, the terrorists are now engaging the aged in suicide bombing as witnessed in this recent incident.
They have also been detected to now appear clean and Well dressed to look unsuspicious and enable them gain access to targets marked for suicide attack. Some of the terrorists have also been found to now conceal their suicide vests by wearing it on the thigh rather than the waist to appear less bulky and evade detection when searched," he stated.
In view of these developments, he advised members of the public to be vigilant and discerning as they go about their normal daily routines and activities.
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Mali
People flee violence in Central and Northern Mali Norwegian Refugee Council May 14, 2018
More than 600 people have fled clashes in the villages of Anakila, Madougou-Peulh and Alajina-Peulh in the Koro area, according to the Regional Office for Social Development and Solidarity Economy of Mopti. Reports say hundreds of houses have been burned down.
Since February 2018, counter-terrorist operations being carried out in the Ménaka region, close to Niger, and clashes between armed groups in the area have also forced more than 1,000 families to flee their homes, particularly in the district of Anderamboukane.
The humanitarian situation in the region is worsening with five armed attacks since the end of April — the latest on 9 May. These attacks force Malian civilians to flee their homes in fear of retaliation, and also cause civilian casualties.
With the current military operation and armed group activities on the rise in Mali, humanitarian needs are increasing. The NRC and its local partners have registered urgent needs for food, water, household items and access to sanitary facilities.
Forced to flee, many displaced people have left everything behind, including their livelihood. "We call for the international community to support and fund the humanitarian response, enabling us to provide protection and relief to the displaced families," said Hassane Hamadou, Country Director for the NRC in Mali. A lack of aid now will expose already vulnerable displaced families to further risks.
NRC is currently conducting multisectoral assessments through our Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) in coordination with other humanitarian actors in both the affected regions. The aim is to identify the needs of the people affected by displacement and provide an adequate, targeted and integrated response.
The distribution of emergency relief such as food, household items and water purification tablets are due to begin on 14 May, with the support of local authorities.
Government yet to establish benchmarks for Mali mission success I Politics By Tim Naumetz May 18, 2018
The Trudeau government does not yet know how it will measure success in a hazardous peace operation the Canadian Armed Forces will begin setting up next month, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has informed the Commons
"Specific success metrics for this mission will be developed as a result of further planning, discussions with the UN, partners and the host nation," Sajjan said in a statement quietly tabled in the Commons last week.
A Canadian Forces aviation task force of two transport helicopters and two armed escort helicopters will begin replacing German helicopters in the Mali peace operation in June, the general in command of Canadian Forces joint operations told a Commons committee in April.
The aircraft and a total of an estimated 250 Canadian Forces personnel, including armed troops on the Canadian base, will gradually replace the German component of the UN peace operation through June and July, with the Canadian mission expected to be fully operational by early August, Lieutenant-General Stephen Bowes told the Commons National Defence committee.
"As German helicopters come out of the mission, Canadian helicopters go in, and it's not all at the same time, it's a phased approach. We're not talking about international airports, we're talking of some very small airfields and facilities, so as a helicopter comes out, another one goes in," Bowes said.
"That's the lie ahead in the next few months, with a view that we'll activate this theatre some time in June," said Bowes, revealing details about the schedule for the first time since the government announced the mission last March.
"Our forces will flow in, the main bodies will flow in some time in July, and in the third week of July we will see Germany's helicopters come out in the final sense, and Canada's will be on the ground and will be operational in early August," Bowes told the MPs.
Sajjan, replying with a written response to questions a Conservative MP tabled in the Commons last March, acknowledged armed groups who are not signatories to a 2015 peace agreement pose a "significant challenge" to reaching peace as the Canadians prepare to move in.
More than 160 peacekeepers, primarily from African nations taking part in the UN mission, have been killed on operations in Mali. The UN Security Council recently denounced an attack that killed two peacekeepers in a direct attack against a peace operation base in northern Mali last February.
In the last two months, at least three other attacks against UN bases killed four UN peacekeepers.
Edmonton Conservative MP Kerry Diotte had asked the government three specific questions about the Canadian deployment to Mali: Whether it was a peacekeeping mission; which sides are currently at peace with each other; and what measures will the government use to determine if the mission's objectives have been achieved.
The response noted that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged at an international peacekeeping summit in Vancouver last year that "today's peacekeeping challenges are those of a new era. Peacekeepers no longer stand between identifiable opposing forces while a political settlement is established."
In response to the question about Canada's objectives for the mission, Sajjan said "Canada's contribution of an air task force will provide transport and logistics support, armed escort and protection capacities, and reliable medical and casualty evacuations."
"These are essential functions which enable the mission to deliver on its mandate."
While stating specific "metrics" to judge success have not yet been laid out, Sajjan's response said the government will "continually monitor the mission's progress to assess the impact of the task force, including by measuring flying hours and the provision of logistical and aeromedical evacuation support."
The Canadian Forces said Thursday it could not comment on a report that attack helicopters attached to an El Salvador contingent taking part in the UN mission might also provide support for Canada's Chinook helicopter transports.
"That level of detail has not yet been determined," said a spokesperson with the media liaison office at the Department of National Defence. "More information will be announced in due course, once available."
Bowes told the committee the Canadian Forces "can't reduce the risk to zero in Mali.
"We can't reduce the risk to zero in any of our missions. What we can do is identify the risk across all domains and work to mitigate that risk.
"We have rules of engagement, and we have the means to defend ourselves and conduct ourselves in a way that reduces the risk, but you can't bring risk down to zero." Conservative MP James Bezan asked Bowes whether Canada's troops will be armed on base.
"Yes, absolutely," replied Bowes.
Mali delegation taps Canadian expertise documenting human rights abuses CBC News By Murray Brewster May 22, 2018
Putting the peace into Canada's upcoming peacekeeping deployment is the subject of a series of meetings this week involving the head of Mali's truth, justice and reconciliation commission and senior federal officials in Ottawa.
Ousmane Sidibé and four other commissioners are in the middle of a 10-day official visit. They're looking to tap into Canadian expertise on the preservation and protection of witness statements and the archiving practices required to document grave human rights abuses.
The group met last week with Canada's National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba, which was set up to house all the documents and oral statements of residential school survivors.
"We thought it would be very useful for the two commissions to share their expertise, their knowledge in managing data and managing audiences and hearings," said Pascal Paradis, the general manager of Lawyers Without Borders Canada, who will accompany the delegation for meetings at Global Affairs Canada on Tuesday. "It might seem like a strange fit from the outside, but it's working quite well."
The Canadian military is preparing to deploy as many as six helicopters and 250 aircrew and troops to support the United Nations mission in Mali.
The west African country holds the distinction of being the most dangerous peacekeeping mission currently on the books, with 169 fatalities.
It is often described as a country where there is little peace to keep, a place where extremists, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, dramatically ramped up attacks last year.
There was also increasing ethnic violence in the north and central parts of the country, which killed dozens and displaced thousands, according to Human Rights Watch.
A country in turmoil'
To make matters worse, there have been reprisal attacks by vigilante groups, political turmoil with the resignation of the country's prime minister last year and brutal tactics by security forces.
"Government forces conducted counterterrorism operations that resulted in arbitrary arrests, summary executions, torture and ill-treatment," Human Rights Watch said in its recently released 2018 assessment.
"During 2017, soldiers allegedly killed and buried at least 15 suspects in common graves, while more than 25 were subjected to enforced disappearance. Dozens of other suspects were subjected to severe ill-treatment during interrogations.
"Numerous men and some children accused of crimes against the state and terrorist-related offences were detained by the national intelligence agency without respect for due process."
Peace, let alone reconciliation, seems to be quite distant, but Paradis said his organization, with Canadian government backing, is attempting to lay the legal and civil society groundwork for the eventual process.
Just over $22 million has been set aside in two projects, one of which is slated to last five years.
"These are very significant investments by Canada," said Paradis. "They're working on civil society, on public institutions, government relations."
Undefined benchmarks
Blue-helmeted peacekeepers may be the most visible, immediate sign, but Paradis insisted work is already underway "to help the country overcome its problems." He said it cannot be understated that Mali and events in sub-Saharan Africa are crucial to global peace and security.
"Mali is the centrepiece in a network of illegal arms trade, drug dealings, that stretch as far as Cuba and Columbia," he said. "Dealing with Mali now is not just dealing with Mali. It's dealing with the whole region in the global peace and security context."
Recently documents were tabled in Parliament that show the Liberal government has yet to define benchmarks for success for its mission in Mali.
"Specific success metrics for this mission will be developed as a result of further planning, discussions with the UN, partners and the host nation," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan wrote.
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EAST AFRICA
Uganda
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in Uganda
Ugandan Leader of Shadowy Rebel Group in Court Over Mass Murder Charges Modern Ghana May 14, 2018
The Ugandan leader of a shadowy rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo appeared in court Monday on charges of mass murder and crimes against humanity.
Jamil Mukulu, leader of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), has been in detention since he was arrested in Tanzania in April 2015 and extradited to Uganda later that year.
The ADF is a Ugandan Muslim rebel group whose basic motives and ideology remain unclear but regional governments have alleged links to international jihadist movements.
The start of the pre-trial hearing marks the first time Mukulu has appeared in court since he was charged in July 2015.
In the court precinct Mukulu protested his innocence and blamed the Ugandan government for a series of murders of prominent Muslims that authorities have pinned on the ADF.
"I'm not a murderer. They want to kill us," Mukulu shouted to journalists.
He appeared alongside 34 handcuffed and shackled co-accused who all alleged via their lawyers that they had been tortured while in detention.
The hearing marks the start of a convoluted judicial process at the Ugandan High Court's International Crimes Division - which was specially set up a decade ago to try crimes allegedly committed by the Lord's Resistance Army, another rebel group.
The ADF started out in 1989 with the aim of overthrowing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who was seen as hostile to Muslims. It absorbed other rebel factions in its ranks and started carrying out attacks in 1995.
Forced westwards by the Ugandan army, the group relocated most of its activities to the DRC, finding a lucrative niche in its lawless, resource-rich east.
Its rollcall of crimes includes mass killings and maiming using machetes, the use of child soldiers and rape, according to the UN. While regional governments and the UN have blamed the ADF for a number of attacks on civilian and military targets, independent researchers say the group is often used as a cover by armed actors with an ulterior motive, including Congolese soldiers.
Kristof Titeca, an academic at the University of Antwerp who specialises in the ADF, is one of several who argue that the group is not responsible for all the violence blamed on them.
"The violence and attacks attributed to the ADF in the DRC have always been part of a very murky situation, in which a variety of armed actors attribute and cover up their actions as 'ADF' actions," he told AFP.
Children of the Cape Flats Are Child Soldiers allAfrica May 15, 2018
A Ugandan academic has likened Cape Flats minor gang recruits to child soldiers of his home country who fought in the rebel group called The Lord's Resistance Army.
Dr Jino Mwaka, rector of the University of Sacred Heart in Uganda, at a recent dialogue on children trapped in violence on the Cape Flats, said the concept of "child soldiers" needed to be expanded to include young people who are exposed to violence and trapped within their communities.
"We must also include children who are at war for survival, such as children who are exposed to domestic violence, street kids and child-headed households," he insisted.
He was one of five panelists who discussed the topic at an international public dialogue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) last week Wednesday, May 9.
According to research conducted by UCT in 2018, there are about 10 000 children on the Cape Flats "trapped in violent conflicts" and recruited in gangs, Community Chest's Titania Fernandez said.
On average, about 32 people are murdered per month in Hanover Park.
'Kids aren't forced to become gangsters'
Panelist Maulana Thohar Rodrigues, who participated in the research, presented a "local view" of the child soldier.
"When we think of a child soldier we think of a youngster with a gun. Child soldiers exist. These youngsters are shooting in our communities and stripping them of peace," Rodrigues said.
But an audience member, a self-proclaimed former 28s gangster, challenged the suggestion that the underage recruits were child soldiers, arguing that they choose to join its ranks.
"Kids aren't forced to become gangsters, they want to be gangsters. They are attracted by the uniform - Nikes, bling-bling," he said.
Rodrigues explained underage boys were used as drug runners and to hide weapons in low income communities such as Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain and Elsies River.
"Children are indoctrinated and saturated with a brutal upbringing, meaning they are ordered to kill. You won't find this in the black or white communities. This is happening in the coloured community."
No child-centred activities
But Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture director Valdi van Reenen-Le Roux argued that the racialisation of gangsterism as a coloured issue was incorrect.
"We already know that there is gang violence in Langa and Khayelitsha - they just have a differing modus operandi to coloured gangs," she said.
"When it comes to gang hierarchy, who do you think is at the top? White people."
Last year, the Western Cape ANC announced that it would embark on a multi-pronged anti-gang strategy, which would include petitioning the national police minister to implement the national anti-gang strategy. Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has previously called for military support to assist the police. Soldiers were last sent into the Cape Flats in May 2015, following a surge of violent crime.
But community-based organisation Fight for Peace leader Seth Reynolds said government was offering no viable alternatives.
"I don't understand government's inertia. Our organisation operates in Manenberg and Gugulethu and there are no activities for the children," he said.
"We already know the problems. There is this gap between studies and actual intervention. Do we really need more research?"
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Kenya
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Republic of Kenya
Blow to war on graft after court quashes immunity The Star By James Mbaka and Carole Maina May 22, 2018
The war against corruption yesterday suffered a major setback after the High Court quashed a law conferring immunity on Parliamentary investigations.
A landmark ruling by Justice John Mativo also nullified a provision protecting MPs from being served court orders in Parliament or halting Parliament's businesses or decisions.
"No proceedings or decision of Parliament or the Committee of Powers and Privileges acting in accordance with this Act shall be questioned in any court," reads the annulled Section 11 of the Powers and Privileges Act of 2017 that insulated MPs against judicial intervention.
The judge described this section a "finality clause", which restricts or eliminates judicial review.
President Uhuru on July 21, 2017, assented to the Powers and Privileges Act, consequently granting MPs immunity.
Judge Mativo, deciding in a petition filed by former Law Society of Kenya boss Apollo Mboya, said the two sections contravene Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 19, 20, 21 (1)22 , 23, 24, 48, 50, 93 (2) 94(4) 159, and 258 of the Constitution.
"In our constitutional dispensation, it is not Parliament or the Executive or the Judiciary that are supreme, but the Constitution" the judge ruled.
The law was hastily amended and passed in 2015, following numerous court injunctions against the 11th Parliament. At the time, a number of lawmakers were facing charges of misappropriation of funds.
Mboya had told the court that the law shields lawmakers from being served with court documents, hence, it purports to grant non-existent powers as well as immunity, which puts them above the law.
The lawyer had argued that the end result of the law is to lock out even courts from questioning proceedings or decisions of Parliament.
The lawyer had also told the court that President Uhuru committed an illegality when assenting to the Bill and he should have referred it back to Parliament for reconsideration.
But the judge found that the President had properly assented to the Bill and ruled that the President or Parliament cannot be blamed anytime legislation is declared unconstitutional. "I find no basis to invalidate the legislation on grounds of the alleged breach of Article 115 of the Constitution on the part of the President," Mativo ruled.
The net effect of the judgment is that it has exposed the House to court injunctions that could curtail its investigative power.
This could paralyse key investigations under various committees of the House, potentially crippling their ability to conduct wide-ranging oversight.
"Parliamentary immunity is not an individual privilege granted to members of Parliament for their personal benefit but rather for the people and the institution which represents them," Justice Mativo ruled.
The court found that the disputed law does not specify the nature of decisions or immunity in the performance of legislators’ duties.
Section 7, which was scrapped, had insulated MPs from being served with court orders within the precincts of Parliament, consequently placing lawmakers out of reach and above the law itself.
Under the section, it was difficult for people of interest to block MPs from questioning them — even in malicious instances — as the lawmakers were inaccessible to court orders.
The section provided that no process issued by any court in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction shall be served or executed within the precincts of Parliament or through the Speaker or any officer of Parliament.
The High Court also scrapped the two key sections of the Act that had given MPs sweeping powers to summon and question suspects without fear of restraining court orders.
Section 11 insulated MPs from litigation in case Kenyans are aggrieved with decisions of Parliament or committees, according them super powers to do what they wanted at will.
Section 12, which was not challenged in court, still gives MPs total immunity from prosecution, in effect guaranteeing that they will not be sued in their lifetime for "anything done...in good faith" during their tenure.
The section gives the Speakers, Majority leaders, Minority leaders, committee chairpersons and parliamentary staff immunity from legal prosecution for anything done in the line of their duties.
Following yesterday's ruling, any Kenyan anticipating parliamentary summonses can rush to court, obtain restraining orders and then proceed to serve MPs through the Clerk or the Speaker so as to avoid questioning.
This could deal a blow to anti-graft efforts and Parliament’s oversight role that includes apportioning culpability in economic crimes involving theft of public funds.
The ongoing investigations into the Sh9 billion National Youth Service scandal could be affected if suspects targeted by Parliamentary panels for interrogation move to court to block summonses.
The ruling could open another battlefront between the Legislature and the Judiciary, two arms of government that have previously been at loggerheads over claims of attempts to emasculate the other.
Chief Justice David Maraga has previously told MPs that the Judiciary will not hesitate to step in where it believes that MPs are conducting quasi-judicial hearings without fairness and justice.
No sooner had Justice John Mativo’s ink dried than National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale hit back, warning that the Judiciary has been captured by judicial activists.
"The judiciary wants to prefect the other arms of government and people must resist Judicial activism and rogue judicial officers acting with impunity," protested Duale from Singapore where he is on official parliamentary duties.
The vocal Garissa Township MP said that the world over, the precincts of Parliament are privileged areas where MPs enjoy partial immunity against legal suits emanating from the nature of their work.
"They [Judiciary] cannot dictate how another arm of government conducts its affairs. This is part of a scheme where the Judiciary is violating the principle of separation of powers as contemplated in the Constitution," he said.
Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye, who is also the secretary to the Parliamentary Service Commission, told the Star that Parliament was studying the judge’s ruling before deciding on the next course of action. "The judgment has just been delivered today. As the secretariat we are studying it with our lawyers before deciding the next step," he said from Mombasa where he is attending the Legislative Summit of the Senate and county assemblies.
National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai said the Judiciary was acting within its constitutional mandate to determine the constitutionality or otherwise of any law.
"We will study the ruling and advise the House whether to appeal or revisit the annulled sections to align the Act with the Constitution," he said.
MPs have always complained that constant court orders by people of interest against Parliament had significantly slowed down their efforts to fight corruption.
Former LSK chief executive officer Mboya had challenged the sections of the law that he said granted lawmakers, including MCAs, "super immunity".
Mboya argued that the end result of that law is to lock out even courts from questioning proceedings or decisions of Parliament.
He wanted the court to nullify the Act on grounds that there was no public participation and involvement of key stakeholders such as the Judiciary.
He argued the law locked out the courts from questioning any proceedings or decision of Parliament, including the illegality, irregularity or constitutionality, or otherwise of any legislation.
Last September the High Court quashed proceedings of the National Assembly’s Finance committee against Auditor General Edward Ouko.
Judge George Odunga ruled that the proceedings of the committee failed the test of fair administrative action in a petition by lawyer Emmanuel Mwagonah, who wanted Ouko removed from office.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has said the avalanche of orders issued in favour of persons of interest under probe by National Assembly and Senate committees was part of attempts to gag the House.
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Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)
Official Website of the ICTR
Early release of Genocide convicts clouds ICTR legacy, Busingye The New Times By Eugène Kwibuka May 10, 2018
Government has asked the UN-backed Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) to hold in open court, deliberations pertaining to granting early release to Genocide perpetrators convicted by the court.
Over 10 masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, through unclear procedure, have been granted early release after they were convicted and handed varying sentences by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
All the early releases have occurred through unilateral decisions of the Mechanism's President, Judge Theodor Meron.
While visiting the Tanzania-based court on Wednesday, Justice Minister Johnston Busingye said that the tribunal's legacy now hangs in the balance following the spate of unjustified early releases granted to those that were convicted by the court.
He said that the tribunal had achieved a lot but it is the controversial early release of Genocide masterminds and the fact that those released continue to deny the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and propagate genocide ideology that will be its legacy. "We are alerting the Tribunal and the International Community that our concerns are founded on the power of unilateralism with which previous controversial early releases were procured. The power to early release needs to be fettered and the person responsible for the releases needs to stop it." Busingye said from Arusha, the court's seat.
Among the controversial early release granted to ICTR convicts was that of Genocide ideologue, Ferdinand Nahimana, who Meron released early "on good conduct" grounds.
Nahimana, the founder of the virulent Radio Television des Milles Collines (RTLM), has never atoned for his crimes.
The New Times has learned that Judge Meron has recently requested, for the first time, the opinion of the Rwandan government of applications for early release by three genocide convicts: Aloys Simba, Dominique Ntawukulilyayo and Hassan Ngeze, all currently serving their sentences in West African prisons, although the convicts' early release requests appear to have been submitted several months to two years ago.
While appreciating MICT's latest efforts to seek Rwanda's opinion on applications of ICTR's genocide convicts for early releases, Busingye said that these requests need to be openly discussed.
"We have requested that these applications be heard in open Court and shortly we will petition the Tribunal for a review of previous early releases, now that the Tribunal has remembered to seek Rwanda's opinion. The Tribunal and the World need to be reminded and updated on the amount of suffering, pain, trauma and slow painful deaths these men were and continue to be responsible for," he said.
Genocide Survivors in Rwanda have already urged the UN not to renew the MICT contract of American judge Theodor Meron when it comes up for renewal in June
The minister said that there were real concerns that the mechanism was contemplating the release of Theoneste Bagosora, one of the top architects of the Genocide infamous for declaring in 1993 that he was preparing an apocalypse.
Genocide archives
Meanwhile, Busingye said that they will continue pushing the United Nations to relocate to Rwanda the archive accumulated by the ICTR in its over two decades of existence, saying that Rwanda was the rightful custodian.
"The elephant in the room, however, is about Rwanda's right, not claim, to host these archives which constitute an integral part of Rwanda's history. For some reason, Rwandans continue to be denied the right to own their history," he said.
He reminded MICT officials that significant quantities of the archives are original documents taken from Rwanda "in circumstances akin to helping oneself to property found at a crime scene."
The minister said: "This tribunal can demonstrate no evidence whatsoever according it any right to keep hanging onto Rwandan property. This issue will not be going away anytime soon."
He said that Rwanda will continue to push for the transfer of ICTR archives to Rwanda, arguing "that's where they belong".
Service born from sacrifice: Rwanda's commitment to UN peacekeeping UN News May 11, 2018
Over the years, African governments have led the way in contributing troops and police to United Nations operations to help save lives and keep the peace around the world. Today, one of the continent's smallest countries is also one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping. Beginning with a modest contribution in May 2005 with the deployment of one military observer to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Rwanda is currently the fourth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations.
After suffering its own genocide, Rwanda now contributes many personnel to missions that have protection-of-civilian mandates. There are nearly 6,550 Rwandan uniformed personnel currently serving with the UN, the majority of them in hot spots such as South Sudan, the Darfur region of Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).
"Peacekeeping is a noble, necessary but dangerous mission. The sacrifice and risk peacekeepers endure is always at the forefront of my thoughts," Secretary-General António Guterres said last month during the commemoration at UN Headquarters of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
"It is particularly commendable that a nation that has endured the worst atrocities should risk its soldiers to ensure those atrocities cannot happen elsewhere," he added.
The UN chief's remarks were particularly poignant coming as they did just days after the killing of a Rwandan peacekeeper and the wounding of eight others during an exchange of fire with armed elements in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). Overall, 53 Rwandans have lost their lives while serving with UN peacekeeping operations.
Adama Dieng, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, noted that it is because the tragedy experienced on its soil that Rwanda moved quickly to send troops to places such as CAR and Darfur, where civilians were under threat.
"I can say that Rwanda knows exactly what genocide means," Mr. Dieng told UN News in a recent interview. "That is why when I sounded the alarm in Central African Republic, in November 2013, Rwanda moved and sent troops to protect the population there.
For Inspector of Police Maurice Nyierema, who serves with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has played an important part in his decision to serve as a peacekeeper.
"What happened in Rwanda makes my conviction stronger that we cannot allow something like that to happen ever again, in any place of the world," he said.
Mr. Nyierema was among the 183 Rwandan police officers, including 30 women, who received the UN service medal in South Sudan in February of this year. The officers, based in the capital, Juba, carry out tasks such as city patrols and public order management in the UN Mission's protection sites for civilians seeking shelter from violence.
A huge amount is at stake. Since conflict broke out in 2013, thousands of civilians in South Sudan have been killed in targeted attacks, women raped, homes and means of livelihoods destroyed. More than 1.5 million South Sudanese are living as refugees in neighbouring countries and more than 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living under the protection of the UN Mission in Protection of Civilians (POC) sites across the country.
"People should learn to live together and to love each other, love their country and avoid divisions among themselves," said Lt. Col. Kabera Simon, a Rwandan peacekeeper who served with UNMISS last year. "They should ignore what makes them different from each other and look at what brings them together and build their homes and nation."
"This is my message: after war, after conflict, after misunderstanding, there is hope for the future if people are willing."
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Somalia
Isis Claims Assassination of Policeman in Mogadishu, Releases Photos to Prove All Africa May 22, 2018
The so called Islamic State ISIS has claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Tuesday afternoon.
ISIS through its affiliated media outlets released photos purporting to show the actual assassination of the policeman in broad daylight on the streets of the busy Bakara Market.
This is the first assassination to be claimed by the group in Mogadishu. Pro ISIS militants have been attributed to at least 4 assassinations mainly in Afgoye district.
One of the assassinations targeted an elderly Prison officer . His killing was captured in photos by the group. In April a suspected ISIS militant identified as Jama Hussein Hassan was arrested in Mogadishu and found with bomb making equipment. Pro ISIS militants in Somalia are led by Sheikh Abdiqadir Mumin and mainly based in the remote parts of the Galgaal mountains in Puntland. Al Shabaab suicide bomber hits Somalia military convoy The Star May 23, 2018
A suicide car bomber from Somalia's Islamist group al Shabaab hit a military convoy outside Mogadishu on Tuesday, causing an unknown number of deaths, a police officer and the group's spokesman told Reuters.
The attack targeting a passing military convoy occurred in Afgoye, a district about 30 km northwest of Mogadishu, police officer Major Abdiqadir Ali said.
"What we are sure (of) is a military vehicle was hit," Ali said, adding there were casualties but the death toll had not yet been determined.
Al Shabaab's military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters they were responsible for the attack.
The group, an ally of Al Qaeda, is fighting to topple the country's western-backed central government and impose its rule based on its own interpretation of sharia law.
Al Shabaab also wants to force out an African Union-mandated AMISOM peacekeeping force that is helping defend the government of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
"One of our mujahideen (was) martyred after he rammed his car into a Somali military convoy," Abu Musab said.
