Acquittal of Dutch Arms Dealer who Supplied Liberia’s Charles Taylor Overturned

By Elizabeth Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

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Photo: Alleged arms dealer to Charles Taylor, Guus Kouwenhoven.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch Supreme Court has ordered a retrial of Guus Kouwenhoven, the Dutch businessman convicted in 2006 for illegal arms dealing to Liberia during the Second Liberian Civil War. Kouwenhoven appealed his eight year sentence in 2008 and was released. The Dutch Prosecutor’s office subsequently appealed the acquittal, and was granted an appeal by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Guus Kouwenhoven, a timber trader who was in charge of the Oriental Trading Corporation between 2000 and 2003, was accused of  breaking a UN arms embargo by supplying anti-tank weapons and rifles to Charles Taylor’s regime in exchange for Liberian timber. During that period Liberia was embroiled in a bloody civil war.

Kouwenhoven acknowledged his close ties with Charles Taylor, but denied the charges against him. The Hague acquitted Kouwenhoven in 2008 on the grounds that it was not convinced of the credibility of the testimony provided by certain witnesses in his original trial.

The Supreme Court says that the Prosecutor’s appeal will allow two more witnesses to testify regarding Kouwenhoven’s complicity. The two witnesses allegedly saw Kouwenhoven take delivery of large shipments of weapons bound for Liberia. These two witnesses, who have chosen to remain anonymous, previously made their statements regarding the arms dealing to the Sierra Leone Tribunal.

A date has yet to be set for the Kouwenhoven appeal. Charles Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague before the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

For more information, please see:

BBC – New trial for Dutch ‘arms smuggler’ Guus Kouwenhoven – 21 April 2010

AP – Dutch court: New appeal for alleged arms smuggler – 20 April 2010

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Supreme Court annuls arms dealer’s release – 20 April 2010

Lebanon Denies Having Received Scud Missiles

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, dismissed Israeli accusations on Monday that Syria had been providing Scud missiles to Hezbollah.

Hariri’s comments were the first public statements made by a Lebanese government official since accusations made last week by Israel’s president, Shimon Peres.  Hariri told a group of Lebanese citizens living in Rome that “At the start of the summer season, they (Israel) make such threats.  All this is similar to what was said previously about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that were never found.  Israel is trying to reproduce the same scenario for Lebanon. The rumors about Scud are only a pretext for threatening my country,” he said, calling the claims “false.”

Syria has also denied Mr. Peres’s accusations about the Scud missiles, which are warheads that can travel hundreds of miles and would make Israel vulnerable to an attack if carried out.

American officials have said that there is no definitive confirmation that any Scud missiles were delivered to Hezbollah militants.  Nonetheless, the Obama Administration on Monday summoned Syria’s top diplomat to Washington to discuss the matter further.

It is widely believed that Syria and Iran have replenished Hezbollah’s arms supply since their 2006 war with Israel.  The conflict, which devastated Lebanon’s infrastructure, left more than a thousand Lebanese dead and several Israelis dead.

Trying to quell fears of another Israeli-Hezbollah war, Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that Israel has absolutely no intention of starting a war.  He did not, however, address the issue of reports that Scud missiles are being delivered to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Hariri, who has clashed with Hezbollah in the past, said the group had legitimately won elections in southern Lebanon and could only be disarmed via political dialogue. Hariri and his allies accused Syria of assassinating his father and former prime minister, Rafik al-Hariri, in 2005.  His disagreements with Syria’s ally, Hezbollah, threatened to plunge Lebanon into a new civil war, but he has since mended ties with Syria and formed a government that includes the group.

For more information, please see:

Reuters- Hariri Denies Syria Supplied Scuds to Hezbollah– 21 April 2010

National Post- U.S. Warns Syria After Scud Missile Allegations– 21 April 2010

The New York Times- Lebanon Rejects Israel Accusations About Scuds– 20 April 2010

ICJ Decision on Uruguay/Argentina River Factory Case

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

THE HAGUE, Netherlands-The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that a paper mill can remain open despite the fact that Uruguay violated a treaty in constructing the plant. The ICJ decision, available here, found that despite Uruguay’s breach of a 1975 treaty regulating the use of the River Uruguay, Uruguay had met its environmental obligations.

Argentina argues that the mill is polluting the river Uruguay, which forms the border between the two countries. The dispute arose when Uruguay failed to inform Argentina of the construction of the plant. The 1975 treaty rules the management of shared waters and Argentina argued that the mill was severely contaminating the water. The Argentine government then began sponsoring pickets that blocked the international bridge linking Gualeguaychú with Fray Bentos.

The plant is located at a location used for fishing, tourism, and recreational use. The plant is owned by a Finish pulp producer Metsa-Botnia and was sold to UPM Kymmene in December. The plant pulps eucalyptus trees for paper.

Scientists have lamented that Argentina and Uruguay have not done more to reduce river pollution from other sources, despite their long political battle over the paper mill. Uruguay relied on studies paid for by the paper company and accepted by the national environmental agency, which found the plant had no measurable impact on the River Uruguay.

