The International Center for Transitional Justice
www.ictj.org
April 30, 2004
HEADLINES
Argentina: Priest Faces
Charges of Murder, Abduction, and Torture
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Six
Bosnian Croats Plead Not Guilty; ICTY Rules That Srebrenica Massacre Was
Genocide
Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Dutch Court Finds Nzapali Guilty of Torture; DRC
Sends Referral
to the ICC
Guatemala: Government
Apologizes for Myrna Mack Killing
Haiti: Former Interior
Minister Arrested
Iraq: Tribunal to Try Saddam
Hussein; U.S. Reverses Ba‘athist Purges and Announces Reparations Program
Paraguay: Truth and Justice
Commission Created
Rwanda: Tenth Anniversary of
Genocide Marked
Serbia and Montenegro: Pavkovic Says He Will Not Surrender to the ICTY
South Africa: ANC
Plan for Blanket Amnesty Criticized
Timor-Leste:
Indonesian Supreme Court Upholds Timor-Leste Governor Conviction, Acquits
Indonesian
Military
Officer; Wiranto to Run for President
ARGENTINA
Priest Faces Charges of Murder, Abduction, and Torture
April 27, 2004
Father Christián von Wernich, a Roman Catholic priest who had been living under an assumed name in Chile, has been charged in Argentina for crimes committed during the 1976-1983 “Dirty War.” He has been charged with 19 counts of murders and 33 counts of abduction and torture committed while he served as chaplain for the Buenos Aires provincial police.
See: New York Times, Back in Argentina, Priest Faces ‘Dirty War’ Charges
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BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
Six Bosnian Croats Plead Not Guilty
April 7, 2004
Six Bosnian Croats, who recently surrendered to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), have pled not
guilty to 26 counts of crimes against humanity,
violations of the laws or customs of war, and grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions. The charges relate to a 1993 ethnic cleansing campaign against
Muslims in central and southern Bosnia in an attempt to annex the areas to
Croatia.
See: Reuters, Bosnian
Croats Arrive to Face Hague Court
Reuters, Wartime Bosnian Croats Plead Not Guilty at Tribunal
ICTY Rules That Srebrenica Massacre Was Genocide
April 21, 2004
Judges at the ICTY appeals chamber have ruled in the case of Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic that the 1995 massacre of more than 7000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica constitutes genocide. The ruling significantly expands the legal definition of genocide to include, in this case, the killing of only males of an ethnic group in a local community with the intent to kill all members of that group. Krstic had been sentenced to 46 years in prison for his role in the killings, and the appeals court’s ruling redefined his involvement and reduced his sentence to 35 years.
See: BBC, War crimes case widens “genocide”
AFP, UN
court rules Srebrenica massacre was genocide
For more detailed weekly updates on the ICTY, please see Tribunal Update by The Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the UN 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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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Dutch Court Finds Nzapali Guilty of Torture
April 8, 2004
In the first Dutch domestic trial to handle human rights abuses committed outside of The Netherlands, the Rotterdam District Court found former Congolese colonel Sebastien Nzapali guilty of torture and acquitted him on charges of rape. The judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison.
See: Reuters, Dutch
Court Jails Ex-Colonel from Congo for Torture
BBC, Dutch court jails Congolese man
DRC Sends Referral to the ICC
April 26, 2004
The DRC government has sent a
referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) asking the Prosecutor to
investigate allegations of crimes that fall within the Court’s jurisdiction. This
referral is the second, after Uganda, that the ICC has received from a State
Party. The ICC has been monitoring the situation in the Ituri province and has
said the referral will facilitate its work.
See: ICC, Prosecutor receives referral of the
situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUATEMALA
Government Apologizes for Myrna Mack Killing
April 23, 2004
The government of Guatemala has formally apologized for its role in the 1990 killing of anthropologist Myrna Mack. In a ceremony, President Oscar Berger and the heads of Congress and the Supreme Court asked forgiveness for the brutal murder.
See: Miami Herald,
Guatemala
Apologizes for Role in Killing
San Diego Union Tribune, Guatemala’s three branches of government apologize for state role in human rights activist’s slaying
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAITI
Former Interior Minister Arrested
April 9, 2004
Haitian police have arrested Jocelerme Privert, former Interior Minister under exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in connection with the killings of political opponents in the town of Saint Marc. He is the first minister of Aristide’s former government to be detained. Local media have reported that dozens of people were killed in Saint Marc shortly before Aristide’s fall in February 2004, but the extent of the killings has been difficult to verify.
