ICC to investigate war crimes in Central African Republic

By Ashley Repp

Impunity Watch news reporter, Africa

The ICC has begun official investigation into crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic. Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor for the ICC stated that the list of alleged crimes is simply too serious to ignore, and includes rape, pillaging, murder, and use of child soldiers. As a result, formal evidence to mount a case will be collected.

Man chases a suspected Seleka member  Image courtesy of The Atlantic

Photo: Man Chases a suspected Seleka member (Courtesy of The Atlantic)

The violence began after a coup in March of 2013. The Muslim group, Seleka, overthrew the president and installed the politician of their choice, Francois Bozize. Violence escalated, and a Christian group formed, called anti-balaka, which translates somewhat to anit-machete. As the nation began to split along sectarian lines, creating stark contrast between the Muslim minority and Christian majority, violence and crimes against humanity became more glaringly obvious to the international community. After proving that he was unable to quell the violence, Francois Bozize was pressured by world leaders to step down from his position as president.

An interim president from the Christian majority was installed, and she in turn, selected a Muslim prime minister, in an attempt to reduce the sectarian violence. This also has provide ineffective at quelling the violence, and now, the ICC has decided that it must step in to mount a case against those who perpetrated the violence. The UN has also sent troops to the country in an effort to help reduce the violence and crimes against humanity.

While the violence has certainly taken a toll on the nation, and efforts by the ICC may be warranted, many Africans are skeptical of the ICC, if not unsupportive. The ICC currently has eight investigations open, and all of the cases are in Africa. In many regards, these efforts may come across as a new form of imperialism, with the sights set on Africa. As one man the Central African Republic noted, “Normally we Africans are against the actions of the ICC, but for the Central African case, it’s a necessity because the Central African justice system doesn’t have the means or the desire to judge those responsible for this crisis.”

Beyond many African countries feeling targeting by the ICC, there is doubt, in many minds, that the ICC has the ability to carry out justice, as it has mounted cases against many, with no real punishment or ability to even capture those it charges with crimes. So while the Central African Republic continues to cope with the violence that has gripped the country, all it can do is wait and see if ICC efforts will be able to bring to justice those who perpetrated the crimes against humanity.

 

For more information, please visit:

The Wall Street Journal- The International Criminal Court opens second Central African Republic probe– 24 Sep 2014

ABC News- ICC opens new Central African Republic probe– 24 Sep 2014

 All Africa- Central African Republic: Hague court opens probe in Central African Republic– 24 Sep 2014

Aljazeera- ICC to probe possible war crimes in CAR– 25 Sep 2014

US Reaches $554 Million Settlement with Navajo Nation

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

WINDOW ROCK, Navajo Nation – On Thursday the Navajo nation reached a 554 million settlement with the United States government, ending years of litigation. The landmark settlement stems from a 2006 lawsuit in which the Navajo nations claims the United States Government mismanaged natural resources and trust fund assets dating back to 1946. The Navajo nation charged the federal government with failing to properly managed, invest and account for tribal funds and resources derived from the tribe’s 14million acres of trust lands, which are leased for various purposes, including farming, grazing, mining and timber harvesting. The Navajo Nation semi-autonomous reservation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States with 300,000 members and 27,000 square miles of territory in three states, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Despite the nation’s vast resources wealth many of the tribal members who live in remote areas of the reservation live without basic modern amenities, including electricity and running water. The Navajo lawsuit alleges that the Bureau of Indian affairs miss-management of Navajo assets contributed to extreme poverty on the reservation and prevented the nation from taking actions of its own.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly presents Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell with a blanket after signing the $554 million settlement reached between the Navajo Nation and the Untied States government on Sept. 26, 2014, at Window Rock Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock. (Photo courtesy of The Arizona Republic)

On Friday the United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, under whom the Bureau of Indian Affairs is managed, led a delegation of federal officials at a signing ceremony at tribal headquarters in Window Rock. After the ceremony she said that the funds will be transferred to the Navajo Nation within weeks. “By the end of the year, we believe the check will actually be here and in the bank and earning interest,” Jewell said.

