Iran calls ICC arrest warrant for Omar Al Bashir unjust

News number: 8712151031 17:04 | 2009-03-05 Foriegn Policy

Iran: Arrest Warrant for Bashir Unjust TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman has condemned the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Hassan al-Bashir over alleged war crimes.

Hassan Qashqavi said that the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was ‘unjust’ and ‘politically-motivated’. The ICC on Wednesday issued an international warrant for the arrest of President Bashir for ‘war crimes, and crimes against humanity’ in the violent Darfur region, press tv reported. Qashqavi said the warrant was a ‘blatant violation of the international law’, which undermined the ‘immunity of heads of state’. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo holds Bashir responsible for the six-year conflict in Darfur, which the UN says has left 35,000 people killed. The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu also condemned the ICC warrant on Wednesday. He called on the Sudanese government to speed up investigations of war crime suspects and put them on trial. Bashir has rejected allegations, calling the warrant ‘worthless’. If charged, Bashir will be the first incumbent head of state to stand trial before the international court.

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Hamas condemns ICC warrant for Omar Al Bashir

DAMASCUS, (PIC)– Hamas on Wednesday strongly condemned the international criminal court’s decision to arrest Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur region west of the Sudan.

Hamas in a statement commenting on the decision said that the Arab, Islamic and foreign countries should refuse to deal with it.

It declared full support for Bashir and the Sudan in confrontation with this “American-Zionist targeting”, pointing out that the UN was once again proving that it had turned into a tool in the hands of the super powers topped by the USA.

The decision proves that the court is biased in favor of the colonialist powers and its double standards, the Movement charged.

Hamas said that the international court should have rather issued warrants of arrest against the Israeli war criminals such as Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu among other “senior war criminals” who have committed heinous massacres against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

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Al Bashir vows to travel abroad in spite of ICC arrest warrant

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 (KUNA) — Sudanese UN envoy Abdelmahmoud Mohamed on Wednesday said President Omar Al-Bashir will continue to travel abroad and may even attend the Arab Summit in Qatar later this month, when invited, and despite the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s decision earlier today to issue an arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader for warms crimes committed in Darfur.
“His international schedule will be done in the same routine manner … when the invitation comes, he will go definitely. There is no change whatsoever. Of course he will travel, because many countris are saying the ICC ruling is politically motivated,” Mohamed told a press conference in answer to a question.
Only states parties to the ICC Rome Statute are obliged to abide by the ICC ruling. The only Arab states parties are Jordan and Djibouti.
Mohamed also said his government will no longer seek a Security Council action to defer for twelve months the implementation of the ICC decision, as stipulated by article 16 of the ICC Rome Statute.
Article 16 states that no prosecution may begin under this Statute for a period of twelve months, renewable, after the Security Council has requested the court to that effect.
“Indeed, we are not at all going to demand article 16, because our demand now is to dismiss this whole criminal plot against our country … Our objective will continue to be the peace process and reaching a final and lasting solution for the problem of Darfur whatever the cost might be,” he said.
He reiterated his government’s position that it will not abide by the ICC decision which is an “insult to justice.” He described the conflict in Darfur as a “traditional conflict blown out of proportions” by the US, UK and France which want to fragment Sudan. “We will not fall in their trap,” he said.
He even accused these contries of targeting “our oil, our wealth and political importance in the continent, … and our Sudanese-Chinese relations, ” accusing France of having re-colonisation ambitions in the continent.

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OIC Secretary General claims ICC warrant for Al Bashir will undermine peace efforts

OIC Secretary General strongly rejects the ICC indictment against President of the Sudan

Date: 04/03/2009 

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has expressed his deep disappointment over the announced indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against President Omar Hassan El Bashir of the Sudan and strongly rejected this move which is void of sound reasoning.

While reiterating the principled position of the OIC on the issue, the Secretary General expressed his concern that this action could seriously undermine the ongoing efforts aimed at facilitating early resolution of the conflict in Darfur and promotion of long lasting peace and reconciliation in the Sudan. He also pointed out that this action could further lead to dangerous ramifications and greater destabilization for the country and the entire region.

Secretary General Ihsanoglu, at the same time, rejected the kind of selectivity and double standards applied by the international community in dealing with issues of crimes against humanity and war crimes which directly affects the credibility of the international legal system.

The Secretary General once more appealed to the UN Security Council to suspend the move by the ICC in the interest of the ongoing peace efforts in the Sudan.

Taking this opportunity the Secretary General reiterated his call to the Sudanese authorities to expedite the investigations and judicial procedures to bring the perpetrators of the alleged crimes committed in Darfur to justice so that the principle of justice is respected and upheld unequivocally.

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Arab League expresses solidarity with Sudan’s Omar Al Bashir in face of ICC arrest warrant

Arab League expresses concern over decision of international criminal court to arrest the Sudanese President   Mar 04, 2009

Cairo, (SANA)-Arab League Council on Wednesday expressed strong concern and annoyance over the decision of the international Criminal Court to arrest the Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Council held an extra ordinary meeting on the level of Arab foreign Ministers to discuss the decision of the international court. It underlined full solidarity with Sudan in the face of any plot that targets its sovereignty, unity and stability and the fairness of the Sudanese judiciary, rejecting any attempt to politicize the international justice principles. The Council expressed regret that the UN Security Council was not able to use Article 16 of the International Court’s articles of association to suspend procedures taken by the Court against the Sudanese President, underlining the immunity of the Presidents according to Vienna Agreement of 1961. Syria took part in the meeting represented by its permanent envoy at the Arab League Yussef Ahmad. Mazen ———————————- Al-Masakin News Agency http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/ http://feeds.feedburner.com/Al-masakinNewsAgency http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/feed/ http://twitter.com/AlMasakin

State Department confirms arms shipments through Russia, affirms Universal Jurisdiction of the ICC over Al Bashir, Roxana Saberi still incommunicado

Missoula, March 4 (Al-Masakin)–Acting Deputy Spokesman for the U.S. State Department Gordon Duguid responding to reporters questions about the U.S. position on the issuance of an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed at the daily press briefing this morning that the “the United States does is we expect all parties in Darfur to cooperate with this…and we want to see those who have committed atrocities held accountable for their actions and their crimes.”

