News

Congolese Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo—The Congolese M23 rebels have recently declared a unilateral ceasefire (on Tuesday January 8, 2013) with the government. This announcement boosted the hope for an end to the nine-month revolt against the Congolese government. Francois Rucogoza, the rebels’ executive secretary told Ugandan journalists, “We’ve been for peace…Today we are declaring that we are in a ceasefire.” “Even if the government refuses to sign a ceasefire agreement we will continue with the negotiations,” he added.

The M23 executive secretary announces its unilateral ceasefire, the group now awaits a response from the government. (Photo Courtesy of New Vision)

Jean-Marie Runiga, the head of the rebels’ political wing gave a slightly different opinion saying, “If President Kabmila refuses to sign the ceasefire deal we will to him in the language he understands better which is war. We will not participate in any form of talks with him if he does not agree to peace.”

Last month an attempt was made to come to an agreement between the government and the rebels, but this attempt failed. Up to 800,000 people in the DR Congo have been displaced as a result of the rebels taking up arms against the government in May of last year.

However, the M23 has accused the government of failing to honor a peace deal that would integrate the rebels into the army. The group later broadened its stated goals to include the “liberation” of all of the DR Congo as well as the removal of the country’s President Joseph Kabila. The group also claims that they would like to improve living conditions for the people living in the eastern region of the DR Congo. The United Nations says, on the other hand, says that the group is supported by Rwanda, which has been very heavily involved with its Congolese neighbors since the people held responsible for Rwanda’s genocide left in 1994.

Peace talks began between the rebels and the government in November of last year, after the regional Heads of State and Government International Conference on the Great Lakes Region met in Kampala to discuss and seek solutions to the security situation affecting the eastern DR Congo.

The leader of the M23 is wanted by the International Criminal Court as prosecutors have accused him of using child soldiers. The United Nations also noted that he is in control of several mines located in the east region of the country. A lot now hangs in the balance as the country awaits the government’s response to the M23’s declaration of a ceasefire.

 

For further information, please see:

New Vision – M23 Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire – 9 January 2013

Standard Digital News – DR Congo’s M23 Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire – 9 January 2013

AlertNet – Congo Rebels Declare Ceasefire Before Peace Talks – 8 January 2013

CRI English – Congo Rebels Demand Government Sign Ceasefire – 5 January 2013

Rebels React to French Intervention in Northern Mali

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BAMAKO, Mali – Malian rebel groups Ansar Dine and AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) have threatened France that its military intervention in Northern Mali could endanger the lives of its people.

The Mujao, an extremist group occupying northern Mali, who claimed responsibility for kidnapping a French citizen last November. (Photo courtesy of RFI/AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

They urged France to reconsider its military support to the Malian Army to avoid any harm to French hostages and other French citizens.

“There are consequences, not only for French hostages, but also for all French citizens, wherever they find themselves in the Muslim world,” said Sanda Ould Boumama, Ansar Dine’s spokesperson. “The hostages are facing death.”

AQIM posted a video online where its spokesperson, Abdallah Al-Chinguetti, gave a similar warning to France: “Stop your assault against us or you are digging your own sons’ graves.”

Since April last year, the Malian government had been asking for urgent military assistance from France to regain territories captured by several insurgent groups in the north. On Friday, French President Francois Hollande announced that France will help its former colony in west Africa. On the same day, France sent air strikes to Konna which allowed the Malian Army to drive the rebel convoy out of the city.

“Terrorists should know that France will always be there when the rights of a people – those of Mali who want to live freely and in a democracy – are threatened,” President Hollande said. According to him, the French military operation in Mali, named “Operation Serval”, would last “as long as necessary” mainly because “Mali’s very existence as a state was under threat” with insurgent groups trying to turn Mali into a “terrorist” state.

President Hollande added that the French military intervention complied with international law and had been agreed with by Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore.

Although Operation Serval had been successful in regaining control of several territories in a matter of days, it was not without casualties. A French pilot was killed on Friday when his helicopter was shot down near the town of Mopti. Hours later, a French hostage being held by extremist groups in Somalia was executed which further highlighted France’s conflict with such groups in Africa.

The French Foreign Ministry has since raised its security alert to red – the highest level, advising the 6,000 French citizens staying in Mali to leave the country. It has also extended the red alert on neighboring countries such as Mauritania and Niger.

