Web pages about "Crimes Against Humanity And War Crimes"

25 years remembering the disappeared

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:39:18 +0100

Jorge Alberto Rosal Paz "disappeared" in Guatemala on 12 August 1983. The 28-year-old agronomist was kidnapped by armed military personnel in a jeep, while driving between Teculutan and Zacapa. He was never seen again.

When he "disappeared", Jorge Rosal was married with a daughter. His wife was expecting their second child. It is believed he had no political or religious affiliations. Despite reported sightings of him in detention after his kidnapping, the Guatemalan authorities denied all knowledge of what had happened.

Jorge’s family took his case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2000, the Guatemalan State issued a statement acknowledging its institutional responsibility in Jorge Rosal's case and others. In 2004, a friendly settlement was agreed between the State and Jorge Rosal's family.

Jorge Rosal is just one of hundreds of thousands of people who have been victims of enforced disappearances around the world in the past 25 years. And hundreds of thousands of family members and friends are still left without any knowledge of their fate. They will all be remembered on Saturday 30 August, on the 25th anniversary of the International Day of the Disappeared.

The Day of the Disappeared was started in 1983 by the Latin American non-governmental organization FEDEFAM (Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos) at a time when disappearances arose from authoritarian rule.

Very little has improved since then. The government practice of kidnapping, abducting or detaining people and holding them in secret has continued and spread as more countries accept and justify this crime.

Enforced disappearances are taking place in all regions of the world, in countries such as Algeria, Colombia, Nepal, the Russian Federation, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and the former Yugoslavia – to name but a few.

On 6 September 2006, US President George W Bush confirmed an open secret that the CIA was operating a programme of prolonged incommunicado detention in secret locations. This practice has involved governments around the world to varying degrees.

Those held in the programme are victims of enforced disappearance. They are being held without anyone knowing where they are and are at risk of torture and death. President Bush reauthorized the programme in 2007.

Since Pakistan joined the US-led "war on terror" it too has joined the list of countries practicing enforced disappearance. People who have disappeared include foreign and Pakistani nationals suspected of links to terrorist groups and political opponents of the Pakistani government pushing for greater rights for their communities, including Baloch and Sindhis.

In the 25th anniversary year, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances reported 41,257 pending cases across 78 countries. In the first year of the Day of the Disappeared, the Working Group reported 1,733 cases of disappearances across 11 countries.

In the last year the worst national statistics referred to the Working Group were in Sri Lanka where 5,516 are currently registered as disappeared and 30 new urgent action cases were identified in relation to alleged disappearances.

The trend of disappearances has changed over 25 years. The Working Group and the Day of the Disappeared were started at a time when disappearances arose from authoritarian rule in Latin America. Today, disappearances tend to occur in nations suffering from internal conflict such as Colombia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Philippines and the Russian Federation.

On 8 August 2007, Ibragim Gazdiev was out driving his brother's car when he was reportedly seized by armed men in camouflage in Karabulak, in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. He was surrounded, forced into another car and driven away. He has not been seen since.

He is believed to be detained incommunicado by the Russian Federal Security service. The authorities however, deny that they are holding him.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Convention against Enforced Disappearance) was adopted by the UN general assembly on 20 December 2006.

The culmination of years of hard work by associations of relatives of victims, NGOs such as Amnesty International and key governments, The Convention against Enforced Disappearance is one of the strongest human rights treaties ever adopted by the UN.

Key to the Convention is the definition of enforced disappearance, the scope of extraterritorial jurisdiction that States must exercise, its provisions for reparations and implementation and the establishment of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

The Convention's definition of enforced disappearance is:
"The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons, groups or persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law."

Amnesty International calls upon all States to ratify the Convention without delay and to enact effective implementing legislation in accordance with their international obligations, thereby joining together to put an end to enforced disappearance, one of the worst violations of human rights.

So far, Albania, Argentina, Mexico and Honduras are the only States to have ratified the Convention. Another 73 have signed it. The most recent State to sign is the Netherlands on 29 April 2008.

