Impunity Watch: Europe

EU Welcomes Start of First ICC Trial

by Ese Omofoma
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The first-ever trial of the International Criminal Court (ICC) began on Monday. Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese militia commander, is accused of war crimes by recruiting hundreds of child soldiers to kill and rape. The court is based at The Hague, Netherlands, and is an independent international organization.

"This first ICC trial constitutes a very important phase in the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes, and in the pursuit of justice for their victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," said a statement from the Czech Republic, which holds the EU rotating presidency. The EU is determined to ending impunity of perpetrators of war crimes and is working toward the prevention of crimes of international concern. The EU encourages the DRC authorities to continue their good cooperation with the ICC, and invites the ICC to continue its efforts to ensure that the local population in the DRC is properly informed about its work, added the statement.

Unlike a U.N. tribunal, the ICC can hear ongoing conflicts. The defendants are not ordinary criminals; their crimes include allegations of genocide, mass rape, recruiting and using child soldiers. Such crimes are considered violations of the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.

The trial is expected to last between six and nine months. Lubanga, 48, is being held at the United Nations detention center in the seaside town of Scheveningen near The Hague.His armed group is accused of numerous massacres of ethnic Lendu civilians in 2002 and 2003, mainly in his stronghold Bunia, the capital of Ituri.

 For more information, please see:

China View -EU welcomes start of first ICC trial - 29 January 2009

ABC News - African Countries Appeal to ICC - 28 January 2009

ABS-CBN News - ICC's first war crimes trial gets under way - 26 January 2009

Karadzic's Daughter Provides Insight into ICTY Defense

By Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PALE, Bosnia and Herzegovina - In an interview aired by the BBC on Monday, Sonja Karadzic portrayed her father, Radovan Karadzic, as an innocent man framed by the United States and others who wished to create a reason for NATO to intervene during the Bosnian war.  

Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 after a multi-year, world-wide manhunt.  He was the second most wanted war criminal from the Balkan wars, and has been charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)  with genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, and forced deportation.  The BBC reports that the war waged and directed by Karadzic killed, on average, 100 people every day for three and a half years.

Sonja Karadzic claims that the numbers and information about the most notorious massacre during the war, Srebrenica, are incorrect.  Reports have indicated that as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Serb forces after the women and children of the town were forcibly evacuated.  Karadzic claims that a band of 8 men carried out the massacre, that they were paid to do so, and that former U.S. President Bill Clinton was somehow involved: the crime was necessary to create an excuse for NATO intervention against the Serbs. She also said that U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, widely credited as a key player in bringing about some semblance of peace in the Balkan region, offered a deal to Karadzic - that he would escape ICTY prosecution if he would disappear.

Sonja Karadzic's interview likely gives the world an insight into the defense Radovan Karadzic will offer during his ICTY trial.  She maintains his innocence, and hopes the truth will come out during the investigation into his alleged crimes.  "I was there and I worked with him all the time," she said.  "He can't be responsible for such things."

For more information, please see:

BBC - Sonja Karadzic insists father 'innocent' - 26 January 2009

BBC - Profile: Radovan Karadzic - 29 August 2008

Former Serb General Tried on War Crimes

by Ese Omofoma
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Former Serbian general Vlastimir Djordjevic has gone on trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Djordjevic is accused of taking part in the murders of hundreds of ethnic Albanians and the deportation of 800,000 others from Kosovo.  The former general has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for deportation, murder and racial persecution.

The prosecutor, Chester Stamp, accused Djordjevic of taking part in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against Albanians in Kosovo between January and June 1999. "During this campaign, Yugoslavian and Serbian armies expelled one third of the Albanians living in Kosovo," Stamp argued before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The indictment alleges that Djordjevic "willingly participated in a joint criminal enterprise whose aim was to expel the majority of the Kosovo Albanian population to ensure continued Serbian control over the territory".  The indictment added, that forces involved in the operation were also "alleged to have sexually assaulted women, as well as looted and destroyed civilian property and religious sites."

Djordjevic's trial is the fifth and last case concerning war crimes in Kosovo to be held at the tribunal, which is due to wrap up its work by 2012. The judgement in another case against the former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and five co-accused, for war crimes in Kosovo, is expected within months.

