War Crimes

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has issued a report assessing accountability and reconciliation regarding violations of humanitarian law committed in Northern Uganda. The report, Making Peace Our Own: Victims Perceptions of Accountability, Reconciliation, and Transitional Justice in Northern Uganda, highlights interviews from 1,725 victims of the 20-year war in the troubled African […]

The central government in Somalia has reacted angrily against a report by the U.S. based Human Rights Watch that alleges the Somali government is complicit in violations of humanitarian law and crimes against humanity in ongoing conflicts there.  The report cites a counter-insurgency campaign launched by Somali and Ethiopian troops, who launched bombing campaigns in […]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report detailing violations of humanitarian law and the laws of war committed by both sides in the ongoing conflict in Somalia. The group said Ethiopian and Somalian troops routinely and indiscriminately bomb heavily populated civilian neighborhoods in an effort to root out insurgents, who themselves deploy among civilian populations. […]

The U.S. Defense Department has designated 14 “high-value” detainees as enemy combatants, paving the way to a trial before a military commission at the naval facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suspects, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad and co-conspirator Ramzi bin al-Shib, were classified as enemy combatants after Pentagon officials reviewed recommendations from […]

Milorad Trbic, an ex-Serbian army captain, failed to appear before a Bosnian court to enter his plea due to a hunger strike, according to statements from the court. Trbic was indicted in June for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war at a U.N. tribunal and transferred to Bosnia. According to […]

The defense rested yesterday in the case of Jose Padilla and two other co-defendants in a Miami District Court without calling any witnesses or presenting no evidence.  The trial testimony centered mostly on Padilla's co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, who are accused of being part of and supporting terrorist groups, such as […]

CORRECTION:  The following report indicates the Canadian Supreme Court made the ruling entailed here.  That is incorrect.  The British Columbia Supreme Court made the initial ruling, the Canadian Supreme Court may hear appeals.  The Canadian Supreme Court upheld an extradition against a convicted Nazi war criminal to Italy. Michael Seifert, the 83-year old “Beast of […]

The Bush administration was persuaded to withdraw its nomination of Richard Hoagland as the U.S. ambassador to Armenia. Senator Robert Menendez, the democratic senator for New Jersey, blocked Mr. Hoaglands nomination from proceeding to a confirmation hearing because of his refusal to recognize the World War I massacre of Armenians as genocide. In comments, Menendez […]

An appeals court in France has ordered the release of two Rwandan men suspected of complicity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Roman Catholic priest, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former Rwandan civil servant, were detained in France on July 20 after the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued arrest warrants for the […]

The U.N. backed Special Court for the Sierra Leone (SCSL) convicted two militia leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Allieu Kondewa – the “high priest” of the Kamajor rebel group – and Monina Fofana – the national director of the Civil Defense Forces (CDF) – were convicted of war crimes, including murder and […]

The United Nations Security Council approved a Chapter 7 resolution to invoke a 26,000 member peacekeeping force in Sudan. The joint African Union (A.U.) -United Nations contingent will consist of nearly 20,000 military personnel and close to 6,500 civilian police to replace the battered 7,000 member A.U. force deployed in Darfur. A Chapter 7 resolution […]

The first suspect appeared before the U.N. backed Cambodian genocide tribunal to investigate former members of the Khmer Rouge. Kaing Khek lev, better known as Duch, was questioned for his role as the former prison warden in the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. The prison was notorious for being used as a torture chamber, where […]