Launched in September 2007, the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED) exists to promote the ratification and implementation of the Convention.

On Saturday 30 August, across all continents, the ICAED's members, NGOs, families associations and grassroots groups are organizing events to celebrate the International Day of the Disappeared.

Amnesty International supports the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances. On the ICAED's website you can sign an open letter which will be sent to all governments demanding that they put an end to this crime and ensure justice to families and victims of disappearance.

Take part and join our effort to ensure that victims and their families have access to justice, and not forget past crimes. Go to the ICAED's website at www.icaed.org.

The need for comprehensive justice across the former Yugoslavia

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:30:46 +0100

Written by Nicola Duckworth, Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme

As the trial of Radovan Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague resumes, his prosecution is undoubtedly a huge step forward towards bringing justice to the tens of thousands of victims of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But are a small number of high profile trials in The Hague enough to heal the wounds caused by the horrific violations of human rights committed by all sides to the conflict?

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the work of the Tribunal to be complemented by comprehensive national efforts in the region to investigate and prosecute the tens thousands of other crimes, involving middle and lower ranking suspects that the Tribunal does not have the capacity to deal with.

While the resumption of the trial of Radovan Karadzic has thrown the spotlight back onto The Hague Tribunal, for which the UN Security Council has recommended an arbitrary 2010 deadline for closure, we have serious concerns about whether enough work is being done to enable local criminal justice systems to administer justice in the region. Victims of crimes like murder, rape and forcible deportation have been waiting for justice for almost 13 years since the war ended and continue to suffer without truth or reparations.

We are not saying that there have not been some efforts at a national level to investigate and prosecute crimes of the 1990s conflict. But the reality is that they have been impeded by a wavering political will, coupled with limited judicial capacity and a lack of co-operation between countries on the sharing of evidence as well as the arrest and extradition of the accused. In addition, only a handful of suspects are being tried.

In Croatia, Amnesty International has criticised the failure to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by the Croatian army and police forces, including the murder and disappearance of more than 100 Croatian Serbs in the Sisak area during the 1991-1995 war.

Montenegrin cases have been the subject of political obstruction and there are concerns about the effectiveness of national proceedings. No progress has been made in the criminal case of the disappearance of 83 Bosniaks, while civil claims brought by the families have been rejected by the National Appeals Court.

In Serbia, the pace of investigations is slow and the independence of the judiciary is questionable. Sixteen years after the forced exodus of hundreds of Vojvodina Croats which left 14 people dead, no investigative action has been taken. Furthermore, in those cases that are being prosecuted, national prosecutors involved in cases have been regularly threatened and there are concerns about the effectiveness of national witness protection systems.

In Kosovo there is a lack of effective investigations and prosecutions, particularly of crimes of sexual violence, an absence of witness protection and a declining number of international judges and prosecutors. Impunity remains in over 3,000 cases of enforced disappearances and abductions.

And while a War Crimes Chamber has been established with international support in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amnesty International is concerned that the planned withdrawal of international staff could undermine its effectiveness, unless sufficient resources and training programmes are established for local judges, prosecutors and staff. While other cases have been prosecuted by cantonal and district courts, serious doubts remain about their capacity to deal with such complex cases.

As pressure mounts for the closure of the ICTY, more work must be done to deliver the longer-lasting benefits of strengthened national justice systems. Likewise international monitoring of local war crimes trials must continue until we witness the political commitment and comprehensive reform required to equip them to deliver justice.

The international community should use its influence in relations with these countries to call for an end to impunity for all cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In doing so, we also have to make sure that national justice systems in the region receive the necessary support for training national staff, capacity-building of local judicial systems and establishing effective witness protection programmes and truth and reparation mechanisms.

While the trial of Radovan Karadzic is likely to be completed before the Tribunal closes, trials at the ICTY are not enough for the victims of the Balkans conflict. We have a duty to make sure their rights to justice, truth and reparations are realised. If not, the dispensation of justice across the former Yugoslavia may remain an unfinished task. And it is the thousands of victims of the crimes who will pay the price.