Although the United States is a non-signor to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, and has enacted legislation opposing the courts authority to try an American citizen, it has supported the authority of Universal Jurisdiction over other cases besides the indictment of Al Bashir such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Special Tribunal for Lebanonat the Hague (STL), and Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)in Phnom Penh.

Theh Spokesman also confirmed that American military supplies are now moving through Russia to supply NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, but deferred questions about the details of that operation to the Department of Defense.

With respect to the detention of American reporter in Iran Roxana Saberi the Spokesman said: “We’re working through our protecting power, the Swiss, in order to make sure that a consular officer has access, that Ms. Saberi receives legal counsel, and that any trial that would result from her charges is both transparent and follows the established judicial process.”

The Spokesman said that the Swiss have confirmed that Saberi is detained in Iran’s Evin Prison, but could not confirm the charges against her.  The Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reportedly told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that the State Department is seeking to preclude a trial in the Saberi case, the Spokesman said however that establishing consular access to Saberi and providing her with legal council was the first step in obtaining her release.

Although the American government has in the recent past moved very aggressively to quash independent media, particularly reporters working outside the mainstream media, in this country through organizations such as the FBI, which has itself threatened to murder a reporters and, in addition to unlawfully detaining several, and using stool pigeons to orchestrate near fatal attacks on journalists, said that the detention of Saberi:

“This is not the kind of response that anyone wants to see to freedom of the press, which is a basic right in most other countries. Arresting journalists and holding them incommunicado for lengthy periods of time is not in any society’s interest, and it’s certainly not something that the United States agrees with or looks on favorably.”

The American government has never demonstrated that its commitment to the freedom of the press extends beyond house journalists who function as their mouth pieces.  Others are routinely beaten and jailed.

The Spokesman went on to say that although the State Department is still seeking diplomatic engagement with Iran, Iran’s “fist is still clenched.”

“As of right now, I have seen, you know, no signals that have welcomed our overtures. The fist is still clenched, if you will. We remain open to the possibility, but we are under absolutely no illusions about the difficulty of engaging Iran and are not putting our complete hopes that it will happen in the short term,” Deputy Acting Spokesman Gordan Duguid said this morning.

EHC / EHC

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan’s Omar Al Bashir

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/04/18574909.php

Sudan’s President indicted on five counts of Crimes against Humanity and two counts of War Crimes, the crime of Genocide is not included in the warrant

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Missoula, March 4, (Al-Masakin)–The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, Netherlands, has issued its long expected arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir this morning for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Al Bashir is suspected of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population in Darfur, Sudan, which include murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and transferring by force large numbers of civilians and looting heir property. An estimated 300,000 people have died in the conflict.

This is the first warrant issued by the ICC for a Head of State. The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC claims Al Bashir capacity as a Head of State does not grant him immunity from prosecution, or mitigate his criminal culpability.
According to the Court, the aforementioned crimes were committed during a five-year counter-insurgency campaign led by Sudan’s government against the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and other armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur.

It is alleged that this campaign started soon after the April 2003 attack on El Fasher airport as a result of a common plan agreed upon at the highest level of the Government of Sudan by Omar Al Bashir and other high-ranking Sudanese political and military leaders. It lasted at least until July 14 2008, the date of the filing of the Prosecution’s Application for the warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir.

A core component of that campaign was the unlawful attack on that part of the civilian population of Darfur – belonging largely to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups – perceived to be close to the organized armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur.

The civilian population was to be unlawfully attacked by Government of Sudan forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Janjaweed Militia, the Sudanese Police Force, the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Humanitarian Aid Commission.

The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Omar Al Bashir, as President and Commander-in-Chief de jure and de facto, of having coordinated the design and implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign. In the alternative, it also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was in control of all branches of the “apparatus” of the State of Sudan and used such control to secure the implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign.

The counts

The warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir lists 7 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (article 25(3)(a)) including:

• Five counts of crimes against humanity: murder – article 7(1)(a); extermination – article 7(1)(b); forcible transfer – article 7(1)(d); torture – article 7(1)(f); and rape – article 7(1)(g);
• Two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities – article 8(2)(e)(i); and pillaging – article 8(2)(e)(v).

Findings concerning genocide

The majority of the Chamber, Judge Anita Ušacka dissenting, found that the material provided by the Prosecution in support of its application for a warrant of arrest failed to provide reasonable grounds to believe that the Government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups.

Consequently, the crime of genocide is not included in the warrant issued for the arrest of Omar Al Bashir. Nevertheless, the Judges stressed that if additional evidence is gathered by the Prosecution, the decision would not prevent the Prosecution from requesting an amendment to the warrant of arrest in order to include the crime of genocide.

