Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar View this email in your browser

Amid Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar, Where Does Transitional Justice Stand? Over the past month, more than 400,000 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim community have been driven from their homes as part of an ethnic-cleansing campaign led by the military. What lies at the root of the current violence? How is it connected to the country’s political transition? And does transitional justice have a role to play? Anna Myriam Roccatello, who oversees ICTJ’s work in Myanmar, answers those questions and more. “What we now finally call ethnic cleansing in Myanmar has gone on for years,” Roccatello says. “Had efforts to acknowledge victims been more actively supported by the international community in the last several years, the political dynamic might be different. Moving forward, once the violence stops, accountability and reforms must be pursued with renewed vigor to ensure a sustainable peace. Doing so will hopefully provide the opportunity to address the massive violations against not only the Rohingya, but against all victims of the regime.” Read more

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ICTJ In Focus 72 September 2017

In Focus Divided by Years of Conflict, Sri Lankans Have Yet to See the Promise of Justice FulfilledWhere does transitional justice stand in Sri Lanka? Kelli Muddell, Director of ICTJ’s Gender Justice Program, explores the country’s contested historical narratives. Read More… SUBSCRIBE Forward to a Friend Do you know someone that may be interested in the ICTJ newsletter? View Newsletter Archive Other News Is the United States Ready for a Truth-Telling Process?Fania Davis thinks the time has come for a truth-telling process about racial injustice in the United States, and she is working to make it a reality. We sat down with her and her colleague, Jodie Geddes, to discuss their vision for a national process, what they hope it would achieve, and what they have learned from their conversations with local leaders so far. Read More… Two Judgments in Chile Mark Progress in Prosecuting State Agents for Enforced DisappearancesChile has shown slow but steady progress on ​criminal justice​​. Two recent court decisions convicted a total of 139 ​state ​agents for their roles in the enforced disappearances of 21 Chileans. The rulings – one handed down by the Supreme Court, the other by a first instance judge – highlight the growing momentum towards obtaining justice for victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship​.​ Read More… Publications When No One Calls It Rape: Addressing Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys Sexual violence against men and boys in times of conflict or repression is alarmingly common— and takes a markedly consistent form across contexts in terms of how it affects victims and societies as a human rights violation that is taboo to talk about. It has been committed in all cultures, geographic regions, and time periods. View Report Handbook on Complementarity Where should justice for some of the world’s worst crimes be done? In national courts or at the International Criminal Court in The Hague? Our Handbook on Complementarity explores those questions, laying out the interconnected relationship between the ICC and national court systems in the global fight against impunity. View Report More Publications Upcoming Events October 09 – 13, 2017 Negotiating Peace and Justice: ICTJ’s 2017 Intensive Course on Transitional Justice and Peace ProcessesLocation: Barcelona, SpainView Details November 07 – 08, 2017 The Interface of National Security and Humanitarian Law in Situations of Low-Intensity Armed Conflict / High Intensity EmergencyLocation: Ulster University, Jordanstown campus View Details More Events

Copyright 2011 International Center for Transitional Justice

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

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 12 – Issue 13 September 5, 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

• Al-Jazeera: Latest CAR clashes leave 13 people dead
• allAfrica: Central African Republic: War Arrives in Bengassou
• News24: UN aid chief warns of signs of genocide in Central African Republic

Sudan & South Sudan

• Washington Post: USAID director Green visits Darfur as U.S. considers lifting sanctions on Sudan
• News24: Sudan’s Bashir pardons top activist accused of spying
• The Telegraph: Reporters group calls for investigation after US journalist killed in South Sudan

Democratic Republic of the Congo

• New York Times: U.S. Urges U.N. to Conduct ‘Full Investigation’ Into Killings of 2 Investigators in Congo
• Aljazeera: DR Congo violence displaces 3.8 million: UN

WEST AFRICA

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

• Huffington Post: Laurent Gbagbo’s Insistance To Stay In Power Took Years Out Of The Momentum Of Economic Development Of Côte d’Ivoire

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

• Baptist Press : Child Suicide Bombings by Boko Haram at All-Time High
• Reuters: Suspected Boko Haram Militants Kill 15 in Cameroon
• defenceWeb: ISS: How Will ISIS Setbacks Impact Africa?
• Borneo Bulletin: Life Returns to Lake Chad Island Despite Boko Haram Threat