Interview with a survivor of the Bosnia and Herzegovina conflict

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:04:05 +0100

This is an interview with Nidzara Ahmetasevic, Editor of BIRN – Justice Report, Bosnia and Herzegovina – a news agency based in Sarajevo. The agency specialised on reporting on issues related to war crime prosecution in Bosnia and Herzegovina and issues related to transitional justice and the whole process of facing the past. Ahmetasevic was 17 when the war started in 1992. She left the country for a year after she was wounded in the leg and then returned.

When and how were you wounded?
"I was wounded on 28 May 1992 in my house which is in the centre of the city close to the presidency. That was the night when the intelligence agencies caught a conversation between Ratko Mladic and one of his soldiers in which he orders his soldiers to burn part of the city and my house happened to be in this part of the city. I was wounded, taken to the hospital and stayed there for a month. The Bosnian Serbs used a rocket launcher and shot with it through the city. Thirty six rockets were fired and one of these rockets fell in our apartment. The previous day was the first massacre when people queueing for bread were shot at. Many were killed and injured. The night I was injured there were many people like me and I was lying on a bed in the corridor of the hospital as there was no place in the rooms. Later I was transferred to a room with 48 other wounded people."

Was there enough medicine and medical staff to look after you?
"The night I was admitted to hospital, an elderly woman was admitted too. She was wounded much worse than I. The doctors were discussing in front of me what to do with the scarce resources they had – whether to treat me first or her. They decided to treat me first because I was young and had better chances of survival. Later in the night, the older woman with whom I shared a bed as there were not enough beds, died. I spent the night in a bed drenched in blood next to a dead body. I stayed in the hospital over a month to have my leg treated. All the treatment was without anaesthesia."

The war years were traumatic for you and for all the people in your country. How do you regard the trial of Karadzic? Do you think that you will be able to learn the whole truth and that a healing process may start?
"I believe in justice and I hope that his trial will allow us to learn something more about the reasons for the war and everything that happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time I am very suspicious that it can really bring us closure. The war lasted so long, nobody really helped the people during this period, we waited so long for the arrest of Karadzic and Mladic is still free but the wounds, not only those that we carry but the wounds are everywhere and this country is so fragile and I am not sure how much bright future we can have in this country as it is now. So I am not sure that it will bring what we hoped for. We were idealistic hoping that when Karadzic and Mladic are arrested that a new life will start for us. This will not happen but we can at least hope that we can watch him in the trial and learn the truth about the many things that happened around us."

Karadzic is one of the main suspects but he is not the only one. Many are still at large and in Bosnia. Do you think that the justice system in the country can deal with them?
"People in the country realize that all the suspects will never face a trial. Like the man that shot me in the leg. I will never learn who he was and what happened to him even though I would like to know. I am following trials in the War Crimes Chambers on a daily basis. And it is of huge importance. The Hague is very important but having the possibility to have the trials in the country where the crimes were perpetrated is very important for all of us. It is a very important message not only for the people in Bosnia but for the people in the whole world that it can be done. It is still the whole process and the prosecution and the courts are still weak but they are getting stronger. I hope that they will be stronger and able to deal with the most sensitive cases and the most important people who have committed war crimes. This week, 29 July, the war crimes Chamber pronounced the first genocide verdict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a verdict in the trial of 11 people who were accused of genocide, committed after the fall of Srebrenica. Seven of them were found guilty and they were sentenced to 42 years in prison."

What does the justice system need in order to be more effective?
"At this moment, on state level, the justice system is still not completely state-owned because we still have international judges and prosecutors and the courts still depend on international donations. It has to be a Bosnia thing because it will demonstrate that this state wants to deal with war crimes. On a local level much more is needed. On a local level the system is underdeveloped, the prosecution does not have enough capacity, the courts do not have enough capacity, they still do not have the possibility to offer witness protection. Much more has to be done on a local level than on a State level. Even though the State judiciary have to fight much more for their independence and the messages they are sending about the willingness to face the fathoms of the past."

