Former Nuremberg Prosecutor Ben Ferencz Closes ICC Case against Lubanga

September 11, 2011

By Eric C. Sigmund
Managing Editor of News, Impunity Watch

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – In a historic moment for the International Criminal Court, former Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz, joined ICC prosecutors last month to complete the Court’s first ever trial – concluding the closing statements in the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Mr. Ferencz, a strong advocate of the ICC, served as the Chief Prosecutor for the United States at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, in the “Einsatzgruppen Case.” Mr. Ferencz’s efforts in what has been recognized as the “biggest murder trial in history,” led to the conviction of twenty-two Nazi war criminals charged with murdering over one million people. Mr. Ferencz’s remarks to the Court highlighted the continued importance of international criminal law since the Nuremberg tribunal and the role of humanity in promoting the rule of law.

Benjamin Ferencz, former prosecutor for the United States at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany (Photo Courtesy of benferencz.org)

Thomas Lubanga, the former rebel leader of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), has been charged with systematically recruiting children under the age of 15 as soldiers. This practice, which has been prevalent in conflicts throughout Africa, has been deemed a violation of international law. While some have called the legitimacy of the trial into question, Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda contends that Lubanga’s guilt reaches “beyond any possible doubt.” Deputy Prosecutor Bensouda further notes that “His conviction…will mean justice for thousands of victims and will send a clear message: There will be no impunity for those who recruit children.”

Reflecting on the importance of the Lubanga trial, Mr. Ferencz stressed that “this is a historic moment in the evolution of international criminal law.” Noting the magnitude of Lubanga’s crimes, Ferencz stated “The Prosecutor’s Office spoke at length, meticulously detailing grim facts establishing the responsibility of the accused for the crimes alleged. The evidence showed that waves of children, recruited under Mr. Lubanga’s command, moved through as many as 20 training camps, some holding between eight and sixteen hundred children under age 15… Words and figures cannot adequately portray the physical and psychological harm inflicted on vulnerable children who were brutalized and who lived in constant fear. The loss and grief to their inconsolable families is immeasurable. Their childhood stolen, deprived of education and all human rights, the suffering of the young victims and their families left permanent scar.” Closing the prosecution’s case against Lubanga, Ferencz encouraged the Court to “Let the voice and the verdict of [the] court now speak for the awakened conscience of the world.”

Mr. Ferencz’s comments mark a critical period in the development of international law. With the world awaiting the verdict against Mr. Lubanga, the former Nuremberg prosecutor reminds us all that international criminal law continues to “protect the fundamental rights of people everywhere.”

The full transcript of Mr. Ferencz remarks can be seen here.

For more information, please see:

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Lubanga: Judges Deliberate First ICC Judgment – 29 Aug. 2011

Agence France Presse – Lubanga Guilty “Beyond Any Possible Doubt”: ICC Prosecutor – 25 Aug. 2011

BenFerencz.org – Speech of Mr. Benjamin Ferencz at Closing of Lubanga Case – August 2011

BenFerencz.org – Biography – 2011

Speech of Mr. Benjamin Ferencz at Closing of Lubanga Case

September 11, 2011

By Benjamin B. Ferencz
Published: August 2011
Courtesy of BenFerencz.org

This is a historic moment in the evolution of international criminal law. For the first time a permanent international criminal court will hear the closing statement for the Prosecution as it concludes it first case against its first accused Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

I witnessed such an evolution. As an American soldier, I survived the indescribable horrors of World War II and served as a liberator of many concentration camps. Shortly thereafter, I was appointed a Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War crimes trials which mapped new rules for the protection of humanity. I was 27 years old then. I am now in my 92nd year, having spent a lifetime striving for a more humane world governed by the rule of law.

I am honoured to represent the Prosecutor and to share some personal observations regarding the significance of this trial.