One military pick-up truck was destroyed while 12 soldiers were killed by the blast, he said and added that a second vehicle in the convoy was also damaged.
The soldiers in the convoy were U.S.-trained Somali military commandoes. Al Shabaab have targeted them on the same road several times in the past.
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NORTH AFRICA
Libya
Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Situation in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Tubu, Awald Sulaiman tribes fight over Sabha castle control leaving tens of casualties The Libya Observer By Abdulkader Assad May 12, 2018
The southern Libyan city, Sabha, has seen heavy fighting since Friday night using heavy and medium weapons and reportedly some shells fell on houses in the city.
Sabha mayor Hamid Al-Khayali told reporters on Saturday that several had been killed or injured in the fighting, which he said was the most violent since the start of Awlad Sulaiman-Tubu strife last February.
"The deaths and injuries arrive at Sabha Medical Center. I worry that the numbers could rise and we don't have proper healthcare in the city." The mayor warned.
Heavy clashes took place at southern Sabha entrance around the castle before Tubu armed groups had announced control of the castle when Sixth Brigade withdrew being unable to foil attacks and heavy fighting.
However, a source from the Sixth Brigade told local media that they had regained control of all locations including in and around the Sabha castle, adding that three were killed from their fighters in the clashes.
In the meantime, the spokesman of the Sixth Brigade said the clashes were still ongoing, accusing Tubu tribesmen of recruiting Chadian rebel fighters to surprisingly attack their locations around the castle.
Medical sources, meanwhile, said four deaths and tens of injured persons arrived at the Sabha Medical Center, calling on residents to donate blood.
Sabha University will be suspending study starting from Sunday until next week, citing instability and lack of security as well as heavy clashes.
East Libya forces attack on Derna causes deaths, injuries on both sides The Libya Observer By Abdulkader Assad May 15, 2018
Five fighters from the newly formed Derna Protection Force (DPF) - Derna Shura Council previously - were killed and others were injured as the local Derna forces withdrew from Heela district in a renewed intense fighting on Tuesday, reported the DPF.
DPF told reporters that their forces had to pull out from the Heela as heavy Air Force attacks were targeting them, saying the air attacks were by "foreign aircraft."
Meanwhile, medical sources from Qubbah Hospital said they had received deaths and injuries from the forces of the self-styled army led by warlord Khalifa Haftar, who in recent days ordered the advance on Derna for allegedly fighting "terrorists."
Italian aircraft movement depicter, ItaMilRadar, in the meantime, showed Tuesday on its database a picture of a UAE Beech B-350 aircraft and said it entered Tuesday Libyan airspace to do ISR mission over east Libya.
Derna has been besieged by the self-styled army of Khalifa Haftar for over a year disallowing the residents basic needs amid resistance by the Derna Shura Council fighters.
Human Rights Watch says civilians are endangered by Dignity Operation attack on Derna The Libya Observer By Safa Alharathy May 15, 2018
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for lifting the siege imposed on Derna and to spare the civilians from the hostilities, urging all parties to comply with the rules of war and to avoid targeting civilians and the infrastructure of the city.
"The fighting zone has expanded to the eastern part of the city and included ground attacks and air raids, in which most of them were carried out at night," the HRW explained in a report issued on its website Monday.
The human rights group noted that the commander of Dignity Operation Khalifa Haftar has said on May 3 that he had issued strict instructions not to target civilians; however, his orders did not prevent his forces from inflicting significant casualties on civilians and mistreating them.
The report pointed out that Dignity Operation forces have set up checkpoints, which severely limited the ability of civilians to leave and enter the city, not to mention the thousands of families who were denied to have access to their homes since 2014 on allegations of supporting terrorism.
"The laws of war require all parties to allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers to affected civilians, including areas under siege such as Derna." The HRW stated.
Gaddafi cell planning to carry out terrorist acts in Tripoli arrested The Libya Observer By Safa Alharathy May 21, 2018
The Special Deterrence Force (SDF) announced on Monday the arrest of a cell of seven people who are said to have links to the former regime of slain Gaddafi. The cell, known as "the People's Front for the Liberation of Libya", was planning to stir unrest in the capital through assassinations, bombing, and other terrorist acts.
"The cell members have also set the zero hour for their military action in Tripoli," the SDF reported.
The SDF also said that their plot was to move militarily toward Tripoli to encourage their sleeper cells to go to the streets and create chaos to facilitate their entry to the capital.
The cell was arrested inside a farm in south Tripoli.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Central Security Agency said that its demining unit succeeded Saturday in dismantling two remote controlled explosive devices.
In a statement, the unit explained that the explosive devices had been planted on the highway in Abu Salim district, noting that it has taken all necessary legal procedures, while the search for the offenders is still ongoing.
Security sources believe that the explosive devices are linked to the arrested cell of former regime.
Three Dignity Operation fighters killed in attack in southern Ajdabiya The Libya Observer By Abdullah BenIbrahim May 22, 2018
3 guards were killed and 2 others wounded in an attack on checkpoint 60 in southern Ajdabiya on Tuesday.
Local sources said a suicide bomber exploded his car in the checkpoint which is run by brigade 152 of Dignity Operation early in the morning.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the second attack on the checkpoint in 3 months. In March, A suicide bomber struck his explosives-laden car in the checkpoint killing 3 guards.
Meanwhile, gunmen attacked the main checkpoint of Awjila town, northeastern Libya, on Tuesday.
The gunmen set the checkpoint on fire and abducted a policeman before escaping to the desert.
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EUROPE
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
Official Court Website [English translation]
Bosniak Ex-Fighter Jailed for Crimes Against Serb Prisoners Balkan Insight By Admir Muslimovic May 11, 2018
The appeals chamber of the state court in Sarajevo on Friday found Ekrem Ibracevic guilty of responsibility for inhumane conditions in the Rapatnica and Luke detention centres in Srebrenik in north-east Bosnia, where five Serb civilians were held in the summer of 1992. Ekrem committed his crime in his capacity as head of military security for the Srebrenik Municipal Headquarters of the Territorial Defence force, the court found.
According to the charges, the five Serb detainees were held in a three-metre-by-three-metre room at the Rapatnica detention facility with no windows, washrooms or basic hygiene.
Explaining the verdict, judge Dragomir Vukoje said it had been proved at the trial that the defendant committed a war crime against the civilian population.
"The people who were held in detention were not direct participants in the conflict and had previously handed over their weapons," Vukoje said.
Ibracevic "failed to undertake actions to improve conditions in the detention facilities", he added.
Under the first-instance verdict in October 2016, Ibracevic was also sentenced to three years in prison, but the verdict was revoked and a retrial ordered.
Ibracevic stood trial the first time with two other men, Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, but they were acquitted under a separate second-instance verdict of unlawful detention, torture and inhumane treatment.
Smajlovic was the commander of the traffic section of the military police in charge of guarding detention facilities, while Covic was a military policeman.
Friday's verdict convicting Ibracevic cannot be appealed.
Bosniak Commander's Trial Resumes after Four-Year Break Balkan Insight By Emina Dizdarevic May 14, 2018
Zulfikar Alispago's trial got under way again on Monday, four years after proceedings against him were suspended when he fell ill with stomach trouble.
Medical experts declared him fit to stand trial, then the indictment from 2010 was read out in court, detailing how Alispago is charged with failing to undertake actions to sanction the perpetrators of crimes in the village of Trusina near Konjic in 1993.
According to the charges, members of the Bosnian Army's Zulfikar Unit attacked the civilian population in Trusina in the morning on April 16, 1993 under the command of his deputy Nihad Bojadzic.
It is alleged that ten civilians and one soldier were killed and four civilians severely wounded in the attack.
The indictment also claims that after the attack ended, members of the Zulfikar Unit shot Croatian Defence Council fighters who had surrendered and civilians in the hamlet of Gaj.
Alispago was originally charged along with five other members of the Bosnian Army troops - Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic and Nihad Bojadzic.
However, due to his illness the proceedings against him were separated from the others in March 2014.
Memic, Hodzic and Bojadzic were sentenced to 37 years in prison for the murder of Croat civilians and captured soldiers in Trusina, while Salcin and Hakalovic were acquitted.
Alispago's trial continues on May 22.
Bosnian Serb Indicted for Prijedor Detentions, Killings Balkan Insight By Haris Rovcanin May 15, 2018
The Bosnian state court on Tuesday confirmed the indictment against Slobodan Knezevic, which accuses him of participating in a widespread and systematic attack by the Bosnian Serb Army and police on the Bosniak population of the Prijedor municipality from July 27 to 30, 1992. The indictment alleges that Knezevic, a member of the military police with the Bosnian Serb Army's Sixth Ljubija Battalion, deliberately and significantly contributed to a joint criminal enterprise led by the civil and military authorities of the Prijedor municipality with the aim of persecuting the non-Serb population.
He is charged with participating in unlawfully detaining around 120 Bosniak civilians in Miska Glava near Prijedor.
The civilians were then shot and killed, and Knezevic is accused of personally killing one captured civilian prior to the mass shooting of the rest of the Bosniak victims.
He was extradited from Montenegro in March this year.
Sarajevo Court Acquits Serbs of Killing Family Balkan Insight By Albina Sorguc May 15, 2018
The Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Tuesday cleared Milorad Radakovic and Goran Pejic of the murders of five members of the Ecimovic family, saying the prosecution failed to prove its case.
"The chamber has found that the Bosnian state prosecution's theses were in the sphere of assumptions with no firm evidence, and concluded that the prosecution did not manage to prove the defendants' responsibility for crimes against humanity," said presiding judge Zeljka Marenic.
Radakovic and Pejic had been accused of going to Tukovi on June 13, 1992, when one of the defendants killed three members of the Ecimovic family in one house, then both of them opened fire in a second house, killing two more members of the family.
Radakovic is a former reservist policeman, while Pejic was a member of an unidentified military or police formation.
Judge Marenic said that the prosecution had not put forward a single witness to testify that there had been a widespread and systematic attack on the Prijedor municipality, apart from citing evidence from the Hague Tribunal.
She said that the only fact determined by the court was that Tomo, Marija, Katarina, Nikola and Cecilija Ecimovic were killed on June 13, 1992.
Marenic said testimony by a witness who said he drove the defendants to the Ecimovic family house and waited for them in the car was insufficient to establish guilt.
The verdict can be appealed.
Bosnian Croat Commander Cleared of Prisoner Abuses Balkan Insight By Emina Dizdarevic May 16, 2018
The Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Wednesday cleared Mile Puljic, former commander of the Second Battalion of the Croatian Defence Council's Second Brigade, of committing crimes against humanity in the Mostar area in 1993 and 1994.
Puljic was acquitted of having allowed his subordinates to take prisoners from the Heliodrom detention facility in Mostar to do forced labour on the frontlines and be used as human shields, and of permitting them to participate in forcible disappearances and the beating of detained persons.
He had been charged with involvement in a widespread and systematic attack and with having knowingly and wilfully participated, as a co-perpetrator in his capacity as commander of the Second Battalion, in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at expanding the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognised Croat-led wartime statelet.
Bosnia Tries Serb Ex-Policeman for Persecution, Murders Balkan Insight By Ajla Gezo May 17, 2018
Mico Jurisic, a former member of the Tukovi reserve police forces at the police's Public Security Station in Prijedor, went on trial on Thursday on eight counts accusing him of having participated in persecution of the non-Serb civilian population from May to September 1992.
The alleged crimes include murders, torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty, taking people to detention camps and other inhumane acts.
"We are convinced that, following the presentation of evidence, the court will get the impression, beyond reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty of the murder of five civilians and the other inhumane acts with which he is charged," said prosecutor Izet Odobasic.
Jurisic's defence lawyer Svetozar Davidovic did not offer an introductory statement but asked the court to order breaks during hearings, because he said that his client is "very emotional and he will need to calm down".
The first prosecution witnesses will testify on May 24.
Bosnian Serb Policeman Indicted for Six Bosniaks' Disappearances Balkan Insight By Albina Sorguc May 17, 2018
The Bosnian state court on Thursday confirmed the indictment of Sladjan Tasic, who is charged with having participated in the persecution of Bosniak civilian population in the Visegrad municipality from mid-May to the end of August 1992.
According to the charges, he committed the crime while working for the police's Public Security Station in Visegrad, in collaboration with several other Bosnian Serb soldiers and police officers.
The indictment accuses Tasic of participating in the forcible disappearance of six Bosniaks from Visegrad on June 16, 1992.
He allegedly committed the crime along with Momir, Petar and Mirko Tasic, who are currently on trial.
The indictment alleges that Tasic and others arrested the Bosniaks and drove them away, forcibly and under threat, in an unknown direction.
The Bosniaks disappeared and are still listed as missing.
Tasic has citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, according to the prosecution.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Official Website of the ICTY
Serbian Policeman Admits Burning Homes In Bosnia Eurasia Review By Radosa Milutinovic May 11, 2018
Testifying at the Hague trial of former Serbian State Security chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, a Serbian ex-policeman admitted personally setting houses on fire in a Bosniak village in 1993.
Testifying as a protected prosecution witness, the former Serbian policeman told Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic's trial at the Mechanism for International Tribunals in The Hague on Thursday that he was involved in a "clean-up" operation in villages near the small town of Skelani in eastern Bosnia in March 1993, when houses were torched.
"I burned one or two houses at most, in the Ljeskovik village area," said the protected witness, codenamed RFJ-083 to conceal his identity.
He said that participated as a member of Serbian Interior Ministry special police units, but that the operation was led by the Serbian State Security Service's Red Berets unit, "managed" by defendant Simatovic.
Stanisic, the former chief of the Serbian State Security Service, and his former assistant 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.
During cross-examination, Simatovic's defence lawyer Vladimir Petrovic asked the witness who gave the order to set the houses on fire.
"It happened spontaneously, everyone was doing it. I don't know who ordered it, but it was done," RFJ-083 said.
The witness said that, while following the Red Berets, his special police unit participated in the burning of the villages of Ljeskovik, Osmace and Karacici, near Skelani.
While they were in Bosnia, the Serbian special policemen followed the Red Berets' instructions and orders, he testified.
However he confirmed that the Bosniaks who lived in the villages had already left before the Red Berets arrived.
RFJ-083 said that, during his 12-day stay in Bosnia, he neither saw the enemy or the Bosniak population, nor fired a single bullet, because he and his colleagues offered "background support" to the Red Berets and did not participate in their operations.
Simatovic's lawyer argued that the Red Berets unit was part of the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry, not under the control of the Serbian State Security Service at the time.
He presented to the court an order from Bosnian Serb Interior Minister Mico Stanisic which appointed Radojica Bozovic commander of the Red Berets.
The witness, who said that Red Berets members had told him their commander was "a man named Bozovic", accepted that, according to the document, Bozovic received orders from the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry.
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.
Convicted Serb radical buys house at persecution site Yahoo News May 21, 2018
Belgrade (AFP) - Serbian ultranationalist politician Vojislav Seselj said Monday he had bought a house in a village where his firebrand speeches during the 1990s Balkan wars earned him a jail term.
Last month, a panel of UN judges in The Hague overturned Seselj's controversial acquittal and sentenced him to 10 years for crimes against humanity in the 1990s Balkans conflict.
He was convicted over his contribution to the persecution and deportation of non-Serbs, including Croats and Bosnian Muslims. But he remains at liberty having already spent almost 12 years in detention in The Hague between 2003 to 2014.
In May 1992, at the height of the Balkan conflict, Seselj had urged the expulsion of local Croats from the village of Hrtkovci in the northern Vojvodina province where he has now bought a house.
"I bought a house in Hrtkovci, I go there where people love me," Seselj told reporters, quoted by Beta news agency.
"It is a nice region," he said,
The 63-year-old MP said the house would host a local branch of his Serbian Radical Party.
Earlier this month Serbian police prevented him from demonstrating in the village, home to a Croat minority.
Seselj had initially been acquitted in March 2016 for war crimes and crimes against humanity after a trial lasting more than eight years at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Speaking to AFP after last month's ruling, Seselj said he was "proud" of the crimes he was convicted of and would be willing to do the same again.
The 1990s wars that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia claimed about 130,000 lives.
Hague Tribunal Archive Centre Opens in Sarajevo Balkan Insight By Ema Mackic May 23, 2018
The Hague Tribunal information centre was launched at Sarajevo's historic Vijecnica city hall on Wednesday, giving people electronic access to the UN court's archives with the aim of contributing to the development of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region.
An original Hague Tribunal courtroom was also installed as part of the display at the Vijecnica, which reopened in 2014 after it was shelled by Serb forces during the wartime siege of the Bosnian capital.
The mayor of Sarajevo, Abdulah Skaka, who inaugurated the information centre, said it represented another step towards truth and justice.
"The City Hall is a symbol of suffering, but also a symbol of the indestructability of our city," Skaka said.
"The archive is important to researchers, students and the media, as well as victims, because it bears witness to their suffering in the past war, as well as punishment of perpetrators," he added.
The president of the Council of Mayors for the Information Center, Ivo Komsic, said that making the archives publicly accessible was a great moment for the city of Sarajevo and for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"The archive is our future. We are not only facing the past, but the future as well. Without truth, there is no justice and without justice, we cannot face the past," Komsic said.
Gabrielle McIntyre, chief of office and principal legal advisor to Theodor Meron, the president of the Mechanism for International Tribunals, said the UN court was a pioneering institution which made it possible to gather evidence and to determine who was responsible for the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
"What the Tribunal has achieved, has been done away from the communities in which the crimes were committed. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that we have opened this centre in order to enable access to documents and experience one of the Tribunal's courtrooms, where visitors can ask questions, deliberate and make their own conclusions," McIntyre said.
She said that the understanding and awareness enabled by the access to information is of vital importance to future generations in order to learn from the tragic events of the wars and say "never again".
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia closed last year after having indicted a total of 161 people, 88 of whom were convicted of war crimes.
Eighteen were acquitted, while 37 indictments were withdrawn due to the death of the accused or other reasons, and 13 cases were referred to national courts in the former Yugoslavia. The remaining work of the court, including appeals in the cases of Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, is being completed by the Mechanism for International Tribunals.
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Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
Serbia to Probe Health Impact of NATO Depleted Uranium Balkan Insight By Filip Rudic May 18, 2018
Serbian MPs are expected to vote on Friday to establish a parliamentary commission to determine whether NATO's use of depleted uranium ammunition in 1999 has increased the number of cancer sufferers - despite scepticism from medical experts.
"Every year we use phosphate fertilisers with more uranium than what was dropped in 1999 [by NATO]," said epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic, chairman of the ethics committee of the Serbian Medical Association.
Radovanovic told the Serbian national broadcaster, RTS, that the public is continually being frightened with a non-existing cancer epidemic, and denied that there has been an increase in the number of cancer cases.
But former chief surgeon at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology Momcilo Inic insisted that he has noted an increase in cancer patients since the 1999 NATO campaign.
However, Inic told BIRN that experts from all relevant fields must be consulted before the cause is determined.
Nuclear physicist Istvan Bikit told the regional TV channel N1 that the commission should focus on those areas where depleted uranium ammunition was used - Kosovo and southern Serbia.
"It's very hard to make a connection [between depleted uranium and cancer] because the harmful effect depends on how long you were exposed, where the projectile hit, was there evaporation and how much," Bikit said.
Some politicians and Serbian media seem to have made up their minds even before the commission was been set up, however.
Parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic said that she believes the commission will be able to prove the link between the use of depleted uranium ammunition and cases of cancer.
But Kyle Scott, the US ambassador to Belgrade, said that the World Health Organisation and the UN determined that depleted uranium does not pose a serious health risk.
Meanwhile, Serbian tabloid media have been publishing sensationalist articles over past several days, claiming that the country is facing terrible consequences due to the NATO bombing.
The articles mostly ignore the fact that ammunition made from depleted uranium was used almost entirely in Kosovo, and to a lesser extent in the southern Serbian municipalities.
The pro-government daily Informer published an article on Thursday with the headline "NATO Deliberately Spread Cancer in Serbia", while the state-owned Vecernje novosti said that "Uranium is Mowing Down Serbs".
The future chairman of the parliamentary commission, doctor and ruling party MP Darko Laketic, has shown more restraint, saying that he does not want to prejudge what caused the increase in number of cancer cases.
"We have an obligation towards the population to prove the causes [of the cases]," Laketic told RTS.
He said that the investigation will not limit itself to the alleged effects of depleted uranium, but will also examine the effects of toxins released from the bombing of chemical plants and similar facilities. The establishment of the commission is supported both by ruling and opposition parties in the Serbian parliament, who are expected to vote on the issue on Friday.
NATO launched air strikes in Serbia on March 24, 1999, without the backing of the UN Security Council, after Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused to sign up to a peace deal to end his forces' crackdown on Kosovo Albanian rebels seeking independence.
By the time Milosevic eventually conceded 78 days later, the civilian death toll from the bombing campaign was put at around 500 by Human Rights Watch.
Serb Paramilitary's War Crimes Retrial Opens in Zagreb Balkan Insight By Sven Milekic May 21, 2018
Miroslav Jovic, a former member of rebel Croatian Serb forces, pleaded not guilty as his retrial began at Zagreb county court on Monday.
Jovic is accused of killing Croat civilian Ivanka Medved and wounding her husband Branko Medved in the village of Gornje Taboriste in central Croatia in September 1991.
According to the indictment, Jovic and another Serb combatant, Milan Stanojevic, opened fire on the two civilians. Branko Medved survived despite sustaining five bullet wounds.
Jovic and Stanojevic were originally convicted in their absence in August 2007. The Croatian Supreme Court upheld the decision of Sisak county court from May 2006 and sentenced them both to 15 years in prison.
Branko Medved, now 52, testified as a witness for the prosecution on Monday how Jovic and Stanojevic, both wearing military uniforms, shot him and his wife with automatic rifles in the hamlet of Silaj near Gornje Taboriste while they were bringing grass for their livestock.
"My wife and I were going up the road, and I saw them [Jovic and Stanojevic], and I said 'hi'. They didn't respond and opened fire at us. We both fell down, Ivanka was killed, while I was wounded. I don't remember when exactly woke up afterwards," Medved told the court.
He explained that his mother and some villagers carried him "in an improvised stretcher made out of branches and a blanket" to a creek nearby.
There an ambulance took him to the nearest hospital in the nearby town of Pokupsko and from there to a military hospital in the town of Velika Gorica near Zagreb. He was recovering in the hospital for two months and then for a further four months in a medical sanatorium.
He told the court that Jovic was standing some 15 metres away from him before he began firing at them, and that he saw him clearly. According to Medved, Stanojevic was standing some 15 metres further away up the road.
However, Jovic's lawyer Dijana Tomasegovic Tomic said that Medved had described the situation differently before the court in Sisak in 2006, saying that Stanojevic was closest to him, while Jovic was at the rear.
Meanwhile defence witness Milan Kauric testified on Monday that he heard that it was not Jovic who shot the Medveds.
Kauric said that while he was at a pig-slaughtering event at his friends' house, someone called Pero Mraovic, alias Skender, bragged about shooting Branko Medved.
"He said that he shot the 'mute-deaf one, the cooper's son' [Branko Medved] who, he said, managed to escape him a few times. He told us that he cursed his [Medved's] 'Ustasa [Croatian WWII fascist, a derogative term for Croats] mother' and told him [Medved], 'now you won't run from me', and shot him," Kauric told.
He explained that Mraovic probably referred to Medved as the "mute-deaf one" because he didn't say anything when he spoke to him on previous occasions.
Kauric said he was willing to testify against Mraovic – who is allegedly living in Canada – if he is ever brought before the court. He said that Mraovic did not mention shooting Ivanka Medved.
Jovic, a Croatian citizen, was arrested at the airport in gthe Montenegrin town of Tivat in November 2016 and was extradited to Croatia in February 2017.
The trial will continue in June.
Red Berets Fighter: Serbian Official was Our Commander Balkan Insight By Radosa Milutinovic May 22, 2018
A protected witness codenamed RFJ-150 told the Mechanism for International Tribunals in The Hague on Tuesday that defendant Franko 'Frenki' Simatovic was "the commander-in-chief" of the unit in 1995, while his co-defendant Jovica Stanisic was "the chief".
The witness said he joined the Red Berets unit or 'Frenki's Men', as they used to call themselves, in June 1995 at the age of 18.
When asked why the unit was called 'Frenki's Men', the witness replied: "After our commander at the time - Frenki Simatovic."
Witness RFJ-150 added that Stanisic, the chief of the Serbian State Security Service, was above Simatovic in the chain of command.
He recalled how Simatovic gave "a motivational speech" to him and other members of the unit at a military base during their training.
"He asked: 'Which of you is ready to go into military action, knowing they would not come back?' Almost all of us stood up. He said our unit had to execute any task, whether in Serbia or abroad, but that President Slobodan Milosevic's door was always open for us," RFJ-150 said.
When asked how he interpreted Simatovic's comment about Milosevic's 'open door', the witness said it meant the Red Berets' members "would be provided with whatever they needed to make the unit efficient".
The witness mentioned Zvezdan Jovanovic as one of the senior instructors who trained him.
Jovanovic supervised training for "silent liquidations" of the enemy, RFJ-150 said.
Serbia jailed Jovanovic for 40 years for the murder of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in 2013.
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.
They 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 Wednesday.
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MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA Iraq
Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog
'They deserve no mercy': Iraq deals briskly with accused 'women of Isis' The Guardian By Martin Chulov and Nadia al-Faour May 22, 2018
In a small holding room in a Baghdad court, French citizen Djamila Boutoutao cradled her two-year-old daughter and begged for help.
Boutoutao, 29, is accused of being a member of Islamic State. Whispering in her native tongue within earshot of other accused Isis members – all foreigners like her – she said life had become unbearable.
"I'm going mad here," said Boutoutao, a small bespectacled woman with a deadpan stare. "I'm facing a death sentence or life in prison. No one tells me anything, not the ambassador, not people in prison."
Guards moved closer as Boutoutao continued. So did her fellow accused – all from central Asia or Turkey, who had all lost husbands and, in some cases, children as the Islamic State collapsed in Iraq last year.
"Don't let them take my daughter away," she pleaded. "I am willing to offer money if you can contact my parents. Please get me out of here."
With that, the short conversation was shut down and Boutoutao returned to a corner, waiting for the judge in the adjoining room to summon her. There were no French officials present, and nothing at all to connect her to her former life in Lille. If convicted of joining the terrorist group, she faces life in a central Baghdad jail, or death by hanging.
All the 15 women in court last week had been widowed by the war that eventually ousted Isis from much of Iraq, killing tens of thousands of its members and replacing its promises of an Islamic utopia with a crushing defeat. The women here had in some cases willingly joined the group, travelling alone from Europe and central Asia, or with their partners, to what they believed to be a promised land.
More than 40,000 foreigners from 110 countries are estimated to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join the jihadist group. Of those, around 1,900 are believed to have been French citizens, and around 800 were British.
