African Union: Activists Challenge Attacks on ICC

Originally posted by Human Rights Watch

AU: Activists Challenge Attacks on ICC
Video Highlights Problems in AU Approach


(Nairobi, July 6, 2016) – Activists from across Africa clarify misconceptions about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and highlight the need for African governments to support the court in a video released today by 21 African and international nongovernmental organizations.

In January 2016, the African Union (AU) gave its Open-Ended Committee of African Ministers on the ICC a mandate to develop a “comprehensive strategy” on the ICC, including considering the withdrawal of African member countries from the court. The committee met in April and agreed on three conditions that needed to be met by the ICC in order for the AU to agree not to call on African countries to withdraw from the court. These include a demand for immunity from ICC prosecution for sitting heads of state and other senior government officials – which is contrary to a fundamental principle of the court.

It is not clear if the AU will consider any of the open-ended committee’s assessments and recommendations at its upcoming summit in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 10 to 18.

The video features 12 African activists who raise concerns about AU actions toward the ICC.

“The reasons why we supported the establishment of a permanent court as Africa have not changed,” says Stella Ndirangu of the International Commission of Jurists-Kenya. “The only thing that has changed is that now leaders are being held to account.”

“To say that the ICC is targeting Africa, I think, is a misrepresentation of the situation,” says Angela Mudukuti of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. “It’s more Africans making use of the court they helped to create.”

“The big clash [these days] is over African leaders, the powerful few, who really want impunity for themselves, versus the vast majority, in fact all of the victims of Africa’s continent, who want justice every day,” says Ibrahim Tommy of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law-Sierra Leone.

“Governments of the world must support [the] ICC to give justice to victims in Africa,” says Chino Obiagwu of the Legal Defence and Assistance Project of Nigeria.

Six out of the nine African situations under ICC investigation came about as a result of requests or grants of jurisdictions by African governments – Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Uganda, and the Central African Republic twice. Two other investigations in Africa, the Darfur region of Sudan and Libya, were referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council. In Kenya, the ICC prosecutor received the authorization of an ICC pretrial chamber to open investigations after Kenya repeatedly failed to investigate the 2007-08 post-election violence domestically.

In January, the ICC prosecutor opened the court’s first investigation outside Africa, into Georgia, and is conducting several preliminary examinations of situations outside Africa – including in Afghanistan, Colombia, Palestine, and alleged crimes attributed to the armed forces of the United Kingdom deployed in Iraq.

The recommendations from the open-ended committee are the latest development in a backlash against the ICC from some African leaders, which has focused on claims that the ICC is “unfairly targeting Africa.” The backlash first intensified following the ICC’s 2009 arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan for serious crimes committed in Darfur.

While blanket immunity for sitting heads of state is available in some domestic jurisdictions, it has never been available before international criminal courts dealing with grave crimes.

The AU, in 2015, adopted a protocol to give its continental court authority to prosecute grave crimes, but also, in a controversial provision, grants immunity for sitting heads of states and other senior government officials. That protocol will need 15 ratifications before coming into force, but has yet to be ratified by any country.

The video is endorsed by the following organizations that are part of an informal group that works to promote support for justice for grave crimes in Africa and beyond:

Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (Ghana)
African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (Uganda)
Africa Legal Aid
Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (Sierra Leone)
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (Malawi)
Children Education Society (Tanzania)
Club des Amis du Droit du Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Coalition for the International Criminal Court (Burundi)
Coalition for the International Criminal Court (Global)
DefendDefenders – East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (Uganda)
Human Rights Watch
International Commission of Jurists (Kenya)
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice
Legal Defense and Assistance Project (Nigeria)
Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Réseau Justice Et Développement (Togo)
Southern Africa Litigation Centre
Southern Africa Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Zambia)

The video can be viewed on Facebook here or on the Human Rights Watch media site here .

Berlin Anti-Gentrification Riot Leaves 123 Police Officers Injured

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany — In what authorities are calling the most violent protest in Berlin in over five years, 3,500 leftist protestors marched Saturday through Friedrichshain to oppose the gentrification of a district in the eastern part of the city.  Over the past decade, investment money has flowed into the German capital, making its way to previously run-down neighborhoods of Berlin.  This surge has increased rents in neighborhoods formerly home to artists and squatters.

Leftist protestors light flares on top of R94 in opposition to gentrification efforts (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

The protest began peacefully, and police used a helicopter to monitor the crowd.  The scene quickly turned violent as missiles, cobblestones, firecrackers, flares, and glass bottles were eventually thrown at the police officers.  123 of the 1,800 officers on scene were injured, and 86 protestors were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, causing injury, and illegal use of explosives.  Police used tear gas, pepper spray, and billy clubs to break up the riot.  Residents who live in housing collectives in the neighborhood banged spoons on pots and pans in support of the leftist squatters.

