Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s Review of Statements Regarding the ICC General Debate in Kampala, Uganda
ICC Office of the Prosecutor Weekly Briefing – 25-31 May – Issue #39
Taliban Attack National Peace Conference
By David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
KABUL, Afghanistan — Suspected militants fired rockets, detonated explosives and engaged in an intense gun battle with security forces Wednesday near the site of a three-day jirga, or peace meeting, where Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke. Up to 1,600 delegates including tribal elders, religious leaders and members of parliament from all over the country have convened for the traditional meeting where delegates were divided over whether to negotiate peace with Taliban leaders to end nearly nine years of war.
None of the Afghans moved as the rockets landed. “All stood [still] including 300 women, they were defiant. The signal was ‘we are used to this, we are ready for it but we want to continue’,” Staffan de Mistura told the BBC. The meeting is continuing.
An official in charge of organising the event, Farooq Wardak, said three heavily-armed militants dressed in burkas were involved in the attack. Police later said they had surrounded a home in Kabul where suspected insurgents, believed to be responsible for the attack, were holed up. Two people, described as suicide bombers, were killed and one was arrested in connection with the attack, Karzai’s spokesman said.
The Taliban have been waging a battle to overthrow the US-backed government and expel the 130,000 foreign troops there. The attack underscored the Taliban’s opposition to what they have dubbed as a “phony reconciliation process” stacked with Karzai’s supporters and an ignored female presence. They insist they will not negotiate until all foreign troops leave the country. Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai’s main rival in last year’s presidential election, declined to attend the conference, saying the hand-picked delegates do not represent Afghan public opinion.
The jirga is due to finish late on Friday, with a declaration expected on what steps should be taken to end the insurgency, which groups should be included in the process, and how they should be approached. President Karzai has proposed offering an amnesty and reintegration incentives to low-level Taliban who accept the constitution. He has also offered to negotiate the removal of some Taliban from a UN blacklist, and to give certain leaders asylum in another Islamic country for the purpose of holding peace talks.
The United States has already promised financial help for the program to lure Taliban foot soldiers to give up fighting.
For more information, please see:
The Huffington Post – Taliban Attacks Afghanistan Peace Conference – 2 June 2010
BBC News – Violence mars Afghanistan peace meeting in Kabul – 2 June 2010
Al Jazeera English – Taliban attacks Afghan peace jirga – 2 June 2010
Image Courtesy of The National Post
Darfur Peace Talks Stall as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens
By: Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
KHARTOUM, Sudan – The Sudanese government announced on Thursday that it would not continue to engage in peace talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Darfur’s main anti-government group. Instead, the government is planning on prosecuting JEM leaders, a move which has heightened tensions between the parties in recent days.
Ahmad Hussain Adam, a JEM representative, commented that the group had anticipated the government’s decision. Although the government signed a framework accord with JEM in February of this year, negotiations collapsed before the two parties could form a final peace agreement. Despite international pressure to resume peace talks, negotiations are unlikely to restart in the near future as both parties continue to point fingers at each other.
But all hopes for peace are not lost. Although the government has vowed to take a hard-line stance toward the JEM, the government will be attending a peace conference with another anti-government group, the Liberation and Justice Movement, on June 6th. The parties hope to come to a final agreement by the end of June however, many remain skeptical of the parties’ intentions and are concerned that the upcoming negotiations in Doha, Qatar are simply a venue for more political maneuvering.
Despite the government’s optimistic tone, tensions between the government and rebel groups continue to escalate. The conflict in Darfur is now in its seventh year and has claimed over 300,000 lives according to estimates by the United Nations. Another 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes and continue to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
U.N. officials grow increasingly worried about the scope of the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan. Conflict continues to uproot thousands of Sudanese from their homes and starvation and illness remain significant causes of death among civilians. Many non-governmental organizations have also ceased their aid efforts in recent weeks as a result of continued fighting. According to the United Nations News Centre, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations John Holmes, after visiting Sudan this past week, remarked that the current circumstances in Sudan have compounded into a “recipe for disaster.” Although a peace agreement is long overdue many contentious issue must still be resolved before Sudan can start recovering from the effects of this seven year war.
For more information, please see:
Bloomberg Businessweek – Sudan Army, Rebel Groups Clash in Western Darfur, UN Says – 31 May, 2010
UN News Centre – UN Relief Chief Sounds Alarm on Darfur’s Dire Humanitarian Situation – 29 May, 2010
Al-Jazeera – Sudan Shelves Peace Talks with JEM – 27 May, 2010
Sudan Tribune – Darfur Peace Talks to Resume in June – 27, May, 2010
Brazilians Exposed to Large Quantity of Agro-toxins
By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BRASILIA, Brazil – In recent years, Brazil has become a haven for agro-toxins that are shunned by other industrialized countries. According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, the National Agency for Sanitary Monitoring, the United Nations and the Brazilian Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry claim that Brazilian farmers make unabridged use of ten to twelve chemicals that are specifically banned in other parts of South America, the United States, and the European Union.
While legislation currently exists to limit the use of these dangerous toxins, the government is “dragging their feet” and has failed to take appropriate actions to reassess the chemicals or take them off of the market completely. More specifically, the government has failed to act even though many of these substances, including metamidophos, have long been associated with endocrine problems in humans.
Despite Brazil’s movement toward genetically modified crops, the use of toxins have not subsided. In fact, recent studies have shown that more toxins have been used to treat genetically modified crops than were used to treat non-genetically modified crops. Businesses that sells genetically modified seeds, including Bayer and Dow, are the same companies who manufacture the agro-toxins. These companies place a great deal of pressure on Brazil to purchase the chemicals along with the genetically modified crops.
Rosany Bochner, coordinator of Brazil’s National System of Toxic-Pharmacology, fears that Brazilians are being exposed to potentially dangerous substances that the rest of the world has rejected. Although data does not currently exist that studies the health repercussions of these agro-toxins, few deny that they will have long-term negative side-effects.
According to Researcher Frioruz Marcelo Firpo, Brazil is under mounting pressure to keep up with the world’s economy. As pressure mounts to ban these chemicals across the world, additional pressure is being put on Brazil to purchase the toxins.
While Firpo openly acknowledges that Brazilians are paying a heavy “invisible” cost as a result of ingesting these toxins, there does not appear to be a great deal of optimism that practices will change.
For more information, please see:
Merco Press – Brazil has become a “haven” for the use of world-banned agro-toxins – 31 May 2010
O Estado de Sao Paulo – Brasil é destino de agrotóxicos banidos no exterior – 30 May 2010
Check Biotech – Uruguay and Brazil: Genetically Modified Products and Agro-toxins Go Hand in Hand-18 August 2009