Australia Approves Extradition of Alleged War Criminal

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – Australia has approved the extradition of 88-year-old Australian citizen Charles Zentai, who is accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary back in 1944 during World War II. Zentai now faces a war-crimes trial in Budapest, Hungary.

Zentai is accused of contributing to the torturing and killing Peter Balazs, who was 18 at the time of his death. Two other soldiers were jailed over the murder in the late 1940s.

Zentai immigrated to Australia in 1950, and has resided in Australia ever since.

The extradition request was first received from Hungary in 2005. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has now approved the extradition request. O’Connor expressed that Australia “takes war crimes seriously and will not be a haven for alleged criminals.”

O’Connor emphasized that Australia’s approval of extradition was not based on the guilt or innocence of Zentai. The decision was about “whether or not Mr. Zentai should be surrendered to Hungary in accordance with Australia’s extradition legislation and its international obligations.” O’Connor stressed the importance of cooperating effectively, on matters of justice, with countries around the world.

Hungarian authorities have two months to carry out the extradition. During these two months, Zentai can appeal against the decision.

Ernie Steiner, son of Zentai, seeks to apply for judicial review by the Federal Court. He vows to fight his father’s extradition to Hungary.

Steiner stated in an interview: “I would like the Hungarians to tell us how they could possibly give my father a fair trial in the absence of any living witnesses. It’s against the human rights conventions. [F]or anyone to receive a fair trial they must have the right of being able to cross-examine witnesses who made statements against them.”

Steiner hopes to take the case outside the narrow legal confines of extradition law by seeking judicial review. He argues that this would allow for a more fair trial and allow his father’s side to be heard.

Zentai denies that he was involved in the fatal killing in Budapest. He adds that he was not even in Hungary at the time of the murder.

Zentai worries that the situation in Hungary is “not the best,” and that Hungary is far from being a democratic country.

The allegations were brought by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization known for tracking down alleged Nazi war criminals. Zentai is listed among the Center’s 10 most wanted suspected former Nazi war criminals for participating in manhunts, persecution, and murder of Jews.

Spokesman for the Center, Efraim Zuroff, stated that he was “frustrated with Zentai’s contintued attempts to obstruct the case with irrelevant legal and technical challenges.”

Zuroff praised the extradition approval, calling it “a great day for Australia and Hungary, and for justice.”

For more information, please see:
Australia.to World News – Extradition of Alleged War Criminal Approved – 13 November 2009

Google News – Alleged war criminal to fight extradition from Australia – 13 November 2009

Yahoo News – Alleged war criminal to fight extradition from Australia – 13 November 2009

European Jewish Press – Australia approves extradition of ‘war criminal’ to Hungary – 12 November 2009

Haaretz – Australia approves extradition of accused Nazi war criminal to Hungary – 12 November 2009

M&G Asia Pacific – Australia to extradite alleged war criminal to Hungary – 12 November 2009

Palestinian National Elections Most Likely Postponed

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – The Palestinian Central Election Commission has recommended that the national elections scheduled for January be delayed. The Commission said it has encountered problems in Gaza and in Jerusalem, and that elections would be “impossible.”

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had called for national parliamentary elections to be held on January 24. Abbas added that he would not seek reelection for the presidency. Abbas’s office issued a statement after the Central Election Commission’s announcement on November 12, saying that Abbas would issue a decision about elections “in light of this development” and after consulting with Palestinian law experts.

 

There has been turmoil in the Palestinian political arena since Abbas called for elections. Hamas, the rival party to Abbas’s Fatah Party and the governing party in Gaza, said it would not participate in the scheduled elections, nor allow any Gaza residents to vote. Problems worsened when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would not allow elections in East Jerusalem, even though the Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians expressly stipulate that Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are allowed to run in and vote in Palestinian elections.

 

The dispute over national elections is the latest in a series of power struggles between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007 after winning control of the Gaza legislature in 2006 elections. In October 2009, Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at a reconciliation agreement between the two parties stalled after Hamas and Fatah failed to reach agreement on key conditions. Spokesmen from both parties were quick to blame the other party for the delay of elections.

 

Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian political analyst and director of the Palestinian government media center, was still hopeful for a compromise between the two parties. Khatib told the New York Times that the delay may provide an opportunity for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and that an election could be held within six months. The extra time may give the parties time to consider and sign the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement, which calls for national elections in June 2010.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinian Poll Delay Recommended – 13 November 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Hamas, Fatah Spar Over Elections Delay – 13 November 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Fatah Official: Palestinian Elections Likely to Be Delayed – 13 November 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Palestinian Election Body Urges Vote Delay, Reflecting Political Disarray – 12 November 2009

 

New York Times – Palestinian Officials Push for Delay in Elections – 12 November 2009

Palestinian National Elections Most Likely Postponed

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – The Palestinian Central Election Commission has recommended that the national elections scheduled for January be delayed. The Commission said it has encountered problems in Gaza and in Jerusalem, and that elections would be “impossible.”

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had called for national parliamentary elections to be held on January 24. Abbas added that he would not seek reelection for the presidency. Abbas’s office issued a statement after the Central Election Commission’s announcement on November 12, saying that Abbas would issue a decision about elections “in light of this development” and after consulting with Palestinian law experts.