The most significant advance I have observed in international law has gone almost unnoticed; it is the slow awakening of the human conscience. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed inalienable, fundamental rights of “all members of the human family as a foundation of freedom peace and justice in the world.” Countless human rights declarations have been made over many years by many dedicated persons and organizations. But legal action to enforce the promises has been slow in coming.

In Rome in 1998, when the Statute that binds this Court was overwhelmingly approved, over a hundred sovereign states decided that child recruitment and forcing them to participate in hostilities were among “the most serious crimes of concern for the international community as a whole.” Punishing perpetrators was recognized as a legal obligation.

What makes this Court so distinctive is its primary goal to deter crimes before they take place by letting wrongdoers know in advance that they will be called to account by an impartial International Criminal Court. The law can no longer be silent but must instead be heard and enforced to protect the fundamental rights of people everywhere.

The Prosecutor’s Office spoke at length meticulously detailing grim facts establishing the responsibility of the accused for the crimes alleged. The evidence showed that waves of children, recruited under Mr. Lubanga’s command, moved through as many as 20 training camps, some holding between eight and sixteen hundred children under age 15.

Words and figures cannot adequately portray the physical and psychological harm
inflicted on vulnerable children who were brutalized and who lived in constant fear. The loss and grief to their inconsolable families is immeasurable. Their childhood stolen, deprived of education and all human rights, the suffering of the young victims and their families left permanent scars. We must try to restore the faith of children so that they may join in restoring the shattered world from which they came.

Imagine the pain of mothers crying and pleading at the door of the camps still suffering and wondering what happened to their children. Picture the agony of the father who said : “[…] he is my first son. All of my hopes were laid on him. […]the child was ruined. […] Today he can do nothing in his life. He has abandoned his education. And this is something which affects me greatly.”

All of the girls recruited could expect to be sexually violated.

All of these events which the Prosecution has carefully presented have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Once again, “the case we present is a plea of humanity to law.” It was a call for human beings to behave in a humane and lawful way.

The hope of humankind is that compassion and compromise may replace the cruel and senseless violence of armed conflicts. That is the law as prescribed by the Rome Statute that binds this Court as well as the UN Charter that binds everyone. Vengeance begets vengeance. The illegal use of armed force, which is the soil from which all human rights violation grow must be condemned as a crime against humanity. International disputes must be resolved not by armed force but by peaceful means only. Seizing and training young people to hate and kill presumed adversaries undermines the legal and moral firmament of human society.

Let the voice and the verdict of this esteemed global court now speak for the awakened conscience of the world.

COMMISSIONER ON HUMAN RIGHTS URGES EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO ‘COME CLEAN’ ABOUT PARTICIPATION WITH CIA ‘BLACK SITES’

September 10, 2011

By: Alexandra Halsey-Storch
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France–On September 6, Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner on Human Rights, issued a statement urging European nations—and specifically Romania—to come forth and accept responsibility for a myriad of atrocious human rights violations committed at various black site locations as part of the United States’s War on Terror and the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (“RDI”) program.

A Map of CIA black sites where detainees were held and interrogated (The Huffington Post) — A Map of CIA black sites where detainees were held and interrogated (Photo Curtesy of The Huffington Post)

The black sites are “highly secured detention facilities” which harbored “high value detainees” (HVDs) at the height of the War on Terror. After being captured, the most wanted terrorist suspects were detained in a “vast network of clandestine counter-terrorism operations.” These operations were established between “partner agencies across Europe” (and throughout the globe). Each participating country lent their “closest collaboration,” explained Hammarberg.

Once secured at the black sites, detainees were thereafter subjected to “enhanced interrogation” techniques, which “routinely crossed the threshold of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and in many cases consisted of torture.”

Interrogation methods that were used included suffocation by water, prolonged stress standing (naked, with arms extended and chained above one’s head for two to three days at a time), beating and kicking, confinement in a box, which severely restricted movement, prolonged nudity, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold temperatures, and starvation.

Typically, suspected terrorists were moved around to several black site locations during a period of up to four and a half years in order to disorient and confuse the detainee and in an effort to elicit compliance.

