• British troops to be questioned over war crimes allegations

    Sep 03
    Hundreds of British troops are set to be questioned by the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) regarding the alleged torture of civilians in Iraq.

    According to The Telegraph, the number is expected to increase as two public enquiries into war crimes in Iraq by British troops are reviewed by investigators. One such inquiry, the al-Sweady inquiry has already identified more than 500 troops that will be questioned.

    The Telegraph also reported earlier that the three inquiries by Britain is projected to cost the country £100 million.

    Lawyers representing British troops have dismissed evidence from the IHAT as “extremely weak” and have criticised the approach taken by IHAT.
  • Massive and blistering' response to Assad's chemical or biowarfare

    France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, warned of a "massive and blistering" response if the Assad regime was to cross the "red line" and use of biological or chemical weapons.

    Speaking to RMC radio on Monday, Fabius said, "we are discussing this notably with our American and English partners."

    Adding that Russia and China are "of the same position" on this particular issue.

    Related articles:

    UK echoes US warning on Syria’s chemical weapons (23 Aug 2012)

    US chemical weapon threat 'excuse' to attack Syria (22 Aug 2012)

     

  • Tensions rise in Caucasus as Azeri killer is released

    Armenia has strongly criticised Baku’s decision to pardon Azeri soldier Ramil Safarov for killing an Armenian soldier in Hungary in 2004.

    President Serzh Sarkisian said that Armenia was ready for war if the situation escalated, reported the AFP.

    "We don't want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win. We are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection of the head of state," Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said in a statement on Sunday.

    "They (Azerbaijanis) have been warned," he said, calling Azerbaijan a country where "illicit orders set free and publicly glorify every bastard who kills people only because they are Armenians"

    Azeri President Ilham Aliyev pardoned Safarov after he was extradited from Hungary last week, promoted him to the rank of Major, provided him with a flat and paid him for the eight years he spent in prison.

    Safarov hacked Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian to death while attending a NATO-organised English course at a military academy in Budapest.

    Safarov claimed that Margarian had insulted his country and that he was traumatised as he lost relatives during the war between the two countries.

    Russia has criticised Hungary’s extradition and expressed ‘deep concern’ over the pardon granted to Safarov.

    "We believe that these actions of the Azerbaijanis, as well as the Hungarian authorities, go against the efforts agreed at an international level primarily through the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at reducing tension in the region," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.

    The European Union called for restraint and said it will continue to follow the situation closely.

    "In the interest of regional stability and on-going efforts towards reconciliation," the EU said they "reiterate their call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint, on the ground as well as in public statements, in order to prevent an escalation of the situation."

  • Sectarian violence leaves policemen injured in Belfast
    Rioting on Sunday and further violence on Monday has left at least 47 policemen injured in Belfast, as disorder erupted in the city between loyalists and republicans.

    Almost 10 hours of rioting on Sunday saw the police fire water cannons as petrol bombs, fireworks, golf balls and bottles were thrown at police lines, with Chief Superintendent George Clark describing the violence as "savage, appalling and reprehensible".

    The violence erupted after a loyalist protest against republican bands marching in the area. The previous weekend a loyalist band defied a ban against playing sectarian songs as they marched past a Catholic church.

    See the report from the Guardian here.
  • Karadzic bid for retrial rejected
    Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic attempt for a retrial at a UN court has been rejected by judges, who stated the late disclosure of evidence from prosecutors would not prejudice his case.

    Rejecting Karadzic’s request, Judge O-Gon Kwon at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said,
    "there is no basis for the accused's renewed claim that the prosecution's disclosure violations ... have caused him prejudice."
    67-year-old Karadzic faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity including over his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre which left over 7,000 Bosniak men and boys dead.

    Earlier Karadzic’s call for dismissal of all charges was rejected with judges deciding that “genocidal intent… may be inferred” from the evidence.
  • Former Somali PM pays damages for torture
    A court in the US has ordered the ex-Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar to pay $21 million in damages to victims of torture and human rights abuses that took place whilst he was in power.

    An 8 year long court battle ended earlier this week, with a Washington court ruling Samantar must compensate his victims from his time in office during the 1980s.

    Kathy Roberts from the Center for Justice and Accountability and was the attorney for the lead plaintiff welcomed the ruling commenting,
    "The court's ruling [sends] a message to victims and perpetrators alike that the U.S. will not provide a safe haven to war criminals"

    "Individuals who are perpetrating Syria's human rights violations who may think they are acting with impunity should be aware that the arc of justice is long but it does come."
    Another of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Steven Schulman, added,
    “This is a remarkable result for our clients, who faced down one of the most powerful men in their country’s history and forced him to concede liability for his crimes.”
  • Desmond Tutu calls for prosecution of Blair and Bush

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George W Bush to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war.

    The Nobel peace prize winner said in The Observer the former leaders lied about weapons of mass destruction and that the controversial war “fabricated the grounds” for civil war in Syria and a potential conflict with Iran.

    Tutu also said that different standards are applied to western and African leaders and that the human cost of the US-UK invasion was sufficient reason for Bush and Blair to be hauled before the ICC.

    There were also critics of Tutu's statement.

    The UK representative of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq thanked Tony Blair and said things were “much better” for them now.

    "The Kurds of Iraq are especially grateful to Tony Blair given we lost hundreds of thousands to Saddam’s genocidal campaign to exterminate us.

    "We are now free to comment and contribute to debates like this and to respectfully disagree with Archbishop Tutu about ignoring the evils of Saddam.

