War Crimes

The first suspect appeared before the U.N. backed Cambodian genocide tribunal to investigate former members of the Khmer Rouge. Kaing Khek lev, better known as Duch, was questioned for his role as the former prison warden in the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. The prison was notorious for being used as a torture chamber, where some 16,000 people were processed and turned over to slave labor or murdered at the infamous “killing fields.”

The “killing fields” were mass sites used by the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge regime to practice a quasi-eugenics campaign. They tried to exploit communist ideals to create a classless society by way of an agrarian utopia through isolation, hard labor, and extermination. Pol Pot, the leader of the regime, used the prison as a secret detention facility and slaughterhouse during his genocidal regime that lasted from 1975-1979. During his rule, nearly 2-million people died from starvation, disease, forced labor and execution.

Kaing Khek lev is among five other former Khmer Rouge leaders that were handed over to the U.N. tribunal on July 18, 2007. Part of the prosecutions evidence are prison records from S-21 maintained by Kaing Khek lev.

After maintaining an existence among leftist sympathizers since the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, he re-surfaced in 1999 after a photojournalist had a chance encounter with the man. He has been in military custody since then. He is 62.

AP

UPDATE: The BBC is reporting that “Duch” has been charged with crimes against humanity for his role in the Cambodian genocide. The UN tribunal was expected to hand down its charges at the end of this week, but todays developments signify that there is at least some willingness in Cambodia to face its tumultuous past. There has been criticism in the past of transparency at the hybrid tribunal and the entire system was on the verge of collapse. This signifies, according to one survivor of the S-21 prison, “immense progress.”

U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, made pleas for Serbian cooperation as Kosovo continues its campaign towards independence. Serbian officials were in Washington, where Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic met with Rice to discuss “outstanding obligations regarding war crimes indictees.” There are several war crimes suspects still alleged to be within Serbia’s reach - including General Ratko Mladic, the mastermind of the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in 1994.

The United Nations recently shelved a resolution on Kosovo’s independence, as Russia - who is a close ally of Serbia - threatened to use its veto power at the Security Council. Kosovo has been under U.N. leadership since 1999 when Serbian forces were expelled after a NATO led campaign to halt two-years of ethnic conflict. Serbia is widely alleged to be harboring fugitives of war crimes, though it has recently disposed of several top suspects. Mladic, however, is viewed as a hero among far right supporters and is believed to be hiding in Russia.

Serbia has recently proposed an autonomous non-sovereign Kosovo province with “the broadest possible self-governance for the province’s Albanians.” Many Serbians view Kosovo as their spiritual homeland and oppose an independent Kosovo comprised of ethnic Albanians.

AP/Reuters

The United Nations has initiated a forensic examination into mass graves peppered throughout Afghanistan at the request of the government there.  Some graves in eastern Afghanistan contain over 1,200 victims.  Specialists from various human rights groups, including the Washington based Physicians for Human Rights, have been providing technical assistance to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).  Afghanistan made requests for assistance because it lacks the technical and professional capacity to examine the thousands of remains found in various mass graves throughout the country.  UNAMA officials have stated they will provide Afghans with funding and granting any requests for assistance, stating; “We are an assistance mission and will provide assistance whenever the Afghan authorities ask us.”

In a little over a year, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) have uncovered 81 mass graves in various parts of the country.  Thousands of bodies were unearthed in a grave north of the Afghan capital, Kabul in July, 2007.  The remains of 500 victims were unearthed in April of this year in northeastern Afghanistan, and over 1,000 were discovered in a mass grave in eastern Afghanistan.  Smaller sites containing 50 to 70 bodies were discovered in several locations in Kabul.

At some sites, victims were found in various states.  One group of victims were discovered fully clothed and in sitting positions in abandoned underground weapons depots.  Many sites were allegedly used by the former Soviet Union, according to witnesses.  At one site, Afghan villagers have stated that Soviet officials used some of the grave sites for interrogations and investigations against suspected mujahadeen - or ’strugglers’.  Others state that Soviet officials detained thousands of villagers in an effort to root out the mujahadeen, some leaving for Friday prayers never to be seen again.  The allegations have not been verified.

The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Harzai, has appointed a commission to investigate the atrocities.  Afghanistan has been embroiled in conflict for almost three decades.  The victims from the mass graves are a symbol of Afghanistan’s volatile past - but it is not known from when.

