War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity
Jewish World Watch in the Congo
Published November 08, 2009 @ 12:52PM PT
"When your translator is in tears, you know you're in trouble."
My friends at Jewish World Watch (JWW) are currently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on a mission to record survivor testimony and to visit organizations working on the ground in the region. The travelers are diligently posting blogs, photographs, Tweets, and more and they make their way through what must be an emotionally and physically exhausting trip.
Here's more information about JWW and the Congo trip from JWW staffer Ari Averbach:
Bold Words, from Sudan to Zim to the DRC
Published November 03, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT
Dictator Delusion Disorder
Congolese President Joseph Kabila boasted that his army is winning its battle to uproot extremist Hutu militias in the east, just as the UN withdrew its support for the Congolese army and human rights groups issued warnings about egregious violence committed by the troops against civilians.
A typical day at the office?
Says my favorite old curmudgeon Bobby Mugabe of his Prime Minister: "Even if some person is not mentally stable he is still your partner . . . . We bound ourselves to work together even though we had disparate position." So is he on or off the Christmas card list?
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
Such is the gist of statements by Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salahuddin on Obama's recently-released Sudan policy: "We believe that the U.S strategy toward Sudan is tactics more than anything else, and therefore we need the U.S. to come out with a true strategy dealing with the overall relations."
Who else would have the moxie to tell the Leader of the Free World, "You did it wrong. Go back and try again?"
The Websites of War Criminals
Published October 30, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT
What's a misunderstood war criminal to do when he feels the world is unjustly against him? Create a website, of course.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, recently launched a website complete with a dove, olive branch, and upbeat headlines about the supposedly-peace-loving dictator's latest activities. Interestingly, as Bec Hamilton notes, the website is in English as well as Arabic: "It's not the regular Sudanese voter he's pitching to."
Bashir is not the first to use a glossy and misleading website for an international PR campaign, of course. According to Laura at the Enough Project and Jason at Congo Siasa, the diaspora leaders of the FDLR, the Congo-based militia led by former Rwandan genocidaires, have thus-far resisted attempts to shut down their website by simply changing hosts. According to Jason, the site is currently hosted in the US -- which means that we need to figure out who it is, and harass the bejeezus out of them. (Instead of E-cards for Dictators, maybe E-cards for the Morally Depraved?)
Not to be left out of all the fun, Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has its own multi-language propaganda site, which conveniently leaves out headlines about its use of child soldiers, among other less-than-upstanding activities.
So when will this unsavory cast of characters discover the magic of Twitter?
Vote for Google to Create a Genocide Alert System
Published October 01, 2009 @ 04:40PM PT
Can you spare 30 seconds to change the world? (No, I am not exaggerating.)
One of the projects currently up for voting at Google's Project 10^100 is the creation of a genocide monitoring and alert system. As reported earlier this week, internet mapping technology is already being put to good use in mass atrocity situations, but dedicated time and resources from the Google team could take the concept to a whole new level. As Google describes:
"Much of the necessary technology and data-gathering methodology already exists both for general crisis mapping and for early warning systems capable of preventing mass atrocities. A key remaining step is to make this data more widely available to strengthen international aid agency coordination, improve resource allocation, develop timely policy and help evaluate current humanitarian practices."
Google has the technology, the know-how, and the money -- lots of it -- so all you have to do is vote. And tell your friends to vote, before October 8. Never underestimate the power of peer pressure, especially when accompanied by an icy cold stare down.
For the social media-inclined, copy and paste this to your Twitter and/or Facebook pages: Pass it along - Vote to create a genocide monitoring and alert system at Google's Project 10^100 http://bit.ly/2IFNrQ
Do it.
(Thanks to several Change.org members for bringing this to my attention.)
A Conventional Approach
Published September 23, 2009 @ 04:26PM PT
On the eve of a new UN General Assembly it may be helpful to look back on the history of one of the body's most substantial contributions to international law.
The idea of an international treaty prohibiting genocide was first broached by Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who created the term "genocide." In a pamphlet published in 1946 Lemkin proposed that individuals who committed acts of genocide would be prosecuted by the country where the crime was committed. Additionally, he suggested that a special tribunal be set up to try any government or organization leaders who participated in genocide.
Video Evidence of War Crimes in Sri Lanka
Published September 16, 2009 @ 05:10PM PT
The usual vocabulary seems horribly insufficient to describe the latest video documentation leaked out of Sri Lanka's war zone. Shocking, appalling, disturbing, disgusting -- no words seem to truly capture the level of depravity depicted in the footage. Working full-time in the genocide field, one is forced to develop a tolerance for the darker inclinations of mankind, but this one made me nauseous.
The footage shows the summary execution of several civilians by men dressed in military uniform. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, the group that obtained the video, claims that the victims are ethnic Tamils and their killers are members of the Sri Lankan military -- impossible to verify at this point, but an increasing chorus of expert opinion is growing in support of its authenticity.
The government of Sri Lanka, naturally, claims that the video is a hoax, and categorically denies committing any atrocities against Tamil civilians during its war with the rebel LTTE. But video evidence like this is awfully hard to fabricate. One has to wonder how long they will stick to their story, as more and more footage, testimony, and other evidence shines light on their blood-stained hands.
My Change.org co-blogger Michael wrote last night about the horrific humanitarian situation still facing Tamil civilians months after the war's end, which is in large part due to government obstruction of aid efforts. (By the way, to all of the evil dictators out there: Nothing says "guilty" like refusing humanitarian aid to civilians, because we all know the true motive behind such an act is to keep international eyes and ears out of your dirty business.)
And yet, as Michael noted, the Sri Lanka has a thriving tourism industry. Sign Michael's petition to boycott tourism in Sri Lanka until the situation for displaced Tamils improves. If you aren't planning a Sri Lankan getaway yourself, pass the message on to anyone and everyone who will listen. Money talks, and the Sri Lankan government certainly does not want to see a vital industry take a hit from its self-created public relations nightmare.
And by "public relations nightmare," I mean, "the most horrific crimes against humanity imaginable, for which I can only hope you will one day rot in jail. Or, perhaps someplace even worse."
[Thanks to Parthi for passing along links for this post.]
Human Rights at Risk in Serbia
Published September 14, 2009 @ 03:27PM PT
Impunity begets impunity, it seems.
A new report from Amnesty International accuses the Serbian government of turning a blind eye to attacks against human rights defenders, whose primary ‘offense' is calling for accountability for war crimes committed by Serbian forces in the 1990s. Hostile pro-government media singles out human rights defenders, with particularly vicious attacks reserved for women and LGBT activists, and accuses them of driving the country to ruin with their calls for justice. A journalist in Belgade was the victim of a grenade attack on his apartment after appearing on local television to discuss the 1995 genocidal massacre at Srebrenica.
Using the media to express an opinion is one thing -- but threatening the lynching of a human rights activist crosses any reasonable line of free speech, especially in a still-tense post-conflict setting. Publishing the home address of another and labeling her a "traitor" borders on criminal. According to activist Sonja Biserko of the Helsinki Committee, the state itself is "eager to silence people because they don't want us to remind them what they have done."