Perhaps yet another purpose of the black sites was to mitigate United States accountability. In the “Memorandum for John A. Rizzo,” (“Memorandum”) the United States Department of Justice Office of Legal Council iterated that Article 16 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment applies to conduct within the territory under United States jurisdiction. The Office of Legal Council went on to interpret “jurisdiction” to include, “at most, areas over which the United States exercises at least de facto authority as the government.” The Memorandum further stated that “based on CIA assurances, we understand that the interrogations do not take place in any such areas,” therefore rendering Article 16 inapplicable to said CIA interrogation practices.

Maybe indicative of the highly illegal nature of the black sites, the United States has been determined to keep the locations secret. While CIA officials acknowledge that black sites did in fact exist, they deny violating any laws, and refuse to express much more. As discussed in an article entitled “CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons,” published in 2005 by the Washington Post, the existence and locations of the black sites were, at first, known to only a “handful of officials in the United States and usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.” Despite recent efforts to uncover the exact locations of all of the black sites, the United States continues to maintain that “details concerning locations” and the “assistance of foreign liaison services in any aspect of the [RDI] program should be kept secret.” Additionally, according to an article issued by CNN, “efforts to challenge the CIA in U.S courts have been turned aside.”

While it remains to be seen how the United States may or may not be implicated under the United Nations Convention, Polish, Romanian, and Lithuanian officials—as convention members—may be held responsible for allowing the CIA to knowingly execute the RDI program and the multitude of human rights violations in their respective countries.

According to Hammarberg, Poland’s black site was opened on December 5, 2002. Between 2002 and 2003, HVDs were held and tortured at this site. While Polish officials were not involved in handling or interrogating detainees, they authorized the occurrences and for that, may be held to some level of accountability under the United Nations Convention.

Furthermore, Hammarberg went on to say that there is significant evidence which shows that Romania’s black site opened on September 23, 2003. Once Poland’s site closed, at least one HVD was brought from Poland to Romania. Romania’s site was open for at least two years. Despite the evidence to the contrary, Romania has continued to deny any wrongdoing; in fact, following Hammarberg’s statement on September 7, Romania’s Foreign Minister expressed to CNN that, “the country has no information whatsoever showing that there existed secret CIA detention centers on its territory.” Perhaps this statement speaks to Hammarberg’s conclusion that Romania has shown “little genuine will to uncover the whole truth.”

Hammarberg also noted that Lithuania—who also held high value detainees in a black site for at least two years—has been complicit in investigations. Lithuania has also demonstrated “intent to reveal the truth through a parliamentary inquiry and a one year pre-trial investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office.”

Hammarberg concluded, saying that “the full truth must now be established and guarantees given that such forms of co-operation will never be repeated. Effective investigations are imperative and long overdue.”

For more information, please visit:

CNN.com – Council of Europe demands truth on CIA ‘black sites – 6 Sept. 2011

CNN.com – Romania denies hostin secret CIA prisons – 7 Sept. 2011

American Daily Herald – Council of Europe Criticizes U.S. and Partners Over Black Sites and Torture – 8 Sept. 2011

Council of Europe – “Special Review” of Black Sites undertaken by the CIA Inspector General – 5 September 2011

The Irish Times – U.S. Department of Justice Memorandum for John A. Rizzo – 30 May 2005

The Washington Post – CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons – 2 Nov. 2005

Vietnam allowing forced labor and denial of treatment in drug rehabilitation centers

September 10, 2011

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – Those detained in Vietnam for drug use are being held without due process, forced to labor without compensation and enduring physical violence according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Vietnamese drug users are forced to labor while being detained in drug rehabilitation centers (Photo Courtesy of Human Rights Watch).

According to the report, “The Rehab Archipelago: Forced Labor and Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centers in Southern Vietnam,” drug detention centers that are mandated to treat and rehabilitate drug users are being used as labor camps where those arrested for drug use are forced to work six days a week to sew garments, manufacture products and process cashews.