Meanwhile, interim Malian President Traore declared a state of emergency on Friday. He also cancelled a long-planned official trip to Paris on Wednesday because of the ongoing conflict in his country.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – French soldier killed and hostage feared dead in Somalia – 12 January 2013

Huffington Post – France’s Mali Operation: Troops Make Progress Against Islamist Rebels – 12 January 2013

Reuters – France bombs Mali rebels, African States Ready Troops – 12 January 2013

Reuters – Mali intervention will put French citizens at risk: Islamists – 12 January 2013

RTE News – Over 100 rebels killed after French Air Strikes on Mali – 12 January 2013

Times Live – Mali war escalates with French intervention – 12 January 2013

RFI – Mali’s islamist Mujao group claims kidnapping of French citizen – 22 November 2012

 

Abdullah al-Senussi’s Lawyer Calls for ICC Trial

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Libya – Abdullah al-Senussi has once been described as the “world’s most wanted man.” During the rule of his brother-in-law, Muammar Gaddafi, Senussi ran the country’s internal security, external security, and was the chief of its espionage agency. His lawyer, Ben Emmerson, believes that if Senussi is not sent for trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, that he will surely be sentenced to death in Libya.

Senussi’s attorney believes that if Senussi is not rightfully sent to face trial at the ICC, that he will be summarily executed. (Photo Courtesy of the Guardian)

On June 27, 2011, the ICC issued arrest warrants for both Senussi as well as Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son. Nevertheless, Islam has been detained in west Libya, where he will be tried. Similarly, despite the arrest warrant, Senussi, who was being held in Mauritania, was deported back to Libya when Libya purposefully ignored the warrant and paid between $125-$200 million for him.

While Libya is supposed to follow the directives of the ICC, there is no real manner in which the ICC can enforce itself, nor the United Nations Security Council, who referred the case to the Hague to begin with. Lord Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions in England threatened, however, that “the Libyan government need to decide whether they want to join the international community or not. If they continue to flout the UN security council [resolution]. . . they are not going to be treated seriously as part of the community of nations.”

Emmerson claims that if his client is put on trial in Libya, that the country has breached its obligations to both the ICC and Security Council. He further believes that when Libya obtained Senussi from Mauritania, that it partook in unlawful rendition. Emmerson wants a fair trial for Senussi and ultimately feels that if Senussi is tried in Libya, that it is “likely to be a short and summary process resulting in his conviction and summary execution.”

Senussi was believed to be the orchestrator of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, known as the Lockerbie bombing, which killed 170 people. Many also think that he was also the man responsible for the slaughtering of 1,200 prisoners at Abu Salim prison.

On the first of this month, Taha Baara, spokesman for Libya’s attorney general stated that Senussi’s trial would take place “within a month.” The Libyan authorities are required to respond to the ICC’s demands by January 15, 2013.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Abdullah al-Senussi: Foreign Office Urged to Prevent Execution of spy Chief – 11 January 2013

Al Arabiya News – Libyan Ex-spy Chief Must be Extradited or Risk Execution: Lawyers – 10 January 2013

Amnesty International – Libya Must Seek Justice not Revenge in Case of Former al-Gaddafi Intelligence Chief – 18 October 2012

The Hague Justice Portal – Abdullah Senussi

Displaced Rohingya Refugees Turned Away from Thailand

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Over 600 displaced Rohingya Muslims were found by Thai authorities after police raided a warehouse in the town of Sadao in Songkhla province and a rubber plantation in a Malaysian border town of Pedang Besar.

Rohingya refugees awaiting deportation. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Police suspected that the raid sites were utilized by local human traffickers and discovered the refugees during their operations.  Among the Rohingya discovered in Pedang Besar, roughly 20 of the refugees were women and children.

The Thai landowner of the raid sites is now being sought by the local authorities on illegal human trafficking charges.  The charge of sheltering illegal migrants has also been tacked on by the officials seeking to prosecute the alleged traffickers.

Reports say that the Rohingya refugees had fled Myanmar and were passing through Thailand en route to a third destination.  The migration was entirely voluntary by the Rohingya refugees; however, the migrants had been housed in the warehouse for 3 months prior to discovery.

