Press Release: Western Businessman Arrested for his Alleged Participation in the Trade of “Blood Diamonds”

For Immediate Distribution

August 30 2015

Michel Desaedeleer, American and Belgian citizen, was arrested in Spain this week, pursuant to an European arrest warrant. He is suspected of having participated, with former Liberian President Charles Taylor and the Sierra Leonean rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), in enslavement as a crime against humanity and pillage of “blood diamonds” as a war crime in the district of Kono in the Eastern part of Sierra Leone between 1999 and 2001.

Several citizens of Sierra Leone, victims of enslavement during the civil war, filed in Brussels in January 2011 a criminal complaint against Mr Desaedeleer who residesin the United States. They are represented by the Belgian lawyer Luc Walleyn. This complaint prompted the Belgian authorities to formally open an investigation, which culminated in the issuance of a European arrest warrant against Mr Desaedeleer in 2015. The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Civitas Maxima (CM) in Geneva, Switzerland, have been working in partnership for several years on this case to document crimes and assist the victims to obtain justice.

During the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002), the RUF used civilians as slaves in the district of Kono to mine in the diamond pits. The proceeds of the forced labor were brought to Charles Taylor in Monrovia, Liberia, and then sold on the international market.

This is the very first time that a businessman has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the international crimes of both pillage of blood diamonds and enslavement of civilians.

Ibrahim Tommy, Executive Director of CARL, said today from Freetown: “This is another significant step forward in our collective efforts at ensuring accountability for the crimes that occurred during the conflict in Sierra Leone. No one should be allowed to get away with participating in serious offenses such as enslaving people and forcing them to mine for diamonds. This case will also help to shed light on the otherwise discreet drivers of the infamous ‘blood diamond’ trade in Sierra Leone”. Alain Werner, the Director of Civitas Maxima added in Geneva: “This is a landmark case, the first of its kind, and it will help to raise awareness of the pivotal role played by financial actors in the trade of mineral resources that fuel armed conflicts in Africa and elsewhere”.

Contact:

Ibrahim Tommy in Freetown
info@carl-sl.org
ibrahim.tommy@gmail.com
+232 76 365 499

Alain Werner in Geneva
alain.werner@civitas-maxima.org
+41 79 194 5957

Indian Village Court Sentences Women to be Gang-Raped for Their Brother’s Crime

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India- 

A village council in Sankrot, India has ordered that two sisters be gang-raped and paraded naked through their town with their faces blackened. The order against the sisters is an “eye for an eye” punishment that requires them to be dishonored in order to avenge their brother’s alleged crime.

2013 Rape Protests in New Delhi (Photo Curtesy of the Telegraph)

The all-male village council ordered the punishment of 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister after their brother eloped with a married woman from India’s highest social caste, the Jat caste. Ms. Kumari’s family is part of the lowest social caste in India—the Dalit caste, historically known as the Untouchables.

Ms. Kumari’s father has filed a complaint with two national bodies, claiming that his family has been harassed by police and the Jat woman’s family. The family’s home was recently ransacked, with police doing nothing to prevent it. The sisters fled their home after it was ransacked and petitioned to the India Supreme Court for police protection of their family. It is not clear at this point whether police protection will be provided, nor whether the men who ordered the punishment will be arrested.

Amnesty International has run a petition calling for the protection of Ms. Kumari and her sister, which over 100,000 people have signed. Since the petition, extra police have been deployed in Sankrot to avoid any tension that may arise.

Additional Superintendent of Police Vidyasagar Misra states that police investigations revealed no evidence that a village council meeting took place or that there was an order against the sisters. Additionally, townspeople in Sankrot told a BBC reporter that the report of the village council’s sentence is false.

The unelected village councils, called Khap Panchyat, frequently operate outside of the Indian legal system. Due to their operating outside of the legal system, the Indian Supreme Court has labeled them “kangaroo courts”. Khap panchyat are widespread throughout India and are largely made up of men from dominant social classes. The councils often order honor killings and sexual punishments of women, which have been declared illegal by the Indian Supreme Court.

India has faced international criticism over its treatment of women. In late 2012, a 23-year-old female student was gang-raped and murdered, which led to mass street protests in New Delhi. There have been other instances of murders, burnings, and rapes in India since her death, despite the central government’s pledge to reform the Indian penal code.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC – Did India Village Council Really Order Rape of Two Sisters? – 1 September 2015

International Business Times – India: Village Elders Who Sentenced Sisters to Be Raped as Punishment Face Arrest – 30 August 2015

The Telegraph – Indian Sisters to Be Raped as ‘Punishment’ for Brother Eloping – 29 August 2015

The Independent – Indian Sisters Told They Will be Repeatedly Gang-Raped as Punishment for Their Brother’s Crime Launch Appeal at Supreme Court – 28 August 2015