IJCentral: International Justice Central

Delegations from Sudan’s north and south met in Nairobi, Kenya, at a special regional summit overseeing the implementation of the 2005 peace deal between the two sides.
The special summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development adopted a final resolution urging northern and southern Sudan factions to resolve remaining disputes in the peace agreement, including finalizing the North-South border demarcation and creating an official referendum commission.

In a speech before the conference, South Sudan President Salva Kiir reminded the gathered officials of the role the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development had played in building the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. “The CPA is a historic event in the lives of the Sudanese people, and it is incumbent upon those of you who successfully administered it to ensure that it is implemented to the spirit and letter,” he said. 

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was invited, but did not attend the meeting in Nairobi.  Kenya is a party to the founding statute of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Bashir on Darfur-related crimes one year ago.

Bashir’s ruling NCP party was represented by 2nd Vice President Ali Osman Taha.  He said the South’s decision in the secession vote would be respected, although he stated that unity is the preferred option of the NCP.

“Come January 2011 the Southern voters will make their long-anticipated choice between unity and secession.  While we re-affirm our unequivocal commitment to respect the choice of the people of Southern Sudan, we clearly state our vision and hope that unity of Sudan will be the free choice and outcome of the referendum,” said Taha.

Next month, national elections are to be held to determine seats in national offices and in the semi-autonomous southern government.

Next January, the South is slated to vote in a landmark independence referendum, which is seen as the core provision of the peace deal signed five years ago.  Most analysts expect the South to choose secession if given the chance.

Speakers at the summit stressed both parties must immediately begin negotiations on post-referendum arrangements.  The two sides split the revenue from oil reserves found in southern territory, but no agreement has been made about whether revenue-sharing would continue in the case of Southern independence.

Nearly all of the southern Sudan government budget is derived from this oil revenue.

The IGAD members also praised the two sides for recently resolving a long impasse over official census results.  They agreed that Southern representation in the nation’s next national assembly would be increased by 40 seats over previous announced allotments.  Southern officials had alleged the census figures undercounted Southerners.

Kenya hosted the negotiations that led to the peace agreement.  About two million Sudanese, mostly Southerners, were killed during the 21-year war.

source: VOA News

The handing over of list of suspected perpetrators of Kenya’s post-election violence of 2008 to the International Criminal Court judges has caused fear, panic and anxiety across the country especially in areas that were hardest hit by the chaos.

Senior officials of the three arms of the police: Regular, Administration and General Service Unit have also not been spared as ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated that they were used in the chaos.

The Waki Commission report on post-election violence linked more than 400 deaths of the 1,133 people killed during the two months of the post election violence to the police.

A survey by the Sunday Nation in some of the areas that were affected by the skirmishes indicated that many of the suspected financiers and organisers of the chaos had been thrown into a panic.

There is also fear among the victims.

“No one knows what is going to happen. It is as if it is now clear some of the perpetrators will be taken to the Hague,” Mr Ken Wafula whose organisation, Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has been championing for rights of victims of the chaos, said.

A former Eldoret councillor Mr Kipkorir Menjo said: “People are fatigued. They want the truth to come out. The naming of the suspects will bring new political equation ahead of 2012 polls.”

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights whose report together with that of the Waki Commission is being used by Mr Moreno-Ocampo to push for the trial of the suspects said the biggest part will be if prosecutor will be authorised to conduct investigations and later demand that the suspects be handled to ICC.

“If the names are made public will there be political will to hand over the suspects to the ICC. President Kibaki refused two ministers to step aside to allow investigations of graft in their ministries, will he accept to hand over some of the ministers to the Hague?” KNCHR vice-chairman Hassan Omar, questioned.

Mr Omar said following the handing over of further information to the pre-trial chambers by the prosecutor, it is expected the judges will expeditiously deliberate on the application within shortest time possible.

“The fact that the judges asked for further information means they had started working of the prosecutor’s application which they have been having for the last four months,” Mr Omar said.

If granted the request, Mr Omar elaborated, Mr Moreno Ocampo could come to the country soon to start his investigations and within four to six months Kenyans could be able to know the names of suspected key perpetrators of the killings.

