International Criminal Justice News Roundup: August 2013

Dear all,

Please find below the news headlines on international criminal justice from August. You can find past headlines and other relevant resources on the International Association of Prosecutors’ (IAP) Forum for International Criminal Justice (FICJ) website.

The FICJ is password protected and only IAP members have access. This is meant to facilitate open and frank dialogue between prosecutors. Please contact Evie Sardeman, Office Manager (OM@iap-association.org) or Janne Holst Hübner, Communication Manager (CM@iap-association.org) with questions about IAP membership and website access.

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30 August
UN SG: Cambodia Khmer Rouge tribunal needs funding
(Source: Jurist)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), is running out of money, threatening its survival. Ban urged international donors to provide financial support to keep the tribunal running. Due to the financial strain, some staff have not been paid in months and are now threatening to strike…

29 August
ICTY removes judge from Vojislav Seselj’s war crimes trial
(Source: Deutsche Welle)
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced on Thursday that it had disqualified Danish Judge Frederik Harhoff from adjudicating at the trial of Serbian ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj. It said a special panel or chamber of three judges appointed to consider Sesejl’s request for Harhoff’s removal had voted 2-1 in favor of the disqualification. “The Chamber found… that Judge Frederik Harhoff had demonstrated an unacceptable appearance of bias in favour of conviction,” a statement posted on the ICTY’s website said…

It’s Time for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to Go to The Hague
(Source: Human Rights Watch)
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader, has been held under guard by a militia in Zintan in western Libya for close to two years, as the new Libyan authorities and the International Criminal Court (ICC) argue over who will try him. After failing in a bid to prosecute the ICC’s allegations against Gaddafi, it’s time for Libya to follow its legal obligations and turn him over to the ICC…

28 August
Bosnia police chief sentenced to 14 years for war crimes
(Source: Jurist)
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday sentenced Goran Saric, a former police chief, to 14 years for crimes against humanity. His charges specifically involved detention, forced transfer and murder of civilian Bosniak population of Sarajevo’s Centar municipality between June and July 1992 during the Bosnian Civil War in violation of Article 172(1)(h) of BiH’s Criminal Code…

27 August
Rwanda Tribunal digs up partial truth
(Source: Radio Netherlands)
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha, Tanzania, is due to conclude at the end of 2014 following several deferrals. Analysts have globally recognised the ICTR’s role in bringing perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandese genocide to justice. However, for a variety of reasons, analysts also believe that the tribunal has not entirely fulfilled its mandate…

UN failed to investigate Kosovo war crimes: AI
(Source: Jurist)
The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) failed to adequately investigate missing person reports in the aftermath of the 1998-99 Kosovo war with Serbia, Amnesty International (AI) reported Tuesday…

26 August
UN rights chief visits Sri Lanka to investigate war crimes allegations
(Source: Jurist)
At the beginning of a week-long visit to Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay pledged to raise concerns with the government’s human rights record, particularly with regard to alleged war crimes against ethnic Tamils…

19 August
Chad: Investigation Starts in Habre Case
(Source: allAfrica)
The special court charged with trying former Chadian president Hissène Habré this Monday launched its investigations with a two-week mission to Chad, reports Radio France Internationale. Habré, who has been living in exile in Senegal for 22 years, was arrested on June 30 at his home in Dakar and charged two days later with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed between 1982 and 1990 when he was in power in Chad…

18 August
Jailed general cleared of contempt of court
(Source: WDTN)
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has acquitted a jailed Bosnian Serb army general of contempt of court, saying his post-traumatic stress disorder was a reasonable excuse for refusing to testify in the trial of his former commander-in-chief, Radovan Karadzic. Gen. Radislav Krstic, who is serving a 35-year sentence for aiding and abetting genocide, was subpoenaed last year to testify at Karadzic’s long-running trial, but repeatedly refused to give evidence, citing ill health…

16 August
ICC Seeks to Reassure Kenyan Violence Victims
(Source: IWPR)
Ahead of two trials due to start in The Hague in the coming months, the prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court, ICC, has sought to reassure Kenyans about the strength of its case against the country’s leaders. Despite significant challenges surrounding its investigations in Kenya the Office of the Prosecutor, OTP, has said the public “should not read too much into” revelations that certain witnesses who were due to testify before the court have recently been replaced…

15 August
Israel extradites Serb-Israeli to Bosnia-Herzegovina for genocide
(Source: Jerusalem Post)
The government of Bosnia- Herzegovina submitted the request for his extradition on August 29, 2010…Extraditions are a rare proceeding where a defendant can both go before the Supreme Court as an appeals court and later appeal to the same court in its capacity as the High Court of Justice on different grounds. Zvtkovic is suspected of involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which as many as 8,000 Muslims were executed after Serb forces overran the town during the civil war in Bosnia…

13 August
Hague war crimes ruling threatens to undermine future prosecutions
(Source: The Guardian)
Generals and politicians could evade responsibility for war crimes in future because of a ruling requiring proof that they “specifically directed” atrocities, say some international lawyers and senior judges. A series of acquittals by the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have created a novel judicial precedent that human rights groups fear will make it difficult to deliver justice in the wake of massacres…

11 August
HRW states July 29 Iraq bombings were crimes against humanity
(Source: Jurist)
Human Rights Watch stated on Sunday that the Islamic State of Iraq, a suspected al Qaeda branch, had committed crimes against humanity during the July 29 bombings in Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for a series of car bombs implemented to aid a prison raid. The July 29 bombings killed over 60 people, and July was the bloodiest month in Iraq in over five years according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) estimates…

8 August
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s lawyer calls for UK intervention over execution fears
(Source: The Guardian)
The British lawyer representing Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has called on the UK to intervene on his client’s behalf amid fears that the son of the former Libyan dictator will be sentenced to death in a trial expected later in August…

7 August
ICC Prosecutor voices concern about ongoing serious crimes in Central African Republic
(Source: UN News Centre)
The prosecutor of the world’s first permanent court set up to try those accused of genocide and war crimes today voiced her deep concern about the worsening security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and reports of serious crimes being committed there…

5 August
International prosecutor accuses Nigerian Islamist group of possible crimes against humanity
(Source: Montreal Gazette)
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says that after a preliminary investigation she believes that acts attributed to the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram are likely crimes against humanity. “Information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that since July 2009 Boko Haram has launched a widespread and systematic attack that has resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 Christian and Muslim civilians in different locations throughout Nigeria,” Fatou Bensouda wrote in a report issued Monday…

ICC moves witnesses to Europe ahead of Hague trial
(Source: The Star)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has relocated five top witnesses from an African country ahead of the start of hearings for the post election violence cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang…Before they were flown out by officials from the ICC Witness Protection Unit there were fears about their security which led to the relocation on a night flight two days ago. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is expected to use the witnesses to testify during the hearings…

Liberia: Taylor Complains From Prison
(Source: allAfrica)
Detained ex-President Charles Taylor has written the African Union, complaining about the prison condition and the discrimination being meted out against him and other African detainees there, describing it as racist…

2 August
Special Tribunal for Lebanon sets provisional date for Hariri murder trial
(Source: Middle East Online)
The UN-backed tribunal set up to try the killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri on Friday set a provisional January start date for the trial. “The pre-trial Judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon today issued an order setting 13 January 2014 as a new tentative date for the start of the trial,” the court said in a statement…

Syria: UN human rights chief urges probe into alleged execution of Government soldiers
(Source: UN News Centre)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today urged an independent investigation into whether war crimes had been committed when armed opposition groups in Syria allegedly executed dozens of captured Government soldiers in the northern province of Aleppo last month…

SNHR: SNHR Receives a Certificate of Thanks and Appreciation from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group

The Syrian Network for Human Rights received a certificate of thanks and appreciation from the Human Rights Data analysis group (HRDNG): an Organization that analyzes conflict-victims around the world, and whose research is depended on by the United Nations.

On the back of cooperation and constant communication between Syrian Network for Human Rights and HRDNG and also the United Nations, and provides them with all required statistics and files using the highest global standards in all objectivity, perseverance and continuity,  and also provides the answers to all questions in all detail.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, considered one of the most prominent sources for the United Nation, in documenting non-international armed conflict’s victims in Syrian, depended on by many human rights organizations, and Arab and international news agency.

Please view the message’s text via following attachment:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBRnZNNi1URzJWUDQ/edit

The Syrian Network for Human Rights will keep working professionally and in high credibility, and we thank the SNHR’s members, especially the members deployed inside Syrian governorates, who risks their lives in order to document the ongoing violations committed against Syrian citizens.