Do you think that victims will be able to get retribution and that this will help the wounds to heal and the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina could feel like one people, one nation?
"That’s what I hope. I do believe that many people in this country are ready for that, that many people do believe and do hope that we can live in one unified state. Unfortunately, politicians in this country are not willing to do anything to help us to achieve – basically, it’s almost our dream. They are corrupted. They don’t think about the people, they don’t think about the state. They think only about themselves and how to stay in power. So, for now that’s a much bigger threat to the future of Bosnia than anything that is related to the past and is related to the war crimes issue. For politicians in this country, war crimes and everything that has happened during the war is only a means to manipulate the people. They use them for their personal propaganda and to spread fear among the people and in that way to stay in power. But people, if you ask them, people even in Srebrenica, already are living together, in Prijedor people are living together. In Sarajevo, we do not even know the difference between the nationalities of the people who are living in the city. So, I believe people are much more ready than politicians are. Unfortunately, we depend on politicians."

Continuing concern for civilians after hostilities in Georgia

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:06:52 +0100

Following the 16 August ceasefire agreement between Georgia and Russia, Amnesty International has called on all parties to the conflict to protect displaced civilians and refugees who fled during the hostilities, as well as those who remained in the areas where hostilities have taken place.

The organization has also called on all parties to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all victims of the conflict, whether in Georgia or in Russia, and to ensure that all who fled the hostilities can be guaranteed a safe and lasting return to their homes.

Those who fled to other parts of Georgia and to North Ossetia, Russia, are in continued need of humanitarian assistance. Those who remained in South Ossetia and in parts of western Georgia where fighting has taken place, are also in need of humanitarian assistance. They also remain vulnerable to ethnically motivated attacks.

On August 19, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated the number of people displaced by the hostilities at more than 158,700. Some 98,000 people were displaced in Georgia proper. This included most of the population of the city of Gori and surrounding villages in western Georgia.

Displaced people in Georgia are living in municipal buildings, such as schools, as well as in camps in and around Tbilisi, the capital. Conditions in these centres vary greatly.

Aid organizations reported difficulties in accessing civilians who remained in the conflict areas. The first UN humanitarian convoy was only able to enter the city of Gori on 17 August.

Russian officials in North Ossetia indicate that some 30,000 people who fled South Ossetia are still in the Russian Federation, mainly in North Ossetia. Russian aid teams have reported that humanitarian assistance was needed in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, because of the destruction of the infrastructure and of the local hospital. However, the Russian authorities only allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to the region on 20 August. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger, said that there were "indications that there are important needs in the region that still have to be addressed".

Apparent indiscriminate attacks against civilians must be investigated

Amnesty International is concerned that some of the bombardments both in South Ossetia and in parts of Georgia proper during the conflict may have amounted to indiscriminate or direct attacks on civilians, which constitute war crimes. There is still a lack of precise numbers of civilians killed during the conflict. On 20 August, Russian authorities reported that 133 South Ossetian civilians had been killed, and on 21 August Georgian authorities reported that 69 Georgian citizens, who were civilians, had been killed during the conflict.

Amnesty International calls on all parties to the conflict to carry out prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Possible ethnic targeting

Civilians in Georgia and the Russian Federation remain vulnerable to ethnically motivated attacks. Irregular armed groups, reported to have formed in and around the region of South Ossetia, have carried out human rights abuses.

Houses in ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia have been burned and looted and there have been reports of civilians killed. Looting and burning of houses also took place in the Gori region of western Georgia.

Amnesty International has called on all parties to the conflict to provide protection to civilians who may be subjected to inter-ethnic reprisals.

The organization has also called on all sides to initiate prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigations into all allegations of abuses on the basis of ethnic identity and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Background

On 12 August, Georgia and Russia agreed to a provisional French-brokered ceasefire, pending further negotiations. This followed five days of military hostilities in the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as within Georgia proper.

The ceasefire agreement was signed by the presidents of Georgia and Russia on the 15 and 16 of August respectively. However, it wasn't until 20 August that Russia began to withdraw its troops from Georgia, stating that all troops would be withdrawn back to positions set out in the agreement.