Boutoutao arrived in Iraq in 2014, with her husband, Mohammed Nassereddine and two children. He was killed in Mosul in 2016 as was her son, Abdullah, one year later. She was captured by the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq and eventually sent to Baghdad, where the fortified court in the centre of the capital has become a focal point of the post-Isis era.
Up to 1,000 women accused of belonging to Isis were rounded up from the ruins of Iraq's towns and cities and are now being held in Baghdad to face a reckoning from a society and government that remains deeply scarred by the past four years, with much of their anger directed at foreign fighters and their families. Up to 820 infants accompany the women, with some others yet to be born.
The proceedings had a sense of urgency, and so did the 10-minute hearings in Baghdad's central criminal court that have summarily dispensed with the accused foreign women, sentencing more than 40 to death, and dozens more to life in prison since the so-called caliphate crumbled.
Foreigners in particular, often carrying babies, are processed with an uncompromising efficiency rarely seen in other parts of Iraq's judicial system. In mopping up the aftermath of Isis, the court system has taken on the role of bringing the country towards a closure. As Iraqis try to stitch their torn social fabric back together, a stark resentment remains towards the jihadists whose rampage took a toll on a national psyche that was yet to recover from sanctions, invasion and civil war.
France and other European countries remain hostile to those of their citizens who are now facing Iraqi courts, insisting they should face local justice abroad. The French government has shown some leniency towards children orphaned by the fighting, but none towards adults who made decisions to join the group.
Earlier this year, the defence minister Florence Parly said those who did make it back to France would be "held to account for their acts". French officials have told their counterparts in the region, however, that those who failed to escape can expect no comfort.
With Isis now all but ousted from Iraq's lands, there is little talk of reconciliation. Asked what he would say to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi if he was put in front of him, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, the leader of one of Iraq's most feared Shia paramilitary groups, Asa'ib ahl al-Haq, said: "I would tell him he failed. He wasn't good enough. He was nothing and he is beneath us all."
Mustafa Rashid, a car dealer in east Baghdad was similarly scathing about the foreign prisoners. "Be damned with them," he said. "They deserve no mercy. The women too."
In the same court a day earlier, an Iraqi woman had been cleared of all charges and released after successfully mounting a defence that her brother had forced her to join Isis. While some Iraqi women, and large numbers of men, have been sentenced to death for their roles in the terrorist group's rampage, only a small number of foreign women have received any concession
"In the minds of Iraqis and the judiciary and the government, by virtue of the fact that you are foreign and chose to live in Isis territory there is a level of agency in what you did and more culpability," said Belkis Wille, the senior researcher for Iraq for Human Rights Watch. "It is not the same in the case of Iraqi women, where very specific evidence is often lessening sentences. If you buy a plane ticket, cross a border and make your choices, you are far more exposed."
The Baghdad courtroom was bustling with men who were shuffled into a dock in the centre of the room. A group of 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, then escorted back to cells. Next it was Zahraa Abdel Wahab Al Kaja's turn. Just turned 17 years old, and originally from Tajikistan, she also cradled a baby, whom she had dressed in a hijab, and seemed disorientated.
"I was brought to Syria about five years ago with my mum and dad," she said. "They married me to a Turkish man. He was good to me. This is his child. We settled in Iraq. My father and husband died. I am now imprisoned with my mother and daughter. I want to go back home, even though my country is no good. I didn't wear hijab back home. Isis is good, it taught me how to cover myself."
More women came and went: a Turk, a Russian, and two from Kyrgyzstan. In each case one of three judges asked several curt questions, then ordered the accused woman from the room. A prosecutor then made a short statement, and a defence lawyer read from a brief. Outside, one of the state-appointed defenders said he had not spoken with his client, and had only seen a summary of the investigation notes.
Human Rights Watch said that, despite its urging over the past two years, there had been no sign of lawyers playing a more proactive role, or the judiciary seeking more substantive evidence for prosecutions. Justice instead depended heavily on instinct, an official said during a break. "I've worked here for 10 years and I can tell who's innocent with one look in their eyes. I can tell you horror stories and I can share moments of magic."
Guards who bring the women from a nearby prison said most were unrepentant. "An Isis prisoner once asked me for something which I couldn't provide and she called me an infidel."
What to do with the children is a more vexing question for Iraqi authorities. Some infants chewed on apples while their mothers waited for their hearings. Others were passed around the women who each took turns at calming them.
"They will grow up to be just like [their mothers]," said one of the guards. "No, it's a sin to say that," said another. "All children are innocent."
"Maybe," came the reply. "But let's finish with this quickly. There are still so many of them."
Islamic State military commander arrested in Iraq's Mosul Iraqi News By Mohamed Mostafa May 23, 2018
Iraqi police arrested on Wednesday an Islamic State military commander in the eastern side of Mosul, the group's former capital in Iraq.
Hamad al-Jubouri, head of Nineveh Province police, told Anadolu Agency that troops, using intelligence tips arrested Taha Mohamed Salama, an Islamic State member who was in charge of the group's mortar launchers.
Jubouri said the arrested militant had an arrest warrant previously issued for him.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State militants in December 2017, ending a three-year military campaign against the group to retake areas they had occupied to proclaim a self-styled "caliphate". But the group has carried out several attacks against security and civilians since then.
Mosul was Islamic State's capital and base of operations in Iraq. It was from its Grand Nuri Mosque thart IS founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed the group's rule. Iraqi forces recaptured the city last July after an operation that lasted for more than eight months.
Islamic State militants execute chieftain in Iraq's Kirkuk Iraqi News By Mohamed Mostafa May 23, 2018
Islamic State militants have kidnapped and executed a tribal chief in Iraq's Kirkuk as the province continues to record security breaches by the group against civilians and security members.
Alsumaria News quoted a security source saying that an armed IS group invaded late Tuesday a home in the village of Kanaan, al-Riyadh, southwest of Kirkuk, and kidnapped the village's chief, Mahguob Khalaf, before executing him by gunfire.
Several tribal chiefs have been assassinated by IS over the past few months after the group lost control over all of the territories they had occupied since 2014.
During its occupation of Iraqi territories, IS had used to execute civilians for fleeing its strongholds or for cooperating with Iraqi security forces.
Iraq declared the recapture of IS strongholds in Kirkuk in October, and a final victory over the group in all of Iraq in December. But since then, the group has staged several attacks against civilians and security forces.
Six people killed, injured in Islamic State attack, northeast of Diyala Iraqi News By Nehal Mostafa May 23, 2018
Six people were killed and injured as Islamic State members attacked a house of a tribesman in a village, northeast of Diyala, a security source was quoted saying on Wednesday.
Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, "Islamic State members attacked house of Sheikh Taha al-Khaldi in a village on the outskirts of Jalawla region, northeast of Diyala, using weapons and hand grenades."
"Three people of Khaldi's family were killed, while three others were injured as the attack was foiled," the source said indicating "information on murder of some IS members during the confrontations."
Security troops, according to the source, "arrived at the village and thwarted the attack. Situation is under control."
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.
A total of 68 Iraqis were killed and another 122 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in April, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December.
Iraq says suicide bomber kills 7 in northern Baghdad park The Washington Post By Murtada Faraj May 23, 2018
A suicide bomber blew himself up late Wednesday at a crowded park in Iraq's capital, killing at least seven people in the first such attack in Baghdad since the start a week ago of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, security officials said.
They said police and emergency workers intercepted the bomber as he entered the park in Shoala, a mainly Shiite district in northern Baghdad, but he managed to set off his bomb before being caught. At least 16 people were wounded in the attack, which the officials said could have claimed many more victims if the bomber had gotten himself deeper into the park before blowing himself up.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Baghdad's parks, outdoor eateries, cafes and commercial areas are usually packed during Ramadan starting shortly after sunset until the small hours of the next day when Muslims eat their last meal before they begin their daily dawn-to-sunset fast.
Ramadan this year fell in the summer, making the fast particularly grueling given the season's typically high temperatures in Iraq. Muslims refrain from drink, food and sex from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, which began in Iraq on May 17.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State extremist group. Iraq has been plagued by nearly daily attacks blamed on militants for most of the 15 years since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Baghdad, a favorite target, has seen a dramatic drop in the number of attacks blamed on militants since the government declared victory over the IS group in December. That ended more than three years of war in which security forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition drove IS fighters out of large swaths of territory once held by the group.
IS pockets remain in western and northern Iraq where militants occasionally attack security forces.
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Syria
White Helmets vow to keep saving lives in face of funding freeze The National By Gareth Browne May 12, 2018
Syrian civil defence group the White Helmets has vowed to keep saving lives after the US announced it was freezing funding for the group.
President Donald Trump announced last week that the US was freezing $200 million in aid destined for Syria, some of which was earmarked for the first responders group. The freeze will be welcomed by pro-Syrian government actors who have waged a misinformation campaign against the White Helmets, labelling it a terrorist organisation.
The funding freeze won't take effect until the end of August and meanwhile the group remains active. "All of our projects are still going on and we are still saving lives," White Helmets head Raed Al Saleh told The National. "We will keep doing it for as long as is possible."
Since their founding in 2014, the White Helmets has grown to more than 3000 volunteers. The group estimates they have pulled more than 110,000 people from rubble following Russian and Syrian government airstrikes.
The group regularly posts dramatic footage of its rescues, which some observers say documents evidence of war crimes against the Syrian people.
Beyond saving lives, the group aims to give hope to the Syrian people, Mr Saleh said. "Meanwhile they [the Syrian government] work to kill that hope, to kill the people, so they want to make us as a military target."
Mr Al Saleh hit back at the disinformation campaign against the White Helmets, saying that no amount of "fake news" could alter the truth of the group's work. "It [misinformation] is like bugs, it is bothering, but it will never stop or change anything, the facts can't be changed."
Widely-debunked conspiracy theories propagated by pro-Syrian government social media accounts allege that the White Helmets fake their rescue videos and that the group is linked to Al Qaeda. "It is clear what our work is," Mr Al Saleh said. "Those people creating the misinformation are hopeless."
The Syrian government has often imprisoned people affiliated with the group. But Mr Al Salah said the group had no agenda beyond saving lives and would willingly work anywhere, including in government areas if allowed.
"We in the White Helmets don't have any political goals," he said, adding that they also don't have political affiliations with the groups which control the areas in which the White Helmets operate. "We want to work more widely to save more lives."
One Syria expert said the White Helmets are one of the few "rays of sunlight" in the long-running civil war. "It's despicable that they are targeted so badly [by misinformation]," former British Army officer Hamish de Bretton Gordon said.
While Russian and Syrian propagandists were likely to spin the funding freeze as a vindication of their view on the White Helmets, Mr de Bretton Gordon said the freeze came amid a general funding gap. "The Americans are likely working to plug it."
Allegations against the group were totally unfounded, according to Mr de Bretton Gordon, who is an adviser to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, an organisation that provides medical care within Syria. "I've seen absolutely no evidence of anything untoward, nor evidence of any linkage to rebel or terrorist groups," he said. "They are an exceptionally brave group of people; we should be proud to support them".
Monitor: 42 killed by Israeli strikes in Syria this week The Washington Post May 12, 2018
A wave of Israeli strikes on suspected military positions in Syria this week killed 42 people, including at least 19 Iranians, a Syria war monitor reported Saturday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll from attacks early Thursday has risen from 23 to 27, including at least 11 Iranians and six Syrian soldiers, including three officers.
In total, 42 people, including 19 Iranians, were killed over two days of strikes — from Tuesday to Thursday — according to the Observatory.
The escalation between Israel and Iran has raised fears the region may be sliding into an unprecedented direct confrontation between the two archenemies.
Israel's defense minister called on Syria's President Bashar Assad on Friday to clear his country of Iranian forces based there — warning that their presence will only bring more trouble to the already war-ravaged country.
Avigdor Lieberman's comments were followed by threats from an Iranian cleric that Tel Aviv or Haifa would be in danger if Israel did "anything foolish."
Israel had said its strikes on Thursday were in response to a barrage of Iranian rockets on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights, the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. It said it hit targets near the capital, in southern and central Syria, targeting weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in Syria. It also said it destroyed several Syrian air-defense systems after coming under heavy fire and that none of its warplanes were hit.
Syrian state-run media had said that Israel struck a military outpost near the capital Damascus late Tuesday, adding that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed two of the incoming missiles. The Observatory said at least 15 were killed in the strike, eight of them Iranians, including a member of the Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Israel had previously warned that Iran has been deploying its allied militias in the area.
Iran says Israel's repeated attacks are based on "fabricated" reasons.
Separately, the Syrian state-run al-Ikhariya TV and the Observatory said airstrikes Saturday hit civilians in an Islamic State- controlled village in the northern Hassakeh province. The Observatory said eight members of the same family, including three children and five women, were killed.
Al-Ikhbariya put the death toll from the strikes at nine, including four children. State-run TV said they were carried out by the U.S-led coalition, which is operating in the area against IS.
An airstrike in the same area earlier this month killed at least 23 civilians. The coalition at the time said it was not aware of airstrikes by its warplanes in the area.
New property law punishes the displaced and could obstruct investigation of war crimes Amnesty International May 18, 2018
A harsh new property law implemented by the Syrian government effectively deprives thousands of people displaced by the ongoing conflict of their homes and lands and potentially destroys evidence of war crimes it has committed, Amnesty International said today.
Passed in 2012, Legislative Decree 66 allows the Syrian government to demolish informal settlement areas in Damascus and Damascus Countryside to convert them into urban development zones with residential blocks, markets and public spaces. Under the new regulations passed in Law 10 in 2018, once a development zone has been designated, the authorities must publicly notify home and land owners, who have only 30 days to assemble the necessary paperwork and claim their property.
With more than 11 million Syrians displaced, either within Syria or living as refugees in other countries, this is likely to be a near impossible feat for many of those affected. According to research by the Norwegian Refugee Council, barely one in five Syrian refugees have title deeds in their possession. Twenty-one percent said their documents had been destroyed.
"If enacted, this law could be used to implement a breathtakingly efficient feat of social engineering. Thousands of Syrians – mostly those in pro-opposition areas or who have sought refuge abroad - risk losing their homes because their documents are lost or destroyed. The law does nothing to guarantee the rights of refugees or displaced people who fled for their lives and fear persecution if they return to their homes," said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International's Syria researcher.
"This law is clearly open to abuse by a government which has shown ruthless determination to crush those it perceives to have been associated with its opponents. The government must suspend the urban development schemes until everyone, including those who have been forcibly displaced, have a genuine opportunity to meaningfully engage in the process. The aim must be facilitating the voluntary, safe and sustainable return of those displaced in the conflict."
Amnesty International has established that Syrian refugees and others displaced by the conflict who return home to claim their property will be subject to "security clearance" by government agents. While it is not clear what this process will entail, in the current climate of insecurity and rampant human rights violations by security forces, this is likely to deter many people from trying to reclaim their homes and lands.
While the legislation provides some provisions that ensure the right of home owners in designated zones to apply for alternative housing and financial compensation, it falls far short of protecting the rights of people who had been living in informal settlements and whose residence is most likely not recorded in the land registry.
Women whose husbands or fathers have been killed or missing face serious obstacles in claiming their property as the deeds are often in the name of their male relatives. They might lack the required official civil documentation such as family record or proof of the whereabouts and fate of their male relatives that would allow women to act on the behalf of the rights holders.
Covering up war crimes
Civilians whose homes have been destroyed or damaged and whose family members have been killed or injured in unlawful attacks receive no remedy or compensation. And in some cases, implementing the new property law could result in covering up evidence of war crimes.
In the case of Daraya, outside of Damascus, where Amnesty International has documented violations by the Syrian government including a prolonged siege and indiscriminate attacks using thousands of barrel bombs, and the ensuing forced displacement of those civilians who survived the siege, the bulldozing and rebuilding of the area raises deep concerns about the destruction of evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
There are also no provisions to provide reparation to owners whose homes were looted by security forces in areas designated for redevelopment, including in the town of Daraya.
"Future investigations into crimes under international law could be seriously undermined as a result of these new regulations," Diana Semaan said.
"The authorities must ensure everyone who has been arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived of housing, land or property has access to legal remedies including challenging decisions of the government before an independent and impartial body." "The authorities must provide full reparation to those whose homes have been unlawfully destroyed, appropriated or looted by security forces."
Background
In 2012, the Syrian government adopted Decree 66 which allowed the authorities to "redevelop areas of unauthorised housing and informal settlements" in the capital Damascus.
Law 10 is a nationwide expansion of Decree 66, which established two development zones in the Governorate of Damascus covering areas including Daraya, an area formerly besieged by the Syrian government which is now empty of inhabitants after government forces forcibly displaced the remaining 4,000 residents in 2016.
The conflict, which is in its seventh year, has led to more than 6 million people being displaced within Syria and 5 million Syrians becoming refugees.
Chemical weapons watchdog may be given fresh powers in Paris talks The Guardian By Patrick Wintour May 18, 2018
Proposals to restore an internationally recognised system to hold those using chemical weapons to account will be discussed at a conference in Paris attended by 35 countries.
Under proposals being floated by French diplomats, the powers of the world's chemical weapons watchdog could be expanded to include attributing responsibility for the use of chemical weapons, rather than merely investigating whether they have been used.
The previous UN-recognised system collapsed amid disagreements with Russia, with the west accusing Moscow of killing off the investigatory body in an attempt to cover up repeated war crimes by the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
The proposal to extend the powers of the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is due to be discussed on the margins of the Paris conference, which is being attended both by the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson. The OPCW oversees the chemical weapons convention that came into force in 1997.
An impasse developed at the UN last year between Russia and the west over chemical weapons, with Moscow repeatedly vetoing the renewal of a mandate for the UN body charged with attributing responsibility for their use.
As a result, since last November no internationally recognised body has existed empowered to identify a group or country that has used chemical weapons.
The previous body, known at the UN as the joint investigative mechanism (JIM), was condemned by Russia as loaded in favour of the west after it found that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhun in April 2017.
Western powers in turn accused Russia of shamelessly undermining the JIM in an attempt to cover up the war crimes being committed by the Assad regime. The use of chemical weapons has become a hallmark of the brutal Syrian civil war.
Russia said it would only allow the renewal of the UN body's mandate if its findings could be put before the UN security council for endorsement, a proposal that would have handed Russia a veto as a permanent member of the council.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has been working behind the scenes to break the deadlock, saying the lack of an accountability mechanism risks wars "spiralling out of control".
In an attempt to show that France would not tolerate impunity for those that used chemical weapons, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, convened a conference in January to underline its determination to pursue anyone guilty of breaking the convention.
The gathering in Paris on Friday will bring together countries that have agreed to exchange information about individuals and entities involved in the use of chemical weapons.
Before the conference, France froze the assets of seven entities based in Syria, Lebanon and China for their alleged involvement in the Syrian chemical weapons programme. France had already frozen in January the assets of 25 entities and leaders of Syrian companies but also those of French, Lebanese or Chinese entities suspected of fuelling the programme.
The companies targeted included importers and distributors of metals, electronics and lighting systems.
The OPCW has yet to determine whether a chemical attack occurred in Douma, near Damascus, on 7 April. The attack killed approximately 40 people and led to cruise missile strikes by the US, France and Britain against Syrian regime installations.
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Afghanistan
Afghan President Offers Airstrike Victims Apology, Not Justice Human Rights Watch By Patricia Gossman April 18, 2018
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani apologized Thursday to the families of civilians killed and injured in Dasht-e Archi, Kunduz province, on April 2, 2018, when Afghan air force helicopters fired heavy machine guns and launched unguided rockets at an outdoor religious ceremony attended by hundreds of people. Thirty of the 36 people killed were children, some under age 10 – in an attack the government claimed was targeting senior Taliban leaders.
A report on the airstrike by the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) found that the attack "rais[ed] questions as to the Government's respect of the rules of precaution and proportionality" under the laws of war. UNAMA concluded that even if the government had a legitimate military target, the timing and place of the attack was contrary to the government's obligations to take all feasible measures to spare civilians from harm, including under its Civilian Casualty Mitigation Policy.
Yes, the apology matters: it is important that the government acknowledge the loss and suffering of civilians harmed by military operations. But there was nothing in Ghani's apology addressing a possible war crime having been committed. Instead Ghani stated that "the key difference between the government and insurgents is that a legitimate government will always seek forgiveness for mistakes."
A willingness to apologize does not excuse a government from its laws-of-war obligations. The government should promptly, thoroughly, and impartially investigate and hold accountable all those responsible for violating the laws of war.
The bombing should ring alarm bells in the US. The US military plays a crucial role in support of Afghan air operations. The US provides training to the Afghan air force personnel and has recently provided it with new attack aircraft and helicopters.
Recently, a NATO civilian casualties mitigation team in Kabul told me that after the Kunduz attack, NATO carried out "extra" training sessions with Afghan air force personnel responsible for targeting. But the issue in the Kunduz attack isn't just a matter of operational training. It is about government leadership in ensuring accountability for violations of international law, and applying the government's policy to reduce civilian harm. Human Rights Watch has documented other airstrikes raising concerns about Afghan military investigations.
For these tragedies to stop, the Afghan government needs to do more to fully investigate incidents and learn from them, and appropriately punish those responsible for unlawful civilian deaths. Apologies are not enough.
UN condemns blasts that leave 8 dead at cricket stadium UN News May 19, 2018
UN Secretary-General António Guterres "condemns yesterday's attack," his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement issued on Saturday, which also stated "attacks targeting civilians are grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and can never be justified."
"The United Nations maintains that all parties to the conflict must at all times uphold their obligations to protect civilians from harm," Mr. Haq added.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that four explosives were detonated, targeting those gathered, after evening prayers, to watch a local match at the venue in Jalalabad.
"I am outraged by this attack that used four bombs carefully calculated to kill and maim civilians watching a cricket match," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. "This cold and brutal act can have no justification whatsoever; those responsible must be held accountable."
UNAMA said two of the explosives were detonated inside the stadium, and the other two outside, apparently timed to target those fleeing the first blasts. The explosions left scores dead, with many of the injured now in critical condition.
According to media reports, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and the Taliban militant group has denied any involvement. Afghanistan has been in protracted conflict for nearly four decades.
Armed conflict in Afghanistan killed 763 civilians and injured 1,495 in the first three months of this year. The 2,258 civilian casualties, documented by UNAMA, included 511 deaths and 989 injuries caused by anti-Government groups, including the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS), also known as Da'esh.
"At a time when Afghans are looking toward much-needed peace, we must not allow such attacks to deter our collective resolve to make progress on ending the conflict," said Mr. Yamamoto, who is also head of UNAMA. "The United Nations stands with Afghans in solidarity and remains committed to an Afghan-led peace process that will end the war and enable Afghanistan to allocate more resources to protect all citizens from such atrocities."
Mr. Guterres and Mr. Yamamoto expressed their condolences to the loved ones of those killed in the attack and wished a full and speedy recovery to those injured.
Afghan media's "deadliest day" exposes the resolve, resilience and vulnerability of its journalists Equal Times By Shadi Khan Saif May 21, 2018
For a country that has endured decades of brutal war, foreign invasion and terrorist violence, the events of 30 April 2018 will go down in infamy as "the deadliest day in Afghan media history".
Nine journalists were killed while covering an earlier suicide bombing in the capital city of Kabul while another journalist was shot dead in eastern Afghanistan.
The first blast took place as a motorcyclist detonated explosives during rush hour traffic in the Shash Darak neighbourhood of the city. About 30 minutes later, a suicide bomber posing as a reporter blew himself up at a security cordon near the site of the first bomb. A total of 29 people were killed in the two attacks, which were both claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Amongst the fatalities were nine journalists: Farishta Mehram Durrani, Ebadullah Hananzai and Sabawoon Kakar of Azadi Radio; Yar Mohammad Tokhi, a cameraman with TOLOnews; Ghazi Rasooli and Nowroz Ali Rajabi of 1TV; Saleem Talash and Ali Saleemi of Mashal TV; and Shah Marai, AFP's renowned chief photographer in Kabul.
On the same day, unknown gunmen killed BBC Afghan Service journalist Ahmad Shah in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan.
"This terrorist attack is a war crime and an organized attack on the Afghan media," read a statement issued by the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists. "Despite today's attack and other threats against journalists, the Afghan media is committed to providing information."
Suicide bombs and other forms of violence have been commonplace in Afghanistan for years, but the recent surge in attacks on journalists has sent shockwaves throughout the global media fraternity.
"The reigning impunity for crimes against journalists and the government's lack of concrete action to protect journalists are key causes of increased violence against journalists in Afghanistan," said Anthony Bellenger, general secretary of the International Journalists' Federation (IFJ) n a statement. "The IFJ urges Afghan government to urgently take drastic action to ensure the safety of journalists and justice to slain journalists."
"There is no other option" Although IS claimed responsibility for the 30 April attacks, the Taliban has been responsible for scores of journalists' deaths over the years. Both groups target journalists as well as media infrastructure (offices, communication towers, etc) in a bid to prevent reports about the atrocities they commit.
Members of Afghan's press corps are heartbroken and shaken by the deadly violence but they are resolved to continue their work – out of duty, out of necessity but also as a coping mechanism. "I guess what helps me cope with the pain is sharing some of those emptions and sharing some of that burden as a journalist. I write it," Mujib Mashal, a senior Afghan journalist associated with the New York Times told CNN in the aftermath.
Another Afghan journalist, who asked not to be named, told Equal Times while covering another suicide bombing that took place near a blood donation camp in the heart of Kabul on 7 May: "There is no other option. We can either continue working as we are or quit and stay home with no income or assistance," he said.
Hakima Hejran is a radio journalist who used to work with Farishta Mehram Durrani of Azadi Radio. She says that as many journalists are the main breadwinners for their families, the impact of any death is economically as well as emotionally devastating.
Hejran recently visited Durrani's family and was distressed by what she encountered: "While her unfortunate and tragic death is still unbelievable for me, what broke me further was my visit to her family's mud house. Her parents are reeling from her heart-breaking death in extremely poor conditions."
Lack of training and safety equipment
Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the private media sector has flourished. Currently, there are some 170 radio stations, dozens of newspapers and close to 100 TV channels operating throughout the country.
But recent events have called journalists' safety into question, while a debate over the training and safety equipment required to prepare local journalists for the dangers of working in the country has also emerged. Only a handful of Afghan journalists receive even basic first-aid or hostile environment training, while very few media outlets dispatch their reporters into the field with safety vests and helmets.
Steven Butler, the Asia region coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told Equal Times that while the blame for the killing of journalists belongs squarely with the perpetrators, some lessons should be learned from such tragedies: "It's not possible to eliminate all risks when operating in a war or conflict zone, but steps can be taken to reduce those risks."
He continued: "Journalists and assignment editors should expect secondary bombings or other attacks whenever an initial attack occurs. Journalists should be trained to approach the scene of these attacks cautiously, stay at a distance, and avoid bunching up into an easily attacked group. Although it's expensive, the provision of protective gear – such as body armor and helmets – would be useful," he said.