 

There has been turmoil in the Palestinian political arena since Abbas called for elections. Hamas, the rival party to Abbas’s Fatah Party and the governing party in Gaza, said it would not participate in the scheduled elections, nor allow any Gaza residents to vote. Problems worsened when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would not allow elections in East Jerusalem, even though the Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians expressly stipulate that Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are allowed to run in and vote in Palestinian elections.

 

The dispute over national elections is the latest in a series of power struggles between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007 after winning control of the Gaza legislature in 2006 elections. In October 2009, Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at a reconciliation agreement between the two parties stalled after Hamas and Fatah failed to reach agreement on key conditions. Spokesmen from both parties were quick to blame the other party for the delay of elections.

 

Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian political analyst and director of the Palestinian government media center, was still hopeful for a compromise between the two parties. Khatib told the New York Times that the delay may provide an opportunity for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and that an election could be held within six months. The extra time may give the parties time to consider and sign the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement, which calls for national elections in June 2010.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinian Poll Delay Recommended – 13 November 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Hamas, Fatah Spar Over Elections Delay – 13 November 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Fatah Official: Palestinian Elections Likely to Be Delayed – 13 November 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Palestinian Election Body Urges Vote Delay, Reflecting Political Disarray – 12 November 2009

 

New York Times – Palestinian Officials Push for Delay in Elections – 12 November 2009

Human Rights Abuses in China’s “Black Jails”

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Rights activists and petitioners in China are being abused in a network of illegal “black jails” in major Chinese cities.

Human Rights Watch said, “Since 2003, large numbers of Chinese citizens have been held incommunicado for days or months in secret, unlawful detention facilities known as ‘black jails’ by state agents who violate detainees’ rights with impunity.”

Government agents and security forces regularly abduct people off the streets of Chinese cities and imprison them after stripping them of their possessions.  The black jails are operated in state-owned hotels, nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals.

Those who are usually jailed in the black jails are Chinese from rural areas who come to Beijing from rural areas of China looking for redress of abuses ranging from illegal land confiscation to police torture.

2007_China_BlackJails 

Detainees in China’s black jails.  Courtesy of Reuters.

The detainees are held without legal justification and face physical torture, theft, extortion and intimidation and are deprived of food, sleep and medical care.

The “black jails” also function as holding centers where petitioners, rights activists and members of illegal religious groups are held before being transferred to other facilities.

One detainee from Jiangsu province said, “[The abductors] are inhuman…two people dragged me by the hair…my two hands were tied and I couldn’t move…two women…beat my head [and] used their feet to stomp my body.”

Another detainee said, “They never told me the reason why they detained me…and didn’t tell me how long they were going to detain me for.” 

In addition, those in black jails are psychologically abused, including receiving threats of sexual violence.  A former detainee said that the guards told her that if she ever tried to escape, she would be taken to a male prison where inmates would take turns raping her.

China’s Foreign Ministry has denied the existence of black cells in China.  However, Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch said, “The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of the Chinese government’s rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting the rule of law.”

For more information, please see:

Earth Times – Rights group exposes China’s ‘black jails’ – 12 November 2009

Human Rights Watch – China: Secret “Black Jails” Hide Severe Rights Abuses – 11 November 2009

Mail Online – China accused of human rights abuses in secret ‘black jails’ – 12 November 2009

Prosecution’s Cross-Examination of Taylor Doesn’t Go As Planned

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

THE HAGUE,Netherlands-In his second day of cross-examination Charles Taylor was confronted with questions by the Prosecution that did not please him, or his defense counsel.  The Prosecution’s lead counsel, Ms. Brenda Hollis, asked Taylor questions about certain provisions in the Lome Peace Accord, which was a peace agreement signed between the Sierra Leonean government and the country’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), in 1999. It was when she attempted to present a copy of the agreement to Taylor to discuss specific provisions that benefitted the RUF, that Taylor’s defense counsel quickly objected to what he called an attempt to introduce “fresh evidence” after the case was closed.

The objection was sustained, and the presiding judge, Justice Richard Lussic reasoned that “the interests of justice require consideration of all evidence against the accused, but it was necessary to balance such need for justice with the fair trial rights of the accused.” The judges ruled that the prosecution could not introduce new evidence in the form of documents which had not been presented as part of the prosecution’s case and were not used by the defense in direct-examination of the accused.

The court however insisted that the Prosecution, instead draft a motion, allowing the defense an opportunity to respond about the inclusion of the Lome Accord. Upon that, the judges could make a ruling on whether the new documents could be introduced as part of the prosecution’s cross-examination of Taylor.

This ruling seems to have put a dent in the Prosecution’s strategy. This is evidenced by the Prosecution’s request the next day to adjourn early to allow more time to “rearrange” strategies for the cross examination of Taylor.

For more information please see:

All Africa – Judges Caution Prosecution On The Introduction of New Evidence – 11 November 2009

Charles Taylor Trial – Judges Caution Prosecution On The Introduction of New Evidence In The Cross-Examination of Charles Taylor – 11 November 2009

Charles Taylor Trial – Judges Give Prosecution More Time to Rearrange Strategies For The Cross-Examination of Charles Taylor – 12 November 2009