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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The war crimes tribunal prosecuting members associated with the former Yugoslavia sentenced a former Bosnian Serb general to a 33 year prison term. The U.N. tribunal transmitted the sentence to Dragomir Milosevic, no relation to Slobodan Milosevic, for atrocities committed in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. Milosevic, 65, oversaw the killing of more than 10,000 […]
The international peacekeeping effort authorized for Darfur may come unraveled as officials in Sudan continue to block key components of the force necessary for a viable mission. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1769 in July authorizing a 26,000 unit peacekeeping force to protect civilians in Darfur and humanitarian groups operating in the region. […]
The driver for Osama bin Laden faced a Combatant Status Review Tribunal to determine his eligibility to face the war crimes tribunal at the U.S. naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Ahmed Hamdan was portrayed by government prosecutors as a loyalist to the al Qa’ida leader who swore an oath to bin Laden, […]
The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court asked the U.N. Security Council to ramp up its effort to persuade Sudan to arrest and surrender two officials indicted for war crimes in Darfur. Luis Moreno-Ocampo added that one of the wanted officials, Ahmad Haround, the Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister, may be orchestrating continued violence against […]
The Supreme Court Wednesday will hear oral arguments in a package of cases concerning the rights of detainees held at the U.S. naval detention center at Guantanamo bay, Cuba. The cases, Boumediene v. Bush, and Al Odah v. U.S, mark the third time the Bush administration has faced the Supreme Court regarding the rights of […]