Former French General Dies 12 Years Following Admitting Role in Torturing and Killing Prisoners of War

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – At age 95, Paul Aussaresses died on 4 December 2013 of causes not released by the French veterans’ association that announced his death. Former-General Aussaresses became disgraced in France for defending torture.

Paul Aussaresses, 95, who previously admitted to his role in torturing and killing prisoners of war died on December 4, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Telegraph)

Paul Aussaresses enlisted in the French secret services and founded the counter-espionage unit during the 1954-1962 Algerian war for independence. Later, he achieved the French military rank of general.

In his 2001 book about the Algerian war, Aussaresses became the first senior French officer to admit torturing and killing prisoners of war. Aussaresses defended the use of torture because “it became legitimate when the situation demanded it.” He claimed that, at the time, the French government “ignored, if not openly recommended” the use of torture; and he did not suffer sleepless nights.

“Once you have seen with your own eyes as I did,” Aussaresses said, “civilians, men, women, and children quartered, disembowelled and nailed to doors [by the rebels], you are changed for life. What feelings can anyone have towards those who perpetrated such barbaric acts and their accomplices?”

In a 2001 interview, Aussaresses said that he expressed regrets. “But I cannot express remorse. That implies guilt. I consider I did my difficult duty of a soldier implicated in a difficult mission.”

“Am I a criminal?” Aussaresses asked. “An assassin? A monster? No. I’m but a soldier who did his job and who did it for France because the country demanded it.”

“The methods I used were always the same: beatings, electric shocks, and, in particular, water torture, which was the most dangerous technique for the prisoner,” Aussaresses wrote. “It never lasted for more than one hour and the suspects would speak in the hope of saving their own lives.”

Aussaresses admitted that many deaths were concealed as suicides.

Aussaresses described his unit as a “death squad” that carried out night raids, torture, and removed certain detainees. Following the war, he lectured U.S. special forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on techniques used; particularly in the Battle of Algiers. Analysts have claimed that many of those techniques were later used in the Vietnam War.

During the war, both sides committed atrocities, although torture was a shocking revelation to the French.

Louisette Ighilahriz, who a National Liberation Front member who served in the war, said that Aussaresses should have shown remorse.

“He was honest. He admitted torturing Algerians… But he didn’t go all the way. He should have expressed regret,” Ighilahriz said.

Having also served in Algeria, President Jacques Chirac expressed horror at Aussaresses’s actions. President Chirac ordered that Aussaresses be stripped of his military rank and medal.

After his book appeared, France stripped Aussaresses of one of the country’s top merit awards, the Legion of Honour. In 2002, a French court convicted Aussaress of “complicity in justifying war crimes.” However, under the terms of a post-war amnesty agreement, Aussaresses could not be tried for war crimes.

No individual can hide behind the guise of a State authority to act with impunity. This, France made clear.

For further information, please read:

FRANCE 24 – Disgraced French General and Algeria Torturer Dies – December 5, 2013

BBC News – Algeria Torture: French General Paul Aussaresses Dies – December 4, 2013

Telegraph – French General Paul Aussaresses Reviled for Algeria War Crimes Dies at 95 – December 4, 2013

Washington Post – Paul Aussaresses Dies at 95; French General Defended His Use of Torture Techniques – December 4, 2013

Christian Militia Suspected to Killing 12 People

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – A Christian militia is suspected to have killed 12 people, including children, and wounded 30 others in an attack in the Central African Republic (CAR), officials say.

A mother sits with her child who is injured in the attack (photo courtesy of AFP)

The attacks appeared to have targeted a mainly Muslim community north of capital, Bangui, the officials said.

Those killed include a pregnant woman and 10 children.

The gang of Christians disemboweled the pregnant woman and slashed the children with machetes in the attack against Peuhl Muslims.

The attack comes with the UN Security Council set to vote on creating a large peacekeeping force for the impoverished country, where the transitional government has lost control since rebels forced the president flee in March.

The Council is to vote on Thursday on dispatching French reinforcement to restore order in CAR, which has slipped into chaos since mainly Muslim rebels seized power, leading to tit-for-tat sectarian violence.

The UN office did not give details on who was responsible but it warned of tensions between communities leading to a “climate of increasing violence” in the impoverished landlocked country, which is majority Christian.

Amy Martin, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui, said the attack occurred on Monday and that Christian militias known as “anti-balaka” appeared to have targeted Peul herders, who are mostly Muslim.

“It looks much more organized just than community defense groups,” she said, referring to the mainly Christian militia that have formed to counter abuses by the former rebels, who are known as Seleka.

Religious and ethnic attacks have led to warnings of genocide.

Hundreds of villages have been abandoned, with civilians hiding in the bush and pleading for outside intervention.

“At this stage, it is difficult to know whether the African force, with the support of French forces, will be able to do the work,” Mr Araud, France’s UN ambassador told reporters.

“If the African forces do the work there will be no need for a peacekeeping mission.”

One man whose child and wife were killed in the attack said his other child was being treated in the hospital. He said the Christians had fired shots but had mostly used machetes to attack the group.