Mali

• BBC News: Mali Peace Deal Allows Chaos to Gain Upper Hand
• UNHCR: UN Refugee Chief Condemns Attack on Staff in Mali
• AllAfrica: Mali’s Suspended Constitutional Review Provides Vital Lessons

EAST AFRICA

Uganda

• VOA News: ICRC Chief Urges Renewed Dialogue to End War in South Sudan
• DailyMail: Uganda court jails Muslim leader for life over terrorism conviction
• Human Rights Watch: Giving Voice to Victims at the ICC: Court Should Emphasize Victims’ Views in Choice of Counsel
• ReliefWeb: Who Will Stand for Us? Victims’ Legal Representation at the ICC in the Ongwen Case and Beyond

Kenya

• Aljazeera: What Kenyan voters got for the $500m spent on elections
• News 24: Kenya’s election court case: what you need to know

Rwanda (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

• The Hamilton Spectator: Can uneasy peace last in Rwanda?
• The New Times: Rwanda’s Paul Kagame: saviour or dictator?

Somalia

• Eyewitness News: US AIR STRIKES KILL 7 AL-SHABAAB FIGHTERS IN SOMALIA – US MILITARY
• AllAfrica: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Militants Attack Key Town Near Somali Capital
• New Zealand Herald: Somali extremist group confirms killing of senior commander
• UPI: 10 civilians killed during U.S. special forces raid in Somalia: reports

NORTH AFRICA

Libya

• Time: Report: An Armed Group Is Stopping Migrants From Leaving Libya
• Bloomberg Markets: Libya Key Oil Field Pipeline Starts Again After Shutdown
• The Telegraph: Former Libyan prime minister released after being ‘kidnapped in Tripoli’
• BBC News: Why Boris Johnson feels he must fix Libya

EUROPE

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

• Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Policemen’s War Crimes Convictions Upheld
• Balkan Insight: Bosnian Serb Ex-Soldier Charged with Torture, Rape
• Balkan Insight: Prosecution Urges Jail for Bosniak Commander Oric

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

• Balkan Insight: UN Court Ends Case Against Serbian Radical
• Balkan Insight: Stanisic, Simatovic Retrial Resumes Before Tribunal
• Balkan Insight: Simatovic Lawyer Denies he Brought Arms to Croatian Serbs
• Balkan Insight: Simatovic Lawyer Calls Witness Claims ‘Fabricated’
• Balkan Insight: Knin Police Feared Simatovic, Witness Says

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

• Balkan Insight: Serbian Union Wants Journalists Killed in Kosovo Investigated
• Balkan Insight: Bosnia War Vicitims Condemn Acquittal of Mladic’s Helpers
• The Republic: Serb man arrested for war crimes against civilians in Kosovo

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Iraq

• Rudaw: Baghdad confirms abuses by Iraqi forces in Mosul campaign
• The New York Times: For a Yazidi Woman, Justice for ISIS Crimes Is Still Elusive
• Kurdistan 24: Iraqi court in Nineveh sentences four IS militants to death
• Jerusalem Online: Iranian court demands US pay $245 million to victims of chemical attacks
• Reuters: Iraq must ensure Islamic State’s victims of sexual violence see justice: U.N.
• Iraqi News: Forcible disappearance keeps 4000 Iraqis out of sight
• The Washington Times: Baghdad moves ahead on Islamic State war crimes
• Iraqi News: Iraq sentences Islamic State’s “chemical emir” to death

Syria

• The Washington Post: ‘Shocking’ conditions await civilians fleeing ISIS in Syria
• Al Jazeera: Syria: ‘This case is about saving humanity’
• Reuters: North Korea shipments to Syria chemical arms agency intercepted: U.N. report
• ABC News: Sweden suspects Syrian asylum-seeker of war crimes
• Independent: Inside Assad’s prisons: Horrors facing female inmates in Syrian jails revealed

Yemen

• Bloomberg Politics: Deadly Clashes Erupt Between Yemen’s Shiite Rebels, Al Saleh
• Al-Jazeera: Rights groups demand UN probe into Yemen abuses
• Reuters: Yemen allies agree to end tensions after deadly clash: officials