Mr Omar agreed that the handing over of the 20 names had caused anxiety with many Kenyans wondering whether the authorisation will be allowed, who were in the list and that the more the process delayed the country would be nearing the 2012 elections.

“The prosecutor should be allowed to come as soon as possible when there are still avenues to collect evidence and ensure witnesses are protected,” Mr Omar said.

The vocal vice-chairman said although the prosecutor had given 20 names they could be increased or reduced depending on investigations. The names, he said, were only given to clarify to the pre-trial chambers the kind of investigations to be done and the levels of the perpetrators.

He said by naming the three arms of the police, Mr Moreno-Ocampo showed that there were more people he needed to interrogate.

Once the list of the perpetrators is made public the credibility of the public office holders will be diminished and Mr Omar said they would be expected to step aside.

“It would be impractical for them to continue with functions of their offices,” he added.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo could also be required to summon some of those named to the pre-trial chambers if he gets hurdles in his investigations.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo has accused leaders from across the political divide and businessmen over their role in the post-election violence.

Details of Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s submission to the Pre-Trial Chamber show how the suspects planned and executed what he refers to as a “criminal policy” against civilians.

Their motivation, he says, was to retain or gain power.

At least 1,133 people were killed and more than 650,000 evicted from their homes in the wake of the madness that followed Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo says the 20 leading suspects hired, financed, and transported gangs to kill, destroy, and block roads.

He told judges at The Hague on Wednesday that while PNU used State agencies, their opponents in ODM used criminal gangs to execute their politically motivated schemes.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo has asked the judges in the 19-page submission to keep the lists of suspects confidential.

Naming the suspects publicly, he says, may prejudice independent investigations and endanger the safety of potential witnesses.

He adds that Kenyan authorities had not carried out any investigations or prosecutions targeting the 20. The prosecutor says the violence comprised hundreds of incidents with varying degrees of organisation.

Inflammatory statements and hate speech disseminated via radio, e-mails, and SMS before the elections were part of the strategy to incite the public, he says. PNU and ODM channelled their criminal policy through community structures, he says.

And in related news, Kenyan lawyer Professor Githu Muigai has been admitted to the International Criminal Court list of counsel, meaning he is eligible to represent suspects facing trial at The Hague.

The ICC wrote to Prof Muigai on Thursday informing him of the decision. Regulation 73.1 of the court’s rules requires that the ICC prepares an approved list of counsel to ensure suspects receive the highest level of legal representation at the court.

Prof Muigai will also be eligible to represent other suspects facing war crime trials such as Congolese militia leader Laurent Nkunda.

source: The Daily Nation

Check out this interactive online application from USA for the ICC, giving an overview of the International Criminal Courts most wanted criminals.

http://usaforicc.org/mostwanted/mainmenu.html

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has accused leaders from across Kenya’s political divide and businessmen over their role in the post-election violence.

Details of Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s submission to the Pre-Trial Chamber show how the suspects planned and executed what he refers to as a “criminal policy” against civilians.

Their motivation, he says, was to retain or gain power. Some 1,133 people were killed and more than 650,000 evicted from their homes in the wake of the madness that followed Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election.

President Kibaki of the Party of National Unity was said to have won the election but his rival, Mr Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, disputed the victory saying the poll had been stolen.

Also targeted by Mr Moreno-Ocampo are Kenya’s security forces, whom he accuses of using excessive force against civilians. Mr Moreno-Ocampo says the 20 leading suspects hired, financed and transported gangs to kill, destroy and block roads.

“Many of the political leaders from both sides that incited the attacks are also rich businessmen or land owners and contributed financially to attacks from their own resources,” said Mr Moreno-Ocampo in his submission.

He told judges at The Hague on Wednesday that while PNU used State agencies, their opponents in ODM used criminal gangs to execute their politically motivated schemes.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo has asked the judges, in the 19-page submission, to keep the lists of suspects confidential. Naming the suspects publicly, he says, may prejudice independent investigations and endanger the safety of potential witnesses.

“A precise determination of the extent and nature of the links between the individuals allegedly involved and the public and private organisations utilised to allegedly commit the crimes will be made during the course of an independent investigation by the prosecutor, if authorised,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo tells the judges in his submission.

