POLITICO: Obama exploring how to prosecute Islamic State for genocide

Kashmiri demonstrators hold up a flag of ISIL during a demonstration against Israeli military operations in Gaza in downtown Srinagar in 2014.
Kashmiri demonstrators hold up a flag of ISIL during a demonstration against Israeli military operations in Gaza in Srinagar in 2014. | Getty

Obama exploring how to prosecute Islamic State for genocide

The administration declared two months ago that ISIL is committing genocide. Now comes the hard part.

The Obama administration, having declared two months ago that the Islamic State is committing genocide, is now grappling with how to actually prosecute the terrorist network’s fighters for the crime.

Early-stage discussions about international tribunals and other means of justice are taking place in the White House and the State Department, people familiar with the talks told POLITICO. Any genocide prosecution, however, could be years away, a task made all the more complicated by the unusual nature of the Islamic State and the high bar for evidence.

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The administration’s top priority remains defeating the jihadists on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, an approach that has been more about killing than capturing the enemy.

The discussions on prosecutions come as President Barack Obama and his aides, who spent months deciding whether to even use the word “genocide,” face growing pressure to prove that invoking the label has serious consequences, even if it doesn’t lead to an increase in America’s military commitment.

On Thursday, a House subcommittee is holding a hearing titled “The ISIS Genocide Declaration: What Next?” Some lawmakers also are pushing legislation making it easier to arm and protect Christians, Yazidis and other groups threatened by the Islamic State, which also is known as ISIS, ISIL or Da’esh.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce is among those urging the administration to work with the international community to set up tribunals to try the jihadist fighters for genocide and other war crimes.

“It’s critical that we actually defeat the terrorists and bring those responsible for these atrocities to justice,” said Royce, a Republican from California. “The president’s lack of a plan is inexcusable.”

Secretary of State John Kerry declared on March 17 that the Islamic State is committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims, a rare step for the U.S., which has historically tried to avoid the label. But Kerry added that his declaration did not amount to the conviction of any individuals.

“The full facts must be brought to light by an independent investigation and through formal legal determination made by a competent court or tribunal,” he said. “The United States will strongly support efforts to collect, document, preserve, and analyze the evidence of atrocities, and we will do all we can to see that the perpetrators are held accountable.”

Shaun Coughlin, a foreign affairs officer in the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice, would not confirm nor deny if the administration is examining ways to prosecute the jihadists for genocide. Instead he said the administration supports efforts to hold accountable those behind “heinous acts.”

“There are venues at national and international levels in which accountability could be pursued, including the International Criminal Court in appropriate circumstances,” Coughlin said.

Prosecuting members of the Islamic State for a crime like genocide, a term that carries unusual weight in the international legal lexicon, will involve dealing with a web of complicated issues.

For one thing, the Islamic State is not recognized as a bona fide state and its members are thus considered “non-state actors.” The group also has attracted fighters from all over the world, meaning individual nations may have different points of view on how their citizens should be treated.

The terrorist network also has an administrative hierarchy, which could prompt questions about which fighters should be held responsible for acts planned by their superiors. And many of the local residents of Iraq and Syria whom the group has enlisted may have had no choice in the matter.

As the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State prepares for battles in urban centers such as Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria, the administration is reportedly grappling with the more basic question of where to imprison a potentially large number of detainees.

Turning over detainees to the Iraqi government is an option the U.S. already has used because Baghdad is an ally. But it’s not that simple in Syria, where the U.S. has backed rebel factions seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. (Whether Assad, who is backed by Russia, will ever be held responsible for his regime’s crimes is another issue the U.S. and its allies are pondering.)

Beyond detaining them, trying to prove that members of the Islamic State committed genocide could require a special legal architecture and extensive evidence, some analysts said.

U.S. law defines genocide as killing or other specified acts committed with a “specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” It’s a different, higher bar than the more general “crimes against humanity,” “war crimes” or other allegations, even if the punishments ultimately are similar.

“Genocide is a very difficult crime to prove. It’s a specific intent crime. You almost have to have a smoking gun to do it,” said David Michael Crane, the founding chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a war crimes tribunal that dealt with the fallout from the African country’s 1990s civil war.

Crane indicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor for his role in the Sierra Leone conflict; the African leader was eventually convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is serving a 50-year prison sentence — one of the most high-profile such cases.

Overall the international community has a mixed record of holding to account perpetrators of genocide and related crimes. Sudanese President Omar Bashir, for instance, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide in the Darfur region, but he has refused to appear and has traveled abroad freely despite an outstanding warrant for his arrest. On the other hand, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted dozens of people for their roles in the 1994 genocide. Those convicted typically get long prison terms.