Since June, there have been movements to evict squatters on the land in furtherance of efforts to gentrify neighborhoods that have been home to the squatters for decades.  The eviction of a house called “Rige Street 94” (R94) occupied by squatters in Friedrichshain on June 22 sparked the onset of aggressive demonstrations, the smashing of shop windows, and the burning of dozens of cars in opposition to the gentrification movement.

These leftist activists protest the invasion of what they call “yuppies” and “big shots” into the area of Berlin which they currently occupy.  Various leftist websites have supported the anti-gentrification movement, encouraging their followers to cause as much disruption as possible to voice their opposition to the gentrification.

Frank Henkel, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, categorized the riots as “arbitrary terror” and stated that his political party will not allow “lawless areas” to exist in any part of Berlin, including R94.

For more information, please see:

BBC — Berlin Riot : 123 Police Injured in Anti-Gentrification Protest — 10 July 2016

NY Times — Berlin Protests in Support of Squatters Turn Violent — 10 July 2016

Wall Street Journal — Berlin Leftist Rioting Leaves 120 Police Officers Injured — 10 July 2016

Breitbart — Berlin Rocked by Nightly Riots from Left-Wing Extremists — 5 July 2016

SYRIA DEEPLY: July 9, 2016

The Basics · The Government · ISIS · The Opposition · Global Players

WEEKLY UPDATE
July 9, 2016

 

Dear Readers, 

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:

The week began on a hopeful note in Syria, as opposing international players agreed to cooperate for the sake of a political solution to the crisis, and the Syrian government announced a nationwide cease-fire for the occasion of Eid, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But by the week’s end, the truce had broken down and some 300,000 civilians were besieged in Syria’s largest city.

After more than five months of increased violence in Aleppo, forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have managed to cut the opposition’s only supply route in Aleppo: Castello Road. This most recent offensive for Aleppo is one of the Syrian government’s many attempts at seizing the city’s eastern areas, which have been an opposition stronghold since 2012.

Rebels said they are fighting back and have sent for reinforcements to try to regain their positions, but overnight airstrikes worsened their situation. A volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense told Syria Deeply that Syrian government and Russian aircrafts were constantly above the city and countryside of Aleppo province. He added that two heavy attacks hit the city on Thursday, both of which the volunteer team believes were by Russian warplanes.

The United States voiced its concerns over the situation in Aleppo and an American intelligence official said, “This campaign exacerbates an already dire humanitarian situation and sets the stage for a humanitarian catastrophe.”

However, U.S. diplomatic decisions took a different tone this week. The day before the siege began, the United States and Russia agreed to increase their military coordination in Syria. The military partnership between Washington and Moscow would see a renewed commitment between the two countries to defeat terrorist groups in Syria.

The announcement came after a week of complicating alliances between foreign powers involved in the Syrian conflict. Ayatollah Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, said that his country will never work with the U.S. in Syria or in other regional conflicts. Iran is the Syrian government’s biggest supporter and is also aligned with Russia.

Russia gained another hopeful ally this week. Turkey, a partner in the U.S.-backed coalition against ISIS and a supporter of the Syrian opposition, said it is open to cooperating with Russia when it comes to fighting ISIS.

Formerly unfriendly countries may be warming up to each other diplomatically for the fight against ISIS in Syria, but the situation on the ground tells a different story.

The New Syrian Army, a U.S.-backed rebel group, was pushed back into the desert last week after a failed offensive in the ISIS-controlled town al-Bukamal, near the Iraqi border. The U.S. is currently investigating claims that American warplanes abandoned rebels after being diverted from Syria to Iraq.

Weekly Highlights:

Operating Under Siege and Bombs in Aleppo

As eastern Aleppo comes under siege by Syrian government forces, Syria Deeply goes inside one of the last remaining proper hospitals in the eastern opposition-held areas of the city and talks with a general surgeon operating amid the increasing violence.

Dr. Abu Sayyed, a physician in one of Aleppo’s last remaining proper hospitals, discusses how his facility operates with limited staff and supplies. Lindsey Snell and Mustafa Sultan

Conversations: Selling Military Antiques in Wartime

Abu Abdo owns an antique shop in Eastern Ghouta, one of the heaviest-hit areas in the war-ravaged country. The shop owner spoke with Syria Deeply about his decision to remain in his war-torn hometown and keep his family’s business running, despite no longer being able to sell anything.

Antique decorative objects hang on the wall in Abu Abdo’s shop. Eastern Ghouta, June, 2016. Syria Deeply

The Silent Suffering of Syria’s Chronically Ill

In the first installment of our series on chronic illnesses in Syria, we explore how the war has destroyed the country’s healthcare system, left millions of Syrians unable to manage their conditions and led to severe complications and untold unnecessary deaths.Worsening health conditions in Syria have also allowed for the resurgence of life-threatening illnesses that had largely been eradicated.