Cooperation of States

The Judges directed the Registrar to prepare and transmit, as soon as practicable, a request for cooperation for the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir to Sudan, and to all States Parties to the Rome Statute and all United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members that are not party to the Statute, as well as to any other State as may be necessary.

The Judges found that, according to UNSC resolution 1593 and articles 25 and 103 of the UN Charter, the obligation of the Government of Sudan to fully cooperate with the Court prevails over any other international obligation that the Government of Sudan may have undertaken pursuant to any other international agreement.

Obstruction of Justice

Pre-Trial Chamber I also found that the Government of Sudan has systematically refused to cooperate with the Court since the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the Sudanese Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and a regional Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Kushayb, on May 2, 2007.

As a result, the Judges emphasized that, according to article 87(7) of the Statute, if the Government of Sudan continues to fail to comply with its cooperation obligations to the Court, the competent Chamber “may make a finding to that effect” and decide to “refer the matter […] to the Security Council.”

Furthermore, the Judges noted that the dispositive part of UNSC resolution 1593 expressly urges all States, whether party or not to the Rome Statute, as well as international and regional organizations to “cooperate fully” with the Court.

EHC / EHC
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Arab League calls Israeli settlement policies a crime against the Palestinian people, rejects ICC position on Sudan

Arab League Council Condemns Increasing Israeli Settlement Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Lands, Reiterates Arab Countries’ Support of Syria’s Right to Restore the Occupied Syrian Golan   Mar 04, 2009

Cairo, (SANA) – The Arab League Council condemned on Tuesday the increasing Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian lands including al-Quds, denouncing the Israeli government’s decision to demolish hundreds of homes in it. At the conclusion of its 131st session on the level of Arab Foreign Ministers, the Arab League Council affirmed that Israel’s settlement activities and its policies of Judaizing of al-Quds and changing the demographic structure and geography of Palestinian lands are crimes against the Palestinian people that end hopes for achieving peace and establishing the independent Palestinian state. The Council warned against the dangers of the international indifference towards Israel’s settlement policies and their threat to security and stability in the region, calling on the international community and particularly the Security Council and the UN to take a firm stance to stop Israel’s settlement activities and its violations of resolutions of international legitimacy and law. The Council also held Israel legally and morally responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza, calling on relevant UN bodies to investigate Israeli war crimes in Gaza and bring those responsible for them to justice. They also called on the international community to pressure Israel to lift the siege imposed on Gaza Strip and open all crossing points, demanding that international institutes be committed to rebuilding Gaza, in addition to calling on the international community to send international watchers and forces to protect the Palestinians from Israeli massacres. The Council also called for pushing Israel to release the Palestinian captives that amount to more than 11,000 captives. Regarding the Palestinian cause and the Arab-Israeli struggle, the Ministers reiterated that just and comprehensive peace can only be achieved with the complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab and Palestinian lands up to the 4th of June 1967 line. The Council warned against the dangers of Israeli nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, calling for investigating Israel’s use of depleted uranium during its aggression on Gaza. Regarding the issue of the occupied Syrian Golan, the Council affirmed the Arab country’s definite support of Syria and its right to restore the entire occupied Syrian Golan up to the 4th of June 1967 line based on resolutions of international legitimacy. The Council reiterated its refusal of all the procedures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to change the legal, natural and demographic state of the Golan, considering all these procedures illegal, null and void. The Ministers stressed that the continuing occupation of the Golan constitutes a constant threat to peace and security in the region and the world, condemning Israel’s practices of seizing lands and water resources in the Golan, urging the international community to adhere to international legitimacy resolutions that refuse Israeli settlement activities in Golan. They also affirmed their support of the Arab citizens of Golan in their struggle against Israeli occupation, calling on the UN and human rights organizations to pressure Israel to release the Syrian captives and detainees in Israeli prisons. The Council reiterated its refusal of US sanctions and embargo imposed on Syria and the so-called Syrian Accountability Act, stressing that it bypasses international law and attempts to force US laws instead. They underlined their full support for Syria and Lebanon in the face of the constant Israeli aggressions and threats against them, saying that any aggression against them is an aggression against the Arab nation. Regarding Sudan and its issue with the International Criminal Court, the Ministers voiced their support of Sudan and affirmed their refusal of double standards in applying international laws and the attempts to undermine countries’ sovereignty, unity, security and stability. Regarding Lebanon, the Council condemned the Israel violations of Security Council resolution no. 1701, holding Israel responsible for these violations. The Ministers also affirmed the unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq, warning against the escalation of the Iraqi refugee crisis in Arab host countries and calling on Arab countries to provide aid to help the refugees. The Arab Foreign Ministers had prepared the agenda of the 21st Arab Summit which will be held in Qatar on March 30th. The agenda, which deals with a number of political, economic and security issues, will be discussed in the Summit’s preliminary meeting on the level of Foreign Ministers in Doha on March 27th and 28th and finalized before being presented to Arab leaders. H. Sabbagh ———————————- Al-Masakin News Agency http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/ http://feeds.feedburner.com/Al-masakinNewsAgency http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/feed/ http://twitter.com/AlMasakin

U.S. applauds opening of Special Tribunal for Lebanon at Hague

Missoula, March 1 (Al-Masakin)–Acting State Department Spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement to the press that the United States applauds the opening of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon at the Hague.  The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was established June 10, 2007 to prosecute those responsible for the attack that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others Feb. 14, 2005.

