www.ictj.org
May 15, 2003
HEADLINES
Bosnia: Nikolic to Plead
Guilty in Srebrenica Case
Cambodia: UN Panel Approves
Khmer Rouge Trials
Croatia: Former Army Chief
Bobetko Dies
East Timor: CAVR Hears
Testimony on Women in Conflict
Guatemala: Murder Conviction
Reversed in Mack Case
Honduras: Secret Graves
Discovered
Iraq: Secret Files and Graves
Found
Kenya: Truth Commission
Promised
Rwanda: Prisoners Released
Serbia: ICTY Indicts Former
Serb Security Chiefs
Sierra
Leone: Liberia Claims Bockarie Killed
United States:
Greensboro Truth Commission Established
BOSNIA
Nikolic to Plead Guilty in Srebrenica Case
May 8, 2003
Momir Nikolic, a former commander in the Bosnian Serb army, has agreed to plead guilty to charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). As part of a plea bargain, Nikolic will provide testimony in the case against three Bosnian Serb officers for the 1995 massacre of more than 7000 Muslim boys and men at Srebrenica, and four additional charges against him will be dropped. Nikolic is the first Bosnian Serb officer to agree to testify at the tribunal.
See: Reuters, Ex-Bosnian
Serb Commander Admits Srebrenica Role
AFP, Bosnian
Serb officer pleads guilty to Srebrenica atrocities
New York Times, Former Bosnian Serb Officer Admits Guilt in '95 Massacre
For more detailed weekly updates on the ICTY, please see Tribunal Update by The Institute for War and Peace Reporting and 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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CAMBODIA
UN Panel Approves Khmer Rouge Trials
May 14, 2003
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a plan to create special courts to try former leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime. The courts will be funded with voluntary contributions rather than through the regular UN budget.
See: Reuters, UN
Panel Approves Long-Delayed Khmer Rouge Trials
Reuters, UN funding plan could undermine Khmer Rouge trials
UN General Assembly, General Assembly Approves Draft Agreement Between UN, Cambodia on Khmer Rouge Trials
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CROATIA
Former Army Chief Bobetko Dies
May 1, 2003
Former Croatian Army chief Janko Bobetko died late last month of heart and respiratory organ failure at the age of 84. The ICTY had indicted Bobetko, whom many considered to be a hero of Croatia’s independence, for the 1993 killing of Serb civilians and soldiers. He was never brought to trial because of his ill health.
See: The Guardian, Croatia’s Ex-Army Chief Bobetko Dies
Please see “Bosnia” (above) for links to more
information about the ICTY.
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EAST TIMOR
CAVR Hears Testimony on Women in Conflict
May 2, 2003
The Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, known by its Portuguese acronym CAVR, last month conducted a public hearing on “Women in Conflict.” Witnesses told of Indonesian soldiers using rape, torture, and murder as military tactics, and a former governor accused the Indonesian military of systematically forcing East Timorese women to serve as sex slaves. A military spokesperson denied the allegations of sex slavery.
See: The Charlotte Observer (AP), Occupiers
had sex slaves, East Timor ex-official says
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GUATEMALA
Murder Conviction Reversed in Mack Case
May 9, 2003
A Guatemalan appeals court has overturned the murder conviction of Colonel Juan Valencia, who had been found guilty by a lower court of ordering the 1990 killing of anthropologist and human rights activist Myrna Mack. Valencia will be released pending a potential appeal of the case to the Supreme Court.
See: Boston Globe, Conviction overturned in murder of activist
Reuters, Guatemala Judge Frees Colonel in Mack Case
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HONDURAS
Secret Graves Discovered
May 2, 2003
Several secret graves have been discovered in eastern Honduras. A 1993 truth commission report blamed Honduran death squads for more than 100 murders between 1979 and 1990, and many of the victims’ bodies are still missing. Other recently discovered graves contained remains of the missing.