Afghanistan is currently the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist. Of the 26 journalists killed in 2018 so far, 10 died in Afghanistan, which is the highest number of fatalities for any single country.
To put that into context, the number of journalists killed in Afghanistan this year to date is more than a fifth of the total of journalists killed in Afghanistan since 1992.
Speaking to Equal Times, Rahimullah Samandar, president of the 1,900 member-strong Afghanistan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA), highlighted the grim threats faced by local journalists.
"The main obstacle here is that not many local media organisations can afford to hire well-versed and qualified foreign trainers. We are in contact with international organisations such as the International Federation of Journalists, the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists and others to help us in this regard," he said.
Rights groups are all stressing the importance of bringing the perpetrators of the attacks on journalists to justice. "This is a responsibility of not only the Afghan government but of international bodies such as the International Court of Justice and the UN," said Butler of the CPJ.
"The international community should bear some of the burden of taking steps to protect journalists because it's not just Afghans who need the information these brave journalists provide, but people and governments around the world," he stressed.
With Medal Of Honor, Seal Team 6 Rewards A Culture Of War Crimes The Intercept By Matthew Cole May 22, 2018
On May 7, the White House announced that President Donald Trump would award a retired SEAL Team 6 sniper the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest decoration for battlefield valor.
Normally, the presentation of the Medal of Honor is a solemn and meaningful recognition of bravery and heroism. But the announcement of the award for Britt Slabinski — and the concurrent decision to give the same award to John Chapman, a deceased Air Force combat controller — came after a yearslong campaign to recognize disputed events 16 years ago on a remote mountain in Afghanistan. The awards have exposed a rift in the special operations community, a long-running argument pitting the Air Force against the Navy SEALs. More significantly, the decision to award a Medal of Honor to Slabinski represents the enduring failure of the SEALs, the Pentagon, Congress, and the White House to reckon with the dark history of SEAL Team 6 in the post-9/11 wars. All these authorities have refused to conduct any meaningful or robust oversight of a group of elite commandos who have committed war crimes abroad and gone to great lengths to cover them up.
On March 3, 2002, a small SEAL Team 6 reconnaissance team led by Slabinski landed atop Takur Ghar, a 10,000-foot peak above the Shah-i-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. The mission was part of the U.S. military's Operation Anaconda, a multi-day effort to squeeze out and kill the last large group of Al Qaeda militants and Taliban fighters hiding in the valley. As it attempted to land, the helicopter took fire from Al Qaeda fighters, and SEAL Neil Roberts fell from the back of the helicopter. The helicopter was heading back to a nearby base when Slabinski and his team realized they had lost a teammate.
For two hours, SEAL Team 6 and officers from the Joint Special Operations Command scrambled a rescue force to recover Roberts. Again their helicopter took fire as it landed near the top. Slabinski and his team, including John Chapman, rushed out amid small arms fire from the Al Qaeda militants. The team split and Chapman was hit two minutes after engaging the militants. With additional teammates severely wounded, and believing Chapman was dead, Slabinski ordered his SEAL team to retreat down the mountain. A quick reaction force, consisting mostly of Army Rangers, then engaged in a pitched battle for control of Takur Ghar, as Slabinski called in airstrikes from his position down the side of the mountain. Ultimately, Roberts, Chapman, and five others were killed over the course of the battle, which became known as Roberts Ridge.
These details are largely agreed upon. Chapman and Slabinski both received service crosses, the military's second-highest award. After Roberts's body was recovered, the military determined that he had been mutilated, a horrific act that led SEAL Team 6 operators to engage in a cycle of vengeance against enemy fighters in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
From practically the moment Slabinski and his team returned to Bagram Air Base, others in the special operations community questioned whether he had erred in his assessment that Chapman was dead and retreated with a member of his team still alive.
In 2016, after the Pentagon began reassessing silver stars and service crosses awarded during the war on terror, the Air Force put together forensics and drone video that they claimed showed Chapman got up after Slabinski and the SEALs retreated and continued to fight, alone and outnumbered, before succumbing to his wounds.
The SEALs disagreed, and Rear Adm. Timothy Szymanski, the commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare, pushed for an upgrade for Slabinski's service cross. Both current and former military members say the inter-service fight between the SEALs and the Air Force special operations command has been ugly and unbecoming. According to a Navy officer, the SEALs made several efforts to block an upgrade for Chapman, infuriating the Air Force.
Presentations of the Medal of Honor are almost always fraught with questions about whether the awards are handed out to make those involved in operations feel better about a loss of life. There's "always some kind of solace sought in decorating someone with the award," said one of Slabinski's former leaders at SEAL Team 6, who spent more than 30 years in Special Operations. "A lot of it has to do with politics and rank and stature and always, in my opinion, the more dynamic and public the screw-up, the more likely it is that someone is going to get highly decorated."
Another of Slabinski's former teammates said 25 years of experience as a SEAL convinced him that the award system for valorous action has little integrity. "One of my commanders told me point-blank: The bigger the fuck-up, the bigger the award."
The retired SEAL leader, who studied the battle at Roberts Ridge extensively for the military and discussed the events with Slabinski, said the issue was not whether Chapman or Slabinski were deserving of a medal upgrade, but why the military was motivated to extend that honor so many years later. "This is the madness of the Medal of Honor," he said. "Rarely is it granted when things go well."
By awarding both Chapman and Slabinski the Medal of Honor, the Pentagon presents an impossible version of what happened on Roberts Ridge. By awarding it to Chapman, the military endorses the view that Chapman survived his initial injuries and fought with valor after Slabinski and his SEAL team retreated down the mountain. If that's true, then Slabinski left his teammate behind, violating the first rule of special operations. By awarding Slabinski the Medal of Honor, the military essentially ignores the Chapman narrative and supports the notion that Slabinski's actions that day were heroic.
Both versions of what happened at Takur Ghar cannot be true. But the argument over how Slabinski determined Chapman was dead, and when Chapman may have died, is really a distraction from the true significance of what came down from Takur Ghar after the battle for Roberts Ridge.
No one pushed for the upgrade more than Szymanski, according to both current and former Navy officers. Members of SEAL Team 6 have told me they believe the award is meant, in large part, to help validate and cover up a series of ultimately fatal decisions taken by Szymanski and other senior SEAL Team 6 officers.
As the SEAL Team 6 operations officer at Bagram Air Base, Szymanski was the mission planner for Slabinski's reconnaissance team. Szymanski and his superior officers effectively limited Slabinski's options, forcing him to land on what they later discovered was a well-established enemy position, rather than allowing the team to land lower on the mountain and clandestinely patrol the top. The former unit leader who served several years with Szymanski said he had no doubt that his former teammate pushed for the upgrade to assuage his own guilt about putting Slabinski and his team in what became a disastrous position.
Slabinski's military career did not end on March 4, 2002. He spent another 12 years in the military, almost all of it at SEAL Team 6, where he ended up as a senior enlisted leader. For many, he was a legendary SEAL. Inside the secret world of what the military refers to as a "Tier 1" unit, however, Slabinski is part of another legacy, one which also stems from what happened during Roberts Ridge. That legacy involves Szymanski as well.
In the days after Takur Ghar, Slabinski and others in SEAL Team 6 sought "payback" for Roberts, Chapman, and the other casualties. Slabinski later told author Malcolm MacPherson, in a taped interview obtained by The Intercept, that a few days after the battle, his team ambushed and killed nearly two dozen Al Qaeda fighters headed toward the Pakistan border. After the militants had been killed, Slabinski described a form of "therapy":
I mean, talk about the funny stuff we do. After I shot this dude in the head, there was a guy who had his feet, just his feet, sticking out of some little rut or something over here. I mean, he was dead, but people have got nerves. I shot him about 20 times in the legs, and every time you'd kick him, er, shoot him, he would kick up, you could see his body twitching and all that. It was like a game. Like, 'hey look at this dude,' and the guy would just twitch again. It was just good therapy. It was really good therapy for everybody who was there.
For almost four years after Roberts Ridge, SEAL Team 6 intentionally limited Slabinski's battlefield exposure. The trauma from Roberts Ridge was clear — and Slabinski has said that he still sees fighters moving in slow motion from that day.
In 2007, Slabinski was sent back to Afghanistan as a squadron master chief, which made him the senior noncommissioned officer of Blue Squadron. His two-year assignment at Blue came as the SEAL Team 6 leadership began receiving reports that small groups of SEALs were committing what they believed were war crimes: cutting, mutilating, and otherwise desecrating enemy fighters with knives and custom-made hatchets. In addition, SEAL Team 6 operators were "canoeing" dead or dying enemy targets — firing bullets at close range to the top of the skull, splitting it open at the forehead and exposing the brain matter.
In late 2007, members of Blue Squadron were twice investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service and JSOC. The first investigation resulted from allegations that a SEAL had attempted to behead a Taliban fighter in southern Afghanistan after Slabinski told his men he wanted a "head on a platter." As I reported in 2017, Slabinski told his superiors and later investigators that there had been no beheading, saying there was "no foul play." A former investigator with direct knowledge of the case told me that it was clear from the beginning of the beheading investigation that SEAL Team 6 had brought in NCIS to conclude that no war crime had occurred. "We knew we'd been called in to give them the result they wanted — that everyone was clean," the former Navy officer said. The NCIS investigation was part of the cover-up.
Shortly after the beheading incident, Slabinski's team was accused of killing unarmed men in an operation. That investigation, too, resulted in the SEALs being cleared.
Three years later, in 2010, Slabinski was up for a promotion when SEAL Team 6 decided to re-examine his tour with Blue Squadron. The command confirmed that Slabinski had in fact covered up the attempted beheading. Slabinski also admitted he had given an illegal order for his men to shoot all males on an operation regardless of whether or not they were armed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. Ultimately, however, the military concluded all the men killed during that operation were armed. As a result of these inquiries, a group of 10 SEAL Team 6 leaders later voted unanimously to ban Slabinski from ever serving at the command again. After Slabinski's admission, the most senior enlisted member of SEAL Team 6 told him, "That's not what we're about. We can't have you here."
As I reported in 2017, one of Slabinski's former superiors said: "To this day, he thinks the guys turned on him. Well, they did. What we didn't do was turn him in. You will step over the line and you start dehumanizing people. You really do. And it takes the team, it takes individuals to pull you back. And part of that was getting rid of Britt Slabinski."
Naval Special Warfare has consistently stated that the allegations against Slabinski and SEAL Team 6 are "unfounded," and that each has been "previously investigated and determined to be not substantiated." Despite months of my repeated inquires to SEAL Team 6 and Naval Special Warfare, no one would answer a simple question: If no crimes had been committed, why bar Slabinski from SEAL Team 6? Syzmanski and Slabinski did not respond to requests for comment.
The answer lies in how effective and widespread the culture of lies and cover-ups has been at SEAL Team 6. In each of Slabinski's 2007 investigations, both NCIS and JSOC found no evidence of violations of the laws of armed conflict, as they describe war crimes. But three years later, a small group of unit leaders quickly substantiated the allegations and even secured a confession. The command thus demonstrated that it was perfectly capable of determining the truth for internal purposes — and once again proved it was unwilling to expose even its pariahs to external scrutiny or justice.
After learning that he would never again serve at SEAL Team 6, Slabinski was thrown a lifeline by Szymanski, then commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group 2, who selected him to be his command master chief. His career should have been over, yet he was given a promotion. Some inside SEAL Team 6 were stunned. From their perspective, Szymanski had willingly requested a suspected war criminal to be his senior noncommissioned officer. When asked why he would bring in Slabinski after he was thrown out of SEAL Team 6 for alleged war crimes, a SEAL Team 6 leader told me that Szymanski told his fellow SEALs that their community could not shun a war hero.
In their time commanding Group 2, Szymanski and Slabinski helped craft what has become the unofficial Navy SEAL creed, which ends with this:
I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.
In 2015, after he retired, Slabinski gave an on-the-record interview to the New York Times in which he denied giving the illegal order to shoot any man. He also implied that it was his leadership and discipline that prevented the near-beheading in 2007. In the view of senior SEAL Team 6 leaders, Slabinski had lied. Even worse, he'd done so while speaking to the press. For that sin, SEAL Team 6 added Slabinski to the "rock of shame," a list of former members of SEAL Team 6 who were no longer welcome to visit the command. Already barred from serving at SEAL Team 6, Slabinski was now physically banished.
"That's what's wrong with my community," a former SEAL Team 6 leader told me last year. "Our sense of what's right and what's wrong is warped. No one was upset that he ordered a beheading or all the men shot even if they were unarmed. They were mad because he spoke to the New York Times and lied."
One of the regulations governing military awards, including the Medal of Honor, states that "no medal, cross, or bar, or associated emblem or insignia may be awarded or presented to any person or to his representative if his service after he distinguished himself has not been honorable."
By the military's own standard, Slabinski should have been disqualified from the Medal of Honor for his actions in subsequent deployments to Afghanistan. But Slabinski's dishonorable actions are only a part of a much larger problem. Senior officers of SEAL Team 6 bear the ultimate responsibility, both for tactical failures, such as the decisions that placed Slabinski's team at the top of Takur Ghar, and for leadership failures, for turning a blind eye to a broad pattern of war crimes and other military misconduct. For 15 years, as SEAL Team 6 senior officers and leaders received reports that their operators were skinning, scalping, canoeing, and otherwise mutilating enemy corpses with custom-made hatchets in Afghanistan and Iraq, they either ignored the warnings or helped cover them up.
"By giving Slabinski the award, you close the door on our criminal history," said the former SEAL Team 6 leader. "The cover- up wins. You've closed this ugly part of our command's history, and everyone gets away with it. What everyone learns from this is that cover-ups work — don't say anything bad about your teammates, keep quiet and we'll get through it. It's disgraceful."
[back to contents] Yemen
Yemeni officials say Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills 6 Tampa Bay Times May 10, 2018
Yemeni officials say a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike has killed six people, including children, near the rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
The medical officials say Thursday's airstrike hit a house and a nearby shop, wounding six others. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
The coalition has been at war with Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015. The Houthis, who are allied with Iran, control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, and have fired dozens of missiles across the border at Saudi Arabia.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than 3 million.
Yemeni officials say fighting kills 115 in western Yemen StarTribune By Ahmed Al-Haj May 12, 2018
Yemeni officials say fighting over two days in western Yemen has killed at least 115 people on both sides of the conflict pitting forces loyal to a Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Shiite rebels.
The officials said Saturday the clashes west of the province of Taiz also wounded dozens. They said the forces loyal to the coalition backing the internationally recognized government seized control of some rebel-held areas in western Yemen.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
The coalition has been at war with Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015. The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, and have fired dozens of missiles across the border at Saudi Arabia.
Seven killed by Houthi missile in Marib The National By Ali Mahmood May 22, 2018
At least seven people, including children, were killed and 25 wounded by a Houthi missile fired at the Yemeni city of Marib on Tuesday.
"The Houthis targeted the neighbourhood of Al Mujama near the Athban mosque in the centre of the city with a Katyusha missile in the early hours of Tuesday, killing seven civilians and wounding at least 25, which means the number of victims may rise," Khalil Al Zikri, from the Yemen army's moral guidance department, told The National.
"The Al Mujama neighbourhood is always crowded because it has many stores and a public market, and the rebels meant to target the area to kill innocent people, no more."
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported earlier that a Houthi Katyusha missile targeted a residential neighbourhood in city centre of Marib, which falls under the control of the internationally-recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
An Arab coalition, which is led by Saudi Arabia and includes the UAE, intervened in the Yemen war in 2015 to battle the Iran- backed Houthi rebels at the request of Mr Hadi's government.
Coalition spokesman Col Turki Al Malki said on Monday that more than 85 percent of Yemen has been recaptured from the Houthi rebels, as Yemeni forces — supported by the Arab alliance — are making progress on all battlefronts. [back to contents]
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Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Official Website of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon In Focus: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (UN)
Defense Case Begins at Special Tribunal for Lebanon Naharanet May 14, 2018
Defense counsel for the Accused Hussein Hassan Oneissi began Monday the presentation of evidence before the Trial Chamber of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The presentation began with the testimony of an expert witness, Professor Siegfried Ludwig Sporer.
Sporer testified in relation to the general principles of eyewitness testimony and identification.
The STL noted in a statement that "the Oneissi Defense is the only Defense which elected to present a case" and that it has notified the Trial Chamber that it would call two witnesses to testify, Sporer and Lebanon's former General Security head Maj. Gen. Jamil al-Sayyed.
The Trial Chamber also decided to allow the Oneissi Defense to amend its witness list by "adding four witnesses, DHO-003, DHO-004, DHO-005 and Mr Xavier Laroche (DHO-006), and to receive their witness statements into evidence in lieu of their oral testimony."
The 'Ayyash et al. case' concerns the 14 February 2005 attack in Beirut that killed formerPrime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others, and injured 226 more.
Oneissi and four other suspected Hizbullah members are currently facing trial in absentia. They are charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, and several other related charges.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the court as a U.S.-Israeli plot against his group and vowed that the suspects will never be caught.
Defense team expert talks witness reliability at STL The Daily Star By Victoria Yan May 15, 2018
Expert witness Dr. Siegfried Sporer provided evidence on the reliability of witness memory for the defense team of Hassan Oneissi before the Special Tribunal of Lebanon Monday. Oneissi is one of four individuals accused of orchestrating the assassination of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. The bombing killed Hariri and 21 others.
"We always work on the assumption that the witness wants to tell the truth ... but in reality, one always has to think of alternative interpretations," Sporer said, explaining that individuals can easily distort the truth unknowingly and perpetuate non-truths without malice.
"All of those dangers have to be considered. Over the history of law, there are errors that lead to miscarriages of judgment. ... We never know if an account is correct or not, even with DNA evidence and witnesses identify the person who has committed a crime."
Sporer, a former professor of psychology in Europe and the United States, has focused his research on eyewitness testimony, face detection and detection of deception.
Defense counsel Natalie von Wistinghausen, representing the interests of Oneissi, led Monday's direct examination.
While the number of trials with false witness identification is not overwhelmingly high, Sporer noted that convictions were extremely difficult to appeal.
"In cases, it has been proven beyond original doubt that the original person convicted could not have been the suspect, eyewitnesses have played a major role," he said.
Sporer spent the entirety of Monday's hearing speaking generally on issues of witness identification. It is expected that he will go into direct details of Oneissi's case Tuesday.
Notably absent on the first day of the Oneissi team's defense case was its head counsel, Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse. The lawyer, who has previously been criticized for his low-attendance record, will not be attending Tuesday's hearing. It remains unclear whether Courcelle-Labrousse will be present at Sporer's cross-examination later in the week.
Monday's hearing marks the end to a contentious five-month hiatus that saw souring relations between the Trial Chamber and the Oneissi defense team. Following the conclusion of the prosecution's case in February, lawyers for Oneissi attempted to acquit their client of his charges. They argued that insufficient evidence had been brought forth by the prosecution.
The team's appeal was overruled.
Shortly after, the defense team sought to disqualify President of the Trial Chamber Judge David Re, Judge Janet Nosworthy and Judge Micheline Braidy from the STL altogether. Yet again, their appeal was dismissed. Re, who has consistently pushed to expedite the trial without compromising justice, made note of the delays caused by the Oneissi defense team.
"You were supposed to come in April, but there was an application to disqualify [judges of the trial chamber] that was rejected," Re said after Sporer was ushered to the stand.
"We couldn't schedule last week due to short notice so we've effectively lost four weeks of hearing time. But at least you're here now."
Defense criticizes suspect identification methods at STL The Daily Star By Finbar Anderson May 16, 2018
The reliability of witness memory was once again the focus of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Monday, with expert witness Dr. Siegfried Sporer giving evidence a second time for the defense team of Hassan Oneissi. Four defendants, including Oneissi, have been indicted for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in an attack that killed 21 others.
It was a fraught day at the tribunal, with President of the Trial Chamber Judge David Re requesting several times the witness refrain from delving too deep into statistical analysis and to instead focus on his conclusions. One piece of evidence, titled "An Integrative Framework for the Psychology of Eyewitness Testimony," particularly drew the judge's ire.
Sporer, an expert in forensic and criminal psychology at the University of Giessen, explained to the court that social factors can play a significant impact on the response of a witness attempting to identify a suspect, with marked differences when the suspect was "outgroup" or "ingroup," meaning from outside or inside the witness's social group respectively. "Research shows that identification of outgroup members, witnesses use less strict criteria. They are less likely to say, 'this was the person,' than if the person was from their own group," Sporer said. He noted "several witnesses mentioned that the [accused] had not a Lebanese accent but a Palestinian accent, and came from a different area."
The expert said that "if we see an outgroup face there is a first step that we categorize the fact ... which to some people immediately signals this person is no longer of interest to me."
Sporer was critical of many aspects of the prosecution's identification process, particularly criticizing the photo board lineup used to identify Oneissi. Those chosen to take part in the lineup, he said, did not look sufficiently similar to the accused.
"The idea is you want the foils to be plausible alternatives but not identical twins," Sporer said. "The purpose is not to confuse a witness but to make the task of a certain difficulty so as not to eliminate anyone."
The defense witness noted if suspects share features in common with the suspect, but individually look very distinct, this can unfairly direct the witness' attention. "There are about twice as many false identifications in low similarity lineups than high similarity lineups," he said.
Sporer told the court that the position of a picture towards the middle of a photo board lineup can make it more likely to be identified by a witness, noting that witnesses scanning left to right as a result of their reading habits will often pick the fifth picture in a lineup of six.
Expert affirms criticism of witness selection The Daily Star By Finbar Anderson May 17, 2018
Defense expert Dr. Siegfried Sporer's testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon concluded Wednesday, with Sporer standing by his criticism of how the prosecutor undertook witness identification. "I would have never conducted a study like this," Sporer said. "If my student was doing a research project [similar to this] I would have fired him. ... It has absolutely no scientific value."
It took two and a half days for Sporer, a lecturer in forensic and criminal psychology at the University of Giessen, to give the testimony, in what was at times a tense exchange between Trial Chamber President Judge David Re and Defense Counsel Natalie von Wistinghausen over the precise manner and duration of the defense counsel's examination.
Wistinghausen represents Hassan Oneissi, one of four indicted over the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Re said after Sporer's testimony, "Whatever may have been said in the courtroom you know we have a level of professional respect for you and your team."
The witness cross-examination by Prosecution Counsel Marc Desalliers took just over one session, who sought to cast doubt over Sporer's suitability to stand as a witness, forcing Sporer to concede he had not personally undertaken any investigations similar to that of the STL.
The prosecution counsel picked on Sporer's testimony of the previous day, in which he had said placing photos of suspects in the middle of an identification board means a witness is more likely to choose them. "You're not suggesting that putting pictures towards the middle ... would invalidate the results?" Desalliers asked. While not outright contradicting him, the expert said, "it increases the likelihood of false identification by a factor of two."
The next session of the STL will take place once the Oneissi defense has submitted a summary of facts for its next witness, the deadline for which is May 28.
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Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal
War crimes tribunal takes Prosecutor Tureen off all cases for 'meeting suspect' bdnews24.com By Pias Talukder May 10, 2018
The International Crimes Tribunal has pulled Prosecutor Tureen Afroz out of all cases for allegedly handing case documents to a war crimes suspect in a secret meeting.
Chief Prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo in a letter to Tureen on Tuesday asked the lawyer to submit all case documents back to the tribunal.
He said he was doing so to save the tribunal's image for the sake of transparency.
The suspect Tureen had allegedly met is Muhammad Wahidul Haque, who had headed National Security Intelligence and the Department of Immigration and Passports.
Tipoo said in the letter the alleged meeting took place at a restaurant in Gulshan on Nov 19 last year, eight days after Tureen was given the case.
The ICT chief prosecutor also said they came to know about the around three-hour meeting and her phone conversation with the suspect the day before the meeting from audio tapes recorded on Wahidul's mobile phone.
Gulshan Police Station OC Abu Bakr Siddique brought to the prosecution's attention the records after police arrested Wahidul on Apr 24 and seized his mobile phone, ICT investigation agency's senior coordinator Mohammad Sanaul Haque told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.
In another letter on Monday, Tipoo withdrew prosecutors Tureen and Tapas Kanti Baul from the case against Wahidul and put on it Zead-Al-Malum, Mokhlesur Rahman Badal, Sultan Mahmud, Md Shahidur Rahman, Md Zahid Imam and Rezia Sultana Begum.
Tureen, whose cases at the ICT include that against Jamaat-e-Islami ideologue Ghulam Azam, has denied any wrongdoing.
She said in a Facebook post on Wednesday she has not been sacked, contrary to some media reports.
The ICT prosecutor, citing related law, said in her defence that she had the authority to act as an investigator and take different strategies during inquiry.
She claimed she had informed her superiors in the prosecution about everything she had done.
But ICT investigation agency senior coordinator Sanaul said Tureen had not.
ICT Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum also said the prosecution had no knowledge of Tureen's meeting with Wahidul.
"The evidence proves professional misconduct by Tureen Afroz," he said.
Citing the law, International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, he said a prosecutor can only help the investigators after informing the chief prosecutor.
Zead said the evidence against Tureen and Tipoo's letters were sent to the law ministry.
He said she would be sacked if the allegation was proved.
"She may lose her Bar Council certificate [if she is found guilty]. She may also face criminal charges. But that's for the law ministry to decide," he added.
Law Minister Anisul Huq told the media earlier in the day that they were acting on the matter.
According to Tipoo's letter, Tureen's accomplice 'Farabi', Wahidul's wife, and another elderly person were also present in the alleged meeting.
Sanaul said meeting a suspect during trial is against the ethics for a prosecutor.
Referring to the audio tapes, he said, "There are many things on the case in the conversations and these suggest case documents were transferred."
"The record suggests she was wearing burqa and introduced Farabi as her husband. They discussed things that go against the case. It was said that the case was totally motivated. It seems to me that it was ethically wrong."
He also said they did not want any controversy surrounding the tribunal.
"We don't want our achievements made through hard labour to get marred," Sanaul added.
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, an organisation seeking justice for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War, has called an emergency meeting for Saturday to discuss the issue about its member Tureen.
The organisation's President Shahriar Kabir told bdnews24.com he called the meeting after speaking to the ICT prosecution and Tureen.
"It should be investigated first…No one should be treated like a convict before the charges are proved," he said.
Tureen said in the Facebook post that the allegation against her was under investigation.
The investigators of the case against Wahidul have been ordered to submit their report on Thursday.
Mymensingh's Riaz Uddin Fakir to die for war crimes bdnews24.com May 10, 2018
A war crimes tribunal has sentenced Riaz Uddin Fakir to death for his role in genocide in Mymensingh during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.
He has been convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in Fulbaria.
A three-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam passed the judgement on Thursday after wrapping up a hearing from prosecutors and the defendant on Mar 21.