“Today’s opening of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon represents an important step toward justice in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. His death —along with the deaths of other Lebanese patriots — was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty. The Lebanese people answered his assassination with the Cedar Revolution, leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the most democratic Lebanese elections in decades.
“The Tribunal is a clear signal that Lebanon’s sovereignty is non-negotiable. Moreover, we hope it will help deter further violence and end a sad era of impunity. Too many Lebanese families have never seen justice for the murder of their loved ones.
“We applaud the brave and tireless work of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission and Lebanese judicial authorities who have brought the investigation and Tribunal this far. We will continue to assist their efforts, and recently pledged another $6 million, pending Congressional approval, towards the Tribunal’s operations in addition to the $14 million already contributed,” the press statement said.

The United States supports the mandate of Universal Jurisdiction except when applied to itself or Israel.  The United States adheres to the American Service-Members Protection Act in 2002, an act which has been called the “Hague Invasion Act” by employees of the ICC because the United States, through this document, promises to invade Holland if any American government officials or service members are ever indicted there. The the American Service-Members Protection Act authorizes the President to use “all means necessary and appropriate” to bring about the release from captivity of U.S. or Allied personnel detained or imprisoned against their will by or on behalf of the ICC.

EHC / EHC

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submits bill on Universal Jurisdiction and international war crimes, awaits Majlis and Guardian Council approval

View Rate : 1125 #            News Code : TTime- 189890        Print Date : Monday, February 23, 2009 Ahmadinejad submits intl. war crimes bill Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented a bill to the Majlis on Sunday calling for the investigation of international war crimes. In January, the cabinet approved the bill calling for the prosecution of individuals charged with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially against Muslim people, in any part of the world. According to the bill, massacring people or depriving them of basic necessities and blocking the supply of humanitarian assistance with the aim of exterminating all or part of a population because they practice a particular religion or inhabit a particular region are all considered genocide and those convicted of such offenses will be sentenced to death or receive a prison sentence ranging from 15 years to life. Displacing people, racism, rape, and other similar inhumane actions perpetrated against a civilian population on a large scale in order to carry out the policies of an organization or a government are deemed to be crimes against humanity and those convicted of such offenses will be sentenced to 10 to 20 years imprisonment, the bill states. The bill also defines the deliberate murder of people, illegal confiscation of assets, forcing captives to fight against their own country, taking hostages, using toxic weapons, starving civilians, and recruiting children under 15 year olds for military operations as war crimes. If the bill is approved by the Majlis and the Guardian Council and becomes a law, the Iranian Judiciary will designate some of its courts in Tehran for holding trials

Three judge panel of the ICC to publish decision on possible arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir March 4

Missoula, Feb. 23 (Al-Masakin)–The International Criminal Court (ICC) shall publish its decision on whether or not to issue an arrest warrent for Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir for the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

In an effort to quash media rumors about a possible arrest warrant being issued for Al Bashir, the three judeg panel of Pre-Trial Chamber I,  after noting the Prosecution’s application for an arrest warrent for Al Bashir made July 14, 2008, article 58 of the Rome Statute, which established the procedure for issuance of summons and arrest warrents for failure to appear, and article 68 which protects the witness and victims of the crimes, decided to make a public announcement on the disposition of the case March 4.

EHC / EHC

The ICC doesn’t need jurisdiction over Palestine to proceed against Israel

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/14/18570675.php

The crimes over which the ICC has jurisdiction do not need to be committed against a sovereign, nor does the alleged criminal need to recognize the authority of the court.

icc_14feb09.pdf
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Op / Ed
By Edward Campbell
Missoula, Feb. 14 (Al-Masakin)—The Palestinian authority does not need to be a sovereign state for Israel to be tried in the ICC because the ICC will not be asserting jurisdiction over Palestine. The ICC will be asserting jurisdiction over Israel, not Palestine. Israel is a sovereign state therefore the jurisdiction of the ICC applies.

The assertion that a sovereign state must advance the cause in the ICC is also incorrect for it is not a person at law that advances a criminal proceeding; it is the prosecutor on behalf of the court who advances a case in court. Criminal proceedings are advanced by public prosecutors vested with the authority to proceed in court. The crime victim, in this case Palestine, is a witness in this court not the prosecutor of the cause before the court.

The fact that Israel is a non-signor to the Rome Statute of the ICC is equally irrelevant because the jurisdiction of the court is over sovereign states not over signors to the Rome Statute. The questions before the ICC at this time then are: Is Israel a sovereign nation? Is there prima facie evidence that Israel committed any of the following crimes: genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity?

None of these alleged crimes need to be carried out against a sovereign nation in order to be considered crimes at law in the ICC. For instance the Nazi crimes against

the Jewish people were tried in an international court though the Jewish people were not a sovereign nation. Germany however was a sovereign nation. The jurisdiction of the court applied to Germany not because the Jewish people were a sovereign nation, but because Germany was.

Slobodan Milosovic was tried in the ICTY though neither Serbia nor Yugoslavia were signors to the Rome Statute. Likewise Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb of Sudan are both under indictment by the prosecutor of the ICC though Sudan is a non-signor to the Rome Statute. Israel, moreover, first recognized the ICC then “un-signed” the statute in 2002.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently explains its reversal on the issue of the ICC: “the head of Israel’s delegation, Judge Eli Nathan, pointed to the inclusion of the crime of transferring population as an example of politicization that Israel could not accept.”

This would suggest that Israel feared the jurisdiction of the court on account of its deportations of Palestinian civilians. The charges being advanced in the present case, however, are not charges of a lingering injury, but are in fact new injuries of recent memory which stem from different causes. The present case has nothing to do with the foundation of Israel, or it legitimacy.