It remains unclear how many prisoners of war are held by either side, although the first exchange of prisoners took place on 19 August.

Mindanao civilians under threat from MILF units and militias

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:20:25 +0100

Tens of thousands of civilians who have already suffered from the renewal of violence in Mindanao could be at even greater risk, if the Philippine government supports the creation of untrained and unaccountable civilian militias, Amnesty International said on Thursday 21 August.

Armed conflict in Mindanao escalated after 4 August, when the Supreme Court suspended a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

After 4 August, a number of MILF units occupied farmlands in North Cotabato province and burned houses, displacing more than 150,000 people. Two weeks later, MILF units in Lanao del Norte province engaged in attacks on civilians, hostage taking, bombings and arson, forcing another 50,000 people to flee their homes.

The MILF central leadership has denied ordering the attacks carried out by two of their commanders. The MILF has justified some of its recent attacks by claiming that it was targeting Civil Volunteer Organization (CVO) forces and other police auxiliaries, established by local government as emergency protection.

“MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held to account,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

“But experience from around the world shows that the deployment of civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals and only increases the danger facing civilians.”

“All sides to this conflict should step back from the brink and demonstrate their commitment to avoid harming civilians. The MILF must control its forces, and the Philippine government should take responsibility for the security of all peoples in the Philippines, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” said Sam Zarifi.

Amnesty International has verified that local political leaders in Mindanao’s Iligan City and North Cotabato province led efforts to form civilian militias after the MILF attacks. In Iligan City, the site of two bomb attacks on 17 August blamed on MILF elements, a group of 300 licensed gun owners, politicians and local government officials have set up a civilian militia called “God Save Iligan City”.

In North Cotabato province, armed civilians have already formed village militias, also known locally as CVOs. Local security officials reportedly rejected a request from North Cotabato’s vice governor to provide ammunition for the CVO. However, Amnesty International has confirmed that local patrons have already supplied guns and ammunition to CVOs and police auxiliaries.

In Western Mindanao, the Provincial Peace and Order Council composed of civil society, military and local authorities in Zamboanga del Norte province decided to arm CVOs on 19 August. Zamboanga del Norte’s governor justified this move by stating: “We have to protect ourselves... the military could not warrant our safety. They come late.”

The following day in the nation’s capital, the Director General of Philippine National Police (PNP) announced to the media that 1,000 shotguns will be shipped to Mindanao and given to "selected, screened and trained police auxiliaries" and deputised village watchmen and selected CVOs, all of whom are civilians. The PNP has pledged to provide an additional 12,000 more if this effort is successful.

In at least one instance verified by Amnesty International, armed members of a CVO prevented representatives of the Joint Monitoring and Assistance Team from reaching an affected community, claiming direct orders from the town's mayor.

"The recent violent attacks by MILF elements have of course shaken many of Mindanao's residents, who have every right to demand greater protection," said Sam Zarifi. "Many people in Mindanao are terrified of a return to a period when armed Muslim insurgents and Christian vigilante 'Ilaga' groups attacked civilians with impunity."

Background
On 4 August the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Philippine Supreme Court was scheduled to hold another hearing on Friday 22 August.

The Memorandum of Agreement, which will create the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, would have been a breakthrough in the decade-long peace talks. The Memorandum aimed to formally open negotiations between the government of the Philippines and the MILF to end the four-decade conflict in Mindanao that has claimed the lives of an estimated 120,000 people, displaced some two million and impoverished the resource-rich region.

The Memorandum would have expanded the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The governors of affected communities in North Cotabato and Zamboanga, with large Christian populations, challenged the agreement before the Supreme Court, claiming that their right to information and participation in making decisions that affect their lives was not respected.

Georgia and Russia must protect civilians in South Ossetia

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:49:58 +0100

Amnesty International has called on all sides to the conflict in South Ossetia to fully respect international humanitarian law in order that civilians are protected from hostilities.

