U.S. officials say Syria may be making new forms of chemical weapons

Matthew Sneed
Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

WASHINGTON D.C., United States – On February 1, President Trump’s administration accused Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government of developing new chemical weapons. Officials say that the recent alleged attacks in Syria show characteristics similar to the chemical weapons attacks in 2013, the same year Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapon program.

Workers and police stand outside of a restaurant following a missile attack in Syria on February 1. Photo courtesy of Can Erok.

Officials believe that the weapons used are not necessarily newly invented weapons, but rather they are being deployed in a new method. The possible reason for this is because the new deployments make it harder to trace the origins of the attack. For example, during the attacks in 2013, barrel bombs were used to launch chemical weapons, now, those have been replaced with ground-launched munitions. In addition, chlorine is being used more because of its non-chemical uses and because it is easy to acquire. Also, the chemical compound sarin has been found in the remains of recent attacks.

Speaking on anonymity, officials said the President has not ruled out a military response to Syria’s actions. “We reserve the right to use military force to prevent or deter the use of chemical weapons,” one official said, but would not go into detail about how serious a chemical attack would need to be to generate a military response. However, another official said the administration hopes that the increased sanctions and diplomatic pressure placed on Syria will be enough to stop the weapons program.

Assad’s government continues to deny the use of chemical weapons and Russia, Syria’s ally, claimed the reports of chemical attacks were false. Last year, Russia vetoed the renewal of the of the Joint Investigative Mission, a U.N. committee dedicated to the investigation of chemical weapons. This led the U.S. and other nations to accuse Russia of covering the attacks used by Assad’s army.

Official’s believe that Assad risks using such dangerous weapons to terrorize rebels and civilians, causing them to evacuate. This would allow him to consolidate control to specific regions. The weapons also compensate for Assad’s inability to take certain regains due to a lake of manpower. Moreover, officials believe that if the attacks continue without an adequate response, there will be an increased number of smaller chemical attacks. One official said, “They think they can get away with it if they keep it under a certain level.”

Since 2011, more than 5.4 million people have fled the country while millions more have been displaced inside the country itself. Over 13 million inside the country are in need and at least 3 million are in areas the U.N. describes as “hard to reach and besieged.”

For more information please see:

The Washington Post – US says Syria making new chemical weapons despite 2013 deal – 1, Feb. 2018

Reuters – U.S. says Syria may be developing new types of chemical weapons – 1, Feb. 2018

CBS News – Syria may be making new types of chemical weapons, U.S. says – 1, Feb, 2018

Pakistan Shuts Down News Agency Office

By: Katherine Hewitt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – On January 19, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan released an order to close the Radio Mashaal office in Islamabad. The Inter-Service Intelligence revealed the news station broadcasted programs that are “against the interest of Pakistan,” that reflect a “hostile intelligence agency’s agenda”, and that portray “Pakistan as a hub for terrorism.” The report went on to say that Radio Mashaal accuses Pakistan of harboring terrorists and of being a failed state.

Radio Mashaal was closed recently by Pakistani authorities. Photo Courtesy of Noorullah Shirzada.

Radio Mashaal is the Pashto-language part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).   RFE/RL is funded by the U.S. Congress. It is made possible by the bipartisan federal Broadcasting Board of Governors agency that oversees all international broadcasting.  Radio Mashaal was created to provide “an alternative to extremist propaganda in the tribal regions of Pakistan’s border.”

Amin Mudaqiq is the head of Radio Mashaal which broadcasts out of Prague. He denies that fact that Radio Mashaal is a part of foreign intelligence. He also stated that Pakistani intelligence had been questioning the integrity of the news produced for a while.

The president of RFE/RL said,” Radio Mashaal is an essential source of reliable, balanced information for our Pakistani audience.” The Coordinator of the Asia Program at the Committee to Protect Journalists, Steven Butler said of closure, “The order to close Radio Mashaal’s office in Islamabad is a draconian move by Pakistani authorities and a direct threat to press freedom in the country.”

