ICTJ World Report

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ICTJ World Report

January 2013

In Focus
ICTJ Forum: January 2013
The latest episode of ICTJ Forum features ICTJ's Marcie Mersky, who joins host and Communications Director Refik Hodzic for an in-depth analysis of news in Guatemala and Nepal, and looks ahead to the next year of transitional justice developments around the world.
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World Report
AFRICA The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has formally opened an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Mali since January 2012. French troops arrived in Mali midst a rapid escalation of efforts to intervene in fighting between Islamists and the government. Authorities in Ivory Coast charged Charles Ble Goude with war crimes over his alleged role in violence linked to the country's disputed presidential election two years ago. Peace talks between the DRC and the M23 rebels have resumed, and will consider whether amnesty will be issued to the rebels. Violence has continued to grip Kenya, with a recent clash between rival tribesmen in the Tana River district left 32 people dead, including women and children. Years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final recommendations, victims of apartheid-era crimes in South Africa are still fighting for adequate reparation and rehabilitation. The army of Sudan reports its soldiers have killed at least 30 members of the Justice and Equality Movement rebel group in North Darfur. Senegal says former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre will go on trial next month for alleged crimes against humanity. The trial will take place in a special tribunal authorized under the African Union. In a major effort to promote
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accountability for serious crimes in Africa, ICTJ joined hundreds of human rights groups and transitional justice partners to ask the African Union to prioritize justice. The letter warns that strained relationships between the AU and the International Criminal Court (ICC) may put justice at risk.
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AMERICAS Colombia has reopened a preliminary criminal investigation against former President Alvaro Uribe. He is accused of involvement with far-right paramilitary groups while he was a state governor in the 1990s. According to the Colombian government, 157,013 victims of violence were compensated in 2012, allegedly exceeding the year's target by 47%. The government of Guatemala passed an agreement that would not recognize rulings from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for cases that took place before 1987, but after the president held consultations human rights activists, it was soon repealed. In Chile, eight former army officers were charged with the murder of a popular songwriter, Vctor Jara, who was tortured and killed days after the 1973 military coup. In 2012, Argentinas courts tried nearly 400 suspects of committing crimes against humanity during the Dirty War. Peruvian courts freed two members of the death squad Grupo Colina, who allegedly kidnapped, tortured and killed an intelligence agent in 1997.
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ASIA Questions surrounding transitional justice in Nepal have dominated the headlines after Scotland Yard detectives arrested Colonel Lama of Nepal on allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses. The arrest has led to reactions from rights groups, who have criticized the government of Nepal over its unwillingness to form a transitional justice mechanism to address the past. In a joint op-ed, ICTJ and the International Commission of Jurists called for Nepal to establish a full transitional justice program, including an official truth mechanism that complies with international standards. As air strikes and heavy violence continues to hit Burma/Myanmars Kachin state, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for reconciliation and protection of civilians. The government of Bangladesh is facing pressure from opposition parties and human-rights groups over alleged political interference at its International Crimes Tribunal. The United Nations ended its 13-year peacekeeping mission in TimorLeste.
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EUROPE Switzerland has created a special task force to track suspected war criminals. Prosecutors have opened a number of cases linked to Switzerland, including the case of Khaled Nezzar, former Algerian defense minister, and ex-Guatemalan police chief Erwin Sperisen. In the final hearing of a decade-long case before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the Dutch state was accused of bearing

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responsibility for sending a Bosnian Muslim family to their deaths in Srebrenica. Bosnia charged eight former members of Muslim armed and police forces with committing war crimes against ethnic Serb civilians during the country's 1990s conflict. A Bosnian Serb ex-policeman was jailed for 20 years for committing crimes against humanity during the massacres at Srebrenica.
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MENA ICTJ signed a cooperation agreement with Tunisias Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice to provide further technical assistance in establishing transitional justice mechanisms. Bahrain's highest court upheld prison sentences of 13 leaders of a 2011 uprising in a ruling that stirred further unrest in the country. An Egyptian fact-finding commission determined that Former President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace. Meanwhile, President Muhammad Mursi asked the commission to send its report to the chief prosecutor to investigate new evidence. Lebanons parliament and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched the National Action Plan for Human Rights which covers a comprehensive raft of legislation, from judicial reform to the rights of women and children as well as enforced disappearance. In Libya, almost 6,000 fighters began training to be police officers under a drive to disarm militias hindering the countrys democratic transition. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal agreed to expedite a stalled reconciliation deal between the two rival factions. UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights data showed that more than 60,000 people were killed in Syria in nearly two years of conflict. Earlier in December, the UN independent panel investigating human rights violations in Syria had released an update on the situation in the country noting that violations continue unabated and reiterating the need for a political solution to the conflict there.
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Publications
Seeking Options for the Right to Truth in Nepal
This briefing paper sets out the obligations of the state and international best practice with respect to the right to truth, both as a key element of a transitional justice strategy and as a critical component of providing effective remedy to victims of gross violations of human rights and grave breaches of humanitarian law.

Upcoming Events
February 27 - March 01, 2013

Expert Seminar on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples

Location: New York, NY View Details

More Events View Report

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More Publications

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