It is the 32nd verdict in war crimes cases since the tribunal was formed in 2010.
According to the verdict, four allegations brought against Fakir have been proved. He was sentenced to death on two charges and jailed for life for the other two.
Fakir has been behind bars since the trial began on Dec 11, 2016.
According to the investigation agency, Fakir was a member of Al-Badr, a paramilitary force responsible for mass killings during Bangladesh's Liberation War against Pakistan in 1971. He was involved with Jamaat-e-Islami that openly opposed the liberation struggle.
Charges submitted to the tribunal in 2016 linked Fakir to five war crimes. The 69-year-old man was in the dock during the verdict.
Initially three persons were accused in the case but later Amjad Ali's name had been dropped from the list as he fell sick after being arrested and died in jail.
The tribunal removed the name of another suspect Wajuddin after he had died while on the run.
Of the 74 people accused in 32 cases in war crimes so far, five died during trials.
Of them, 69 people were punished, with 42 sentenced to death.
War crimes convict Billal Hossain dies in Dhaka bdnews24.com May 11, 2018
A 78-year-old war crimes convict has died under treatment in a hospital.
Md Billal Hossain Biswas, who was jailed for life in 2016, has been suffering from old-age complications.
Biswas was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital from Kasimpur jail on May 5 and died around 1am on Friday at the DMCH, according to Police Sub-Inspector Md Bachchu Miah.
The International Crimes Tribunal, in a verdict on Aug 10, 2016, jailed seven people, including Biswas, for their roles in war crimes in Jashore's Keshabpur in 1971. He was a resident of Keshabpur's Nehalpara.
During the Liberation War, Biswas sided with the anti-liberation forces. In 2014, he was arrested over allegations of crimes against humanity.
Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee opens probe into ICT prosecutor Tureen Afroz bdnews24.com May 12, 2018
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee has launched an investigation into the alleged secret meeting between one of its members, Tureen Afroz, and a war crimes suspect.
The platform of activists who demand trials of war crimes suspects formed a committee with three former judges in an emergency meeting on Saturday, it said in a statement.
Tureen, a prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, allegedly met last year former Muhammad Wahidul Haque, who had headed the National Security Intelligence and the Department of Immigration and Passports.
Haque was recently arrested on charges of committing crimes against humanity during the War of Independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The three former judges on the committee are Justice Shamsul Huda, Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Justice Nizamul Huq.
The ICT has already taken Tureen off all its cases. She denies any wrongdoing.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was also looking into the matter.
War Crimes Judges to Hold Closed Talks on Rohingya Crisis The Globe Post May 14, 2018
War crimes judges will hold closed-door talks next month to discuss whether to allow the launch of a probe into the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.
War crimes judges will hold closed-door talks next month to discuss whether to allow the launch of a probe into the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.
Only chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will appear before the three judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing on June 20, presiding judge Peter Kovacs said in his Friday order, seen by AFP on Monday.
Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August to escape a bloody military crackdown.
The violence has left a trail of torched villages in its wake, amid allegations of murder and rape at the hands of troops and vigilantes.
In an unprecedented move last month, Bensouda asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to rule whether she can investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.
It is a legally complicated request, as Myanmar is not a signatory and member of the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC.
Bangladesh is, however, and Bensouda argued that should give her office jurisdiction to investigate the Rohingya's plight.
She likened deportation to "a cross-border shooting", arguing the crime "is not completed until the bullet (fired in one state) strikes and kills the victim (standing in another state)."
"The chamber convenes a status conference on 20 June 2018, to be held in closed session, only in the presence of the prosecutor," Kovacs ordered.
He accompanied the order with a confidential annex which he said contained issues which Bensouda must address at the June hearing. Set up in 2002 in The Hague, the ICC acts to prosecute the worst abuses including genocide in places where national tribunals are unwilling or unable to act.
The Myanmar army in the mainly Buddhist nation has denied any allegations, saying its campaign has been a legitimate response to Rohingya militant attacks last year that killed about a dozen border guard police.
The Southeast Asian nation has voiced "serious concern" over the move at the ICC.
"Nowhere in the ICC Charter does it say that the court has jurisdiction over states which have not accepted that jurisdiction," Myanmar said in a statement.
The special court examining Bensouda's request has also asked Bangladesh to submit any written observations it may have on the case by June 11.
War Crimes Verdict Based on Flawed Trial Human Rights Watch May 22, 2018
Bangladeshi authorities should immediately set aside the death penalty against Mir Qasem Ali, a senior member of the executive committee of opposition party Jamaat- e-Islaami, and order a new trial that meets international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Ali despite earlier statements in court by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, criticizing the attorney general, prosecutors, and investigators for producing insufficient evidence in the trial court. According to credible, detailed notes from the hearing in the Supreme Court, he said to the prosecutors: "What prevented the investigation agency to produce sufficient witnesses to prove the charges? … The prosecution and the Investigation Agency need to produce sufficient evidence to support a conviction… We feel really ashamed when we read the prosecution evidence." The attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, in turn was quoted saying, "The Supreme Court observed that a huge amount of money is being spent on the prosecutors and investigators, but they did not handle and investigate the cases properly."
"Convictions can only be upheld when there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, yet in this case there are grave doubts about the evidence after the court so strongly criticized the prosecution," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "In death penalty cases the authorities must adhere to the highest standards."
Ali was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2014, by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on 10 out of 14 counts of abduction, torture, and confinement as crimes against humanity. For these crimes, he was sentenced to 72 years in prison. Ali was also convicted on two further counts of murder, in one case of two adults and in the other of a child, Jashim Uddin. He was sentenced to death for the murders.
On March 8, 2016, the Appellate Division of the Bangladeshi Supreme Court set aside three of the abduction and torture convictions. It also acquitted Ali of the murder of the two adults. However, it upheld the conviction and death penalty sentence against Ali for the murder of Jashim Uddin during the war.
As in other cases before the ICT, the defense was arbitrarily limited in its ability to submit evidence, including witnesses and documents. Defense lawyers were allowed to produce only three witnesses to counter 14 separate charges. Lawyers were threatened orally with a 50 lakh taka (approximately US$64,000) fine when they asked the judges to review their order limiting witnesses. The court denied the defense the opportunity to challenge the credibility of prosecution witnesses by rejecting witnesses' earlier statements that were inconsistent with their trial testimony. The refusal to allow the accused to challenge the credibility of prosecution witnesses has been a hallmark of trials before the ICT.
During the appeal at the Supreme Court, the chief justice called the prosecution and its investigation agency "very incompetent." He accused the prosecution of dealing with proving the case against Ali "half-heartedly" and with "no responsibility." The chief justice said he was "shocked" and that the prosecution's case against Ali was full of contradictions. He expressed particular concern at the prosecution's failure to rebut the accused's alibi defense, which put Ali in Dhaka on the day of the murder in Chittagong: "Defence could produce a series of documentary evidences in support of their alibi. But the prosecution and the investigation agency were very incompetent."
The chief justice further went on to accuse the prosecution of using the ICT trials purely for political benefit and political interests: "We are very disappointed to see that you are using these trials out of your political benefits. These trials are being used for political interests."
The chief justice's sentiments echo those made by the Supreme Court in its written verdict in another ICT case against Delwar Hossain Sayedee. The chief justice wrote that verdict when he was a justice on the Supreme Court before his promotion to chief justice. In that case, Sayedee's death penalty was commuted by the Supreme Court to a life sentence, though it stopped short of ordering a new trial.
The chief justice's statements in the Ali case caused a furore among those backing the ICT trials. A government minister, Qamrul Islam, called for the removal of the chief justice and for a rehearing to be held.
"Human Rights Watch has long supported justice and accountability for the horrific crimes committed during Bangladesh's 1971 war. But this must be done through trials which meet international standards, particularly since the death penalty is at stake," said Adams. "Bangladesh owes the victims of 1971 a fair and proper accountability process."
Trials before the ICT have been replete with violations of the right to a fair trial. The ICT has fundamental flaws because of article 47(A) of the constitution, which states, "This Article further denies any accused under the ICT Act from moving the Supreme Court for any remedies under the Constitution, including any challenges as to the unconstitutionality of Article 47(A)." The article specifically strips people accused of war crimes of certain fundamental rights, including the right to an expeditious trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, and the right to move the courts to enforce their fundamental rights. This article has permitted the ICT overly broad discretion to deny those accused in this and prior cases the rights and procedures accorded to other defendants.
Many of the trials before the ICT have been marred by evidence from intercepted communications between the prosecution and the judges that has revealed prohibited and biased communications. The ICT's response on several occasions to those who have raised objections about the trials has been to file contempt charges against them in an apparent attempt to silence criticism rather than to answer substantively or to rectify any errors.
The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party, has said that, "in cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty, scrupulous respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important" and that any death penalty imposed after an unfair trial would be a violation of the right to life and to a fair trial.
Human Rights Watch reiterated its longstanding call for Bangladesh to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and join the growing number of states that have abolished the use of capital punishment.
"We welcome the fact that the chief justice identified problems with the evidence in the Ali case, but the court should follow through by ordering a retrial," Adams said. "Allowing the death sentence in a case with such fundamental doubts about the evidence is unthinkable."
Five 'war crimes suspects' held in Pirojpur New Age Bangladesh May 22, 2018
Detectives arrested five people at village Hetalia in Bhandaria upazila of Pirojpur early Monday for their alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
The arrested were Fazlul Haque Hawlader, 75, Abdul Mannan Hawlader, 74, Azhar Ali Hawlader alias Aju Munsi, 88, Ashraf ALi Hawlader, 67 and Moharaj Hawlader alias Hat Kata Moharaj, 68, residents of the village.
Bijoy Krishna Bala filed a case against the five war crimes suspects with the senior judicial magistrate court of Pirojpur on October 6 in 2015.
Later, the case was sent to International Crimes Tribunal.
After conducting a primary inquiry, the prosecution found evidences of involvement against the accused in war crimes. Later, a team of the Detective Branch of police along with the ICT officials arrested the accused from the village, said Abul Kalam Azad, additional superintendent of Pirojpur police.
War crimes convict Mahidur dies at RMCH New Age Bangladesh May 22, 2018
A Bangladesh war crimes convict died at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital early Monday, four years after being sentenced to imprisonment until death for committing war crimes at several villages in Chapainawabganj in 1971. The dead Mahidur Rahman, 88, of village Dadonchak under Shibganj upazila in the district, was languishing in Rajshahi jail.
Halima Khatun, senior jail superintendent of Rajshahi Central Jail, said Mahidur was admitted to hospital on April 28 as he had been suffering from old age complications. He died of heart attack around 1:00am on Monday.
In 1971, Mahidur was involved with Muslim League.
During the Liberation War, he resided in the camp of Pakistani occupation army and oppressed unarmed Bengali civilians of Shibganj in association with the Pakistani forces.
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 found Mahidur and Md Afsar Hossain Chutu guilty of abducting 39 villagers from Chandshikari, Chamatola, Kabirajtola and Eradot Biswasertola under Shibganj on October 6 and 7 in 1971 and killing 24 of them.
The tribunal also jailed each of them for five years as it found them guilty of arson attacks, looting and other crimes against humanity at Kabirajtola and Eradot Biswasertola on October 13, 1971.
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War Crimes Investigation in Burma
War crimes judges to hold closed talks on Rakhine crisis Frontier Myanmar May 15, 2018
War crimes judges will hold closed-door talks next month to discuss whether to allow the launch of a probe into the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.
Only chief prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda will appear before the three judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing on June 20, presiding judge Mr Peter Kovacs said in his Friday order, seen by AFP on Monday.
Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August to escape a bloody military crackdown.
The violence has left a trail of torched villages in its wake, amid allegations of murder and rape at the hands of troops and vigilantes.
In an unprecedented move last month, Bensouda asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to rule whether she can investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.
It is a legally complicated request, as Myanmar is not a signatory and member of the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC.
Bangladesh is, however, and Bensouda argued that should give her office jurisdiction to investigate the Rohingya's plight.
She likened deportation to "a cross-border shooting", arguing the crime "is not completed until the bullet [fired in one state] strikes and kills the victim [standing in another state]".
"The chamber convenes a status conference on June 20, 2018, to be held in closed session, only in the presence of the prosecutor," Kovacs ordered.
He accompanied the order with a confidential annex which he said contained issues which Bensouda must address at the June hearing.
Set up in 2002 in The Hague, the ICC acts to prosecute the worst abuses including genocide in places where national tribunals are unwilling or unable to act.
The Myanmar army has denied any allegations, saying its campaign has been a legitimate response to Rohingya militant attacks last year that killed about a dozen border guard police.
The government has voiced "serious concern" over the move at the ICC.
"Nowhere in the ICC Charter does it say that the court has jurisdiction over states which have not accepted that jurisdiction," Myanmar said in a statement.
The special court examining Bensouda's request has also asked Bangladesh to submit any written observations it may have on the case by June 11.
Update from Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) on Burma Army war crimes against Kachin IDPs Relief web May 16, 2018
Contrary to claims by Burma Army commanders that they have not targeted civilians in their recent offensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), interviews by KWAT with IDPs reveal that in April 2018 Burma Army troops committed war crimes against villagers in three townships in Kachin State: Hpakant, Danai and Injangyang. This includes: blocking IDPs from accessing refuge; using IDPs as human shields and minesweepers; indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing of civilian areas; looting and destruction of property.
Villagers rescued from Lai Nawng Khu, Hpakant township, on May 6 and 7, have given terrifying accounts of how 152 people, including 64 children, were blocked when fleeing through the jungle by Burma Army troops of LIB 424, who then used them as human shields and minesweepers. They were made to trek through the jungle single file, interspersed with Burmese troops, causing a villager in front to be injured by a land mine. After being forced to stay near a military base for four days, they were forced back to their village, where they camped in the village church for 17 days, while the troops stayed in their homes, looting their food and property, and wearing villagers' clothes to ward off KIA attacks. Before being released, the IDPs were told by the Burma Army not to stay in IDP camps.
About 2,000 civilians from in and around Awng Lawt village, Danai township, starting fleeing to the jungle on April 11, after 105 mm shells were fired indiscriminately from the Danai Regional Operations Command (20 kilometers to the west) and two jets dropped bombs on the area. Shells killed two civilians and injured an elderly farmer. As hundreds of troops of Battalions 86, 238, 318 and 101 seized the area, IDPs tried to trek to safety through the dense jungle. Several groups of IDPs have been rescued, some after a month in hiding, but about 130 – mostly elderly and disabled – remain trapped in the jungle.
In Injangyang township, where hundreds of Burma Army reinforcements from ID 33 and 88 arrived on April 24, and launched attacks on April 26, about 600 IDPs were blocked from fleeing south to Myitkyina on April 27. They were forced to take shelter in churches in Injangyang town. On May 14, community leaders were still negotiating with the Burma Army for safe passage out of the area.
KWAT urges the Burma Army to immediately stop their offensives in all ethnic areas, and stop committing war crimes against civilians, so that inclusive political dialogue can begin towards democratic federal reform.
International pressure is urgently needed to protect civilians in Burma's war zones. KWAT therefore urges foreign governments:
1. To publicly condemn the Burma Army offensives and war crimes against the ethnic peoples
2. To withhold funding for the peace process until the Burma Army stops its offensives and war crimes against the ethnic peoples
3. To stop any military to military engagement with the Burma Army
4. To suspend economic engagement with Burma until the Burmese government holds their army to account for their war crimes, and brings an end to all military offensives against the ethnic peoples
5. To provide humanitarian aid cross-border to displaced communities in the ethnic conflict zones
Details of Burma Army war crimes documented by KWAT
1. Burma Army blocked IDPs fleeing from Lai Nawng Khu village, Hpakant township, used them as human shields and minesweepers, looted property Lai Nawng Khu village is in southeast Hpakant township. Most of the villagers are farmers. The KIA used to have a base about one mile away from the village.
On April 10, 2018, the Lai Nawng Khu villagers were warned by the KIA that the Burma Army was approaching. On April 11, all the villagers fled their homes and began moving through the jungle towards Kamaing. After two nights in the jungle, on April 13, they met a Burma Army column from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 424.
The Burma Army troops searched all the villagers and took away their mobile phones. At that time there were 152 villagers, including 64 children, 11 elderly people and 3 pregnant women. The villagers were then interrogated and asked questions such as: Are there KIA soldiers with you? What is the layout of your village and how far away is the KIA post? How often did the KIA come to your village? How many KIA soldiers were posted near your village?
Five male villagers were taken apart from the group for interrogation. They were threatened with knives, beaten in the back and slapped.
The troops then forced the villagers to walk with them through the jungle, single file, interspersed with the soldiers, and with villagers leading in front. The troops used a drone to monitor security as they walked.
They walked for several miles, until it started to rain. The troops then stopped the group, and ordered the villagers to cut bamboo, fetch water, and prepare food for everyone. They were also ordered to start preparing shelters, but then suddenly, they were ordered to start moving again.
That night at about 7 pm, one of the villagers forced to walk ahead of the group, a villager called Po Shan, was injured by a land mine. Villagers saw him being carried away, suspended in a blanket on a pole. It is not known if he survived.
After walking the whole night, they reached a place where there were vehicles. They were ordered to get into trucks and cars, and then were driven to some fields near Chaung Wa village. They arrived there at about 5 am on April 14.
In the fields, the villagers were separated into two groups: men in one group, and women and children in another group. This caused great fear among each group, worrying what would happen to the other group. At that time, the villagers were being guarded by Burma Army troops from Battalions 424 and 225, and a local government militia.
Some of the village leaders were taken to meet with Burma Army officers in a military camp about half a kilometer away. The Battalion 424 deputy commander told them they were not allowed to become IDPs, and must not stay in an IDP camp. They were told they must return to their village, which had been "cleaned".
The villagers slept four nights in the field, and then were forced to return back to their village, even though they did not want to go there.
At 2 pm on April 18, the Burma Army brought trucks to the field, and the villagers were ordered into three trucks. The trucks carrying civilians drove between three other trucks carrying Burma Army troops. The trucks drove them to near a government militia camp, and then they were made to start walking. That night they stopped at a farm, cooked dinner and slept there. At 8 am they started walking again for about two miles towards their village. The villagers were made to walk in front, and about 30 Burma Army troops walked behind them. They used a drone to monitor security the whole time.
On April 19, when the villagers arrived back at Lai Nawng Khu, they found about 50 soldiers of LIB 424 already based there. They saw "hka-ma-ya (LIB) 424" spray painted around the village, including on the church signboard.
When they arrived, the Burma Army troops gave water and packs of food to the villagers at the entrance of the village, and took photos of this. In fact, the rice in the packs was not cooked properly and was inedible.
The soldiers told the villagers they would not harm them, but they were too afraid to stay in their own houses, and decided to stay together in the village church. The Burma Army troops stayed in the villagers' houses. They looted the villagers' rice and livestock to eat for themselves. Some also wore the villagers' clothes instead of their uniforms. Villagers saw that they also placed KIA uniforms in each of the houses.
One day, one of the young male villagers was called out of the church and forced to put on a KIA uniform. He was taken into the forest and his photo taken in the uniform. Then he was allowed to return to the church.
On May 6, some government officials came and took 20 of the villagers to Kamaing.
On May 7, they came and took most of the remaining villagers to Kamaing. Only two families decided to stay in Lai Nawng Khu. 2. Indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing by Burma Army of Awng Lawt village, Danai township
Awng Lawt is located about 20 kilometers east of the Danai town, upstream along the Danai river. There are about 400 houses in Awng Lawt. Local villagers mostly work as farmers, traders or gold miners. The KIA's Brigade 2 headquarters was situated about half a mile east of Awng Lawt.
On April 11, at about 1 pm, the Burma Army Regional Operations Command in Danai began firing 105 mm mortar shells towards Awng Lawt, and two aircraft flew over Awng Lawt, dropping bombs. A villager called Kayin La was killed by a shell that landed in a stream near the village. A farmer called Npawp Yaw Han trying to round up his cows in nearby fields after the bombing, went back to Awng Lawt to fetch his 21-year-old son to help him. However, at about 3 pm, the Burma Army fired mortar shells again from Danai. A shell exploded as he and his son were bringing their cows close to the village. His son, Npawp Naw Ring, was killed instantly, and he was injured in the leg.
Villagers from Awng Lawt fled to take shelter outside the village. Meanwhile, Burma Army troops had started ground attacks at nearby villages of Sut Ra and Sut Ring, so villagers fled east to Awng Lawt. Some Burma Army troops in civilian clothes were already in place in Sut Ra, pretending to be oil sellers, and joined the attacks against the KIA.
Villagers from Sut Ra and Sut Ring spent the night in the Kachin Baptist Convention compound in Awng Lawt, and the next morning joined other civilians hiding outside Awng Lawt.
Hundreds of IDPs slowly tried to escape to safety through the jungle. During that time two pregnant women gave birth. On April 30, the IDPs separated into three groups. About 300 able-bodied IDPs took a route south along Maji mountain. The remaining 260 villagers, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, and elderly, who could not manage this difficult mountainous route, took the route along the Hkamau stream and the Dabi stream, trying to reach Danai town. About 80 villagers, including disabled, very elderly, newborn babies and their carers, stayed behind, some of them planning to slowly catch up with the others.
The group of 300 IDPs reached near Dum Bang village on May 8, from where they were taken to Myitkyina. The group of 260 IDPs reached Danai town on May 9, where most of them took shelter in a church compound. Contact has been lost with the 80 IDPs who stayed behind, as well as about 50 IDPs from Maji Bum village who fled Burma Army attacks on May 10, and there are grave concerns for their safety.
3. Burma Army blocked IDPs from fleeing in Injangyang township
On April 24, 2018, villagers saw hundreds of Burma Army troops (from Infantry Divisions 33 and 88) arriving in 16 army trucks from Myitkyina through the 16 Mile checkpoint at Zup Mai Yang, Injangyang township. Therefore, on April 25, hundreds of civilians from villages in Injangyang started fleeing towards Myitkyina. On April 26, the Burma Army launched attacks against a KIA base about two miles from Injangyang town.
On April 27, Burma Army troops from IB 21 started blocking villagers from fleeing through the 16 Mile checkpoint, and ordered them to return back home. The villagers therefore returned to Injangyang town and took shelter in the Roman Catholic and Baptist church compounds there. On May 13, there were still 617 villagers trapped there, including 297 women and girls. Community leaders have been trying to negotiate with the Burma Army to get permission to go and rescue them.
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Israel and Palestine
UN rights chief: Israel's Gaza response 'wholly disproportionate' Aljazeera May 18, 2018
The UN human rights chief has slammed Israel's deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as "wholly disproportionate" and backed calls for an international investigation.
Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said there was "little evidence" Israel made an effort to minimise casualties during mass border protests by Palestinians on Monday.
He said Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30. More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition.
Israel was an occupying power and under international law, it was obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said.
But instead, Gaza residents "are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest", he said.
"Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," he added. "End the occupation, and the violence and insecurity will largely disappear."
He pointed out that while at least 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests on Monday, "on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone".
Many of the Palestinians injured and killed "were completely unarmed" and "were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition," he said.
Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire- cutters on border fences, but "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force," Zeid added.
"The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is ... suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response," he told the council.
The killings resulting from "the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute a grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions, he added.
Such violations are commonly called "war crimes", although Zeid did not explicitly use that word.
Right of return protests
The special session comes after six weeks of mass protests along the Gaza border with Palestinian refugees demanding the right to return to their homes inside what is now Israel.
The protests on Monday, organised by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, were part of Nakba or "Catastrophe", the day Palestinians commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes by Israeli forces.
Israel has defended the killing of protesters, saying it was acting in self-defence to protect its borders and communities. Both Israel and the United States said Hamas, which rules Gaza, instigated the violence, an allegation the group denies.
In Friday's session in Geneva, the Human Rights Council will consider a resolution put forward by Pakistan and other Muslim countries that includes a call for the council to dispatch an "independent, international commission of inquiry" - UN's highest- level of investigation.
The draft resolution said the investigators should look into "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law ... in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March, 2018".
It said the aim should be to "establish the facts and circumstances" around "alleged violations and abuses including those that may amount to war crimes and to identify those responsible".
Zeid said he supported the call for "an investigation that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice".
Israeli ambassador Aviva Raz Schechter said Friday's session and the call for a commission of inquiry "are yet again politically motivated and won't improve the situation on the ground by even one iota".
China, France, Brazil, Sweden, and Switzerland were among the 51 countries who supported the special session.
UN votes to send war crimes investigators to Gaza Aljazeera May 18, 2018 The United Nations' top human rights body has voted to send a team of international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces.
A resolution calling on the UN Human Rights Council to"urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry" was backed on Friday by 29 members.
Two members - the United States and Australia - voted against and 14 abstained.
Investigators must"investigate all alleged violations and abuses ... in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018", the approved resolution said.
The commission of inquiry will be asked to produce a final report next March.
Earlier on Friday, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN human rights chief, had backed calls for an international probe.
He heavily criticised Israel's response to the weeks-long mass protests in the Gaza Strip as "wholly disproportionate".
Israel is an occupying power, and under international law, it is obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. But instead, Gaza residents have been "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death", added Zeid.
At least 62 Palestinians were killed, and thousands wounded in a single day of protests on Monday, but al-Hussein pointed out that "on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone".
"There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday," said Zeid.
Since protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children. More than 12,000 have been wounded, at least 3,500 by live ammunition.
Speaking to the session via a video recording, Michael Lynk, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, said Israel's use of force may amount to"a war crime".
Both Israel and the US rejected the council's resolution, saying Hamas, which rules Gaza, instigated the violence - an allegation the group denies.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said Palestinians"do not believe they can rely on the US to put any pressure on Israel, so they are turning to international institutions for help.
"They hope an investigation or a fact-finding mission will expose Israel's tactics in Gaza to more international scrutiny," he added.
Israel has defended the killing of protesters, saying it was acting in self-defense to protect its borders and communities. In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the council was "dominated by hypocrisy and absurdity".
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters in the Gaza Strip continued rallying near the fence with Israel on Friday.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from the protest site, said the atmosphere there was calmer than in recent weeks.
"Protesters burned tyres, some of them tried to hurl stones, but we haven't seen the tensions we have seen in the past few weeks," she said."We've seen a little bit of tear gas, but there hasn't been any gunfire".
Some two million people live in the Gaza Strip, a coastal territory that shares borders with Egypt and Israel.
Both countries maintain a blockade of Gaza for security reasons, a move the UN said has caused the territory's economy to collapse.
On Thursday, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he had ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing for the holy month of Ramadan"to ensure the easing of the burdens on the brothers in the Gaza Strip".
Palestinians Ask ICC to Investigate Alleged Crimes by Israel US News By Mike Corder May 22, 2018
Accusing Israel of systematic crimes, including apartheid in the occupied territories, Palestinians on Tuesday urged the International Criminal Court to open an investigation that could ultimately lead to charges against Israeli leaders.