IRIN/BBC

The Rwandan government has asked France for the extradition of two men arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Catholic priest, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, an ex-civil servant, were detained in France after the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued warrants for their arrest. The two had been living in France for years. The arrest warrants allege the two men played in role in orchestrating the slaughter of 800,000 ethnic Tutsi’s and moderate Hutus in the central African republic.

Munyeshyaka has been charged with complicity in rape and genocide, while Bucyibaruta has been charged with genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, extermination, murder and rape.

Rwandan officials have implied that France has provided refuge to alleged war criminals involved in the genocide. It also accuses French troops of training the troops who carried out the massacres, though France denies the charges, pointing to its role in the U.N. peacekeeping mission sanctioned in Rwanda. Rwanda severed relations with France after a French judge implied Rwandan President Paul Kagame played a role in the death of the former ruler - an event which sparked the 100 day genocide.

Reuters

Rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) called on the United Nations to investigate the ruling Ethiopian administration for violations of crimes against humanity.  The ONLF opposition group won several seats in the Ethiopian parliamentary in 2005 in an attempt to topple the regime of Prime Minister Meles Senawi.  The ONLF are warning of an impending humanitarian disaster amidst claims that Senawi is sponsoring a food blockade to the remote border region with Somalia.  The ONLF said in a statement that “humanitarian assistance is deliberately being diverted to armed forces and militias responsible for these war crimes.”

Government officials in the capital, Addis Ababa, note that the ONLF is a terrorist group and itself called for a U.N. investigation.  The rebel group was also implicated in a raid on a Chinese run oil-field earlier this year, where the ONLF killed 74 people and kidnapped seven workers.  Aid workers and foreign diplomats, however, note that Addis Ababa has been blocking humanitarian aid and imposing economic restrictions on the rebel homeland in eastern Ethiopia.

Five members of the ONLF were indicted for inciting violence in opposition to recent elections in Ethiopia.  ONLF rebels have been trying to overthrow the current regime and the Zenawi regime imprisoned ONLF leaders and some journalists for treason, inciting violence, and attempting to spark a genocide.  Earlier this year, the government freed several opposition leaders due to international criticism and increasing pressure from the United States.  In response to the election protests, Addis Ababa responded with force to quell the violence, resulting in the death of 193 civilian protesters.
The horn of Africa has been embattled with conflict sparked by the spiraling humanitarian crises there.  Legislation sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives this week has criticized Ethiopia’s human rights records and has called for economic sanctions.  The bill must pass through Congress and be signed by President Bush, however, what effect sanctions would have on a Third World country are unclear.

Reuters/AP

Regarding the war in Iraq, the U.S. military has prosecuted more than 200 cases against its own personnel for crimes against humanity and the violations of the laws of war, including murder, rape, and kidnapping. Christian conservative groups, in coordination with some veterans associations, have established a grass-roots funding campaign to defend the accused and voice their support. Some of the donations include letters stating that “the bible says” Iraq will always be at war and that “the military’s work is God’s work.”

The groups are claiming that the top military brass are “eating their young” and basing their prosecutions on flimsy evidence. They site the recent dismissal of charges against Lance Corporal Justin Sharatt, who was charged with murder in Haditha in 2005. The groups are using evangelical rhetoric that appears aligned with some of the reasoning used by President Bush to support continued military operations in Iraq. The group www.marinedefensefund.com has stated that “the insurgency has found a new weapon” by accusing U.S. military personnel of war crimes. In addition, spokesmen for the group Military Combat Defense Fund stated that religious conviction drives their grass roots efforts. None of the groups, however, seek assistance for military personnel who have pleaded guilty.

Military records show that there have been many cases involving crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war in Iraq. U.S. Marines have been accused of murder for 24 Iraqi citizens in the town of Haditha in 2005. In another case, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division gang raped a 14-year old girl and murdered her and her family. The military is seeking sentences ranging from 100 year sentences to death.

Religious beliefs are the justification for the most violent conflicts in human history. In recent times, both sides in the Iraq war are claiming some moral authority justifies their actions. Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims have been embattled over their beliefs for centuries, while U.S. officials continue with references to the Christian God in their inspirational messages regarding military action in Iraq. An objective analysis would put evangelical beliefs on par with some of the fundamental Islamic groups. The willingness of the U.S. military to examine its own conduct in the court of law, however, suggest there is still of voice of pragmatism in the laws of war.