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

• The Daily Star: Call records disprove Ayash’s hajj: STL prosecutors
• The Daily Star: Donaldson seeks to tie phones to Ayyash at STL
• The Daily Star: Victims of Hariri assassination set to testify at STL

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

• Dhaka Tribune: Police to submit Gulshan attack probe report on Oct 10
• Dhaka Tribune: Woman killed after gang-rape on moving bus, 5 held

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

• The Irrawaddy: Kachin Rights Group Urges End to Military-to-Military Ties with Myanmar Army
• The Star: 71 dead in Burma after militant attacks on police, border posts
• Breitbart: Violence Between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar/Burma Escalates Dramatically

Israel and Palestine

• Xinhua Net: Israel demolishes home of Palestinian killer of policewoman
• The Jerusalem Post: COURT FREEZES LAW THAT RETROACTIVELY LEGALIZED UNAUTHORIZED SETTLER HOMES
• The New Arab: Generations of Palestinian children remain trapped in ‘ongoing cycle of violence and diminishing human rights’
• Reliefweb: Israel demolishes Palestinian schools days before reopening
• Just Security : An Update of the Israel-Palestine-International Criminal Court Timeline

AMERICAS

North & Central America

• CBCNews: Lawyers for American widow seeking enforcement of U.S. judgment against Khadr in Alberta

South America

• Human Rights Watch: Disappearance of Protestor in Argentina
• Human Rights Watch: Brazil: Don’t Shield Soldiers in Homicide Cases
• Prensa Latina: Bolivia: Truth Commission Starts Working
• Reuters: Colombia’s 50,000 disappeared should become ‘national cause’: government
• Time: A Sri Lankan Ambassador in Latin America Is to Face War Crimes Suits
• UN News Centre: Human rights violations indicate repressive policy of Venezuelan authorities – UN report

TOPICS

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• My Republica: TRC Mulling to Set Up Liaison Offices in All 75 Districts

Terrorism

• Daily Nation: Uganda Courts Accused of Targeting Muslims in Rulings
• Dawn: Overburdened ATCs Unable to Decide Cases within Stipulated Time Frame
• National Catholic Reporter: El Salvador’s Montano Closer to Spanish trial for ‘Terrorist Murder’ of Jesuits
• CNN: This Congressional Act Threatens US National Security

Piracy

• Maritime Executive: Royal 16 Crew Member Escapes Abu Sayyaf
• Maritime Executive: The Autonomous Revolution
• Maritime Executive: Fuel Smuggling: Libya Detains 20 Filipinos

Gender-Based Violence

• IOL: Parliamentary committee wants more oversight on gender-based violence
• ReliefWeb: Capacity of NGOs to deliver humanitarian assistance to women and girls in Mingkaman, Nimule and Juba strengthened through workshop organized by UN Women in collaboration with Government of Japan

WORTH READING

• Caroline Davidson: Explaining Inhumanity: The Use of Crime-Definition Experts at International Criminal Courts
• Makau Mutua: Closing the ‘Impunity Gap’ and the Role of State Support for ICC

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ICTJ World Report

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ICTJ World Report August 2017

