War Crimes

I took a broad approach to this year’s reporting on war crimes and focused on a lot of events not normally considered during a discussion on war crimes. I did not spend a great deal of time debating or discussing the issues behind such things as the International Criminal Court and the formulations of the various tribunal systems, both past and present. What I did this year was report on the events. Too often, it seems, America is fatigued on Friday by atrocities that happened on Monday. With over 400 posts this year on nearly a dozen topics, I hope I brought the issue to the forefront of at least some of the discussion in this field.

Typically, one considers the holocaust and the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia when the notion of war crimes is mentioned. But this year brought the issue right to the steps of the White House with the ever evolving situation regarding the detainees held at the U.S. naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The situation in Iraq and the examination of the conduct of those officials with the former regime made its way to the top of the list. Africa rounded up the top three categories this year.

The parting thoughts for the year in review would be the lack of political will on behalf of the leading world powers to address the issues at hand. Nations like Somalia, the Congo, Sudan, and even Israel and Lebanon continue to falter before the platform of normative benchmarks. But of what consequence? With no international governing body and no mechanism for direct punish available in international law, the world body is subjected only to the scornful eye of public opinion – and unfortunately that’s not enough. This liberalism of fear lacks the direct sanctioning of world public opinion when the issues are neither addressed nor are their violations punished. But let us consider this; in the birth of every great nation and every great cause comes a moment of grievous atrocity. With reconciliation comes retribution – in some circumstances that manifests itself in far worse ways than others, but I believe it is part of the evolution to greater things.

With that, let us begin our year in review.

The most critical event: This most critical event this year is the realization of the first trials at the International Criminal Court. On November 13, 2007, the International Criminal Court said it would bring Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese rebel leader accused of conscripting child soldiers, before the International Criminal Court in March 2008. Lubanga, was arrested in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, during a crackdown following the murder and mutilation of nine U.N. peacekeepers. He allegedly forced children to undergo training for the armed wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots in order to kill members of rival tribes.

I have to give the runner-up award to the situation in Iraq, not only because it exposed the violent suppression of dissent under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, but it also exposed the harsh realities of war as the American public divided over the alleged killing of Iraqi civilians at the hands of U.S. Marines in Haditha. Iraq also showed us how the international legal establishment lags behind the necessities of modern war as Blackwater USA emerged to face scrutiny over its apparent wanton use of force in Iraq.

Most influential person of the year: While it would be easy to point to the chief prosecutor examining the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte, or even the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, I would argue the most prominent developments this year centered around Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the personal driver for Osama bin Laden. Hamdan’s case before the United States Supreme Court, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, paved the way not only for a congressionally mandated war crimes tribunal, but also prompted the Bush administration to change its definition of war crimes to allow the relatively minor crimes of conspiracy to fall under that category. Several of the Guantanamo developments were striking this year, but Hamdan’s case continues to have a pronounced influence on international law in the 21^st century.

Most influential company: A tie goes collectively to Chiquita Brands, Del Monte, and Dole, as well as the nongovernmental organization, Zoe’s Ark.

In March 2007, I reported that Salvatore Mancuso, a top military commander in Columbia, testified that the government there was tied to the murder of civilians and cocaine trafficking, stating “paramilitarism was state policy.” Mancuso stated that his operations were financed by local operators from the U.S. based Del Monte and Dole and in March, the U.S. banana firm Chiquita Brands International agreed to pay $25 million after pleading guilty to paying off the paramilitary groups in exchange for protection.

In late November, a Sudanese minister said the government there launched a legal challenge against a French charity, Zoe’s Ark, who the Sudanese accused of flying over a hundred children from Chad to families in Europe. “This is not abduction or the luring of children but a war crime,” the minister said.

Most influential organization: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea. In March of this year, in a post entitled “Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Jeopardy,” I wrote that a judge in the tribunal process said that “if new rules … are not adopted we will not go forward because it would be useless. Then we would have to examine the possibility of the international judges asking the UN to withdraw the whole process. It’s now or never”. In November, the Cambodian government brought Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch,” into a courtroom to face charges for the deaths of 1.7 million people nearly 30 years after the atrocities in Cambodia came to an end. With the alleged masterminds of one of the most grievous massacres in modern history, Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, still on the loose amidst the political wrangling in Kosovo, it is commendable that the Cambodian government and the international community has the acumen to proceed with reconciliation.

Most unexpected development: In May, 2007, David Hicks, the first Guantanamo Bay inmate convicted of supporting terrorism by a U.S. military court, returned to Australia under a veil of secrecy, but “elated” to serve out his remaining sentence at home. The United States sought a life sentence for Hicks, an Australian captured in Afghanistan after fleeing al-Qa’ida frontlines in Kandahar. He was sentenced originally to seven years, but his plea agreement allows him to only serve nine months.

Best Media of 2007: (WARNING: THE LINK CONTAINED HERE DIRECTS TO VERY UPSETTING AND GRAPHIC MEDIA) I amended the original title of this spot from “photo” due to the emergence of a film depicting portions of the massacre in Srebrenica. Four members of a paramilitary group known as The Scorpions were seen in a film, which surfaced during the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague, leading six Bosnian Muslims to a clearing in a wooded area and shot. Four of the Bosnians were shot immediately, while the other two were forced to carry the bodies to another location and shot there. The film was part of a later documentary that was truly horrific.