In fighting in the disputed region of South Ossetia over the past few days, heavy civilian casualties have been reported. Although reports of civilian dead and wounded vary, with numbers and circumstances difficult to independently verify, media reports and footage indicates damage to civilian objects as a result of the military attacks from both sides.

For example, in Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, dozens of civilian buildings are said to have been destroyed as a result of attacks by Georgian forces, including residential homes, administrative buildings, a toy shop, university and the republican hospital. On 9 August, Russian bombs hit a residential area in Gori, a town in central Georgia.

Amnesty International has urged all parties to the conflict to abstain from direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects. Their military operations must also avoid attacks that do not attempt to distinguish between military targets and civilians or civilian objects and attacks that have a disproportionate impact on civilians or civilian objects.

Amnesty International has said that it is concerned that some of the attacks mounted could amount to war crimes. Moreover, Georgia and Russia must provide protection and safe passage to people fleeing from the conflict and allow unimpeded access to humanitarian relief to areas affected by the conflict.

Amnesty International has urged that international humanitarian law, in particular the protection of civilians, be scrupulously observed in other related hostilities reported to be breaking out in the Kodori gorge, an area in another disputed region of Georgia, Abkhazia.

Amnesty International has also urged the international community to exert every effort to ensure all sides to the conflict observe international humanitarian law and give the protection of civilians and the negotiated solution of the conflict absolute priority.

After months of increased tension, and recent low-level hostilities, the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia escalated in the early morning of 8 August 2008 into the most serious confrontation since the civil war between the two was concluded through a truce in 1992.

The ceasefire agreement included the establishment of a tripartite peacekeeping force, with Russian, Ossetian and Georgian peacekeeping battalions. Georgian troops launched what appears to have been a coordinated military offensive against the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, in order to “restore constitutional order”.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded by sending further troops backed by tanks to reinforce those already stationed in South Ossetia as part of the ceasefire with the stated aim to re-establish the status quo.

Georgian and Russian forces then engaged in what was reported to be fierce fighting in and around Tskhinvali, with Georgia reporting on 10 August that it had then pulled back its forces from Tskhinvali and South Ossetia itself to positions to the south of those held before the current hostilities began.

According to reports later that day, Georgia had ordered its forces to cease fire. Heavy civilian casualties have been reported, but remain difficult to independently verify. Russia is also said to have bombed Georgia’s Black Sea port of Poti, and the town of Gori, which lies just to the south of the disputed region and houses three Georgian military bases – again with civilian casualties.

Thousands of people are said to have fled the area, including across the border into the Russian republic of North Ossetia. Both the Russian and Georgian sides have reported dead and wounded among their troops involved in the conflict.

Arrest of Radovan Karadžic a major step towards justice

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:21:48 +0100

Radovan Karadžic could be surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Netherlands either this weekend or early next week, depending on the outcome of a possible last minute appeal.

The former Bosnian Serb had until midnight Friday 25 July 2008 to file an appeal against his surrender to the ICTY in The Hague, Netherlands . If he does, a panel of judges will meet to decide on it. If, as expected, they reject the appeal, the Serbian government, will issue the final surrender order.

Amnesty International has called for the ICTY to be given enough time and resources to secure justice for the victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The UN Security Council must review the arbitrary deadline of 2010 set for the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to complete its cases,” said Amnesty International on Tuesday.

"Of the 161 people charged by the Tribunal, cases against 115 have been concluded but there are still ongoing proceedings against a further 46. Two of those charged also still remain at large - Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžic. The court must be given the necessary time to process all these cases."

Amnesty International is concerned that the Tribunal will not be able to try all those who have been charged but whose cases are ongoing by the 2010 deadline. As a result, indictments may be dropped due to a lack of time to consider all charges or appeals may not be considered.

Cases might then be referred to national criminal courts, where the organization has significant concerns about the quality of justice, ability to protect victims and witnesses, ability to locate evidence and the commitment to a thorough investigation and prosecution. In most countries of the former Yugoslavia a lack of political will, and sometimes even deliberate obstruction, continue to block the investigation and prosecution of war crimes.

