FIFA Executive Approved by Trinidad & Tobago for Extradition to U.S.

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — Trinidad and Tobago’s Attorney General has signed ‘Authority to Proceed’ documents, clearing the way for extradition proceedings against former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who is wanted in the United States on corruption charges. Warner’s attorneys are challenging the decision, stating that Trinidad & Tobago’s Attorney General, Faris Al-Rawi, missed the September 16 date for signing off on the documents, which would result in Mr. Warner’s discharge.

Former FIFA VP and CONCACAF President Jack Warner Faces Extradition. (Photo Courtesy of Trinidad Express)

The case was adjourned until Friday, after lawyers asked for time to review the documents.

James Lewis, representing Trinidad & Tobago, however, said that there was no reason to discharge Warner, since the documents were now signed. Mr. Lewis also stated that with the signing of the Authority to Proceed, the process would be free to continue as necessary.

Mr. Warner is among nine officials of world football’s governing body, along with five sports marketing executives, indicted by US prosecutors. US authorities have asked for him to be extradited in order to face the charges.

Mr. Warner faces 12 charges of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery; while the list of offenses Mr. Warner is wanted for in the United States is certainly expansive, the situation regarding Mr. Warner also involves millions of dollars, spanning over the course of decades.

From the early 1990s, he allegedly began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain. Furthermore, he allegedly accepted a $10 million bribe from South African officials in return for voting to award the country the 2010 World Cup.

In one particular alleged instance, Mr. Warner bribed officials with envelopes each containing $40,000 in cash; when one demurred, he allegedly said: “There are some people here who think they are more pious than you. If you’re pious, open a church, friends. Our business is our business.”

Mr. Warner, the former president of CONCACAF, the governing soccer confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, has denied all wrongdoing.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News — FIFA corruption: Jack Warner extradition proceedings approved – 21 September 2015

Jamaica Observer – Jack Warner challenges AG’s decision to proceed with extradition – 21 September 2015

The Guardian — FIFA crisis: Jack Warner’s extradition to United States moves a step closer – 21 September 2015

Trinidad Express — Jack challenges AG’s decision to proceed with extradition – 21 September 2015

War Crimes Prosecution Watch: Volume 10- Issue 14 September 21, 2015

Editor in Chief
Alexis Krivoshik

Managing Editors
Kate Mozynski
Aaron Kearney

Senior Technical Editor
R. Tadd Pinkston

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

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

Darfur, Sudan

Kenya

Libya

Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

AFRICA

Nigeria

Mali

Chad

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

Iraq

Syria

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

Terrorism

Piracy

Gender-Based Violence

REPORTS

UN Reports

NGO Reports

Saudi-led Coalition Airstrikes Kill 29 in Yemen’s Capital City

By Brittani Howell

Impunity News Desk Reporter, The Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Saudi led warplanes bombed Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a, on Friday killing at least 29 people. Bombing continued in Sana’a through Sunday, becoming one of the heaviest bombardments since the coalition began.

A man is carried from the rubble of an airstrike that occurred on Saturday. (Photo Courtesy of the New York Times)

On Sunday, 10 people were killed in the province of Ibb as air strikes targeted a military compound. Coalition forces are trying to retake Sana’a from the Houthi rebels so that exiled president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi may return.

On Friday the home of an Omani ambassador was attacked during the fighting, The Saudi-led coalition denies that they attacked the ambassador’s residence.

Brigadier-General Ahmed al-Asiri, military spokesperson for the coalition, stated that he would welcome an investigation as the ambassador’s house could have been hit by a Houthi mortar shell. He stated “One would be able from the beginning to distinguish between a mortar strike and plane strike.”

Friday’s airstrikes targeted Yemen’s Interior Ministry building, but apartment buildings and under passes, of no apparent military value, were also struck.

An apartment building in the UNESCO world heritage site was struck, killing a family of nine. A neighbor, Taha al-Maghribi stated that he did not know why the family had been targeted as they had remained neutral throughout the conflict. In addition, he stated that the apartment building was not close to any military installation.

Critics of the coalition believe the airstrikes that hit the residential areas are part of a deliberate policy to terrorize the population, in hopes that citizens will turn against the Houthi rebels.

On Saturday a 100 people protested in front of the Houthi rebel’s headquarters. The protesters demanded for the release of Mohammed Qahtan, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as for the release of others.