Best reporting: The best reporting goes no doubt to the Associated Press and Reuters. Without the wire services reporting on these events which typically go unnoticed in mainstream media, the information displayed here would not only be impossible, but would leave the world with no sense of the horrors of which mankind is capable.

A very special note goes to Philip Grant and his team at Track Impunity Always (TRIAL). I relied on this group almost exclusively for background information on alleged perpetrators of war crimes. This is hands down the best site of its kind.

Best quote: On July 23, Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, concluded that Darfur is now safe and secure and that “people are leading a normal daily life.” By November, any reasonable suggestion that even an international observer mission would succeed in Darfur was contemptible. In November, the Sudanese rejected many of the countries contributing to the hybrid peacekeeping operation, refused access to the Port of Sudan, refused to grant humanitarian access to Darfur, refused night flights over the region and barred the landing of heavy transport aircraft desperately needed to support any peacekeeping force standing a reasonable chance of success.

Predictions for 2008:

Mladic and Kardzic are captured by summer 2008.

The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay closes.

The ICC falters in its first prosecutorial roles.

Parting words: I will carry on through 2008 as the designated correspondent on war crimes for the Foreign Policy Association. Beginning in 2008, the tone of this site will change noticeably as I will present more editorial works on the issues of the day. I hope the new year and the new changes will continue to be of interest.

And always we had wars, and more wars, and still other wars — all over Europe, all over the world. “Sometimes in the private interest of royal families,” Satan said, “sometimes to crush a weak nation; but never a war started by the aggressor for any clean purpose — there is no such war in the history of the race.”

- Mark Twain

Various correspondents are saying Benazir Bhutto was the target of a suicide bombing attack in Pakistan Thursday.  Correspondents with United Press International allege Bhutto is dead, while Reuters and Associated Press wires say she is in serious condition.  Reuters is breaking now with allegations she is dead.

A court in Chad convicted six French aid workers with the charity Zoe’s Ark to eight years forced labor for allegedly kidnapping 103 African children. The aid workers claim their purpose was to help orphans displaced by conflicts in Darfur and Chad by rescuing the children from area refugee camps. The allegations regarding the abductions centered on evidence that most of the 103 children lived with a close relative or a parent. The conflict in Darfur escalated in 2003 forcing the displacement of 2.5 million and the deaths of over 200,000 people.

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The Office of Military commissions filed charges against Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, the brother-in-low of 9/11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar at the naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The charges include conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, murder in violation of the laws of war, and proving material support to terrorism.

Military officials believe al-Darbi participated in meetings with al Qaida operatives and top lieutenants of Osama bin Laden to plan attacks against ships in the Strait of Hormuz and others near the coast of Yemen. The charges state al-Darbi met with bin Laden in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and served as a weapons instructor at al Qaeda training facilitities there. The charges allege al-Darbi planned to load a boat named “Adnan” with explosives for terrorist operations. He also allegedly purchased a second boat with the intent to train terrorist operatives to operate a commandeer a ship.

The charges mean military judicial authorities at Guantanamo Bay will assess al-Darbi’s status and review his eligibility to face prosecution before the war crimes tribunal established by U.S. authorities. Officials at the base state that the review and prosecutorial processes are in top gear to expedite outstanding cases. It is widely speculated the Bush administration will move to close the detention facility before his term as president ends in 2009.

Department of Defense

The military judge overseeing the designation of detainees held at the U.S. naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay ruled the former driver and bodyguard of Osama bin Laden is eligible to face a war crimes tribunal. Navy Capt. Keith Allred denied the defense arguments that Salim Ahmed Hamdan is a prisoner-of-war and thus ineligible to proceed under the confines of international law as defined by the Guantanamo tribunals.

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The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a second lawsuit Wednesday against Blackwater Worldwide for assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death and war crimes. The second lawsuit concerns a Sept. 9 shooting in Baghdad that the prosecutors allege Blackwater guards fired into a crowd of civilians unprovoked. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Ali Husaamaldeen Ibrahim al Bazzaz, whom the group says died during the incident.

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Congress sent U.S. President Bush a bill permitting states, localities and private investors to cut ties with corporations and investments linked to Sudan.  The bill, sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., passed the House unanimously amid concerns from the Bush administration the bill allows states and local governments to wade into the dictation of foreign policy – an area normally granted to the executive branch.  “I don’t believe President Bush can afford to veto this bill,” said Dodd. “A veto would be an endorsement of genocide.”

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Raffi Gregorian, a U.S. administrator in Bosnia, said the two most wanted war crimes suspects from the Bosnia wars, Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, are within reach of Serbian officials. Speaking to a Bosnian television station Monday evening, Gregorian said the Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica could have the two arrested with a single phone call. “Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica can solve the issue of their arrest with just one phone call,” Gregorian said.

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The United States faces its first test of a 1994 law that makes it a crime for U.S. citizens to commit torture or war crimes overseas. A Miami federal court opened the case of the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Charles “Chuckie” McArthur Emmanuel, indicted on eight counts of torture and killing from 1999 to 2002 when he lead an anti-terrorist unit called the Demon Forces in Liberia. Language and cultural barriers, third world conditions, and outright fear of retribution cause many of the difficulties of efficiently progressing with the trial.

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The Lebanese prime minister requested assistance from the United Nations with the investigation into the assassination of a leading general. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora issued a request to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for technical assistance into the death of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, who was slated for the next head of the Lebanese army. The United Nations is currently investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 18 other allegedly politically motivated assassinations and bombings.

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