United States President Barack Obama has directed that future interactions with Native American tribes should be based on a government-to-government status, recognizing that tribes should exercise self-governance and self-determination, Secretary Jewell. “Our job with 21/2 years remaining is to make sure that we deepen the relationship with Indian country, so no president coming after President Obama — Republican, Democrat or independent — can undo the good work that we’ve started, because we need to move forward in this next generation,” Jewell said.

Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch, who attended Friday’s ceremony, said President Obama has long worked to strengthen ties between the United States and the Navajo Nation, adding that “it reflects my personal commitment to resolving long-standing lawsuits rather than wasting the time and resources of both the United States and Indian tribes in contentious litigation.”

The landmark legal settlement, which concluded eight years of litigation, is the most paid by the federal government to a single Native American tribe. Ben Shelley, President of the Navajo Nation, said the agreement does not fully compensate the nation for the loss of revenue suffered and harm caused by the federal governments action’s over the past several decades. However, he believes the settlement marks a turning point in the relationship between the federal government of the United States and the Navajo Nation. “The trust litigation has been a protracted battle and, in the end, it was a victory for tribal sovereignty,” Shelly said in a statement. “After a long, hard-won process, I am pleased that we have finally come to a resolution on this matter to receive fair and just compensation for Navajo Nation.”

For more information please see:

The Arizona Republic – U.S. Government Formally Agrees to Pay Navajos $554 Million – 26 September 2014

CNN International – Navajo Nation to Sign $554 Million Settlement from U.S. Government – 25 September 2014

The Los Angeles Times – U.S. Settlement with Navajo Nation is Largest Ever for a Tribe – 25 September 2014

The Washington Post – U.S. to Pay Navajo Nation $554 Million in Largest Settlement with Single Indian Tribe – 25 September 2014

Security Council Members Urged to Spare Veto in Cases of Mass Atrocity

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

United Nations Headquarters, United Nations – More than two dozen foreign ministers have urged permanent members of United Nations Security Council to avoid using the veto power in matters that involve mass atrocities including genocide. The Security Council has been criticized for failing to produce resolution to respond to mass-atrocities committed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups including the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) during the Syrian civil war which has raged on for more than three years. Several resolutions on Syria proposed by members of the United Nation’s most powerful body have been vetoed by Russia and China.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius urged fellow UN Security council members to hold back using veto powers when dealing with issues of mass-atrocities (Photo courtesy of the Irish Independent)

France, which is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council is proposing that the France, The United States and The United Kingdom voluntarily refrain from using the veto in what French foreign minister Laurent Fabius called “mass crimes”. “We cannot stay paralyzed,” He said calling for an agreement by next year’s 70th anniversary of the UN’s founding.

Sir Mark Lyall Grant, The United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the United Nations, expressed support for France’s proposal saying, “The UK is appalled by its recent abuse at the expense of millions of suffering civilians.” United States Ambassador Samantha Power  did not express specific support for the Fabius’ proposal but criticizes the China and Russia’s vetoes on the Syrian issue, the United States has used its veto power more than two dozen times on issues involving Israel.

“We can even ask ourselves whether ISIL would have gained the foothold it has if the Security Council had been able to come together,” she said, using an acronym for the Islamic State extremist group that has seized huge parts of both Syria and Iraq. Neither Russia nor China sent its ambassador to United Nations to the meeting and China’s representative suggested that Security Council members should “fully consult” with each other to keep disputed draft resolutions from reaching a vote.

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has maintained that Russia will oppose any change to veto rules. Vitaly Churkin’s deputy Alexander Pankin reiterated Russia’s concerns asking what mechanism the UN Secretary General would resort to in order to limit a Security Council member state’s right to use veto. Russia’s representative said the veto repeatedly protected the council from “doubtful undertakings” and asked skeptically how secretary general Ban Ki-Moon would determine what qualified as a mass atrocity. Earlier this year Ban Ki-moon called Syrian conflict an “extraordinarily brutal war” and warned that the UN’s credibility would suffer if was unable to help end it.