Those who are compensated receive only a few dollars a month, much of which is taken by the facility to pay for food and shelter, and are forced to work in unhealthy conditions.

The individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that they were not given a trial or informed of any process of appeal. Individuals who voluntarily entered the facility were not allowed to leave and had their detention arbitrarily extended by management officials at the center.

Punishment at the facility is severe and often involves torture. Those who refuse to work are beaten with batons, electrically shocked, kept in isolation, forced to work longer hours and deprived of food and water.

There have been several large escapes since the Vietnamese government issued an order increasing the mandatory period of treatment from one year to two years and the maximum period of treatment increased from one year to four years.

A former detainee described the punishment he was forced to endure after trying to escape: “First they beat my legs so that I couldn’t run off again… [Then] they shocked me with an electric baton [and] kept me in the punishment room for a month.”

Cashews are the most common product derived from forced labor in drug rehabilitation camps which contributes to Vietnam’s status as the largest cashew producer in the world. Vietnam is the largest supplier of Cashew’s to the United States and is a large supplier of the nut to China and the European Union.

Human Rights Watch is calling the U.S. and Australian governments, the United Nations, the World Bank and other internationally donors to validate the facilities they are funding to avoid “indirectly [facilitating] human rights abuses.”

Last year the United States donated $7.7 million to Vietnam for methadone treatment and community based drug intervention. None of the individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch; however, had received methadone or any other medical tool for fighting addiction.

As a result of the report Columbia Sportswear, located in Oregon, ended its relationship with a Vietnamese factory after it was discovered that the factory had subcontracted work with a drug detention center.

The drug use centers are a component of a Vietnamese system aimed at eliminating “social evils” including prostitution and drug use. As of early 2011, there were 123 centers across Vietnam which housed approximately 40,000 individuals.

Although Vietnamese officials claim that labor helps drug addicts by keeping them away from temptations, the official relapse rate of those who leave the camps is between 70 percent and 80 percent although most believe that the actually rate is closer to 95 percent.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America – Vietnam’s Drug Rehab Centers Under Fire – 9 September 2011

Associated Press – Rights Group: Forced Labor in Vietnam Drug Centers – 7 September 2011

Human Rights Watch –Vietnam: Torture, Forced Labor in Drug Detention – 7 September 2011

Radio Free Asia –Drug Detention Akin to ‘Labor Camps’ – 6 September 2011

Time – From Vietnam’s Forced-Labor Camps: ‘Blood Cashews’ – 6 September 2011

CHINA ON DEFENSIVE OVER PROPOSED ILLEGAL GADHAFI ARMS SHIPMENT

September 10, 2011

by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch, Asia

BEIJING, China — On September 2, Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, published a story regarding official documents found in Tripoli detailing mid-July meetings at which representatives of three major Chinese state-controlled weapons manufacturing firms offered to sell $200 million worth of weapons to senior Gadhafi security officials.

Artillery shells abandoned by Gadhaffis forces. — Artillery shells abandoned by Gadhafi's forces. (Photograph courtesy of CBC News).

According to the Globe and Mail, the documents contain evidence that representatives of the companies proposed to sell the Gadhafi regime “the entire contents of their stockpiles” including: truck-mounted rocket launchers, fuel-air explosive missiles, anti-tank missiles, and QW-18 surface-to-air missiles among other weaponry.

The Globe and Mail reported that the companies promised to manufacture additional supplies if necessary.

The newspaper further alleged that the Chinese representatives had emphasized the need for confidentiality during their meetings with the Libyans and had suggested the use of Algeria and South Africa, who had “previously worked with China,” to deliver the armaments without direct Chinese involvement in their transportation.

The documents found by the Globe and Mail listed the three state-controlled Chinese firms as: China North Industries Corporation (Norinco), the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CPMIC), and China XinXing Import & Export Corporation.