Israel immediately slammed the Palestinian move as "legally invalid."
The referral seeks an investigation into Israeli policies in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since Palestine accepted the ICC's jurisdiction in 2014, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told reporters in The Hague.
This includes Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. Israel and Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group fought a 50-day war in 2014, and in recent weeks, Israeli fire has killed over 100 Palestinians during mass protests along the Gaza border since March.
By ratcheting up tensions with Israel, the referral to the ICC would seem to further diminish prospects of success for an expected U.S. peace plan. U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump is to unveil the plan in the coming weeks.
The last round of peace talks broke down four years ago without any visible process, and mistrust between Israel and the Palestinians is running high.
The Palestinians have repeatedly accused the U.S. of siding with Israel, especially after the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December, followed by last week's embassy move. The Palestinians, who claim east Jerusalem as their capital, have severed most ties with the Americans and said the White House is unfit to serve as a mediator.
Still, Malki insisted that going to the ICC could become a building block for peace.
"Justice is the cornerstone of peace," he said. "As such we view this step as advancing the prospects of peace."
The United States disagreed.
"We have made clear that we oppose actions against Israel at the ICC as counterproductive to the cause of peace," said Edgar Vasquez, spokesman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
The State Department declined to say whether the move would trigger a closure of the PLO office in Washington under a provision in U.S. law that requires it to be closed if the Palestinians seek prosecution of Israelis at the ICC.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, argues that the court does not have jurisdiction.
"The purported Palestinian referral is legally invalid and the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Israeli-Palestinian issue, since Israel is not a member of the court and because the Palestinian Authority is not a state," an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said.
In 2012, Palestine won upgraded status to a nonmember observer state at the U.N., which allows membership in many world bodies, including the ICC.
Although Israel is not an ICC member, its citizens can be charged by the court if they are suspected of committing grave crimes on the territory or against a national of a country that is a member. The ICC has recognized "Palestine" as a member.
The ICC is a court of last resort — authorized to take on cases where national authorities cannot or will not launch prosecutions.
Israel said it expects the ICC and its prosecutor "not to yield to Palestinian pressure, and stand firm against continued Palestinian efforts to politicize the court and to derail it from its mandate."
It also hinted at retaliation.
"The Palestinian Authority needs our cooperation in many fields," said Michael Oren, Israel's deputy minister for diplomacy. "Israel will look very critically at whether such cooperation can continue."
The ICC has been conducting a preliminary inquiry since 2015 in the Palestinian territories, including Israel's settlement policy and crimes allegedly committed by both sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict. Tuesday's referral could speed up a decision on whether to open a full-blown investigation that could ultimately lead to the indictment of high-ranking Israelis. The investigation is also looking at Hamas rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilian population centers.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that the preliminary probe "has seen important progress and will continue to follow its normal course." She said she must consider "issues of jurisdiction, admissibility and the interests of justice."
In a summary of its referral, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry alleged that Israel maintains and protects its settlements "by committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people."
Apartheid was the name given to the racist policies of South Africa's former white rulers. It is considered a crime against humanity by the ICC and defined by the court as inhumane acts "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime."
Palestinian Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs Ammar Hijazi said the recent Gaza violence pushed the Palestinians into going to the court, adding that it "requires that we take action and this is why we moved in this regard."
Human rights groups say Israel's open-fire orders are unlawful because they allow the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters at times when soldiers face no imminent threat to their lives.
Israel has said it was defending its border and accused Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group of using the unrest to carry out attempted attacks and of using civilians as human shields. Israel also has blamed Hamas for the heavy civilian death toll during the 2014 war.
Israel says it has investigated actions by its forces in the Gaza conflict and has opened a number of investigations into the latest Gaza violence as well. But critics say the probes rarely lead anywhere.
"Israel acts in accordance with independent and thorough judicial review mechanisms, befitting a democratic state, and in accordance with international law," the Israeli statement said.
While the ICC can indict suspects, it has no police force and has to rely on cooperation from member states to enforce arrest warrants.
Israel says the criticism of its settlements is unfounded. It says east Jerusalem is an inseparable part of its capital, and considers the West Bank to be disputed territory whose fate should be decided in negotiations. The international community, however, overwhelmingly considers the settlements illegal.
In 2004, the U.N.'s highest judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, ruled in an advisory opinion that the settlements breached international law. In late 2016, the U.N. Security Council also declared the settlements to be illegal.
Over 600,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories sought by the Palestinians as parts of a future state. Israel captured both territories from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.
Under international law, it is illegal to transfer populations out of or into occupied territory.
Malki said it was time for the Palestinians to seek redress in court.
"We will not allow injustice to be Palestine's destiny," he said.
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AMERICAS
North & Central America
Mexican Drug Cartels, Officials Collude in 'Crimes Against Humanity' The Crime Report May 15, 2018 Government and police officials in the Mexican state of Coahuila, on the U.S. border, have colluded in massacres by narco-cartels that constitute "crimes against humanity," according to a new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative.
The report singled out two separate examples between 2009 and 2012—the killing of approximately 300 men, women and children in the northern municipality of Allende and nearby towns, and the disappearance, torture and murder of 150 individuals inside a prison that served as de facto headquarters for the Zeta drug cartel—to underline what it called the "systemic" problems of drug corruption, violence and official impunity in Mexico.
"These (two examples) bear the hallmarks of crimes against humanity, given the scale and systematic nature with which they were carried out," said the report, which called for the establishment of an independent international body to investigate the "corrupt networks between public officials and organized crime" across Mexico.
"Such international participation and support will be essential to combatting the political obstruction and partisan interests that currently impede Mexico's troubled justice system."
Published just ahead of the July 1 federal elections in Mexico, the report charges that the outgoing government of President Enrique Peña Nieto has presided over a "worsening" climate of murder and corruption. The 2017 toll of 25,000 homicides represents the deadliest single year since drug-fueled violence engulfed the country in 2006, according to the report.
The killings have continued despite Peña Nieto's pledge to control Mexico's escalating violence, the report said, noting that "his administration has maintained the same militarized approach (as his predecessors) to a deadly and ill-conceived 'war on drugs,' while continuing to target cartel kingpins."
The report's findings underline the fear and anger that currently fuels growing public support for presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who has been characterized as Mexico's "answer" to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Open Society report, based on research and interviews with victims and officials with the support of a number of Mexican human rights organizations, said the evidence suggested that police and government officials at senior levels were involved in the planning and cover-up of the incidents in Coahuila, as well as similar "atrocities" elsewhere in Mexico—including the torture and murder of journalists and human rights workers.
A similar study published last month in Spanish by the United Nations Subcommittee to Prevent Torture found "corruption and collusion between criminal groups and penal authorities and personnel" and concluded that "impunity in cases of torture is the rule" in Mexico's prisons.
The authors of the Open Society study, which followed an earlier report on Mexico's drug violence three years earlier, singled out systemic corruption as the driving force behind the two incidents in Coahuila, which they said illustrate the transformation of a largely rural state with a population of less than three million that occupies a 318-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border into a "narco state" over the past decade.
During a three-day period in 2011, some 300 individuals were murdered in apparent revenge killings throughout northern Coahuila by assassins from the Zeta cartel. Local officials, including the mayor and police commander, were informed in advance "to ensure they would not intervene," the report said.
Between 2009-2012, the CERESO Piedras Negras prison, just across the border from Eagle Pass, Tx., was used by the Zeta leadership as "an extermination camp and a base of operations to extend its reign of terror" in Coahuila, with the apparent knowledge and involvement of local authorities, according to the report.
"Further investigation is required to answer the questions [raised by the incidents], and to expose the formal (and informal) networks that appear to exist between Coahuila's political and economic elite and organized crime," the report said.
"Indeed, despite numerous cases of embezzlement and money laundering involving public servants in Coahuila's last three administrations, little has been done to investigate and prosecute such corruption."
The two incidents were only the most egregious examples of the "complicity" of officials in all areas of the country with human rights abuses committed by powerful cartels, added the report.
"[There are] increasing signs that corruption, and the violent crime it enables, are widespread across a number of states in Mexico—from Veracruz to Tamaulipas, from Guerrero to Chihuahua," said the report.
"Indeed, there are compelling reasons to believe that the complicity of corrupt public officials in cartel-led atrocity crimes may be a widespread, recurrent pattern."
The report also comes as concern is rising about stepped-up cross-border heroin trafficking by Mexican cartels in the wake of the U.S. opioid crisis.
Although the U.S. is not mentioned, the researchers' implicit condemnation of the failure of Mexico's ruling party—the Partido Revolucionario Institucional—to reign in the corruption of military, police and political officials, indirectly raises questions about Washington's long-standing financial support and military aid to the Mexican government's war on drugs.
The report said an "international investigative mechanism" was needed to establish accountability for the corruption and violence prevailing during the drug war.
The investigative body should be based inside Mexico and composed of national and international staff with a "mandate to independently investigate and, when necessary, prosecute atrocity crimes and the corruptive acts that enable them," said the report, produced in collaboration with eight Mexican civil society and church groups.
"This body would also complement and support credible domestic criminal proceedings at both the state and federal level."
Guatemala sentences four military officers for civil war crimes Reuters By Sofia Menchu May 23, 2018
Guatemala's high court on Wednesday handed decades-long prison sentences to four former high-ranking military officers convicted of rape and forced disappearances during the country's bloody civil war that has yielded few criminal convictions.
General Manuel Benedicto Lucas Garcia, brother of the late Guatemalan president, Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia, and once head of the army's general staff, was sentenced to 58 years.
General Manuel Antonio Callejas and Major Hugo Ramiro Zaldaña received the same sentences, while Colonel Francisco Luis Gordillo was ordered to serve 33 years. A fifth official was acquitted.
About 200,000 people were killed during the 1960-1996 conflict between leftists and the government. About 45,000 are thought to have been forcibly made to disappear.
Relatively few people have been tried for the crimes and human rights violations. A United Nations-backed commission has said the army committed the majority of the atrocities.
In the case against Lucas Garcia and the three other officials, witnesses said the group participated in the 1981 torture and rape of 19-year-old Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen, who had been detained at a roadblock with political propaganda.
She escaped from a military zone days later. Army members dressed as civilians then went looking for Molina at her home, but found only her 14-year-old brother, Marco Antonio Molina Theissen, witnesses said.
He was never seen again.
Guatemala recognized its responsibility to investigate the disappearance in 2004 before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which ordered a search for the missing boy and for the offenders to be identified and punished.
The country had its first conviction for forced civil war disappearances in 2009, sentencing a former military commissioner to 150 years in prison.
In 2013, genocide and human rights convictions against former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled from 1982 to 1983, were overturned by Guatemala's top court.
He died in April while again on trial for the same crimes, although he maintained his innocence.
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The Life and Crimes of Daniel Ortega The Epochtimes By Fergus Hodgson May 18, 2018
Nicaragua has again appeared in international news after the nation's authoritarian government killed at least 47 protesters in April. Protests continue, but news coverage forgets that violence and illegality are standard procedure for the regime leader Daniel Ortega and his socialist clique.
The rise of Ortega, from Marxist guerrilla to Nicaraguan president, is a warning for nations grappling with their own terrorists, such as Chile and Colombia. It shows how the vulnerabilities of democracy and why we should limit state power.
The Rise of Ortega
Ortega's political ambitions began with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), where he became a terrorist leader determined to overthrow then-President Anastasio Somoza. The young guerrilla's first FSLN crime was bank robbery, but that was nothing compared to what was to come.
The FSLN guerrillas were united less by ideology than by their hunger for power, hunger that continues in the rebranded political party. The purported hero of the Sandinistas, Augusto Sandino, was a conflicted, dishonest man, a wannabe liberator who followed the Marxist-Leninist dictum that the ends justify the means.
Ortega and his comrades continued with that mentality, and they didn't let the will of Nicaraguans impede their pursuit of power. In fact, Ortega got his prison release as part of a ransom deal and then received guerrilla training in Cuba. The FSLN also took the entire Nicaraguan Congress hostage for a second ransom shakedown.
Although Somoza's tenure was to end at the scheduled 1980 election—which never occurred—the FSLN recruited combatants and overthrew the Nicaraguan government in July 1979. They wanted a Fidel Castro-style dictatorship, with Ortega at the helm, and they received funding and tactical support from the Cuban and Soviet communists. U.S. President Jimmy Carter also blocked trade and weapons shipments to the legitimate government, leaving Somoza strapped for cash and defenseless.
The unnecessary war from the FSLN brought the deaths of tens of thousands of people, not to mention crippling poverty from the conflict and communist policies of land confiscation and central planning. More than a million Nicaraguans fled the Central American nation, whose population is now around 6 million.
Ortega in Power
Unfortunately, the murders didn't come to an end when Ortega took power. Not only did he trample on civil liberties, but he also funded guerrilla activity in El Salvador and crushed dissent from the Miskito people of the Caribbean Coast. The Miskitos rejected forced relocation and centralized control in Managua, but a brutal military campaign in the early 1980s—including the bombing of villages—saw thousands become refugees in Honduras.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that Ortega managed to return to power in 2007, after being ousted in 1990. Older and shrewder, he rigged the 2006 election with money funneled from his socialist ally, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The two ran a money laundering alliance, explains Wilber López, national treasurer for the new Citizens for Liberty political party.
Running on the platform of 21st-century socialism, the Ortega spent more than double his nearest competitor on the campaign, and that is just what he reported. He received 38 percent of the vote, which previously would not have qualified for victory but he managed to snatch the office nonetheless He then leveraged his position to remove term limits on the presidency and boot out 16 opponents in the National Assembly.
With overwhelming control of the courts, electoral system, and economy, few can compete with Ortega to unseat him, regardless of whether he is popular or not. Even self-proclaimed Sandinistas oppose him—hence the breakaway Sandinista Renovation Movement—but those who stand in his way face swift and deadly retribution, as protesters have recently learned.
Ortega has built a 21st-century dictatorship and police state with absolute control and "conditional democracy," explains López. Calling out the farce, many of the opposition candidates that still had legal standing boycotted the 2016 election. Classical Cronyism
The Sandinista regime of Ortega is looking more and more like a family dynasty, much worse than the Somoza family he overthrew. His wife, the first lady, has been the Nicaraguan vice president since 2017, after being a national spokesman, congresswoman, and culture minister.
Adonis Sequeira, a Managua-based board member of the EsLibertad classical-liberal activist network, explains that the Ortega family have built a mercantilist club to garner political patronage—also known as clientelism. They dish out precious government contracts to cronies, with financial aid from Bolivarian Alliance members such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
This model, Sequeira says, is not new; Nicaragua already had centralized business operations vulnerable to corruption. Regular businesses "simply keep their distance from politics and have decided not to confront Ortega directly, to maintain open dialogue and approval for the laws that apply to their sectors."
One family member, however, gets excluded from the spoils. Zoilamérica Narváez Murillo is Ortega's stepdaughter who revealed his sexual abuse against her, which began when she was 11 years old. Although still calling herself a Sandinista, Narváez has been ostracized by her vice-president mother and has joined the defectors who denounce impunity and concentrated power.
At this moment, to quell widespread protests, Ortega has accepted a dialogue process. The prognosis is poor, if we go by the Venezuela outcome, and recent events confirm that Ortega will do whatever it takes to remain in power, including bringing in Russian support. Sequeira believes, for example, that the true number of protest deaths is around 70 since many people have disappeared.
Regardless, he and fellow young activists want a peaceful solution. They hope the dialogue can garner an end to the politically motivated murders and some space for reclaiming institutional powers and the rule of law. That could open the door for Ortega's departure, constitutional limits on the presidency, and decentralization of the judicial branch.
Sequeira's uphill quest underlines the importance of avoiding these quagmires, to begin with. A leopard doesn't change his spots, and Ortega remains a brutal Marxist terrorist down to the bone. He gets what he wants by force, and he leans on other tyrants for support.
Hezbollah Said to Be Laundering Money in South American Tri-Border Region Wall Street Journal By Ian Talley May 15, 2018
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia designated as a terror group by the U.S., is tapping a money-laundering ministate in Latin America that poses an escalating risk to U.S. national security, according to a report published Tuesday.
The illicit activities in the so-called tri-border region linking Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay have long been a source of concern for U.S. security officials: After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it became a surveillance target as a haven for terrorists in the Western Hemisphere. But now Venezuela's political crisis and Argentina's inflation, together with entrenched corruption and lax law enforcement, are helping fuel an illicit economy estimated to be worth $43 billion a year, far surpassing Paraguay's entire gross domestic product, according to the report. The report was prepared by political risk consultancy Asymmetrica, funded and jointly published by the Washington-based nonprofit Counter Extremism Project. The ease of laundering ill-gotten proceeds and the economy of black market cigarettes, narco-trafficking, human trafficking and illegal arms sales have attracted criminal organizations from around the globe.
"It has become an epicenter, or a shopping mall, of all the illicit goods and money you need to fund your operations," said Stuart Page, one of the authors of the new report.
"If you're wanting to do something on U.S. soil, you'd get the materiel there," said Mr. Page, a former senior Australian security official. "You can buy whatever you like, you can find whatever you like, and it's on the verge of U.S. shores."
After a free-trade zone was established in the region in 1970, regional drug cartels took advantage of corrupt government officials and weak border security to move their goods and launder cash around the region, say security experts. Over the years, the tri-border area effectively institutionalized corruption, those experts say.
The money going to Hezbollah from the illegal Lebanese networks is of particular concern to U.S. authorities, especially as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran and its proxies. The group is a political and military force in Lebanon, playing a major role in the Syrian civil war supporting President Bashar al-Assad alongside Russia and Iran.
Argentina's high inflation rate is helping drive illicit activities, the report's authors said, as criminal networks sell their illegal goods and services for a higher value across their border. And as other countries such as Panama increasingly work with the U.S. to sever ties with Venezuela, the tri-border region has attracted illegal trade of goods, people and cash from Venezuela, whose government is accused by the U.S. of facilitating narco-trafficking.
Vanessa Neumann, a co-author of the report, said the region is growing to be one the easiest hubs to launder funds in the world, a place where armored trucks trundle down the streets of Brazil's Foz do Iguaçu and Paraguay's Ciudad del Este carrying loads of cash, but where banks that offer credit are scarce.
"It is well on its way to becoming an economically independent and fully criminalized substate," said Ms. Neumann, a former member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade.
Drug cartels from Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, as well as organized crime groups from China, in conjunction with a large Lebanese merchant community, all operate in the area. So do mafias from Korea, Hong Kong and Russia, said Asymmetrica, which led an observation team to the area for its research.
Large numbers of Lebanese immigrants arrived in the region after the Arab-Israeli wars in the 1950s and again in the 1980s after the Lebanese Civil War. Even though only a small portion of the population is thought to be directly supporting Hezbollah, the criminal networks that have been uncovered over the years represent a significant risk to U.S. interests.
According to Argentine prosecutors, Lebanese individuals in the tri-border region provided support for the bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in the 1990s that killed scores of people. More recently, many of the individuals sanctioned by the U.S. for financing Hezbollah from the region are still operating there, according to U.S.- based analysts and recent court cases.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice set up a task force of prosecutors with expertise in cases that involve drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering to target Hezbollah's financing operations. Analysts expect the illicit operations out of the region to catch the task force's attention.
Federal governments in the region have acknowledged there is a problem but over the years have been unable to curb the illicit activities there.
Paraguay's government is now working with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Brazilian federal law enforcement to cut money laundering in the region. Likewise, Argentina's new government agreed to host more DEA agents in the region.
But the report's authors said the extent of the problem requires a much more comprehensive solution, including stronger involvement of the standard-setting body, the Financial Action Task Force, and leveraging the power of the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF, for example, could require Argentina to bolster its anti-money-laundering and anti-corruption oversight as fundamental conditions for the bailout loans Buenos Aires is seeking from the emergency lender.
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TOPICS
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Gambia: Truth Commission Will Partner With Tango allAfrica By Kebba Af Touray May 16, 2018 The Executive Secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow said the Commission will be partnering with TANGO and engage the CSOs and the entire Community through dialogue and discussions on how best to prevent the reoccurrence of dictatorship in the country, disclosing that the process requires an all-inclusive participation of the entire populace in holding them accountable.
He made these remarks on Tuesday, 15th May 2018 during the 15th policy dialogue on Civil Society Engagement with the TRRC at the TANGO Hall.
He explained that they have embarked on series with the citizens and communities to make their mission of "NEVER AGAIN" a success.
Speaking at the opening Mr. Madi Jobarteh, Program Manager of TANGO said, when injustices occur and there is no process to enable that society to address past injustices and grievances, the tendency for such situation to arise in future is high, as such the Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission(TRRC) is meant to push the transitional justice agenda. He pointed out that as CSOs they have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that justice is not only played, but restoration and rehabilitation of rights of victims of human right violations to serve with justice.
Mr. Ousman Yabo, Executive Director of TANGO said, the event marks the 15th policy dialogue organized by TANGO, with a view to holding dialogue, opinion sharing and obtaining the views of the people, which he said is of paramount importance to the success of TRRC, the outcome of which headed will affect everybody in the country, indicating that for the past 22 years, every citizen is affected directly or indirectly. While acknowledging the instrumental roles of CSOs towards the success of the TRRC, he tasked the TRRC to do its utmost in ensuring that its activities are transparent, without which, he disclosed, the objective of the Commission would prove fruitless.
Mr. Sheriff Kijera of the Victim's Center, cited that there should be a separate measure to deal with truth and reconciliation in order to achieve the goals of the transitional justice program and that the TRRC should capacitate the people in monitoring, documentation and analysis during statement taking of the victims to avert re-traumatizing the victims, coupled with grassroots sensitization and participation on human rights violations.
He called on the government to take ownership of the Victim Center and fund its activities without having to rely on foreign aid alone. He added that the government relies on the taxpayer's money, which he said must be judiciously utilized to educate, develop and create jobs for the citizenry. He added that Victims have been neglected for a long time and that victims brought about the change of government, adding that every citizen is a victim of the dictatorial regime of former government.
At the end of the dialogue, the following recommendations were made towards the success of the TRRC; Civil society needs to be more organized and develop the necessary strategies and plans to work in concert in order to effectively address the pertinent issues affecting the Gambian society including playing its rightful role in the transitional justice process; To advocate for the Gambia Government to take leadership and responsibility to allocate necessary resources to the TRRC despite external support; To promote inclusiveness and popular engagement in order to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the transitional justice process and in particular in the work of the TRRC; To raise the awareness of the general public to better understand the nature, scope and objectives of transitional justice in order to obtain active popular participation; To utilize active media components in providing information to the general public including the use of traditional communicators as means to popularise the TRRC and transitional justice; To create a civil society platform as a common ground to advocate and engage with the TRRC; To mobilize all other sectors of the civil society, academia and private sector to serve as means to address the needs of victims and other affected sectors; To embark on capacity building of all stakeholders to ensure their effective participation and efficiency in their engagement with TRRC; The TRRC must have an exit strategy to enable the sustainability of the gains including the enforcement of the recommendations of the TRRC and the continued and active participation of stakeholders; To create a follow up mechanism to ensure the development of civil society strategies and the monitoring of the implementation of the resolutions of the policy dialogue.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has still not resulted in restorative justice Daily Maverick By Yasmin Sooka May 18, 2018
South Africa's response to the death of its iconic Mother of the Nation, Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, powerfully underscored the national imperative to complete the path of restorative justice left hanging – like the Cape Town inner city freeway – after publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report. By failing to follow through on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), including conducting investigations that would hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable through prosecutions, and exonerate those who had been falsely accused, the State left a wide-open space for anyone with an opinion and social media account – aided and abetted by the false whisperings of agents of the apartheid state and informers – to manipulate our shared history.
The poisoned fruit of this national failure was recently on display in the bitter and divisive squabbles generated by Pascale Lamche's film, Winnie.
Lamche graphically revealed Winnie's untold story as well as the unresolved pain in the Madikizela-Mandela family caused by the brutality of the apartheid regime. South Africans needed to know this story, which, quite frankly, the Truth Commission did not tell.
Lamche profited from South Africa's unsettled history. Shockingly, her story-telling approach relied on the narrative of discredited former agents of the apartheid state, and was stripped of context and dissenting opinions, casting serious doubt on Nelson Mandela's integrity – and that of South Africa's negotiated settlement. As Dumisa Ntsebeza, a former commissioner, noted, it was the classic strategy of Stratcom – divide and rule.
It is not only the families of victims of atrocities perpetrated in the past who require truth and closure. The nation, itself, is entitled to the truth about the past, and needs closure. This closure will not happen without social and economic justice, or criminal accountability to accompany the universal franchise we attained 24 years ago. To simply ignore some of the most grievous crimes of the past is incongruent with any approach to justice.
Two years ago, the Foundation for Human Rights established a small multi-disciplinary team to support the families of Ahmed Timol (who died in police custody in 1971) and Nokuthula Simelane (who disappeared in 1983 after being arrested by police) in their quest for justice. Nobody applied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty in respect of the Timol matter, and while five policemen were granted amnesty for abducting Simelane, they claimed to have released her – and none applied for amnesty for murder.
The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was envisaged as the beginning of a complex process balancing the objectives of exposing the truth, fostering national reconciliation and granting amnesty. It was not a Truth-At- All-Costs commission. Not everyone who applied for amnesty was guaranteed that they'd receive it; they had to comply with a set of conditions that included proving political objective, demonstrating that the crime was commensurate with the objectives sought, and revealing the unabridged truth. Many perpetrators did not apply for amnesty at all, perhaps in the belief that their participation in crimes would never be revealed.
Granting amnesty was the commission's carrot, and the subsequent prosecution of those who failed to apply or be granted amnesty was its stick. But wielding the stick depended on the National Prosecution Authority, which for the past 20 years has demonstrated a singular aversion to tackling any of these matters.
In 2017, 21 years after an elderly Mrs Hawa Timol begged the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to persuade prosecutorial authorities to re-investigate her son's death, the State re-opened and overturned the apartheid magistrate's finding that Ahmed Timol committed suicide, replacing it with a finding of murder at the hands of police. The reason the State re-opened the case was largely the detective work and insistence of Timol's nephew, Mr Justice Billy Mothle said in his judgment.
Six months later, we continue to await word from the NPA on the prosecution of former security policemen recommended by Judge Mothle.
Nokuthula Simelane's family is waiting, too. Four former policemen were charged with murder early in 2016, but the case has subsequently been delayed. Among the causes for the delays has been disagreement over who should pay for the legal defence of the accused.
Last week, 96-year-old Philip Mabelane passed away without succeeding in overturning the apartheid State's inquest finding that his son Matthews' death in detention was "accidental". Matthews was a student activist of the Soweto 1976 generation. He was arrested on 27 January 1977 under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, interrogated at John Vorster Square, the Johannesburg headquarters of the Security Branch, and died on 15 February 1977 after a fall from the 10th floor. Police claimed he climbed out of a 10th floor window onto a ledge while being questioned. It was the same building, and 10th floor, from which Timol fell to his death.