“The arrest of Radovan Karadžic is a major victory. Amnesty International has been calling for his arrest and surrender to the Tribunal as part of its Arrest Now! campaign for the past decade. The cases of alleged perpetrators of such serious crimes, including Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžic, should be considered by the Tribunal," said Amnesty International.

Radovan Karadžic, the former President of Republika Srpska, head of the Serbian Democratic Party and Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), had been at large for more than 12 years since being indicted for crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Srebrenica.

Background
Radovan Karadžic is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination, murder, wilful killing, persecutions, deportation, inhumane acts, and other crimes committed against Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 conflict.

The charge of genocide against Radovan Karadžic includes the murder of approximately 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. The indictment alleges that he also committed genocide, persecutions and other crimes when forces under his command killed non-Serbs throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, detained thousands of non-Serbs and transferred them to detention facilities set up by the Bosnian Serb authorities. The indictment alleges that forces under his command killed, tortured, mistreated, and sexually assaulted non-Serbs in these camps.

Radovan Karadžic is also charged with war crimes for the shelling and shooting of civilians in Sarajevo which resulted in the killing and wounding of thousands, including many women and children.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (Tribunal) was established by the United Nations Security Council in 1993 to investigate and prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991.

Despite the fact that some persons indicted by the Tribunal remain at large, the United Nations Security Council in 2004 called on the Tribunal to complete its work by 2010.

President of Sudan could face arrest over Darfur war crimes

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:25:36 +0100

On Monday 14 July, Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo submitted to the pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) an application for the issuance of an arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omar El Bashir for 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Amnesty International said that the announcement was “an important step towards ensuring accountability for human rights violations in Sudan.”

The organization called upon the Government of Sudan to ensure that its reaction to the prosecutor’s application does not have an adverse effect on the deployment and operations of the joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

The organization stressed on the Sudanese Government’s role in protecting civilians and not impeding in any way the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Darfur.

The judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber will examine the Prosecutor’s application. They will decide whether there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the Sudanese President may have committed acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.

If his arrest is necessary to ensure his appearance at trial, or to stop him from endangering the investigations, or to prevent him from committing more crimes, the Court may issue an international arrest warrant.

In previous cases, the Judges have taken from one to three months to decide whether to issue arrest warrants. Once a warrant is issued, the government of Sudan has a legal obligation to arrest and surrender to the ICC anyone named in an arrest warrant.

The United Nations Security Council imposed on the government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur a legal obligation to “cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to the Court and the Prosecutor” (Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005). Recently, the President of the Security Council urged the government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate fully with the Court “in order to put an end to impunity for the crimes committed in Darfur” (Statement by the President of the Security Council, 16 June 2008).

The UN Security Council also urged all States and concerned regional and other international organizations to cooperate fully with the ICC (Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005). In addition, states that have ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC have a legal obligation under the Statute to arrest and surrender the suspect(s) named in the arrest warrant(s).

Background

Since the conflict started in 2003, over 200,000 people are believed to have died in Darfur. Over 2.3 million are internally displaced.

On 31 March 2005, the United Nations Security Council determined that the situation in Sudan constituted a threat to international peace and security and referred the case of Darfur to the ICC. On 1 June 2005, the ICC Prosecutor opened an investigation into the situation in Darfur.

Amnesty International is already campaigning for the execution of other arrest warrants issued by the ICC. The organization is calling for the arrest and surrender to the Court of Sudanese government minister Ahmad Harun and Janjawid militia leader Ali Kushayb, both suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, against whom the ICC issued arrest warrants in April 2007.

In December 2007, the ICC Prosecutor informed the United Nations Security Council that his Office is collecting information on attacks on humanitarian workers and peacekeepers. Those would include the attack that took place in Haskanita in October 2007, in which 10 African peacekeepers were killed. The attack was attributed to armed groups, although OCampo did not name any suspects. UN sources announced in December 2007 that Ocampo plans to put forward two new cases relating to these attacks.

