Update: Mladic makes first court appearance; threatens hunger strike

Update: Mladic makes first court appearance; threatens hunger strike

By Greg Hall
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

I do not want to hear a single letter or sentence of that indictment read out to me, Ratko Mladic said during his first court appearance last Friday. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).
"I do not want to hear a single letter or sentence of that indictment read out to me," Ratko Mladic said during his first court appearance last Friday. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Former Serbian commander Ratko Mladic appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to enter a plea last Friday. The once feared warrior and general is now long gone, replaced by an ill, elderly man. Yet, upon hearing the charges against him, Mladic gawked at the judge and answered the judge’s questions with contempt, claiming the allegations were “obnoxious” and “monstrous.” Mladic seemed more concerned with his health then with the allegations set before him.

Mladic was handed over to the tribunal to face charges for the worst war crimes and atrocities since World War II. After his capture, he attempted to avoid extradition, contending that he was not mentally or physically fit to stand trial. Serbian judges rejected his appeal and ordered the extradition to The Hague as soon as possible.

Mladic was indicted by the tribunal sixteen years ago for his role in the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital and the massacre of over 8,000 Muslim men and boys during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

“Mladic was the highest-ranking Bosnian Serb military leader during the wars in Bosnia. He is charged with responsibility for the role that he and his military forces played in the violent criminal campaigns that swept across Bosnia and Herzegovina,” chief prosecutor for ICTY Serge Brammertz said.

Mladic was captured after sixteen years of being on the run. Milos Saljic , Mladic’s attorney, visited Mladic in prison and reported that Mladic was “crying and very emotional” after a farewell visit from Mladic’s wife and sister last week.

After being captured, Mladic expressed that he should have just killed himself before being subjected to the authorities. Now, Mladic is threatening a hunger strike where he will refuse to take his medication and the food delivered to him unless he gets “adequate medical care, a lawyer, and allow his family to visit him.” Mladic was moved from a hospital prison to a cell. It is believed that Mladic is so sick that he may not live to see the start of his trial.

Mladic’s arrest and prosecution indicate a major step in the international effort to end impunity. After sixteen years of being on the run, the authorities caught up to him. It took a long time but it sent a message that the international community will not tolerate impunity, even if it takes sixteen years to get justice.

For more information, please see:

RIA Novosti – Mladic Threatens Hunger Strike if Rights not Observed – 6 June 2011

New Vision – Ratko Mladic and the End of Impunity – 5 June 2011

New York Times – Mladic Refuses to Enter Plea at War Crimes Tribunal – 3 June 2011

The Times of India – Mladic Must Face War Crimes Charges: Prosecutor – 1 June 2011

Taiwan News – Mladic Appeal on UN Court Extradition Rejected – 31 May, 2011

Venezuelan Inmates take prison employees hostage for the second time in two months

By Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Inmates in Venezuelan prisons have taken prison officials hostage on two separate occasions in the last two months.  On April 27, 2011, at the El Rodeo prison, 22 employee hostages were taken.  State officials said that the hostages were taken by the inmates to protest an alleged tuberculosis outbreak.

Soldiers guarding the prison in Caracas, Venezuela, where inmates took 15 officials hostage. (Photo Courtesy of MSNBC).

The hostile take-over ended eight days later when the prison director and 21 prison employees were released.  Officials agreed to the inmate’s demands to screen all incoming patients and dismiss one health official within the prison.

On May 20, 2011, at the Caracas prison, the prison director and 14 other employees were taken hostage for over a day as a protest against prisoner mistreatment.  The hostage situation began when inmates physically clashed with the National Guard as they were taken to court.

Caracas inmates demanded that their rights be respected and that certain administrative officials be dismissed.  No dismissals resulted; however, state officials agreed to investigate alleged incidents of prisoner abuse and to more closely monitor prison employees.

A recent investigation into the San Antonio prison on Margarita Island has revealed a bizarre situation.  Inmates of the prison are not incarcerated in the traditional sense.  Here, the prisoners have taken control.  Children of inmates swim in a prison pool, wives and girlfriends visit regularly and satellite TV is provided.  Prisoners mingle freely with each other and with visitors.  Not only are they permitted to bet on cock fights, but prisoners openly engage in the sale and use of drugs and firearms.

An incarcerated drug trafficker, Teófilo Rodriguez, referred to as “El Conejo” (The Rabbit) is in control of the prison.  He uses other inmates as personal body guards to enforce his power via intimidation and beatings of other prisoners with baseball bats.  The prison warden is there simply to decide who is permitted in.  Guards search visitors on the way in but not on the way out.  Thus, the prison, filled with convicted drug felons, has become a haven for violence and drug trafficking.

For decades, Venezuela has been unsuccessful in tackling the challenges facing its prison system.  Overcrowding, inmate gang disputes and prison official corruption are just the beginning.  Research done by human rights groups reported that last year, 476 prisoners were killed during their incarceration.  This is roughly 1% of the Venezuelan prisoner population.

For more information, please see;

The New York Times – Where prisoners can do anything, except leave – 3 June 2011

MSNBC – Inmates free 15 hostages at Venezuela prison – 21 May 2011

Times Union – Inmates free 15 hostages at Venezuela prison – 21 May 2011

ABC News – 22 hostages held at Venezuelan prison – 29 April 2011

Documentary Focuses on Rape in Côte d’Ivoire During Civil War

by Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire – In a new documentary, Le Crime Invisible “The Invisible Crime“, Etelle Higonnet and Raynald Lellouche depict the sexual violence that occurred between 2002 and 2007 during the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire.  The film was released in French on May 18, 2011, and its English premier will take place in the upcoming months.

