War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 10, Issue 26 – March 7, 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.

Contents

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Chad

Nigeria

EUROPE

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Syria

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

WORTH READING

WORTH READING

2 Nigerian Villages to Sue Shell in UK

By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 

ABUJA, Nigeria – Two Nigerian towns, Ogale and Bille, have decided to take on Goliath and sue the seventh largest oil company in the world, Royal Dutch Shell in a British court. This case will be different from other suites Shell has faced from Nigeria. Instead of claiming damages for spills, these two villages are seeking compensation for Shell’s neglected clean up of effected areas in the Niger Delta. It was unclear at first if Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., could be sued in the British court for events that occurred outside the county’s boarders. The decision handed down be a UK judge on Wednesday allowed the case to proceed for now.

Effects of repeated oil spills on Niger Delata. (Photo Courtesy of Deutsche Welle)

The suites from these two villages are being headed by Leigh Day, a British human rights law firm. This is not the first time Leigh Day has taken on Shell for their involvement in polluting the Niger Delta. Just last year Leigh Day won $83.5 million for Bobo, another Nigerian Village effected by pollution. Shell had only offered $50,000 to the village to settle.

 

Shell has decided to challenge the courts jurisdiction over the matter and have asked English courts to intervene. Shell is also claiming that they are not to blame for the pollution citing multiple attacks and thefts from their systems by third parties in Nigeria.

 

Shells defense is not completely unfounded. The sites by these two villages are plagued with thefts, but also suffer from old infrastructure and a lack of general upkeep. Besides neglected cleanup the village of Billie is also suing Shell for failing to protect their Nigerian properties from these break-ins and sabotages.

 

These two villages have been some of the hardest hit by pollution in the Niger Delta since the late 1950’s. Ogale, which sits on the Ogale River, relies heavily on farming and fishing and has seen their natural recourses crumble due to polluted water ways, ground water, and swamps. The Bille village also relies heavily on fishing and is made up of a number of small islands strung throughout the Niger Delta. In some cases spills have been so bad that villagers were forced to put sand bags around buildings to stop oil from flowing in.

 

For more information, please see:

 

RT – No-one listens, no-one cares’: Nigerian communities sue Shell over chronic oil pollution – 3 March 2016

The Jurist – UK court rules Nigeria towns can sue Shell in UK ­ 3 March 2016

ABC News – Nigerians Sue Shell in UK Court for Oil Spills Contamination – 2 March 2016

The Guardian – Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd – 2 March 2016

Settlement Reached for South African Gold Miners

By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – A case between 4,365 South African miners and two major mining companies has come to an end after 12 long years. The two mining companies, Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti settled the suite before it went to court for 500 million Rand ($32.5 million). The miners brought the suite because of a lung disease they had contracted while working in the companies’ mines.

Gold miner working near Johannesburg South Africa. Photo Courtesy: Reuters

Heading the case was Richard Meeran a lawyer from the UK, human rights firm, Leigh Day. Leigh Day first got involved in the case in 2012 and has followed through till its completion on Wednesday. However, much still remains to be done before sick miners receive their payouts.

 

Although 4,365 miners were included in the suite it is clear that not all of them will receive compensation. The money paid out by Anglo American and Anglo Gold will be put into a trust and paid out to all those who qualify. If one qualifies how much they will receive will depend on the severity of their silicosis and their age.

 

Meeran admits that he does not expect everyone in the class action to receive compensation. The law firm did its own sampling and estimates that just over half of the plaintiffs will qualify to receive payout. According to the structure of the trust all testing and payouts must be done within six years, but Meeran believed it should all be concluded in four.

 

The miners are all suffering from a condition known as Silicosis, a condition contracted from repeated inhalation of airborne dust particles. Complications of Silicosis can lead to severe respiratory disease, ultimately leading to death. The conditions created by mining are exactly the type lead to Silicosis. The two mining companies were not being sued because of creating unsafe working conditions but instead because they failed to provide the correct protective gear for their workers.