Syrian government artillery damaged a ambulance in the province of Daraa. Syrian Network For Human Rights

Additional Reading:

For new reporting and analysis every weekday, visit www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Top image: Abu Abdo holds a dagger called “Karda”. Eastern Ghouta, June, 2016. Syria Deeply

Read the original post here.

SYRIA DEEPLY: July 2, 2016

The Basics · The Government · ISIS · The Opposition · Global Players

WEEKLY UPDATE
July 2, 2016

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:

This week in Syria was marked by shifting international alliances, and events have underlined the Syrian war’s effect on the international stage. Most notably, both Turkey and the United States, two main supporters of the Syrian opposition, have signaled their desire to partner with Russia, a staunch supporter of the Syrian government.

The United States proposed new military cooperation with Russia. The proposal would see Russia working alongside the U.S. to target Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria. In return, Russia would have to pressure the Syrian government to halt its campaign against U.S.-backed rebel groups and designate certain areas as “safe” from Syrian aerial bombing.

Turkey, a primary backer of several Syrian opposition groups, appears to also be making moves to get closer to Russia. A Russian news agency quoted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying that the two countries should work closer together to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

As the U.S. and Turkey inch closer to Russia, the Syrian opposition is calling on the international community to limit Moscow’s power in the war-torn country. Syria’s main opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) presented a detailed document to the European Union calling on them to impose sanctions on Russian companies aiding the war in Syria, specifically those that deal in arms shipments.

Some 24 NGOs, including the Syrian Civil Defense and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, threatened to quit the Geneva-based peace talks for political transition in Syria. The letter states that the ongoing fighting in Syria had made their presence at peace talks “meaningless” and “unnecessary.”

One month away from the August 1 deadline, the U.N.-brokered peace talks are far from being completed. The talks officially collapsed in late April when the HNC suspended its participation in negotiations. However, this week the U.N.’s Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura stated that progress with political transition in Syria would still be possible by the deadline.

On Syria’s battlefields, the weekend began with a devastating attack in Deir Ezzor. At least 45 people, including children, were killed in a series of heavy airstrikes from Russian and Syrian forces on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The attack targeted the town of Qourieh, which is largely controlled by the so-called Islamic State group.

The battle continued in Aleppo this week. Some 70 government and rebel fighters were killed in the 24 hours leading up to Friday in Aleppo’s suburbs, as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continue their campaign to seize Aleppo’s strategically significant supply lines.

The Teacher: How One Woman Educated an Entire Camp

Umm ’Abdu abandoned her education when she got married. But after the war broke out in Syria, she fled the opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo for government-controlled Tartus, and devoted her life to tutoring children. One day, she hopes to fulfill her dream of becoming a midwife.

Umm Abdu’s daughters, Siham, Hala and Nur in the Old Garage camp in Syrian government-controlled Tartus. Ghenwa Yusuf/Good Morning Syria

Children are Fighting on All Sides of Syria’s War

Whether it is with the Free Syrian Army or the pro-government National Defense Forces militia, ISIS or the Kurds, children across the war-torn country have consistently been recruited to fight in Syria’s war.

Abu Talha, 15, is fighting with opposition forces in Daraa, Syria. Roxana.fm/Syrian Independent Media Group

How Hafez al-Assad Divided the Alawite Sect

It may have been 16 years since the death of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, but his legacy still lives on in the war-torn country’s sectarian politics.

Porcelain plates bearing portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father, the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, are displayed in a souvenir shop outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Hassan Ammar/Associated Press

Additional Reading:

For new reporting and analysis every weekday, visit www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Top image: Umm ʿAbdu’s daughter, Siham, drew her own map of Syria with all the governorates on the tent where her mother teaches in government-controlled Tartus. Ghenwa Yusuf/Good Morning Syria

The original post can be found here.

Rethinking the Death Penalty and Complementarity… Neither Amnesty Nor Execution Would be a Good Result in the ICC’s Libya Cases

The International Criminal Court’s two Libya cases, against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, appear potentially poised to end in Libya, in an amnesty and an execution: neither would be an appropriate result.

After the UN Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC, the Court rendered divergent rulings on complementarity— that Saif Gaddafi should be tried at the ICC, while Senussi could stand trial in Libya. Saif was never transferred, as he reportedly was held by a militia in Zintan and not governmental authorities. Both men were then sentenced to death in a flawed domestic trial in Libya. Now, new, unconfirmed news reports suggest that Saif has been amnestied. Senussi appears still to be under a death sentence.

