This Week in Syria Deeply – 1 April 2013
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Two More Former Bosnian Serb Officials Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison
By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Last Wednesday, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin guilty of participating in murder, torture, and persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats during Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war.
Stanisic was the interior minister of the Bosnian Serb republic and Zupljanin was a senior security official. Stanisic turned himself over to the court in 2005. However, after 9 years of hiding, in 2008, Zupljanin was arrested in Budva, Montenegro.
During Stanisic and Zupljanin’s trial, which lasted 365 days, 199 witnesses testified and more than 4,000 pieces of evidence were offered.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia stated the two men contributed to a “joint criminal enterprise with the objective to permanently remove non-Serbs from the territory of a planned Serbian state.”
The United Nations’ war crimes court sentenced the two former Bosnian Serb officials to 22 years in prison for crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, torture, unlawful detention, deportation and plunder in various parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
Nedeljko Mitrovic, president of the RS Organisation of Families of Captured, Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians, stated, “With this judgment, The Hague proves it did not change its earlier policy towards the Serbs. They prove, once again, their intention to blame the Serbs responsible for everything. We all know how many crimes were committed against the Serbs, but, unfortunately, there is still no justice for those people.”
However, Sonja Biserko, director of the Belgrade Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, said, “It is good this judgment was passed, especially since it points to Serbia’s involvement in the war in Bosnia, because these charges are, in some way, part of the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic. Relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are still low, and to improve them is much work.”
Furthermore, Murat Tahirovic, president of the Bosnia and Herzegovina War Camp Prisoners Association, said, “This is definitely a positive decision of The Hague tribunal and we hope the appeals chamber of court will not reverse this judgment. These men are responsible for mass killings and torture. It’s good that the court proved this as a joint criminal enterprise, because it shows that top police officials knew what was happening on the ground during the war in Bosnia.”
Zupljanin and Stanisic are among 163 individuals sentenced by the ICTY for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
For further information, please see:
Southeast Europe Times – Hague Convictions Sparks Mixed Reactions – 1 April 2013
Aljazeera – War Crimes Court Convicts Bosnian Serbs – 27 March 2013
BBC News – War Crimes Court Jails Bosnian Serbs – 27 March 2013
RFE/RL – Two Former Bosnian Serb Officials Jails for 22 years — 27 March 2013
‘Monster of Grbavica’ Sentenced to Maximum 45 Years
By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – On Friday, a war-crimes court in Bosnia- Herzegovina handed down its longest sentence yet of 45 years for the crimes committed by Veselin Vlahovic, 44, during the 1992-1995 Balkan conflict, which killed some 100,000 people and left some 2 million refugees. Vlahovic, nicknamed “Batko” was a former member of the Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces “White Angels,” allied to the Bosnian Serb Army, and was known to his victims as the “Monster of Grbavica” and “Master of Life and Death.”
Prosecutors presented the court with a 66-count indictment against Vlahovic, which was also the most extensive list for 1992-95 Bosnian war crimes. Prosecutor Behaija Krnjic said of the indictments, during his closing arguments, “He killed 31 people, took 14 people who have still been considered missing, raped 13 women,” having earlier stated Vlahovic’s “name was the synonym for evil”. Vlahovic pled “not guilty.”
In a verdict that took two hours to read, Vlahovic was found guilty on 60 of the counts (and acquitted on 6 due to lack of evidence) for 31 murders, rapes of at least 13 women and torture and robbery of dozens of civilians in Grbavica and Vraca, Serb-occupied areas of Sarajevo, in 1992.
The verdict drew loud applause from victims’ associations in the heavily guarded and packed courtroom, while Vlahovic sat emotionless through the proceedings. Earlier, he had insulted a witness, a local journalist who reported on his crimes during the war, and according to the prosecution, sent an intimidating letter to a victim’s family.
The 45-year sentence is the maximum that can be given for such crimes. Bosnia-Herzegovina does not practice indefinite imprisonment or the death penalty. Both sides intend to appeal. Although the prosecution received the maximum sentence as requested, it wishes to readdress some of the specific points of the verdict.