    "We were Saddam’s victims as were other Iraqis who did not applaud his rule and he would have continued his campaign of oppression and killing had he been allowed to.

    "Things are much better for us and for the vast majority of Iraqis now, even if mistakes were made by the Coalition after its intervention in Iraq."

  • Congo seeks UN help to neutralise rebels

    Congo has asked the UN peacekeeping force to neutralise a new rebel movement, known as M23 rebels, and a force that helped carry out Rwandas 1994 genocide, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

    The Congolese Foreign Minister, Raymond Tshibanda N’tunga Mulongo, hopes that stronger mandate to cease these movements from existing as an ideology could reduce conflict on the eastern borders, where the groups currently operate. If done properly he predicted that the situation could be resolved within a year.

    Mulongo also urged the UN to impose sanctions on those that a UN report accused of helping create, arm and support the rebel movement in Congo, namely Rwanda.

    The increased fighting in Congo’s mineral rich east, is some of the worst seen in years, resulting in over 280,000 people losing their homes.

     

  • Mali rebels execute Algerian diplomat
    Islamist rebels in Northern Mali have claimed to have executed an Algerian diplomat that was kidnapped five months ago, claiming that their demands were not being met.

    The Algerian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that they will be investigating the rebels claim to have killed one of the seven diplomats who were captured by the rebels, after the Algerian consulate in northern Mali, was stormed by the militants in April.

    See report from the AP here.

    The reports come as the rebels also claimed to have taken the town of Douentza, a strategic town close to government held areas.

    See report from the Press Association here.
  • Switzerland arrests Guatemalan ex-police chief

    The former police chief of Guatemala has been arrested in Geneva on Friday for murders committed between 2004 and 2007.

    Erwin Sperisen will be questioned over eight murders in prisons in Guatemala.

    "He was head of the national police force during two campaigns to execute detainees and we will be looking into those murders," prosecutor Olivier Jornot told Reuters.

    Sperisen resigned in 2007 after concerns were raised over involvement of officials in prison murders.

    Philip Grant of TRIAL, an NGO campaigning for prosecution of war criminals abroad, welcomed the move.

    "NGOs wish that a trial can rapidly take place so that the truth will finally be unveiled and the wall of impunity in Guatemala torn apart," he said in a statement on Friday.

  • Who to call a terrorist

    The US administration is undecided on whether the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, should be designated as a terrorist organisation, the Washington Times reports. It adds that some officials are concerned such a move could complicate relations with Pakistan, and efforts for peace talks with the Taliban.

    Despite the military pushing for such a designation, the move has been resisted by some the White House, and some in the State Department, the Washington Post reported.

     

    See here for full article.
  • Syrian rebels seize air defence base

    The Syrian rebels have seized one of the military's air defence bases in the east of the country, a UK based monitoring group reported.

    The attack took place on Saturday in Deir al-Zor province, with the rebels also seizing a number of anti-aircraft rockets, and 16 captives.

    See here and here.

  • Senior Indian opposition politician sentenced for role in riots

    A BJP MLA and former aide to Gujarati Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for her role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, which killed over a thousand Muslims.

    Maya Kodnani was convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

    Judge Jyotsna Yagnik said Ms Kodnani was a “kingpin of riots”.

    "Communal riots are like cancer on constitutional secularism and the incident in Naroda Patiya was a black chapter in the history of the Indian constitution," the Press Trust of India quoted the judge.

    "Acts of communal [religious] violence are brutal, inhuman and shameful. It was a clear incident of human rights violation as 97 people were killed brutally within a day which included helpless women, children, aged persons.

    "The climax of this inhuman and brutal act of violence was reflected in [the] murder of an infant, who was 20 days old," the judge said.

    Chief Minister Narendra Modi promoted Ms Kodnani to a ministerial role in 2007 although her role in the riots was being investigated at the time.

  • ICC team probes alleged war crimes in Mali
    A three-member team from the International Criminal Court arrived in Mali on Friday to investigate reports of war crimes committed by Islamists in the country’s north.

    ICC mission chief Amady Ba told journalists,
    "We're in Mali to pick up elements, listen to various people and take a comparative look" 
    "This is a time of analysis... We shall be taking our findings back and the (ICC) prosecutor (Fatou Bensouda) will judge if there is a need for inquiries before taking legal action,"
    In July the Government of Mali called on the ICC to investigate possible instances of war crimes.
     
    An earlier dossier by the Mali working group accused the Islamists of summary executions of Malian soldiers, rapes, massacres of civilians, the enlistment of child soldiers and torture.

    See report from AFP here.

  • Sudan withdraws UNHRC candidacy
    Following criticism from human rights groups and pro-democracy activists, Sudan has withdrawn its application for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, reports the Associated Press.

    Sudan’s UN Mission said in a letter on Friday that "it is no longer interested in taking up one of the vacancies available in the Human Rights Council" although a reason for withdrawal was not cited.

    The nation was effectively guaranteed a seat as it was only one of five African candidates to fill five African seats, despite accusations of genocide, war crimes and various other human rights violations against President Omar al-Bashir.

    The UN director for Human Rights Watch, Philippe Bolopion, welcoming the decision said,
    "The worst human rights offenders are slowly recognizing they are not welcome on the Human Rights Council."
     
    "Sudan joins notorious rights violators Syria, Iran, Belarus, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan whose hypocritical aspirations to sit on the Council have properly led to embarrassing retreat."
    Read the full AP article here.
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