Rwanda Genocide Conviction Overturned, “Monsieur Z” is Free

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ARUSHA, Tanzania – A United Nations court has overturned a conviction and 20-year sentence faced by the former Rwandan president’s brother-in-law for the organization of a massacre during the country’s 1994 genocide.

After a hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania, Judge Theodor Meron ordered the immediate release of Protais Zigiranyirazo (“Mr. Z”).

In a 30-page ruling, the court said that it had reversed Mr. Z’s convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity because those convictions had “violated the most basic and fundamental principles of justice.”  Also stating that, “In these circumstances, the Appeals Chamber had no choice, but to reverse Zigiranyirazo’s conviction.”  The court declared that trial judge had, “seriously erred in its handling of the evidence.”

Reporters who attended the hearing said Mr. Z looked stunned and relieved by the ruling.

“God is great and justice has been done.  I am very happy,” he told BBC reporters.

Zigiranyirazo’s lead defense attorney, John Philopt, is pushing for him to be sent back to Belgium where he was arrested, or to France where his wife lives.  He says that they are very happy with the judgment, but that Zigiranyirazo must be reimbursed for the damage that was done.  Philpot says the 8 1/2 years spent in detention need to be reimbursed in some way.

The excitement over the judgment is not shared by all. Rwanda’s prosecutor general, Martin Ggoga, stated that regardless of the procedural mistakes that were made, the verdict is “deeply disappointing.”

“If ‘Monsieur Z’ could be found innocent how is anyone going to be found guilty.  This decision attacks the very roots of trying to find justice for the genocide,” said continued.

In 2008, Zigiranyirazo was convicted of organizing a massacre that left about 1,000 Tutsis dead.  During the genocide at least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.  The genocide began in April 1994 when President Habyarimana’s plan was brought down.  During this time, his brother-in-law, Zigiranyirazo, was a very influential member of the Rwandan government.

Once the violence started, the killings spread across the country and lasted 100 days.  It finally came to an end when Tutsi, Paul Kagame, led his rebel army to overthrow the Hutu government.  Kagame is currently Rwanda’s president.


For more information, please see:

AP – Judge Frees Rwandan, Overturns Genocide Conviction – 16 November 2009

BBC – Rwanda Genocide Ruling Overturned – 16 November 2009

Guardian – Rwanda Genocide Conviction Quashed Leaving Monsieur Z Free – 16 November 2009

PNG Politicians Join International Campaign to Support West Papuans

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – Three politicians from Papua New Guinea (PNG) have joined an international campaign to support West Papuans that were allegedly persecuted by Indonesian authorities.

It is estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 West Papuans now live in PNG after they fled their homes on the Indonesian side of the border. These West Papuans were forced to flee because of the human rights abuses they suffered in Indonesia.

Hundreds of West Papuans settled in a refugee camp near the border in PNG’s Southern Highlands region.

The Indonesian government now plans to repatriate up to 700 West Papuans who live in PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, and towns along the shared border.

The Governor of Port Moresby, Powers Parkop, stated that PNG “has turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the issue.”

Jamie Maxton-Graham and Boka Kondra also criticize PNG’s inaction over the “plight of their fellow Melanesians” (the Melanesians are an ethnic minority in Indonesia’s Papua province).

Maxton-Graham stated that he will help launch and sign the PNG Charter of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua.

These three politicians joined 50 others from other countries in signing the charter. The charter calls for the United Nations to “restore the right of the indigenous people of West Papua to self-determination.”

The other signatories of the charter include Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens MP Greg Barber, and MPs from the UK, Sweden, Czech Republic, Vanuatu, and New Zealand.

In response to seeing horrific photos of atrocities on West Papuans allegedly committed by the Indonesian police and military, Maxton-Graham stated: “The international community and our charter says Indonesia must stop this.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand – Three PNG MPs support self determination cause for West Papuans – 15 November 2009

Asian Pacific Solidarity Network – Papua New Guinea politicians join campaign to support persecuted West Papuans – 13 November 2009

Free West Papua – Global lobby for West Papua takes off in PNG – 13 November 2009

InfoPapua.org – Global lobby for West Papua takes off in PNG – 13 November 2009

Palestinians Plan U.N. Statehood Bid

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Palestinian officials announced on November 15 that they would seek a United Nations resolution to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The proposed state would follow borders in place before the 1967 war between Israel and the Palestinians, and would include East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

 

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, held a press conference to accompany the announcement, and said that the Palestinian Authority had decided to take its case to the U.N. after negotiations surrounding talks between Israel and the Palestinians had stalled, primarily due to disagreements about Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

 

“Now is our defining moment,” Erekat said. “We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution…The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two–state solution on the ’67 borders.”

