Sri Lanka and the UN: Unslayable ghosts

Posted by Kathryn Hovington

For the first time since the end of the war in 2009, the Sri Lankan government may be forced to answer for its actions to the United Nations’ human-rights council. America (with European support) is expected to propose a resolution, calling for the government to report on both how it is fostering better ties with Tamils and its inquiries into possible war crimes. The expected Western-backed proposal may also try to use the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (the government-backed inquiry into the war’s end), to put pressure on the government by asking for other recommendations to be implemented. Basil Rajapaksa, brother to the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, claims that it is the outsiders who are causing tension. Sri Lanka is backing a counter-resolution criticising Western funding of the council. For the full article from The Economist, please click here.

First Defence Filings at the STL

Following their recent appointment, Counsel representing Assad Sabra in the case of Ayyash et al have submitted the first defence filings at the STL.

David Young of 9 Bedford Row, Lead Counsel for Sabra, and Dr Guénaël Mettraux of Doughty Street, Co-Counsel for Sabra, have put forward objections to the Victims’ Participation Unit’s filing of all applications for the status of victim participating in the proceedings confidentially and ex parte on the basis that such an approach endangers guarantees of due process and fairness to the accused. The full Motion requesting an Order for the VPU to re-file its Annexes inter partes or to seek protective measures from the Pre-Trial Judge is available here.

Mr Sabra’s Defence Counsel also filed supplementary submissions on 29^th February 2012 regarding the entry into force of amendments to the STL’s Rule 86(C), which governs victims’ applications to participate in the proceedings. The proposed amendments are said to restrict the scope of permissible submissions by the Defence and Prosecution to legal issues, and thereby affect the right of the Defence to be heard. The full submissions are available here.

On the 23rd February, Defence Counsel filed a motion seeking the Prosecution’s compliance with a Pre-Trial Judge’s Order for disclosure. The full Motion is available here.

Taylor war crimes verdict set for April

Post by Kathryn Hovington

Judges trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the civil war in Sierra Leone, will hand down their verdict on 26 April 2012. For the full article from the AFP, please click here. 

Amendments to STL Rules

Judges of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon have recently approved amendments to the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE). A number of clarifications to the existing rules have been approved, including those in relation to victim participation.

The updated RPE are available here and a summary report on the RPE changes can be viewed from here.

Please see the STL website for further information.

ADC-ICTY Newsletter, Issue 26

Issue 26 of the ADC-ICTY Newsletter includes submissions on the rejection of the amicus curiae brief in Prosecutor v Gotovina and Markac, the Appeal Judgment in Duch, the UN Human Rights Office’s call for Syrian Officials to be sent to the ICC, and Garzón’s conviction. The full newsletter is available here.

International Justice Tribune Magazine

Today’s release of the International Justice Tribune, Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s independent fortnightly magazine on international criminal justice, includes the following articles:

- Ivory Coast – who’s next after Laurent Gbagbo?

- ICC proposes cuts, Gbagbo asks for means

- Ivory Coast Inquiry Commission ‘shortcuts’

- Bemba-ICC: 4 years and 40 witnesses later

- ICTY trials come to light

- ICTR stays its first transfer to Rwanda

- ICT: can one-sided trials be fair?

- Bemba-ICC: 4 years and 40 witnesses later

International Justice Tribune Magazine

Today’s release of the International Justice Tribune, Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s independent fortnightly magazine on international criminal justice, includes the following articles:

- Ivory Coast – who’s next after Laurent Gbagbo?

- ICC proposes cuts, Gbagbo asks for means

- Ivory Coast Inquiry Commission ‘shortcuts’

- Bemba-ICC: 4 years and 40 witnesses later

- ICTY trials come to light

- ICTR stays its first transfer to Rwanda

- ICT: can one-sided trials be fair?

- Bemba-ICC: 4 years and 40 witnesses later

Steven Kay QC Addresses European Parliament

HPCRP Syria Web Seminar

On 15 March 2012, Harvard University will host a live web seminar as part of its Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research Programme. The seminar, “Legal and Policy Challenges of Protecting Civilians in Syria”, will be broadcast in a number of different timezones. Please register here.

From the event’s webpage: “Amidst UN Security Council gridlock over taking action on Syria, the international community has begun seeking alternate routes to address the current humanitarian crisis. One set of options entails establishing a limited truce or a humanitarian corridor to provide much needed assistance to the population. Other options involve creating “safe areas” or “no-kill zones,” which would be more or less militarized. Additionally, the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic recently released a report concluding that Syrian authorities at the highest level, as well as opposition forces, have committed gross and systematic human rights violations that may amount to crimes against humanity.”

“This situation tests the international community’s ability and will to operationalize its sense of collective responsibility. International Humanitarian Law (IHL), under Common Article 1 to the four Geneva Conventions, recognizes states’ collective responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians in armed conflict. As the Conventions detail, this responsibility entails a set of measures to prevent, mitigate, and prohibit grave breaches of IHL, also known as war crimes. More recently, states have agreed at the UN General Assembly to expand this collective responsibility to cover other massive abuses of human rights, genocide, and crimes against humanity in situations other than armed conflict. But in times of crisis, the terms of engagement for activating this collective responsibility have become topics of intense debates at the UN Security Council. At what point do massive abuses of human rights constitute crimes against humanity or genocide? Ultimately, whose role is it to decide? How should the international community intervene in these dramatic circumstances? How can international actors address the root causes and long-term consequences of such crises?”

Please see here for further information.

David Scheffer Book Launch at 9BRi - 13.3.12

On Tuesday 13 March at 12.00 pm, 9 Bedford Row International in association with the University of Middlesex School of Law will host the launch of David Scheffer’s new book: “All the Missing Souls – A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals”.

David Scheffer served as the first US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues (1997 – 2001), leading American initiatives on war crimes tribunals during the 1990s. He is the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law and director of the Centre for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law.

Please see the event invite for further information.