Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Iraq, World Humanitarian Summit

Atrocity Alert, No.  6 No Images? Click here

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.

© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich

Iraq

On 23 May Iraqi Security Forces began a major offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). While the government instructed thousands of civilians remaining in Fallujah to leave and promised safe passage, ISIL has prevented most people from doing so. Civilians have been trapped in the city and suffering from acute shortages of food and medicine, with no access to humanitarian aid, since December 2015.

With more than 60 million people around the world displaced by conflict, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May in Istanbul, Turkey. The Summit brought together delegates from more than 170 countries, as well as intergovernmental organizations and leaders within civil society, to discuss an “Agenda for Humanity.”

UN and humanitarian partners are currently responding to four “Level-3” emergencies – the most severe humanitarian crises – in Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In each of these situations, as well as many others, the world is witnessing widespread and systematic mass atrocity crimes. As UN Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted in his opening remarks to a High-Level Roundtable at the Summit, “International humanitarian and human rights law are under assault… More than 150 years of achievements to protect the most vulnerable during conflict are unraveling. The Geneva Conventions seem to have been forgotten.”

During the Summit, Global Centre Executive Director Dr. Simon Adams moderated a side event, “Security Council Action in the Service of Humanity,” hosted by the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, and also spoke at a number of other sessions.

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Eurojust: First EU Day Against Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes: EU is not a safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes

The Hague, 23 May 2016

The first annual EU Day Against Impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes took place today in The Hague, under the Netherlands EU Presidency. The event was hosted by Eurojust, and organised in cooperation with the European Commission and the Network for investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Commenting on the day, the Netherlands Minister of Security and Justice stated that ‘the EU is no safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes’.

The objective of this initiative is to raise awareness of the most heinous crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The EU Day Against Impunity is also intended to promote national investigations and prosecutions, to

• recognise the common efforts of the EU Member States and the European Union in enforcing international criminal law,
• address the position and participation of victims in criminal proceedings for these crimes,
• reinvigorate a Europe-wide commitment to the continuing fight against impunity for these crimes.

The Netherlands Minister of Security and Justice, H.E. Mr Ard van der Steur, stated:

It is primarily the responsibility of states to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of core international crimes. International criminal courts and tribunals are often set up as courts of last resort, and are not able to prosecute ALL violations of international criminal law.

The Minister further underlined that ‘the EU does not want to be a safe haven for perpetrators of atrocious crimes.’

The Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Ms Věra Jourová, stated:

The European Commission has made support to victims of crime a priority. Victims in criminal proceedings conducted in the European Union enjoy a wide range of rights under European law, regardless of their nationality or place of residence. Together with the Member States, the European Union has been striving for consistency between the European Union’s internal and external policies in relation to the fight against serious international crimes. Close and swift cooperation between national judicial and law enforcement authorities matter greatly. At the EU level, Eurojust and Europol play a crucial role in this respect.

Eurojust’s President, Ms Michèle Coninsx, stated:

Experience shows that the investigation and prosecution of international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, require cooperation between states. A single state is not able to efficiently and successfully prosecute perpetrators of these heinous crimes. A common EU justice response is vital to ensure that the European Union is no safe haven for criminals. The need for intensified cooperation with third States and partners becomes clear when fighting impunity.

Background

The 1 607 closed and 1 339 ongoing core international crime cases in the Member States demonstrate that the fight against impunity is a reality and current challenge faced by national authorities.

For interviews and further information, please contact:
Eurojust
Ulf Bergström, Head of Communications and External Relations
Tel: +31 70 412 5508
Mobile: +31 646 764 209
E-mail: media@eurojust.europa.eu
Matevž Pezdirc, Head of Genocide Network Secretariat
Tel: +31 70 412 5514
Mobile: +31 646 595 095
E-mail: GenocideNetworkSecretariat@eurojust.europa.eu
Netherlands Ministry of Security and Justice
Karen Temmink, Spokesperson
Tel: +31 625 657 676
E-mail: k.temmink3@minvenj.nl
Melanie Voin, Press Contact for Commissioner Jourová
Tel: +32 (0)2 29 58659
Mobile: +32 (0)460 758 659
E-mail: Melanie.VOIN1@ec.europa.eu

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Iraq, World Humanitarian Summit

Atrocity Alert, No.  6 No Images? Click here

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.

© UNHCR/Sebastian Rich

Iraq

On 23 May Iraqi Security Forces began a major offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). While the government instructed thousands of civilians remaining in Fallujah to leave and promised safe passage, ISIL has prevented most people from doing so. Civilians have been trapped in the city and suffering from acute shortages of food and medicine, with no access to humanitarian aid, since December 2015.

With more than 60 million people around the world displaced by conflict, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May in Istanbul, Turkey. The Summit brought together delegates from more than 170 countries, as well as intergovernmental organizations and leaders within civil society, to discuss an “Agenda for Humanity.”

UN and humanitarian partners are currently responding to four “Level-3” emergencies – the most severe humanitarian crises – in Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In each of these situations, as well as many others, the world is witnessing widespread and systematic mass atrocity crimes. As UN Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted in his opening remarks to a High-Level Roundtable at the Summit, “International humanitarian and human rights law are under assault… More than 150 years of achievements to protect the most vulnerable during conflict are unraveling. The Geneva Conventions seem to have been forgotten.”