ICC in difficulty ten years after the Rome Statute

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:27:01 +0100

Thursday 17 July marks the tenth anniversary of the Rome Statute, the treaty that led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Set up in 2002, the ICC is mandated to investigate and prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, when national authorities are unable, or unwilling to do so.

Lauded as one of the most ambitious steps by the international community in recent history, the ICC has made significant progress in its investigations. But its work is being obstructed by serious internal and external difficulties.

The Court’s first investigations in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Darfur region of Sudan and northern Uganda have focussed on some of the most serious human rights situations in the world. Afghanistan and Colombia are also being assessed.

Prosecuting cases is the problem. To date, the Court has issued 12 public arrest warrants, with another requested by the Prosecutor on 14 July 2008. Only four people have been arrested and surrendered for trial. The first case has been stayed. The accused may be released on fair trial grounds.

Without its own police force, the Court’s ability to prosecute cases depends upon the willingness of states to arrest and surrender those charged.

If a state fails or refuses to arrest and surrender persons to the Court, it was thought that other states and intergovernmental organizations would pressure them to do so. In practice, this is proving ineffective.

In response to the government of Sudan’s refusal to arrest and surrender former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Ahmad Harun and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb to the Court, the United Nations Security Council issued a Presidential Statement in June 2008 calling for cooperation.

However, Sudan continues to refuse to implement the warrants. Four senior leaders of the Lords Resistance Army accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in northern Uganda still remain at large.

An obstacle within the ICC emerged in June 2008, before the start of the Court’s first trial. The case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was stayed by the Trial Chamber to protect the right of the accused to a fair trial.

This was because the Prosecutor was unable to disclose to the defence exculpatory and mitigating evidence that had been provided confidentially by the United Nations and other organizations.

Confidentiality agreements are provided for in the Rome Statute, but only in exceptional circumstances and for the purpose of generating new evidence. A decision has been made to release the accused. Both decisions are the subject of appeals.

The possible collapse of the Court’s first case on fair trial grounds is deeply troubling. In particular, victims of the charges will be denied the opportunity to participate in the case.

However, the Trial Chamber’s decision to ensure the rights of the accused to have access to all information which could demonstrate their innocence demonstrates the Court’s determination to apply the highest standards of justice.

To date, 107 states, over half the international community, have ratified the statute. Many other states, including governments who originally opposed the statute, are in the process of ratifying.

Even the USA, which launched a worldwide campaign against the ICC, has since supported its work at the United Nations Security Council and indicated that it may cooperate with the ICC’s future investigations.

Amnesty International is a strong supporter of the Court. The organization lobbied extensively during the drafting of the Rome Statute for a just, fair and effective permanent court.

The long-term success of the Court as a central element of the new system of international justice will depend on its ability to prosecute cases. However, arrest and surrender of suspects is a matter largely outside the ICC’s control.

The supporters of the Court, therefore, have a vital role to ensure that cooperation is demanded bilaterally from states and through intergovernmental organizations. Efforts must also be taken to ensure that missions conducted by intergovernmental organizations are mandated to execute arrest warrants.

Sudan-International Criminal Court: An important step

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:35:29 +0100

Amnesty International said that today’s announcement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an important step towards ensuring accountability for human rights violations in Sudan. The organization was talking in reaction to the announcement by the ICC Prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant against Sudanese President al Bashir.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for accountability for crimes under international law committed by parties to the conflict in Darfur.

The organization called on the Government of Sudan to ensure that its reaction does not have an adverse effect on the deployment of the joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The government must guarantee that the civilian population in Darfur continues to receive protection from UNAMID and emergency humanitarian assistance.

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Internal document

Sudan: line for response

In reaction to the announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant against Sudanese President al-Bashir, Amnesty International said this is an important step towards ensuring accountability for human rights violations.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for accountability for all parties in the conflict in Darfur.

The organization called on the Government of Sudan to ensure that the moves by the ICC do not have an adverse effect on the deployment of joint UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) troops or on access of humanitarian organizations.

/ENDS
Internal document