PILPG: War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 11, Issue 18: November 14, 2016

Case School of Law Logo

FREDERICK K. COX
INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER

Founder/Advisor
Michael P. Scharf

War Crimes Prosecution Watch

Volume 11 – Issue 18
November 14, 2016

PILPG Logo

Editor-in-Chief
Kevin J. Vogel

Technical Editor-in-Chief
Jeradon Z. Mura

Managing Editors
Dustin Narcisse
Victoria Sarant

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 warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org 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

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central African Republic

Sudan & South Sudan

Democratic Republic of the Congo

WEST AFRICA

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon

Mali

EAST AFRICA

Uganda

Kenya

Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

Somalia

NORTH AFRICA

Libya

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Yemen

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

Israel and Palestine

North Korea

Iraq

Syria

TOPICS

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Terrorism

Piracy

Gender-Based Violence

Commentary and Perspectives

Mass Grave with Approximately 100 Bodies Found Near Mosul

by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi investigators are examining a mass grave discovered by Iraqi soldiers advancing on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

Authorities believe the mass grave contains approximately 100 bodies (Photo courtesy of BBC News)
Authorities believe the mass grave contains approximately 100 bodies (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

On Monday, November 7th, Iraqi troops noticed a pungent smell while approaching the town of Mosul. The mass grave was discovered behind an “earthen embankment” near an agricultural college. Upon bulldozing, the land revealed bones poking out from beneath the surface, along with scraps of clothing, garbage bags, and “human remains swarming with flies.” An Iraqi cabinet official in charge of mass grave inspections stated that investigators are on their way to the grave site to conduct examinations and determine the cause of death.

The first officials at the site noted that the grave likely holds approximately 100 bodies, most of which are decapitated. Although the victims’ identities are currently unclear, authorities believe that the bodies are likely those of Iraqi security forces members and their relatives. There is rising concern, however, that children may be among the deceased due to a child’s stuffed animal that had been pulled from the grave by a soldier.

The U.N. Office of Human Rights indicated that it is investigating into whether the mass grave is connected to reports of police officers being killed in the same area. The spokeswoman for the Office of Human Rights stated that it had received reports of 50 former Iraqi police officers killed in a building outside Mosul. She further noted that the building cited in these reports was the same as the agricultural college near which the mass grave was found.

On Tuesday, November 8th, authorities discovered two additional mass graves containing 23 bodies, including the remains of women and children. Officials are concerned that these mass graves could be just the “tip of the iceberg.” It appears to be the latest of several mass graves found in territory that has been retaken from the Islamic State, which is known for massacring hundreds of individuals across northern and central Iraq.

For more information, please see:

Northwest Herald—Investigators probe mass grave found near Mosul, Iraq—09 November 2016

Wall Street Journal—Remains in Mass Grave Near Mosul Identified—08 November 2016

Fox News—Iraqis investigate decapitated bodies in mass grave near ISIS-held Mosul—08 November 2016

BBC News—Mass graves in Iraq reveal Islamic State horrors—08 November 2016

Syria Deeply Weekly Update: The Battle for Raqqa Begins


WEEKLY UPDATE
November 11, 2016

Dear Readers,Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments concerning Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:The battle for Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the so-called Islamic State, began on Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab opposition groups backed by the United States, is leading the first phase of the operation against ISIS militants.The U.S.-led coalition is coordinating airstrikes on Raqqa with SDF fighters on the ground. At least 20 civilians were killed in coalition airstrikes on a town north of Raqqa, including nine women and two children. SDF forces took control of six villages north of Raqqa city in the first 24 hours and have seized a total of 17 villages since the offensive began.Last week, Turkey said it would also participate in the battle against ISIS in Raqqa. However, on Monday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that it is “naive” to use Syrian Kurdish SDF fighters in the operation. After a meeting between NATO members in Ankara later that day, chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said that Turkey and the U.S. would work together “on the long-term plan for seizing, holding and governing Raqqa … We always knew the SDF wasn’t the solution for holding and governing Raqqa.”As U.S.-led coalition and U.S.-backed forces fight for control of Raqqa, the Syrian government and its allies have stepped up attacks in the Damascus countryside. In Eastern Ghouta, government airstrikes on a kindergarten in the opposition-controlled town of Harasta killed at least six children on Sunday. Later in the week, several airstrikes on the opposition-controlled city of Douma and the town of Saqba in Eastern Ghouta killed at least 12 people.

Weekly Highlights:

Analysis: How Civilians Will Lose in the Battle Against ISIS in Raqqa

As the U.S.-led offensive against ISIS pushes fighters out of Mosul into Syria, a similar offensive has begun against militants in Raqqa, but that’s not likely to stop them from mounting attacks, writes journalist Mohamad Bazzi.

Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces gather ahead of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, outside Erbil, Iraq. Simultaneous attacks are taking place on the Islamic State-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital in Syria. AP/Khalid Mohammed, File

Wheelchair Race Gives Hope to Injured in Besieged Eastern Ghouta

Amid the rubble in the Damascus suburbs, a wheelchair race sheds light on the growing number of people with lifelong injuries caused by the conflict in Syria, and survivors’ attempts to reengage with a war-ravaged community.

Men compete in a wheelchair race in the streets of Eastern Ghouta. Syrian Revolution Network

Long Read: Why Khan Eshieh Palestinian Camp Could Be the Next Yarmouk

As fighting intensifies in the area around Syria’s Khan Eshieh – the so-called “camp of return” – and UNRWA draws parallels with the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, thousands of Palestinian refugees who call Khan Eshieh home face displacement for a second time.

Residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, Syria, queue to receive food supplies. UNRWA via AP, File

Additional Reading:

Top image: U.S.-backed fighters taking a rest during fighting with the Islamic State group near Ein Issa, north of Raqqa, Syria. Qasioun, a Syrian Opposition Media Outlet, via AP

Women in France Stage Walkout to Protest Unequal Pay

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France — This past Monday, at 4:34pm, women across France staged a walk-out from their jobs in order to protest the disparity in salaries and wages between women and men.  Women’s rights group Les Glorieuses called for the protest, deciding that the issue of wage disparity finally needs to be addressed in France.  200 women were gathered in Place de la Republique by 5pm on Monday, and there were protests staged in other cities across France as well.  Thousands of women were seen on social media leaving their jobs on Monday afternoon.  The movement became known as “7 november 16h34.”

Women gather at Place de Republique to protest unequal pay (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
Women gather at Place de Republique to protest unequal pay (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Les Glorieuses was inspired by a similar and successful protest in Iceland last month.  For the past 11 years, women in Iceland have been walking out on the same day and time that they should leave if they were to be paid the same hourly wage as men.  Iceland’s pay gap between men and women’s hourly wages is 14%.

In France, women were urged to leave at exactly 4:34pm because according to their calculations, after this point women will have been essentially working voluntarily.  In 2010, the gap between men and women’s average hourly wage was 15.5%, which means that a woman in France must work 38.2 days more than a male counterpart in order to be awarded the same salary.  Rebecca Amsellem, founder of Les Glorieuses, “thought the difference would maybe be 10 working days, not a month-and-a-half.”

Amsellem urged that at exactly 4:34pm on Monday, “women essentially stop being paid.”  Osez le Feminisme, another women’s rights group, is supporting the movement as well and has called on French companies to be fined if they do not respect equal pay laws.  Les Glorieuses also claims that factored in to the percentage of pay difference between men and women is the notion that women do 1.5 more hours of unpaid housework every day than men.

In recognition of the movement, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo suspended the city council for the afternoon. French minister for women’s rights, Laurence Rossignol, voiced her support for any women from her office who wished to take part in the protest. Rossignol told reports that “[w]hen women protest, they make visible what is invisible, when they speak their outrage and raise collective indignation even higher, I support it.”

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Why did some French Women Walk out of Work Early? — 7 November 2016

IBT — Following Icelandic Example, Women in France Walked out of their Jobs at 4:34pm — 7 November 2016

The Local —  Women in France Urged to Walk out of Work Early — 7 November 2016

RT — French Women Stage Mass Walkout in Protest Against Wage Gap — 7 November 2016

The Washington Post — Women Across France will Leave Work at 4:34pm Today.  Here’s Why. — 7 November 2016

Zuma Under Fire Amid Reports of Corruption

By Samantha Netzband 

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa– President Jacob Zuma is under intense scrutiny after being accused of corruption.  Zuma has been under fire before for misuse of government funds.  A new 355 page report called the ‘State of Capture’ claims that Zuma had an improper relationship with the Gupta Brothers.  The report claims that the Gupta brothers helped Zuma pick key cabinet members.

South African President Jacob Zuma speaks to delegates at the Harare International Conference Centre in Harare

Zuma giving a speech. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Zuma is a member of the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela that has been ruling South Africa since the end of apartheid.  The party has enjoyed uninterrupted rule despite Zuma’s past issues with corruption.  However, the release of the ‘State of Capture’ is worrying other party members who are calling for a full investigation of Zuma.

Opposition party members are calling for Zuma’s resignation.  Zuma is defiant and says that he has done nothing wrong.

For further information, please see: 

BBC – South Africa’s Zuma ‘Not Afraid of Jail’ Amid Corruption Allegations – 5 November 2016

CNN – South Africa corruption report released amid anti-Zuma protests – 2 November 2016

Gulf News – Zuma’s Truly Overwhelming Problems – 5 November 2016

Press TV – South Africa’s Zuma Censures Judiciary Amid Corruption Probe – 5 November 2016