Clashes are increasingly about religion and the UN Security Council is preparing to vote on developing a peacekeeping force for the country.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Central African Republic militia ‘killed’ children – 4 December 2013
International Business Times – Central African Republic: Christian Vigilantes Disembowel Pregnant Muslim and Kill 10 Children – 4 December 2013
Perth now news – Christians disembowel pregnant woman in attack in Central African Republic that killed 12 – 4 December 2013
iol news – Dozen killed in DRC attack – UN – 4 December 2013
Reuters – Twelve killed in Central African Republic attack – U.N – 3 December 2013

 

UN: Syrian President Assad Linked to Crimes Against Humanity

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – An inquiry conducted by United Nations inspectors implicates Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other high level officials in war crimes committed during the Syrian conflict.

U.N. Human Rights Chief Pillay spoke to reporters on Monday about the evidence of war crimes in Syria and President Assad’s possible role. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

On Monday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that President Assad and other officials were also responsible for crimes against humanity. The U.N. Human Rights Chief later clarified her remarks stating that the report she received pointed to responsibility at the highest level and that she was not directly accusing President Assad.

However, Pillay said that the U.N.’s inquiry into Syria has produced “massive evidence… [of] very serious crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity. The scale of viciousness of the abuses being perpetrated by elements on both sides almost defies belief.”

Pillay urged world powers to make accountability for these crimes a priority ahead of the Syria peace talks scheduled for January 22. She has pushed the U.N. Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, yet the Security Council has neglected to do so.

The inquiry and previous reports from U.N. investigators have stated that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been perpetrated by both sides. However, investigators have maintained that the Assad regime is responsible for the majority of reported offenses. Further, the inquiry points to a policy of abuse implemented by the government.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad disregarded the U.N. Human Rights Chief’s remarks. “She has been talking nonsense for a long time and we don’t listen to her,” he said.

Mekdad was in Geneva to lobby for more supplies and money to aid with Syria’s chemical weapons removal. He said that more trucks and armored vehicles were necessary to safely transport the chemicals to Latakia, where they will be loaded onto a U.S. naval vessel for destruction. He said that part of the risk was from terrorists that might attempt to steal the weapons.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is in charge of the chemical weapons removal. A spokesman for the organization stated that strict guidelines will be applied to any equipment and donations for the disarmament to ensure they are not abused by the Syrian government.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – UN: Evidence links Assad to Syria war crimes – 2 December 2013

BBC – UN implicates Bashar al-Assad in Syria war crimes – 2 December 2013

New York Times – Top U.N. Rights Official Links Assad to Crimes in Syria – 2 December 2013

Washington Post – UN: Syria crimes evidence ‘indicates’ Assad role – 2 December 2013

Guantanamo Bay Detainees Sue Poland over Alleged CIA-Affiliated Torture

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

STRASBOURG, France – Two terror suspects currently held at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, alleging that Poland was contributing to human rights abuses against them by the United States.

The European Court of Human Rights heard the case on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Polskie Radio)

Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri claim that they were tortured at a secret prison in Poland affiliated with the CIA from 2002 to 2003. The two suspects allege that they were subjected to torture and isolated detention while in Poland. They claim that they were interrogated with waterboarding, and had mock executions performed on them while being told their family was going to be sexually abused.

Zubaydah, a 42-year-old Palestinian, was accused of coordinating travel arrangements for jihadis loyal to Osama Bin Laden, including those who carried out the September 2001 attacks in the U.S. al-Nashiri, 48, a Saudi, was accused of organizing the 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen, in which 17 sailors died.

The U.S.’s war on terror allegedly included CIA operated detention centers in several European countries, according to reports by a Council of Europe investigator. The detention center at issue in Poland is known as Stare Kiejkuty, an intelligence training base near Szczytno in northern Poland.

The suspects were allegedly flown to Poland on the same rendition plane in December 2002. Former U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the rendition policy shortly after the 9/11 attacks to allow the CIA to interrogate terror suspects secretly outside the US.

Zubaydah and al-Nashiri’s lawyers are representing them in Strasbourg and a court statement said their submissions are based mainly on publicly available sources, because of the restrictions imposed on them at Guantanamo Bay.

An investigator at the human rights group Reprieve, stated, “European support for the CIA’s torture program is one of the darkest chapters of our recent history – it is encouraging that the court now looks set to bring it to light, where the [Polish] government has sought to sweep it under the carpet. We have now heard overwhelming and uncontested evidence that the CIA was running a secret torture prison on Polish soil, with the Polish government’s knowledge.”

“The Polish government has failed to contest that it knew prisoners were being held beyond the rule of law and tortured by the CIA inside their own country. It has also become clear that the Polish government’s investigation into the issue was in reality nothing more than a smoke-screen, which was neither designed nor intended to get to the truth,” the investigator stated.

No judgment was issued on Tuesday, however one will be issued at an undisclosed future date.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Two Terror Suspects Sue Poland Over “CIA Torture” – 3 December 2013

The Guardian – Guantanamo Bay Detainees Claim Poland Allowed CIA Torture – 3 December 2013

Polskie Radio – Human Rights Court Examines CIA Prison in Poland Allegations – 3 December 2013

The Voice of Russia – Terror Suspects Sue Poland For Conniving in CIA Torture – 3 December 2013