Earlier this year both Russia and China vetoed a draft UN resolution calling for the crisis in Syria to be referred to the international criminal court – ignoring support for the measure by 65 other states and all 13 remaining members of the Security Council. Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s UN ambassador, dismissed that vote as a “publicity stunt.

“Moscow and Beijing can veto a resolution but they can’t suppress the desire for justice by the Syrian people and the dozens of governments that stood for their rights,” said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch in response to the vetoes. “With the Syrian crisis entering a fourth year, atrocities raging on all sides, and the death toll skyrocketing well over 150,000, Russia and China’s vote for continued impunity is a disgrace.”

For more information please see:

Irish Independent – UN’s Big Guns Urged to Limit Veto – 26 September 2014

RIA Novosti (Russian State Media) – Russia Vows to Oppose Push to Change UN Veto Rules – 26 September 2014

The Associated Press – Security Council Urged to Spare Veto in Atrocities – 25 September 2014

The Guardian – Russia and China Veto UN Move to Refer Syria to International Criminal Court – 22 May 2014

Brazil Tries to Curb Dengue Fever with ‘Good Mosquito’ Release

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian researchers have released thousands of mosquitoes infected with a bacteria that suppress dengue fever.

Genetically modified mosquitoes. Photo courtesy of International Business Times

The researchers believe that the mosquitoes will multiply, breed and become the majority of mosquitoes.  They hope this will reduce cases of the disease.  The initiative is actually a part of a larger program also taking place in Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Dengue fever, is a mosquito-borne infection that causes a severe flu-like illness.  The more severe forms include dengue shock syndrome and dengue hemorrhagic fever.  Dengue fever must be treated before it turns into dengue shock syndrome or dengue hemorrhagic fever.  Dengue fever is commonly found in urban areas of subtropical and tropical climates, such as Central and South America, various parts of Africa and Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The intracellular bacteria the mosquitoes were infected with, Wolbachia, cannot be transmitted to humans.

The program started in 2012.  “Transparency and proper information for the household is a priority.” said Luciano Moreira of the Brazilian research institute Fiocruz, who is leading the project in Brazil.  “Our teams performed weekly visits to the four neighborhoods in Rio being targeted.  Mosquitoes were analyzed after collection in special traps.”

Ten thousand mosquitoes will be released each month for four months, the first release was in Tubiacanga, in the north of Rio.

The bacterium Wolbachia is found in 60% of insects.  Wolbachia acts as a vaccine for the mosquito which carries dengue, Aedes aegypti, stopping the dengue virus multiplying in its body.

Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia become predominant without researchers having to constantly release more contaminated insects.

The program has already proved successful in Australia.  Within 10 weeks on average Wolbachia mosquitoes became predominant.

Three more neighborhoods will be targeted next.  There will be large scale studies to evaluate the effect of the strategy possibly in 2016.

Dengue fever re-emerged in Brazil in 1981 after an absence of more than 20 years.  In the following 30 years, seven million cases were reported.

Brazil leads the world in the number of dengue cases, with 3.2 million cases and 800 deaths reported in the 2009-14 period.  The disease continues to have implications for Brazil’s public health system and economy.  There was large concern about dengue fever in Brazil during the World Cup.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Brazil Releases ‘Good’ Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue Fever — 24 Sept. 2014

The Malay Mail Online — Researchers Release ‘Good’ Mosquitoes to Suppress Dengue Fever in Brazil — 26 Sept. 2014

International Business Times — Brazil Releases Thousands of ‘Good’ Mosquitos to Combat Dengue Fever — 25 Sept. 2014

The New Age Online — Brazil Releases Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue Fever — 25 Sept. 2014