War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Natalie Davis FREDERICK K. COX Volume 17 - Issue 2 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER July 31, 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 Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar due to respond to US court allegations of war crimes (Foreign Brief) Libyan Militia Leader Sanctioned for War Crimes Killed in Shootout (Al Monitor) CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic Sudan & South Sudan U.S. Quietly Gives Up on South Sudan War Crimes Court (Foreign Policy) Sudan's Darfur conflict's latest surge in violence displaces thousands (BBC) UN calls for end to extrajudicial killings in South Sudan (The Arab Weekly Democratic Republic of the Congo Sixteen civilians killed in eastern DRC ambush (Al Jazeera) At least eight dead in two attacks in DR Congo (Yahoo News) WEST AFRICA Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon African Militant Islamist Group Violence Maintains Record Pace, though Slowing (Africa Center for Strategic Studies) Nigeria: Moves to Recharge Shrinking Lake Chad Begin (AllAfrica) Could increasing incidents of kidnap for ransom be opening the door to terrorism in Benin? (Daily Maverick) Mali Liberia Massaquoi war crimes trial returns to Liberia in August (The Premium Times) EAST AFRICA Uganda UPDF kills 6 suspected rebels (NTV Uganda) Anti-Gay Legislation Sparks Controversy — and Fear (Global Press Journal) Kenya Rwanda Rwanda genocide convict Ngirabatware to be transferred to Senegal (The Guardian) Rwanda: Genocide Fugitive Venant Rutunga Extradited From the Netherlands (All Africa) Somalia Senior al-Shabab terrorist killed in central region of Somalia ‘A very dangerous precedent’: Democrats take aim at Biden’s Somalia airstrikes (Politico) EUROPE Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber Bosnian Serb Ex-Soldier Pleads Not Guilty to War Crimes (Balkan Transitional Justice) Bosnian War Crimes Denial Ban Causes Trial Postponement (Balkan Transitional Justice) Bosnian Serb Ex-Fighters’ Wartime Rape Sentences Reduced (Balkan Transitional Justice) International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia Croatia Charges Bosnian Croat Ex-Fighter with War Crimes (Balkan Transitional Justice) Turkey Turkish-backed rebels leave trail of abuse and criminality in Syria’s Afrin (Al-Monitor) US targets Turkey-backed extremists in Syria with sanctions – analysis (The Jerusalem Post) Kosovo Specialist Chambers The Hague Court Denies Claimants Victim Status to Participate in Trial against KLA Leaders (Exit News) Kosovo War Rape Survivors Tell Stories of Pain and Courage (BIRN) Azerbaijan Technical Briefing Note: Cluster Munition Use in the Karabakh Conflict (Human Rights Watch) MIDDLE-EAST Iraq Iraq protesters demand accountability after killings of activists (Aljazeera) Islamic State group claims responsibility for deadly suicide bombing near Baghdad (AFP) Syria Yemen 21 Houthis killed in overnight Saudi-led coalition air strikes (The New Arab) Special Tribunal for Lebanon Israel & Palestine Gaza: Apparent War Crimes During May Fighting (Human Rights Watch) Israeli army kills Palestinian boy in West Bank: Ministry (Aljazeera) Gulf Region ASIA Afghanistan Afghanistan's embassy says videos show Afghan civilians being tortured, murdered by Taliban (ABC News) Ben Roberts-Smith trial to resume as mental health of witnesses deteriorates (ABC News) Taliban killed 43 people in Afghanistan's Ghazni, residents say (Hindustan Times) Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Khieu Samphan appeals case at ECCC (The Phnom Penh Post) Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal It’s settled: Life term means 30-year imprisonment (Dhaka Tribune) War Crimes Investigations in Myanmar Myanmar Detains Three Soldiers for Alleged Rape and Murder of Kachin Woman (Radio Free Asia) Myanmar Junta shells villages in Hpakant township (EastMojo) AMERICAS North & Central America U.S. Quietly Gives Up on South Sudan War Crimes Court (Foreign Policy) Drone Whistleblower Gets 45 Months in Prison for Revealing Ongoing US War Crimes (TruthOut) South America The Colombian military killed 127 civilians passing as guerrillas (Al Dia) Venezuela Venezuela, the International Criminal Court, and Impunity (Human Rights Watch) TOPICS Truth and Reconciliation Commission The secret ‘Pact of Forgetting’ and the suppression of post-TRC prosecutions (Daily Maverick) Terrorism Piracy Nigerian