 

Although many human rights groups have been supportive of the settlement it may be that it does not go far enough. The deal did include a payout for affected workers but did not include an admission of liability for either company. This means that the settlement will be almost meaningless for any upcoming cases against the two companies for the same disease. One of these cases that could have bolstered by an admission of liability is currently in the South Gauteng High Court, South Africa’s superior court.

 

For more information, please see:

 

City Press – Silicosis claims: Anglo has to cough up nearly R500m – 6 March 2016

The Guardian – South African gold miners awarded £22m in compensation – 5 March 2016

SABC News – Multi-million rand silicosis settlement is a victory for human rights – 5 March 2016

Bloomberg Business – Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Agree on Silicosis Deal – 4 March 2016

Seven Days For Syria – I AM SYRIA

7 Days For Syria: 

The wave of Arab unrest that began with the Tunisian revolution reached Syria on March 15, 2011, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. The government responded with heavy-handed force, and demonstrations quickly spread across much of the country. As we reach the five year anniversary of the start of the uprising, it is still not too late to push our leaders to take action to help end the conflict, to assist the millions of those displaced from their homes—and to remind the Syrian people that they are not alone.

With that in mind, starting March 15th, I am Syria will be providing “Seven Days for Syria”—a set of small but significant things you can do to help, all easy to do and only a couple of clicks away. With more than 4.7 million Syrian’s in refugee camps, I Am Syria will be focusing this years 7 Days for Syria Campaign to help those displaced by the Syrian Civil War. 

Day 1:

I AM SYRIA

Seven Days for Syria Day One: Play and Share the I Am Syria Video 

with your Facebook and Social Media Networks. Doing so might hopefully engage others in the cause, encouraging them to do the same with their networks as well.

Day 2: 

If you are looking for a way to help Syrian refugees being resettled in your area, contact you local resettlement agency to donate or volunteer. There is no way for a citizen to host a Syrian Refugee family in your own home, but there are many ways you can help a local resettled family. Find a location near you here

Day 3:

Call your local governor or congressmen and tell them to share support for the resettlement of refugees in your district. Find your local congressmen here. Find your governor here. 

“I am a constituent from [City] and I support the resettlement of Syrian Refugees. I urge you to support refugees displaced by the Syrian Conflict. I am opposed to any legislation that would stop or halt the resettlement of Syrian families. Please represent me and your constituents who want to welcome Syrian families into the United States” 

Day 5:

Tweet to your favorite celebrity and tell them to speak out for the Syrian Refugees with this sample tweet.

“Use your power and influence to help the families displaced by the Syrian conflict and desperately need a new home @I_am_Syria”

Day 4:

Make a $20.00 donation to the International Recue Committee’s (IRC’s) Fund for Syrian Refugee Relief. The International Rescue Committee is marshaling a humanitarian response to help the thousands of people crossing Syria’s borders every day, as well as those trapped by the violence inside the country. We provide medical and other critical aid, help women and girls and ensure that all displaced Syrians have access to their legal rights.

Day 6:

Know a teacher who might be interested in making a difference?  Tell them about Teach Syria, a 40 minute Common Core-friendly lesson that provides the background knowledge and materials to engage their students in the Syrian refugee issue—and empowers them to take action.

Day 7:

We will end our campaign, we want to educate everyone on the Syrian Refugee crisis from those who work with refugee’s in one capacity or another. In addition to over 150 killed with scores injured, the attacks on Paris by ISIS were unfortunate in many ways. One outcome was the backlash against Syrian families being resettled in the United States by some officials in government. Syrian and other refugees should not be feared or demonized. After all, we are dealing here with hundreds of thousands of refugees as opposed to possibly a couple of dozen terrorist infiltrators. 

I Am Syria recently prepared a series of articles to help educate our viewers on what it is to be a Syrian Refugee and what conditions are like for those fleeing Syria. Our friends around the world helped contribute to our series by providing us their point of view and what they have experienced. Read a share our articles on social media and help spread our message to help Syrian families desperate and displaced by the Syrian conflict.