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Mali War Crimes Suspect to Appear before Judges in…

An Islamist militant suspected of committing war crimes in Mali is due to appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Wednesday, three days after the Malian authorities handed him over into the court’s custody last week.

The ICC indicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud for crimes allegedly committed when he served as the de-facto chief of religious police after his jihadist group seized control of Mali’s capital Timbuktu in 2012.

Charges against him include the destruction of cultural monuments and enforcing policies that led to sexual enslavement of women and girls.

Prosecutors accuse him of being a member of Ansar Dine, one of several Islamist militant groups to have waged an insurgency against the government since 2012.

During his initial appearance, Al Hassan, 40, will be informed of the allegations outlined in his arrest warrant and the court will verify his identity. He is not yet required to enter a plea.

Ansar Dine took over Timbuktu, known for its religious sites dating to its 14th century golden age. It was once a major trading hub and a centre of Sufi Islam – a branch of the religion seen as idolatrous by some hardline Muslim groups.

The group enforced its version of Sharia law. Al Hassan had unveiled women thrown in jail and beaten and was also instrumental in enforcing forced marriages which led to rapes and sexual slavery, according to media reports.

Last year, the ICC sentenced war criminal Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the destruction of cultural heritage sites in Mali. He is expected to appear as a witness against Al Hassan.

Victims’ groups had been critical of the limited scope of Al-Mahdi’s indictment, but Al Hassan’s arrest and transfer was hailed as a new stage in Mali persecutions.

“We are satisfied that the court listened to us and widened the scope of prosecutions in the Mali case to include crimes against persons and especially sexual and gender-based crimes,” Moctar Mariko, a Malian human rights activist, said in a statement.

SOURCE: TimesLive https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2018-04-04-mali-war-crimes-suspect-to-appear-before-judges-in-the-hague/

NCICC Blog

Sudanese Security Files Criminal Charges Against Al-Mahdi

April 3, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s state security prosecutor office Tuesday has filed charges, some of which are punishable by death, against the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) Sadiq al-Mahdi, accusing him of plotting with armed groups to overthrow the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

Last month, the opposition umbrella Sudan Call, which encompasses political and armed groups, held a meeting in Paris and chose AL-Mahdi as its leader.

On Monday, the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir threatened to take decisive actions against political parties allied with the rebel groups, saying he would never allow combining the armed action against the state and the political action under any title.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) on Tuesday said the state security prosecution has filed criminal charges against AL-Mahdi for dealing and coordinating with the armed movements that seek to topple the regime.

“This comes after the National Intelligence and Security Services filed a petition at the state security prosecution against Sadiq AL-Mahdi and others,” said the SMC

The state security chief prosecutor Muatasim Abdallah directed to file criminal charges under articles 21,25,26,50,51,53,63 and 66 of the 1991 Criminal Code as well as articles 5 and 6 of the Counter-Terrorism Act.

According to the prosecutor, the criminal charges “were filed against the backdrop that AL-Mahdi in his capacity as the chairman of the NUP signed with the Sudan Revolutionary Front and the armed movements a declaration of principles and issued a final communique stating joint coordination to overthrow the regime by force of arms beside inciting the residents through the social media to rebel against the state and to wreak havoc”.

It is noteworthy that the Paris meeting of the Sudan Call has approved a constitutional declaration and a final communiqué calling to adopt peaceful political means to achieve change through peaceful popular uprising or dialogue.

Al-Mahdi since last February is residing outside Sudan. He is expected to remain in Cairo where he is until a meeting with the African Union mediators to discuss the future of the negotiations with the opposition umbrella.

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the NUP, the rebel umbrella SRF, and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).

Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).

SOURCE: Sudan Tribune  http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article65090

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1 UN Peace Keeper Killed, 11 Hurt in Central…

Mostly Christian militia fighters attacked a U.N. peacekeeping base in the Central African Republic early Tuesday, and one peacekeeper from Mauritania was killed and 11 others were injured in a gun battle that lasted several hours, the United Nations said.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the attack by the anti-Balaka militias took place at a temporary U.N. peacekeeping base in Tagbara, about 60 miles northeast of the central mining town of Bambari. The peacekeeping mission said more than 22 anti-Balaka fighters died in the clash.

Dujarric said the U.N. peacekeeping mission sent reinforcements to the base, and he strongly condemned the attack.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the attack “in the strongest terms” and reiterated that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. Its members called on the Central African Republic government to swiftly investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Separately, Dujarric said, the U.N. mission reported that later Tuesday morning peacekeepers discovered the bodies of 21 civilians, including four women and four children, in Tagbara. The mission said the bodies were found near a church, and the victims had been killed with “traditional weapons.”