The matter in hand is however whether or not Israel used banned weapons on civilian populations a war crime. The question of genocide as it may be applied in the ICC is not whether act were committed against a sovereign nations, but whether or not acts were committed against ‘a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.’ Clearly Palestine does not need to be a sovereign nation in order to articulate its claims, but indeed it isn’t Palestine who articulates the claim but the Prosecutor of the ICC. Palestine merely stands as evidence of the crimes, not the prosecution for them.

If Israel believes it is innocent of these charges, then it should rest assured that its leadership who will be brought to the dock there will be vindicated at trial. Israel’s leadership should have little to worry about if they are indeed innocent.

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ISESCO: For Immediate Release: Conference on Israeli war crimes to be held in Rabat with the objective of bringing Israeli war criminals before the ICC

On Saturday and Sunday in Rabat: International Conference on “Israel: War Crimes and Genocide” under the Aegis of ISESCO

Rabat: 11/2/2009 A Conference on “Israel: War Crimes and Genocide” will be held by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), in cooperation with Palestinian, regional and international human rights organizations, on 14-15 February 2009, at ISESCO headquarters in Rabat. This event will bring together Palestinian, regional and international NGOs, and a host of international lawyers, international law experts and eyewitnesses to Israel’s recent crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Conference is aimed at conducting legal studies and research on the war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian civilians; collecting evidence to support human rights reports in this connection; and considering possible ways to benefit from the international human rights movement calling for the trial of the Israeli political and military leaders for their crimes in Gaza. The Conference will seek also to coordinate the efforts of the different international human rights actors and organizations, in a bid to prepare elaborate legal documentation and evidence on Israel’s crimes against humanity and war crimes, in such a way as to convict the perpetrators and sue them at the European national courts having universal criminal jurisdiction. Among other objectives of the Conference is to consider available means and possible actions likely to help bring the perpetrators before the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to invite its Prosecutor together with the UN General Assembly to assume their responsibilities in this regard. Several themes are on the Conference’s agenda. These include reviewing the international legislation and the UN resolutions confirming the right of the Palestinian people to independence and to establish its independent State; documenting Israel’s repetitive breach of those laws and resolutions, presenting firsthand testimonies on the Israeli crimes in Gaza to be provided by Palestinian human rights activists in Gaza, and European and Arab doctors who went there during the war and who has keep samples of infected human tissue of the Palestinians injured. The participants will also review the efforts being made by the regional and international human rights organizations to document the Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian civilians and educational, cultural and academic institutions, in such away as to provide enough evidence to bring the Israeli political and military officials to international justice and try them at the ICC and the national courts in the European countries. The Conference will be opened by ISESCO Director General, Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, who will deliver an address on this occasion in which he will highlight the importance of the Conference to be held as part of ISESCO’s fields of competence as the Palestinian cause lies at the heart of joint Islamic action.

For Immediate Release: ICC: No decision made on arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir

 

Press Release: 12.02.2009

 

 

No decision concerning possible arrest warrant against President Al Bashir of Sudan

 

ICC-CPI-20090212-PR389 عربي

 

 

Situation: Sudan

Following press articles published today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) wishes to inform the media that no arrest warrant has been issued by the ICC against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan. No decision has yet been taken by the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I concerning the Prosecutor’s application of 14 July 2008 for the issuance of such a warrant.

The Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision will be made public by the normal way of a press release and publication on the Court’s website.

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For further information please contact Ms Laurence Blairon, Spokesperson, Head of the Public Affairs Unit, Public Information and Documentation Section at +31 (0)70 515 87 14 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 88 89 or at laurence.blairon@icc-cpi.int.

Hamas claims AI report false and insulting, suggests AI seek evidence against Israeli war criminals and submit it to the ICC

Hamas: Amnesty report unfair and discriminatory

Date: 11 / 02 / 2009  Time:  14:37

Gaza – Ma’an – Amnesty International accused Hamas of waging a violent campaign against its Palestinian opponents in the Gaza Strip, to which the party responded calling the report “unfair” and “discriminative.” The report is based on false stories and propaganda against Hamas, spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement Wednesday. “This report directly insults Hamas and its reputation,” the statement said and suggested it was “better for Amnesty to look for the Israeli war criminals that killed hundreds of people in the Gaza Strip instead of tracking Hamas.” He added, ”Amnesty has to bring real evidence and submit it to the international institutions and to the international court instead of making the entire world busy with Hamas and blinded to the Israeli crimes in the latest war against the Gaza Strip.”

UN’s UPR upbraids Saudi Arabia for rights violations, praises it for some reforms

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/07/18568775.php

UN’s UPR upbraids Saudi Arabia for rights violations, praises it for some reforms

by al-masakin
Saturday Feb 7th, 2009 1:40 PM

Saudi Arabia praised for reforms, upbraided for rights violations at UN’s Universal Periodic Review

Saudi Arabia chastised on rights of women, the rights of migrant workers, religious freedom, failure to ratify the Rome Statute, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), to ratify the Convention on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (ICPPED), and the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and All Members of Their Families (CRMW), inter alia.

saudi_arabia_universal_periodic_review_7feb09.pdf
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By Edward Campbell

Missoula, Feb. 7 (Al-Masakin)—Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, being a monarchy, and therefore absolutism at its very foundation, fulfilled its democratic obligation to the international community by submitting to the much feared scrutiny of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review on Friday; a body currently under boycott by the United States.

