In its 4th report which was published on October 21, 2016, the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism, established in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2235 on August 7, 2015, has declared the Syrian regime responsible for three chemical attacks that took place between 2014 and 2015, and declared ISIS responsible for one attack in Marea city in Aleppo. SNHR has published a report that highlights the chemical attacks in the period of time between the 4th report and the end of 2016.
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “subscribe” in the subject line.
Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.
by Yesim Usluca Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Law enforcement officials in Kuwait are investigating a video in which a woman films her Ethiopian maid falling from a window without making any attempt to help her.
The maid was allegedly attempting to commit suicide after reports of being tortured for resigning (Photo courtesy of Middle East Eye)
It is believed that the maid was attempting to commit suicide at the time she climbed out the window. The twelve-second video, which surfaced online, showed the Ethiopian maid hanging from the window of a seven-story building in the Sabah al-Salem district of Kuwait City. The recording depicts the maid gripping the window with only one hand. The employer simply states “Oh crazy, come back” and subsequently moves away from the window. In response, the maid repeatedly screams “hold me, hold me[!]” Despite the maid’s pleadings for help, the employer continues filming while the maid’s hand slips and she falls onto a metal roof on an adjacent one-story building. The maid, who survived the fall, was rescued by paramedics and transported to a hospital for a broken arm and other injuries such as bleeding from her nose and ears.
A news crew at the site of the incident interviewed the employer, who reportedly stated that she filmed the fall to prevent being accused of her maid’s murder if she had died. Although the reasons for the maid’s apparent suicide attempt were not revealed, media outlets alleged that she had recently resigned, and as a result, had been tortured, locked in a room and deprived of food for two days before her attempted suicide. The employer was subsequently arrested by Kuwaiti police for filming the apparent suicide instead of trying to rescue her employee.
The Kuwait Society for Human Rights issued a statement that publicly decried the employer. The statement declared that the employer acted with “no care for [the maid’s] life,” and called for an official investigation. The rights organization indicated that the employer had a duty to rescue her maid, and noted that the country’s penal code dictates a sentence of up to three months’ imprisonment for “anyone who deliberately refrain[s] from coming to the aid of a person in peril[.]”
A Kuwaiti attorney, Ms. Fawzia al-Sabah, declared that she will be filing a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office against the employer. Viewers of the video expressed outrage on social media, using the hashtag “the fall of the Ethiopian[,]” and condemning the “inhumanity” of the employer.
Human rights organizations have long been advocating for better employment conditions for domestic helpers in countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, citing abuses, exploitations and slave-like circumstances. In a 2014 report issued by Amnesty International, migrant domestic workers were said to be “victims of a discriminatory system that denies them basic protections and leaves them open to exploitation and abuse, including forced labor and human trafficking[.]” Despite a 2015 Kuwaiti law providing domestic helpers with more rights, such as paid annual leave, a weekly day off and a twelve-hour per day work limit, protections are still weaker than those given to other professions. Employers of maids and other domestic staff are not subject to inspections of working conditions or other enforcement mechanisms. A report released by Migrant Rights indicates that 90% of the households in the country employ foreign domestic workers. The Gulf state, which has over 600,000 domestic helpers, has been plagued with complaints of abuse, mistreatment and non-payment of wages for several years.
R2P in Focus is a monthly publication from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect designed to highlight recent events and political developments concerning the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
Accountability and R2P: Achieving Justice for the Victims of Atrocities
Mass atrocity crimes continue to be committed against civilians in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and several other countries. Accountability is not only essential for victims of past atrocities but can also act as a catalyst for post-conflict reconciliation and play a key role in preventing recurrence.
In the past year international justice mechanisms have found several notable individuals guilty of command responsibility for atrocities. Examples include the March 2016 genocide conviction of Radovan Karadžić by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the May 2016 war crimes conviction of former Chadian President Hissene Habre by the Extraordinary African Chambers, and the conviction of Jean-Pierre Bemba and Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali respectively.
In recent crisis situations, governments and the international community have utilized a variety of means to ensure accountability for mass atrocity crimes. During 2015 the transitional government of CAR passed a law on the establishment of a Special Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute atrocities committed in the country since 2003. In South Sudan’s August 2015 peace agreement, parties to the conflict agreed to the creation of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS), which would include domestic and international personnel, to establish responsibility for atrocities perpetrated during the country’s recent civil war.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC) has authorized Commissions of Inquiry and fact-finding missions to document evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, most notably in Syria, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Burundi and Eritrea. On 24 March the HRC mandated the creation of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate crimes perpetrated by the security forces in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State, during “clearance operations” that started in October 2016. On 21 December 2016 the UN General Assembly also passed a resolution to establish an independent international mechanism to collect evidence of atrocities in Syria, in order to enable future prosecutions of perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
While some of these mechanisms have faced significant constraints in resources, and some continue to face political opposition, efforts to ensure accountability for grave international crimes should remain a global priority. The international community should continue to support the battle against impunity, including through providing funding for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for accountability in Syria and encouraging the AU to establish the HCSS.
The Fight Against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da’esh to Justice
On 9 March the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom, Iraq, Belgium, Canada and Germany, in association with the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, co-hosted a high-level event entitled “The Fight Against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da’esh to Justice.” Participants were briefed by the co-hosts along with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Bangura, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador and Yazidi Genocide survivor, Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, and Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, Ms. Amal Clooney. Global Centre Executive Director, Dr. Simon Adams, moderated the discussion.
Speakers focused their remarks on efforts to hold Da’esh accountable for their crimes in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, including under universal jurisdiction. Dr. Adams, Ms. Murad and Ms. Clooney all called for the Iraqi government to request the UN Security Council establish an international mechanism to investigate Da’esh’s crimes in the country, including the genocide against the Yazidis.
Seventh Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points
The seventh annual meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points will be held in Doha, Qatar, from 24 to 25 June 2017. The Government of the State of Qatar will co-host the meeting along with the Global Centre. More than 50 R2P Focal Points from around the world were invited to attend.
Any Other Business
Sixth Anniversary of the Conflict in Syria. On 15 March the conflict in Syria entered its seventh year. Violations of human rights, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, have become a daily occurrence in Syria. On 28 February, Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aiming to hold perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria accountable. This was the sixth double veto by Russia and China of a UNSC resolution on Syria since 2011. Russia also independently vetoed another Syria resolution on 8 October 2016. Click here to view our statement.
Joint NGO Letter to the UN Security Council on the Situation in Burundi. On 8 March the Global Centre joined 18 other NGOs to call on the UN Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on perpetrators of human rights abuses in Burundi.
Calendar Highlights
7 April
International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda
17 April
Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day
24-25 April
Seventh Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points