For more information, please see:

aljazeera.net - Ex-Serb general tried on war crimes - 28 January 2009

AFP - Ex-Serb general accused at war crimes trial - 27 January 2009

BBC - Serbian general tried over Kosovo - 27 January 2009

Macedonia Sued for Participation in CIA Rendition

By Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SKOPJE, Macedonia - Khaled el-Masri filed suit against Macedonia on Saturday for 50,000 euros based on claims that Macedonia wrongly imprisoned and abused him before handing him over to the CIA.

El Masri claims that he was detained at the border between Serbia and Macedonia in December 2003 and held in a Skopje hotel near the U.S. Embassy, where he was questioned for 23 or 24 days about his ties to al Qaeda and Islamic extremists.  He claims he was then handed over the CIA and flown to a detention center in Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and tortured.  After spending months at the Afghanistan detention center, he was freed and "dumped by the side of a road in Albania." 

"This lawsuit is possibly the last opportunity for Khaled el-Masri to receive justice," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. "Macedonia has a chance to step up and show that it will not tolerate complicity in human rights violations by its security services."

Macedonia has denied that el-Masri was held illegally on its territory, but el-Masri's lawyer and the Justice Initiative claim to have discovered a flight log that confirms information about the "CIA ghost plane" involved in el-Masri's case.  The flight log "strongly suggests" Macedonian authorities's involvement in el-Masri's rendition from Macedonia to Kabul.

Lawsuits on behalf of el-Masri have been filed in the United States, Germany, and Albania.  His claim in the U.S. was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court based on procedural rules.  In 2007 Germany began a criminal investigation into el-Masri's reported CIA rendition to Khabul.  El Masri is a German citizen.

For more information, please see:

UPI - Macedonia sued over alleged CIA abduction - 27 January 2009

Justice Initiative - Victim of CIA Abduction Files Lawsuit against Macedonian Government - 26 January 2009

Welt - German sues Macedonia over capture, torture - 26 January 2009

Rioters Clash with Police in Greece

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

ATHENS, Greece - Hundreds of protesters battled with police again today during a march in central Athens.  The group gathered this afternoon to demand the release of persons who were arrested during rioting that took place last month after a fifteen-year old was killed by police. 

Last month saw some of the worst rioting Greece has seen in decades.  Frustrations with government boiled over after a teenager was fatally shot by police.  In response, citizens burned buildings and fought with police in ten different cities, causing millions of dollars in damages. 

Today's rally similarly escalated into violence as rioters smashed windows and threw stones and petrol bombs at police.  Tear gas and pepper spray were eventually used to disperse the crowd.  While two citizens are said to have been detained, no major injuries were reported. 

The riot today is said to be small in comparison to the violence that took place last December.  Nevertheless, it shows that there is still a deep resentment among Greek citizens about the state of their government.  While he always disapproved of the violence, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis admitted that his nation has "long, unresolved problems, such as the lack of meritocracy, corruption in every day life, and a sense of social injustice." 

For more information, please see:

ABC News - Anarchists clash with Greek police in Athens march - 25 January 2009

BBC - Greek police battle with rioters - 24 January 2009

BBC - Athens sees more violent clashes - 21 December 2008

Impunity Watch - Violence continues to Paralyze Greece - 11 December 2008

Human Rights Group Condemns Georgia and Russia

by Ese Omofoma
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia - Human Rights Watch released a comprehensive report Friday on the brief August war in Georgia. The group accused both Russia and Georgia of using indiscriminate and disproportionate force on civilians. In the 200-page report, the watchdog group also took issue with separatist South Ossetian forces for allegedly attempting to "ethnically cleanse" ethnic Georgian villages within the breakaway territory. The group has called for individual "prosecution of war crimes where appropriate."  

The report also lambasted Russia for standing by while South Ossetian militias and irregulars carried out "execution-style killings, rape, abductions and countless beatings."

The war began Aug. 7, when Georgia attacked the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali. Russia responded by sending columns of armor into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and then driving deep into Georgia. In the early days of the war Moscow accused Georgia of killing nearly 2,000 people. Human Rights Watch rejects those claims as exaggerated and puts the number of deaths between 162 and 400.