The Security Council said it supports an investigation by the U.N. peacekeeping mission to see if the civilian casualties are linked to the attack against the Tagbara base.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack on peacekeepers and is “outraged” at the killing of the 21 civilians and injuries to 14 other civilians, Dujarric said.

“The secretary-general calls on the Central African Republic authorities to investigate these attacks and quickly bring those responsible to justice,” he said.

In another incident, Dujarric said U.N. peacekeepers were informed Monday evening that a rebel group known as the UPC had detained 23 people in Tagbara, including 13 women, seven men and three children. He said they were released peacefully to U.N. peacekeepers and spent the night at the temporary base to ensure their safety.

The U.N. mission condemned the attacks on civilians and said that “nothing can justify these acts that can be considered war crimes.”

It said an investigation will be carried out that “leaves no possibility for impunity.”

Elsewhere, Dujarric said, U.N. peacekeepers and Central African Republic forces launched a joint operation on Saturday and rescued 15 people who had been taken hostage by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group led by Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

The LRA has wreaked havoc in central Africa over the years in violent rampages that include the abduction of children. It has taken boys who are then forced to become fighters and girls who become sex slaves, one of the reasons the group has gained international attention in recent times.

The Central African Republic has faced deadly inter religious and inter communal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the capital, Bangui. Mostly Christian anti-Balaka militias fought back, resulting in thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The impoverished country saw a period of relative peace in late 2015 and 2016 but violence has intensified and spread in the past year.

SOURCE: ABC NEWS http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/peacekeeper-killed-11-hurt-car-attack-54206918

NCICC Blog

Suspected Boko Haram Militants kill At least 15 in…

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria April 2 – A Boko Haram attack in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed at least 15 people and wounded 83, a military spokesman said on Monday, in the biggest strike since the government said it was in talks with the Islamist militant group.

The military said the incident occurred late on Sunday and included gun battles between government troops and the militants as they tried to enter Maiduguri, a city in northeast Nigeria which is the epicentre of a nine-year conflict with Boko Harm that has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 people.

President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritised improving security and has previously declared the defeat of Boko Haram, which is trying to establish an Islamic state and which split into two factions in 2016.

The military said troops clashed with the jihadists in a cashew plantation around Bille Shuwa and Alikaranti villages, near Giwa barracks on the edge of Maiduguri’s inner city, at around 08:10 p.m. (1910 GMT) on Sunday and fought gun battles with government troops during which multiple blasts were heard.

“Fifteen persons including a soldier have so far been confirmed dead in the encounter, while about 83 persons who suffered varying degrees of injuries are receiving due medical attention,” said army spokesman Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu.

He said 13 insurgents had been killed, including seven bombers, adding that the retreating militants attacked locals.

“It is clear that the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists are hell-bent on remaining relevant by attacking soft and vulnerable targets,” Nwachukwu added.

TALKS

It is the most significant attack on the city since the government said last week it was in talks with the insurgents with the aim of securing a permanent ceasefire.

The government has not disclosed which elements of Boko Haram it is in discussions with and it was also not clear which faction carried out Sunday’s attack.

The government has been saying since December 2015 that the jihadist group has been defeated but high-profile attacks in the last few months – including the kidnap of 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi and a strike in the town of Rann that killed three aid workers – has shown the jihadists remain active.

All but one of the girls taken from Dapchi, in Yobe state, on Feb. 19 were returned by the militants in March. The government later said it had negotiated their release as part of broader talks.

In early 2015 Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium but was forced out of most of that territory by the army with the support of troops from neighbouring countries.

Since then the group has continued to carry out suicide bombings, gun raids and kidnappings in northeastern Nigeria as well as in neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

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Duterte Set to Withdraw Philippines from International Criminal Court

 Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte made the controversial decision to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court amid a probe into alleged crimes against humanity in his brutal anti-drug crackdown that has killed thousands.

In a lengthy statement Wednesday, Duterte accused the ICC and the United Nations of a crusade against him, which he denounced as “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks on my person.”

He said that the court cannot have jurisdiction over him because the Philippine Senate’s ratification in 2011 of the Rome Statue that established the court was never publicized as required by law.

The ICC announced last month that it was opening a preliminary examination into possible crimes against humanity over alleged extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s drug crackdown. The president’s brutal war on drugs has killed an estimated 8,000 people since he took office in May 2016.

On Wednesday, Duterte pushed back at the allegations, arguing that the killings do not amount to crimes against humanity, genocide or similar atrocities.

