The International Center for Transitional Justice
www.ictj.org

Transitional Justice in the News

January 15, 2007

HEADLINES

Argentina: Missing Witness Reappears; Arrest Warrant Issued for Former President Peron;

Nation to Probe pre-“Dirty War” Crimes

Cambodia: Ruling Party Declares Support for Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Ethiopia: Life Sentence for Former Leader Mengistu

Iraq: Appeals Decision Issued; Saddam Hussein Executed

Liberia: Public Hearings Expected to Start in Late January

Peru: Legislators Announce Support for TRC

Rwanda: Former Governor Goes on Trial for Genocide

Spain: Spanish Prosecutors Seek 17,000-year Term for Argentinean

United States: Appeals Court Upholds Verdict against Salvadorans

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ARGENTINA

Missing Witness Reappears

December 29, 2006

A second witness in the human rights trial against former Argentine police commissioner, Miguel Etchecolatz Jorge, disappeared in late December. The victim, Luis Gerez—a survivor of the nation’s brutal “dirty war” era—was allegedly kidnapped and tortured after he testified in court about being tortured by state agents during Etchecolatz’s administration. Unlike Julio López, another victim, still missing since his September 18^th disappearance, Gerez was released shortly after President Nestor Kirchner told the nation he believed former security agents were behind the kidnapping. The recent disappearances have revived fearful memories of right-wing death squads, widely thought to be a thing of the past in contemporary Argentinean society.

See, Merco Press, Argentine clue witness in human rights trial reappears

Associated Press, Witness in Argentina rights trial is tortured

Washington Post, Missing Argentine Trial Witness Found

Arrest Warrant Issued for Former President Peron

January 12, 2006

An international warrant was issued by an Argentine judge for the arrest of former President Isabel Peron, wanted for questioning about her role in the abduction of a dissident in 1976. The move is part of an expanded investigation into human rights abuses that took place before the country’s military dictatorship began. Prosecutors seek to question Peron about allegedly authorizing acts of state terrorism during her rule from 1974-76. Peron—who was the third wife of former Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron—has lived in Spain since 1981.

See, Reuters, Argentina seeks arrest of ex-president Isabel Peron

CNN, Spain awaits Interpol order in ex-Argentine leader's arrest

Nation to Probe pre-“Dirty War” Crimes

January 11, 2007

Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide reopened a probe into a pre-“Dirty War” death squad known as the Argentine Anti-communist Alliance (“The Triple A”), arguing that no statute of limitations could apply to those alleged to have committed crimes against humanity. He also ordered the arrest of two suspected members of the group on claims by human rights groups that they have sufficient evidence to prove the two had a role in the murders or abductions of up to 2,000 people before the 1976-83 military dictatorship. This latest move reflects President Nestor Kirchner’s drive to prosecute previous rights abusers, made possible in a legal sense by the repeal of two key amnesty laws in 2005.

See, Reuters, Argentina probes pre-Dirty War rights crimes

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CAMBODIA

Ruling Party Declares Support for Khmer Rouge Tribunal

January 7, 2007

Speaking at a public ceremony commemorating the 28^th anniversary of the downfall of the Democratic Kampuchea government—during which the ruling Khmer Rouge regime authorized mass executions of innocent civilians—the president of the Cambodian Peoples’ Party (CPP), Chea Sim, lashed out at critics of the UN-backed tribunal established to try former Khmer Rouge leadership. Sim said that his party has supported the progress made by the Tribunal— formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC)—since its establishment in 2003 by a joint agreement between the UN and the Cambodian government. The trial process is expected to begin in mid- 2007.

See. Xinhua, Cambodia's ruling party airs support for trial of former DK leaders

Associated Foreign Press, Cambodia's ruling party lashes out at KRouge tribunal critics

Der Spiegel, The Guardians of Hell: Cambodia Prepares for Khmer Rouge Tribunal

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ETHIOPIA

Life Sentence for Former Leader Mengistu

January 11, 2007

Former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison by an Ethiopian court, which has been trying him for the last 12 years on charges of genocide and other human rights abuses committed during his rule. Mengistu took power in 1974 through a bloody coup which ended Emperor Haile Selassie’s reign. His administration gained notoriety for its systematic purges of hundreds of thousands civilians, dubbed “counter-revolutionaries”. Mengistu has been living in exile in Zimbabwe as an official guest of Robert Mugabe’s since 1991, the year he was overthrown and fled the country.

See, Guardian, Ethiopian Dictator Sentenced to Prison

CNN, Ethiopian dictator gets life sentence

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IRAQ

Appeals Decision Issued; Saddam Hussein Executed

December 30, 2006

On December 28^th, the appeals bench of the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) issued the final judgment in the Dujail trial. The panel’s judgment—delivered after less than three weeks of deliberation—confirmed the verdicts and sentences against seven defendants, including former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. The panel recommended an increase in the severity of the life sentence given to former vice president, Taha Yasin Ramadan.