See: BBC, Haitian former minister arrested
Reuters, Jailed Aristide Aide
Denies Haiti Massacre
New York Times, Top Rebel, a Convicted Killer, Surrenders to Police in Haiti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IRAQ
Tribunal to Try Saddam Hussein
April 24, 2004
The Iraqi Interim Governing Council has established a tribunal to try Saddam Hussein and members of his regime for crimes committed during his rule. While the tribunal is domestic, international advisers have been heavily involved in its establishment. Salem Chalabi has been named as the general director of the tribunal. For security purposes, the names of the seven judges and five prosecutors appointed to the tribunal will remain secret until pre-trial questioning begins.
See: AP, Iraq
Leaders Create Tribunal for Saddam
The Guardian, Identities
Kept Secret in Saddam’s Trial
BBC, Lawyers prepare for Saddam trial
U.S. Reverses Ba‘athist Purges and Announces Reparations Program
April 29, 2004
The U.S. administration in Iraq has announced that it will reform its procedures under its “deba‘athification” policy that purged thousands of former Ba‘ath Party members from their jobs as teachers, civil servants, and military officers. U.S. officials also announced the establishment of a reparations fund for Iraqis imprisoned, executed, or fired from their jobs for political reasons under Saddam Hussein’s rule.
See: The Guardian,
U-turn on hiring of Ba‘ath party members
New York Times, Fund for Hussein Victims
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PARAGUAY
Truth and Justice Commission Created
April 25, 2004
Paraguay has announced the creation of the Truth and Justice Commission to investigate human rights violations committed from 1954 to 2003. Much of the focus will be on violations committed during the 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. The commission aims to identify the perpetrators and establish an official number of disappeared persons. In related news, the Paraguayan government has begun a reparations program to compensate former political prisoners and other victims of the Stroessner dictatorship. A total of about 400 people will receive compensation.
See: Pinochet Watch, Paraguay Creates Truth and Justice Commission
Justwatch-l, Corrections and Text of Law: Paraguay Creates Truth and Justice Commission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RWANDA
Tenth Anniversary of Genocide Marked
April 9, 2004
Rwandans have marked the tenth anniversary of the genocide that left more than 500,000 people dead in a 100-day period. The anniversary sparked renewed debate about the international community’s failure to intervene. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is now promoting a genocide-prevention plan within the UN Human Rights Commission.
See: AP, Rwandans Mark Anniversary of ‘94 Genocide
AP, U.N.
Chief Urges Watch Against Genocide
AP, Rwandan
Leader Lashes Out Over Genocide
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Pavkovic Says He Will Not Surrender to the ICTY
April 9, 2004
Nebojsa Pavkovic, former army chief and chief of staff under Slobodan Milosevic, has said he will not surrender to the ICTY. Pavkovic has been indicted for war crimes committed against Kosovar Albanians in 1999 and lives openly in Serbia. The Serbian government is under pressure from Western donor countries to cooperate more fully with the ICTY.
See: Reuters, Serb
General Says He Won’t Surrender to the Hague
Please see “Bosnia and Herzegovina” (above) for links to more information about the ICTY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTH AFRICA
ANC Plan for Blanket Amnesty
Criticized
April 29, 2004
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) recently announced that it is considering supporting a blanket amnesty bill for apartheid-era perpetrators. Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu said a blanket amnesty would be challenged on constitutional grounds, and he urged strong consideration of the victims’ positions on the issue. Critics, including Archbishop Tutu, have stressed that a blanket amnesty would undermine all the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which granted amnesties for politically motivated gross human rights violations on the condition of full disclosure.
See: The Independent, Tutu warns against blanket amnesty
Mail & Guardian, No blanket amnesty, says NPA
CSVR, Secret Amnesty Talks Threaten Reconciliation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TIMOR-LESTE
Indonesian Supreme Court Upholds Timor-Leste Governor Conviction, Acquits Indonesian Military Officer
April 13, 2004
The Indonesian Supreme Court has upheld a three-year prison sentence for Jose Abilio Osorio Soares, former governor of Timor-Leste when it was under Indonesian rule. Soares is accused of crimes against humanity for failing to stop the violence leading to the 1999 vote for independence. Critics believe he is being made a scapegoat because the military (rather than civilians, like Soares) had responsibility for security. In a related ruling, the Supreme Court acquitted Lt. Col. Yayat Sudrajat, former Liquica district military commander, of all charges related to the 1999 violence.
See: BBC, Timor governor’s sentence upheld
Jakarta Post, E.
Timor rights defendant cleared
Wiranto to Run for President
April 22, 2004
Former Indonesian military commander General Wiranto has been chosen as the Golkar Party’s presidential candidate in upcoming elections in July. Wiranto has been indicted by the United Nations-backed court in Timor-Leste for crimes against humanity for not preventing the violence leading to the 1999 vote for independence.
See: AP, East
Timor Suspect to Run in Indonesia
AP, Indonesia
General’s Election Bid Decried
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Editor: Patrick J. Pierce
Patrick J. Pierce serves as a consultant to the ICTJ.
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