“The so-called war against drugs is lawfully directed against drug lords and pushers who have for many years destroyed the present generation, [especially] the youth,” he wrote in a 15-page statement. “The deaths occurring in the process of legitimate police operation lacked the intent to kill.”

He continued: “The self-defense employed by the police officers when their lives became endangered by the violent resistance of the suspects is a justifying circumstance under our criminal law, hence, they do not incur criminal li

Duterte initially welcomed the changed to defend his name against ICC’s claims, but Wednesday said the court had shown a “brazen ignorance of the law.”

Duterte has acknowledged his rough ways and tough approach to crime, but suggested many Filipinos have come to accept him.

He has lashed out at European governments, saying they should “go to hell” for imposing conditions on financial aid.

On Wednesday, Duterte also invoked presidential immunity from lawsuits, which he said prevents the ICC from investigating him while he is in office. The president renewed his verbal attacks against U.N. human rights officials who have expressed alarm over the massive killings.

Last Friday, the United Nations’ human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, suggested that Duterte “needs to submit himself to some sort of psychiatric evaluation” over his “unacceptable” remarks about some top human rights defenders.

Critics expressed shock at Duterte’s decision, saying he was trying to escape accountability and fearing it could foster an even worse human rights situation in the country. Others called the move a foreign policy blunder that could embolden China to scoff at Manila’s victory in an international arbitration case against Beijing over contested territories.

Opposition Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate called Duterte’s move to withdraw the country from the Rome Statute a “grave setback to human rights and accountability.”

It is “intended to escape accountability by present and even future officials for crimes committed against the people and humanity,” Zarate said.

Should the UN accept Duterte’s withdrawal, it would make the Philippines only the second country to withdraw from the Rome statute, following Burundi in 2017.

 

SOURCE; http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/03/14/duterte-withdraws-philippines-from-international-criminal-court.html

NCICC Blog

Boko Haram Suspects Go on Public Trial in Niger

Eighty-one people accused of fighting for Boko Haram went on trial in Niger on Thursday in a public court sitting, one of the first of its kind after closed-door trials of suspected insurgents were criticised by human rights groups.

Those on trial in a special international court in the capital Niamey come from Niger, Nigeria and Chad and are suspected of playing a role in Boko Haram’s near decade-long bid to create a caliphate in Nigeria.

The Islamist insurgency has spread beyond its roots in Nigeria, killing 20,000 and uprooting nearly 3 million in the Lake Chad region.

The Niamey trials follow closed-door Boko Haram trials, including in Nigeria where a court in October jailed 45 people to between three and 31 years in jail, but the government did not say what they were convicted of.

Open trials are meant to show that suspected fighters will be given due process, and could also help alleviate a conflict that has been stoked at times by the mistreatment of captives.

The death in 2009 of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf in police custody is seen as one of the major triggers for the conflict.

The Niamey court will hear 22 separate cases over the next 10 days, following the trial of nearly 300 people on similar charges last year. In all, nearly 1,000 people are expected to come before the court.

SOURCE: MSN Newshttps://www.msn.com/en-za/news/africa/boko-haram-suspects-go-on-public-trial-in-niger/ar-BBIAZex

NCICC Blog

NCICC Pays Tribute to Steering Committee Member, Oby Nwankwo

  • by Nuella O

The world human rights community have lost the amazon herself, Oby Nwankwo. This is an unbelievable loss of a pillar of human rights promotion and equal opportunities advocacy in Nigeria and across the world. A member of UN CEDAW and highly respected activist. We cannot mourn you enough. Your legacy and pioneering work at NCICC, CIRRDOC, Coalition on Affirmative Action, Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill which you personally initiated and drove, UN Women, Coalition for Int’l Criminal Court, Nigeria Community Paralegal initiative and the many more lives that you touched, people you built and mentored etc.

You are an angel going home so soon, but rest in the bossom of the Lord, whom you diligently served when you were here.

Adieu Oby.

-Chairman, NCICC

NCICC Blog

Harry Roque Faces ICC, Defends Duterte government

The human rights issue is being politicized and there is no reason for the International Criminal Court to take jurisdiction over any complaint on alleged human rights violations related to President Duterte’s war on drugs, his spokesman has told the ICC.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque appealed to the ICC to adhere to its own rules and focus on the trial of leaders accused of human rights violations.

Instead of addressing human rights concerns raised against Duterte, Roque warned the ICC against being misled by critics who wanted the President charged before the international tribunal.

