Case School of Law Logo War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Natalie Davis FREDERICK K. COX Volume 16 - Issue 8 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER May 8, 2021 Technical Editor-in-Chief Erica Hudson Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf Managing Editors Matthew Pheneger Faculty Advisor Alan Dowling Jim Johnson 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 NORTH AFRICA Libya Azerbaijan Accused Of War Crimes After Execution Of Armenian Prisoners (Morining Star) CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic CAR To Form Commission Of Inquiry To Probe War Crimes – (UN Spokesman) Sudan & South Sudan Haftar blocking Dbeibah visit shows ongoing friction (Daily Sabah) Sudan Suspect Wanted For Darfur Crimes Says ‘Prefers’ ICC Trial (Capital News) Democratic Republic of the Congo Islamic leader slain in east Congo after attacks killing 19 (StarTribune) DR Congo declares state of siege over conflict in east (Anadolu Agency) Congo-Kinshasa: Anti-Monusco Protests Send a Clear Message to Tshisekedi (AllAfrica) WEST AFRICA Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon Chad’s Ongoing Instability, the Legacy of Idriss Déb (Africa Center for Strategic Studies) Violence In Northeast Nigeria: Aid Workers Targeted, And 65,000 Civilians Flee (The Organization for World Peace) Niger: Assault leaves 16 soldiers dead in Tilia Mali Liberia Liberia: Massaquoi - Please Hide This Trial From Liberians (All Africa) Massaquoi Trial Quietly Begins Hearings in Freetown (Front Page Africa) UN Praises Liberian Soldiers (Daily Observer) EAST AFRICA Uganda Uganda: A Reflection on Ongwen’s Trial as Ex-Rebel Commander’s Sentence Hearing Nears (Black News) Kenya Politics did not influence my work at ICC — Bensouda (The Star) Rwanda Busingye urges UK to expedite trial of genocide suspects (The New Times) French troops set to avoid trial over Rwanda massacre (AlJazeera) Somalia 4 killed in mortar attack in Somalia (China Global Television Network) Gunfire Erupts in Mogadishu as Somalia’s Political Feud Turns Violent (The New York Times) At least 7 killed in suicide bombing in Somalia’s capital (AP News) EUROPE Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber Bosnian Court Dismisses Challenge to Verdict for Attack on Serbs (Balkan Transitional Justice) International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Final Verdict in Mladic Trial Set for Early June (BIRN) Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia Serbia Gives Citizenship to Fugitive War Crimes Defendant (Balkan Transitional Justice) Bosnian Serb Ex-Policeman Convicted of Sexually Abusing Prisoners (Balkan Transitional Justice) Croatia President Defends Bosnian Croat War Crime Convicts (Balkan Transitional Justice) Turkey Can a new round of UN peace talks solve the decades-old Cyprus conflict? (EuroNews) Kosovo Specialist Chambers The Hague Prosecution to Hear 12 Witnesses in Case against Ex-KLA Commander (exitnews) Hague Prosecution Contests Challenge to Hashim Thaci Indictment (BIRN) The Hague Appeals Court Rejects Release of 4 KLA Leaders (exitnews) Azerbaijan Azerbaijani-Turkish commission to investigate Armenia's war crimes in Karabakh (AzerNews) Baku calls on Europe rights commissioner to urge Yerevan to submit mine maps (AzerNews) Foreign mercenaries used by Azerbaijan in 2020 war stand trial in Armenia for international terrorism, murder (ArmenPress) Commission for Crimes in Karabakh to politically, legally assess Armenian aggression (AzerNews) MIDDLE-EAST Iraq UK government drops bid to shield soldiers from war crimes prosecutions (Middle East Eye) Militants attack oil wells in Iraq's north, production unaffected – sources (Reuters) Syria Syria says Israeli raids target Mediterranean port region of Latakia (Reuters) Yemen How South African weapons are fuelling war crimes in Yemen (The New Arab) Covering corruption, coups, and war crimes in the Middle East (ICIJ) Special Tribunal for Lebanon Israel & Palestine Israel Accused of 'Apartheid' Crimes Against Palestinians by Human Rights Watch (The Wire) HRW Report (The News) Gulf Region ASIA AMERICAS North & Central America Victims renew calls for justice as El Mozote trial moves ahead (Al Jazeera) South America Colombia’s ex-FARC leaders admit kidnapping and other crimes (Al-Jazeera) Argentina Wants to Punish Deniers of Crimes Against Humanity (Vice) Venezuela Venezuela: Security Force Abuses at Colombia Border (Human Rights Watch) TOPICS Truth and Reconciliation Commission Terrorism Piracy Pirates Attack Container