 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Israeli cabinet on the day after the Palestinian announcement that there was a strong possibility of a U.N. vote in favor of a Palestinian state, as many countries had previously expressed support for the Palestinians. Israel was created by a U.N. mandate after World War II.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference after the Palestinian announcement, rejecting the Palestinian action and saying that a unilateral action by the Palestinians would negate any terms of the 1998 Oslo Peace Accords and would destroy any goodwill between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

 

“There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,” said Netanyahu.

 

Middle East observers believe that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s options for moving forward are limited. Abbas announced a week before this most recent development that he would not seek reelection in a Palestinian national vote scheduled for 2010. Many experts have commented that Abbas was considerably weakened by Israel’s unwillingness to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinians Warned Over U.N. Move – 16 November 2009

 

Ha’aretz – U.S.: Best Way to Achieve a Viable Palestine is Talks – 16 November 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Erekat: World Should Stand Against Occupation – 16 November 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood Bid Via the U.N. – 15 November 2009

 

New York Times – Palestinians Aim to Secure U.N. Support for State – 15 November 2009

240 Saudi Villages Evacuated Over Yemen Fighting

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’DA, Yemen – Some 240 villages in Saudi Arabia have been evacuated due to an escalation of fighting in Northern Yemen. The United Nations has reported Friday that “fighting has now spilled into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated and more than 50 schools to be closed.”

Saudi Arabia, the world’s oil exporter, launched an offensive last week after Yemeni rebels seized Saudi territory along the mountainous border from which they said the Saudis had been allowing Yemeni troops to use to attack their positions.  A Saudi government advisor said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia is using air power and artillery to enforce a six mile deep buffer zone inside Yemen to keep the Shi’ite rebels away from its southwestern border.

The fighting worsens an already bleak humanitarian situation in northern Yemen, where the United Nations now says 175,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. More than 15,000 are staying in al-Mazraq camp in Hajjah province, the population of which has doubled in the past month, according to the U.N. children’s agency. “Deaths have been recorded among children in the camp as malnutrition, already a chronic problem in Yemen, is reaching alarming levels.” Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

The U.N. refugee agency said that up to 900 people have been arriving every day at al-Mazraq which has exceeded its capacity. United Nations High Council on Refugees estimated its current population at 10,000. “The lastest sudden influx is adding more pressure on an already dire situation, and overcrowding in the camp is becoming a major concern.” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said.

For more information, please see:

Earth Times – UN: Saudi Villages Evacuated Over Yemen Fighting – 13 November 2009

VOA – More Civilians Flee War-Torn Yemen – 13 November 2009

Reuters – Saudi Villages Evacuated Due Yemen Violence – UNICEF

U.S. Demands Bribery Court in Afghanistan

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan –  In August, the presidential election was riddled with accusations of fraud and vote-rigging. As the end of the election neared, now president, Mr. Hamid Karzai’s main rival pulled out of a run-off vote.

Many in the country believe the election was tainted by fraud allegations. In addition to facing skepticism by citizens, the nation has also come under growing Western pressure to deal with corruption.

The American ambassador in Kabul, Ishaq Aluko, has warned against a US troop surge unless Mr. Karzai takes action against corruption. Mr. Karzai has refused to make public the names of people under suspicion for receiving money for government contracts until their files had been sent to the court. He does say, however, that there is a range of corruption, some of it involving huge amounts of money.

Bribes and corruption outside of money include the buying  of cars, computers. and furniture. Other forms exist as well, including contract awards for construction or road building. Mr. Aluko says his department is serious about tackling corruption in all areas, and that he had already asked some of the current and former ministers to answer the allegations.

When U.S. Secretary of State visited the country recently, she stated, “Now we believe that President Karzai and his government can do better.” Clinton also declared that Mr. Karzai must set up a “major crimes tribunal” and an anti-corruption commission. She went on to say that, the Afghan government needs to take action against people who have “taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan” in the past eight years. Clinton made clear, though that civilian aid would not be given unless the U.S. could track the funds if it went to government ministries.

American and British officials have been particularly vocal in recent weeks in calling for Karzai to institute reforms following a messy election that took 2 1/2 months to resolve and undermined the legitimacy of a government. This is unsurprising since, Transparency International, a non-governmental organization, last year ranked Afghanistan 176th out of 180 countries on its corruption perceptions index, a poll that assesses the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. Only Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia were worse.

This is the third formal launch of a crime-fighting unit promising to tackle corruption.

For more information, please see:

Wall Street Journal – Karzai, Under Pressure, Adopts Antigraft Measures – November 16, 2009 

BBC World News – US demands Afghan ‘bribery court’ – November 15, 2009 

ABC News – Afghan ministers accused of taking bribes – November 13, 2009