Eduardo Campos, Brazilian Presidential Candidate, Reportedly Dies in Plane Crash

By: Delisa Morris

News Reporter, South America

Eduardo Campos, Brazilian presidential candidate, was reportedly aboard a plane that crashed in Brazil today.  Campos, 49, was a front – runner for the Brazilian presidency.  The plane crashed in the coastal town of Santos, São Paulo.

Eduardo Campos, Brazilian Presidential Candidate, Dies in Plane Crash at 49. Photo Credit: psbrs.org

Campos, was the leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party and was reportedly out of contact with his team since 9:30 a.m.  According to witnesses, the plane crashed into three homes in Santos on the coast of São Paulo around 10 a.m.  First responders report that there were at least ten casualties.

Representative Julio Delgado said “[w]e’re stunned.  It seems that there are no survivors.  It seems we have lost Eduardo.  Eduardo could not land, there are no survivors in the aircraft.  It’s an irreparable loss.”

Brazilian air authorities report that the downed plane was a Cessna 560XL.  The plane had been flying from Rio de Janeiro to Guarajá in São Paulo state.  In bad weather, the plane prepared to land in São Paulo when air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft.

The Brazilian Air Force released a statement.  “The Air Force Command reports that on Wednesday, around 10am, an aircraft Cessna 560XL, prefix PR-AFA, crashed in the city of Santos on the coast of São Paulo.

“The aircraft took off from Santos Dumon Airport in Rio de Janeiro, bound for the airport Guarajá (SP).

“When preparing for landing, the plan lunged due to bad weather.  Then, the air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft.

“The Air Force has initiated investigations to determine the factors that may have contributed to the accident.”

Campos was formerly a governor of the north-eastern state of Pernambuco.  Campos was one of three forerunners in the presidential election in Brazil.

The election is due to take place in October 2014.

The most recent polls put Campos third behind incumbent Dilma Rousseff, with 38 percent, and Aecio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party.

Walter Feldman, a former representative, told Brazilian reporters he had spoken with the politician who was expecting to receive Campos.  He said “Márcio França called and said it was confirmed that the prefix of the plane is Campos’s.”

Marina Silva, Campos’s running partner, was reportedly not on board the flight.

For more information, please see:

The Telegraph – Brazilian presidentail candidate Eduardo Campos’ plane thought to hae crashed in Sao Paulo state – 13 August 2014

Bloomberg – Brazil Presidential Candidate Campos Reported Dead in Crash  – 13 August 2014

BBC News – Brazil presidential candidate Campos in plane crash – 13 August 2014

ABC News –Local Officials Say Brazilian Presidential Candidate Eduardo Campos Has Died in a Plane Crash – 13 August 2014

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 09 – Issue 10 August 11, 2014

Case School of Law Logo
FREDERICK K. COX
INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER

Founder/Advisor
Michael P. Scharf
War Crimes Prosecution Watch
Volume 09 – Issue 10
August 11, 2014
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Editor in Chief
Peter Beardsley

Managing Editors
Emily Gibbons
Madeline Jack

Senior Technical Editor
Morgan Kearse

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

Libya

Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Iraqi High Tribunal

Syria

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

United States

South & Central America

Argentina

Colombia

Guatemala

TOPICS

Terrorism

Piracy

Gender-Based Violence

REPORTS

UN Reports

Asylum

COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES

35 Years after “Killing Fields” Massacre, Two Former Cambodian Leaders Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

By Hojin Choi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – It took 35 years to make them face justice. An international tribunal sentenced two former leaders of the brutal Cambodian regime, Khmer Rouge, to life in prison. They were found guilty of crimes against humanity, forced transfers, forced disappearances, and attacks against human dignity.

Khmer Rouge, a radical regime of the Communist Party, governed Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The regime attempted to create an agrarian utopia and abolished religions, schools, and currency to achieve this goal. During the period, the government forced an exodus of millions of its citizens out of towns and cities causing the deaths of nearly 2 million. The leading causes of death included starvation, overwork, and executions. This event, now known as the “Killing Fields,” is detailed by the famous film with the same title.

The two defendants were once in core positions of Khmer Rouge. Khieu Samphan, 83, was the Head of State. Nuon Chea, 88, was the chief ideologist of the regime. Both were the top-level leaders who are now considered accountable for the crimes.

The United Nations supported organizing the international tribunal, and the Cambodians and U.N. formed the court in 2006, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The ECCC consisted of both Cambodian and international jurists. However, the effectiveness of the ECCC has been criticized for its slow progress as well as the high cost. Before the conviction of Samphan and Chea, it had convicted only one defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, the director of a notorious prison where about 14,000 inmates died. Kaing Guek Eav was also sentenced to life imprisonment. The ECCC has spent $200 million so far.

Amnesty International, the human rights organization, reported the verdict as “an important step towards justice.”