Saddam Hussein was executed two days later, on December 30th, a move whose timing and methods provoked much controversy in Iraq and internationally. Two other defendants sentenced to death were also executed on January 15th. The IHT had found Hussein and his associates guilty of authorizing the torture, willful killing, and forced displacement of Iraqi Shiites in the village of Dujail, in retaliation for an alleged 1982 assassination attempt against him.

See, International Herald Tribune, U.S. role tainted trial

Time, Saddam's Botched Trial

Los Angeles Times, Kurdish survivors' feelings conflicted

Guardian Unlimited, Sunnis Blast Hanging of Two Saddam Aides

Al-Hayat, سامي شورش الحياة

See also: ICTJ Press Release, December 27, 2006

Iraq Tribunal Chooses Speed over Justice in Final Ruling

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LIBERIA

Public Hearings Expected to Start in Late January

January 3, 2006

Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) announced that it would start holding public hearings sometime in January, as it had planned to in its original timeline of activities. Conflicting reports from both the media and the commissioners themselves have given a range of possible start dates, with the latest indication being January 31st. The Commission, formally launched in June 2006, has a mandate of two years and three months to complete its investigation into atrocities around Liberia’s brutal civil war. Both victims and alleged perpetrators are expected to testify at the public hearings, in an effort to unearth the root causes and experiences of that era.

See, Africa News, Liberia's Truth Commission begins hearings mid January

The Analyst, War Crimes Hearings Start in Two Weeks

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PERU

Legislators Announce Support for TRC

January 11, 2007

During a press conference in Lima, 69 members of congress publicly committed their support for implementing the recommendations made by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Some of the initiatives supported by the lawmakers include developing and distributing official state identification documents for citizens in areas most affected by violence; providing mental health programs for victims; and incorporating the TRC’s final report into high school curricula nationwide. The Peruvian TRC was launched in July 2001 to investigate human rights abuses that occurred between 1980 and 2000.

See, Peru 21, Legisladores se comprometen a impulsar recomendaciones de la CVR

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RWANDA

Former Governor of Kigali Goes on Trial for Genocide

January 8, 2007

One of the most highly anticipated cases in the history of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) got under way this month when prosecutors opened their case against Tharcisse Renzaho. The defendant—who was apprehended while in hiding in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—was governor of the capital city, Kigali, in 1994 when the genocide began. As governor he had widespread political and municipal powers, with control over mayors, police, militias, and armed civilians. It is alleged that he was a key figure in arming the Hutu militias and facilitating the rampant impunity that made the 100-day genocide particularly swift against the nation’s minority Tutsi population. To date, the ICTR has convicted 27 people and acquitted five suspects since it started trials in 1997. It has until the end of 2008 to complete its trials.

See, CNN, Genocide trial begins for ex-Rwandan governor

Reuters, UN court starts Rwandan governor genocide trial

Trial Watch, Profile of Tharcisse Renzaho

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SPAIN

Spanish Prosecutors Seek 17,000-year Term for Argentinean

January 12, 2007

Spanish prosecutors announced they would seek a prison sentence of up to 17,000 years in the forthcoming trial against former Argentine naval officer, Ricardo Cavallo, expected to start later this year. Cavallo has been in Spanish custody since 2003, when he was extradited to Spain by Mexico on charges of genocide and other human rights abuses linked to his role in Argentina's “dirty war.” In April 2006, another former military officer from Argentina, Adolfo Scilingo, was sentenced in Spain to 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity. Despite such lengthy sentences, Spanish law stipulates that 30 years is the maximum sentence one can serve.

See, Voice of America, Spain Requests Sentence Up to 17,000 Years for Ex-Argentine Naval Officer

BBC, Argentine may face 17,000 years

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UNITED STATES

Appeals Court Upholds Verdict against Salvadorans

December 28, 2006

A US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a $55 million verdict against two former Salvadoran generals for torture and other human rights violations that occurred under their leadership during El Salvador’s brutal civil war. The court had previously tossed out the award on the basis that the victims had filed their case after a 10-year statute of limitations had expired. The Court reversed its decision on the basis that “extraordinary circumstances” had prevented the victims from filing earlier. The civil lawsuit was filed in 1999 against General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova—former Director-General of the Salvadoran National Guard from 1979-83 and later Minister of Defense—and General Jose Guillermo Garcia—Minister of Defense from 1979-83—seeking damages for torture, and other grave human rights violations. Both men are retired and living in exile in Florida.

See, Jurist, Federal appeals court reinstates $55M verdict against Salvadoran generals

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Editors: Veerle Opgenhaffen and Kasia Reterska

This semimonthly newsletter summarizes major news events in the field of transitional justice. To unsubscribe, please e-mail unsubscribe@ictj.org. To subscribe, please send an e-mail request to communications@ictj.org.

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved.

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