The International Center for Transitional Justice
www.ictj.org
September 15, 2005
HEADLINES
Afghanistan: 28 More Candidates Barred from Election
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mostar Erects Bruce Lee Monument; Sredoje Lukic Surrenders
Chile: Supreme Court Strips Pinochet Immunity
Croatia: Domestic Trials of Military Policemen Reopens
Iraq: Date Set for Trial of Saddam Hussein
Rwanda: Rwandan General to Face Military Court; Gacaca Court Gives Category I Status to Belgian Priest; Nyiramasuhuko Begins Defense
South Africa: Basson Case Can Be Reopened
AFGHANISTAN
28 More Candidates Barred from Election
September 13, 2005
The Electoral Complaints Commission in Afghanistan has barred 28 more candidates from running in the upcoming national assembly ("Wolesi Jirga") and provincial council elections, bringing the total number of disqualified candidates to a mere 45 out of some 5800 candidates. The commission chairman said the disqualifications were based on violations of electoral law, most notably links to illegal armed groups. Several high-profile figures accused of human rights violations, among them a former Taliban vice-minister responsible for the religious police, are running for election and cannot be barred because they have not been convicted of any offenses.
See: Reuters, Afghan poll body bars 28 more candidates
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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Mostar Erects Bruce Lee Monument
September 12, 2005
The city of Mostar has erected a bronze statue of Chinese-American kung fu legend Bruce Lee as a symbol of unity among its divided ethnic groups. Lee is equally revered by the city's Muslims, Serbs and Croats. One of the organizers of the project stated that the statue would be a monument to universal justice.
See: CNN, New Bosnia icon: Bruce Lee
Sredoje Lukic Surrenders
September 13, 2005
Sredoje Lukic, a top Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect, has surrendered to Serb authorities in Bosnia. Lukic has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on charges that include cruel and inhumane acts against non-Serbs, crimes against humanity as well as humiliation, terrorizing and psychological abuse of Bosnian Muslims. Lukic's cousin, Milan Lukic, who has also been indicted by the ICTY, was arrested in Argentina last month and is awaiting extradition to The Hague. The two cousins were members of the Avengers, a notorious Bosnian Serb paramilitary.
See: AP, Bosnian Serb War Criminal Suspect Surrenders
For more detailed weekly updates on the ICTY, please see Tribunal Update by The Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the U.N. Public Information Services' ICTY Weekly Update, and the Coalition for International Justice's Latest Reports. See also the International Center for Transitional Justice/Bard College's audio/video archive of the Milosevic trial.
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CROATIA
Domestic Trials of Military Policemen Reopens
September 13, 2005
Croatia has reopened the trial of eight former policemen charged with torturing and killing Serb prisoners of war in 1992. The eight were tried and acquitted in 2002. Human rights groups criticized the original trial for bias, mishandling of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses. The Supreme Court last year overturned the acquittal and ordered a retrial. Only four of the defendants appeared in court, as the others went into hiding after the acquittal was overturned.
See: Reuters, Croatia reopens war crimes trial for own troops
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CHILE
Supreme Court Strips Pinochet Immunity
September 14, 2005
Chile's Supreme Court has ruled that former military leader Augusto Pinochet can face charges related to the killing of dissidents in the 1970s. In this case, he is accused of direct involvement in the death of at least 15 activists in a 1975 secret police operation known as Operation Colombo. This is the third human rights case in which the Supreme Court has lifted Pinochet's immunity; a court found him too ill to stand trial in the two previous cases.
See: BBC, Court strips Pinochet of immunity
Reuters, Chile's Pinochet loses immunity in rights case
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IRAQ
Date Set for Trial of Saddam Hussein
September 13, 2005
The Iraqi government has confirmed that the trial of former dictator Saddam Hussein will begin on October 19, 2005. He will face charges related to the 1982 killing of 143 people in the Shi'ite Muslim village of Dujail. Soon after the government confirmed the date, President Jalal Talabani also reported that the former dictator had confessed to ordering the Al Anfal campaign against the Kurds which resulted in over 100,000 people killed. Lawyers for Hussein denied that he had confessed to the killings, and claimed that his rights to access counsel have not been respected.
See: Reuters, Iraq govt confirms Saddam trial to start Oct 19
Reuters, Iraq president says Saddam confesses to executions
Reuters, Saddam did not confess to mass killings -- lawyer
AP, Saddam Lawyer Denies Confessing to Deaths
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RWANDA
Rwandan General to Face Military Court
September 10, 2005
Army Major-General Laurent Munyakazi has been arrested at the order of a Rwandan Gacaca court. Witnesses have accused him of involvement in killings of people taking refuge in churches in the capital, Kigali, of destroying relevant evidence, and of threatening genocide survivors. He will face a court martial. His arrest marks the first time a senior officer has been detained on the orders of the Gacaca courts.
See: BBC, Genocide arrest of Rwanda general
Reuters, Rwanda arrests general in genocide probe -- radio
Gacaca Court Gives Category I Status to Belgian Priest
September 13, 2005
Belgian Catholic priest Guy Theunis has been given Category I status after testifying at a Gacaca court and now faces a conventional court. Gacaca courts handle cases involving lesser crimes (Categories II-IV) and refer suspects accused of major crimes to the courts. The evidence presented against Fr. Theunis included articles written in a magazine he published, faxed correspondence to colleagues in Europe that downplayed the violence, and testimony of his support for violence against Tutsis in the early 1990s.
See: BBC, Belgian priest faces Rwanda court
The New Times, Belgian Priest in Category I
CISA, Rights Group Slams Rwanda for Arresting Priest
Nyiramasuhuko Begins Defense
September 13, 2005
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, former Minister of Family and Women's Affairs, has begun testifying before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). She is the only woman indicted by the ICTR for taking part in the 1994 genocide, and is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape. She has denied the charges.
See: Xinhua, Rwandan ex-minister denies ordering rape during genocide
Reuters, Female Genocide Suspect Nyiramasuhuko Takes Aim at Expert Witness
Reuters, Rwanda arrests general in genocide probe -- radio
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SOUTH AFRICA
Basson Case Can Be Reopened
September 10, 2005
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the criminal case against Wouter Basson, dubbed "Dr. Death," can be reopened. Basson, the apartheid-era head of biological weapons research, has been accused of involvement in a number of plots to poison anti-apartheid activists. A judge acquitted him of murder in 2002 and the Court of Appeals refused to overturn the acquittal. The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous decision, found that the original judge had erred in finding that the original charges fell outside South African law because they involved crimes allegedly committed outside the country. The court also said that under international law, South Africa is obliged to prosecute cases involving crimes against humanity.
See: BBC, Retrial for SA's 'Doctor Death'
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Editor: Patrick J. Pierce
Patrick J. Pierce serves as a consultant to the ICTJ.
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