The River Uruguay drains about 210,000 square miles of farmland and the agricultural runoff is known to include chemicals from fertilizers, which combine with heavy metals from factories. The polluting factories are known to be on the Argentine side of the river.   Greenpeace officials are urging both Uruguay and Argentina to develop shared rules for factories along the river. A Greenpeace official told the Associated Press that the disagreement between Argentina and Uruguay “involves a lot of hypocrisy” because “there hasn’t been a serious and ongoing evaluation of pollution in the river, neither in Uruguay nor in Argentina.”

For more information, please see:

Buenos Aires Herald-ICJ Rules Uruguay Breached River Treaty; Botnia to Continue Operating for “No Pollution Detected”-21 April 2010

Reuters-World Court Rules Uruguay Can Use Paper Mill-April 20 2010

UN News Center-Uruguayan Mill Can Operate Despite, UN World Court Rules -20 April 2010

Withdrawal of U.N. Soldiers May Escalate Prevalent Rape Problem

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DRC – Congolese laws against sexual violence are not being implemented and a withdrawal of United Nations peacekeepers from the country would make the struggle against rape “a lot more difficult,” the U.N. said.

Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, is visiting Congo, where thousands of women are raped every year, as the U.N. tries to persuade the government not to demand a hasty withdrawal of the U.N. force. Democratic Republic of Congo has advanced legislation in place to outlaw sexual violence but Wallstrom said the country’s capacity to implement it was “near zero.”

Acts of civilian sexual violence have become increasingly pervasive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a recent study released on April 15 by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization.

The study’s analysis of violence trends over time revealed that although the total number of sexual assaults reported steadily decreased between 2004 and 2008, the number of civilian rapes increased seventeen-fold.

Aid agencies and rights groups accustomed to the violence and suffering during and since Congo’s 1998-2003 war, which left millions dead, have been shocked by reports of the scale and brutality of the rapes by rebel and government forces alike.

“These findings imply a normalization of rape among the civilian population, suggesting the erosion of all constructive social mechanism that ought to protect civilians from sexual violence,” according to the study. The study also demonstrates how sexual violence can be used as a tool to ignite terror.

Accurate figures for sexual violence are hard to come by as many rapes are unreported but the U.N. said at least 5,400 women had reported being raped in neighboring South Kivu in the first nine months of 2009 alone.

“Some of the results were shocking, mostly that the women are really attacked everywhere and that everyone is at risk” said Susan A. Bartels, a researcher at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, emergency room physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and primary author of the report. “I was shocked by the number of women who were attacked in their own home, specifically at night when they were sleeping with their families.”

Government forces as well as a plethora of rebel forces are accused of the abuse. Last year, the U.N. Security Council gave the government a list of officers known to have raped women and girls.

With celebrations of the 50th anniversary of independence this year and elections next, Congo would like for the peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC, to start withdrawing within months and wants the last blue helmet out in 2011.

Wallstrom claims however that the peacekeepers, who are often criticized for not doing enough, were making a difference. “Women used to be scared to go to the market … Now a lot of people go, and peacekeepers go with them. It has brought economic development to the region,” she said, referring to North Kivu province. The withdrawal of peacekeepers in this region, no matter how controversial, may lead to dangerous results.

For more information, please see:

The Harvard Crimson – Sexual Violence on the Rise in Congo – 19 April 2010

Reuters – U.N. Fears Congo Pullout Will Hurt Fight Against Rape – 19 April 2010

Eurasia Review – New Report Shows Shocking Pattern Of Rape In Eastern Congo – Sunday, April 18, 2010

Three Leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq Killed

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On April 19 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that tow leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a joint effort between Iraqi and United States forces. The Iraqi Prime Minister announced on Iraqi television that Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who led the organization, were both dead. The following day, the Iraqi government announced that another al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Ahmed al-Obeidi, was killed in the northern prvoince of Nineveh.

The deaths of Masri and Baghdadi were confirmed by pictures of both men before and after their deaths. Prime Minister Maliki explained that, “the attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles.” The Prime Minister explained that a house in Thar-Thar was destroyed and two bodies were found inside. The bodies were found in a hole in which the two men were hiding. “Security forces surrounded the hole, and when they got them out they were dead,” said Maliki.

General Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, explained the significance of the operation. Odierno explained that, “the death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. The US military explained that Masri had replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and was “directly responsible for high profile bombings and attacks against the people of Iraq.”

On April 20 Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi announced that Ahmed al-Obeidi was killed in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. General Moussawi said that Obeidi, also known as Abu Suhaib, was in charge of al Qaeda in Iraq’s operations in the northern provinces of Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Nineveh. General Odierno explained that Obeidi was the “the military emir” of the northern region of Iraq.

The BBC’s Jim Muir confirmed that the Iraqi government is now convinced that al Qaeda in Iraq is on the run. However, in the past when leaders were killed, the organization ensures that other men step in to fill their post. Muir explains that this ensures that decapitation of the organization does not lead to paralysis.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Third Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leader Killed: Iraqi Military – 20 April 2010

Al Jazeera – Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders “Killed” – 19 April 2010

BBC – Senior Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leaders ‘Killed’ – 19 April 2010

New York Times – Top Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Reported Killed in Raid – 19 April 2010