Domestic and International Responses to the U.N.’s Proposed Sri Lankan War Crimes Court

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka –

There have been varied responses to the U.N.’s recent report calling for an internationally formed hybrid court to look into war atrocities committed during the 26 year long war between Sri Lankan military forces and the Tamil Tiger Rebels.

The United States issued a draft resolution regarding the alleged war crimes which called for a hybrid court made up of international judges, prosecutors, and investigators. The draft praised President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe for their efforts to restore a democratic government in Sri Lanka.

The resolution holds Sri Lanka accountable for addressing the war crimes. For instance, the resolution calls for Sri Lanka to deliver an oral report to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2016 and a comprehensive report in March 2017 on the progress of implementing the resolution.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, rejected the U.N.’s call for international involvement in the proposed war crimes court. Mr. Wickremesinghe stated that the Sri Lankan government is developing a domestic mechanism which will investigate the alleged war crimes. The Sri Lankan government plans on setting up a truth commission, a war reparations office, and a commission on missing people.

President Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka’s new president, has pledged that war criminals will be brought to justice through the implementation of the domestic investigation.

Sri Lanka’s former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, criticized the U.N. report’s findings and has called for the Sri Lankan government to reject the report. Under Rajapaksa’s government, Sri Lankan military forces defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, while killing tens of thousands of civilians during the final stage of the war. Mr. Rajaoaksa also stated that the alleged war crimes should be investigated through Sri Lanka’s existing legal system without the involvement of special courts.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Colombo last week and supported the Sri Lankan government’s plan to address the war crimes with domestic commissions. After his trip, Mr. Steinmeier stated that the U.N. report’s recommendations should be a mostly “national task”. He also stated that Germany is ready to assist Sri Lanka in its war crimes investigation.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, met with Mr. Steinmeier and has stated that Sri Lanka will accept some outside technical assistance in setting up the planned commissions.

For more information, please see:

Channel News Asia – Sri Lanka Rejects International War Crimes Probe – 22 September 2015

Jurist – Sri Lanka PM Rejects UN Call for International War Crimes Investigation – 22 September 2015

New York Times – Germany Offers Help for Sri Lankan Probe of War Atrocities – 22 September 2015

Reuters – Rajapaksa Criticizes U.N. Findings on Sri Lanka War Crimes – 22 September 2015

The New Indian Express – US Draft Resolution Calls for International Involvement in SL Judicial Mechanism – 19 September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

Clemency Hearing Issued for Only Female Georgia Death Row Inmate

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

ATLANTA, United States of America — Georgia’s only female death row inmate won a last-minute clemency hearing on Monday, a day before she is due to be executed by lethal injection, the state parole board said. The Board of Pardons and Paroles will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday morning to consider “supplemental information” in the case of Kelly Gissendaner, opening the possibility for her sentence being commuted to life, with or without parole.

Supporters of Ms. Gissendaner Hold a Rally on Monday. (Photo Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

Ms. Gissendaner is the only woman currently on Georgia’s death row.

On Monday, a judge denied a motion to stay the execution of Gissendaner. Thomas Thrash, chief judge of the Northern District of Georgia, also denied a restraining order to stop the execution.

Lawyers for Gissendaner had asked Judge Thrash to stay the execution and give himself time to rule on their request to reconsider his dismissal of a complaint they filed in March.

Judge Thrash said Gissendaner’s lawyers failed to show they were likely to prevail in their challenge of Georgia’s lethal injection protocol, which the lawyers for Ms. Gissendaner contend is “cloaked in secrecy, fraught with errors (and) potentially painful.”

Ms. Gissendaner’s lawyers filed appeals and other motions in federal court and a clemency petition before Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles, a five-member body appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal. The board refused previous requests but is reconsidering the case, according to its spokesman.

Gissendaner was convicted of murder and sentenced to death after prosecutors said she convinced her then-boyfriend, Gregory Owen, to kill her husband, Douglas Gissendaner. Owen confessed to fatally stabbing Douglas Gissendaner and was sentenced to life in prison, though he will eventually be eligible to seek parole.

Ms. Gissendaner’s execution was twice postponed, first in February due to a winter storm, then in March because the lethal-injection drug to be used looked cloudy.

State officials halted executions and investigated the claims, but then determined the cloudiness had no impact on the drug, and said executions could resume. Her lawyers have challenged use of the drug, arguing that a 2013 Georgia law that makes the manufacturer of drugs used in executions a state secret was unconstitutional, because the public cannot know if the drugs might cause cruel and unusual punishment to the prisoner.