He adds that Kenyan authorities had not carried out any investigations or prosecutions targeting the 20. The submission, which borrows a lot from the Waki and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reports, indicts Kenya’s security forces.

The prosecutor says the violence comprised hundreds of incidents with varying degrees of organisation. Inflammatory statements and hate speech disseminated via radio, e-mails, and SMS before the elections were part of the strategy to incite the public, he says.

Tribal networks

PNU and ODM channelled their criminal policy through community structures, he says. The “senior leaders from both parties were guided by political objectives to retain or gain power,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo says, noting that they used personal, government, business and tribal networks to commit the crimes.

The violence, he says, followed a consistent pattern. ODM leaders, he submits, set in motion two parallel attacks to protest against the announcement that President Kibaki had won the elections. “Whereas the party officially called for peaceful mass demonstrations, some influential party leaders especially in the Rift Valley Province launched attacks against civilians perceived to be supporters of PNU,” the document states.

And PNU, which was at the time in government, responded by using excessive police force against demonstrators. This violence, the ICC prosecutor says, was particularly in opposition strongholds of Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces.

After the first wave of violence, he says, leaders of the “victimised communities” formed a policy of launching revenge attacks. This, he adds, explains the rationale behind the violent attacks by Mungiki in Naivasha, Nakuru and Nairobi.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo accuses politicians of being responsible for the expulsion of people from certain areas in the country, leading to displacement of more than 650,000 people. The submission indicates that incitement started during the electoral campaigns and this corresponds to areas where “large-scale attacks were carried out by thousands of raiders”.

It adds that leaders held “clandestine meetings” in Nairobi and Rift Valley to plan the violence. “Meetings of this kind have been consistently reported by witnesses with first-hand knowledge and both the CIPEV (Waki commission) and the KNCHR assessed as credible and reliable,” says Mr Moreno-Ocampo.

source: Daily Nation

Human rights groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo have lodged a formal complaint with the government against a senior army officer.

The groups accuse troops under the command of Colonel Innocent Zimurinda of mass killing and rape of civilians.

The call for his suspension comes as a UN-backed Congolese offensive against rebels is due to begin.

Last year a similar operation caused great controversy as the UN was accused of condoning human rights abuses.

The 50 human rights groups and civil society organisations, including Human Rights Watch, have written to the commander of the government forces in the North Kivu region.

The organisations said Colonel Zimurinda had been in charge of a group of rebels who killed at least 150 civilians in Kiwanja in late 2008.

It has not been possible to get a response from the colonel to the allegations.

UN accused

Colonel Zimurinda later joined the government army when rebels were integrated into their ranks.

According to the human rights groups and a UN investigation, he was responsible for another massacre in Shalio last April where more than 120 Rwandan Hutu refugees were killed.

This was at the time of a controversial military operation which was backed by the UN peacekeeping force, Monuc.

The aim was to flush out the rebels linked to the Hutu militia that carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

But the UN found itself accused of helping soldiers responsible for appalling human rights abuses.

The UN said it would only continue to work with Congolese government forces if the Congolese government addressed the human rights abuses within their ranks.

Another UN backed operation is just about to begin and human rights groups fear civilians cannot be protected in the operation if Colonel Zimurinda is involved.

The BBC’s Will Ross says that for its part the Congolese government has been slow to respond to reports of human rights abuse amongst its forces - even when it comes to people wanted by the International Criminal Court.

General Bosco Ntaganda who has worked closely with Colonel Zimurinda is wanted by the ICC for war crimes.

Giving a reason for not arresting him, a Congolese minister suggested that the pursuit of peace was more important than the need for justice.

source: The Guardian

ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has Tuesday announced the appointment of leading international law expert Tim McCormack as his Office’s Special Advisor on International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

“Professor McCormack has a worldwide reputation for his scholarship and expertise in International Humanitarian Law,” said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo.

“He combines deep knowledge of the law with how it has been applied in military operations” he said. “Professor McCormack will advise my Office on complex legal issues such as indiscriminate attack, proportionality and command responsibility”.

As Special Adviser to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Professor McCormack will focus on the application and interpretation of international humanitarian law in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court, as well as on general principles of criminal law and legal issues related to military structures.

Professor McCormack is Professor of Law at the Melbourne Law School and the Acting Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law (having served as the Founding Director from 2001 - 2009).

