WCRO: New WCRO Report Examines Obtaining Victim Status for Purposes of Participating in Proceedings at the International Criminal Court

Washington, DC January 27, 2014 —The War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) launches a new report on the International Criminal Court (ICC), entitled Obtaining Victim Status for Purposes of Participating in Proceedings at the International Criminal Court.

One of the most lauded features of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) is its victim participation scheme, which allows individuals harmed by the crimes being prosecuted by the Court to share their views and concerns in proceedings against the persons allegedly responsible.  To date, more than 12,000 individuals have applied to participate in proceedings before the ICC, and well over 5,000 have successfully obtained victim status.  However, the process established under the documents governing the ICC by which individuals apply for and receive permission to participate – which involves each individual victim submitting a detailed form with supporting documentation to the Court, observations on each application by the parties, and an individualized decision on the application by a Chamber of the Court – has proved inefficient for the applicants, the parties, and the Court.  At the same time, the process has been frustrating for victims, as it can take more than two years for applicants to receive a decision on their status, meaning victims are often unable to share their views and concerns with the Court during key proceedings in the case.  This frustration is compounded by the fact that, for the vast majority of victims, participation takes place through a common legal representative, appointed by the Court to represent significant numbers of victims together, raising the question as to why individual victims were required to endure such a lengthy and detailed application process.

Recognizing that the current system is both unsustainable and undesirable, various Chambers of the Court have been exploring alternative means by which individuals may obtain victim status in the cases before them, and the Court’s Assembly of States Parties (ASP) is considering reforming the system courtwide.  This report examines the different options that have been tried and/or that are under consideration by the ASP and ultimately recommends changes to the victim application system aimed at saving valuable time and resources for applicants, the Registry, the parties, and the Chambers.  Importantly, the recommended changes are unlikely to undermine the meaningfulness of victim participation, and in fact will allow victims to gain recognition and the right to representation much more quickly than under the current system, meaning the recommended approach is likely to make participation more meaningful for a large number of victims.

The report is the eighteenth in the WCRO’s ICC Legal Analysis and Education Project, an initiative aimed at producing public, impartial, legal analyses of critical issues raised by decisions and practice of the ICC. The ICC Legal Analysis and Education Project benefits from the insights of an Advisory Committee comprised of the following experts in international criminal law:

–        Judge Mary McGowan Davis, former Acting New York State Supreme Court Judge and Board Member of the International Judicial Academy and the American Association for the International Commission of Jurists;

–        Justice Unity Dow, Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, member of the ICJ’s Executive Committee and former judge of the Botswana High Court;

–        Siri Frigaard, Chief Public Prosecutor for the Norwegian National Authority for Prosecution of Organized and Other Serious Crimes and former Deputy General Prosecutor for Serious Crimes in East Timor;

–        Justice Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda;

–        Chief Justice Phillip Rapoza of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and former Chief International Judge serving as Coordinator of the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor; and

–        Juan Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and former Special Advisor on Prevention to the Prosecutor of the ICC.

For a hard copy of the report or more information, contact the War Crimes Research Office at warcrimes@wcl.american.edu, or +1 (202) 274-4067. The reports are also available online at http://www.wcl.american.edu/warcrimes/icc/icc_reports.cfm.

You can view a webcast of our recent event on victim participation here.

Press Release: Parliamentary Assemby of the Council of Europe Voted 81% in Favor of U.S.-Like Magnitsky Sanctions if Russian Authorities Continue to Enjoy Impunity

Press Release
For Immediate Distribution

28 January 2014 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
which unites 47 countries, has called today for the introduction of
U.S.-like Magnitsky sanctions by Council of Europe member states if Russian
authorities fail within the reasonable timeframe to adhere to the PACE
Resolution. The Resolution calls on Russia to end impunity of Russian
officials by bringing to account those responsible for Magnitsky’s death,
stopping his posthumous prosecution and the pressure on his family, and
closing criminal cases against other Hermitage Fund’s lawyers who reported
the $230 million theft and defended the Fund against the fraud.

The Resolution entitled “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei
Magnitsky” was passed by 81% of PACE delegates (151 deputies – in favor, 25
– against, 10 – abstention)
(http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/Votes/DB-VotesResults-EN.asp?VoteID=34812&DocID=14854).

The PACE also approved (151 – in favor, 29 – against, 8 – abstention) the
Recommendation to the Council of Minister to “ensure that the Russian
Federation …holds to account the perpetrators and beneficiaries both of the
crime committed against Sergey Magnitsky and that denounced by him.”

The PACE report highlights that Russian authorities are engaged in a
massive cover-up at all levels in this case:

“We are in the presence of a massive cover-up involving senior officials of
the competent [Russian] ministries, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the
Investigative Committee and even certain courts finds itself further
consolidated,” says Rapporteur Andreas Gross, MP in his report (
http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewPDF.asp?FileID=20084&lang=en).

