Chautauqua Law Dialogs Conclude
By Chad Gustafson
Originally published by the Post-Journal in Jamestown, NY
31 August 2011
MAYVILLE – Prosecutors of international war crimes tribunals are setting their sights on Muammar Gadhafi and other high-ranking members of his party in the fifth annual Chautauqua Declaration.
The declaration was read and signed Tuesday to close the fifth annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogues at Chautauqua Institution.
The declaration, created throughout this summer by eight of the world’s 13 chief prosecutors in international war crimes tribunals, aims to highlight progress that has been made throughout the past year in the arena of international war crime development and it stresses the importance of furthering that development so as to make war torn and corrupt regions of the world ultimately safer places, according to David Crane, who from 2002 until 2005 served as the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
This year the declaration focused on the accomplishments of last year- notably the trials of Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, “thus signaling to all fugitives from international justice the international community’s commitment to bringing them to account,” the declaration reads. Successes in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Libya, where Muammar Gadhafi and high ranking members of his party have been issued arrest warrants are also mentioned.
“This is a historical document,” Crane said. “It is the only time ever that you get the signatures of the chief prosecutors in all the world’s international tribunals and courts, and so it’s very important. It captures the sense of the world’s prosecutors about the state of international crime law in one place.”
The signing of the declaration was the culmination of the fifth annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogs, a three day event co-hosted by Chautauqua Institution and the Robert H. Jackson Center, which featured lectures and other seminars from Crane and his colleagues that addressed the ongoings of the court system they are currently working for or previously worked for, among other topics related to international humanitarian law.
Crane added that the venue is fitting given that just miles down the road from Chautauqua Institution, Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor of the Nazi regime after World War Two and often credited as the architect of modern international war crime law, was born and raised.
“We have a unique situation here,” Crane said. “Since Robert Jackson there are only 13 international chief prosecutors in the world and we all like each other, we’re friends, so what a terrible thing it would be if we took advantage of the rare occasion to see each other? … And I think Robert Jackson would have enjoyed this. He was a man of great life and would have loved to sit on the porch of the Athenaeum and look around to see his fellow chief prosecutors and talk about what he was thinking and the things he was concerned about- that’s exactly what we’ve been doing here.”
Moving into the autumn months, Crane said that of all the work currently being done in his field throughout the world, everyone is keeping their eyes on the Middle East.
“We’re concerned about what these dictators and thugs are doing to their people,” Crane said. “But we’re also concerned about these peoples who have been oppressed for so long- them taking revenge. Both ways is a problem so we’re going to see for the next two or three years a very testy and tumultuous Middle East. …It’s the most significant geopolitical event that we’ve had since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
Fifth Chautauqua Declaration
Royal Bank of Scotland Cuts Financing to Belarus, Opposes Human Rights Abuses
By Terance Walsh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
EDINBURGH, Scotland — The Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the United Kingdom’s largest banks, declared that it would cease finance operations in Belarus in protest of Minsk’s continued human rights aberrations.
RBS decided to stop doing business with Belarus after human rights groups Free Belarus Now and the U.K-based Index on Censorship applied pressure to the bank. The two groups criticized RBS’s dealings with Belarus, leading to a decision by the bank to break with the Belarusian government in favor of opposition to the Belarusian government’s abuses of power.
In an official statement RBS said, “Given sanctions, the deteriorating political situation in Belarus and the fact that it has reneged on key elements of the [International Monetary Fund] programme, RBS has ceased any type of capital-raising for or on behalf of the Belarus Republic, and we have no plans to change that position until these issues have been resolved. In assessing where we do business, we have a responsibility to consider a number of factors, including social and ethical issues and compliance with the letter and spirit of all international sanctions.”
Head of Advocacy at Index on Censorship Mike Harris expressed excitement at RBS’s decision. “We’re delighted that RBS has heeded our calls to stop acting as a broker for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. This couldn’t come at a more crucial time. The government of Belarus needs nearly $1 billion a month in foreign capital. RBS has sent a clear signal not to risk investing in a regime that violates fundamental human rights and may not last.”
Earlier this year RBS took part in a deal to issue more than $800 million in the Belarusian government’s Eurobonds, a deal essential to Belarus’s financial survival. RBS was the only British bank doing business with Belarus at that time. The European Union has already imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and several of his key officials, including a freeze on their assets and a travel ban as well as an arms embargo.
