U.N. Report Reveals 331 Killed by Fighting in Ukraine Since “Cease-Fire” Began

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – A United Nations report has come out that has revealed the toll of fighting in Ukraine, particularly since the cease-fire. According to the United Nations’ human rights office in Geneva, at least 331 people have been killed since the cease-fire was announced on September 5.

The air traffic control tower at Sergei Prokofiev International Airport in Donetsk reveals the extent of fighting that has occurred since the cease-fire began on September 5. (Photo courtesy of Daily Mail)

Despite the cease-fire, around 10 people have been killed each day in fights between Kiev and pro-Russians. Fighting has been particularly focused over the past month in Luhansk and Donetsk. In Donetsk, pro-Russians and Ukrainian military have been fighting daily over the control of a large airport, and nearby towns have been the targets of military shelling.

All-in-all, at least 3,660 people have been killed, and more than 8,756 have been injured, according to Gianni Magazzeni, a senior United Nations human rights official in Geneva. While the cease-fire has led to a sharp decline in fighting, what fighting has continued is enough to cause concern that the cease-fire will not hold.

NATO has shown a particular concern over the continued fighting. The new head of NATO, former Prime Minister of Norway and now secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, has said that Russia must use “all of its influence” to ensure that pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine respect the cease-fire, as well as Kiev.

In addition to NATO, Germany has come to Ukraine’s aid in order to help ensure the cease-fire holds. After passing customs in Poland, 112 trucks from Germany carrying humanitarian aid, over $12 million in supplies, have arrived in Ukraine. While Kiev did not want to let in earlier Russian trucks that Russia claimed contained humanitarian aid, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for this aid.

Further, German Foreign Office spokesman, Martin Schaefer, has said that “a joint Franco-German effort” will be coming in the next “hours or days”. France and Germany are also debating putting drones into Ukraine to help monitor the cease-fire. Already, two drones from Austria have been deployed into Ukraine. The hopes are that this increased monitoring, run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (“OSCE”), the same group responsible for the cease-fire, will assist in addressing the current problems in order to strengthen the cease-fire.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – At Least 331 Have Died in Ukraine Since Start of Cease-Fire, U.N. Reports – 8 October 2014

Reuters – Death rate 10 a day in east Ukraine despite ceasefire: U.N. – 8 October 2014

RT – 112 trucks carrying German humanitarian aid enter Ukraine (VIDEO) – 8 October 2014

EurActive – Germany to send troops to Ukraine – 7 October 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Drones Arrive in Ukraine for Monitoring Mission – 6 October 2014

Voice of America – NATO Concerned Over E. Ukraine Cease-fire Violations – 6 October 2014

 

Lebanese Municipalities Establish Curfews for Syrian Refugees

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

 

Beirut, Lebanon 

Since the start of the conflict in Syria, many refugees fleeing the fighting have settled in refugee camps across Lebanon. It is now reported that there are some 1.2 million registered Syrian Refugees scattered across Lebanon. There are a reported 45 municipalities across Lebanon who have imposed curfews on these refugees. Some of these curfews have been in place for about a year, many other were recently created. The municipalities in Lebanon, who have adopted these curfews claim that they are a safety measure created in response to the five-day battle that took place in Arsal between the Lebanese Army and jihadist militants from Syria. Arsal is a town on the border of Lebanon and Syria, for five days in August the Lebanese Army fought jihadist militants, over the course of the fighting the Lebanese army suffered many casualties and the militants also abducted many of its personnel.

Syrian Refugees Protest in their camps in Arsal, Lebanon. (Photo Curtesy of The Daily Star)

Human rights groups have condemned these new curfews as a violation of international law and Lebanese domestic law. The Syrian refugees claim that these curfews are discriminatory and create a hostile environment. The curfews are officially enforced by municipal police forces however, there are reports that vigilante groups have been formed in many of these municipalities and are also enforcing the curfews. This development has created many concerns and increases the possibility of abuse.

The BBC has reported on a number of individual instances where the curfews that been abusive. One man was prevented from going to the pharmacy next to his house in the night to get medicine for his ill child. Another situation was reported where a group of Lebanese men stabbed a Syrian refugee, saying he was not able to go out. These stories show the hostility and tension is growing between the refugees and native Lebanese. When asked by Human Rights Watch to produce evidence to show that the curfews are necessary the Lebanese government did not respond.

It seems that the recent trend to restrict the rights of the refugees is continuing with other security polices. The government has also increased the number of troops at the border and are allowing less and less Syrian refugees into the country; for fear that they may be militants. There have also been an increase of military personnel on the streets and they have been searching amongst refugees for militant group members. With this trend there is a fear among human rights groups that there could be retaliatory actions from the refugees.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Lebanon: At Least 45 Local Curfews Imposed on Syrian Refugees — 3 October 2014

Reuters — Curfews on Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Fuel Hostility: Rights Groups — 3 October 2014

BBC News — Lebanon”Imposes Curfews on Syrian Refugees — 3 October 2014

The Daily Star — Lebanon’s Curfew for Syrian Refugees Feeds Hostility: HRW — 3 October 2014

Dictator, Torturer, Kidnapper and Murderer Bignone Sentenced to Additional 23 Years

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina– The last military president in Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship received another prison sentence on Tuesday, this time for the kidnapping and torture of 32 factory workers.

