Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's trial was adjourned until January today. Karadzic will keep busy testifying on behalf of a former Serb official, Momcilo Krajisnik. Alan Dershowitz, who is assisting with Krajisnik's defense, promises Karadzic will provide “significant exculpatory evidence.”
The New York Post reports the US strike in Syria Sunday killed Abu Ghadiyah, an Al Qaeda leader located on the Syrian side of the Iraq-Syria border. Syria has closed an American school and cultural center in response.
The LA Times reports that the Air Force and Department of Defense are investigating Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, considering allegations that he interfered with certain Guantanamo prosecutions. The allegations are serious, in light of the high standards governing prosecutors’ conduct, and the Times reports the Air Force has already conducted a preliminary inquiry and found […]
The Uighur detainees we referred to earlier this week yesterday lost an appeal for en banc rehearing of the Justice Department's petition for a stay of the trial court's order releasing them into the U.S. mainland. Scotusblog reports DOJ has filed a merits brief, arguing in essence that while the Uighurs can't be returned to […]
The first case at the International Criminal Court may be setting an unwelcome precedent as judges this week suspended the trial for Congolese militia leader, Thomas Lubanga. ICC judges in June suspended the trial because prosecutors would not share their evidence with the defense. The judges this week said Lubana should remain in custody, but […]
The tribunal system established to try suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay does not seem to meet international requirements for a fair trial, a U.N. expert said. Martin Scheinin, a human rights and terrorism expert, told the U.N. General Assembly a visit last year to the detention facility confirmed his concerns […]
First, a recent order directing that a group of Uighur detainees at Guantanamo be released into the continental United States has been placed on hold by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals pending a government appeal. Lyle Denniston provides the hold order, from a three-judge panel of the Court, in this post, summarizing the case. […]
Commenter Steve Hoenstine had some harsh words for the Sudanese Darfur trials here. Human Rights Watch agrees, condemning the domestic trials as “mere window dressing” with “little promise of bringing justice to victims of serious abuses.”
The Sudanese government is set to begin its own Darfur trials, without Colonel Al-Bashir as a defendant. International fugitive Ali Kushayb, however, reportedly will be tried. Meanwhile, Colonel Al-Bashir is holding an international peace conference on Darfur without the participation of Darfuris. It is not clear what al-Bashir hopes the conference will accomplish.
We wrote recently about the difficulties facing the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Christian Science Monitor had a great article Saturday by Heba Aly, detailing continued janjaweed- and government-sponsored violence against civilians in Darfur. The Sudanese government – and many Western analysts – have asserted moving forward with the […]
The AP is reporting that internal documents show former detainee Yaser Hamdi, released in 2004, was undergoing psychological problems as a result of his confinement in Charleston, South Carolina's consolidated naval brig where U.S. citizens designated “enemy combatants” are detained. Hamdi was eventually released and deported to Saudi Arabia on the condition he give up […]
Our colleagues at The Grotian Movement have obtained the only English language translation of the decision on the Anfal campaign, an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kurdish population in the north of the country. The repercussions of the Anfal campaign are apparent in the disputed provincial elections law. Iraq lawmakers passed a long-awaited provincial elections […]
Serb general Momcilo Perisic's trial began in front of ICTY late last week. Perisic served as Yugoslav army commander during the conflict. The indictment against Perisic filed by the office of the Prosecutor charges Perisic with command responsibility for failing to punish war crimes committed by subordinates, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws […]
In another blow to the Bush administration's authority over so-called enemy combatants, a federal judge ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslims of the Uighur sect released from U.S. custody at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Tuesday there was no evidence to suggest the Uighurs were “enemy combatants” […]
The Irish Times notes that the Secretary-General's office has announced it will retain Rwandan General Emmanuel Karake Karenzi to serve as second-in-command of its Darfur peacekeeping force. Rwanda had threatened to withdraw from the force if Karenzi was removed. Karenzi served as a high-ranking officer in the Rwandan Patriotic Front during the civil war. The […]