Ms. Gissendaner is currently scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

 

For more information, please see:

ABC News — Georgia Parole Board to Hold New Clemency Hearing for Only Woman on State’s Death Row – 28 September 2015

CBS News — Children of woman on Ga. death row plead for her life to be spared – 28 September 2015

CNN — Children plead to spare mother’s life; judge denies stay of execution – 28 September 2015

Reuters — Georgia woman set for execution gets last-minute clemency hearing – 28 September 2015

WSJ — Georgia Woman Set to Die Despite Anti-Death-Penalty Pleas – 27 September 2015

Colombia and FARC Reach Agreement

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

HAVANA, Cuba — An agreement between the Colombian government and FARC rebels was reached on Wednesday at the negotiations in Havana, Cuba. The parties pledged to sign a final peace agreement by March 23, 2016. Following the final agreement, FARC will have 60 days to disarm.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (left) and FARC representative Rodrigo Londono Echiverri (right) shake hands following the agreement, facilitated by Raul Castro, President of Cuba (center) (Photo courtesy of the New York Times).

The agreement included the creation of special courts to try former guerilla rebels and military involved in the conflict. Rebels who confess to their crimes will be given five to eight years of confinement to certain rural regions. Those that refuse to confess may face up to 20 years of imprisonment of imprisonment.

Whether these sentences will be offered to those convicted of crimes against humanity is uncertain. Reuters reported that those convicted of crimes against humanity or war crimes will not be allowed that opportunity, but other outlets have reported that the agreement would allow such criminals to benefit from reduced sentencing. Colombian Reports has specifically reported that there would be no impunity.

Human Rights Watch, in a September 28th article, expressed concern that those responsible for mass atrocities would be able to avoid jail time under the agreement. HRW reports that even those charged under war crimes and crime against humanity would be allowed the “special conditions” if cooperative.

FARC documents seen by the Observer report the same judicial structure. The documents also reported that the negotiators consulted with representatives from the Irish and British participants in the Good Friday Agreement, and that they used the frameworks of the Yugoslavia Tribunal and Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as models for the transitional justice agreements.

Additionally, the documents reported that those convicted of drug trafficking would not be offered special sentencing.

Whether or not those sentenced under these conditions will be allowed to participate in politics following their released is uncertain. Under Colombian law, anyone sentenced to prison time is precluded from running for office or voting.

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has expressed optimism for the agreement. Her office will be consulting with the Colombian government and other stakeholders throughout this process.

The actual text of the agreement has not yet been released, the only confirmed information is that which has been reported by President Santos.

 

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – International Criminal Court welcomes Colombia deal – 25 September 2015

New York Times – Colombia’s President Says Peace Talks Overcome Late Surprise – 25 September 2015

New York Times – Opinion: The Prospect of Peace in Colombia – 25 September 2015

Wall Street Journal – Colombia’s Dubious Deal with Terrorists – 27 September 2015

Bloomberg View – Colombia’s Chance at Peace – 28 September 2015

Yahoo – Colombia rebel leaders’ political participation uncertain after deal – 28 September 2015

 

 

 

Syria Deeply: Death Continues To Rain From Above In Aleppo

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply update. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments from Syria.

Death Continues to Rain From Above in Aleppo

After two and a half months of relative quiet in the liberated, opposition-controlled areas in the city of Aleppo, the government’s air force started a new shelling campaign on Aleppo’s busy neighborhoods last week. According to the media office of the civil defense teams in Aleppo, the bombing caused the death and injury of nearly 200 civilians and widespread destruction of people’s homes and businesses.

The photo above shows Al-Myassar neighborhood, east of Aleppo, on September 20. (Photo by Tamer Osman for Syria Deeply)

From Syria to Europe: “I Decided to Swim”

Syria Deeply spoke to two men who took the decision to swim from Turkey to Greece. In recent months, large numbers of Syrian refugees have entered Italy and Greece via the Mediterranean. At the mercy of people smugglers and enduring perilous conditions along the way – including taking to the sea on unsafe dinghies – many die, however, before reaching Europe’s shores.

From Syria to Lebanon, Palestinians Stuck Between “Catastrophes”

Syria Deeply had the rare opportunity to speak to Palestinian refugees from Syria about becoming “double refugees” as they flee the violence there and seek security in Lebanon. At least 45,000 Palestinians have arrived in Lebanon from Syria since the civil war began, according to the U.N.

Photo: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, including those who came from Syria, are barred from dozens of professions. (Associated Press/Bilal Hussein)

The Diary of Marah, a Teen Girl in Syria, Continues

Teen girl Marah writes: “At Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday, everyone is supposed to be busy getting ready, buying food, sweets and new clothes to celebrate. But people are overwhelmed by other things. This year, the holiday came right when schools were opening their doors for the new academic year – right when students need school supplies. Because of the war, most Syrians are unemployed and they cannot afford both occasions at the same time.”

Find our new reporting and analysis every weekday at www.syriadeeply.org. You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.