Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Syria and South Sudan

Atrocity Alert, No. 21

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Syria

On 6 September Syrian government forces were accused of dropping barrel bombs filled with chlorine gas on the Al-Sukari neighborhood in eastern Aleppo. These accusations come one week after the UN Security Council met to discuss the report of the UN-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Investigation Mechanism (JIM) on responsibility for chemical weapons use in Syria, and less than a month since at least three people were killed during a reported chlorine attack on the opposition-held Zubdiya neighborhood of Aleppo on 10 August. It was reported that at least 70 people were injured during Tuesday’s attack, including women and children. The recent JIM report concluded that Syrian government forces had carried out at least two chemical weapons attacks since 2013. The use of chemical weapons constitutes a war crime and is in clear contravention of Security Council Resolution 2118, which threatened possible Chapter VII measures in the event of non-compliance.

The latest report of the Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria was published on 6 September. The CoI condemns the increase in indiscriminate attacks on civilians and medical facilities following the breakdown of February’s cessation of hostilities and asserts that “without a return to the peace process, the Syrian conflict, and the violations and abuses it has nourished, will continue.”

South Sudan

Following renewed fighting in Juba during July and the UN Security Council’s authorization of the deployment of a Regional Protection Force (RPF), South Sudan is at a critical juncture for the prevention of further mass atrocity crimes. The UN Security Council visited South Sudan from 2 to 5 September to discuss with government officials, UN representatives and civil society how to improve the security and humanitarian situation across the country. The Transitional Government of National Unity and UN Security Council members issued a Joint Communique on 4 September in which the government consented to the deployment of the RPF as part of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). UN Security Council Resolution 2304 threatened an arms embargo on South Sudan if the government impeded the deployment of the RPF. Ensuring UNMISS’ free movement and establishing the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, in cooperation with the African Union, are other essential commitments that the Transitional Government of National Unity should uphold in order to prevent further atrocities.

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Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Justice for Victims and the War on Terror

SJAC Update | Sept 7, 2016
Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Photo from Wikipedia

Justice for Victims and the War on Terror
Since September 11, 2001, terrorism and the resulting War on Terror has dominated the headlines and preoccupied global national security efforts. Nowhere has the effects of terrorism been felt more acutely than in the Middle East, and the response from governments in the region has often been erratic and heavy handed. Iraq is a case in point. On August 21, the Iraqi government executed 36 men following a conviction last year by Iraq’s central criminal court in Baghdad. The men were hanged for their involvement in a 2014 mass killing of around 1700 people claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Many human rights groups criticized the trial and subsequent hangings because the defendants did not have access to their lawyers and the evidence against them primarily relied on confessions made under duress and the accusations of secret informants. Because the executions took place in the wake of international criticism that Iraq has been too soft on ISIS, the trial’s brevity and lack of due process made the executions seem more akin to vengeance killings than justice. It was also a missed opportunity to thoroughly air the grievances of Iraqi victims who have suffered immensely as a result of ISIS’s atrocities.

Even in Western democracies, individuals suspected of ties with terrorism are held and tried secretly under obscure national security laws. As we approach the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the attacks, and his co-defendants are still awaiting trial by a military commission in Guantanamo Bay. Not only does this delay undermine the accused’s right to a speedy trial, but the victims of 9/11 and their families have grown frustrated at the lack of a judicial resolution. Both the US Congress and the Department of Defense fought to keep the trials out of civilian courts by claiming security concerns, but in civilian courts, basic human rights standards would have been upheld, the defendants would have been convicted years ago, and victims would have gotten much needed closure.
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The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a Syrian-led and multilaterally supported nonprofit that envisions a Syria where people live in a state defined by justice, respect for human rights, and rule of law. SJAC collects, analyzes, and preserves human rights law violations by all parties in the conflict — creating a central repository to strengthen accountability and support transitional justice and peace-building efforts. SJAC also conducts research to better understand Syrian opinions and perspectives, provides expertise and resources, conducts awareness-raising activities, and contributes to the development of locally appropriate transitional justice and accountability mechanisms. Contact us at info@syriaaccountability.org.

Myanmar Soldiers Sentenced to Hard Labor for Village Killings

by Zachary Lucas
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — A group of seven soldiers were sentenced to hard labor after a court found them guilty of killing civilians in a village. Four of the seven soldiers were officers.