The report does not attempt to determine which side started the war or whose actions were worse, a task Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of the Moscow office, said was "better left to historians and politicians."  The point of the report was to hold all who are responsible accountable and to allow displaced people to return home safely," said Rachel Denber, HRW's Europe and Central Asia director.

The 200-page report was based on interviews with 460 victims and witnesses. Georgian officials cooperated with the effort. Russian officials did not respond to requests for information sent to the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Office of the President, the report says.

The report, entitled Up in Flames: Humanitarian Law Violations and Civilian Victims in the Conflict over South Ossetia, may be accessed here. 

For more information, please see:

BBC - S Ossetia 'war crimes' condemned - 23 January 2009

EurasiaNet - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CONDEMNS GEORGIA, RUSSIA FOR WAR EXCESSES - 23 January 2009

Human Rights Watch - Russia/Georgia: All Parties in August/South Ossetia Conflict Violated Laws of War - 23 January 2009

IHT - Rights group assails foes in Georgia war - 23 January 2009

Dutch Court Sends Anti-Islamicist to Trial for Hatred-Inciting Speech

By Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - On Wednesday a Dutch court ruled that Geert Wilders should be prosecuted for inciting racial hatred with anti-Islamic statements.  Its decision has drawn renewed attention to the tenuous relationship between freedom of speech and racial intolerance in the Netherlands.

Wilders, a rightist Freedom Party leader and controversial film-maker, will likely face a trial which the AP has described as a "highly charged trial touching on the declining Dutch tolerance toward a large immigrant population from Muslim countries, mainly Morocco and Turkey."  The court's three judges stated that Wilders's anti-Islamic rhetoric had gone beyond the "normal leeway given to politicians" and that his statements in film, newspapers and media interviews were "one-sided generalizations ... which can amount to inciting hatred."

Wilders said the decision marked a "black day for myself and for freedom of speech... Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted. Who will stand up for our culture if I am silenced?"

Wilders's anti-Islamic statements and projects include his film, Fitna (released in 2008), which juxtaposes quotations from the Quran against a background of graphic, violent film clips and portrays various aspects of Islamic culture as an immediate threat to the Netherlands, his 2007 call for a ban on the Quran "the same way we ban 'Mein Kampf," and his statement to De Volkskrant: "I've had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate.  I've had enough of the Quran in the Netherlands: Forbid that fascist book." 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described Fitna as "offensively anti-Islamic."  The AP reports that Wilders's party, currently holding 9 seats in the 120-seat Dutch parliament, has built popularity largely on tapping into fear and resentment among Dutch voters of Muslim immigrants.

In a summary of its decision, the court said it considers Wilders's actions "so insulting for Muslims that it is in the public interest to prosecute [him]."  The decision overturns the Dutch prosecutor's office's decision last year not to prosecute Wilders because it found that, while his film and interviews were painful for Muslims, they were not criminal.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera - Dutch anti-Islam MP to be tried - 21 January 2009

AP - Dutch court: prosecute anti-Islamic lawmaker - 21 January 2009

Radio Netherlands - Geert Wilders to be prosecuted for inciting hatred - 21 January 2009

New Military Force Takes Charge of Security in Kosovo

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Less than a year after achieving its independence, Kosovo now has a new army.  The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) took charge of the nation's security today and reports that it will start off with approximately 2,500 troops. 

The KSF replaces the Kosovo Protection Corps, which was a civil emergency organization that formed out of the Kosovo Liberation Army.  The Protection Corps has worked with NATO to provide security since the nation declared its independence from Serbia last February.   

The KSF will be commanded by Lieutenant General Sylejman Selimi, a former rebel fighter in the Liberation Army.  Selimi announced today that KSF troops would mostly be deployed to fulfill security duties, and that they would remain under the supervision of the NATO peacekeeping force. 

Excitement filled the country as it now enters a new phase.  Hajredin Kuci, the deputy prime minister of Kosovo, told the press that "It is the fulfillment of people's wish through the centuries to have an army which will not be perceived as an army that commits only violence and insecurity." 