The Mabelane, Simelane and Timol families are by no means the only ones whose patience is running thin. Publicity of their cases has led a number of other families, frustrated by the NPA's intransigence, to approach the Foundation for Human Rights' team to support their quests for justice. They include a clutch of well-known cases ventilated inter alia at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – perpetrated by identified individuals. The only thing holding these cases – and the historical truth – at bay is a lack of political and/or prosecutorial will.
What does it say about our progress as a nation that while the NPA is stridently held to account over its willingness to prosecute former president Jacob Zuma for corruption, zero pressure is applied to prosecute known perpetrators of the most heinous apartheid-era crimes. Who makes these decisions?
According to Vusi Pikoli, the former National Director of Prosecutions, the decisions are those of "powerful elements within government" who fear that the NPA would target senior ANC officials for crimes committed before 1994.
In a 2015 affidavit tabled in the North Gauteng High Court relating to the Simelane case – one of 300 cases the TRC asked the NPA to investigate – Pikoli stated:
"I confirm that there was political interference that effectively barred or delayed the investigation and possible prosecution of the cases recommended for prosecution by the TRC, including the kidnapping, assault and murder of Nokuthula Aurelia Simelane."
In the void of accountability the counter-revolution flourishes. The peaceful settlement was a sell-out devoid of justice, some argue. Reconciliation merely provided cover for those who profited from apartheid to launder their consciences and cling on to their ill-gotten gains. As long as the NPA does not do its work and hold some of the worst of apartheid's criminals to account, our nation will be riven by those who divide us by untruths. And the Kallie Kriels of the world can argue that apartheid was not a crime against humanity.
"Beware when fighting monsters that you yourself do not become a monster," 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said.
"If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss also gazes through you."
It is time for South African prosecutors to grasp the nettle, however poisonous it may be, and demonstrate that South Africa's political settlement did not include turning its back on accountability and justice.
Female Victim Pleads for War Crimes Court Daily Observer By Joaquin M. Sendolo May 21, 2018
Against growing public chorus for the establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia, a number of prominent Liberians and institutions including the Catholic Bishops Conference and Liberia's most recent, Nobel laureate, Laymah Gbowee, have enjoined cause with Rights advocates and publicly declared their support for the establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia.
And now a victim, Mrs. Suzana Vaye, widow of the late Isaac Vaye, the Public Works engineer killed allegedly on orders of Charles Taylor, has entered the fray saying she still feels the psycho-social pains she inherited from the unlawful killing of her husband on June 4, 2003 by forces loyal to jailed former President Charles Taylor.
Although, Mrs. Vaye says she feels happy that some friends of her late husband help her with the five children he left behind, she says pains inflicted on her and many others, including foreigners in the country, cannot be resolved by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations that have already become dusty on the shelves.
Instead, she contends that she and other war victims in the country will only be satisfied and their pains relieved if a war crime court is established to bring to justice perpetrators who are seen walking freely in the country.
"The TRC is not enough; I will want the war crime court to be established here to hold perpetrators who inflicted pains on us accountable for what they did. We do not want recurrence of what happened in this country. There are thousands of single mothers whose husbands were killed and are grieving like me," she said.
Mrs. Vaye who spoke to this newspaper on recently during celebration of this year's Mothers Day at the Calvary Baptist Church in Sinkor, Monrovia, noted in a quivering tone, "those who did these things are in this country walking freely and boasting for what they did. They are in high positions and enjoying taxpayers' money. These people, no matter what happens and how long it takes, must be brought to justice."
According to her, Liberia currently has a lot of mentally ill people roaming the streets. Mrs. Vaye believes that while drug abuse is one factor causing the problem, she said trauma inherited from the war is another major cause. "You see some children walking in the streets mad today. Some of these people were forced to have sexual intercourse with their own mothers under the influence of the guns. Some also opened bellies of pregnant women to see the child in those women's stomach. God made human in His own image, and as long as you do such to human beings, you did it to God, and so I believe He will allow justice to take place here one day," she added.
She said since her husband was murdered 15 years ago, she has been receiving assistance from his friends who knew him, and this is how she has been able to bring up her five children to the point that four of them have graduated from university with one about to complete his college education.
Isaac Vaye was a Civil Engineer working with the Ministry of Public when he and John Yormie (both Nimbaians), were arrested on June 4, 2003, murdered and their bodies allegedly dumped behind a container along the railroad near Ganta, Nimba County.
Isaac Vaye was not a politician neither is there any record of his involvement as a combatant or figure of authority in any of the warring factions during the prolonged civil conflict in Liberia.
Unlike John Yormie who had previously served with the Independent National Patriotic Front (INPFL) as a commander, there is no record of Vaye's participation in the civil conflict as a combatant. It is therefore unclear why he was killed.
But former NPFL General Suah Debleh a.ka. "General Something the Cause" appearing before the TRC in 2008, told the world that Vaye was killed because he had accompanied Yormie to Charles Taylor's "White Flower" residence in Congo Town. The former NPFL General further said that Yormie was escorted into Taylor's house where he (Taylor) was at the time meeting with his officials to discuss unfolding developments in the civil crisis. This was in 2003 when Taylor returned form Peace talks in Accra Ghana where he was handed an unsealed indictment nailing him for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone.
During the period, a lot of uncertainty was created about Taylor's return to the country given the unsealed indictment which had been handed to him by Chief Prosecutor, Alan White. For a time it had appeared that Taylor would have indeed been arrested by Ghanaian authorities but a statement by chief Presidential bodyguard, the feared SSS commander, Benjamin Yeaten, threatening to execute Ghanaian nationals residing in Liberia was probably sufficient to deter the Ghanaian government from turning the tables on Taylor.
And Taylor returned, first accusing his vice President Moses Blah and John Yormie of plotting along with others to overthrow him, According to the former General, a very incensed Charles Taylor, upon coming face to face with Yormie, drew a knife and plucked out Yormie's eye saying to Yormie "you have always been involved in overthrowing governments but this my government will the last you will overthrow".
Madame Susanah Vaye, appearing before the TRC subsequently, told the world that her husband had made a frantic phone call to her telling with much alarm that Yormie was bleeding and appeared to have been in grave danger. Few seconds later the phone went off and she never again heard from her husband. But according to former NPFL General Suah Debleh, Vaye was told by a top officer that once having entered Taylor's compound and borne witness to happenings thee there was no way he could be allowed to leave with this life intact.
He and Yormie, according to Debleh were bound hand and foot and trussed into a vehicle and taken under heavily armed escort to Nimba where they were allegedly killed and their bodies dumped. For her part, Madame Susannah Vaye has sworn to leave no stone unturned to ensure that a War Crimes Court is established in Liberia so that the perpetrators of such a heinous crime are brought to book in order to end impunity.
It can be recalled that when warlords and civil society groups converged in Accra, Ghana in 2003 to find a solution to end the Liberian war, they fashioned out the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) that called for the establishment of the TRC.
Following the completion of its work in 2009, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended prosecution for those who bore the greatest responsibilities, while others including former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were also recommended to be banned from politics for 30 years.
The TRC recommendations are yet to be implemented even after serving two terms despite the ban proscribing her involvement in politics for 30 years. Other alleged perpetrators like Senator Prince Johnson, Sando Johnson, George Boley and others are serving in the Legislature while there are many more in and out of government who have not been held to account.
[back to contents] Terrorism
Iraqi court sentences Russian terrorist to death over joining Islamic State Iraqi News By Nehal Mostafa May 17,2018
The Iraqi criminal court has sentenced a Russian-national terrorist to death over joining Islamic State militant group.
"The Criminal Court sentenced a Russian terrorist to death over joining and fighting with Islamic State group," Agence France Presse quoted a judicial source as saying.
Baghdad courts, according to the source, "sentenced since beginning of the year more than 300 foreign terrorists to life and death."
"The same court released on Wednesday two Iraqi women who were accused of joining Islamic State," the sources added.
Many IS members were detained during liberation battles that freed cities, which were recaptured by the militant group in 2014.
In April, the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad has sentenced five female militants, two of whom are Azeri and three others are from Kyrgyzstan, to death over involvement with Islamic State. Life sentences were issued against five female convicts, two of whom are Russian, an Azeri one and a French one.
Moreover, the Iraqi Justice Ministry has announced carrying out death sentences against 13 convicts, most of whom are involved in terrorism. Six Turkish females were sentenced to death over affiliation to Islamic State.
The Baghdad Court sentenced, in March, 13 Turkish women to death over the same charge. The same court sentenced number of women to life and death over belonging to Islamic State. Some of them were Azeri, Turkish and Iraqi.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the militant group, previously in December, however, observers warn that the group still poses a security threat with sleeper cells.
13 terrorism-related cases sent to military courts Daily Times May 18, 2018
13 terrorism-related cases pending in anti-terrorism courts were sent to the military courts, it was reported on Friday.
Seven high-profile terrorism cases from Karachi and six from Sukkur were sent to the military courts. The cases include Nashtar Park tragedy, attack on polio workers' team, Sachal bomb explosion, among several other murder cases.
Moreover, it was said that three of the cases are against high profile terrorists from banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), including Ameen alias Muawiya, Mumtaz alias Firaun, and prime convict in Amjad Sabri murder case Ishaq Boby.
The ATCs and session courts were issued the list of transferred cases.
Alexander Ciccolo, Boston police captain's son, pleads guilty to terror plot NBC News By Tim Stelloh May 21, 2018
A Boston police captain's son pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges connected to an ISIS-inspired plot to detonate bombs in crowded areas, prosecutors said.
Alexander Ciccolo, 25, who used the alias Ali Al Amriki online, planned to set off the improvised explosive devices — including pressure cookers filled with nails, glass and ball bearings — in places like college cafeterias, the United States Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said in a statement. Ciccolo pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston to one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, one count of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction, assaulting a nurse in jail and other crimes, the statement said.
Ciccolo agreed to serve a 20-year prison sentence followed by a lifetime of supervised release, prosecutors said. U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni set sentencing for Sept. 5.
Ciccolo's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ciccolo, whom court documents described as having "a long history of mental illness," was arrested on July 4, 2015.
His father, Robert, had earlier alerted authorities to his son's interest in the Islamic State, a Boston police official told NBC News. The younger Ciccolo later told an undercover investigator that he wanted to attack a college cafeteria with a pressure cooker bomb — the same device used in the Boston Marathon attack.
The FBI watched as Ciccolo bought a pressure cooker from a WalMart store and an undercover agent gave him four guns that authorities said he had requested. After his arrest, investigators found four partially finished Molotov cocktails filled with shredded Styrofoam and motor oil, a tactic, prosecutors said, intended to make the devices "stick to people's skin and make it harder to put the fire out."
Isis supporter encouraged terrorists to target Prince George, court told The Guardian May 23, 2018
An Islamic State supporter encouraged would-be lone wolf attackers to target Prince George at school, a court has heard.
Husnain Rashid, of Nelson, Lancashire, provided an "e-toolkit for terrorism" in a "prolific" online channel he ran named the Lone Mujahid, Woolwich crown court was told on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old, who has been employed as a teacher at the Muhammadi mosque, also called for ice cream to be poisoned and for the four-year-old prince to be targeted at Thomas's Battersea school in south-west London, jurors heard.
The prosecutor, Annabel Darlow, said: "His proposals were indiscriminate and made no distinction between adult and child, between members of fighting forces and civilians.
"His suggestions included injecting poison into supermarket ice creams and targeting Prince George at his first school."
Rashid is charged with encouraging terrorism by posting a photograph of the prince, along with the address of the four-year- old's school, a silhouette of a jihad fighter and the message: "Even the royal family will not be left alone".
Other targets included the Halloween parade in New York and railway stations in Australia, Darlow said.
Rashid specialised in supporting lone attackers, providing information for "every conceivable type of attack", including the use of bombs, chemicals and knives, she added.
He also communicated with a British terrorist in Syria named Omar Ali Hussain, advising him on how to make successful attacks including bringing down aircraft with lasers, Darlow told the court.
She said Rashid published his own magazine targeting lone wolves, distributed al-Qaida terror magazine Inspire and wanted to travel to Syria to fight for Isis.
"He made numerous posts glorifying terrorist atrocities committed successfully against others and encouraging and inciting his readers to plan and commit more successful terror attacks of their own," Darlow said.
When police swooped on his house, she said, Rashid "hurled" a phone containing a "treasure trove" of evidence over a wall and into an alleyway.
The phone revealed that he had been using Telegram, the secretive social media application, to take part in thousands of chats, the prosecutor said.
Rashid is also accused of posting a photograph of the Burmese ambassador to the UK, saying "you know what to do", urging others to "fight and spill the blood to the apes in your land" and calling for others to "start preparing tools and weapons/explosives". Rashid, of Leonard Street, Nelson, has denied three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, one count of encouraging terrorism, two of dissemination of a terrorist publication and one of failing to comply with a notice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
The allegations span a period between October 2016 and April this year.
The trial, expected to last six weeks, continues.
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Piracy
Pirates Burn, Beat, and Toss Fishermen Overboard off Suriname U.S. News and World Report By Neil Marks May 11, 2018
Pirates burned Guyanese fishermen with hot oil, attacked them with machetes and forced them overboard tied to anchors in a fatal attack in the Atlantic Ocean off the neighboring South American nation of Suriname, according to survivors.
The assault in late April on four fishing boats 30 miles (48 km) from the coast was described by Guyana's President David Granger as a "massacre" and a major setback to curbing piracy long rife in the waters off both nations.
Of the twenty fishermen attacked, 12 are still missing, five survived and three bodies have been found.
Eighteen Guyanese men have been arrested for what is thought to be a revenge attack.
Survivor Deonarine Goberdhan, 47, has fished for three decades and is used to interacting with other vessels, so at first was not surprised when another boat approached.
Yet, the people onboard had obscured their faces with rags, leaving only their eyes uncovered, he told Reuters from his home in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo.
Seven boarded Guyana-born Goberdhan's small boat with a gun and long knives, and began beating them.
"They said they would take the boat and that everyone should jump overboard," he said, showing gashes and bruises on his arm.
"I tried to keep my head above water so I could get air. I drank a lot of salt water," he said. The pirates had stolen his boat. "I looked to the stars and moon. I just hoped and prayed."
At one point closer to shore, Goberdhan gave up and sank, but fought back to the surface and eventually found passing fishermen who brought him to shore.
Another survivor, 33-year-old Sherwin Lovell, told a similar though more gruesome story from his own boat.
The pirates poured the fishermen's cooking oil into a pot on their victims' boat and turned the stove on.
"The men came with the pot and started burning us with the oil," Lovell said from his apartment in Paramaribo, nursing wounds on his back, arms and left foot.
The pirates also cut them and sprayed them with gasoline, as they cowered helplessly in crates used to store fish.
"I jumped overboard because they said they would kill everybody," said Lovell. "I spent two nights on the water drifting. Luckily, the tide carried me to shore."
When finally in hospital, capping his trauma, Lovell found out his partner had herself fallen ill in an unrelated incident - and suddenly died the next day. "I want to know why all this is happening to me."
Guyana's Police Commissioner David Ramnarine said the attack appeared to stem from a previous killing on the mainland. "The basis for this gruesome, heinous and dastardly attack has to do with some sort of retaliation by one of the persons in custody whose brother was allegedly gunned down in a drive-by shooting on March 30 in Suriname," Ramnarine said Wednesday in Georgetown.
Suriname's government temporarily suspended fishing off its coast after the attack. Undeterred, Goberdhan said he would be back on the water soon. "I love it out there."
Piracy incidents double off coast of East Africa in 2017 New China By Huaxia May 22, 2018
The number of piracy incidents doubled off the coast of East Africa in 2017 compared to 2016, an international maritime body said in its latest report released on Monday.
This indicates that Somali criminal networks are still capable of sophisticated attacks, according to the report by One Earth Future (OEF)'s Oceans Beyond Piracy program.
The report calls for new approach to combat maritime threats as the total number of piracy/armed robbery attacks against foreign vessels increased to 54 in 2017 compared to 27 in 2016.
"Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region," said Maisie Pigeon, the report's lead author.
The organization said the total cost of Somali piracy remains within the historical norm of the past three years, noting that there was a 13 percent decrease in the use of privately contracted armed security personnel between January 2015 and December 2017.
The study says crew members of the FV Siraj still remain in captivity after three years of hijack, noting that a total of 1,102 seafarers were affected by piracy and armed robbery in the Western Indian Ocean region in 2017.
"Additional threats complicate the maritime security picture in the Western Indian Ocean region, including spillover into the maritime space from the political conflict in Yemen," says the report.
According to maritime experts, Somali pirates tend to be well armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and sometimes use skiffs launched from mother vessels, which may be hijacked fishing vessels or dhows, to conduct attacks far from the Somali coast.
The experts said lack of economic opportunities and the prevalence of illegal fishing are pushing more Somalis to turn to piracy - partly as a form of protest and partly because they see no other options.
"There are 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 of Intertanko.
"We are advising our members to consider a more comprehensive security assessment to take into account other threats beyond traditional piracy emanating from the regional conflict in Yemen," Belcher said.
The report analyzes the human and economic impacts of maritime piracy and robbery at sea in the Western Indian Ocean Region, the Gulf of Guinea, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pirate Attacks Grow in South America and Caribbean U.S. News and World Report By Jonathan Saul May 23, 2018
Pirate attacks around South American and Caribbean waters are growing, and violence is increasingly used during robberies committed on vessels at anchor, a report showed on Wednesday.
The Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) non-profit group recorded 71 incidents in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017, a 163 percent increase over 2016.
OBP said the majority of the attacks occurred in territorial waters, with around 59 percent of incidents involving robbery on yachts. Anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia were the regional hot spots during 2017, it said.
"We have observed a significant increase in violent incidents and anchorage crime, particularly in the anchorages of Venezuela and the recent violent incidents off Suriname in the first part of this year," said the report's lead author Maisie Pigeon.
In late April a pirate attack off the coast of Suriname left at least a dozen fishermen from neighboring Guyana missing and feared dead with three separate bodies found in what was described by Guyana's President David Granger as a "massacre".
In a separate incident in May a fishing boat captain was shot dead after his vessel was attacked off Suriname while the rest of the crew survived.
OBP could not give a total economic cost for attacks in Latin America and the Caribbean, but said ship stores and crew belongings reported stolen were estimated to have totaled nearly $1 million in 2017.
The cost of piracy in East Africa reached $1.4 billion in 2017, down from $1.7 billion in 2016 and $7 billion in 2010 during the peak of attacks by Somali gangs.
Since then, the presence of international naval forces, the deployment of private armed guards on board vessels and defensive measures by ship captains has curbed activity.
OBP said there were 54 incidents in 2017 versus 27 in 2016 after a surge of attacks in the first quarter of 2017.
"There are 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 association INTERTANKO, which represents the majority of the world's tanker fleet.
Piracy risks remained elevated in West African waters, with 97 incidents recorded in 2017 versus 95 in 2016, with the total cost estimated at $818.1 million in 2017 versus $793.7 million, OBP said.
"Kidnap-for-ransom continues to plague the region, which is a trend that has unfortunately continued from 2016," OBP's Pigeon said.
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Gender-Based Violence
Rape as a weapon against Rohingya Saudi Gazette May 14, 2018
Throughout history women and girls have suffered disproportionately during war and civil strife. Men locked in combat often view the other side's women as part of the spoils or offering the most effective way to humiliate their enemies or wound their pride.
Thousands of women were abducted and raped during India's partition in 1947. The nightmare was repeated during Bangladesh's war of liberation in 1971. During the 2002 Gujarat riots, rape was not the only thing women suffered. Some pregnant women's wombs were ripped open, their fetus extracted and flung with a sword. Tamil women and girls had to suffer unspeakable cruelties including rape and sexual assaults at the hands of security forces during Sri Lanka's final war against LTTE (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
What is happening in Myanmar is the latest act in a horror play. This Buddhist country has declared war against its Rohingya Muslim minority, saying they are illegal immigrants from the Indian state of Bengal (the eastern part of which became East Pakistan in 1947 and Bangladesh in 1971). An estimated 700,000 Rohingya were driven into Bangladesh by Myanmar security forces last fall.
More and more evidence is piling up to show that widespread threat and use of sexual violence was integral to the military's effort to terrorize the community. The number of women who fell victim to a systematic campaign of rape runs in thousands. They ranged in age from 13 years to 35, came from villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Almost all said the perpetrators were men in uniform. Survivors have described sexual violence being used as a "calculated tool of terror" to force the Rohingya to flee and dissuade them from ever returning. Human rights activists who listened to the wrenching accounts from women and girls wonder whether any one of them ever would like to return. This in spite of the fact that in a few weeks, annual monsoon rains will drench every part of Bangladesh including the Cox's Bazar where Rohingya live making it the world's largest refugee camp in the world.
Nobody knows the exact number of women and girls who became pregnant as a result of rape. The social stigma surrounding rape in conservative Asian societies may prevent many women and girls from coming forward even if it is to seek medical help. The Bangladesh Health Ministry in 2017 put the number of pregnancies among Rohingya refugee women and children at 80,000 with rape being the likely cause of many of them. The first priority must be to move all these expectant mothers, rape victims and others, to sites less vulnerable to floods and rains.
Certainly, the long-term challenges facing these women are daunting. Social attitudes must change if they are to be welcomed back into the community. That will take time. Meanwhile, immediate steps should be taken to save lives for which the overcrowded camps should have basic health-care services. Bangladesh needs all kinds of help from the world community.
Equally important is holding those responsible for these horrendous crimes accountable. Given Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's reprehensible attitude toward the Rohingya, we can't expect her government to take any action against security officers responsible. After all, her party still harbors a lawmaker who argued that soldiers could not have committed mass rapes, because Rohingya women are "very dirty." A minister in the Rakhine state where most of the Rohingya live said no security forces would think of raping women who are "unattractive."
This means there should be an international campaign to have those responsible hauled into court at The Hague. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has recognized the specific impact of armed conflict on women by criminalizing sexual and gender violence. This is necessary to restore the dignity of the victims and put an end to impunity to those who indulge in such crimes wherever it may be.
S. Sudan's Kiir, rebel leader Machar must face ICC Sudan Tribune May 14, 2018
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar should face the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide they allegedly committed, a diaspora group said in statement.
South Sudan Equatorial Community in the Diaspora, said various reports have accused both leaders of gross human rights violations.
"There are already reports incriminating them and they should be indicted for the crimes committed in the ongoing conflict," Federico Vuni, the group's leader, said in a statement issued on Saturday.
He said both the vice-president, James Wani Igga and the first vice-president, Taban Deng Gai be tried for similar crimes committed.
"All the four [leaders of South Sudan] bear the responsibility for the crimes committed in South Sudan and deserve to face the international court," said Vuni.
"If we want a just peace, then they must account for the heinous crimes they have committed," he added.
Vuni urged the international community to help South Sudan attain peace and stability, insisting the people have lost faith in the leaders.
"They [leaders] are the obstacles to peace. They have led the country since 2005, but have only achieved destruction to lives, the economy and social fabric. They must be sent home," he stressed.
Last year, the United Nations has said forces loyal to both the government under Kiir and the armed opposition forces led by Machar committed serious war crimes.
Hundreds of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, gang-rapes, sexual slavery, forced abortion, massive child soldier recruitment and indiscriminate attacks against civilians with entire villages burned down were perpetrated by all in sides in war-torn South Sudan, according to the UN report.
The world body, in its findings, said it documented at least 280 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including gang-rape, sexual slavery and forced abortion, as well as a sharp increase in child recruitment, with at least 13,000 to 15,000 child soldiers, recruited mainly, but not solely, by opposition forces, as of December 2015.
Conflict-Affected Women in Sri Lanka – Still Waiting For Answers GroundViews May 17, 2018
There has been a marked increase in female-headed households in the North and East of the country as a consequence of the war in Sri Lanka concluded in 2009. Women in Sri Lanka sometimes refuse to identify themselves as "head" of their households as they fulfil a father's role for their children. They then become the chief householder of their residence. A considerable number of women victims of the war are very young – some of them are those who got married when they were as young as 15 years of age. These households continue to face many problems in spite of the meager attempts made by the government to alleviate them. They remain marginalised, neglected and vulnerable.
Among them are many women who have lost their husbands after having surrendered them to the army during the final days of the war. Among them are ex-combatant women who continue to be under surveillance by the army. There is also another category of elderly women who have lost all their relatives. There are others who have no option but to depend on their widowed daughters who already find it difficult to fend for themselves.
Many of them have been re-settled in their own villages while others are still waiting to get back to their own villages. The rural infrastructure is so damaged that many of them cannot follow the traditional vocations that their husbands did. Quite a number of these women have some sort of disability consequent to being injured during the war.
After the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, women in the island's North and East are still waiting for justice and truth for human rights violations. Among the bold promises made by the government to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2015, only an Office on Missing Persons has been established in March 2018, two years after the Act of Parliament relating to its creation was passed. There are no signs yet of the promised Truth Commission, a special hybrid court and an office to provide Reparations. The urgent economic and psycho-social needs of all conflict-affected groups remain unmet. Anger and a sense of betrayal has developed and triggered a new wave of women-led protests. All these happenings made further inroads into already damaged hopes for reconciliation among communities. If Sri Lanka is to address the past in a way that reconciles its communities and builds lasting peace, the government must prioritise the needs and rights of conflict-affected women.
A study by research organisation International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) shows that as many as 50-60% of women have lost their homes or have had homes damaged during the war. Reconstructing their homes is an added financial burden, as housing reconstruction requires significant capital. For women in male-headed households, damage to housing is associated with a 30% increased probability of engaging in market work. The ownership of land and a house is positively associated with labour force participation as it can enable self-employment activities for women.
Another matter that has not received enough publicity is that the war has resulted in a disruption of the educational activities of the women and their children in the Northern and Eastern Provinces due to war and the consequent repeated displacement of the people. Many of the young women were school-going girls during the beginning of the conflict and had to abandon their studies due to displacement and subsequent early marriages which their parents imposed on them to escape forced recruitment by the militants.
With the end of the war many of them found themselves to be widowed and with one or two children. Though a good proportion of them would like to pursue their studies to better their prospects, avenues for them to do so do not exist. Some of these women had to end their schooling abruptly, while others had to run away from their homes, for fear of being persecuted. It appears that there are many more such victims languishing in different areas in these Provinces. Though some of them appear to have been direct victims of the war, others had been victims of the breakdown in social life following the aftermath of the war.
Therefore a need has arisen to increase opportunities for women to re-enter education systems in order to access career paths with higher returns. They also need to be provided with alternative schooling options as they would find it difficult to continue their studies while being the heads of households. As educational attainment in these Provinces appear to be lower than the national average, there is a need to improve education facilities and services in the region to enhance women's right to education and make themselves employable.
