War Crimes

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court asked the U.N. Security Council to ramp up its effort to persuade Sudan to arrest and surrender two officials indicted for war crimes in Darfur. Luis Moreno-Ocampo added that one of the wanted officials, Ahmad Haround, the Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister, may be orchestrating continued violence against […]

The Supreme Court Wednesday will hear oral arguments in a package of cases concerning the rights of detainees held at the U.S. naval detention center at Guantanamo bay, Cuba. The cases, Boumediene v. Bush, and Al Odah v. U.S, mark the third time the Bush administration has faced the Supreme Court regarding the rights of […]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a speech Tuesday with legal officials from several Islamic countries said there should be an international Islamic court using Sharia law to prosecute war criminals and violators of humanitarian rights. Ahmadinejad failed to elaborate on the logistics of the court, but said the proposed body would serve as an alternative […]

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the International Criminal Court Monday, opening its annual two-week meeting which many see as chance to examine the credibility of the first permanent international war crimes tribunal. Ban addresses the 105-nation ICC as the court faces international criticism for its failure to prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects. Analysts say that […]

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, issued an appeal to U.S. President George W. Bush requesting U.S. officials hand over Ali Hassan al-Majid , “Chemical Ali” , and two other former Iraqi officials sentenced to hang for war crimes.  U.S. officials have been reluctant to hand the three officials over to the Iraqi's citing a […]

The chief investigator for the U.N. commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said the inquiry is developing new leads and “persons of interest.” Serge Brammertz, the Belgian prosecutor charged with investigating the assassination, issued his final report to the U.N. Security Council stating the investigation has produced new information. “The […]

The Israeli Simon Wiesenthal Center embarked on a last ditch effort to hunt down surviving Nazis in South America.  "The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators," the center's director, Efraim Zuroff, said.  The group put out a $460,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Dr. […]

A Sudanese minister said the government there launched legal challenge against a French charity accused of flying over a hundred children from Chad to families in Europe. Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said Sudan planned to sue Zoe's Ark charitable organization for violating international laws by allegedly abducting children from villages and refugee camps in […]

The attempts by the U.S. military to bring charges against an Associated Press photographer is bringing condemnation from the press group.  The U.S. military detained Bilal Hussein in Ramadi in April, 2006, alleging he had links to terrorist groups in Iraq.  Hussein, a 36-year-old native of Fallujah, has been held in custody since then without […]

Peacekeeping troops with the European Union and NATO searched the homes of relatives of Radovan Karadzic Friday looking for indications of his whereabouts. Karadzic vanished in 1998 after stepping down from his official government duties.  He, as well as Gen. Ratko Mladic, are on the run for allegations regarding the massacre at Srebrenica, in which […]

Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch,” walked into a courtroom to face charges for the deaths of 1.7 million people nearly 30 years after the atrocities in Cambodia came to an end. Duch, 66, is a former math teacher who lead the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, where more than 14,000 people were tortured […]

Investigators found Blackwater security personnel fired indiscriminately in 14 of the 17 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians on Sept. 16.  The FBI said the contractors violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors, suggesting the contractors acted recklessly. Officials familiar with the case say they are cynical about the ability to prosecute individuals in the […]