FREDERICK K. COX INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 12 – Issue 16 October 16, 2017

Editor-in-Chief James Prowse Technical Editor-in-Chief Samantha Smyth Managing Editors Rina Mwiti Alexandra Mooney

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “subscribe” in the subject line.

Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.

Contents

AFRICA

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central African Republic

• Medicins Sans Frontieres : Central African Republic: crisis update September 2017
• Washington Post: The Central African Republic could be on the brink of a bloodbath

Sudan & South Sudan

• Sudan Tribune: South Sudan IDPs worried on safety after UN base attack
• Sudan Tribune: Bashir’s visit to Darfur is terrorist activity
• New China: ICRC to resume operations in S. Sudan’s Equatoria region

Democratic Republic of the Congo

• UN News Centre: DR Congo: UN mission deploys ‘blue helmets’ to protect civilians and refugees
• Relief Web: Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region (S/2017/825)

WEST AFRICA

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

• Reuters: Aide to Ivory Coast parliament speaker arrested over arms cache

Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon

• VOA News: UN Rights Office Denounces Killings of Anglophone Demonstrators in Cameroon
• New York Times: In Nigeria and Cameroon, Secessionist Movements Gain Momentum
• Africa News: Cameroon govt refutes reports of massacre in Anglophone regions

Mali

• Reuters: Dutch Defense Minister Resigns Over Peacekeepers’ Deaths in Mali
• Newsweek: Three Green Berets Killed In Mali. What Were They Doing There?
• Catholic Herald: Mali Church Leader Voices Alarm as Islamists Attack Parishes
• Journal du Cameroun: Attack in Northern Mali Kills One Soldier, Four Others Injured

EAST AFRICA

Uganda

• Daily Nation: Explosions rip through Uganda MP’s home
• AllAfrica: The Monitor: Uganda: Kayihura Committed Treason, Says Kiiza
• Voice of America: 2 Ugandan Opposition Lawmakers’ Homes Hit by Grenade Attacks

Kenya

• Daily Nation: Bad governance: Tax-payers bear brunt of State backed torture
• VOA News: Kenya Police Killed More Than 30 After Election
• The Star: Boni Forest ‘too hot’ for al Shabaab, Kenya winning war – Kanyiri
• The New York Times: Raila Odinga, Kenya Opposition Leader, Won’t Run in New Election

Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

• Face2face Africa: European Financial Giant BNP Paribas Under Scrutiny Over Involvement in Rwandan Genocide
• The Guardian: Rwandan president’s challenger charged with inciting insurrection
• AllAfrica: Radio France Internationale: Rwanda: New Witness Links Kagame’s RPF to Former Rwanda President’s Killing
• Human Rights Watch: Rwanda: Unlawful Military Detention, Torture, Beatings, Asphyxiations, Electric Shocks, Mock Executions to Extract Confessions

Somalia

• The Seattle Times: Somalia police say car bomb blast kills 5 in capital
• Stratfor: Somalia: The Fight Against Jihadists Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
• Reuters: Militants attack checkpoint in Somalia’s Puntland, seven dead
• All Africa: Somalia: Govt Troops Launch a Security Operation in Mogadishu

NORTH AFRICA

Libya

• United Nations Support Mission in Libya: HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ON CIVILIAN CASUALTIES – SEPTEMBER 2017
• Reuters: Islamic State claims deadly attack on court in Libya’s Misrata
• The Libya Observer: 13 gunmen arrested as Misrata forces crack down on suspects

EUROPE

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

• Balkan Insight: Bosnian State Court President Condemns ‘Unfair Criticism’
• Balkan Insight: Serbian Courts Lets Landmark Srebrenica Trial Continue
• The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Acquittal rendered in the Milan Gavrilović case
• Balkan Insight: Naser Oric Faces Judgment over Serb Captives’ Deaths
• Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Fighter Charged with Burning Civilians Alive
• The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jozo Đojić sentenced to 6 years in prison
• Reuters, U.K.: Srebrenica’s Muslim defender cleared of crimes, Serbs protest
• The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Žarko Vuković sentenced to 7 years in prison
• Balkin Insight: Bosnian Serb Soldier Jailed for Wartime Rape in Foca

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

• U.S. News: Serbia Supports Ratko Mladic’s Release on Health Grounds
• Balkan Insight: ‘More Croats than Serbs’ Displaced in Wartime Croatia
• ICTY Press: The ICTY’s final Appeal Judgement to be rendered on 29 November 2017
• Balkan Insight: Serbian Responsibility for Missing Croatian Civilians Contested
• Sarajevo Times: Karadzic’s Requests for an easier Prison Term — from a Laptop to Skype—

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

• Balkan Insight: Verdicts in Macedonia Shootout Trial Due in October
• Balkan Insight: Prosecutor Calls for Retrial in Skopje Mass Murder Case
• Balkan Insight: Serbian Court Lets Landmark Srebrenica Trial Continue
• Balkan Insight: Montenegro Coup Defendant Slates ‘Rigged Anti-Serbian’ Trial
• Balkan Insight: Serbian Court Dismisses Strpci Train Massacre Charges
• B92:Thaci angers West by accusing them of broken promises

