15 Serbs and Bosnians Arrested on War Crimes from 1993 Massacre

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – 15 people have been detained in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for their alleged involvements in the torture-murder of 19 people in Bosnia back in 1993. The 15 were detained via a joint effort by law enforcement in both countries.

This is the gym where 19 victims were taken to be tortured before being brought to their ultimate execution place in a house along the Drina River. (Photo courtesy of Denver Post)

More than 20 years ago, a train traveling from Belgrade, Serbia to Montenegro, passed through Bosnia and was stopped at the Strpci depot by Bosnian Serb militia members. 18 Bosnian Muslims and a Croat were removed, beaten, and taken by truck to a school gym where they were subsequently stripped, tortured, before being again ushered to a house along the Drina River where they were ultimately shot. The bodies were dumped into the Drina River after, and only three have since been recovered (all in 2010 when Peruac Lake was drained to repair a dam). Only one low-level soldier has previously been convicted for part in this massacre.

Last Friday, a joint operation led to the arrest of 5 Serbs and 10 Bosnians for their alleged involvement in the 19 murders; three names of the 15 detained are of particular importance. First, Luka Dragicevic was a Bosnian general in charge of military operations in the area at the time of the massacre. Second, Gojko Lukic, brother of Milan Lukic, was also detained. Milan Lukic was a Bosnian Serb warlord who is regarded as the mastermind of the ethnic-cleansing that allowed for this massacre, and Milan Lukic was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Third, Boban Indjic, a former close associate of Gojko Lukic, was also among the 15 arrested.

These new arrests are the result of a year-long investigation into the massacre. Many have blamed the political systems for failure to arrest those responsible for over 20 years, and now the arrests are met with praise by many. Some, however, are protesting the arrests. Milovan Markovic, father-in-law of “Momir,” claims “[h]e did nothing, no war crimes.” Further, some Serbians may still see the killers as war heroes, and some of the responsible parties have since been involved in business, politics, police, and the army. However, Vladimir Vukcevic, Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor, Bruno Vekaric, Serbian deputy war crimes prosecutor, and Goran Salihovic, Bosnia’s chief prosecutor, all are praising the arrests of these 15 individuals for their alleged involvement in the massacre.

For more information, please see:

The Denver Post – Serbia, Bosnia make 15 arrests in Balkan war massacre – 6 December 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina Arrest 15 People for Suspected War Crimes – 5 December 2014

Deutsche Welle – War crimes arrests in Bosnia and Serbia – 5 December 2014

The New York Times – 15 Serbs Are Arrested in Connection With 1993 Massacre – 5 December 2014

Report Confirms Details Of CIA Torture Techniques

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States Of America – According to a recently published report by Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee, during the Bush administration the CIA misled congress as it conducted interrogations of terror suspects that were far more brutal than what was publicly conveyed. Among the revelations of the report were that President George W. Bush was not briefed by the CIA about the details of the interrogations, which began post 9/11 until 2006. The report also indicates that after being briefed Bush expressed his concern and discomfort about a detainee who was “chained to the ceiling, [and] forced to soil himself.”

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein walks to the Senate floor (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

The report finds that at least 119 detainees went though the CIA detention program and at least 26 were held without information to justify their detention. The report states that the techniques used were “deeply flawed,” poorly managed and most times the result of fabricated information. Some of the egregious instances of torture in the report include a detainee chained to a wall, standing, for 17 days, sleep deprivation for extended periods of time, ice water baths, and force feedings. It has been clear since 2009, that the Obama administration released details regarding how investigators used waterboarding. The reports says that such techniques “were not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees.”

The central claim of the report is that the CIA methods of interrogation did not produce information that was necessary to save lives that was no available by some other means. The long awaited study went through more than six million CIA comments The report has reignited the partisan divide over combating terrorism. Many democrats have argues that the tactics used by the CIA conflict with American values. On the other hand, CIA Director John Brennan issued a statement that challenged several conclusions of the report. Also, former senior intelligence officials have launched a website, CIASavedLives.com, that attempts to refute the findings.

Brennan has issued a statement that the CIA has learned from its mistakes, but maintained his claim that the idea that the agency systematically misled top government officials about its tactics. The agency says that the conclusions of the report contain too many flaws to be held as an official record of the program.

 

For more information, please see the following:

BLOOMBERG- CIA Misled Bush, Congress On Interrogation Tactics, Report Finds – 9 Dec. 2014.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Terror and Torture, In Hindsight – 9 Dec. 2014.

CNN – Senate Report: CIA Misled Public On Torture – 9 Dec. 2014.

REUTERS – CIA Tortured, Misled, U.S. Report Finds, Drawing Calls For Action– 9 Dec. 2014.