The Kingdom’s Zaid Al-Hussein, Vice-President of the Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia, noted that Saudi Arabia’s main obstacle to achieving universal human rights is the of the state transformation from a tribal society, characterized by conflicts and widely dispersed and totally unconnected regions where people lived in isolation and forms of economic and

educational backwardness. The Kingdom asserted that Islam supplemented rather than detracted from the process of achieving international human rights standards.

The representative of the Kingdom asserted that the Islamic Shari’a focused special concern for the rights of vulnerable groups such as minorities and non-Muslims, but that the government of Saudi Arabia acknowledged that there were some human rights violations which primarily fell within the context of domestic violence.

The representative said that the Saudi government was constantly endeavoring to prevent these violations by promoting greater social awareness and, where necessary, imposing deterrent penalties on their perpetrators and that women’s awareness of their rights has been considerably increased in recent years through the social development women’s centers, and the National Society for Human Rights which has adopted a policy of disseminating and promoting a legal culture, in general, and women’s rights, in particular.

The representative of the kingdom also said that Saudi Arabia seeks to achieve a balance between requirements of the campaign against terrorism and the need to respect human rights and that from the beginning of the terrorist problem in the Kingdom to the end of 2008, approximately $100 million in compensation had been paid to persons detained in terrorist cases and who were later found to be innocent.

The envoy also said that Saudi Arabia was working very seriously to combat human trafficking and that the kingdom had recently enacted the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act in order to eradicate the practice within the Kingdom.

He also noted that Saudi Arabia was in close conformity with the Paris Principles which inter alia mandated that a state vest an institution with the power to investigate and enforce human rights.

With respect to human rights, the delegations to the UPR noted a number of positive developments within the Kingdom. These included:

Measures taken to improve the rights of women in society; the creation of the National Human Rights Commission; the progress in the health infrastructure; progress in the right to housing and the establishment of a housing development fund; progress in immigration and labor laws; development and relief assistance efforts; its progress in the area of democratic process achieved; efforts to uphold the rights of migrant workers; the accession to international human rights instruments as regard the rights of children; the leading role played by Saudi Arabia in encouraging dialogue among civilizations; and the setting up of the National Society for Human Rights.

The Kingdom was, however, criticized for domestic violence within the kingdom, legislative inequality between men and women, inequality between boys and girls, forced marriages for women under 18, human trafficking, criminal responsibility for minors, human trafficking, failure to remunerate migrant workers, failure to permit individuals to pursue the enforcement of their own rights and the human rights of others, failure to sign International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), failure to permit human rights organizations to enter the country, failure to ratify the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, and failure to effectively combat impunity.

Participating states urged Saudi Arabia to continue combating terrorism, that it end torture and corporal punishment, abolish the death penalty, amend the Code of Criminal Practice to stipulate that only individuals over 18 years old will be tried as adults, develop programs to reintegrate former prisoners into civilian life, to separate juvenile and adult prisoners, ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), to ratify the Convention on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (ICPPED), and to intensify efforts to reintegrate and rehabilitate persons accuses of terrorism.

The Kingdom was furthermore urged to reform its legislation to ensure religious freedom, to protect religious minorities, to play a leading role in the inter-faith dialogue, to end the practice of incarcerating, mistreating and applying travel bans against individuals on the basis of their religious beliefs, to enact and implement a Law of Association to guarantee the right to form civil society organizations and protect those organizations from government interference, to enable to establishment of civil society without supervision by State authorities, to ensure that any obstacles to freedom of expression and movement against human rights defenders were lifted and travel bans removed, to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and All Members of Their Families (CRMW), to establish a broad-based media campaign on the rights of migrants in Arabic and in the languages of migrants, to ensure that all rights were extended to all migrant workers, and to continue with programs to improve the economic, social and cultural rights in the country.

EHC / EHC
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Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

UN Human Rights Council slams Cuba at its Universal Periodic Review

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/06/18568612.php

UN Human Rights Council slams Cuba at its Universal Periodic Review

by al-masakin
Friday Feb 6th, 2009 12:13 PM

UN Human Rights Council slams Cuba for rights violations at its Universal Periodic Review

Cuba praised for health care system, slammed on media rights, ignoring the Rome Statute, prisons, torture, political prisoners, the death penalty, Paris Principles, and more.

un_human_rights_council__cuba_6feb09.pdf
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By Edward Campbell

Missoula, Feb. 6 (Al-Masakin)—The Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group reviewed the fulfillment of human rights obligations by Cuba Feb. 5, during which 60 Council members and observers raised a number of issues pertaining to the human rights situation in the country.

Cuban Minister of Justice Maria Esther Reus Gonzales presented the National Report on Human Rights at UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in Geneva on Thursday. The Justice Minister noted that the UPR for Cuba coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban revolution which made it possible to eradicate the structural injustices inherited from the colonial and neo-colonial period of domination which the country suffered from until 1959.

Issues and questions raised by the Working Group, comprised of the 47 members of the Council, and Observers participating in the interactive discussion related, among other things, the time frame for ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); legal safeguards to ensure protection of human rights defenders; the provision of human rights education in the school system; the intention of the State to abolish the death penalty; the intention of the State to extend a standing invitation to United Nations Special Procedures; information on the program to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS; plans to strengthen the independent of the judiciary; and plans to address the issue of sexual exploitation of women and girls.

A large number of delegations made comments about the effects of the US embargo on Cuba, which was in place for nearly 50 years, and its impact on the realization of human rights in Cuba.