“Mr. President, we urge the Court to resist attempts by some sectors to treat the Court as a venue to pursue political agenda to destabilize governments and undermine legitimate national authorities,” Roque said during the general debate of the 16th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC held at the UN last Thursday.

“It is indeed actions like these that politicize and dilute the Court’s mandate, which ultimately undermine national efforts to punish and prosecute crimes covered by the Statute and derail current efforts to achieve universality of the Rome Statute,” Roque said.

“We trust that the Court’s exercise of its mandate will respect national processes geared towards exacting criminal accountability for conduct committed within our territory,” he said.

he group Human Rights Watch said the Duterte administration has made no genuine effort to seek accountability for drug war abuses.

Param-Preet Singh of Human Rights Watch said there have been no successful prosecutions or convictions of police implicated in summary killings despite compelling evidence.

Withdraw from ICC

Roque insinuated a possible withdrawal of the Philippines from the ICC and the Rome Statute.

“A violation of the very basis for our consent – which is complementarity – will constrain us to reassess our continuing commitment to the Court and the Rome Statute,” he said.

Roque earlier talked about the Philippines’ anchored consent to be bound by the Rome Statute on the principle of complementarity.

He cited the significance of complementarity and of collective efforts to develop an effective and fair international criminal system.

The Philippine government made the stand months after self-confessed hit man Edgar Matobato accused Duterte of being involved in extrajudicial killings when he was still mayor of Davao City.

Duterte is also facing global criticism over the thousands killed in his flagship campaign against illegal drugs.

Roque said the Philippines echoes the ICC’s shared sovereign goals of peace and security, and the importance of criminal accountability for the serious crimes of concern to the international community.

“It recognizes that effective prosecution must be ensured at the national level and enhanced by international cooperation,” Roque said.

Roque pointed out the ICC is envisioned to have complementary, not primary, jurisdiction for the prosecution of persons most responsible for the four international crimes under the Rome Statute.

“The Rome Statute requires the Court and other bodies to respect and defer to the primary criminal jurisdiction of such State Party, unless it can be shown that the state party is unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute such crimes,” he said.

Roque said the Philippines supports the activation of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression as another step toward the fulfillment of the promise, not only of the Rome Statute, but also of the UN Charter on the prohibition on the use of force.

“This position is consistent with the policy expressly provide in Article II of our Constitution that the Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy,” he said.

In his three-page statement, Roque also said the Philippine government affirms its commitment to the Rome Statute and the ICC. “We are also reminded that the Court is a court of last resort,” he said.

Duterte, who has been criticized for numerous deaths related to the administration’s drug campaign, had repeatedly defended his acts by invoking the need to implement the rule of law and “preserve the youth of this country.”

The Senate and the House of Representatives have respectively conducted their independent probes but there are no findings yet on the use of force or violence or any state-sponsored killings.

There were also attempts to file charges against the President before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Roque also used the Marawi siege to remind the ICC about the “intimate and indisputable link between terrorism and the illegal drug trade.”

“The primary objective of the Rome Statute to complement national efforts in criminal justice and social reconciliation must not be minimized or set aside,” Roque said.

Human Rights Watch agreed with Roque that under the ICC’s statute, the court may only step in when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.

“Yet his (Roque) assertion that the Philippine government has been willing and able to investigate those deaths has simply not been true,” Singh said.

Singh said the government’s claims of its preparedness to prosecute offenders are grotesquely deceptive in the face of this grim reality

 

NCICC Blog

Afghanistan: ICC Prosecutor Requests Judicial Authorisation to Open Investigation…

  • by Naomiemeka

Would justice prevail or will the Hague be invaded?

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, has decided to request judicial authorisation to open an investigation into crimes that have been committed during the armed conflict in Afghanistan

Imran JanImran Jan

Howard Zinn once said, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda has decided to request judicial authorisation to open in investigation into crimes that have been committed during the armed conflict in Afghanistan.

She has concluded that all the legal criterias required under the Rome Statute, the statute that established the ICC, have been met to commence an investigation. The request, due to the limited temporal scope of the Court’s jurisdiction, will focus on war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Afghanistan since May 2003. The authorisation sought will also focus on war crimes committed since July 1, 2002 on the territories of other countries that are parties to the Rome Statute.

Given the authorisation, Bensouda said that her “Office will investigate, within its mandate and means, in an independent, impartial and objective way, crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction allegedly committed by any party to the armed conflict”. The words ‘any party’ above are unprecedented in that the United States is a party to the conflict. This could potentially ensnare the Americans.