International Criminal Court Recognizes Palestine as an Observer State

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

RAMALLAH, Palestine – In a move that could signal the possibility of an prosecution of war crimes allegedly committed by members of the Israeli armed forces as well as Hamas during the 2014 armed conflict between the two groups the International Criminal Court granted observer state status to the Palestinian Authority on Monday. The move clears the way for alleged war crimes to be investigated in the occupied Palestinian territories. The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The entrance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. (Photo courtesy of the Jerusalem Post)

The President of the Assembly of State Parties of the Rome Statute of the ICC noted that this step was not indicative of any imminent indication that the court’s judicial body might later take on the issue of potential crimes committed in the occupied territories. “The assembly takes the following decisions on procedure independently and without prejudice to decisions taken for other purposes, including the decisions of any other organization or any organ of the court concerning legal matters before it,” she said.

“At the same time I recall that Rule 94 of the rules of procedures states that at the beginning of every session of the assembly the president, subject to the adoption of the assembly, may invite states which are not parties to the Rome Statute and which have not signed the final act nor the statute to attend the assembly proceedings.”

After the meeting, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Ambassador to the UN in New York Riyad Mansour said that Palestine’s formal inclusion as an observer nation sent “a signal that we are inching closer and closer to the moment of signing on and becoming a state party to the ICC.” He continued “We have consensus among the Palestinian people and among the political groups within the PLO and outside the PLO that we should take that step. What happened today is inching forward in this direction.”

Monday’s decision is a symbolic victory for advocates of Palestinian statehood who have called on the Palestinian Authority to be granted a seat at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Monday’s decision means that it is now legally possible for war crimes to be investigated in the occupied territories by the International Criminal Court if requested. “What this means is that Palestine is now listed as a ‘non-state party observer’ – exactly the same status as the US or Russia or every other country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute,” said Al Jazeera Diplomatic Editor James Bays reporting from the United Nations Headquarters where the open meeting of the assembly of states parties of the International Criminal Court occurred on Monday. “In other words, all the ICC signatories now consider Palestine to be a state. The acceptance is symbolic but adds to the international momentum for Palestinian statehood and has legal repercussions,” he said. “If Palestine now applies to join the Rome Statute, it will be much harder to reject them. The acceptance clearly brings war-crimes trials against Israelis one step closer.”

For more information please see:

Al Arabiya – Palestinians secure observer status at ICC – 9 December 2014

Al Jazeera – Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine’s status – 9 December 2014

International Business time – Palestine Becomes Observer in International Criminal Court, Can Seek Probe into War Crimes – 9 December 2014

The Jerusalem Post – Palestinians gain observer status at ICC Assembly of State Parties – 9 December 2014

Nigerian Oil Workers Plan Three Day Strike in Protest of Unfair Labor Practice

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s two oil unions are planning to start a three-day strike this week to protest what they say are the unfair labor practices of the oil sector. The Unions are also planning to put pressure on the Nigerian government to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a bill that experts believe is unlikely to pass before February’s elections. The strike is being organized by The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and has been described as a “warning strike” intended to remind the Nigerian government, as well as the oil sector as a whole, of the power held by the Nigerian oil worker.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil. While the sector makes up the largest proportion of the Nigerian economy, the sector has had a devastating impact on the Nigerian Environment with oil workers put at risk. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The union alleges that the industry has failed to recognize and reach adequate collective bargaining agreements, failed to restate wrongly terminated employees and failed to promote qualified workers in the industry among other concerns. The union also alleged that oil workers have faced unfair victimization by their employees. The Union also alleges high levels of corruption within the Nigerian government, essentially in regard to the issues of oil theft and vandalism which has had a devastating effect on Nigeria’s environment and places oil workers at risk. PENGASSAN alleges a high level collaboration between agencies, politicians and highly placed Nigerians in the buccaneering racket of oil and gas installations, adding that the ugly trend signifies a looming extinction of the oil and gas industry with attendant job losses.

The strike follows the end of a 14-day ultimatum issued by the National Executive Council (NEC) of PENGASSAN to the federal government and other concerned employers’ and agencies in the oil sector. The NEC said the ultimatum had expired without any meaningful resolution or commitment from either the government or the concerned employers’ and agencies at resolving the issues. A statement issued by the oil workers union said all organs of the union have been fully mobilized for the strike actions which they say will affect every value chain in the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas industry.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil as well as the continent’s largest economy. Oil wealth from crude oil production accounts for 70% of the government’s revenue and 95% of the foreign exchange income. The majority of the country’s oil is extracted by major foreign corporation with more than 80% being pumped by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA in joint ventures with state-owned NNPC.

Speaking from Lagos, Nigeria’s industrial capital, Babatunde Oke, a spokesman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said by phone from Lagos, said the exact timing of the strike will be announced once all plans are finalized. “Oil workers have concluded plans to shut down all oil and gas installations in the country due to the anti-labor activities of some employers,” Oke said in an earlier statement.

For more information please see:

All Africa – Nigeria: PENGASSAN to Embark on a Three-Day Warning Strike Over Non-Passage of PIB – 8 December 2014

Bloomberg – Nigeria Oil Unions Plan Three-Day Strike Over Labor Practices – 8 December 2014

Reuters – UPDATE 1-Nigeria oil bill unlikely to pass before Feb election – finance min – 18 November 2014

BBC News – Nigeria Profile –5 November 2014