In Focus “This Is Us”: White Supremacy in the United StatesIn the wake of Charlottesville, some took to Twitter to distance the United States from the white supremacist march using #ThisIsNotUs. But this is us, writes Virginie Ladisch, and white Americans have an obligation to educate themselves about the history and persistence of white supremacy in their country. Read More… Subscribe Forward to a Friend Do you know someone that may be interested in the ICTJ newsletter? View Newsletter Archive World Report AfricaMillions of citizens voted in the presidentital election in Kenya amidst fears of a recurrence of voter-fraud and widespread violence that marked past elections.  Opposition leader Raila Odinga claimed “massive” fraud following the reelection of Uhuru Kenyatta, leading to protests. At least five died in the aftermath. Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court ordered to review the case of Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of Cote d’Ivoire who is being charged for crimes against humanity, to determine whether or not he should be released from detention while still on trial. A notorious warlord wanted for crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, surrendered to UN peacekeepers and was transferred to stand trial for his allegations. Prosecutors at the ICC have endorsed 121 witnesses, including some forced wives, in the trial of Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier turned rebel commander accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in northern Uganda. An estimated 80,000 apartheid victims still have not benefited from the special reparations fund issued by the Department of Justice in South Africa through the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, and reported struggling financially with the minimal compensation awarded to them. The Minister of Federal Government in Sudan renewed its efforts to involve armed movements in national peace processes, and to reintegrate demobilized fighters into all states. The proposed genocide apology from Germany for colonial-era massacres committed in Namibia from 1904 to 1908 has been delayed, further impeding upon redress for the approximately 75,000 victims killed by German authorities. The United Nations announced that it was investigating mass graves found in a town in Mali, where various human rights abuses were also discovered by the UN mission in the country over competition for land control. Read More… Americas Colombia’s transitional justice system received case files on 12,000 alleged military criminals and is in the process of verifying which cases qualify as war crimes. The country will institute a transitional justice tribunal and truth commission in the coming months following the selection of judges. The UN also removed more than 7,000 weapons from demobilization zones where former FARC guerillas handed their arms over under the peace deal. Governments in the Caribbean strengthened pressure on Europe to pay reparations for human rights violations committed during the transatlantic slave trade, and included Norway and Sweden in their list of countries to be held accountable. Nurses of the Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health in Canada are working to seek justice for the hundreds of Indigenous women victims who were forcibly sterilized in Canadian hospitals in the 1970s, and to raise awareness about health care discrimination against Indigenous women specifically. Ottawa also announced its first Indigenous court, which is meant to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada’s criminal justice system. In Argentina, four former federal judges in Argentina were sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the country’s last dictatorship Read More… AsiaThe International Commission of Jurists urged reform in Nepal’s transitional justice measures in a discussion paper focused on the inclusion of victims and human rights organizations. Likewise, the budget for rehabilitation allotted for more than seven hundred kamaiya families in the country reportedly failed to utilize 120 million of its rupees or reach just land compensation, but government officials are working on special programs to settle the freed communities. An International Crisis Group report revealed that Tamil speaking women in Sri Lanka are still seeking truth and justice for wartime human rights violations, and that little has been accomplished to reach reconciliation among communities. Aung San Suu Kyi encouraged national dialogue and the inclusion of the military in Myanmar’s move to civilian rule at the Forum on Myanmar Democratic Transition. Meanwhile in the country, women continue to struggle to have their voices heard in peace processes, and are building a rights movement to access full participation. Read More… EuropeA court in Kosovo ruled to detain Agim Sahitaj for committing war crimes against Kosovo Albanian civilians in 1999. The proposed Albanian language law in Macedonia that came from the country’s 2001 Ohrid peace accord and would extend the use of Albanian throughout the region, is set to appear before parliament for adoption soon. The initial releases of the approximately 6,000 men and women held in the Omarska detention camp in Bosnia in 1992 was commemorated on the sixth of August, and victims and other civilians honored those who died under the command of the Bosnian Serb forces. Poland demanded compensation from Germany for World War II damages, claiming that the country has failed to take full political, moral, and financial responsibility. Read More… MenaFollowing protests, Tunisia‘s parliament delayed voting on a bill that calls for amnesty for former public officials accused of corruption during the rule of president Ben Ali. President Michel Aoun of Lebanon visited the historic region of Chouf to celebrate the 16th anniversary of reconciliation between Christian and Druze communities in Mount Lebanon that facilitated co-existence following the country’s Civil War. German prosecutors arrested a 29-year-old man from Syria for alleged war crimes that he committed with the Islamic State after he joined in 2014. Read More… Publications Not Without Dignity: Views of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon on Displacement, Conditions of Return, and CoexistenceDiscussions about a future return of refugees and coexistence among groups currently at war in Syria must begin now, even in the face of ongoing violence and displacement. View Report Lessons in Truth-Seeking: International Experiences Informing United States InitiativesThis report disscusses the Greensboro Truth and Reonciliation Commission’s Final Report on the 1979 killings of five anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators. It focuses on a meeting of representatives from truth recovery efforts around the world to assess the Greensboro experience. View Report More Publications Upcoming Events October 09 – 13, 2017 Negotiating Peace and Justice: ICTJ’s 2017 Intensive Course on Transitional Justice and Peace Processes Location: Barcelona, Spain View Details October 17 – 22, 2017 22nd Workshop in Budapest: Practices of Memory and Knowledge Production Location: Budapest, Hungary View Details More Events

Copyright 2011 International Center for Transitional Justice

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