Bensouda’s statement doesn’t name any party. However, in a 2016 report by her, she specifically said that there was ‘reasonable basis’ to believe that (1) war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, (2) war crimes of torture and related ill-treatment committed by the Afghan government forces, national police, and Afghan intelligence agency, (3) war crimes of torture and related ill-treatment by the US military and the CIA mainly in the 2003-2004 period and allegedly to have continued in some cases until 2014.

Responsibility to protect (R2P) and other innovative forms of humanitarian interventions are always used before attacking another country. This is done so that the invasion or attack is done in order to protect the native people from being subjected to the atrocities of their own government

The United States signed the Rome Statute under Clinton but didn’t ratify it. Afghanistan is a member state. While the United States is not a member state, the court’s jurisdiction covers crimes committed on a member state’s territory regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator. Therefore, technically the court can cover the crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan. Bensouda’s 2016 report stated that there is a ‘reasonable basis to believe’ that the US forces in Afghanistan subjected ‘at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1st May 2003 and 31 December 2014.’ The report also puts the blame for ‘more than 17,000 civilian deaths in the period between January 2007 and December 2015’ on the Taliban and other anti-government armed groups.

This is a fearless effort. However, one must take the possibility of Americans being prosecuted by an international court especially the ICC with a grain of salt. It is very difficult if not impossible because there are legal barriers to prosecuting American citizens at the ICC. President Bush in August 2002 signed into law the American Service members Protection Act (APSA). The law authorises the US president to use military force to liberate any American citizen or a citizen of an American allied country being held by the court, which is located in The Hague. The provision has been dubbed as ‘Hague Invasion Clause’. Given the existence of this law, the possibility of Fatou Bensouda achieving any justice would be less than the possibility of her getting Netherland invaded.

It’s a bit of a stretch but within the realm of possibility. With an American president desperate for any side show to shift the focus off of the investigation by Bob Mueller III into his campaign officials’ contacts with the Russians, invasion or the talk of invading a European country would provide an absolute distraction. Trump through the decades has honed his skills at being a clown.

Responsibility to protect (R2P) and other innovative forms of humanitarian interventions are always used before attacking another country. This is done so that the invasion or attack is done in order to protect the native people from being subjected to the atrocities of their own government.

It is because of this that big powers use that justification to always subject other countries’ people to atrocities. US and UK, except on occasion, do not kill their own people with drone strikes, chemical weapons, cluster bombs, and so forth. Therefore, the argument always has to be that ‘that leader is killing his own people’ so we are going to defend the defenseless population. The ICC and other such world courts provide an opportunity to punish the bigger killers who kill in the name of all positive things known to mankind.

Nevertheless, Bensouda’s efforts are positive in many ways. It would buy some credibility for the court as it is always criticised for only punishing poor African countries’ leaders and avoided alleging the leaders of strong countries who are far bigger criminals. More importantly, the transition from something unthinkable to it becoming doable requires fearless and unconventional actions. This could be the first step of many tiny baby steps toward achieving a just world where all people regardless of their citizenship would be punished for their crimes.

There is a chance that death for the Afghans who are Orwell’s ‘Unpeople’ and impunity for the Americans will come after a due process of law. The difference wouldn’t be in the result but rather in the process, and process is the only thing that defines the difference between the bearded killers and the clean shaven kill

Source: dailytimes https://dailytimes.com.pk/135687/justice-prevail-will-hague-invaded/

 

NCICC Blog

ICJ: Nigeria pledges commitment, accepts ruling

International Court of Justice - ICJ

Nigeria on Thursday pledged its continued commitment to supporting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as demonstrated by acceptance of the court’s ruling on the border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Samson Itegboje, made this known while delivering the country’s statement on “The Report of the International Court of Justice” in New York.

Itegboje said: “Nigeria will continue to abide by her commitment to the promotion of international justice and the peaceful settlement of disputes, as a State Party to the Statute of the ICJ.

“By accepting the Court’s ruling on our border dispute with Cameroon, we have demonstrated our conviction and commitment to the precepts and principles of the Court.

“We encourage all member states to continue to offer their support to the activities of the court in its efforts to promote international justice and the rule of law,” he said.

According to him, the ICJ is an important part of the United Nation’s mechanisms for the promotion of the rule of law and the maintenance of international peace and security through the administration of international justice.

“To be sure, the court has made tremendous contributions to the promotion of and respect for the rule of law at the international level,” he said.

The Nigerian envoy said that over the years, the court has continued to play a vital role in the maintenance of international peace and security through its rulings and judicial notices.

“It has also contributed remarkably to the corpus of international jurisprudence,” he said.

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