PILPG Logo Case School of Law Logo War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief David Krawiec FREDERICK K. COX Volume 15 - Issue 2 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER March 14, 2020 Technical Editor-in-Chief Erica Hudson Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf Managing Editors Matthew Casselberry Faculty Advisor Alexander Peters 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 Declaring commitment to ‘peace and stability’ for Libya, top UN envoy steps down as stress takes its toll (UN News) Libyan Crimes Watch documents violations against judiciary officials in eastern region (The Libya Observer) Haftar’s rocket attack kills two, injures four in Libya’s capital (The Libya Observer) CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Killing of United Nations Stabilization Mission Staff Member in Central African Republic (Relief Web) Sudan & South Sudan Sudan central bank announces US sanctions lifted on 157 companies (France 24) ACPJS director: ‘Mixed Sudanese-ICC tribunal on Darfur war crimes impossible’(Dabanga Sudan) Democratic Republic of the Congo Militia kills 24 people in northeastern DR Congo (Vanguard Media) WEST AFRICA Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon Mali Violence Continues in Mali Despite Negotiation Efforts (Voice Of America News) Dozens killed in Burkina Faso as unrest spreads across Sahel (Irish Times) Liberia War Crimes Court Advocates Arrested (Daily Observer) International Criminal Court Sees No Basis to Prosecute Jefferson Koijee (Front Page Africa) Liberia: Former Rebel Leader “Butt-Naked” Urges Former Warlords to Embrace War Crimes Court (Front Page Africa) Liberia: UN Human Rights Office Urges Legislature to Pass Bill Seeking War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia (Front Page Africa) Man arrested in Finland for deploying child soldiers during Liberian civil war (Punch) EAST AFRICA Uganda Ongwen trial: ICC Prosecutor wants him convicted (New Vision) ICC hears closing remarks in trial of Ugandan warlord (Anadolu Agency) Kenya Schools close in north-east Kenya after al-Shabaab targets teachers (The Guardian) Rwanda Somalia Kenya accuses Somali army of 'unwarranted attack' on border town (Aljazeera) Senior al-Shabaab Leader Killed by US Strike in Somalia, Pentagon Says (Military.com) US warplanes pummeling al-Shabab fighters in Somalia as jihadi group poses increasing threat (Military Times) US air strike in Somalia killed civilians: MP (Aljazeera) EUROPE Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber Bosnian Serb War Rape Defendant Absconds from Trial (Balkan Transitional Justice) Bosnian Deported from US Faces Crimes Against Humanity Trial (Balkan Transitional Justice) International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Bosnian Serb War Criminal Denied Early Release from Jail (Balkan Insight) Appeal Hearing for Ratko Mladic to be held on Tuesday (Sarajevo Times) Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia Croatia Awards €6,700 to Wartime Sexual Violence Victim (Balkan Transitional Justice) Croatia Convicts Bosnian Croats of Detention Camp Crimes (Balkan Transitional Justice) Croatian Serb Rebel Leader Convicted of Rocket Attack (Balkan Insight) Serbian Man Wanted for War Crimes Arrested in Budapest (Hungary Today) Turkey Dozens of Turkish soldiers killed in strike in Idlib in Syria (The Guardian) Turkey, Syria fighting escalates; refugees mass at EU border (AP News) Russia, Turkey may have committed war crimes in Syria, U.N. says (Reuters) Child dies as migrant and refugee crisis escalates on Greek-Turkish border (ABC News) Russia And Turkey Agree To Syria Cease-Fire, But Idlib's Agony Is Far From Over (NPR) MIDDLE-EAST Iraq Syria Syrian rebels retake key town in Idlib from Assad forces (The Guardian) Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib (BBC) Erdogan, Putin announce Idlib ceasefire after Moscow meeting (Al Jazeera) Yemen Officials say Yemen’s rebels seize strategic northern city (Associated Press) Houthi Court Sentences 35 Yemeni Deputies To Death (Asharq Al-Awsat) UN is Keeping Silent about Thousands of Saudi Crimes in Yemen: al-Houthi (Yemen Press) Saudi-backed Yemen forces hit back at Houthi gains (Middle East Monitor) Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Trial Chamber gives notice of scheduling the public pronouncement of the Judgment in the Ayyash et al. case (Special Tribunal for Lebanon News) STL Publishes Eleventh Annual Report (Special Tribunal for Lebanon News) Israel & Palestine Israeli delegation said holding talks in US on countering ICC war crimes probes (Times of Israel) Twitter storm protests ICC delay in investigating Israel crimes (Middle East Monitor) Gulf Region U.N.'s Bachelet urges Saudi to release women activists, uphold rights (Reuters) “Beggars can’t be choosers”: Inside the Scottish town built on the arms trade (Prospect Magazine) ASIA Afghanistan Afghanistan: bomb attack kills three as Taliban ends partial truce (The Guardian) ICC authorises investigation into alleged Afghanistan war crimes (Al Jazeera) Dozens killed in attack on political rally in Kabul (The Guardian) Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Police in Bangladesh arrest 13 war crime suspects (Anadolu Agency) War Crimes Investigations in Myanmar Some 70 More Rohingya Go on Trial For Trying to Leave Myanmar for Malaysia (Radio Free Asia) Amal Clooney to pursue Rohingya case at The Hague (The Guardian) Myanmar army clash with insurgents kills five Rohingya: lawmaker, residents (Reuters) AMERICAS North & Central America El Salvador Approves Law to Prosecute Civil War Crimes, President to Veto (The New York Times) El Salvador Reconciliation Law Vetoed Over Impunity Fears (The New York Times) South America Colombia’s army adds journalists, war crimes tribunal and even Red Cross to ‘opposition’ monitoring list (Colombia Reports) Venezuela Factsheet: Major human rights events in the Americas in 2019 (Amnesty International) US Calls Out Iran, China and Venezuela on Human Rights Abuses (Voice of America) TOPICS Truth and Reconciliation Commission FM Gyawali reiterates Nepal's commitment to transitional justice (myRepublica) Sámi Parliament seeks nominations for Truth and Reconciliation Commission (News Now Finland) Liberia: Emmanuel Savice Was Arrested for Breaching Security Protocol, Govt Says (Front Page Africa) Mass Graves Force Burundi to Confront Its Violent Past (Bloomberg News) Kosovo Citizens ‘Haven’t Heard of’ President’s Reconciliation Initiative (Balkan Insight) International Criminal Court Sees No Basis to Prosecute Jefferson Koijee (Front Page Africa) Support for truth commission in North rising, according to survey (The Irish Times) Victims to cooperate with TRC, CIEDP only after act amendment (The Himalayan Times) Terrorism Terrorist groups 'on the march' in West Africa and the Sahel, US general warns (abc News) More support key for counter-terrorism in Africa, where ‘misogyny is at the heart of so many’ groups (UN News) Piracy Pirates attack merchant ship off Benin (NavyTimes) Gender-Based Violence Commentary and Perspectives Could the U.S. Sanction the International Criminal Court? (Lawfare) WORTH READING AFRICA NORTH AFRICA Libya Declaring commitment to ‘peace and stability’ for Libya, top UN envoy steps down as stress takes its toll (UN News) March 2, 2020 After serving more than two years as the UN’s Special Representative in charge of finding a way to a lasting peace in war-torn Libya, Ghassan Salamé—who also heads up the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)—handed in his resignation on Monday, citing failing health caused by the immense stress of the job. Ghassan Salamé tweeted that he had sought “to reunite the Libyans, curb the interference of the outside, and preserve the unity of the country". He pointed out that the Berlin Summit, followed by Security Council resolution 2510, adopted on 12 February, had insisted on the need for a nationwide ceasefire and the enforcement of an arms embargo and seen the launch of a promising new three track process to bring the UN-backed Government and opposition backed by rebel militia, together. But just last week the UN envoy brought representatives of the two warring sides to Geneva for peace talks – only to see negotiations break down once again, amidst further major ceasefire breaches. “My health no longer allows this rate of stress”, Mr Salamé tweeted. “So I asked the Secretary-General to relieve me from my mission, wishing Libya peace and stability”. ‘Full confidence’ of the Secretary-General Following Mr. Salamé’s announcement, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric briefed reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, saying that Secretary-General António Guterres “has always had full confidence in Mr. Salamé’s work and the great efforts he has made to bring peace to Libya.” Mr. Dujarric said the UN chief would be discussing with Mr. Salamé the way to ensure a smooth transition “so as not lose any momentum on the gains that have been