A man who lost his father and three siblings in the Killing Fields reacts to the verdict (REUTERS)

Outside the court room, many survivors and aggrieved families gathered together and cried when the verdict was announced. “It’s important for the young population to learn this lesson so that we can prevent such atrocity from occurring anywhere, not just in Cambodia,” Survivor Youk Chang said. He also said it was “a little too late for many.”

Reportedly, the defendants lawyers are seeking to appeal while the defendants are in detention. Further investigations and trials will continue on Khmer Rouge genocide cases. However, it does not appear as though the ECCC has all the relevant individuals and documents.  For the most part, these resources are too old to be acquired.

Other cases involving Khmer Rouge leaders will remain unresolved. Ieng Sary, the former Foreign Minister of Khmer Rouge, died in 2013 while the case was being prepared. His wife Ieng Thirith, the former Social Affairs Minister, was dismissed from the case due to her health condition. The top leader of Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, died from a heart attack shortly after being arrested in 1998.

 

For more information, please see;

USA Today – Cambodia tribunal convicts Khmer Rouge leaders – 8 August 2014

BBC – Top Khmer Rouge leaders guilty of crimes against humanity – 7 August 2014

The Phnom Penh Post – ‘I will not go to the court, even if they come to arrest me’ – 9 August 2014

International Business Times – Top Khmer Rouge Leaders Sentenced To Life In Prison For Crimes Against Humanity – 7 August 2014

U.S Secretary of State Urges Myanmar Authorities to Address Human Rights Issues

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – On Saturday, 9 August 2014, U.S Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Myanmar’s political leaders on Washington’s human rights concerns. Kerry, who was in Myanmar’s capital for the ASEAN Regional Forum, met President Thein Sein and urged him to step up constitutional reforms in order to prepare for next years elections.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Myanmar President Thein Sein to discuss the democratic reform, human rights issues, and an advancement in Myanmar’s relationship with the United States (Photo Courtesy of Fox News).

Myanmar has struggled with human rights issues, including sectarian violence in Rakhine state, where access to humanitarian aid has been denied to more than 140,000 displaced people, most of whom are Rohingya Muslims. Most people in Myanmar refuse to acknowledge the Rohingya as a group belonging to Myanmar, instead referring to them as “Bengalis,” implying that they are immigrants from Bangladesh and thus not entitled to Myanmar citizenship. The Rohingya are denied most rights that citizens of Myanmar are privy to including freedom of movement and access to health care.

The United States has promised to ease sanctions on Myanmar if the process of democratic reform and respect for human rights advances. U.S officials have acknowledged significant changes in Myanmar since its political transition in 2011 from military rule, however some officials have accused Myanmar authorities of falling short on commitments to protect human rights, including issues such as freedom of press and constitutional reforms.

Kerry reaffirmed American support for the reform process in Myanmar on Saturday. Additionally, he raised issues of concern to Washington. Some of these issues included: the minority Muslim Rohingya community, the designation of the term “Bengali,” the need for changes in the constitution  put in place by a pre-reform military government, the necessity of addressing religious intolerance and press freedoms.

Kerry said that Thein showed no resistance to discussing the issues. Kerry also warned the leaders of Myanmar that a significant improvement in its democratic transition and a solid commitment to improve human rights is required to advance Myanmar’s relations with the United States.

 

 For more information, please see the following: 

ABC NEWS – Kerry Pressed Myanmar on Democratic Reform – 9 August 2014.

FOX NEWS – Kerry Urges Myanmar to Speed Democratic Transition, Halt Rights Backslide – 9 August 2014.

REUTERS – U.S.’s Kerry Pressed Myanmar leaders on Human Rights, Reforms – 9 August 2014.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL –  U.S. Backs Myanmar Reforms, No Threat to Resume Sanctions – 9 August 2014.

David M. Crane Briefs House Committee on Syria

Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT) affiliated faculty member David M. Crane, a professor of practice in the College of Law, testified Thursday, July 31, in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs about allegations of torture and war crimes committed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the ongoing Syrian Civil War.

David Crane

David Crane

Along with Crane, M. Cherif Bassiouni, emeritus professor of law at the DePaul University College of Law and a frequent collaborator with INSCT, and the Hon. Frederic C. Hof, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic House Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, addressed the panel as well.

Also testifying was the person responsible for bringing to light more than 50,000 graphic photographs documenting the abuse and systematic killing of as many as 10,000 of Assad’s opponents. The photos were smuggled out of Syria by a Syrian army defector code-named “Caesar.” Now under protection, Caesar spoke to the committee in disguise, and to protect his identity, the briefing was not webcast or televised.

“Over the past three and a half years, the Assad regime has carried out a campaign of unspeakable brutality against the Syrian people, including chemical weapons attacks, mass torture, and mass executions against even peaceful political opposition,” said Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who served as chairman for the hearing. “The slaughter’s systematic nature is shocking. At the briefing, committee members listened to, and saw pictures from, the sobering account of a firsthand witness of Assad’s killing machine.”

INSCT is a joint academic research center at the College of Law and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

For more information, click here.