The International Center for Transitional Justice
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Transitional Justice in the News

February 15, 2007 Issue

HEADLINES

Algeria: Police Shut Down Truth-seeking Conference

Bosnia: Government Defies UN’s Vetting Program

Colombia: Militiaman Offers $45 Million in Reparations to Victims

Iraq: Former Vice-President’s Sentence Changed to Death Penalty

Malaysia: Former Prime Minister Announces Pursuit of War Crimes Tribunal

Peru: President García Implicated by Former Death Squad Member

Taiwan: Chinese Central Government Urges Transitional Justice Measures for Taiwan

Uganda: 49 Ugandans Apply to Testify at ICC

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ALGERIA

Police Shut Down Truth-seeking Conference

February 7, 2007

Police in Algiers shut down a conference aimed at addressing unresolved issues stemming from the nation’s brutal civil war. Five organizations representing victims from different sides of the conflict—including victims of terror attacks and those believed to have been killed or kidnapped by security forces—set to gather for the “Truth, Peace, and Conciliation” conference, were barred from entering the hotel where the event was to take place. International experts invited to talk about reconciliation efforts in other countries were also prevented from entering the country. Conference organizers were quoted as saying they had fully disclosed conference details to the authorities and had been expecting the government’s human rights minister, Farouk Ksentini, to attend.

See, International Herald Tribune, Algerian police break up conference seeking to shed light on insurgency

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BOSNIA

Government Defies UN’s Vetting Program

February 10, 2007

Bosnia has created a special commission to review the status of approximately 800 federal and local police officers that have been barred from working since 2002, when the UN pressured the government to remove them from their posts. The government argued that the vetting process used by the UN—enacted just as its mission in the region was winding down—was flawed and rushed, leading to unclear standards for wide-scale dismissals. Without a formal system of appeals, those chosen for removal had no means by which to argue against the UN’s decisions, though some have since challenged their dismissals in Bosnian courts. The UN’s vetting methods have come under sharp attack from NGOs as well as several high-ranking international legal authorities, who have asked the UN to re-examine its procedures.

See, International Herald Tribune, Bosnia challenges UN over police officers' dismissal

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COLOMBIA

Militiaman Offers $45 Million in Reparations to Victims

February 13, 2007

Former paramilitary chief, Carlos Mario Jimenez, has surrendered assets and properties worth $45 million to the Colombian government, to be used as reparations for the victims of the nation’s protracted internal armed conflict. Jimenez is currently in a maximum-security prison, after participating in a demobilization plan aimed at fostering peace. The assets consist of what Jimenez called “strategic reserves” his unit had controlled under his command, including properties, farms, ranches, and cast quantities of cattle. The offer came just as one of Colombia’s top jailed drug-dealers made public statements warning of a mass rearmament and reorganization effort underway among the militias, to which, he has claimed, “the US is turning a blind eye.”

See, La Patria, 'Paras' anuncian entrega de bienes por 100 mil millones de pesos

El Tiempo, Entrega de tierras anuncian los jefes paramilitares desmovilizados

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IRAQ

Former Vice-President’s Sentence Changed to Death Penalty

February 5, 2007

The Iraqi High Tribunal imposed the death penalty against former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan, after previously sentencing him to life imprisonment in November, 2006. Defense counsel had appealed this earlier decision on December 5th and December 26th, the Tribunal's Appeals Chamber issued a 17-page judgment confirming Ramadan's conviction, returning the case to the Trial Chamber to increase the penalty to a death sentence. His trial has been widely criticized as unfair and lacking in evidence.

See, CNN, Ex-Hussein V.P.'s sentence switched from life to death

Guardian Unlimited, Iraqi Court Sentences Saddam Aide to Die

Forbes, Iraq Court Sentences Saddam Aide to Die

Boston Globe, Iraqi court sentences ex-Hussein deputy to hanging

Also see: Joint HRW and ICTJ Press Release Iraq: Don't Add Death Penalty to Dujail Sentence

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MALAYSIA

Former Prime Minister Announces Pursuit of War Crimes Tribunal

February 1, 2007

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohama launched the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, claiming he seeks to bring justice to victims of the US, UK, and Israeli governments living in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories. Though he lacks government backing and funding, Mahathir has said he is determined to offer an alternative to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which he accuses of being too biased in its selection of cases. Malaysia does not have a universal jurisdiction law, nor does it have provisions for a tribunal of this scope in its national legal system. International commentators have largely called the tribunal “a farce”.

See, International Herald Tribune, Mahathir calls on Iraqi insurgents to make U.S. pay 'high price' for occupation

International Herald Tribune, Former U.N. envoy says war tribunal by Malaysia's Mahathir is a farce

Ireland Online, IOL: Malaysian war crimes tribunal to hear complaints against Bush and Blair

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PERU

President García Implicated by Former Death Squad Member

February 1, 2007

A former paramilitary group member, Miguel Exebio Reyes, has implicated current President Alan García for ordering the assassinations of individuals thought to be “enemies of the state”. Reyes alleged that he worked for García during his first term in office (1985-90) as a member of a government-sponsored death squad known as the Rodrigo Franco Commando, hired to assassinate members of the Maoist insurgent group “Sendero Luminero” (Shining Path) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. Both García and former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) have strongly denied having had ties to any paramilitary death squads. Despite the evidence Reyes provided to police in 2003, the legal investigation into the matter has been stalled and he has since lost his rights to witness protection.

See, Financial Express, Former death squad member implicates President Garcia

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TAIWAN

Chinese Central Government Urges Transitional Justice Measures for Taiwan

February 9, 2007

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of China—which claims de facto political authority over the island of Taiwan—has urged the Taiwanese government to take steps meant to “eliminate the remnants of authoritarian rule”. Measures recommended so far include: setting up a private truth commission; removing military guards currently posted at a mausoleum of former President Chiang Kai-shek; renaming the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall the “Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall”; and renaming any roads named after him. Kai-shek is widely considered to be one of the primary perpetrators responsible for the so-called “228 incident” of 1947 when thousands of Taiwanese protestors were massacred by his troops.

See, China Post, Cabinet to Evaluate DPP Proposals

Gov't to respond to transitional justice on 2-28

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UGANDA

49 Ugandans Apply to Testify at ICC

February 14, 2007

Several victims of the armed rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have filed applications with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to testify against leader Joseph Kony. The ICC has so far received 49 applications from victims of Kony’s brutal campaign against the people of northern Uganda, which has left more than two million displaced and countless thousands maimed, kidnapped, or killed. As peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government are at a standstill, the ICC is preparing its guidelines for trying Kony and three co-accused rebel leaders, should they be apprehended and handed over to the Court. According to ICC procedures, if the applicants are approved as witnesses, they will be asked to choose one legal representative to testify on behalf of the group, rather than testify in person.

See, All Africa, Uganda: 49 Apply to Testify Against Kony

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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.

In order to promote justice, peace, and reconciliation, government officials and nongovernmental advocates are likely to consider a variety of transitional justice approaches including both judicial and nonjudicial responses to human rights crimes. The ICTJ assists in the development of integrated, comprehensive, and localized approaches to transitional justice comprising five key elements: prosecuting perpetrators, documenting and acknowledging violations through nonjudicial means such as truth commissions, reforming abusive institutions, providing reparations to victims, and facilitating reconciliation processes.

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