Crane has talked to members of the Obama administration about ways to bring Islamic State members to justice over allegations including genocide. He said he expects little to get done anytime soon, in part because it’s an election year.

“We can do this, we have the experience, the jurisprudence. The challenge is the political will to do it,” Crane said.

Steve Oshana, an Assyrian Christian activist who also has dealt with administration officials on how to hold the Islamic State accountable, said his sense is that they’d rather set up a new tribunal with global allies than use the International Criminal Court, which is exceedingly slow.

“Certainly there’s no talk about the U.S. setting up its own tribunal,” Oshana added. “What they don’t want to do is to create more fodder for ISIS propaganda. It would have to be an international deal.”

U.S. lawmakers appear on board with that idea. Just days before Kerry’s declaration, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging the creation of a war crimes tribunal that could bring justice to anyone suspected of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.

Coughlin, the State Department official, said the U.S. Transitional Justice Global Initiative is helping civil society members in Iraq develop protocols and gather evidence to hold human rights violators accountable. At least 29 Iraqi civil society activists have collected some 600 narratives from victims and witnesses of atrocities, Coughlin said.

Some observers worry that such programs aren’t moving fast enough. They fear that evidence that can prove genocide — whether it’s documentation or mass graves — will be lost or destroyed as the fighting continues.

They also point to concerns that certain ethnic and religious minorities will remain vulnerable to violence from other armed groups even after the Islamic State is defeated, especially if the array of grievances that gave rise to the terror network are not addressed.

“Fighting ISIS is not the same as having a comprehensive strategy to prevent genocide, mass atrocities and war crimes. It’s an essential aspect, but there’s more to it,” said a congressional aide familiar with the administration’s talks.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/isil-genocide-obama-war-crimes-223526#ixzz4A0eP7qJR
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ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives: Weekly Report 91–92 (April 27, 2016 – May 10, 2016)

ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives Weekly Report 91–92 (April 27, 2016 – May 10, 2016)

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AUTHORS

Michael D. Danti, Amr al-Azm, Allison Cuneo, Susan Penacho, Bijan Rouhani, Marina Gabriel, Kyra Kaercher, and Jamie O’Connell

Download Report 91–92

Key points from this report:
  • New photographs show damage to Abu Bakr al-Sidiq Mosque in Dumeir, Rif Dimashq Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0045 UPDATE).
  • Aerial bombardment and clashes between armed groups damaged eight mosques in Aleppo, Aleppo Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0060).
  • An alleged SARG airstrike reportedly damaged the Iman Mosque in Deir ez-Zor, Deir ez-Zor Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0061).
  • Alleged SARG airstrikes damage the Idlib Museum, Al-Jawari Mosque, and Omari Mosque in Idlib, Idlib Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0062).
  • Alleged SARG airstrikes damaged Al-Ma’aara Museum in Ma’arat al-Numan, Idlib Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0063). The Day After Heritage Protection Initiative has produced two reports on the damage and subsequent cleanup of the museum.
  • Alleged SARG airstrike damaged Sheikh Shuayab Mosque in Binnish, Idlib Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0064).
  • New satellite imagery confirms that ISIL militants have leveled several gates of Nineveh in Mosul, Ninawa Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0010 UPDATE).
  • New satellite imagery shows ongoing damage to the site of Nineveh, including the ongoing looting and destruction of the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib in Mosul, Ninawa Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0013).

* This report is based on research conducted by the “Syria Preservation Initiative: Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria.” Weekly reports reflect reporting from a variety of sources and may contain unverified material. As such, they should be treated as preliminary and subject to change.

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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Iraq, World Humanitarian Summit

Atrocity Alert, No.  6 No Images? Click here

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich

Iraq

On 23 May Iraqi Security Forces began a major offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). While the government instructed thousands of civilians remaining in Fallujah to leave and promised safe passage, ISIL has prevented most people from doing so. Civilians have been trapped in the city and suffering from acute shortages of food and medicine, with no access to humanitarian aid, since December 2015.

With more than 60 million people around the world displaced by conflict, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May in Istanbul, Turkey. The Summit brought together delegates from more than 170 countries, as well as intergovernmental organizations and leaders within civil society, to discuss an “Agenda for Humanity.”

UN and humanitarian partners are currently responding to four “Level-3” emergencies – the most severe humanitarian crises – in Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In each of these situations, as well as many others, the world is witnessing widespread and systematic mass atrocity crimes. As UN Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted in his opening remarks to a High-Level Roundtable at the Summit, “International humanitarian and human rights law are under assault… More than 150 years of achievements to protect the most vulnerable during conflict are unraveling. The Geneva Conventions seem to have been forgotten.”