Reynaldo Bignone being escorted by a police officer. Photo courtesy of diaadia.com

A court in Buenos Aires sentenced Reynaldo Bignone to 23 years in prison for the human rights violations. The workers were forcibly disappeared by the military during the so-called Dirty War against leftist dissidents and other opponents.

The 86-year-old Bignone is already serving combined life sentences in more than two dozen cases involving crimes against humanity.

Bignone, was convicted in 56 cases involving torture, illegal detentions and other crimes in one of Argentina’s largest torture centers, the Campo de Mayo army base.  Supposedly 4,000 dissidents were taken to the base and only 50 came out alive.

The same base also had a maternity center where dissidents would give birth.   Their babies were taken away by an official and adopted into a military family.  Nearly 400 infants were kidnapped after birth before their mothers were tortured to death.  About 102 people born to vanished dissidents have since recovered their true identities with the aid of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a leading human rights group, which helped create a national database of DNA evidence to match children with their birth families.

Bignone, was appointed president by the military junta in the final years of the dictatorship and it fell to him to protect the military as Argentina returned to democracy. He granted amnesty to human rights violators and ordered the destruction of documents related to torture and disappearances of political opponents before agreeing to transfer power to the democratically elected Raul Alfonsin.

He has denied responsibility for the crimes in past court proceedings.

“In times of peace the disappearance of a single person means one thing and in times of war it means something else,” said Bignone.

The Buenos Aires court also sentenced former Gen. Santiago Omar to life in prison for his role in dozens of illegal raids, kidnappings, torture and the killing of three people.

According to human rights groups about 30,000 people died or disappeared in Argentina’s brutal dictatorship.

For more information, please see:

Charlotte Observer.com – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

BND.com – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

ABC News – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

Star Tribune – Court Sentences Former Dictator Reynaldo Bignone to 23 Years in prison – 7 Oct. 2014

Huffington Post – Argentine Dictators Go On Trial For Baby Thefts – 1 March 2011

International Center for Transitional Justic: In Focus

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 9 – Issue 14 October 06, 2014

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

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya

Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Mali

EUROPE

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

United States

  • Washington Post: U.S. General on Training Syrian Rebels: ‘We Have to Do It Right, Not Fast’
  • Washington Post: Islamic State Militants Switching Up Tactics After Airstrikes, General Says
  • Reuters: Prosecutors Call Karadzic ‘Driving Force’ Behind Bosnian Genocide
  • New York Times: Mending Alliance, U.S. and Afghanistan Sign Long-Term Security Agreement
  • Bloomberg: Al-Qaeda Spokesman’s U.S. Plea Deal Approved by Judge
  • Washington Post: White House: Israel Faces Estrangement from Allies If Settlement Building Proceeds

South & Central America

Colombia

  • Colombia Reports: Partial Colombia Peace Deals Release to Avert ‘Opposition Rumors’

Ecuador

  • Efe: 60 Convicted for Role in 2010 Uprising in Ecuador

Guatemala

  • Associated Press: Guatemala Ex-Police on Trial in 1980 Embassy Fire

Mexico

  • Los Angeles Times: CMass-killing Prosecution Will Test Mexican President Peña Nieto

TOPICS

Piracy

  • The Maritime Executive: Fight Piracy Intelligently
  • CNBC: The Link Between Illegal Fishing and Piracy
  • Bakken: Black Gold Buccaneers: Is Nigeria’s Failing Amnesty Causing Rise in Oil Piracy?
  • The Indian Republic: India Lacks Clear, Unambiguous Mechanism for Prosecution of Pirates: Ranjit Sinha
  • BBC World News: Somali Pirates in Deadly Clashes Over Ransom

Gender-Based Violence

  • International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics: Prosecutor: FGM Getting Riskier in Kenya
  • International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics: UK Opens First FGM Clinic
  • International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics: Iraqi Kurdistan ‘Against FGM’
  • All Africa: Rwanda: Prosecution. Experts Discuss Handling GBV Evidence in Courts

REPORTS

UN Reports

  • Scoop World Independent News: Tamils to Rally against Sri Lankan President
  • McClatchy DC: Israeli Probes into Possible Gaza War Crimes Draw Criticism
  • The National: In War-Crime Trials, the Issue of Jurisdiction is Paramount
  • Sahara Reports: Nigerian Anti-Corruption Coalition Wants Modu Sheriff And General Ihejirika To Face International Criminal Court For Sponsoring Boko Haram
  • UN News Centre: International Criminal Court Opens Second Probe into Central African Republic Violence
  • Reuters: Sri Lanka President Uses U.N. Speech to Assail War Crimes Probe
  • GlobalPost: U.N. Body Demands to Probe War Crimes in Nepal
  • U-T San Diego: UN Rights Body to Share Syria War Crimes Evidence
  • TASS Russian News Agency: Joint Probe by UN, CE, OSCE into War Crimes in Donetsk Urged by Russia’s Civic Chamber
  • Firstpost: Twenty-Two Countries Back Sri Lanka against UN Probe into War Crimes

NGO Reports

  • Amnesty International: China’s Trade in Tools of Torture and Repression

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS

Sri Lanka

Brazil

Nepal