THE HAGUE (AFP) ‚ The International Criminal Court said Thursday that its first war crimes trial, involving former Congolese militia chief Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, would open on June 23.Lubanga, 46, is accused of abducting children under the age of 15 and forcing them to participate in attacks by the armed wing of his political Union […]
The man describing himself as the chief of operations for former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Joseph Marzah, or "Zigzag," told the United Nations-backed Special Court for the Sierra Leone that Taylor encouraged his fighters to "play with human blood." Marzah told the court about roving bands of death squads terrorizing the civilian population at checkpoints […]
War crimes trial of former top Croatian generals begins at U.N. tribunal 11 March 2008 , The trial of three former senior Croatian generals accused of murdering, persecuting and displacing ethnic Serbs during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s got under way at a United Nations war crimes tribunal today. Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and […]
War crimes trial of Croat General Gotovina to begin AMSTERDAM, March 9 (Reuters) – Former Croatian General Ante Gotovina goes on trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday charged with responsibility for the murder and mistreatment of Serbs in Croatia's Krajina region in 1995. Gotovina, who is accused with two […]
Bush vetoes bill outlawing CIA waterboarding Sat Mar 8, 2008 1:53pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush on Saturday vetoed legislation passed by Congress that would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques. Lawmakers included the anti-torture measure in a broader bill authorizing U.S. intelligence activities. “Because the […]
Thai Court Keeps Arms Dealer in Custody By GRANT PECK , 3 hours ago BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) ‚ Thai police received court permission Saturday to retain custody of a reputed Russian arms dealer dubbed the “Merchant of Death” who was arrested in a U.S.-led sting operation that lured him from his home in Moscow. Viktor […]
The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other ministers that accused the government of war crimes in its latest incursion into Gaza. The letter reminded the ministers that a key principle in “humanitarian international law is the principle of distinguishing between fighters and […]
The Iraqi Presidential Council said Friday they removed the blockade on the execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali.” It was delayed in June 2007 over obstacles in the legal procedure for handing down death sentences. The council is made up of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and his two vice […]
Officials overseeing the tribunal examining the atrocities committed by Cambodia's notorious Khmer Rouge regime led its seminal prison leader, Kaing Guek Eav, known simply as “Duch,” through the prison system he once ran. Tribunal officials lead Duch through a “re-enactment” of the systematic torture conducted at the converted high-school called the S-21 prison. Duch, a […]
Reuters Tuesday, February 26, 2008 GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemala's new President Alvaro Colom said on Monday he will open army files for the first time to make public details of massacres and torture by soldiers during the country's 36-year civil war. “We are going to make all of the army's archives public so we can know […]
The federal prosecution against a former U.S. navy sailor for terrorism charged opened Monday in Connecticut. Hassan Abu-Jihaad stands accused of providing material support to terrorists with the intent to harm or kill U.S. citizens. The U.S. government alleges that Abu-Jihaad obtained classified evidence regarding Navy fleet movements in the Straits of Hormuz and sent […]
The former chief military prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal at the U.S. naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba said he would testify on behalf of the personal driver for Osama bin Laden, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Air Force Col. Morris Davis told The Associated Press Thursday he would appear at the Hamdan trial. “I […]
VIENNA, Austria (AP) ‚ A woman who was being investigated in Austria for allegedly beating an inmate to death while serving as a Nazi concentration camp guard has died, authorities said Thursday. She was 85. Erna Wallisch died in a hospital Saturday of unspecified causes, the Austrian Interior Ministry said. Because of her death, Austrian […]
From UPI. Uganda and LRA close to cease-fire deal Published: Feb. 19, 2008 at 1:40 PM KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb. 19 (UPI) — Ugandan officials agreed to let domestic courts try alleged war criminals as part of negotiations for a final peace agreement with rebels, a report says. The Ugandan national newspaper, New Vision, said […]
“Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to determine where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited in the constitution” Uh … yeah? Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia entered the torture debate Tuesday in an interview with the BBC making some […]