Ship In Gulf Of Guinea – Monitor (Urdu Point) Three Maritime Armed Robbery Incidents Reported in Asia (Homeland Security Today) Nigeria: Renewed Onslaught On Maritime Criminals (All Africa) Gender-Based Violence Commentary and Perspectives The international community must hold Israel responsible for its crimes of apartheid (International Federation for Human Rights) WORTH READING Jacopo Scipione: The Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems: A Concrete Example of AI’s Presence in the Military Environment (CSI Review) AFRICA NORTH AFRICA Libya Azerbaijan Accused Of War Crimes After Execution Of Armenian Prisoners (Morining Star) May 5, 2021 AZERBAIJAN has been accused of war crimes after lawyers claimed that 19 Armenian prisoners of war had been tortured and executed today. Artak Zeynalyan and Siranush Sahakyan, who represent the captives at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said that they had filed a case there calling for Azerbaijan to be held accountable. The Armenian soldiers were taken as prisoners last year during the six-week war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, a landlocked majority-Armenian territory inside Azerbaijan. The bitter conflict saw accusations of war crimes, such as the beheading of civilians by Azeri troops. Amnesty International condemned the use of banned cluster bombs used on civilian targets, including in the regional capital Stepanakert. A Russian-brokered peace deal led to anger in Armenia and mass protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who they felt ceded too much Armenian territory. He stood down last month and called snap elections which analysts expect him to win, but with a reduced majority, possibly requiring a coalition to form a cabinet. “During the Second Artsakh War, which was started on September 27, 2020, as well as after the signing of the tripartite agreement on November 9, 2020, Armenian civilians and servicemen continued to be taken prisoner by Azerbaijan,” a statement from the lawyers said. “Nineteen of those prisoners of war, who have appeared in captivity, have been tortured and killed by the Azerbaijani servicemen, which is a war crime.” Meanwhile two Syrian nationals, Muhrab al-Shkheri and Yusef al-Haji, have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia on international terrorism charges for their role in the conflict. The mercenaries were part of a number from the Free Syrian Army that were shipped in by Turkey to fight alongside Azeri troops. They were accused of actions aimed at killing or seriously injuring civilians who were not involved in the hostilities. Ankara recruited the jihadists from the battlefield of Syria, where they had been fighting alongside Turkish troops in the illegal invasion and occupation of Afrin, part of the Kurdish enclave known as Rojava. Turkey has been accused of deploying jihadists in a number of arenas including Libya, where the militia helped swing its civil war in favour of the Government of National Accord. The government of Azerbaijan was contacted for comment. [back to contents] CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic Official Website of the International Criminal Court ICC Public Documents - Cases: Central African Republic CAR To Form Commission Of Inquiry To Probe War Crimes – (UN Spokesman) By Faizan Hashmi May 5, 2021 Central African Republic (CAR) will set up a Special Commission of Inquiry to probe serious human rights crimes allegedly committed by national security forces during the operations against the country's largest armed group, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Wednesday. "The minister of justice and human rights in the country had issued an order establishing a Special Commission of Inquiry to investigate serious crimes, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, allegedly committed by national security forces and their allies," Dujarric said. "They will investigate alleged violations that occurred during the operations against the CPC [ Coalition of Patriots for Change] armed group that took place between December of last year and the end of April of this year. Dujarric said the order to form such a commission was issued following the UN mission's (MINUSCA) submission to the country's authorities of a list of human rights violations allegedly committed by the national forces and its allies. The conflict between the CAR's government and the forces backing former President Francois Bozize, including the CPC, erupted after the December 27 presidential elections that allowed