Vlahovic is from Montenegro, which was united with Serbia during the Balkan wars. During the war, many Montenegrins supported the Serbs against the Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Kosovo Albanians.
Judge Bozic said Vlahovic’s horrific acts took place between May and July 1992 in three districts of Sarajevo controlled by Serb forces – Grbavica, Kovacici, and Vraca. The judge graphically described several of Vlahovic’s crimes.
Bozic said Vlahovic would often demand ransoms of money or gold for his captives and, “Victims who could not pay for their lives would be typically taken to a recognizable location on Trebevic hill and shot in the head.”
“It was a typical pattern [of his] behavior. Those who had nothing to offer in turn for their lives were typically killed by a shot in the forehead, mouth or temporal bone, according to forensic accounts,” said Judge Bozic.
In one particularly brutal example, “In June 1992, he forced 13 members of the Pecar family out of their home and ordered three male relatives to run across a front line street planted with mines.” Vlahovic ordered his soldiers to open fire, which he knew would result in return fire from the combat lines. In the cross-fire, one woman died and three family members, including a girl, were wounded and left on the street.
Judge Bozic further described Vlahovic’s rape of a seven month pregnant woman in front of her young daughter in their apartment, and another sequential rape in which Vlahovic raped a daughter and then her mother as the daughter was forced to watch.
Judge Bozic concluded that Vlahovic carried out “horrid, cruel and manifold criminal acts”.
Vlahovic has been sent to prison before, only to escape. 12 years ago in Montenegro, he was jailed for robbery, but went on the lam. He then hid in Spain under a Bulgarian passport until 2010 when he was arrested and extradited in August to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Vlahovic is also wanted for armed robbery in Spain, and murder in Serbia.
Perhaps this time, the monster will stay locked away.
For further information, please see:
24 Sata – FOTO: Tužilaštvo i odbrana ulažu žalbe na presudu Veselinu Vlahoviću [PHOTO: Prosecution and Defense are Appealing the Veselin Vlahovic Ruling] – 29 March 2013
24 Sata – VIDEO / Maksimalna kazna za “Monstruma sa Grbavice”: Batko osuđen na 45 godina [VIDEO / The Maximum Penalty for the “Monster of Grbavica”: Batko Sentenced to 45 Years] – 29 March 2013
Al Jazeera – Bosnia’s ‘Monster of Grbavica’ Gets 45 Years – 29 March 2013
BBC News – Bosnia Jails Serb Veselin Vlahovic for War Crimes – 29 March 2013
RFE/RL – Bosnia’s ‘Monster of Grbavica’ Gets 45 Years For War Crimes – 29 March 2013
Sky News – Warlord ‘Batko’ Jailed For Sarajevo Killings – 29 March 2013
Angola Breaks Up Peaceful Youth Protest and Detains 18
By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
LUANDA, Angola – Angolan police arrested rallyists who were holding a demonstration in the capital on Saturday.
18 activists were brought into police custody. Two of them were later released without charge while the others remain in prison.
Held near the Santa Ana cemetery, just meters away from the Luanda police headquarters, the protest aimed to pressure the government to recognize and uphold the “dignity and the right to life for those who think differently”. Protesters demanded answers over the disappearance of two government critics, Alves Cassule and Isaias Kamulingue, who have been missing since last year.
“We have already waited too long, Cassule and Kamulingue waited too long . . . and so many others that are being pushed into the limbo of oblivion, citizens who do not even enjoy the posthumous right of investigation to cast light on the events that led to their physical disappearances,” said one of the rallyists.
“We will continue to push until they reappear or the truth is told,” Adolfo Campos, another protester told AFP.
Saturday’s protest was also meant to express the public’s dissatisfaction towards the administration of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos who has been the country’s ruler since 1979. Activists at the rally accused the President of “mismanaging Angola’s oil revenues, suppressing human rights and doing too little to end corruption and poverty.”