From death sentence to amnesty for Saif

In her recent May 26 briefing to the U.N. Security Council, the chief prosecutor of the ICC Fatou Bensouda had announced new efforts to get Saif transferred to The Hague – asking the Pre-Trial Chamber to direct the ICC Registry to send the request for Saif’s arrest and surrender directly to the head of the militia. This approach may prove moot if reports are true that he was amnestied (and one report, now contradicted, was that he had been released). These events then present the concern of him potentially escaping accountability, depending on whether or not his ICC case would proceed if there is a (valid) domestic amnesty of him. This presumably will now be litigated at the ICC – that is, what becomes of the ICC case after a flawed domestic trial in Libya that was never supposed to happen because he was supposed to have been transferred, and in light of a possible domestic amnesty that may or may not be valid.

The need to reopen admissibility regarding Senussi

Disappointingly, in her May briefing, the Prosecutor did not announce any intention to revisit complementarity (admissibility) in the Senussi case. This is unfortunate. When the ICC ruled that Libya could try him, there were before the Court only initial indications that his trial in Libya might face fairness challenges — lack of counsel in early phases of the proceedings. The Court did not reach other issues, finding them speculative.

The actual group trial that included both Senussi and Saif was riddled with fair trial violations:

• inadequate assistance of counsel;
• lack of adequate time and facilitates to prepare the defense;
• lack of an opportunity to present sufficient defense witnesses;
• lack of an opportunity to cross-examine prosecution witnesses;
• lack of impartial and transparent proceedings; and
• lack of a reasoned ruling—the failure to make individualized determinations as to individual criminal responsibility.

Additional fair trial violations may include denial of the right to remain silent, to be promptly informed of the charges against one, and to challenge the evidence presented. Saif was also largely tried in absentia, and there are allegations that both were tortured.

The ICC Appeals Chamber unfortunately set a very high standard before it would consider due process violations in a national court process when evaluating admissibility. It required a showing that national proceedings were “so egregious that the proceedings can no longer be regarded as being capable of providing any genuine form of justice to the accused.” This, in the author’s view, is too stringent a standard, especially where the death penalty is involved; the Court’s ruling merits reconsideration.

Absent reconsideration, however, given all the fair trial violations that occurred after the Court’s ruling, this standard is arguably met — new information reveals that due process was indeed egregiously violated when compared to the appropriate international standards. Furthermore, the Court should err on the side of caution, in a death penalty case, which warrants even more exacting adherence to due process. Thus, both the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) and Senussi’s council should move to reopen admissibility. The death sentence against him suggests the urgency of doing so.

Complementarity & the death penalty – the need to adopt a policy of requesting diplomatic assurances

Beyond the complication of the two Libya cases, States Parties should revisit the issue of complementarity and the death penalty. There is currently nothing in the Rome Statute to preclude the judges from ruling a case “inadmissible” at the ICC, thereby permitting trial in a country that applies the death penalty. Yet, most Rome Statute States Parties oppose the death penalty, and would never extradite someone to stand trial in a country that uses the death penalty without assurances that it would not be used.

Because Senussi was never in The Hague, it didn’t look like the ICC was transferring him to a country that applies the death penalty, because there was no transfer involved. But giving the green light to his trial in Libya has the same result. In negotiating the Rome Statute, states may have agreed to allow national countries to use all the penalties on their books when exercising complementarity, yet, as more and more countries reject use of the death penalty, States Parties at the upcoming Assembly of States Parties meeting should request the Court to adopt a Policy of requesting diplomatic assurances of non-use of the death penalty in any ICC cases ruled inadmissible.

It is troubling for the ICC to play a role in allowing domestic executions. UN-backed tribunals such as the Yugoslav and Rwanda Tribunals did not apply the death penalty, nor does the ICC when a case is still before it. The Rwanda Tribunal even waited until Rwanda abolished the death penalty before transferring its rule 11bis cases back to Rwanda.

If one (or both) of the Libya cases ends in execution, this will be a bad outcome:

–for the UN Security Council, which made the referral,

–for the Court, which ruled that Libya could try Senussi (and failed to get Saif transferred),

–for States Parties (particularly those that do not permit the death penalty), in failing to recognize their role in creating an institution that can have a hand in domestic executions when it rules cases “inadmissible,” and

— not least, for the accused, as the Libyan trial was by all accounts palpably flawed.

For the same reason – that the trial was palpably flawed – it is also troubling if Saif’s case ends with a domestic amnesty (an outcome we can expect the OTP to fight). In neither case, was justice done.

Regardless of the outcome of these cases, the linkage between the ICC and the death penalty remains in the Rome Statute and warrants revisiting.

–Jennifer Trahan is Associate Clinical Professor, at The Center for Global Affairs, NYU-SPS, and Chair of the American Branch of the International Law Association’s International Criminal Court Committee. The views expressed are those of the author.

(This op-Ed originally appeared on IntLawGrrls and can be accessed here.)