Not everyone shares in the joy, however.  Serbians in Kosovo generally seem to oppose this force, many believing that this army will only serve to keep communities further apart.  While Kosovo's population is approximately 90% Albanian, there is a minority of Serbs still living within its borders. 

Serbia's government, which has always resented Kosovo's independence, also denounced the new military force.  Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic called the army an "illegal paramilitary group," as well as a "direct threat to the national security, peace, and stability in the entire region." 

Kosovo and Serbia still struggle over the question of independence.  Serbia has steadfastly held that Kosovo belongs within its borders, despite the declaration of independence.  The international community remains divided on the issue.  While most EU states recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation, more than 140 countries have not. 

For more information, please see:

BBC - Kosovo's security force launched - 21 January 2009

International Herald Tribune - New Kosovo force takes up security duties - 21 January 2009

Yahoo (AP) - Kosovo's new armed forces take control of security - 21 January 2009

UPDATE: Thousands Attend Rally to Protest Lawyer's Murder

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia - Thousands turned out today for a rally in Chechnya to protest yesterday's murder of a prominent human rights lawyer.  Stanislav Markelov, 34, was shot in the back of his head on Monday afternoon by a masked gunman as he left a press conference.  He died instantly.  A journalist standing nearby was also shot, and she too died later in the hospital.   

Minutes before he was killed, Markelov had given a news conference to protest last week's release of Col. Yuri Budanov from prison.  Budanov was released after serving only half of a ten year sentence for murdering a civilian during Russia's wars in Chechnya.  Five years ago, Budanov's conviction drew national attention because it symbolized justice for the victims of atrocities suffered at the hands of Russian forces in Chechnya.  He was among the first Russian officers ever to be prosecuted for such crimes. 

Markelov is well known throughout Russia for his legal work in human rights.  Throughout his career, he worked to provide access to justice for the victims of atrocities in Chechnya.  While an investigation into the motive behind his murder is ongoing, many believe that it is likely connected to his work.  The possibility remains that he may have been assassinated by Budanov loyalists or by other groups opposed to his human rights efforts. 

Today's protest in Grozny attracted more than 2,000 people and included political parties, human rights groups, government officials, and ordinary citizens. At the rally, Markelov received a posthumous award for service in human rights to the Republic of Chechnya. 

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune - Thousands in Chechnya protest killing of lawyer - 20 January 2009

Impunity Watch - Human Rights Lawyer Murdered in Russia - 19 January 2009

Human Rights Lawyer Murdered in Russia

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia - A prominent human rights lawyer was murdered earlier today in Moscow.  He was gunned down from behind shortly after appearing for a news conference that was related to one of his cases. 

Stanislav Markelov, 34, is well known for his work on human rights abuses occurring in Chechnya.  The Associated Press reports that, nine years ago, he sought justice for the family of an 18-year old woman that was strangled by Colonel Yuri Budanov in Chechnya.  While Budanov never denied the killing, he attempted to justify it by arguing that he killed her because he believed that she was a sniper fighting with the Chechen insurgency. 

Budanov was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to ten years in prison. He is among the first Russian officers to be prosecuted for killing civilians in Russia's conflict with Chechnya.   

Nevertheless, after serving only have his sentence, Budanov was released from prison last week.  Markelov appeared before the media today to announce his opposition to Budanov's freedom.  He told reporters at that press conference that he planned to appeal Budanov's early release. 

Shortly after the briefing ended, witnesses reported that a masked gunman followed Markelov out of the press conference and shot him in the back of the head.  When a nearby journalist attempted to intervene, she was shot also, and she died later at a nearby hospital. 

An investigation is ongoing into the motive for the murder, but officials believe that it is likely connected to Markelov's work to prosecute human rights abusers.  Some believe that Markelov's murder suggests that lawyers and journalists who challenge Russian justice may be targeted for violence. 

For more information, please see:

BBC - Prominent Russian lawyer killed - 19 January 2009

CNN - Human rights lawyer, journalist killed in Russia - 19 January 2009

International Herald Tribune - Gunman kills lawyer in Chechnya case - 19 January 2009

Yahoo (AP) - Human rights lawyer, journalist, killed in Moscow - 19 January 2009