He served as the Foundation Australian Red Cross Professor of International Humanitarian Law at the Melbourne Law School (1996-2010) until he recently stepped down from that position.

He is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania Law School.

Professor McCormack joins other renowned legal experts on the OTP’s Advisory Council.

Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon of the Michigan Law School was appointed Special Adviser on Gender Crimes in November 2008, and Professor Juan Méndez of the American University Washington is since June 2009 Special Adviser on Crime Prevention.

Additionally in November 2009, Benjamin Ferencz was appointed Special Counsel to the Office of the Prosecutor and honorary member of the OTP’s advisory council.

They all work on a pro-bono basis.

The Rome Statute mandates the Prosecutor to appoint advisers with legal expertise on specific issues.

The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

source: Kenya Broadcasting Company

The Austin Peay State University Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Customs House Museum will present the independent film The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court 2 p.m., March 6, in the Clement Auditorium on the APSU campus. Following the film, audience members will be able to ask question of the director, Pamela Yates. This event, which is part of The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, is free for Austin Peay students and the general public.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was created to prosecute individuals for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The Reckoning, a feature-length documentary filmed in High Definition on four continents, follows the dynamic and charismatic International Criminal Court (ICC)as they issue arrest warrants for the Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, put four Congolese warlords on trial at The Hague, challenge the United Nations Security Council to support the Court’s call for an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan on charges of genocide, and shake up the Colombian justice system.

Filmed at ICC headquarters in The Hague for three years with unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Court, the dreamers behind it and the obstacles they need to overcome as they create a new paradigm for global justice.

Nairobi, Kenya

It may not be scientific, but a quick way to see what’s trendy in Kenya is to look at the back of a matatu, which is what Kenyans call their minivan taxis.

Some are highly adorned with the spray-painted faces of American hip-hop stars such as Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and the late Tupac Shakur, and play those artists’ music at deafening decibels. Some are covered with pious statements such as “In God We Trust” or “Mashallah” (Arabic for “by the grace of God”).

One matatu I saw in Nairobi even had a portrait of Osama bin Laden, chosen presumably more for shock value than for ideological reasons, as the side of the van was emblazoned with the words “Thug Life.”

But the new king of the matatu is neither a rap star nor a terrorist. He is Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Mr. Ocampo has recently taken up the criminal investigation of top Kenyan politicians who allegedly organized ethnic violence in the wake of the December 2007 elections, violence that killed some 1,500 people and displaced nearly 300,000 from their homes. During the elections, matatu drivers endorsed political candidates, but, in the violent aftermath, many drivers became as disillusioned as the voting public.

Now they are showing their disillusionment with giant posters of the Argentine-born lawyer holding a sheaf of documents. Others simply display the word “OCAMPO” in capital letters.

Be careful, Kenyan politicians: Your people are watching you.

by Scott Baldauf @ CS Monitor

So, Radovan Karadzic is having his day in court here in The Hague. I have been following his Opening Statement in between editing draft chapters all morning; his overall defense seems be to a pretty classic ‘blame the victim’ approach (Karadzic: “Their conduct gave rise to our conduct, and that is 100% true”).

But the crimes he is charged with are not ones I “lived through” - obviously not directly, but also not indirectly the way I have with Darfur.  So I thought that better than sharing my thoughts would be to share the thoughts of a dear friend in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Muhamed Mesic. I wanted to know if Muhamed was following the hearing today;  the following was what he wrote back and has given permission for me to post:

Didn’t he just say: “They’re trying to convict us for something we never did”? No, if [troops commanded by Karadzic and Mladic] didn’t “do” Markale, didn’t “do” Kapija (in Tuzla, on May 25, 1995), didn’t “do” Keraterm, Omarska and Manjača, didn’t “do” Godinjske Bare, didn’t “do” all the raped women and all the mass graves, didn’t ultimately “do” Srebrenica, it was either the Bosnian Muslims (and/or Croats) who did this themselves (in a very elevated, conspirative attack of masochism aimed at obviously demonising the Serb nation), or one must blame, say, the Borg or the Romulans (both of Star Trek fame).