Members States taking the floor during the interactive discussion were the Russian Federation, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Bolivia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Qatar, India, Jordan, Pakistan, Canada, France, the Philippines, Chile, Switzerland, Bahrain, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Slovakia, Italy, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Observer States participating in the discussion were Algeria, Israel, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Venezuela, Bhutan, Iran, Libya, Sri Lanka, Panama, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Jamaica, Belarus, Serbia, Yemen, Vietnam, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Austria, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, Senegal, Honduras, Thailand, Côte d’Ivoire and the Czech Republic.

A number of delegations also posed specific recommendations.

I. The majority of the delegations encouraged Cuba to share its international cooperation experiences with respect to health care, praised Cuba’s health care system.

II. Several delegations encouraged Cuba to live up to its Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), including the basic right to food.

III. The island state was also encouraged to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC); to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; to ratify the International Convention on economic, social and cultural rights; and to abolish the death penalty; to extend a standing invitation to the United Nations Special Procedures; to give importance to human rights training for government officials at all levels; to give access to its prisons by independent organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); to establish a recurrent system of review of its prisons by the United Nations or other relevant international observers; to ensure the right to equality before the courts and tribunals, and to a fair trial; and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.

IV. Cuba was also encouraged to enhance human rights education through public awareness campaigns; to lift restrictions on rights on the freedom of expression and show greater tolerance for Cubans to express opposing views peacefully; to release all remaining political prisoners and to reintegrate them into the community; to guarantee that independent journalists, human rights defenders and political dissidents had the possibility to exercise their basic freedoms without the risk of harassment, intimidation or persecution; and to refrain to using such laws such as dangerousness, enemy propaganda and contempt for authority to restrict the rights of freedom of expression and association.

V. States recommended that Cuba continue programs aimed at ensuring the human rights of disabled persons; continue programs for the rights of the elderly; consider ratifying the Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and All Members of Their Families; address the root causes of prostitution by adopting measures enhancing women’s economic opportunities; to continue its best practices on gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels; take the necessary measures to combat sexual exploitation by adopting legislation providing legal protection for victims of such acts, especially children; and strengthen national capacities to assist victims of domestic violence.

VI. To continue efforts aimed at ensuring respect for freedom of conscience and belief for all Cubans; to protect and protect cultural rights; to continue its policy of tolerance and respect towards all religions without any distinction; to promote the active participation of civil society in the follow up to the UPR; to develop and implement an inter-agency mechanism with participation of civil society; to create a national human rights institution in line with the Paris Principles; to continue its commitment to support initiatives in favour of the right of peoples to self-determination, as well as in its consistent support for all efforts aiming at putting an end to all types of foreign occupation; and to share experiences and best practices in preparedness to prevent and mitigate the impacts of hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the report of Cuba on Monday, 9 February. The Human Rights Council began its review of the human rights record for Saudi Arabia today Feb. 6, and is expected to adopt councils report on human rights in Russian Federation this afternoon.

The chair for the United States has remained empty throughout the review process. Acting spokesman for the U.S. State Department said yesterday that the United States has not decided whether or not to support the Council. The human rights record of the United States will not be up for review by the Human Rights Council until the Council’s ninth session in 2010.

EHC / EHC
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Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

Al-Masakin Op/Ed: Israel not immune to Universal Jurisdiction

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/03/18567946.php

Al-Masakin Op/Ed: Israel not immune to Universal Jurisdiction

by al-masakin
Tuesday Feb 3rd, 2009 10:11 AM

Treaty of Rome non-signor status should not make Israel immune to the Universal Jurisdiction of the ICC

Inability to prosecute Israel for war crimes at the ICC, on account of it being a non-signor to the Rome Treaty, is a conundrum creating the very ‘climate of impunity’ necessitating that Israelis be tried there

israel-icc_3feb09.pdf
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Op/Ed

By Edward Campbell

Missoula, Feb. 3 (Al-Masakin)—Israel, by asserting that since they are non-signors to the Rome Treaty, and therefore cannot be tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC), is a advancing the paradox that makes the trial of Israeli officials there necessary.

The legal doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction, in the past, has raised the objection of a so-called ‘spatial fix.’ That is, to say it has raised the question as to whether or not a trial of state officials in an international court violates the sovereignty of their country of origin for that official, because it tries criminals in a geographic space different from where those crimes were committed.

The ICC, however, claims to have jurisdiction over crimes of such great importance that they can be prosecuted

anywhere, not just in the countries where those crimes were committed.

The ICC prosecutes crimes which it says are of ‘international concern’ in three categories: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, with the aim of fighting ‘local impunity’ on account of a local crisis of jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the ICC applies where local jurisdiction does not. In other words, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over crimes of international concern where a sovereign national court is unable or unwilling to prosecute.

This is precisely the situation with respect to recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Israel refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the ICC out of fear for its leadership. But since there is no indication by Israel that war criminals on its own territory will be prosecuted in an Israeli court, universal jurisdiction must apply.

The question raised by the doctrine of universal jurisdiction was very different when applied to, for instance, the case of Saddam Hussein. For although Saddam Hussein was a war criminal, there was a sovereign national court to try him in, thus removing him from Iraqi jurisdiction, to be tried under universal jurisdiction at the ICC, would have been inappropriate for there was no ‘crisis of impunity’ in Iraq.

But there is in Israel, since refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the ICC at the Hague out of the fear that its leadership may be prosecuted there; though it has supported universal jurisdiction in past when applied to other sovereign entities. The fact that Israel has not agreed to be tried in an international criminal court under universal jurisdiction does not prove that it cannot be tied in one, for that fact that Israeli war criminals cannot be tried in Israeli proves local impunity exists, and ought to necessitate the jurisdiction of a court like the ICC.