The refugees were reportedly travelling to a final destination in Malaysia and the camps were temporary holding facilities as they passed through.  The landowners were middlemen who were paid to help facilitate the refugees’ journey.

The migrations may have been voluntary because the Rohingya people are currently stateless.  The Myanmar government continues to deny the Rohingya people official citizenship status.  Myanmar also classifies them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Nearby Bangladesh also denies the Rohingya people official status creating hostility and persecution for the stateless refugees.  The Thai government has refused to grant asylum and plans to force the recently discovered refugees back onto rickety and overcrowded boats for departure, similar to the ones they utilized during their arrival.

Similar incidents in 2008, where Rohingya were forcibly deported from Thailand, generated tragic results.  The Thai military put roughly 1000 Rohingya refugees onto boats without food or water causing hundreds of deaths.

The violence in the Rakhine state of Myanmar last June has caused a large displacement of the Rohingya people.  Of the 800,000 Rohingya people, an estimated 110,000 people were displaced, many of which were Rohingya.

Rights groups have clamored to the international community about Thailand’s attitude toward the recently discovered Rohingya refugees in the two police raids.  Thailand’s refusal of asylum for the stateless refugees and sending them back to sea in rickety boats without food or water is seen as shameful.

Thailand had already deported 73 of the Rohingya people back to Myanmar last week, but the boat landed in the nearby Thai island of Phuket.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Myanmar Rohingya refugees rescued in Thailand – 11 January 2013

Breitbart – 700 ROHINGYA IN THAILAND TO BE DEPORTED TO MYANMAR – 11 January 2013

Reuters – Over 600 illegal Rohingya migrants held in Thai raids – 11 January 2013

San Jose Mercury News – Rohingya boat people found adrift near Thai resort – 1 January 2013

Three Politically Active Kurdish Women Mysteriously Murdered in Paris

By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe 

PARIS, France – The Kurdish community was stunned this past Thursday when three politically active Kurdish women were brutally murdered. The three bodies were found around 2 a.m. inside the Kurdish Information Center. The center was used to promote Kurds’ political and cultural agendas.

The community watches as the three bodies were removed from the inconspicuous building. (Photo Courtesy of NBC News)

Although there are no claims of responsibility or any suggestion of suspects, it is quite clear that the killings were carefully planned. Since the building is not marked, investigators believe someone would have to know where the office was. Furthermore, the front door could not be opened without a digital code.

Center employee, Berivan Akvol, stated, “There is no doubt this was politically motivated.” Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, stated, “No hypothesis can be excluded at this stage” as per the motive. However, Kurdish activists believe Turkish forces committed the murders.

One woman who was killed is one of the founders of the Kurdish Workers’ Party, the PKK. Multiple nations, such as Turkey, believe the PKK is a terror organization because of their 28-year rebellion against the Turkish state, one of Middle East’s longest-running conflicts.

The PKK, a pan-Kurdish nationalist movement, is internationally known for the three decade war against the government of Turkey. As a result, an estimated 40,000 people were killed. However, suspiciously, the killings happened around the time the Turkish government entered into peace talks with Kurdish leaders.

French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, told reporters that the three women were “without doubt executed” and described the killings as “totally unacceptable.”

Roj Welat, a spokesman for the PKK leadership in northern Iraq, said “It is an assassination, it is terror, it is ideological and political assassination, a terror attack against the Kurdish people. Sakine Cansiz has been actively involved in the peace and democracy struggle, freedom struggle, of the Kurdish people for a long time. She was one of the women who participated in the formation of the PKK.”

However, although many believe the Turkish government is behind the killings, Turkish political leaders were quick to express their shock and disgust. Additionally, Turkish government spokesman, Bulent Arinc, said the “savage” killing of the women was “utterly wrong.”

The BDP, the Turkish parliament, also stated, “We expect the French government to enlighten this massacre beyond a shadow of doubt. We want it known that these murders committed overtly in the busiest part of Paris cannot be covered up.”

For further information, please see:

BBC News – PKK Paris deaths: Turkey PM Erdogan blames ‘internal feud’ – 11 January 2013

CNN – 3 Kurdish women political activists shot dead in Paris – 11 January 2013

NBC News – Three women shot dead in ‘politically motivated’ Paris slayings – 10 January 2013

The New York Times — 3 Kurds Are Killed in Paris, in Locked-Door Mystery – 10 January 2013