During the Summit, Global Centre Executive Director Dr. Simon Adams moderated a side event, “Security Council Action in the Service of Humanity,” hosted by the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, and also spoke at a number of other sessions.

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Eurojust: First EU Day Against Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes: EU is not a safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes

The Hague, 23 May 2016

The first annual EU Day Against Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes took place today in The Hague, under the Netherlands EU Presidency. The event was hosted by Eurojust, and organised in cooperation with the European Commission and the Network for investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Commenting on the day, the Netherlands Minister of Security and Justice stated that ‘the EU is no safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes’.

The objective of this initiative is to raise awareness of the most heinous crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The EU Day Against Impunity is also intended to promote national investigations and prosecutions, to

• recognise the common efforts of the EU Member States and the European Union in enforcing international criminal law,
• address the position and participation of victims in criminal proceedings for these crimes,
• reinvigorate a Europe-wide commitment to the continuing fight against impunity for these crimes.

The Netherlands Minister of Security and Justice, H.E. Mr Ard van der Steur, stated:

It is primarily the responsibility of states to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of core international crimes. International criminal courts and tribunals are often set up as courts of last resort, and are not able to prosecute ALL violations of international criminal law.

The Minister further underlined that ‘the EU does not want to be a safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes.’

The Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Ms Věra Jourová, stated:

The European Commission has made support to victims of crime a priority. Victims in criminal proceedings conducted in the European Union enjoy a wide range of rights under European law, regardless of their nationality or place of residence. Together with the Member States, the European Union has been striving for consistency between the European Union’s internal and external policies in relation to the fight against serious international crimes. Close and swift cooperation between national judicial and law enforcement authorities matter greatly. At the EU level, Eurojust and Europol play a crucial role in this respect.

Eurojust’s President, Ms Michèle Coninsx, stated:

Experience shows that the investigation and prosecution of international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, require cooperation between states. A single state is not able to efficiently and successfully prosecute perpetrators of these heinous crimes. A common EU justice response is vital to ensure that the European Union is no safe haven for criminals. The need for intensified cooperation with third States and partners becomes clear when fighting impunity.

Background

The 1 607 closed and 1 339 ongoing core international crime cases in the Member States demonstrate that the fight against impunity is a reality and current challenge faced by national authorities.

For interviews and further information, please contact:
Eurojust
Ulf Bergström, Head of Communications and External Relations
Tel: +31 70 412 5508
Mobile: +31 646 764 209
E-mail: media@eurojust.europa.eu
Matevž Pezdirc, Head of Genocide Network Secretariat
Tel: +31 70 412 5514
Mobile: +31 646 595 095
E-mail: GenocideNetworkSecretariat@eurojust.europa.eu
Netherlands Ministry of Security and Justice
Karen Temmink, Spokesperson
Tel: +31 625 657 676
E-mail: k.temmink3@minvenj.nl
Melanie Voin, Press Contact for Commissioner Jourová
Tel: +32 (0)2 29 58659
Mobile: +32 (0)460 758 659
E-mail: Melanie.VOIN1@ec.europa.eu

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Iraq, World Humanitarian Summit

Atrocity Alert, No.  6 No Images? Click here

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich

Iraq

On 23 May Iraqi Security Forces began a major offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). While the government instructed thousands of civilians remaining in Fallujah to leave and promised safe passage, ISIL has prevented most people from doing so. Civilians have been trapped in the city and suffering from acute shortages of food and medicine, with no access to humanitarian aid, since December 2015.

With more than 60 million people around the world displaced by conflict, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May in Istanbul, Turkey. The Summit brought together delegates from more than 170 countries, as well as intergovernmental organizations and leaders within civil society, to discuss an “Agenda for Humanity.”

UN and humanitarian partners are currently responding to four “Level-3” emergencies – the most severe humanitarian crises – in Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In each of these situations, as well as many others, the world is witnessing widespread and systematic mass atrocity crimes. As UN Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted in his opening remarks to a High-Level Roundtable at the Summit, “International humanitarian and human rights law are under assault… More than 150 years of achievements to protect the most vulnerable during conflict are unraveling. The Geneva Conventions seem to have been forgotten.”

During the Summit, Global Centre Executive Director Dr. Simon Adams moderated a side event, “Security Council Action in the Service of Humanity,” hosted by the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, and also spoke at a number of other sessions.

Connect With Us