Norinco has been the target of US sanctions in the past for allegedly supplying missile parts to Iran in violation of China’s arms control rules.

The Globe and Mail’s publication put Beijing immediately on the defensive.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry quickly denied that any contracts had been signed, and that any weapons had been sold or supplied to Libya by Chinese firms.

Later in the week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jian Yu acknowledged that a meeting did take place between Gadhafi’s officials and representatives of the Chinese firms and that invoices had been issued that listed weapons prices for inventory from small arms to rocket launchers.

However, Jiang firmly stressed that the meeting had occurred without the knowledge of the Chinese government. She pledged that China will continue to “strictly implement the UN resolution” and that it will also strengthen controls over arms exports.

Jiang went on to say that “competent authorities for military trade will handle the matter in a serious manner,” which some analysts have interpreted to mean that an investigation on the part of Chinese authorities will likely follow.

When asked about the possibility of whether the Chinese companies or their personnel might be punished for meeting with Gadhafi’s officials, Jiang responded that she was sure that the situation would be dealt with “in a serious and conscientious way.”

In February, as the Libyan uprising gathered steam China approved UN Resolution 1970, which banned all military assistance to Tripoli. China was also quick to open contacts with Libyan rebel leaders, whom it invited to Beijing for a consultation.

Furthermore, China has repeatedly stressed that it has provided humanitarian assistance to the Libyan people and has attempted to promote dialogue between the rebels and the Gadhafi regime for the purpose of resolving the situation without further bloodshed.

However, China has thus far refused to join the growing list of nations that recognize the victorious rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya’s legitimate government and has shown great reluctance to hand over frozen Libyan assets to the fledgling government.

Many analysts have suggested that China’s faltering relationship with Libya’s rebels may threaten the potential for Chinese firms to be awarded lucrative Libyan oil and reconstruction contracts.

Before the uprising began, Libyan oil shipments accounted for a strategically significant three percent of China’s supply. There has been much speculation that China had been courting both the rebels and Gadhafi simultaneously in order to hedge its bets and thereby guarantee future security of its oil supply.

NTC leaders do not yet appear to agree on a proper response to the meetings between the Chinese firms and Gadhafi’s officials.

Omar Hariri, chief of the NTC’s military committee said that he has reviewed the documents. He expressed outrage that the Chinese were negotiating the sale of arms to Gadhafi while rebel troops were suffering heavy casualties.

Mr. Hariri and several other rebel leaders suspect China and other nations of secretly delivering weapons, intelligence and other supplies to government forces during the fighting. Mr. Hariri said that the documents explained the presence of brand-new weaponry that he and his forces had faced on the battlefield.

Referring to the weaponry promised in the invoices, Hariri said that he was “almost certain that these guns arrived and were used against” his people.

However, other rebel leaders have responded with a more cautious and conciliatory tone. NTC spokesman, Jalal al-Gallal, said that he believed China’s assurances that it was unaware of any weapons sales.

Gallal went on to stress the importance of remembering that China is a superpower. “We all rely on products that come from China. We would have hoped they would have been on our side… But if it is in the interests of the Libyan people to deal with China, then we will deal with China… It is very expensive and time consuming to settle old scores.”

Gallal conceded that; “of course there will be some reaction.” He noted that Libya will “favor certain countries who stood by us.”

For more information, please see:

CBC News – Libya-China arms memos prompt Beijing pledge – 06 September 2011

Shanghai Daily- China sold no weapons to Gadhafi – 06 September 2011

BBC News – China confirms weapons firms met Gaddafi envoys in July – 05 September 2011

Guardian – Chinese arms companies ‘offered to sell weapons to Gaddafi regime – 05 September 2011

Reuters – China says didn’t know of arms sales talks with Gaddafi forces – 05 September 2011

Reuters – Libyans say China, Europe sent arms to Gaddafi – 05 September 2011

Globe and Mail – China offered Gadhafi huge stockpiles of arms: Libyan memos – 02 September 2011