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Iraq

• Reuters: Iraq hangs 42 Sunni militants convicted of terrorism
• Reuters: Alleged Islamic State recruiter goes on trial in Germany
• Arab Times: Ten years jail upheld for joining IS — Aides caught in Iraq, Jordan
• UN News Centre: Hanging of 42 prisoners in Iraq raises concern over flawed due process — UN rights chief
• Reuters: Iraqi Shi’ite militias accused of rights abuses in Hawija operation
• The New York Times: Captured ISIS Fighters’ Refrain: ‘I Was Only a Cook’
• HuffPost: “They came to exterminate us”
• The Washington Post: Islamic State nearly expelled from its last urban stronghold in Iraq
• Human Rights Watch: Suspected ISIS Ties? Some Aid Workers May be Shying Away
• Business Insider: ISIS fighters, once bent on martyrdom, surrender en masse from last Iraqi stronghold

Syria

• Vice News: Syria’s War Criminals Could Get Away With It
• Independent: I’m all for war crimes trials in The Hague — so long as we agree to prosecute every possible war criminal
• The New York Times: Syrian Soldier Is Guilty of War Crime, a First in the 6-Year Conflict
• The New York Times: Syria Fighting Worst Since Aleppo, Air Strikes Deadly: Aid Agencies
• UN News Centre: September ‘deadliest month’ of 2017 for Syrians, UN relief official reports
• The Washington Post: Syria’s civil war is a long way from over — and here’s why that’s important

Yemen

• DailyMail.com: 18 Yemen rebels killed in clashes near Saudi border: army
• FoxNews: Suspected US drone strike kills 5 al-Qaida fighters in Yemen
• ABCNews: Saudis say coalition in Yemen shouldn’t be on UN blacklist
• Washington Post: Saudi-led coalition on UN blacklist for killing Yemen kids

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

• The Daily Star: STL defense counsel flies through cross-examination
• The Daily Star: Prosecution analyst under the spotlight, falls ill at STL
• The Daily Star: STL defense grills expert on withdrawn evidence
• The Daily Star: Defense attacks lack of hard evidence at STL
• The Daily Star: STL examines indictment procedure

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

• Dhaka Tribune: Hearing of 3 war criminals’ appeals deferred
• Geo News: Bangladesh arrests top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami party
• Gulf Times: War crimes tribunal gets new chairman

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

• Asian Correspondent: Israel Refuses to Stop arms Sales to Burma Despite Rohingya ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
• Independent: Buddhist Monks ‘Storm UN Shelter’ to Attack Rohingya Refugees
• The Wire: US Call for Suspending Arms Sales to Myanmar Faces Roadblock

Israel and Palestine

• International Middle East Media Center: B’Tselem: Israel To Commit War Crime Against West Bank Villagers
• The Jerusalem Post: ‘Will You Let Israel Help Myanmar Commit War Crimes?’
• The Electronic Intifada: Israel planning war crime against Khan al-Ahmar families
• The Palestine Chronicle: Palestinian Wins Landmark Case, Recognized as Israeli Terror Victim
• Aljazeera: Israel destroys Bedouin village for the 119th time
• The Times of Israel: IDF shells Hamas post in Gaza after rocket fired toward Israel
• The Times of Israel: Shin Bet: Murder of Jewish man in Arab city was terrorism, 2 arrested

AMERICAS

North & Central America

• Public Radio International: US lawmakers want to stop Trump from supporting Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen

South America

• Human Rights Watch: UN Human Rights Council Confronts Venezuela Critical to Keep up Pressure on Maduro
• Columbia Reports: ‘There is no peace here’: Colombia’s ethnic communities search for promised peace
• The New York Times: Brazil Studying Extradition of Italian Ex-Leftist Guerilla Battisti

TOPICS

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• The Bush Chicken: Cummings Prefers Reconciliation to Retributive Justice for War Crimes
• Front Page Africa: Liberia Massacre Survivors Revel in Jabah Trial; Want War Crime Trial Home
• Huffington Post: Uneasy Truths And The Truth And Reconciliation Commission

Terrorism

• Dawn: 3 terrorists convicted by military courts executed in KP: ISPR
• KT Press: Cabinet Approves Law Against Terrorism
• Fox News: Supreme Court rejects appeal of bin Laden propagandist
• CNN: Terrorism victims seek Supreme Court blessing to sue multinational corporations

Piracy

• The Hindu Business Line: Navy thwarts piracy attempt on Indian ship
• New Delhi Times: NAM Concerned at Maritime Piracy in Somalia
• Hellenic Shipping News: Navy Foils Pirate Attack on Iranian Cargo Ship

Gender-Based Violence

• The Interpreter: Why Australia must act on sexual violence in armed conflict
• Aljazeera: Rohingya refugees share stories of sexual violence
• Aljazeera: UN: Myanmar violence may be ‘crimes against humanity’
• Reuters: Rape, sexual slavery are weapons in Central African Republic war: report
• The National: ‘Sexual brutality’ of Daesh attracts men with history of violence against women

Commentary and Perspectives

• International Justice Monitor: The Jungle Jabbah Case: A Liberian Quest for Justice
• International Justice Monitor: The Anti-CICIG Campaign in Guatemala: Implications for Grave Crimes Cases (Part II)
• Balkan Transitional Justice: How Did War Criminals Become Serbia’s Heroes?
• ReliefWeb: Atrocity Alert No. 75: Children and Armed Conflict, Myanmar and Cameroon