See: BBC, Secret Graves Found in Honduras
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IRAQ
Secret Files and Graves Found
May 12, 2003
The U.S. Army has taken control of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi secret-police files, which may prove crucial to any future attempts to bring perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice. A group of former prisoners, the Committee of Free Prisoners, has already identified the names of 5500 prisoners who were executed and posted the names on its office walls, where thousands of people have gathered to search the rosters for the names of their missing relatives. In addition, several mass graves have been found all over Iraq, especially in the south where most of the Shi'ite majority live. Excavations have allowed some Iraqis to identify their missing relatives by their clothing or items contained in pockets, but the unsystematic unearthing of the remains may be spoiling vital forensic evidence. In related news, Clint Williamson, U.S. adviser to Iraq’s Justice Ministry, has indicated that Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi leaders will likely face trial in an Iraqi court if they are apprehended.
See: Christian Science Monitor, From Iraq’s secret files, a trail of mass murder
Washington Post, Iraqis Break Silence About Secret Graves
AP, Iraqis
Free to Search for Mass Graves
Reuters, Iraqis
Mourn Relatives Secretly Killed by Saddam
AP, 3,000
Bodies Exhumed at Iraq Mass Grave
AP, Saddam Said Likely to Face Court in Iraq
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KENYA
Truth Commission Promised
May 2, 2003
Kenya’s Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kiraitu Murungi, has reiterated a government plan to set up a commission to investigate cases of people tortured during former President Daniel arap Moi’s regime. While Murungi said he thought the time was right for such an investigation, he also expressed concerns about raising expectations among Kenyans when there is a severe lack of resources to thoroughly deal with the past abuses.
See: BBC, Kenya heeds calls for torture commission
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RWANDA
Prisoners Released
May 7, 2003
The government has provisionally released thousands of Rwandan prisoners, held on charges of participating in the 1994 genocide. Those released include detainees who have confessed to lesser crimes of genocide and those who had already served pre-trial detentions longer than what their sentences would be if convicted. Others include minors, elderly detainees, and the terminally ill. The prisoners must now take part in the traditional justice system, called Gacaca. In Buture Province, former prisoners have begun building homes for genocide survivors.
See: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, Prisoners Build Homes for Genocide Survivors
African Church Information Service, Release of Genocide Prisoners Ends Amid Gacaca Grumbles
Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne), Thousands of Genocide Suspects Released from Solidarity Camps
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SERBIA
ICTY Indicts Former Serb Security Chiefs
May 6, 2003
Prosecutors at the ICTY have indicted former State Security Chief Jovica Stanisic and his deputy, Franko Simatovic, on charges of killing Croats and Muslims between 1991 and 1995. The foreign minister for Serbia and Montenegro said he expected the two suspects to be extradited before the end of the month.
See: AP, Former
Milosevic Security Chiefs Indicted
Please see “Bosnia” (above) for links to more
information about the ICTY.
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SIERRA LEONE
Liberia Claims Bockarie Killed
May 13, 2003
The Liberian government has announced that suspected war criminal, Sam Bockarie, was killed while resisting arrest by Liberian forces. Bockarie was wanted by the Special Court in Sierra Leone. Liberia announced his death shortly after the court warned that Liberian President Charles Taylor could be prosecuted for allegedly harboring him. The Sierra Leone government confirmed the death, but prosecutors at the court are now demanding that Liberia hand over the body, expressing doubt that he has really been killed.
See: AP, Sierra
Leone Confirms Death of Warlord
AP, Prosecutors Demand Liberia Hand Over Body
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UNITED STATES
Greensboro Truth Commission Established
May 14, 2003
The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been established to examine the context, causes, sequence, and consequences of events of November 3, 1979, when the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party killed 5 people and wounded 10 others by firing on a racially mixed gathering of political activists. The first step of selecting commissioners is now under way.
Information is available on the homepage for The Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation
Project.
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Editor: Patrick J. Pierce
Patrick J. Pierce serves as a consultant to the ICTJ.
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