During the Summit, Global Centre Executive Director Dr. Simon Adams moderated a side event, “Security Council Action in the Service of Humanity,” hosted by the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, and also spoke at a number of other sessions.

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Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: Russian Investigative Authorities Reject William Browder’s Complaint Against General Prosecutor Chaika

25 May 2016 – The Russian Investigative Committee has rejected William Browder’s criminal complaint against Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika. The complaint asked the Russian authorities to investigate Chaika for making knowingly false accusations of triple homicide against William Browder in a December 2015 letter Chaika published in the Russian newspaper “Kommersant.” In that article, Chaika accused Browder of murdering three Russian citizens.

“Chaika shouldn’t be allowed to abuse his position and make such wild and knowingly false statements against me purely to seek revenge for his false assumption that I was involved in exposing the abuse and corruption of his office,” said William Browder, author of the New-York Times best-seller “Red Notice. How I Became Putin’s No 1 Enemy.“

Chaika’s Kommersant letter also blamed William Browder for financing and backing the YouTubeexpose of corruption and criminality involving Chaika’s sons prepared by Russian anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny.

  1. Ustyugov, an official in the Russian Investigative Committee, issued the rejection to William Browder’s complaint, stating there were “no grounds to register this application as a crime report and conduct a probe into it.”

The Russian Investigative Committee’s official who prepared the refusal was officer Marina Lomonosova, who previously was in charge of investigating the death of Sergei Magnitsky in Russian police custody.

Judge Artur Karpov of Basmanny District Court of Moscow agreed with the Investigative Committee’s inaction, saying “there were no reasons to distrust the documents provided by the criminal prosecution bodies.”

Moscow district city Judge Artur Karpov has previously refused complaints from Sergei Magnitsky’s mother seeking an investigation of her son’s torture and murder in detention. He also sanctioned arrests of Bolotnaya Square protesters and the house arrest of Alexei Navalny.

For more information, please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

www.billbrowder.com

https://twitter.com/Billbrowder

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: R2P in Focus, Issue 2

R2P in Focus

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).

The Future of Civilian Protection in Peace Operations: Endorsing and Implementing the Kigali Principles

The Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians, adopted during 2015, are a set of eighteen recommendations to improve the implementation of protective mandates in UN peace operations. The Principles provide a blueprint to strengthen the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations conducted in volatile and violent situations.

On 11 May 2016 the Governments of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Rwanda, in association with the Global Centre, co-hosted a high-level event on “The Future of Civilian Protection in Peace Operations: Endorsing and Implementing the Kigali Principles” at UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting was launched by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr. Albert Koenders, and the Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the UN, H.E. Mr. Eugène-Richard Gasana. Other speakers included the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, and the Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, H.E. Ms. Samantha Power, as well as former UN Force Commander Lt. General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz and Executive Director of Security Council Report Mr. Ian Martin. The event was moderated by the Global Centre’s Executive Director, Dr. Simon Adams.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Adams urged all member states to support the Kigali Principles: “In far too many situations in the world today, peacekeepers in blue helmets are all that stand between civilians and those who prey upon their misery. The Kigali Principles recognize that the protection of civilians is at the heart of twenty-first century peacekeeping. They should be endorsed by all UN member states.”

The event was covered in the New York Times, Daily Telegraph (UK) and a number of other international media outlets.

For more information on this event see our Peacekeeping and Kigali Principles page.

World Humanitarian Summit

From 23 to 24 May the Global Centre is attending the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. Executive Director Dr. Simon Adams will be moderating a side event, “Security Council Action in the Service of Humanity,” hosted by the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, and is also speaking at a number of other side events during the Summit.

In advance of the Summit, the Global Centre collaborated with The Elders and Amnesty International on a video message which calls upon the UN Security Council to take action to prevent and halt mass atrocities by agreeing to voluntarily restrain from using their veto and adopting a Code of Conduct.

Sixth Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points

The sixth annual meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points will be held in Seoul from 20 to 22 June 2016. The Government of the Republic of Korea is hosting the meeting in collaboration with the Global Centre. Topics of discussion will include how R2P Focal Points can influence the development of national human rights mechanisms and linkages between development aid and atrocity prevention, among others.

Any Other Business

  • Statement on the situation in Syria. The Global Centre responded to the recent airstrikes on displaced civilians and hospitals in Syria in a statement availablehere.
  • Glion Human Rights Dialogue. On 3 and 4 May Deputy Executive Director Ms. Savita Pawnday participated in the Glion Human Rights Dialogue in Switzerland. Ms. Pawnday presented on the role of the Human Rights Council in the prevention of mass atrocity crimes.
  • Strengthening South-South Cooperation to Prevent Mass Atrocities. The Global Centre co-hosted a workshop with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, bringing together practitioners from the Global South to address the ongoing gaps between early warning and timely action in responding to mass atrocity crimes. A summary is available here.
  • UN Perspectives: The Future of Civilian Protection and the Responsibility to Protect. Motivated by the need to address the unprecedented challenges facing the UN, the Global Centre, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, hosted a workshop on the “Future of Civilian Protection and the Responsibility to Protect.” A summary is available here.

Calendar Highlights

29 May 2016

International Day of UN Peacekeepers

20 June 2016

World Refugee Day

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