For more information, please see:

Committee to project Journalists – Pakistan orders closure of US-funded Radio Mashaal office in Islamabad – 19 January 2018

Voice of America – Pakistan Orders Closure of US-funded RFE/RL Bureau in Islamabad – 19 January 2018

Reporters Without Borders – RSF decries Pakistan’s closure of Radio Mashaal bureau – 23 January 2018

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – Watchdog Condemns Pakistan’s Move Against RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal – 20 January 2018

Five Mass Graves Found in Rakhine

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – According to a recent report by the Associated Press (AP) news agency, many Rohingya villagers have been massacred and buried in five mass graves. AP reported that around 400 Rohingya villagers were murdered by members of Myanmar’s military.

New mass graves were found in Myanmar according to AP. Photo Courtesy of Manish Swarup.

The survivors of the massacre told the Associated Press that the killing took place on August 27. The attack happened in the village of Gu Dar Pyin. According to Noor Kadir, a survivor of the massacre, he found six of his friends buried in two separate mass graves. Kadir stated that he was only able to identify his friend by the color of his friend’s shorts.

The attack began around noon when 200 soldiers attacked the village. Based on a video that was obtained after the fact, it showed the soldiers using acid to remove traces of evidence. The survivors told the Associated Press that the Burmese military tried to cover up evidence of murder.

Previously, Myanmar had admitted responsibility for one mass grave site in the village of Inn Din. However, the government is denying the massacre that allegedly occurred in Gu Dar Pyin.

Since the attack, Myanmar has denied access to Gu Dar Pyin. Due to this reason, it is difficult to get the accurate number of deaths. However, based on the satellite images gathered from DigitalGlobe, the village is reported to be wiped out.

Myanmar is denying AP’s investigation. The government in a statement reported that 17 government officials investigated the matter in Gu Dar Pyin. When they spoke with the community leaders, they informed the agencies that “no such things happened.”

Since the conflict began, around 680,000 Rohingya minority have fled Myanmar and relocated to Bangladesh.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Evidence of Rohingya mass graves uncovered in Myanmar – 1 February, 2018

The Guardian – Myanmar: UN and US deeply troubled over new report of five mass graves – 1 February, 2018

ABC News – Myanmar government denies AP report of Rohingya mass graves – 2 February, 2018

Reuters – Myanmar denies report of new mass graves in Rakhine – 2 February, 2018

Syracuse University News – Media, Law, and Policy: ‘The Founders,’ Co-Edited by David M. Crane, Charts Creation of World’s First International Tribunals

Tuesday, February 6, 2018, By Martin Walls

book cover of "The Founders" alongside photo of David Crane

Never before have international chief prosecutors written in detail about the challenges they faced, but with the publication of “The Founders”—co-edited by David M. Crane, professor of practice in the College of Law; Leila Sadat of Washington University School of Law, St. Louis; and Michael P. Scharf of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Ohio—comes the complex story of four individuals who created the world’s first international tribunals and special courts.

A candid look at how the founding prosecutors sought justice for millions of victims, the backdrop to these tales is four of the most appalling conflicts of modern times: the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia (1991-2001), which included the Bosnian genocide and led to hundreds of thousands of casualties and displaced peoples; the 1994 mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority government; the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979), perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge; and crimes against humanity committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002). The crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during these conflicts spurred the creation of international tribunals designed to bring the perpetrators of unimaginable atrocities to justice.