Many of them who had got married during the beginning of the conflict find themselves with children of school-going age. Though some of them sent their children to the meagre primary schools available, many have dropped out of their schools. It was found that attendance to the few primary schools in the North and the East are very low compared with national statistics. Further, older children are motivated to drop out because jobs to match their education levels are hard to find. So they settle for manual labour jobs available in the area. This adds to the frustration of the women victims of the war who are unable to give a good education to their children.
Despite their activism, women have not been given a significant role in shaping transitional justice policies and other projects for their livelihood. Attempts by diaspora organizations to help them through co-operative societies did not bear fruit. The government largely has ignored the report of its Consultations Task Force on national reconciliation processes. This report has urged the importance of measures to help women to improve their lives. Occasional gestures by the Government by the release of small amounts of land or meetings by the President with the victims of the disappeared have not brought any confidence in the minds of these victims as the Government has repeatedly made statements that encourage the military to continue their occupation of the North and East in spite of the negative role they play in the development of the war victims. A new constitution, which could address the causes of war and help prevent its recurrence, continues to hang in the balance.
These women also insist that the truth and justice they seek must be part of a broader approach to meet their economic, social, psychological and security needs. This is specially so as the continued presence of the military reminds them of the atrocities committed against women during and soon after the end of the war. The military continues to be engaged in civil administration, agriculture and tourism. Military-run farms impede livelihoods.
The ICES study found that losses due to war including the loss of lives and resources have had a prolonged psychological impact on war-affected women. Hence there has arisen a need to provide community-based occupational therapy for women in affected areas, together with counseling facilities in hospitals. Many organisations have arranged for counseling facilities for these women in the Wanni Districts. In addition, encouragement has been given to use community-based, creative initiatives, such as community gardens, arts and crafts circles, and yoga, to address psychological health issues experienced by these women.
It is clear that women in the North and East have been more affected by the conflict and its aftermath than any other group in Sri Lanka. Tens of thousands of war widows and wives of the missing have been forced to become primary income earners, leaving behind traditional domestic roles and entering the public realm to engage politically, economically and socially. They do this in a highly patriarchal context regulated by rigid cultural and social practices, which has been made insecure by the continued presence of the military. That keeps them reminded of gender-based violence and abuse throughout the conflict. The constant reminders include a breakdown in social and family structures, post-war. As has been pointed out most have urgent unmet socio-economic needs and many suffer crippling trauma.
In the circumstances there is a need for a meaningful transitional justice programme to reduce their economic and physical vulnerabilities. Therefore there is a need for a well-designed and empowered Reparations Office to support an expanded and better coordinated programs for livelihoods, pensions, debt relief and psycho-social support. Similarly transitional justice, reconciliation and peace building programmes must be inclusive, gender sensitive and responsive to women's war time experiences. To make such an effort successful strong political backing from the President and Prime Minister will be needed to overcome political and bureaucratic resistance. The Provincial Councils too should play a meaningful role. Likewise, funding and political support to community- and district-level women's groups is essential.
In addition to this with the cooperation of donors and Provincial Councils, the economic needs of these women should be assessed and programmes that include an equitable and easy-to-understand pension scheme for victims' families should be devised. Further funding for their education and of their children should be made available. It should be made possible for them to obtain affordable housing that will enable them to establish ownership or tenancy of land. State lands should be allocated to women who do not have land. In addition to that steps should be taken to reduce the impact of the military on civilian life specially in the North by ending the military's surveillance of women's homes, including ad-hoc visits; expediting the return of occupied private land and reducing the number of military camps and checkpoints.
Addressing the specific needs of the victims of the war and involving them more fully in the design and implementation of transitional justice programs are essential steps, both for reducing tensions in the North and for restoring hope that the political transition promised in 2015 can still be realised. The issues faced by conflict-affected women may not be considered a priority because of the political upheavals taking place in Sri Lanka today. Yet the need to attend to these matters should not be forgotten. There cannot be a true reconciliation in the country so long as the women victims of the war in the North and East continue to remain unattended.
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Commentary and Perspectives The only way to bring justice to ISIS 'Beatles' CNN By Joshua A. Geltzer and Luke Hartig May 22, 2018
The horrific images of our fellow Americans forced into orange jumpsuits and beheaded by masked terrorists under the desert sun have been seared into our national consciousness. Nothing can bring back to their families the loved ones they've lost.
But, with two of the suspected terrorists allegedly responsible for these murders now in custody, a measure of justice can be done.
Yet, months after their capture, the fate of these detainees (who both deny involvement with ISIS) remains uncertain. There appears to be a debate within our government about which country should hold these men accountable and -- if it's the United States -- where to send them: to federal court for criminal prosecution or to Guantanamo Bay.
As former career national security professionals in the US government, we have worked with colleagues across the government to figure out how best to handle terrorist suspects captured overseas. Sending these two to Guantanamo wouldn't be smart and it wouldn't be just -- it would at a minimum be justice delayed, and more likely justice denied.
The idea of sending these suspects -- Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, believed to share responsibility for the deaths of Americans James Foley, Adbul-Rahman Kassig, Steven Sotloff and Kayla Mueller -- to Guantanamo appears tied to the notion of prosecuting them before military commissions, rather than in federal court. But Guantanamo's military commissions have proven disastrous.
They have obtained only a handful of convictions, with others reversed on appeal. And they are currently in full meltdown mode, with the Defense Department lawyer overseeing them recently fired for reasons now publicly disputed, the lawyers in one case resigning en masse out of concern that the government was surveilling conversations with their client (which government prosecutors deny), and the judge in that case indefinitely postponing proceedings until someone tells him what to do next.
The families of 9/11 victims are still, all of these years later, waiting for the alleged perpetrators to go on trial at Guantanamo. Forcing the same endless wait on the families of murdered hostages makes no sense.
While these individuals await military trial at Guantanamo, they could cause real problems for our government.
First, they'd cost millions of dollars per year to be held at Guantanamo -- in contrast to the $86,000 per year it costs our government to hold each prisoner at Colorado's Supermax facility. That's in part because of the incredible burden of operating a prison on a small piece of an island not our own; and it's in part because, as detainees under the law of war, these individuals would be entitled to conditions at Guantanamo far more comfortable than those afforded prisoners at Supermax.
Second, these would be Guantanamo's first detainees associated with ISIS rather than al Qaeda or the Taliban, and they could challenge in federal court whether they're legally detained as such. That, in turn, could put before a federal judge the government's entire theory of the authority for its critical, continuing campaign against ISIS, a theory that some legal commentators have questioned.
The government is already trying to avoid litigating pending cases that challenge this same legal theory. Why give these guys a shot at bringing this question to the courts?
Third, the prospect of detaining at Guantanamo these two men -- former British nationals nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their British accents -- could raise diplomatic complications with our closest ally, which previously faced domestic political outrage over the protracted detention at Guantanamo of former and now once-again British resident Shaker Aamer.
Fourth, even a military commission conviction could potentially be thrown out on appeal, as half of those already obtained at Guantanamo have been already. Finally, if the military commissions never come to fruition -- as looks increasingly likely for some detainees already at Guantanamo -- and these individuals are held indefinitely under the law of war, eventually they may be entitled to their release if the armed conflict with ISIS concludes.
That's a truly terrifying prospect.
So, what's the alternative to Guantanamo? It's prosecution in federal court, where more than 660 defendants have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes since 9/11. The life sentence imposed in March on former high-ranking al Qaeda member Muhanad al-Farekh and the November 2017 conviction of one of the perpetrators of the Benghazi attack showed, yet again, that the federal courts can deliver swift justice and lengthy sentences, even in complicated cases involving terrorists captured overseas.
Of course, we don't know the precise strength of the government's case against the two captured "Beatles," and even the government may not know that until it concludes its full investigation. But, assuming there's a case to be made, the federal courts are the place to make it and see justice done.
That's not just our experienced view; it's also governing US policy, which requires our government to "diligently seek to ensure that hostage-takers of US nationals are arrested, prosecuted and punished through a due process criminal justice system in the United States or abroad for crimes related to the hostage-taking."
Reasonable people can disagree on the merits of keeping Guantanamo open and of sending new detainees there. But the question of what to do with the alleged murderers of US hostages should be solely focused on two things: seeing justice done and respecting the wishes of the families for prosecution.
One potentially viable alternative to federal prosecution or Guantanamo would be for the British government to prosecute these men.
Both are former British nationals and appear to have British blood on their hands, as well.
Depending on the strength of the evidence, as well as the specifics of British criminal procedure, American and British prosecutors may deem this option more likely to bring justice to the families. Perhaps these considerations could justify that result; but the first choice for our government should be to see justice done for Americans right here in America.
All told, bringing these individuals to Guantanamo would inject uncertainty into their fate, impose costs and tough legal challenges on our government, and infuriate our anti-Guantanamo
British allies whose citizens also appear to have died at their hands -- all with the possibility of eventual release.
Perhaps most importantly, it would contradict the wishes of the families of the hostages allegedly murdered by these men. In contrast, and especially if British prosecution is unavailable, prosecuting them in federal court carries the prospect of seeing justice served, swiftly and for all to see.
With Medal of Honor, Seal Team 6 Rewards a Culture of War Crimes The Intercept By Matthew Cole May 22, 2018
On May 7, the White House announced that President Donald Trump would award a retired SEAL Team 6 sniper the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest decoration for battlefield valor.
Normally, the presentation of the Medal of Honor is a solemn and meaningful recognition of bravery and heroism. But the announcement of the award for Britt Slabinski — and the concurrent decision to give the same award to John Chapman, a deceased Air Force combat controller — came after a yearslong campaign to recognize disputed events 16 years ago on a remote mountain in Afghanistan. The awards have exposed a rift in the special operations community, a long-running argument pitting the Air Force against the Navy SEALs. More significantly, the decision to award a Medal of Honor to Slabinski represents the enduring failure of the SEALs, the Pentagon, Congress, and the White House to reckon with the dark history of SEAL Team 6 in the post-9/11 wars. All these authorities have refused to conduct any meaningful or robust oversight of a group of elite commandos who have committed war crimes abroad and gone to great lengths to cover them up.
On March 3, 2002, a small SEAL Team 6 reconnaissance team led by Slabinski landed atop Takur Ghar, a 10,000-foot peak above the Shah-i-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. The mission was part of the U.S. military's Operation Anaconda, a multi-day effort to squeeze out and kill the last large group of Al Qaeda militants and Taliban fighters hiding in the valley. As it attempted to land, the helicopter took fire from Al Qaeda fighters, and SEAL Neil Roberts fell from the back of the helicopter. The helicopter was heading back to a nearby base when Slabinski and his team realized they had lost a teammate.
For two hours, SEAL Team 6 and officers from the Joint Special Operations Command scrambled a rescue force to recover Roberts. Again their helicopter took fire as it landed near the top. Slabinski and his team, including John Chapman, rushed out amid small arms fire from the Al Qaeda militants. The team split and Chapman was hit two minutes after engaging the militants. With additional teammates severely wounded, and believing Chapman was dead, Slabinski ordered his SEAL team to retreat down the mountain. A quick reaction force, consisting mostly of Army Rangers, then engaged in a pitched battle for control of Takur Ghar, as Slabinski called in airstrikes from his position down the side of the mountain. Ultimately, Roberts, Chapman, and five others were killed over the course of the battle, which became known as Roberts Ridge.
These details are largely agreed upon. Chapman and Slabinski both received service crosses, the military's second-highest award. After Roberts's body was recovered, the military determined that he had been mutilated, a horrific act that led SEAL Team 6 operators to engage in a cycle of vengeance against enemy fighters in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
From practically the moment Slabinski and his team returned to Bagram Air Base, others in the special operations community questioned whether he had erred in his assessment that Chapman was dead and retreated with a member of his team still alive.
In 2016, after the Pentagon began reassessing silver stars and service crosses awarded during the war on terror, the Air Force put together forensics and drone video that they claimed showed Chapman got up after Slabinski and the SEALs retreated and continued to fight, alone and outnumbered, before succumbing to his wounds.
The SEALs disagreed, and Rear Adm. Timothy Szymanski, the commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare, pushed for an upgrade for Slabinski's service cross. Both current and former military members say the inter-service fight between the SEALs and the Air Force special operations command has been ugly and unbecoming. According to a Navy officer, the SEALs made several efforts to block an upgrade for Chapman, infuriating the Air Force.
Presentations of the Medal of Honor are almost always fraught with questions about whether the awards are handed out to make those involved in operations feel better about a loss of life. There's "always some kind of solace sought in decorating someone with the award," said one of Slabinski's former leaders at SEAL Team 6, who spent more than 30 years in Special Operations. "A lot of it has to do with politics and rank and stature and always, in my opinion, the more dynamic and public the screw-up, the more likely it is that someone is going to get highly decorated."
Another of Slabinski's former teammates said 25 years of experience as a SEAL convinced him that the award system for valorous action has little integrity. "One of my commanders told me point-blank: The bigger the fuck-up, the bigger the award."
The retired SEAL leader, who studied the battle at Roberts Ridge extensively for the military and discussed the events with Slabinski, said the issue was not whether Chapman or Slabinski were deserving of a medal upgrade, but why the military was motivated to extend that honor so many years later. "This is the madness of the Medal of Honor," he said. "Rarely is it granted when things go well."
By awarding both Chapman and Slabinski the Medal of Honor, the Pentagon presents an impossible version of what happened on Roberts Ridge. By awarding it to Chapman, the military endorses the view that Chapman survived his initial injuries and fought with valor after Slabinski and his SEAL team retreated down the mountain. If that's true, then Slabinski left his teammate behind, violating the first rule of special operations. By awarding Slabinski the Medal of Honor, the military essentially ignores the Chapman narrative and supports the notion that Slabinski's actions that day were heroic.
Both versions of what happened at Takur Ghar cannot be true. But the argument over how Slabinski determined Chapman was dead, and when Chapman may have died, is really a distraction from the true significance of what came down from Takur Ghar after the battle for Roberts Ridge.
No one pushed for the upgrade more than Szymanski, according to both current and former Navy officers. Members of SEAL Team 6 have told me they believe the award is meant, in large part, to help validate and cover up a series of ultimately fatal decisions taken by Szymanski and other senior SEAL Team 6 officers.
As the SEAL Team 6 operations officer at Bagram Air Base, Szymanski was the mission planner for Slabinski's reconnaissance team. Szymanski and his superior officers effectively limited Slabinski's options, forcing him to land on what they later discovered was a well-established enemy position, rather than allowing the team to land lower on the mountain and clandestinely patrol the top. The former unit leader who served several years with Szymanski said he had no doubt that his former teammate pushed for the upgrade to assuage his own guilt about putting Slabinski and his team in what became a disastrous position.
SLABINSKI'S MILITARY CAREER did not end on March 4, 2002. He spent another 12 years in the military, almost all of it at SEAL Team 6, where he ended up as a senior enlisted leader. For many, he was a legendary SEAL. Inside the secret world of what the military refers to as a "Tier 1" unit, however, Slabinski is part of another legacy, one which also stems from what happened during Roberts Ridge. That legacy involves Szymanski as well. In the days after Takur Ghar, Slabinski and others in SEAL Team 6 sought "payback" for Roberts, Chapman, and the other casualties. Slabinski later told author Malcolm MacPherson, in a taped interview obtained by The Intercept, that a few days after the battle, his team ambushed and killed nearly two dozen Al Qaeda fighters headed toward the Pakistan border. After the militants had been killed, Slabinski described a form of "therapy":
I mean, talk about the funny stuff we do. After I shot this dude in the head, there was a guy who had his feet, just his feet, sticking out of some little rut or something over here. I mean, he was dead, but people have got nerves. I shot him about 20 times in the legs, and every time you'd kick him, er, shoot him, he would kick up, you could see his body twitching and all that. It was like a game. Like, 'hey look at this dude,' and the guy would just twitch again. It was just good therapy. It was really good therapy for everybody who was there.
For almost four years after Roberts Ridge, SEAL Team 6 intentionally limited Slabinski's battlefield exposure. The trauma from Roberts Ridge was clear — and Slabinski has said that he still sees fighters moving in slow motion from that day.
In 2007, Slabinski was sent back to Afghanistan as a squadron master chief, which made him the senior noncommissioned officer of Blue Squadron. His two-year assignment at Blue came as the SEAL Team 6 leadership began receiving reports that small groups of SEALs were committing what they believed were war crimes: cutting, mutilating, and otherwise desecrating enemy fighters with knives and custom-made hatchets. In addition, SEAL Team 6 operators were "canoeing" dead or dying enemy targets — firing bullets at close range to the top of the skull, splitting it open at the forehead and exposing the brain matter.
In late 2007, members of Blue Squadron were twice investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service and JSOC. The first investigation resulted from allegations that a SEAL had attempted to behead a Taliban fighter in southern Afghanistan after Slabinski told his men he wanted a "head on a platter." As I reported in 2017, Slabinski told his superiors and later investigators that there had been no beheading, saying there was "no foul play." A former investigator with direct knowledge of the case told me that it was clear from the beginning of the beheading investigation that SEAL Team 6 had brought in NCIS to conclude that no war crime had occurred. "We knew we'd been called in to give them the result they wanted — that everyone was clean," the former Navy officer said. The NCIS investigation was part of the cover-up.
Shortly after the beheading incident, Slabinski's team was accused of killing unarmed men in an operation. That investigation, too, resulted in the SEALs being cleared.
Three years later, in 2010, Slabinski was up for a promotion when SEAL Team 6 decided to re-examine his tour with Blue Squadron. The command confirmed that Slabinski had in fact covered up the attempted beheading. Slabinski also admitted he had given an illegal order for his men to shoot all males on an operation regardless of whether or not they were armed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. Ultimately, however, the military concluded all the men killed during that operation were armed. As a result of these inquiries, a group of 10 SEAL Team 6 leaders later voted unanimously to ban Slabinski from ever serving at the command again. After Slabinski's admission, the most senior enlisted member of SEAL Team 6 told him, "That's not what we're about. We can't have you here."
As I reported in 2017, one of Slabinski's former superiors said: "To this day, he thinks the guys turned on him. Well, they did. What we didn't do was turn him in. You will step over the line and you start dehumanizing people. You really do. And it takes the team, it takes individuals to pull you back. And part of that was getting rid of Britt Slabinski."
Naval Special Warfare has consistently stated that the allegations against Slabinski and SEAL Team 6 are "unfounded," and that each has been "previously investigated and determined to be not substantiated." Despite months of my repeated inquires to SEAL Team 6 and Naval Special Warfare, no one would answer a simple question: If no crimes had been committed, why bar Slabinski from SEAL Team 6? Syzmanski and Slabinski did not respond to requests for comment.
The answer lies in how effective and widespread the culture of lies and cover-ups has been at SEAL Team 6. In each of Slabinski's 2007 investigations, both NCIS and JSOC found no evidence of violations of the laws of armed conflict, as they describe war crimes. But three years later, a small group of unit leaders quickly substantiated the allegations and even secured a confession. The command thus demonstrated that it was perfectly capable of determining the truth for internal purposes — and once again proved it was unwilling to expose even its pariahs to external scrutiny or justice.
After learning that he would never again serve at SEAL Team 6, Slabinski was thrown a lifeline by Szymanski, then commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group 2, who selected him to be his command master chief. His career should have been over, yet he was given a promotion. Some inside SEAL Team 6 were stunned. From their perspective, Szymanski had willingly requested a suspected war criminal to be his senior noncommissioned officer. When asked why he would bring in Slabinski after he was thrown out of SEAL Team 6 for alleged war crimes, a SEAL Team 6 leader told me that Szymanski told his fellow SEALs that their community could not shun a war hero. In their time commanding Group 2, Szymanski and Slabinski helped craft what has become the unofficial Navy SEAL creed, which ends with this:
I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.
In 2015, after he retired, Slabinski gave an on-the-record interview to the New York Times in which he denied giving the illegal order to shoot any man. He also implied that it was his leadership and discipline that prevented the near-beheading in 2007. In the view of senior SEAL Team 6 leaders, Slabinski had lied. Even worse, he'd done so while speaking to the press. For that sin, SEAL Team 6 added Slabinski to the "rock of shame," a list of former members of SEAL Team 6 who were no longer welcome to visit the command. Already barred from serving at SEAL Team 6, Slabinski was now physically banished.
"That's what's wrong with my community," a former SEAL Team 6 leader told me last year. "Our sense of what's right and what's wrong is warped. No one was upset that he ordered a beheading or all the men shot even if they were unarmed. They were mad because he spoke to the New York Times and lied."
ONE OF THE regulations governing military awards, including the Medal of Honor, states that "no medal, cross, or bar, or associated emblem or insignia may be awarded or presented to any person or to his representative if his service after he distinguished himself has not been honorable."
By the military's own standard, Slabinski should have been disqualified from the Medal of Honor for his actions in subsequent deployments to Afghanistan. But Slabinski's dishonorable actions are only a part of a much larger problem. Senior officers of SEAL Team 6 bear the ultimate responsibility, both for tactical failures, such as the decisions that placed Slabinski's team at the top of Takur Ghar, and for leadership failures, for turning a blind eye to a broad pattern of war crimes and other military misconduct. For 15 years, as SEAL Team 6 senior officers and leaders received reports that their operators were skinning, scalping, canoeing, and otherwise mutilating enemy corpses with custom-made hatchets in Afghanistan and Iraq, they either ignored the warnings or helped cover them up.
"By giving Slabinski the award, you close the door on our criminal history," said the former SEAL Team 6 leader. "The cover- up wins. You've closed this ugly part of our command's history, and everyone gets away with it. What everyone learns from this is that cover-ups work — don't say anything bad about your teammates, keep quiet and we'll get through it. It's disgraceful."
ICC prosecutions can deliver justice Gulf News By Fawaz Turki May 23, 2018
These past weeks at border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel, scores of Palestinians have been massacred by Israeli occupation forces and snipers firing indiscriminately at unarmed protesters. The death toll so far is more than 100, and hundreds more have been injured in what can only be described as "open season" on Palestinians. For its part, Israel dismisses those who died as terrorists, dubbing them Hamas protesters, and turning a blind eye to the murderous acts carried out by its occupation forces.
What is obvious to the rest of the world — save the Washington administration that views its allies in Tel Aviv through rose- tinted glasses — is that the actions of the occupation forces breach the threshold of Article IV of the Geneva Conventions on excessive force against a civilian population, amounting morally if not legally to war crimes, and certainly cry out for a full and impartial investigation, with prosecutions to follow where proven. And the only means of adequately following this impartial line of legal retreat and remedy is to pursue complaints against Israel and its occupation forces through the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On Tuesday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki set formal proceedings in motion at the ICC in The Hague, submitting a so-called 'referral' to prosecutors to allow them to move beyond a preliminary inquiry that had been started there in January 2015. Certainly, as the events of these past weeks have clearly shown — Al Makiki referred to the evidence of human rights abuses against Palestinians as "insurmountable" — ICC prosecutors have no shortage of events to investigate and ultimately, depending on their findings, prosecute to the fullest extent of the laws available to the court under international jurisprudence.
The ICC has the authority to hear cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the 123 countries who have signed up to it. Israel is not a signatory to ICC conventions — but because Palestine is, the ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate events that occurred on Palestinian soil, as is the case with the recent murderous incidents in the Gaza Strip.
Make no mistake, try as Israel might to reject the ICC investigation as lacking legitimacy because it isn't a member, this ICC investigation must proceed without undue influence, meddling, delays or ambiguities. It represents a rare and real opportunity for Palestinians — and the world — to hold Israel to account, and for justice — denied for so long against so many — to be done.
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WORTH READING
Armed Conflict-Related Detention of Particularly Vulnerable Persons: Challenges and Possibilities By Sandesh Sivakumaran (2018) 94 International Law Studies 39 May 24, 2018
Persons detained for reasons related to an armed conflict are in a vulnerable position.
Deprived of their liberty, they are at the mercy of their captors. Certain groups of detainees are particularly vulnerable. Additionally, the way in which non-international armed conflicts are fought can make it difficult for some parties to the conflict to comply with the rules benefiting particularly vulnerable detainees. This Article identifies groups of particularly vulnerable detainees and analyzes the general and special protections that are afforded to them under the conventional and customary international law of armed conflict. It then considers the realities of detention in armed conflict and sets out different ways in which these realities can be balanced with the importance of the protections for vulnerable groups. Finally, drawing on the law of international armed conflict, the Article considers how possibilities including the release and repatriation of particularly vulnerable detainees and the accommodation of such detainees in a third State could be implemented in a non-international armed conflict.
‘Terrorism’ or ‘Liberation’? Towards a Distinction: A Case Study of the Armed Struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan Perspectives on Terrorism, 12 (2), pp.1-18, 2018 May 18, 2018
This article based on extensive empirical field research and primary sources/data attempts to distinguish terrorism from liberation/freedom struggle by means of a case study of the armed struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.
It is argued here that the LTTE was primarily a terrorist organisation/movement because: (i) its struggle was overwhelmingly based on armed violence; (ii) it demanded support from the masses through persecution; (iii) it intentionally targeted civilians; (iv) it substantially relied on suicide attacks; (v) it substantially deployed underage children; and (vi) it was proactively involved in internecine war.
Deliberate Destitution as Deterrent: Withholding the Right to Work and Undermining Asylum Protection By Lori A. Nessel San Diego Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 313, 2015 May 22, 2018
For the vast majority of vulnerable asylum seekers, work holds the key to economic survival, as federal law precludes them from accessing nearly any social benefits.
However, United States immigration law bars them from accessing employment for at least six months, and often for years. In this piece, I examine this prohibition on employment for asylum seekers on a number of fronts. Beginning with a historical perspective, I explore the more humane regime that existed in the United States until 1995. Under this prior system, asylum seekers with bona fide claims were permitted to work while their claims proceeded. I examine the underlying fears and policy goals that led Congress to dramatically curtail protection and the right to work for asylum seekers. By situating the prohibition on work for asylum seekers within the larger context of overall punitive immigration reforms and the increasing criminalization of immigration law, I argue that the ban on employment for asylum seekers is unnecessary as a means to deter fraud. It is also inconsistent with other humanitarian immigration relief that exists in United States immigration law. Turning to the Refugee Convention itself, denying refugees seeking asylum the right to work violates the spirit of the Refugee Convention and the very right to seek asylum.
Moreover, denying a means of support and attempting to make life so difficult that asylum seekers choose to return home to persecution rather than seek protection amounts to constructive nonrefoulement in violation of the Refugee Convention. Finally, from a policy perspective, allowing asylum seekers to work while their claims proceed would restore dignity to refugees and realign U.S. immigration policy with important international law norms. It would also be consistent with domestic immigration policy for other classes of similarly situated vulnerable immigrants. Additionally, in light of the heightened enforcement efforts and more restrictive immigration regime which now exists in the United States, it is unlikely that the number of fraudulent asylum applications filed would significantly increase.
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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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