Five people were arrested as a result of the protest. Ahmed Moslah, a protester, stated, ”They beat us with batons and heaped insults on us.”

UNICEF, the United Nations child agency was appalled that water supplies, intended to help as many as 11,000 were destroyed in the bombing of a warehouse in Sana’a on Friday. Blame was not assigned, but it is suspected that coalition airstrikes were responsible.

For more information please see:

Al-Jazeera – Coalition-led bombings hit Yemen’s Capital – 20 September 2015

Reuters – Saudi-led Coalition Denies Attacking Home of Oman Envoy to Yemen – 20 September 2015

The Associated Press – Saudi-led Coalition Airstrikes in Yemen’s Capital Kill 29 – 19 September 2015

The New York Times – Arab Coalition Bombs Yemen’s Capital, Killing Dozens – 19 September 2015

Parties “Close to Agreement” in Colombia/FARC Negotiations

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

BOGOTA, Colombia — According to Colombia Reports, the Colombian government and representatives from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are close to reaching an agreement. FARC is a paramilitary organization that has been active in Colombia since 1964. The differences between the group and successive Colombian regimes has led to decades of violence that has claimed over 260,000 lives.

Luciano Marin Arango, head of FARC delegation to Havana peace talks. (Photo courtesy of TeleSur)

A communique from FARC’s website said that “Peace is knocking at the door of Colombia, and it requires that the armed conflict should be left behind, as something that should not be repeated anymore, to ensure the peaceful future and decent life of the new generations of Colombians.”

One of the issues on the table is the finalization of negotiations regarding victims’ reparations.

FARC also called for the “urgent” dismantle of the “phenomenon of paramilitarism.” The government also supported this. Interior Minister, Juan Fernando Cristo, speaking at a university forum in Tunja, said that FARC could support and defend their ideas, without violence, within the context of Colombian democracy as an official political party.

The final agreement would include a process for the integration of the paramilitaries into political society.

Last week the government presented a “constitutional reform for peace”, which would allow the implementation of a number of agreements reached between the two parties throughout the course of the negotiations.

FARC opposed the reform, instead calling for a Constituent Assembly. The government’s plan already has wide support from Congress, but does not have support from the rebels (who are not represented in Congress).

In his prayers during a historical visit to Cuba this past Sunday, Pope Francis said that “we do not have the right to allow ourselves yet another failure on this path of peace and reconciliation.”

In order to facilitate the peace talks, FARC declared a cease-fire on July 20, and then reaffirmed the cease-fire on August 20. The cease-fire was one sided, and Colombian forces continued to execute operations against the paramilitary’s positions in the country.

Peace talks between the two groups have been ongoing in Havana, Cuba since November of 2012. The two sides are working towards a bilateral peace agreement.

 

For more information, please see:

Prensa Latina – FARC-EP for Progress in Peace Conversations – 17 September 2015 

TeleSur – FARC Closer to Becoming a Legal Political Movement – 17 September 2015

Colombia Reports – Rebels on verge of reaching transitional justice agreement with Colombia govt: FARC – 18 September 2015

InNews – Colombia: Government Welcomes FARC Stance on Dropping Weapons – 18 September 2015

Sputnik News – UN Continues Contribution to Colombia-FARC Peace Talks – 18 September 2015

The Guardian – Pope Francis prays for peace in Colombia – 20 September 2015

This Week In Syria Deeply

WEEKLY UPDATE
September 19, 2015
Dear Readers,

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

Will Syria’s Druze Join Uprising After Assassination of Influential Sheikh?

Syria Deeply spoke to Druze in Sweida about the struggle to remain neutral following the death of one of their religious leaders. Still reeling from an attack by Jabhat al-Nusra earlier this summer, many are hesitant to join the uprising.

(Above: Lebanese Druze gather at a memorial service for Sheikh Walid Balous in Beirut on September 10, 2015. Photo credit: Associated Press/Hussein Malla)

“My Syrian Diary,” By A Teen Girl in Damascus, Continues with Part 39

Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, shares her stories of life in the war. She recently moved to Damascus to continue her education, deciding to focus her college studies on prosthetics, which she hopes to use to help heal the injured in her country’s conflict. In the latest installment, Part 39, Marah begins by writing: “Damascus is a city to love… but all we are thinking of now is how to leave her.”
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.