Founder and Director of the Syrian Human Rights Network,

Fadel Abudl Ghany

SNHR: Military Pieces that Contain Prisoners

Prepared by Syrian Network for Human Rights

Date of issue: 30/8/2013

According to the last statistic conducted by SNHR in 12/6/2013, the number of detainees exceeded 215.000.  SNHR listed more than 50% of them, and because there are parents not willing to refer to their child’s detention, especially if she is a female, this hampers the ability to document all detainees’ names, unlike the victims whose names we documented accurately.

The detention, or enforced disappearances, occur when persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, by organized groups, or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support be it direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence to the Government.  This is followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned, or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.

Among the 215.000 detainees, 80.000 Syrian citizens considered as enforced disappearance, according to SNHR’s lists, which are available for IRC and UN if they wish to see.

Among the 215.000 detainees, more than 9,000 are under the age of 18, and subjected to different types of torture similar to the torture detained men undergo.

Among the 215.000 detainees, more than 5000 women.

The detainees are subjected to the daily, systematically, and extremely violent and difficult methods of torture for at least 14 hours a day, which led to the death of 3117 citizens tortured to death, including 29 women and 91 children.

Due to the significant rise in the numbers of detainees, prisons and the main security branches are no longer enough, they are:

1- Air Force intelligence

2- Military Security

3- Political Security

4- State Security

In addition to central prisons, that contain thousands of detainees, our report focuses on military bases that contain detainees.

The Syrian regime used military bases as detention centers where civilians were tortured.  It is almost confirmed that the international society will intervene militarily to stop the bloodshed in Syria and hit the regime’s military bases where they used to shell the cities and residential neighborhoods from.  However, we must pay attention to theses military bases that contain civilian prisoners that take into consideration an objective to only target military vehicles without the buildings that exist within those military units, in order to preserve the life of those civilians.

We also don’t rule out that Syrian regime will kill large numbers of detainees and accuse the international society of doing so.

These are the following military bases, with each site there is a map that shows the location of it:

First: Damascus governorate

 

– Almaza military airport (there are almost 8,000 detainees from Damascus and countryside exist in the sport hall of the airport)

https://maps.google.com/?ll=33.484225,36.22673&spn=0.004886,0.010568&t=h&z=17

– Omaya school turned into military barrack

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.517122,36.311917&num=1&t=h&z=16

– Altajheez school turned into military barrack

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.515351,36.292498&num=1&t=h&z=17

– Pakistani school turned into military barrack

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.50424,36.115451&num=1&t=h&z=16

– Tenth Brigade Qatana

– Third Brigade Qtaifih

– Sydnaya prison https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.665461,36.328819&num=1&t=h&z=15

– Aldomair airport

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.615191,36.745563&num=1&t=h&z=14

– Fourth Brigade Dimas containers

– Republican Guard:  Najha containers

– First Brigade: Alkosoa

================================

Second: Homs governorate:

– Alhasan Ibn Alhaitham military campaign, all the detainees there are civilians:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.69048,36.728763&hl=en&num=1&t=h&z=17–

– Military housing factory, most detainees are civilians:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.657216,36.715898&hl=en&num=1&t=h&z=16

– Air Defense Brigade in Ghantou village, most of the detainees are defected soldiers and Free Syrian Army’s fighters:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.795259,36.710932&hl=en&num=1&t=h&z=17

– Military institute for vegetables and fruits- Qusor neighborhood, most detainees moved to air security branch, only a few civilians there:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.746895,36.709562&hl=en&num=1&t=h&z=19

SNHR’s members received reports that security forces evacuated the security headquarters and central prison, and were transferred to civilians headquarters in the following areas:

(Mukhtaria, Zahraa, Zaidal)

========================================

Third: Aleppo governorate:

– Hanano Barrackshttps://maps.google.com.eg/maps?q=36.207403,37.169641&hl=en&num=1&t=m&z=16

36.207403,37.169641

– Aleppo International Stadium: turned into military barrack, contains armor

https://maps.google.com.eg/maps?q=36.186104,37.116939&hl=en&num=1&t=m&z=13

36.186104,37.116939

– Alnairab military airport, has civilians and defected soldiers in its buildings

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.180614,37.22438&num=1&t=h&z=16

===========================================================================

Fourth: Hama governorate:

 

– Military airport has large numbers of detainees, specifically in dispensary and the near buildings.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.122717,36.708042&num=1&t=h&z=13

– Brigade 47 located on southern side of Homs Highway

–  Dier Shmil camp located in the western countryside

==============================================

Fifth : Lattakia governorate:

 

All the detainees are civilians who retreated or wanted to do military service.  They were held in this location in addition to prisoners that were transferred from political security..  Unless they were transferred to the courts or Damascus.

