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22 Mar 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on International Criminal Justice
Articles
U.S. pulls out of human rights panel on Trump executive orders
by Reuters, 21 Mar 2017
The United States pulled out of a regional hearing held on Tuesday to discuss the possible effects on human rights from executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump targeting immigrants and refugees, organizers said. The hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), created by the 35-nation Organization of American States (OAS) to protect human rights in the Americas, follows concerns over the impact of three executive orders signed by Trump, including plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico. The U.S. government has appealed a federal judge's halt on Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries. Trump said the ban was needed to protect the country from Islamist militants but immigration advocates said it discriminated against Muslims. Maria Isabel Rivero, a spokeswoman for the IACHR, said the United States advised the commission on Monday it would not attend the panel, which includes representatives from a number of regional human rights and immigration groups. "If the member state doesn't want to be represented there is nothing we can do about it but the hearing goes ahead anyway," Rivero said.
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Pope apologises for church's role in Rwanda genocide
by Al Jazeera, 21 Mar 2017
Pope Francis has pleaded for forgiveness for "the sins and failings of the Church and its members" implicated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed about 800,000 people. The pontiff "conveyed his profound sadness, and that of the Holy See and of the Church, for the genocide against the Tutsi", the Vatican said in a statement following a meeting on Monday between Francis and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. "He implored anew God's forgiveness for the sins and failings of the Church and its members, among whom priests, and religious men and women who succumbed to hatred and violence, betraying their own evangelical mission," it said. A number of churches became scenes of mass killings during the 100-day rampage, as Hutu militiamen found people seeking refuge there, sometimes turned over by priests, with no way out. Francis' pardon plea followed a request from Rwanda in November for the Vatican to apologise for the church's role in the massacres. Since the genocide, whose victims were mostly from the Tutsi minority, the Catholic Church has been accused of being close to the Hutu government in power in 1994.
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Philippines Rejects European Parliament's Call on Senator
by The New York Times, 17 Mar 2017
The Philippine government on Friday rejected a call by the European Parliament for the release of Sen. Leila de Lima, a leading critic of the president who has been detained on drug charges, and told the international community to refrain from influencing her case. The Department of Foreign Affairs said a European Parliament resolution calling for de Lima's release "casts aspersion on Philippine legal processes, its judicial system." "The pillars of the criminal justice system remain to be effective and well-functioning in the Philippines, not only for Sen. de Lima but for all," it said in a statement. "The case is pending before the proper Philippine courts and the Philippine government will allow the legal process to proceed accordingly." De Lima said she was elated "that the international community is closely monitoring the trumped-up charges brought up against me." She called on President Rodrigo Duterte's administration to heed the call. De Lima is a former top human rights official and vocal critic of Duterte's brutal crackdown on illegal drugs. She was arrested last month on charges she received bribes from detained drug lords when she served as justice secretary under Duterte's predecessor. She has vehemently denied the charges, which she said are part of efforts by Duterte and his officials to muzzle critics of his anti-drug crackdown, which has left thousands of mostly poor drug suspects dead. Western governments, along with EU and U.N. officials, have expressed alarm over the crackdown.
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Israel is imposing 'apartheid regime' on Palestinians, UN agency says
by The Independent, 16 Mar 2017
A UN agency has accused Israel of imposing an “apartheid regime” of racial discrimination on the Palestinian people, and said it was the first time a UN body had clearly made the charge. Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman likened the report, which was published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on Wednesday, to Der Sturmer—a Nazi propaganda publication that was strongly anti-Semitic. The report concluded “Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.” The accusation—often directed at Israel by its critics—is fiercely rejected by Israel. Rima Khalaf, UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary, said the report was the “first of its type” from a UN body that “clearly and frankly concludes that Israel is a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people”. ESCWA comprises 18 Arab states in Western Asia and aims to support economic and social development in member states, according to its website. The report was prepared at the request of member states, Ms Khalaf said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the report was published without any prior consultation with the UN secretariat. “The report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary-general (Antonio Guterres),” said Mr Dujarric, adding that the report itself notes that it reflects the views of the authors. The United States, an ally of Israel, said it was outraged by the report.
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