War Crimes

I am on vacation the week of Oct 22 and will return for normal activity the following week (10/29)

The death sentences against Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” and three others, including Ahmad al-Tai, who negotiated the cease-fire ending the 1991 Gulf War, are in legal limbo amid fears the executions could spark further sectarian violence and hamper efforts at reconstruction.  The Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced the men to hang for genocide, […]

Serbia's minister for the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said Serbian officials had obstructed the investigation. Rasim Ljajic said that Serbia had in the past denied the existence of evidentiary documents, though they later surfaced and were handed over to officials at The Hague. On Monday, chief prosecutor to the tribunal Carla del […]

U.S. immigration officials are holding a former military officer of Sierra Leone's government on war crimes charges for cooperating in the deaths of 29 dissenters there. Samuel Komba Kamba, 39, was detained following a green card interview in Texas that he attended with his wife. Kambo was twice released on bond for similar charges and […]

An Argentinian Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to life imprisonment for being a “co-participant” in seven killings, 31 torture cases, and 42 kidnappings during the military dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla from 1976 – 1983. Christian von Wernich, 69, was the former police chaplain to the Buenos Aires police force who participated in the “disappearances” […]

Serbia's National Security Council said it is offering a $1.4 million reward for information leading to the capture of wanted war crimes suspect Gen. Ratko Mladic.  Rasim Ljajic, who heads the council, said there is also a $355,000 reward for Goran Hadzic, a former rebel leader, and Stojan Zupljanin, a Bosnian Serb police officer.  The […]

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) issued a report Thursday calling for the United States government to prosecute private security contractors accused of killing civilians, stating that indiscriminate civilian killings amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. An uproar of criticism surrounds two high-profile incidents in which scores of Iraqi civilians were […]

The U.N.-backed court examining atrocities committed during the 1991-2002 civil war in Sierra Leone handed down two sentences to former militia leaders Tuesday. Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa received sentences of six and eight years respectively for murder, cruel treatment, pillage, and issuing collective punishment. Kondewa received additional penalties for his role in conscripting child […]

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would brand the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 a genocide.  President Bush opposes the bill, however, the Democratic control over the House may produce enough votes to pass both the Foreign Affairs Committee and the […]

The presiding officer in the investigation into the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha concluded the cases lacked sufficient evidence to proceed with murder charges. Investigators recommended charging Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich with negligent homicide rather than murder because of the nature of the investigation. Murder charges against Lance Cpl. Justin […]

The former foreign minister for the Khmer Rouge, leng Sary, declared his innocence on Sunday. The former minister was in Thailand over the weekend on declining health issues. His comments reflect rumors regarding the U.N. war crimes tribunal examining the role of the Khmer Rouge in the deaths of some 1.7 million people when they […]

The New York Times revealed Thursday the U.S. Justice Department issued a secret finding endorsing extraordinary interrogation tactics, such as water-boarding and stress positions. The Bush administration waded into the legal fray regarding permissable interrogation tactics in 2002. Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it began to hold prisoners in secret facilities outside the access […]