When Richard Goldstone, David M. Crane, Robert Petit and Luis Moreno-Ocampo received their orders from the international community, each set out on a quest to build unique postconflict justice mechanisms and launch their first prosecutions. South African jurist Goldstone founded the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which indicted 161 individuals between 1997 and 2004. Crane was the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2002 until 2005, indicting, among others, then-President of Liberia Charles Taylor for his role in crimes committed against Sierra Leoneans. (Incidentally, Crane was the first American to be named the chief prosecutor of an international war crimes tribunal since Justice Robert Jackson at Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945.)  The founder of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was Canadian Robert Petit, who led the investigation and prosecution of five of the senior-most leaders of the Khmer Rouge. Lastly, Argentinian lawyer Luis Moreno-Ocampo is most famous for becoming the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. During his tenure, which began in 2003, Moreno-Ocampo opened investigations into crimes committed in Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Uganda and Georgia.

“As we worked on this book it occurred to me the extraordinary professional and personal risk we took in establishing these ground-breaking justice mechanisms. We all had successful careers when we literally received ‘the call’ asking us to stop our life trajectory and to take on a task with absolutely no certainty of success,” says Crane, who continues to work on humanitarian and atrocity law issues at the College of Law, including with the student-run Syrian Accountability Project. “We were in unchartered waters, yet we were drawn to the possibility of bringing justice to victims of horrific acts. This we did, and we took up the flaming sword of justice. It was an honor and a privilege to be asked to found these international courts.”

With no blueprint and little precedent, each prosecutor became a pathfinder. “The Founders” offers behind-the-scenes, first-hand stories of these historic journeys, the challenges the prosecutors faced, the obstacles they overcame and the successes they achieved. Contributions are made by the founders themselves, as well as former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Hans Corell, Leila Nadya Sadat, Michael Scharf, William Schabas and David Scheffer.

Colombia suspends peace talks with ELN rebels

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) were suspended on Monday in response to a series of bomb attacks over the weekend. The leftist rebel group killed several police officers and wounded many more.

Members of the ELN in Colombia. Image Courtesy of Luis Robayo.

The homemade bombs were placed in a police station during a shift change in Barranquila, a northern Colombian town. As a result, five police officers died and more than 40 were wounded. Two more died from another bomb attack just four hours later.

This occurred in the wake of peace talks which began in February 2017 and ended the five-decade war. The bombing is the second time this month that negotiations between the government and the rebel group have been paused. Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said, “My patience and the patience of the Colombian people has its limits, so I have taken the decision to suspend the start of the fifth cycle of negotiations, which was scheduled for the coming days, until we see coherence between the ELN’s words and its actions.”

The ELN is a guerrilla organization and faction of the National Liberation Army. Even though the other rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have signed a peace deal with the government, guerrillas of the ELN  seem determined to continue their long battle against the state. It opposes the presence of foreign companies in Colombia and regularly bombs pipelines and other oil infrastructures.

In contrast, members of FARC have embraced peace and moved into politics. The large rebel group has launched its campaign for the presidency under the leadership of its former commander, Rodrigo Londono. However, his opening campaign speech was largely overshadowed by the rebel attacks. Other presidential candidates denounce him for being too soft on both FARC and ELN guerillas.

Few politicians support this peace deal. It remains an issue among Colombians and was rejected in a 2016 referendum. President Santos has only months left in his term and it is unlikely that he will succeed in ending the conflict with the ELN. The deputy director of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, Ariel Avila, remarked, “The ELN know that this government only has five months left — there’s nothing for them to negotiate with this government, so they say why bother?”

On Monday, the ELN issued a statement expressing support for the peace talks and a cease-fire. However, it says that “military actions will continue taking place on each side” in the absence of any agreement.

For more information, please see:

Telesur – Colombian Rebels Call for New Ceasefire, Renewed Peace Talks – 31 January 2018

Colombia Reports – Santos suspends talks with ELN after deadly attacks in northern Colombia – 29 January 2018

NPR – Colombian President Pauses Peace Talks With Rebel Group, ELN – 29 January 2018

NYT – In Colombia, Two Rebel Groups Take Different Paths – 29 January 2018

Voice of America – Colombia Suspends Peace Talks With ELN Rebels After Bomb Attacks – 29 January 2018