Conflict Between the Burmese Military and Armed Ethnic Groups Have Persisted for Decades (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

A military court handed down the sentences to the seven soldiers following the family’s pursuit of justice for their loved ones. Sai Kaung Kham, an activist, helped the families pursue their claim after discovering nothing had been done.

The men were charged and convicted of killing villagers following a skirmish with an ethnic rebel group in eastern Shan state in Mong Yaw. The army entered the village and rounded up members of the Shan and Palaung ethnic groups. The villagers were suspected of aiding the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, a Palaungi militia that has been fighting the government for years. Days later five badly beaten bodies with knife wounds were found in a shallow grave and identified as the villagers.

Following the killings, the army released a statement saying the soldiers were responsible for the killings. The military court sentenced them to five years imprisonment under hard labor. Kham stated that “the fact they were sentenced is better than nothing.”

The army of Myanmar rarely admits to abuses or wrongdoings done by its soldiers. It is even more rare when they prosecute their own soldiers for those abuses. There were also two other incidents were soldiers were prosecuted for human rights violations earlier in the year that suggests a possible change in policy concerning human rights issues. While they exposed and prosecuted those incidents, they refused to investigate or prosecute the death of two other civilians that were killed fleeing the same village on a motorcycle.

The army ruled Burma, the name of the country before 2011, as a military junta for decades. The army fought violent conflicts with armed ethnic groups around the country. During this time, all sides are accused of numerous human rights violations that includes extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture. In 2011, democratic reforms occurred in the country allowing for a quasi-civilian leadership of the country under activist Aung San Suu Kyi. President Obama vowed to life decades old sanctions instated during the military junta’s leadership.

For more information, please see:

Bangkok Post — Myanmar soldiers jailed for killing villagers — 16 September 2016

BBC — Myanmar soldiers jailed for village murders in rare case — 16 September 2016

Gulf Times — Seven Myanmar soldiers jailed for killing villagers — 16 September 2016

Reuters — Myanmar soldiers jailed with hard labor for village killings — 16 September 2016

UK to Build Wall in Calais to Prevent Migrants from Entering

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

PARIS, France —  Construction will soon begin on a wall in the French city of Calais in order to prevent migrant refugees from entering the UK from France.  Calais is currently home to a migrant refugee camp known as “the jungle” which is known for its unsanitary living conditions.  Many of the migrants living in the camp refuse to register as refugees in France, because their preferred final destination is Britain.

The Calais wall will be built on the port’s main dual-carriageway approach road (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).

The wall will be 13 feet high, run one kilometer long, and will cost an estimated $23 million to build.  The UK is funding the construction of the wall, while France is choosing the measures through which it is completed.  Set to be built in two sections on either side of the road, one of the goals of the wall is to protect lorries and other vehicles traveling in the area from migrants’ attempts to intercept the vehicles and climb aboard.  The wall will be constructed with smooth concrete in hopes of making it harder to climb, and will be landscaped with plants around it in an attempt to reduce its visual impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.

The wall is a joint project between Britain and France, and is one of many attempts at addressing security concerns and general displeasure with the migrant camp located on the English Channel, less than 30 miles away from the English port of Dover.  In addition to the construction of the wall, security measures have increased around the Channel Tunnel, making it more difficult for migrants to sneak on to ferries or trains which are traveling across the English Channel.

Local residents and groups question the effectiveness of the wall.  François Guennoc of Auberge des Migrants, a French aid group currently working in Calais, predicts that the wall will “just result in people going further to get round it.”  Richard Burnett, Chief Executive of the Road Haulage Association, called the construction of the wall a “poor use of taxpayers’ money,” and believes that that money would be better used on increased security in the surrounding area.

After visiting the camp last week, French Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, announced that French authorities would eventually completely dismantle the camp, however did not specify when.

Construction of the wall is expected to begin this month, and end by the end of this year.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Calais Migrants: Work to Start on UK-Funded Wall — 7 September 2016

CNN — Calais Wall: UK to Build ‘Big New Wall’ in Calais to Stop Migrants — 7 September 2016

The Guardian — UK Immigration Minister Confirms Work to Start on £1.9m Calais Wall — 7 September 2016

NY Times — Britain and France to Begin Work on Wall Near Calais to Keep Migrants from Channel Tunnel — 7 September 2016