HRW report on International Criminal Court’s first 5 years

Human Rights Watch publicou onte un informe de 250 páxinas sobre os cinco primeiros anos do Tribunal Penal Internacional.

O informe leva por título “Courting History. The Landmark International Criminal Court’s First Years”. Copio un extracto da súa introducción:

On July 17, 1998, after five intense weeks of negotiations during the Rome Diplomatic Conference, representatives of 120 states from all regions and legal traditions achieved an historic development in the struggle against impunity. They agreed on a treaty creating the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the world’s first permanent court mandated to bring to justice the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind —war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide— when national courts are unable to do so.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force on July 1, 2002, following its unexpectedly swift ratification by the required 60 states. The selection of the court officials needed to implement the ICC’s mandate soon followed. In March 2003 the first 18 judges of the court’s bench were sworn in. The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, took office in June 2003 following his election by states parties to the Rome Statute. The institution’s first chief administrator, the registrar Bruno Cathala, assumed office shortly thereafter. The ICC, once an aspiration, was finally becoming a reality.

Since then, the ICC has made significant progress. The prosecutor has opened investigations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic (CAR). These investigations —all of which have been conducted in situations of instability or ongoing conflict— have led to criminal charges against at least 12 alleged perpetrators “bearing the greatest responsibility” for horrific crimes, crimes for which not long ago they would have very likely enjoyed complete impunity (12 arrest warrants are publicly known; there may be other sealed warrants in existence). At this writing, four of these alleged perpetrators are in ICC custody in The Hague, and the others are stigmatized as accused war criminals evading justice. The ICC’s establishment sends a strong signal to current and would-be perpetrators that complete impunity for the worst crimes will not be tolerated.

The ICC’s progress is not limited to prosecutions. Against many odds and in the face of innumerable difficulties, the Registry has established field offices in sometimes unstable environments in relation to all four country situations under investigation to maintain ongoing contact with victims, witnesses, and affected communities. Court officials have made efforts to convey important information about the ICC’s mandate and its work to affected communities in refugee camps, internally displaced person (IDP) camps, and remote villages. Witnesses have stepped forward to provide evidence, some of them so enabled because of the court’s capacity to protect them from the threats that they face in doing so. Victims from Darfur, Uganda, and Congo have applied and have been accepted to participate in ICC proceedings. Defense attorneys have at their disposal an independent office set up and funded by the court to provide them with essential legal support to help promote their clients’ right to a fair trial.

Not surprisingly, in grappling with the enormous challenges of setting up an unprecedented judicial institution, ICC officials have made mistakes. Indeed, Trial Chamber I’s June 2008 decision to “stay” the proceedings against Thomas Lubanga —thus suspending, in all respects, the court’s first-ever trial— because of the prosecution’s inability to disclose to the court and to the defense potentially exculpatory information collected under the Rome Statute’s confidentiality provision emphasizes this point. In this report, Human Rights Watch identifies some of these failings and makes recommendations aimed at improving the fairness and effectiveness of ICC operations. We have also stressed how important it is for the court —including the prosecutor— to more proactively engage with affected communities to make its work meaningful and relevant to them. This will require a complete and deeply rooted shift from the ICC’s prior ambivalence to doing so, which was evident in the court’s early approach to outreach and field operations, and the prosecutor’s investigations. It will mean an approach that fully embraces the importance of these communities in realizing the court’s mandate. Indeed, these are the very communities that the ICC was created to serve.

These problems notwithstanding, the biggest challenge facing the court in executing its mandate is primarily outside of its control: apprehending suspects. Without its own police force, the ICC must rely on the cooperation of the international community to enforce its orders. [...] It is the responsibility of the Rome Statute’s states parties (106 at this writing) and multilateral institutions like the United Nations (UN) to respond to the ICC’s requests for cooperation. The very success of the court depends on it. [...]

“Beyond Darfur’s borders” (video)

Esta semana a sección de Amnistía Internacional nos Estados Unidos publicou un vídeo sobre a extensión do conflicto de Darfur fóra das fronteiras de Sudán. Leva por título “Beyond Darfur’s borders”:

Violence in Darfur is spreading into the neighboring countries of Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). The people are becoming refugees in their own homes.

Child Soldiers Global Report 2008

A Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, formada entre outras organizacións por Amnistía Internacional e Human Rights Watch, publicou o Child Soldiers Global Report 2008.

Neste informe (un PDF de 7,11 MB e 418 páxinas) encontraremos ós países onde os exércitos e outros grupos armados usaron a menores de 18 anos:

• Afghanistan
• Bhutan
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Burundi
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Colombia
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel / Occupied Palestinian Territory
• Lebanon
• Liberia
• Libya
• Nepal
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Peru
• Philippines
• Somalia
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Thailand
• Uganda
• United Kingdom
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe

E tamén encontraremos outros moitos países que recrutan a menores de 18 anos e introducen de diversas formas o militarismo na educación da xuventude.

Central African Republic: Chadian Army Attacks, Burns Border Villages

Human Rights Watch (HRW) publicou hoxe unha nota de prensa sobre un conflicto olvidado polos mass media, o que ten lugar na República Centroafricana, en particular na fronteira con Chad. Os civís sofren ataques do exército do país, de grupos armados de oposición, de grupos de delincuentes e agora tamén do exército de Chad, que cruza a fronteira…

A nota de prensa leva por título “Central African Republic: Chadian Army Attacks, Burns Border Villages. Civilians in Peril in Northwestern CAR”. Copio un extracto do seu contido:

The Chadian army has launched numerous cross-border raids on villages in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) in recent weeks, killing civilians, burning villages, and stealing cattle, HRW said today.