New York Times

Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, has concluded that Darfur is now safe and secure and that “people are leading a normal daily life.”  The comments came after the president embarked on a three-day tour across the Darfur region, which is roughly the size of France.  Al-Bashir returned from the trip noting reconstruction projects such hospitals, wells, and a new soccer stadium.  U.N. officials, however, report on daily clashes throughout the region.

The Darfur region of Sudan has been plagued by an ethnic cleansing campaign initiated by the government backed janjaweed paramilitary force.  International experts state that roughly 200,000 people were killed and over 2.5 million displaced during the four-year current conflict.  Sudanese officials, however, deny these numbers, saying the figures are closer to 9,000.  The Sudanese interior minister, Zubeir Bashir Taha, said after the presidential tour that “there has been a lot of black propaganda about Darfur and Sudan, lies, hypocrisy, speaking about racial cleansing.”  He blames U.S. president George W. Bush and former British prime minister Tony Blair for the “black propaganda.”

Al-Bashir did not visit refugee camps during his tour of the region, nor did he meet with any victims of the conflict.  He has been to the region in the past, but this is the first such tour since a peace agreement was brokered in May, 2006.  Most of the international community recognize the atrocities in Darfur as genocide and the International Criminal Court has issued several arrest warrants for current cabinet ministers and militia leaders.

A hybrid African Union-United Nations force is expected to be deployed to the region over the coming months.

Reuters/AP

PARIS (Reuters) - Police said they had arrested two Rwandans living in exile in France who are wanted by an international court trying suspects in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

Cleric Wenceslas Munyeshyaka was detained in Gisors, some 60 km (38 miles) northwest of Paris, where he has been living since 2001.

Munyeshyaka, formerly head of the Sainte-Famille parish in Kigali, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment last November by a military tribunal that found him guilty of complicity in genocide and rape.

The second Rwandan, Laurent Bucyibaruta, was detained in a village in the Champagne area near Troyes, 140 km (87 miles) southeast of Paris, where he has lived several years with his wife and children.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush, under fire over the treatment of terrorism suspects, has issued new rules to ensure that detention and interrogation by the CIA comply with the Geneva Conventions’ ban on torture.

An executive order from Bush set out how to deal with detainees and gives interrogators from the U.S. spy agency new legal protections against allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment, forbidden by Common Article 3 of the conventions, CIA Director Michael Hayden said on Friday.

Sierra Leone jails militiamen: (Reuters)  Three militiamen were sentenced to decades long prison sentences for human rights violations committed during the civil war that spanned from 1991 - 2002 in Sierra Leone.  The U.N. backed Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted the men for “some of the most heinous, brutal and atrocious crimes ever recorded.”  The verdict has been praised by many human rights organizations as it is the first ruling by an international tribunal regarding the use of child soldiers.  The charges also include 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for terrorism, murder, and rape, among others.  All three were members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) which had tried to control the diamond trade in Sierra Leone.  AFRC is alleged to have conspired with former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is also on trial for instigating and coordinating murder, rape, and terrorism.

Chiquita International accused of funding terrorism: (AP) A lawsuit filed in New Jersey alleges Chiquita Brands International Inc. funded terrorist groups in Columbia and is therefore guilty of conspiracy on murder charges.  The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of six alleged victims who were killed by the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia (AUC).  Chiquita also made payments to the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) to ensure the safety of its workers, according to company spokesmen.   The company has recently pleaded guilty to charges of illegal business activity with terrorist groups in an earlier case filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington.  Company spokesmen maintain the funding was forced to ensure the company could maintain its business interests in the banana region of Columbia.  EarthRights attorneys, however, claim the company was “grossly negligent” by funding the various groups.  The newest suit seeks unspecified monetary compensation.

Obama says U.S. military not for humanitarian aid:  (AP) Democratic presidential candidate, Barak Obama, stated in an interview with the Associated Press that humanitarian aid and the prevention of genocide are not sufficient reasons to maintain a military presence in Iraq.  “Well, look, if that’s the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you could have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now … We would be deploying, unilaterally and occupying Sudan.”  Obama, who is an opponent of the U.S. led war in Iraq, claims these problems cannot be handled militarily and should be resolved through diplomacy, stating “you can’t solve the underlying problem at the end of a barrel of a gun.”  Republican spokesmen have countered Obama’s statements as pandering to left leaning interests.