The voting was preceded by speeches from delegates from different
countries. The Russian delegates tried to deflect blame by accusing William
Browder, the head of the Magnitsky Justice Campaign, of being responsible
for Magnitsky’s arrest and death.

Other PACE delegates from Europe stressed that this case is symbolic of
abuse and corruption. They said it was shameful that Russian authorities
have not investigated officials denounced by Magnitsky as complicit in the
$230 million theft, and those responsible for his killing in custody.

The addendum to the Report on the impunity in Magnitsky case by Rapporteur
Gross says that Russian authorities not only failed to adhere to the
recommendations made in the main report, to bring to account those involved
in the $230 million theft denounced by Magnitsky, but have instead
exonerated all officials in spite of evidence of their enrichment:

“The Russian authorities have not made any progress in investigating the
matters highlighted in the main report and in the draft resolution adopted
by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on 4 September 2013. On
the contrary, one of the main suspects – Ms Stepanova – has recently been
exonerated by the Investigative Committee, without reference to the
suspicious circumstances surrounding the disbursement in record time of a
record amount of tax refunds into freshly opened bank accounts of criminals
known as such by the authorities, with a small and ill-famed bank that
closed soon after the receipt of the funds and “lost” all records,” says
the Addendum to Report “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei
Magnitsky”.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

Report: “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky”

National Dialogue in Yemen Concludes with Agreement

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

Sanaa, Yemen – Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference has agreed on a document that will become the basis for the State’s new Constitution. This document is the final product of months of discussions between national factions in Yemen. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi reported that all factions taking part in the dialogue have “made painful concessions.”

“The National Dialogue document is the beginning of the road to build a new Yemen” – President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

The agreement is expected to lead to the creation of several semi-autonomous regions within Yemen essentially creating a new era of Yemini federalism in the hopes of granting representation to disenfranchised fractions within the country.

Last night, Ahmed Mohammed al-Jarwan, the President of the Arab Parliament, congratulated the Yemeni people for the creation of the dialogue document which represented ten months of discussion and debate by members of the National Dialogue Conference. He said, “the Yemeni people has proved through their delegates from all spectra in the NDC that the national will is stronger than all wills, and has given a successful example of the constructive national dialogue.”

He called on all Yemeni people to continue to work according to the spirit of the national dialogue represented by this document  by putting the necessary mechanisms into action in order to create a final document in order to lead the Yemeni people though a successful transfusion to a new Yemeni state.

While the agreement represents a major step towards continued dialog and cooperation in Yemen the agreement has not come without costs. On January 21st, the day the conference conducted ten months of dialog, gunmen assassinated Ahmed Sharaf el-Din, a lawyer for a group representing the Houthis, a group in Northern Yemen. Shortly after the assassination a car belonging to, Abdulwahab al-Ansi, secretary-general of the Islah party, and the main Islamist group in Yemen was blown up. Thankfully Abdulwahab al-Ansi was not in his car.

The Houthis are a group of Zaidi Shia Muslims located in the northern regions of the country. The group is named for its late leader and launched a six-year rebellion against the central government in 2004. The conflict left thousands of people dead in the country’s northern region. Ahmed Sharaf al-Din, a law professor, was assassinated as he drove from his home in the capital to the hotel where the Dialogue was held. He was the second represented of the Houthi envoy to be killed.

The Houthis have controlled the province of Saada since the uprising of 2011. Since gaining control of the region, they have faced conflicts with thousands of Sunni Islamist tribesmen.

Despite the apparent success of the Dialogue process human rights organizations have remained critical of the progress made in Yemen, a country where widespread abuses of Human Rights, including cases of forced marriages of young children made famous by a viral video created by a young Yemini girl last year.

Human Rights Watch called on Yemen’s government to create a commission of inquiry into serious human rights violations by the previous government which it argues should lead to the prosecution of human rights abuses. In 2012 the country’s parliament granted impunity from prosecution to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former President who had enjoyed power for 33 years, and several of his top aides.

In a statement Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch said “The government needs to address the past, both to provide justice for the victims and to make sure the abuses stop once and for all. For two years the Hadi administration has ignored the demands for justice from people harmed by the Saleh government.”

For More Information please see:

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Two Years On, No Accountability – 27 January 2014

Al Jazeera – Yemeni Factions Hold National Dialogue – 26 January 2014

Yemen News Agency – President of Arab Parliament Congratulates Yemenis on NDC’s Document – 27 January 2014

The Economist – Yemen’s Conference: No Proper End – 25 January 2014

United States Department Of State – Conclusion of National Dialogue In Yemen – 25 January 2014

BBC News – Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference Concludes With Agreement – 21 January 2014

German Newspaper Publishes Heinrich Himmler’s Letters and Photos

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany –  Excerpts from a collection of photographs and approximately 700 letters and notes penned by Heinrich Himmler were published for the first time on Sunday.