Lukashenko has come under fire from the West, especially after being dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” by George W. Bush’s administration. Since coming to power about twelve years ago he has styled himself as an authoritative leader and does not shy away from this image. “An authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it,” he said in August 2003.
In 1996 he disbanded Parliament, which was seeking to impeach him, and put in place a new hand-picked Parliament. Recent criticism of his regime has arisen from his crackdown on political opposition after his disputed electoral victory last year. In a foreboding declaration he warned that opposition protestors would be treated as “terrorists,” promising that he “will wring their necks, as one might a duck.”
Belarus is currently facing an economic and financial crisis, which makes the loss of financing from RBS especially crucial. Lukashenko ramped up spending prior to December’s elections, which disrupted Belarus’s balance of payments. The Belarusian ruble has experienced steady deprecation relative to the dollar. The country is experiencing food shortages due to Russia taking advantage of Belarus’s weak currency by buying Belarusian meat. The country depends on foreign financing and has already been cut off from financing from the west due to sanctions. The IMF has refused to assist Belarus until it takes measures against its credit and inflation problems. As Belarus continues to face a bleak economic forecast and dried-up credit sources, Lukashenko will be forced to comply with foreign pressure to improve their human rights practice if he wishes to attract financing from the West.
For more information please, see:
RIA Novosti — Lukashenko Tries to Rescue the National Currency and Himself — 31 August 2011
BBC — RBS Agrees to End Work for Belarus — 29 August 2011
Financial Times — Belarus: RBS Jumps Ship — 29 August 2011
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — British Bank Halts Belarus Work After Criticism — 29 August 2011
San Francisco Chronicle — Belarus Runs Out of Meat as Russians Exploit Currency Plunge — 29 August 2011
USA MarketNews — RBS Concurred to Conclude Work for Belarus — 29 August 2011
BBC — Profiler: Alexander Lukashenko — 9 January 2007
Chinese government considering legalization of secret detentions
By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia
BEIJING, China – Beijing is proposing a change in the criminal code that would allow suspects to be detained in an undisclosed location for up to six months without notification being given to family members or lawyers.
The proposed changes would essentially codify the longstanding and much criticized practice of detaining individuals for extended periods of time in unknown locations and without giving loved ones or attorney’s notification of their whereabouts or the reason for their detention.
Chinese law currently allows a suspect to serve up to six months of house arrest without being formally charged. The proposed change in the law would substitute house arrest with detention at a secret location in cases involving national security, terrorism and bribery when the police believe that holding the suspect at home would put a burden on the investigation.
In China, national security crimes encompass subversion which is frequently used to detain dissidents. Under this scheme rights activists and political commentators will be especially susceptible to the new amendment which will first have to be approved by the National People’s Congress.
According to Legal Daily, an official Chinese newspaper, in which the proposed change in the law was announced, the location of the detention would not be a “regular detention center or police station.” It is also reported that prior to detaining an individual under the proposed amendment, the police would be required to obtain permission from either a prosecutor or a public security agency.
Nicholas Bequelin, Human Rights Watch Senior Asia Researcher, stated that the changes would be a “worrisome expansion of the power of the police” and would violate international laws which require a court decision before an individual can be deprived of their freedom.
Some rights activists suggest that China’s attempt to amend the law is a result of widespread criticism the country has received from Western nations for their treatment of dissidents and that Beijing hopes to alleviate the criticism by legalizing the practice of forced disappearances and thereby strengthening China’s argument that their actions are not illegal.
This new proposal is believed to be another result of the call made for a “Jasmine” revolution last February in which Chinese citizens called for an uprising against the government. In the wake of February’s call for revolution, the Chinese government has cracked down on dissident voices, rights activists and lawyers. Many of these individuals, most notably artist Ai Weiwei, were detained in secret locations without notification being given to their families.
For more information, please see:
Reuters – China Announces Plans to Boost Secret Detention Powers – 30 August 2011
Irish Times – Beijing Considering Move That Would Allow Secret Detentions – 29 August 2011
Los Angeles Times – China’s Plan for Secret Detentions Alarms Rights Activists – 28 August 2011
Radio Free Asia – China May Legalize Secret Detentions – 28 August 2011
AFP – China May Legalize Secret Detentions – 27 August 2011