One of the highlights of the 8th Annual Humanitarian Law Dialogs is the laying of the brick in honor of Nicholas Koumjian, Chief prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) which was held at the Robert H.Jackson Center on Aug. 24, 2014. For further information see www.roberthjackson.org
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Managing Editor
MAPUTO, Mozambique – After two years of sporadic armed clashes the government of Mozambique has signed a ceasefire agreement with the former rebel group Renamo ahead of October’s presidential elections. The deal followed two years of clashed between armed members of the Renamo group and members of the government’s armed forces.
Renamo party leader Afonso Dhlakama, who has been hiding in the remote Gorongosa mountain region in the central Sofala province for nearly a year, did not travel to the capital to sign the ceasefire himself, despite previously promising he would attempt the signing once his party reached a final agreement with the government.
The ceasefire was signed last Sunday night in the capital Maputo between Renamo’s chief negotiator Saimon Macuiane and the government after almost a year of negotiations. “We have begun a new era for the country,” Mr. Macuiane said, describing the ceasefire as an “important step towards national reconciliation… and a durable peace. “The announcement came after the government released Renamo prisoners captured in recent fighting as part of negations process.
Afonso Dhlakama returned to the bush in 2012, backing out of the peace treaty he signed two decades earlier with the ruling Frelimo party. Shortly after, in 2013 Renamo withdrew from a peace deal that was signed more than 20 years ago ending a protracted civil war beginning a series of low-level armed clashes between members of the Renamo group and government forces. In 2012 the Renamo Party leader. Men believed to be members of the formal rebel movement have been attacking buses, cars and trucks on the country’s main highway since April of last year.
Despite reaching a ceasefire agreement, Renamo and the Mozambique government will continue the negotiation process as not all points of concern have been settled including “economic questions” and the status of the Renamo Party’s appointees into security structures.
The agreement comes ahead of the nation’s presidential eleactions which are set for October 15. Whoever wins the upcoming elections will face the chaellenging task of mainting the peace-proccess as well as negoationing major coal and offshore natural gas investment projects that have the potential to bring billions of dollars of investmennts to one of Africa’s poorest countries.
For more information please see:
The Economist – Politics This Week – 30 August 2014
Yahoo News – Mozambique ceasefire a beginning, not the end, say analysts – 26 August 2014
Al Jazeera – Mozambique’s government and Renamo sign truce – 25 August 2014
BBC News – Mozambique rivals agree ceasefire ahead of elections – 24 August 2014
By Hojin Choi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
TOKYO, Japan – A never ending war has stirred controversy again. Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, sent cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine to mourn the dead, a notorious temple where convicted “Class A” war criminals are included. PM Abe himself did not visit the shrine, but sent ritual offering instead.
Friday, August 15th, marked the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II. About eighty Japanese lawmakers and two cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni angering neighboring victim countries of the war, such as South Korea and China. Yoshitaka Shindo, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, was one of them, and he was not worried about diplomatic tensions that would be caused by his visit. “Many valuable lives perished in the war. I came here to pray so that something like this will never happen again,” he said.
Yasukuni Shrine lists the names, origins, and birthdates of the dead, approximately 2.5 million including soldiers and civilians. Japanese politicians regularly visit Yasukuni not only to mourn the dead, but also to attract the attention of Japan’s conservative voters. Every year, diplomatic disputes arise among the far-east Asian countries because 1,000 convicted war criminals are buried together in Yasukuni including fourteen “Class A” war criminals. Japanese right-wing voters argue that the visits are merely a non-political way to pay respects to the dead. South Korea and China consider them as glorifying Japan’s militarism at the time of the war.
Some world media outlets have focused on the fact that PM Abe did not visit the temple and proposed that his absence was a diplomatic gesture to the neighboring countries. The Washington Post delivered an article under the title, “Japan’s Abe avoids Yasukuni Shrine in hopes of meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.” A German media outfit, Deutsche Welle, had an interview with Shihoko Goto, an analyst of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, who stated that Abe’s decision not to visit Yasukuni was “a step in the right direction.” According to Goto, his decision “doesn’t mean he won’t consider visiting the controversial shrine again someday in the future.”
The tension between these countries was heated even after the anniversary day as a Japanese media outlet, Asahi Shimbun, revealed on August 27th that PM Abe sent a written message to the war criminals earlier this year. Abe wrote a message for a ceremony honoring the war criminals, stating that they “sacrificed their souls to become the foundation of the fatherland.”
A South Korean Foreign Minister spokesperson denounced Abe’s message at a recent press briefing, saying “the Prime Minister’s recent words and behavior is to negate the postwar order and make us suspect reflections and apology Japan has shown over the war of aggression and colonial rule in the past.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said “the Japanese government needs to sincerely reflect on its history of aggression and make a clean break with militarism that provides an important foundation for Japan to rebuild and develop relations with its Asian neighbors after the war.”
For more information please see:
BBC – Japanese ministers in Yasukuni shrine visit – 15 August 2014
The Boston Globe – Asia’s never-ending war – 20 August 2014
Deutsche Welle – Fraught with controversy – Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine
The Telegraph – Yasukuni Shrine: the 14 ‘Class A’ war criminals honoured by Japan
The New York Times – Japan’s Premier Supported Ceremony for War Criminals – 27 August 2014
Global Post – S. Korea denounces Abe for message to war-related memorial service – 28 August 2014
The Guardian – China criticises Japan after Shinzo Abe honours war criminals as martyrs – 28 August 2014
By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States Of America – A federal judge has temporarily blocked the enforcement of a restrictive new abortion law in Louisiana. The law signed by Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, requires doctors who perform abortion procedures to have admitting privileges to a hospital within a 30-mile radius of their clinics.
Lawyers and advocates in the region have disagreed as to whether or not the judge’s order affects the physicians at all five of the abortion clinics in the state of Louisiana, or only the three clinics whose lawsuit challenges the measure. A lawsuit by the Center for Reproductive Rights claims that doctors have not been given enough time to secure privileges at local hospitals, and thus all five abortion clinics in the state would likely be forced to close.
Judge John w. deGravelles of the Middle District of Louisiana said that the law will take effect on Monday, 1 September 2014. However, doctors should not be penalized for breaking the law while the challenge to the law is heard. Additionally, deGravelles wrote that the Board of Medical Examiners made no promises regarding the prosecution of doctors who violated the law starting Monday. Doctors who violate the ruling risk fines of up to $4,000 and the loss of their license to practice. A status conference will be called within 30 days from the enactment of the law to check on the progress of the plaintiffs’ applications.
Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the many groups representing two Louisiana clinics and the doctors practicing there, stated, “Today’s ruling ensures Louisiana women are safe from an underhanded law that seeks to strip them of their health and rights.”
Laws regarding abortion clinics have become a hot topic in the recent months. Louisiana is among 11 states that have passed similar laws. Additionally, courts have recently ruled measures put in place in Alabama and Mississippi to be unconstitutional.
For more information, please see the following:
BUSINESS INSIDER – Judge Blocks Law That Could Close All Louisiana Abortion Clinics – 31 August 2014.
REUTERS – Judge Temporarily Blocks Law That Could Close All Louisiana Abortion Clinics – 31 August 2014.
NEW YORK TIMES – Judge Blocks Abortion Law in Louisiana – 31 August 2014.
NPR – Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement of Louisiana Abortion Law – 31 August 2014.