A documentary on the collection will be premiered next month at the Berlin International Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of New York Daily News)

The German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, published parts of the collection in seven pages of its Sunday edition. The letters and notes are thought to be written by Himmler himself. Some of the pictures depict the Holocaust-era Nazi officer gently: posing with his family, and feeding a baby fawn.

The excerpts, which include Himmler’s love letters to his wife, will be a part of an eight-part series that the newspaper is planning to publish. According to the newspaper, two American soldiers found the collection at the end of the war in May 1945 inside of a safe in Himmler’s Bavarian home. Fast forwarding to the 1980’s, the collection surfaced again in Israel, in the possession of Chaim Rosenthal, a holocaust survivor. Rosenthal sold the collection in 2007 to Israeli film director Vanessa Lapa’s father, who gave them to Lapa.

Lapa then approached the German newspaper three years ago about the collection. The newspaper has since verified the authenticity of the collection by historians. Lapa will unveil a documentary that she directed on the Himmler collection at the Berlin International Film Festival next month.

Himmler’s wife, Marga, shared Himmler’s hatred of Jewish people, as they both regularly referred to Jews in derogatory terms in their letters to each other. In a letter dated June 21, 1928, Himmler wrote to Marga: “Don’t be upset about those Jews, good, good wife, if only I could help you.” Ten years later, Marga wrote in a diary entry dated Nov. 14, 1938, “Those Jews, when will that pack finally leave us so that we can enjoy our lives again.”

The collections document the progression of Himmler’s career from the beginning in the 1920’s, to the Holocaust of the 1940’s. Himmler does not explicitly write about the happenings of World War II. However, small quotes in the collection reveal his involvement, as when he writes to his wife “I’m going to Auschwitz, kisses, yours Heini.” Himmler committed suicide on May 23, 1945, in Lueneburg, Germany, after he was captured by British forces.

For more information, please see:

New York Daily News – German Newspaper Publishes Top Nazi Himmler’s Letters and Photos – 27 January 2014

AP News – German Newspaper Publishes Top Nazi’s Letters – 26 January 2014

Fox News – German Newspaper Publishes Top Nazi’s Letters – 26 January 2014

The Local – Caviar, Auschwitz, Love- Himmler’s Letters to Wife – 26 January 2014

Former President Alberto Fujimori Cleared in Peru Sterilization Case

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Peruvian prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against former President Alberto Fujimori or any of his ministers over a 1990s sterilization program under which thousands of women say they were forcibly sterilized.

Two Peruvian women in file photo from 2000
Hundreds of mostly poor and indigenous women and men allege they were sterilized against their will. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Prosecutor Marco Guzman said there were no crimes against humanity committed by Fujimori’s government and decided to close the case. Guzman found no evidence to support claims that hundreds of mostly poor and indigenous men and women were sterilized against their will. “The women would come to the clinic, agree to the procedure, and undergo sterilization. That was the regular, normal process,” he concluded.

Human rights groups do not agree with the decision and are saying they will appeal. They allege that sterilization was forced upon more than 2,000 women under Fujimori’s government in an attempt to reduce poverty by lowering the birthrate. The campaign had the backing of international donors including the United Nations Population Fund, Japan and the United States, as well as anti-abortion and feminist organizations.

Activists say that besides being forced, the sterilizations were often carried out in unsanitary conditions.

An independent congressional commission stated that the government of President Fujimori had sterilized 346,219 women and 24,535 men during his terms in office between 1990 and 2000. The Fujimori government has always maintained all operations were consensual.

Hundreds of people, some of them illiterate, said they were forced to undergo operations and not told they could have refused. Some women say they were deceived, threatened with jail, bribed with food parcels, and otherwise pressured into the operations to meet program quotas.

A Peruvian feminist organization, Demus, condemned the decision, saying in a statement: “The program was a public policy that promoted the sterilization of thousands of women in the country, especially in rural areas, who by deception and blackmail were deprived of their reproductive capacities.”

The original investigation into allegations of forced sterilization was archived in 2009, but prosecutors reopened the investigation again in 2011 at the urging of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, is now in prison serving four concurrent sentences for corruption, authorizing death squads, and human rights abuses. The longest is 25 years.

For more information please see:

The Boston Globe – Fujimori cleared in Peru sterilization case – 26 January 2014

CNN – Peru will not prosecute former President over sterilization campaign – 25 January 2014

BBC – Peru closes forced sterilisation probe and clears ex-President Alberto Fujimori – 24 January 2014

Fox News –Peru’s Fujimori spared prosecution for 1990s sterilization program – 24 January 2014