court sentences 10 men to prison for 2020 Chinese ship hijacking (Reuters) Gender-Based Violence Japan Cannot Claim Sovereign Immunity and Also Insist that WWII Sexual Slavery was Private Contractual Acts (Just Security) Commentary and Perspectives WORTH READING Silvia Borelli and Helin Laufer: Protection of individuals hors de combat: Convergence of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law (D. Rogers, Human Rights in War) AFRICA NORTH AFRICA Libya Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar due to respond to US court allegations of war crimes (Foreign Brief) By Ali Slimi July 20, 2021 Today marks the deadline given to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar by which he must respond to civil litigation in the United States or face default. In three separate lawsuits, a district court in Alexandria, Virginia has levied charges of war crimes against the leader of the Libyan National Army, which opposed the UN-recognized government in the country’s bloody civil war. The plaintiffs have alleged that Haftar is responsible for extrajudicial killings and torture and seek to recover an estimated $50 million in damages from assets in Virginia owned by Haftar, who is a dual-citizen in the US. Although Haftar claims that his status as a head of state grants him legal immunity, a US district judge rejected the assertion earlier this month, foreshadowing a ruling that will likely go against the general. While it is unclear if Haftar himself will directly respond, his defense will likely focus on the difficulty of attributing responsibility for atrocities committed during the civil war and claiming that alleged victims were armed combatants. A guilty verdict is unlikely to significantly detract from efforts to form a new administration in Libya as the UN has maintained Haftar’s inclusion in negotiations as a crucial figure with influence over armed groups opposed to the Western-backed government. Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief. Libyan Militia Leader Sanctioned for War Crimes Killed in Shootout (Al Monitor) July 27, 2021 The leader of Libya's notorious Kaniyat militia, who was sanctioned for alleged war crimes by the United States and European Union, died in a raid by security forces near Benghazi on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Kani was killed at a farm outside of the eastern city of Benghazi, Libyan journalist Mahmoud al-Misrati reported. One other person was reported killed in the raid and a third person arrested. A number of Kani’s associates were also detained in Benghazi, Tobruk and Ajdabiya, Misrati reported, citing a document from the civil and military prosecutors’ offices. The Associated Press confirmed the news of Kani’s death, citing Libyan officials and militia spokesman Mohamed al-Tarhouni. Kani’s militia previously sided with the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli before switching sides to join rogue warlord Khalifa Hifter’s surprise offensive against the western Libyan capital in 2019. The Trump administration sanctioned him in November under the Global Magnitsky Act after accusations of torture, forced disappearances and mass executions came to light in and around the Libyan town of Tarhouna. The town, which lies some 40 miles southeast of Tripoli, was under Kaniyat control for some five years before the militia withdrew as Turkey’s intervention on Tripoli’s side turned back Hifter’s offensive. At least 100 bodies have been uncovered in some two dozen mass graves in and around Tarhouna. Locals have accused Kani’s men of forced disappearances and torture. Many of the unearthed bodies have shown signs of having been restrained and tortured. Women and children have also been found among the graves. The International Criminal Court has investigated the crimes in cooperation with the Tripoli government. The court’s top prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has said the discoveries in Tarhouna may constitute crimes against humanity. It was revealed last year that another Kaniyat leader, Kani’s brother Abdul Rahman, had sought medical treatment in Germany before returning to Libya. A previous effort by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Estonia to muster United Nations sanctions on Kaniyat leaders failed amid Russia's opposition last year. Russia backed Hifter’s offensive along with the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The previous US administration