Therefore the doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction should apply, for the crisis of impunity indeed exists. Unless, of course, Israel were now to show its willingness to try its own citizens for war crimes on its own territory and in its own courts, for that war crimes were committed is already in evidence prima facie.

The question which has been raised as to whether or not Palestine has legal standing to advance its cause in a court such as the ICC, because it is not recognized as a sovereign state, is rather absurd since criminal courts are finders of fact as to whether or not a lawful person committed a crime at law.

To say that Palestine has no standing in these courts is to insinuate that the persons against whom these crimes were committed are not really persons with respect to the law and therefore crimes committed against them would not truly be crimes but merely Torts. That is absurd. For even if the Palestinian people were not to be considered a lawful people, the ICC still has jurisdiction over property crimes which would amount to war crimes. For crimes against property crimes do remain.

Asserting that Palestinians are not people, but in fact are property, which can be destroyed at will, and that Israel cannot be tried for that, is to say not only are the Palestinian people not a people, but that as a people are not only property, but that they are Israeli property. That is absurd, for Israel is both a criminal and a tortfeasor.

Therefore universal jurisdiction must apply, for the Palestinian people are a lawful people precisely through the fact that they are not the property of Israel, but neither is their property safe from Israel. As a people neither they nor their property is under Israeli jurisdiction, but neither is the Israeli leadership.

EHC/EHC
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Al-Masakin News Agency
http://almasakinnewsagency.wordpress.com/

Treaty of Rome non-signors a stumbling block for prosecution of Israel in the ICC

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/02/18567889.php

Treaty of Rome non-signors a stumbling block for prosecution of Israel in the ICC

by al-masakin
Monday Feb 2nd, 2009 9:59 PM

News Code: 335068 GMT: 2/2/2009 3:20:43 PM
ICC exploring ways to prosecute Israel for war crimes

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London, Feb 2, IRNA — The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders for alleged war crimes, it was reported Monday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, said he is examining the case for Palestinian jurisdiction over the alleged crimes committed in Gaza after the court declared it was unable to prosecute because it had no jurisdiction over Israel as a non-signatory.
“It is the territorial state that has to make a reference to the court. They are making an argument that the Palestinian Authority is, in reality, that state,” Moreno-Ocampo was quoted saying by the Times newspaper, referring to where the alleged crimes occurred.

Part of the Palestinian argument rests on Israeli insistence that it has no responsibility for Gaza under international law since it withdrew from the territory in 2006.
“They are quoting jurisprudence,” Moreno-Ocampo said. “It’s very complicated. It’s a different kind of analysis I am doing. It may take a long time but I will make a decision according to law,” he said.
The alleged crimes include the use of deadly white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas, which Israel initially denied but was forced later to admit in the face of mounting evidence, including the horrific burns suffered by Palestinian civilians.
The ICC prosecutor said that determining jurisdiction was only a first step that needed to be established before the court could launch an investigation.
Many human rights groups including Amnesty International are understood to have already submitted several files on the extent of Israel’s alleged war crimes in killing over 1,300 Palestinians, including more than 400 children, in Gaza.
Under the Rome treaty, the ICC was set up to investigate and prosecute allegations of the most serious war crimes but only if the country responsible is unwilling or unable to do so through its national courts.
States that are party to the treaty can refer cases of crimes committed by their citizens or on their territory, while cases involving the citizens or territory of a country that has not signed up to the court can be referred by the UN Security Council — as in the case of Darfur.
Ivory Coast set a precedent in 2005 as the first non-state party to accept the ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged war crimes on its territory, having signed the Rome treaty but never ratifying.
Palestinian lawyers in effect are arguing that the Palestinian Authority should be allowed to refer the cases in Gaza on this same ad hoc basis — despite its lack of internationally recognized statehood.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 335068
February 3, 2009 Posted by almasakinnewsagency | Gaza, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel, Palestine, War Crimes | | No Comments | Edit

French lawyer has identified the names of Israeli officers involved in Gaza war crimes in preparation to file war crimes charges at the ICC

French expert: We identified names of Israeli officers involved in Gaza massacre

[ 01/02/2009 - 08:12 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)– The French legal expert in international law and coordinator of the international alliance for prosecution of Israeli war criminals Jill Difer has asserted that his group succeeded in identifying names of Israeli army officers involved in the war on Gaza in preparation to file lawsuits against them before international courts. However, Difer refused to disclose names of those officers “in order not to preempt the investigation”. In statements he made to Islam online website on the internet, Difer underlined that Israeli attempts to hide names of those officers failed because his group started collecting information and documenting data about those officers at the start of the war on Gaza, adding that the Israeli attempts “came in the wasted time”. He added that Israel should understand from now on that it is no longer free to commit war crimes without getting prosecuted. According to Difer, he and a number of his comrades in the group had met with general-prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis O’campo, and handed him complaints filed by more than 350 legal and human rights organizations against Israeli military leaders involved in the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, Difer opined that a number of obstacles could jeopardize the proceedings, including the fact that Israel wasn’t a signatory to the Rome Convention of the ICC, but he insisted that they will pursue the case to the end. He also ruled out the UN Security Council could enforce the investigation of those crimes, explaining that allies of Israel in the UNSC could veto any resolution in this regard. Finally, Difer disclosed that his group would file a case before the primary court in the Belgium capital Brussels to cancel the agreement of December 8, 2008 that raised level of the Israeli-EU relationship, which was sponsored by France.