 1- Military bases:

-The castle is in the center of the city and is also an air base and a missile platform, containing a large number of Anti-aircraft munitions, Gvozdika, number of soldiers are 360, and there are tunnels underneath

35.521434, 35.785303

 

– Salah Aldin barracks ( which is a battalion belong to the Republican Guard, military security and Military prison)

– Al- Yahodia located at the entrance of the city before Tishreen university, extends over a wide area, contain thousands of soldiers, surface to surface rocket launcher and other weapons.

2- Alternative bases:

– Sports city (Alassad sport city) off the shore of the Mediterranean Sea on the northern outskirts of the city of Latakia. With an area of 160 hectares, has been turned into a military barracks contains tanks, armored personnel carrier, Ammunition depots, and is the official residence of Helal Al-Assad while turning the horse track to a place of detention hundreds of Syrians

– Jol Jamal school turned into military barrack, launching centre, and arming soldiers ( inside the school there is a tunnel leads to shelters under Hafez Al-Asaad’s statue in Sheikh Daher square , we think that there are detainees there )

35.522211,35.778415

SNHR’s members got reports that security forces evacuate security headquarters and central prison, and move them to civilians headquarters.

======================================================================

 

Sixth : Dier ez-Zor governorate:

 

– Avant-garde camp in Jorah neighborhood

https://maps.google.com.qa/maps?q=35.353776,40.106621&hl=ar&num=1&gl=QA&t=m&z=13

– Panorama’s barrier building located at the sides of Dier ez-Zoor towards Palmyra, almost 10 km far from the centre of the city, they held civilians there temporarily, then they departed to a security branch.

As Security Forces Crack Down on Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood the Egyptian Government has Taken Steps to Outlaw the Political Party

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan

Impunity Watch, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian State media reported that an improvised explosive device was detonated at a police station in Downtown Cairo wounding two workers Monday. Three people on a motorcycle reportedly threw a homemade grenade style explosive devise at the police station. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

As security forces crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian court has recommended the dissolution of the Brotherhood as a legal non-government organization (photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The attack came just a day after Egypt’s state run news agency reported Sunday that former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will stand trial for charges of inciting murder and violence. The military backed government is essentially holding Morsi responsible for the deaths of protesters and other civilians since security forces began violently cracking down on protesters. The ousted President is also being investigated for his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising against former president Mubarak. While no formal charges have been brought, he has been accused of murder and conspiring with Hamas during his escape.

Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of supporters of President Morsi since opponents of the coup began protesting the government after Morsi’s removal from power on July 3. Like the former president many of the protesters have been accused by the government of inciting violence and even coming terrorist attacks.

As part of its crackdown on supports of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist political parties the military backed government has been excluding Islamists from the transitional process. The transitional government recently named a constituent assembly with almost no Islamists members. The government gave the assembly 60 days to review amendments that would repeal Islamic policies established over the last year by the Muslim Brotherhood led government and other more hard-line Islamic parties under President Morsi. The transitional government has also favoured policies that would officially raise the Egyptian military back to the elite status enjoyed under the presidency of the Military backed Dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The Nour Party has complained that the transitional government has had a deplorable policy of “exclusion of the Islamist current” in the commission of the review panel. The Nour Party was founded after the downfall of President Mubarak. The party also noted that the committee excluded members of the youth movements that ignited the revolution through social media driven demonstrations beginning on January 25, 2011.

The Egyptian government has also taken steps to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood, returning it to the illegal status placed on the party, which won a majority of votes in Egypt’s polar vote that was forced on it under Mubarak. A judicial panel has advised an Egyptian court to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood as a legal non-governmental organization, the mood would effectively outlaw former President Mohamed Morsi’s Political party.

 

For further information please see:

Reuters – Egypt Sends Mursi to Trial as New Constitution Advances – 1 September 2013

Al Jazeera – Bomb Blast Hits Cairo Police Station – 2 September 2013

Al Jazeera – Egypt Panel Urges Brotherhood Dissolution – 2 September 2013

CNN International – Egypt to Try Former President Mohamed Morsy in Protest Deaths – 2 September 2013

NBCNews – Improvised Bomb Wounds Two at Cairo Police Station – 2 September 2013