Since January 2008, HRW researchers documented at least five separate cross-border attacks on Central African border villages, mostly between Markounda and Maitoukoulou in the northwestern part of the country. Chadian army troops appear to be acting in support of CAR and Chadian cattle herders known as Peuhls, at odds with local CAR farmers trying to protect their crops. The worst violence occurred on February 29, in a rampage that destroyed six villages in the area of Maitoukoulou.

More than 1000 people have been internally displaced or have been forced to flee across the border into southern Chad. The internally displaced live in dire conditions in Maitoukoulou camps, and in fear of further attacks, HRW has found.

The people in the northern part of CAR are getting it from all directions. They’ve been attacked by rebel groups, bandits, their own army and now the Chadian army [...]

AI report: abuses against civilians in Central African Republic

Hai uns días falei da República Centroafricana nas anotacións HRW report: abuses against civilians in Central African Republic e Central African Republic: HDPT, a good initiative for a forgotten crisis.

Hoxe é Amnistía Internacional quen publica un informe sobre as violacións dos Direitos Humanos nese país. O informe leva por título “Central African Republic: Civilians in peril in the wild north”. Copio e pego o principio da introducción:

Amnesty International (AI) has, for several years, received reports of serious Human Rights abuses and violations of International Humanitarian Law by members of disparate armed groups and Government soldiers in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR). The abuses include unlawful killings, abductions, destruction of private property, rape and other forms of sexual violence against women. CAR has been unstable since independence and for more than a decade AI has also received reports of attacks on the population by armed bandits, especially in north-western CAR. AI’s recent research mission has established that the authorities have taken no steps to protect the civilian population from such attacks. AI was unable to visit northern CAR due to the insecurity that continues to affect the region, but was able to visit Bangui, the capital, and southern Chad where more than 50,000 CAR refugees are currently sheltered in refugee camps. [...]

HRW report: abuses against civilians in Central African Republic

Human Rights Watch publicou onte un informe de máis de cen páxinas sobre as violacións de Direitos Humanos que sofren os civís da República Centroafricana, a maioría cometidas polo exército, e que inclúen asasinatos, destrucción de vivendas e centos de miles de desprazamentos forzados.

O informe leva por título “State of Anarchy: Rebellion and Abuses against Civilians”. Copio e pego o principio da introducción:

Since mid-2005, hundreds of civilians have been killed, more than 10 thousand houses burned, and approximately 212,000 persons have fled their homes in terror to live in desperate conditions deep in the bush in northern Central African Republic (CAR). Bordering eastern Chad and war-ravaged Darfur in Sudan, this area has been destabilized by at least two major rebellions against the government of President François Bozizé.

The vast majority of summary executions and unlawful killings, and almost all village burnings, have been carried out by government forces, often in reprisal for rebel attacks. While both main rebel groups have been responsible for widespread looting and the forced taxation of the civilian population in areas they control—and rebels in the northeast have committed killings, beatings, and rape—their abuses pale in comparison to those of the Central African Armed Forces (Forces armées Centrafricaines, FACA) and the elite Presidential Guard (Garde présidentielle, GP). As the International Criminal Court (ICC) begins investigations into atrocities committed during the 2002-2003 rebellion against former President Patassé, it should also investigate possible war crimes under its jurisdiction committed in the current round of fighting.

This report documents the human rights abuses and breaches of international humanitarian law being committed in northern CAR and describes the make-up, origins, and aims of the most significant rebel groups. The Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (Armée populaire pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie, APRD) is active in the northwestern provinces of Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, and Nana-Grébizi. The Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (Union des forces démocratiques pour la rassemblement, UFDR) is most active in remote northeastern provinces of Bamingui-Bangoran and Vakaga.

In February and March 2007 Human Rights Watch researchers visited the majority of towns and villages affected, documenting summary executions, unlawful killings, beatings, house burnings, extortion and unlawful taxation, the recruitment and use of children as soldiers, and many other human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed over 100 persons, including many victims and witnesses, local and regional government officials, military commanders, rebel officials, religious leaders, and representatives of local and international humanitarian organizations active in northern CAR. [...]

Para máis información, pode verse unha páxina web da que xa falei aquí, sobre o traballo das axencias e ONGs humanitarias na República Centroafricana: Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT).

Central African Republic: HDPT, a good initiative for a forgotten crisis

Hoxe unha noticia de Vieiros recórdanos outra desas crises humanitarias olvidadas, a que sofre a poboación civil na República Centroafricana.

Un Goberno en guerra con grupos armados, que non controla nin a capital, masacres, secuestros e roubos cotidianos, centos de miles de desprazados cruzando as fronteiras con Chad e Darfur nos dous sentidos… Copio e pego un extracto da última nota de prensa de Amnistía Internacional sobre o país (26 - VI - 2007):

[...] CAR armed opposition forces kill civilians who do not support or refuse to join them. Government troops kill civilians they accuse of colluding with the armed groups and burn down entire villages during reprisal attacks. The civilians who survive attacks by government forces and members of armed opposition forces are attacked by bandits who kidnap for ransom and loot property. [...]

A única boa noticia é que o traballo en colaboración e as ferramentas de comunicación alternativas poden permitir que se coñezan a dimensión e a evolución do conflicto con moita maior rapidez e claridade (aquí, que temos internet á man; alí xa teñen abondo con sobrevivir): as axencias humanitarias das Nacións Unidas, a Cruz Vermella e varias ONGs que traballan no país (entre elas Médicos sen Fronteiras) formaron o Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT).

E, como veredes ó segui-lo enlace, dan as noticias co formato dun blog, teñen fotos en Flickr e bos mapas (algúns baseados en Google Earth), comparten vídeos (en YouTube e outros) e presentacións (ver canal en SlideShare).

Escollín esta presentación porque mostra a incoherencia entre o potencial económico e os problemas de desenvolvemento, que a paz e un bo goberno deberían corrixir: