ICTJ World Report
October 2016

In Focus

Cote d’Ivoire Youth Find Political Voice Through StorytellingIn Cote d’Ivoire, avenues for education system reform are limited. To help youth find their voice, ICTJ and UNICEF facilitated an innovative truth-telling project led by Ivorian young people themselves. The result: an exploration of the unique experiences of young people during the conflict, told through radio broadcasts, public discussions and reports to government officials.

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World Report

AFRICASouth Africa announced it will attempt to pull out of the International Criminal Court. This follows news that Burundi’s parliament voted to leave the ICC. Uganda says it is “undecided” about whether to leave the court. The head of the Ugandan army also announced the country’s intention to halt operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army, saying the rebellion no longer exists as a “conventional fighting force.” However, experts fear that the withdrawal of Ugandan troops will create a security vacuum in the LRA’s operational territory. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Jean-Pierre Bemba was convicted of witness tampering by the ICC. Bemba is already serving an 18-year prison sentence for war crimes. The UN expressed its concerns over the fragile political situation in the DRC, fearing it could lead to large-scale violence, as “actors on all sides appear more and more willing to resort to violence to achieve their ends.” Elections were also pushed back until 2018, a move that will anger opposition groups, which have accused the president of trying to cling on to power. In Kenya, David Maraga has been sworn in as the country’s new chief justice, and has promised to end corruption. In Sudan, rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPMN) suspended peace talks with the government amid reports that government forces used chemical weapons against civilians in war-torn Darfur. Demonstrations in the Ivory Coast have intensified this month as police use tear gas to disperse the people protesting the constitution.

AMERICASIn Colombia voters narrowly rejected a peace deal between the FARC and the government in a plebiscite held on October 2. People took to the streets to demand the peace accord be respected, as President Manuel Santos met with right-wing former president, Alvaro Uribe, to discuss changes to the agreement with the FARC-EP. Juan Manuel Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end a 52-year-old war with Marxist guerrillas. A draft bill on constitutional justice reforms in the Guatemala legislature was approved. Among other things, the bill seeks to improve access to justice for women and indigenous peoples. In Peru , the former head of Peru’s intelligence services was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the forced disappearance and murder of two students and a teacher in 1993. In Geneva the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee will investigate how Jamaicahas been handling human rights issues, particularly gender discrimination and those relating to persons living with disabilities.

ASIAIn Nepal, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has prepared reparation guideline suggesting various compensation and reparation schemes for victims. A rights group in Myanmar said it had documented what appeared to be extrajudicial killings of Muslims by the army, following government claims that nine police officers were killed. In the Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte compared his drug campaign – which has resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings – with the Holocaust, saying: “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are 3 million drug addicts.” A UN expert has urged Sri Lanka to broaden its work on minority rights despite signs of progress after a 27-year civil war. A court in Tajikistan sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers to long prison terms.

EUROPEIn Croatia a prosecutor has charged eight former Serb troop commanders with torture, rape, expulsion and killing of more than 100 civilians during fighting in Croatia in 1991-95. Relatives of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre told a Dutch appeals court that the government should be held responsiblefor failing to protect more of the thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys killed there. In Germany17,000 refugees sued the government for not giving them full refugee status – and most won.

MENAIn Tunisia, parliament is debating a bill to strengthen legislation on violence against women. Syria has violated international law as UN human rights officials called the siege and bombardment of eastern Aleppo “crimes of historic proportions.” Following allegations of Russian obstruction, France has said it will turn to the International Criminal Court to launch investigations into alleged war crimes by Russia and Syria. Palestine welcomed delegates from the International Criminal Court and said they hoped it would open a war crimes investigation against Israel. In Yemen a double airstrike incinerated a packed funeral hall, killing about 140 people. In Egypt a court has upheld a 20-year jail sentence passed against ousted president Mohamed Morsi for his role in the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Decemmber 2012.

Publications

Recommendations for Victim Reparations in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire is obligated to provide reparations to victims of both the political violence that shook the country following the 2010 presidential elections and the different episodes of political violence and armed conflict since 1990.

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Handbook on Complementarity

Where should justice for some of the world’s worst crimes be done? In national courts or at the International Criminal Court in The Hague? Our new Handbook on Complementarity explores those questions, laying out the interconnected relationship between the ICC and national court systems in the global fight against impunity.

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Upcoming Events

November 03, 2016

Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir, International Organization for Migration Location: New York, NY View Details

December 01 – 03, 2016

Confronting Violent Pasts and Historical (In)Justice Location: Amsterdam, NetherlandsView Details

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Impunity Watch

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World Report

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Author: Impunity Watch Archive