Adele, victim of rape, with her child and sisters. (Photo courtesy of AfricaMix).
Adele, victim of rape, with her child and sisters. (Photo Courtesy of AfricaMix).

As tensions in Côte d’Ivoire rise after Laurent Gvbagbo’s capture in April 2011, this film has become increasingly relevant.  After the 2010 election, violence sparked, and women were the first victims of the dispute between the Alassane Ouattara, the UN-certified winner, and Gbagbo, who refused to leave power.

Rape is commonly used as a weapon of war in conflicts around the world.  During the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire, estimates show that one in ten women were raped.  Throughout the five year conflict, tens of thousands of women became victims of rape regardless of economic status, religious belief, or ethnic affiliation.  Author Isabelle Hanne observes after the rape, the women struggle with a cruel punishment: “for the rape and pain, just loneliness, a child born of rape, a husband who denies.”  She continues “because they are denied justice and care, locked in their trauma, these women are also invisible”.

Twelve female journalists worked on The Invisible Crime to give voices to the victims of rape: Aline, Marianne, Aminata, Helen and Rose.  After being raped by the rebels in front of her parents, Aline fled to Liberia.  Marianne feared contracting HIV after she was a sex slave by her torturers.  Africamix, Le Monde Newspaper’s Africa blog, commented: “[the women] all chose to speak on camera, openly, despite the shame, pain, fear.  Compared to other countries such as Guatemala, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Iraq, where sexual violence is used in wartime, the response to the sexual violence in Côte d’Ivoire is alarmingly silent.  The journalists worked on this documentary to highlight the need for information and respect for human life.

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on June 19, 2008, that declared rape constitutes a war crime.  In 2007, China, Russia, and South Africa each blocked a similar resolution.  Higonnet comments on their stance by saying: “These three countries have justified their position by citing the risk of further inflaming the region. But how to make peace without justice and transparency? I would like the media coverage of [The Invisible Crime] UN to publish this report, but also to investigate the sponsors of these rapes.”

In order for the film to be suitable for a wide audience, more severe and violent accounts were removed.  The film is also in French for the viewing of Côte d’Ivoirians and residents of francophone countries.  Finally, Higonnet adds “We must break the silence and confront the political elites, legal, media to this reality.”

For more information, please see:
Sencontinent – Documentary – 10 Years of “Invisible Crime”, these women raped in Côte d’Ivoire – 19 May 2011
Liberation – “The Invisible Crime”, a blindness Ivorian – 18 May 2011
Newen Content – “The Invisible Crime”, May 18, 8:40pm on Planet (CAPA) – 18 May 2011
AfricaMix – Ivorian women victims of “crimes invisible” unpunished – 17 May 2011
Foreign Policy Blogs – War Crimes Against Women and Children – 21 June 2008

War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 6, Issue 5

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is prepared by the International Justice Practice of the Public International Law & Policy Group and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center of Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya

Libya

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Special Court for Sierra Leone

EUROPE

European Court of Human Rights

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

WORTH READING

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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. For more information about War Crimes Prosecution Watch, please contact warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org.

Bahraini Protests Return as Martial Law Lifts

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahrain’s ‘Arab Spring’ appears to be ready to become an Arab Summer as protests have resumed in the small Middle Eastern gulf country.  The renewed fervor comes just a week after Bahrain lifted martial law, which it began imposing in March after initial protests in February.

Bahraini protesters march for more rights (photo courtesy of the L.A. Times)
Bahraini protesters march for more rights (Photo Courtesy of the L.A. Times).

The passage of martial law came just days after Saudi and United Arab Emirates forces moved into Bahrain to quash the pro-democracy movement, resulting in at least 30 deaths.  In the months following the law’s passage hundreds of members of the opposition, as well as many doctors and nurses, who treated injured protesters, have been arrested.

In recent weeks, the government has been targeting women for arrest.  For Gulf Arab culture, there are few things more humiliating to a family than having a female family member detained.  Analysts in the region say this is the first time a government has targeted the opposition by arresting women.

Nabeel Rajab, the vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, sees the lifting of martial law as an insincere gesture.  “The lifting [of the] state of emergency…was more to attract the Formula One…which was going to act as an indicator if Bahrain has come to normal or not,” he said.

The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, one of the Formula One Championship races, was scheduled to be held on 13 March, but was canceled due to the protests.  The race has been rescheduled for 30 October.

Bahrain’s hopes for normalcy appear to be premature, as hours after martial law was lifted, protesters again took to the streets. Bahraini troops have responded aggressively. There are reports of the usage of tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound guns against the protesters.

Bahrain has a majority Shi’ite population, but is ruled by a Sunni family headed by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.  The protests come from the disenfranchised Shi’ite population who want democratic reforms leading to more rights.

The protest organizers are calling for the protests to continue until their demands are met.  One Facebook post urges people to gather in main streets and squares to show the imminence and importance of the movement.

Tensions between the Sunni and Shi’ite have been especially heated lately, and repercussions of the Bahrain protests have reverberated in Iran and Saudi Arabia.  With Iran supporting the Shi’ite majority and the Saudi’s supporting the Sunni leadership, the situation in Bahrain is on its way to becoming a proxy war between the two Middle Eastern powers.

For more information, please see:

Jerusalem Post — Gulf becomes fault line for Sunni-Shi’ite Tensions — 7 June 2011

NPR — Women The Latest Target of Bahrain’s Crackdown — 7 June 2011

Al Jazeera — Bahrain police target ‘Shia processions’ — 6 June 2011

BBC News — Bahrain protests: Trial opens for 47 doctors and nurses — 6 June 2011

Al Jazeera — Security forces attack Bahraini protesters — 2 June 2011

Washington Post — Bahrain lifts emergency law — 1 June 2011