According to Central Angola 7311, the organizers of the demonstration, they ensured that the rally met all legal requirements before carrying it out. “The protest, which fulfilled all legal requirements, was the target of the usual repression by the regime, using the Angolan police,” the youth protest movement posted on its Twitter feed.
In their defense, however, the police told the press that the protesters were causing “embarrassment and indignation” to those who were preparing for funerals at the nearby cemetery.
Nevertheless, local human rights groups denounced the way the police handled the situation. “It is sad to see the police use such violence against young people who are demonstrating peacefully,” said Jose Patricinio, the president of an Angolan human rights group. He added that staging a rally is a constitutionally guaranteed right which law enforcers must respect.
A few days before the protest, the U.N. Rights Committee expressed its concerns about reports of the disappearances of protesters in Luanda for the past two years, urging the government to “take practical steps to put an end to impunity by its security forces regarding arbitrary and extrajudicial killings and disappearances.”
For further information, please see:
Africa Review – Angola police break up protest over missing youths – 31 March 2013
Independent Online News – Angolan cops break up youth protest – 31 March 2013
Global Voices Online – Angola: Arrested and Disappeared for “Thinking Differently” – 31 March 2013
News 24 – Angolan police detain 18 – 31 March 2013
Global Post – Police break up youth protest in Angola – 30 March 2013
Reuters – Angola police detain 18 at rights rally: activists – 30 March 2013
TSF – Angolan police confirm arrest of 12 people organizing demonstration speech – 30 March 2013
Egyptian Jon Stewart Released on Bail
By Dylan Takores
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian authorities released satirist Bassem Youssef on bail after questioning him for allegedly degrading Islam, insulting President Morsi, and spreading false news.
Youssef, often referred to as the Egyptian Jon Stewart, voluntarily turned himself in to police after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was questioned for five hours then released for 15,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately $2,190).
The government also issued arrest warrants for four other prominent anti-government activists in addition to Youssef. The activists are accused of inciting violence and anti-government sentiments among Egyptian citizens.
The arrest raised questions regarding freedom of speech under the current political regime. Youssef hosts a weekly talk show, “Al-Bernameg” (“The Show”), on which he mocks Egyptian politics. The satirist often imitates the President as well as members of opposition parties.
In a statement to Ahram, the prosecutor, Mohammed el-Sayed Khalifa, reported that the case is a civil action brought on behalf of twelve plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged that Youssef insulted President Morsi, denigrated Islam, mocked prayers, spread false news, and intended to incite public disorder.
International Business Times reported that the charges carry heavy penalties in Egypt. The Egyptian Constitution, drafted in 2011, permits a sentence of up to three-years imprisonment for insulting the president. However, despite the serious nature of the crimes in Egypt, IBT wrote that the charges would not likely be successful or even pursued in less conservative countries.
Supporters of Youssef gathered outside the prosecutor’s office in solidarity with the satirist during his detention. During an interview on CBC, Youssef denied the allegations. He explained, “We don’t insult religion. What we do is expose those so-called religious and Islamic stations which have offended Islam more than anyone else.”
Youssef tweeted several sarcastic and satirical remarks while in the prosecutor’s office. One tweet quipped, “They asked me the color of my eyes. Really.” He also tweeted that the bail money will pay for three separate pending charges.
Youssef’s defense lawyer, Montasser al-Zayyat firmly denied the charges against his client. In addition to the three stated charges – insulting President Morsi, ridiculing Islam, and reporting false news – the attorney reported that Youssef has been accused of a fourth unannounced charge.
For further information, please see:
Ahram – Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef released on LE 15,000 bail – 31 March 2013
BBC News – Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef released on bail – 31 March 2013
Huffington Post – Bassem Youssef, Egypt’s Jon Stewart, Released on Bail – 31 March 2013
International Business Times – Bassem Youssef, Egypt’s Version of Jon Stewart, Released on Bail – 31 March 2013