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24 May 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on international criminal justice
Articles
ICC Says It's Monitoring Central African Republic Violence
By Bloomberg, 24 May 2017
The International Criminal Court called for an end to a new wave of violence between armed groups in the Central African Republic and warned it would take further action. “My office is monitoring these developments very closely to assess what further action may be required,” the ICC’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said Tuesday in an emailed statement. Central African Republic has been riven by violence since a coalition of mainly Muslim rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize in 2013. The country was the world’s 10th-biggest diamond producer by value in 2012, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Low Turnout at the Lukodi Memorial Prayers as Victims Express Dissatisfaction with the Slow Pace of Ongwen’s Trial
By International Justice Monitor, 23 May 2017
Lukodi village is located approximately 17 kilometers from Gulu town. It was the scene of a horrendous massacre by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in May 2004, leading to the death of over 69 civilians. Dominic Ongwen is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in part due to what happened here. Ongwen’s trial before the ICC started on December 6, 2016. He is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in attacks on camps for people displaced by the conflict in northern Uganda. The attacks took place between 2003 and 2004 in the camps of Pajule, Odek, Abok, and Lukodi. Ongwen has also been charged with sexual and gender-based crimes, including the crime of forced marriage.
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Liberia: Court Approves Sen. Sherman's Medical Travel to U.S.
By AllAfrica, 23 May 2017
Two letters in the possession of the Daily Observer have established that Associate Justice Philip A.Z. Banks, the Justice in Chambers at the Supreme Court, mandated Criminal Court 'C' to approve defendant Varney Sherman's medical trip to the United States. Justice Bank's action was prompted by a letter dated May 18 from lawyers representing Cllr. Sherman and signed by both Counselors Cyrus Jones and Moses Paegar that partly reads, "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center administration and attending physicians have advised our client Varney Sherman to seek urgent advanced medical intervention abroad." The letter further reads, "Accordingly, and predicated upon the attached report/communication from the said hospital, we hereby requesting for permission from this Supreme Court to enable Sherman to travel to the US for urgent foreign medical intervention."
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Rwanda: Genocide Archives Facility Takes Shape
By AllAfrica, 23 May 2017
The Genocide Archive of Rwanda has so far uploaded and digitised about 8,000 information items-related to 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, including confessions by perpetrators. Chief Justice Sam Rugege believes that the facility will be an important tool for students, teachers and researchers to easily access history about Rwanda and specifically the Genocide. The Genocide Archive of Rwanda's collection contains photographs, videos and documents related to the Genocide, materials about pre-Genocide history and post-Genocide reconciliation and recovery initiatives in Rwanda. The materials are also preserved and are accessible physically at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Gisozi.
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Trust Fund for Victims decides to provide $1 million for the reparations awarded to victims in the Katanga case, welcomes earmarked donations of €200,000 from the Netherlands
By International Criminal Court, 18 May 2017
On the second day of its 16th Meeting, occurring from 16 to 18 May 2017, the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims ("the Trust Fund" or "TFV") at the International Criminal Court ("ICC") decided to provide $1,000,000 USD to pay for the individual and collective awards for reparations ordered by Trial Chamber II in the case of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga. This means that the full amount of the costs of the reparations awards ordered by the Trial Chamber on 24 March 2017 will be initially provided by the Trust Fund. "The Rome Statute's innovative inclusion of the potential to award reparations to victims following a criminal conviction underscores the victim-centred approach of the entire Rome Statute system. As established by the Court, 'reparations oblige those responsible for serious crimes to repair the harm they caused to the victims'. Reparations therefore are a critical part of the reparative justice afforded to victims under the Rome Statute.
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