And yes, we’ll bring experts to prove it, warp spaceship landing tracks which prove a Bosnian Muslim-Croat-Vatican-US-UN-Borg-Romulan conspiracy, experts who, my oh my, will prove that poor little old doctor Dabic just wanted peace, love, tolerance and freedom for all. And so he commanded his troops to practice lovingkindness, his troops like Ratko Mladic, who once commanded a certain Vukasinovic to turn this into action by opening “fire towards Velusici [a part of Sarajevo actually called Velesici] (…) as there aren’t many Serbs there (…) so that they [the Bosnian Muslims and Croats] can’t sleep and we spread their minds apart…”.

His “opening statement” - with the poor little old me arguments - is ridiculous to the point that it’s disgusting. What’s even more disgusting is that he’s trying to elevate himself as a martyr, a fighter for a just cause (how can raping women and slaughtering men, for Heaven’s sake, be a tool of a just cause?!!), a victim of an unfair global conspiracy (a new Milosevic of sorts). But then again, I guess nobody ever expected anything different. It’s not even refreshing or entertaining, and all dejavu in the ICTY courtroom. Which is why I’m not gonna spend the rest of this beautiful sunny March day by listening to it.

Don’t get me wrong: I believe in a fair and due trial of law. And I believe that Karadzic, like any other human being, has the right to present arguments against any accusations that may be made against him. Every human being is entitled to personal convictions, too, and that goes for Radovan Karadzic as well. This is almost as important as the decency to now, eighteen or more years later, stand by the “heroism” he then displayed and all the death, pain, havoc and mayhem it ultimately caused.

And as for me, I believe he made his opening statement in the hall of the Bosnian parliament in late 1991, when he cautioned that independence - today is, oddly enough, March 1, celebrated by (one half of) Bosnia and Herzegovina as independence day as it marks the anniversary of the 1992 referndum - would be taking “Bosnia and Herzegovina on the same path of hell and suffering Slovenia and Croatia have taken.” In another act of his lovingkindness, he cautioned that independence would take the “Muslim people into extinction.” Extinction by whom? Oh yes, I forgot. The Borg and the Romulans.

source:  Bec Hamilton

February 27, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The office of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) denied news reports in Khartoum that it intends to push for conducting in absentia confirmation of charges hearing for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

“There is a procedure for confirmation of charges in absentia under the Rome statute but the OTP [Office of the prosecutor] is not considering this option at the moment” Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, Head of Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation told Sudan Tribune in an email.

Article 61 of the Rome Statute states that “the Pre-Trial Chamber may, upon request of the Prosecutor or on its own motion, hold a hearing in the absence of the person charged to confirm the charges….when the person has Waived his or her right to be present or Fled or cannot be found and all reasonable steps have been taken to secure his or her appearance before the Court”.

Sudan does not recognize the court and so far Bashir has evaded travelling to ICC signatories with obligation to arrest him.

“We are preparing additional evidence in relation to President Al Bashir’s intent to commit genocide, and the cover up of such crimes by the Sudanese state apparatus including HAC [Humanitarian Affairs Committee] and foreign affairs officials” du Hellen said.

“Since the arrest warrant was issued against President Al Bashir by the judges in March of 2009, he is being marginalized and isolated in the international community, and the Sudanese authorities are forced to show goodwill in peace negotiations. We will continue to work towards the increased isolation and finally the arrest of President Al Bashir. This is our priority” she added.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir a year ago accusing him of masterminding war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Western region of Darfur.

Earlier this month the appeal chamber opened the door for adding the three counts of genocide after it ruled that the Pre-Trial judges erred in applying the legal standard for assessing the prosecutor’s request in adding these charges.

The judges will now have to decide anew whether there is reasonable evidence to determine whether Bashir can be tried for genocide.

Sudan has condemned the appeal chamber decision saying its timing is meant to sabotage the elections and the Darfur peace process.

On Wednesday the ICC prosecutor requested a closed hearing with the pre-trial judges saying it intends to file additional information.

“The Prosecution considers that a hearing would provide it with an opportunity to seek the Chamber’s guidance on the most efficient and appropriate means to proceed” the prosecutor’s requests reads.

The prosecutor has said in the past that a decision on the genocide charges could take up to a year.

source: Sudan Tribune