She been attacked by the Gambia, who is leveling the charge, for her silence about alleged atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Speaking on the final day of hearings, Aung San Suu Kyi called the 2017 crackdown on on the Rohingya a clearance operation targeting  militants.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner is accused to ignoring widespread allegations of  mass murder, rape and forced deportation of Rohingya.

Thousands were killed and at least 700 000 forced to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

The court now has to decide whether to impose legally binding measures to protect the Rohingya.

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Ntaganda, who handed himself in six years ago, will be sentenced at a later date.

Bosco Ntaganda’s defense say he was kidnapped and dragooned into military service as a boy, making him a victim of a brutal system.

ICC chief judge Robert Fremr countered that Ntaganda, known as the eliminator, was a key leader of rebels whom he sent to target and kill civilians.

The court heard of young children being disemboweled and of young girls being forced into sex slavery.

Ntaganda, who became a DRC army general before breaking away to form a rebel group, was found guilty of 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity in the mineral rich region of Ituri between 2002 and 2003.

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Recent events at the International Court of Justice in the Hague and the United Nations General Assembly remind us there is another: Britain’s continued administration of the Indian Ocean Chagos Archipelago.

Holding sway over the empire upon which the sun never set, Britain began calling the shots on  developments in the Indian Oceans around Mauritius from 1814.

Before giving that country independence in 1968, Britain paid four million pounds for the Chagos Archipelago and called it the British Indian Ocean Territory

In the mid sixties it leased one of the islands, Diego Garcia to the United States.

The Pentagon build a strategically importnat military base there, secure in the knowledge that it has tenure until 2035.

At Washington’s behest, Britain moved the  1800-odd islanders  off their home. They have never been allowed to return.

This type of behaviour might have been generally accepted in a bygone era of colonial administration..

It does not wash today – certainly not from a  country that has long passed the twilight of its global power.

Britain has set aside 40 million pounds to assist the displaced Chagoans who are mostly in Britain, the Seychelles and Mauritius.

Still not good enough.

The matter was brought to the United Nations’ top court that found in February that Britain had acted illegally by hiving off the archipelago to continue its occupation. The ICJ ruled this should end as soon as possible.

In the General Assembly this week, an African-sponsored motion was passed by 116 votes to six giving Britain six month to get off Chagos.

Britain’s ambassador to the world organization Dame Karen Pierce said candidly that this would not happen.

Britain is determined to continue its control of Chagos at least until 2036.

Not surprisingly the United States was one of the half-dozen opponents of the resolution.

It reminded the international community that operations from Diego Garcia protect the region from terrorists and pirates. The base is also used for humanitarian purposes like reducing tsunami victims.

Diego Garcia is not used to house terror suspects  but it is used as a refueling stop in transitioning them from points of capture to places of incarceration.

It was also used for US bombing raids on Iraq and Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington 18 years ago.

Neither the ICJ ruling nor the UNGA resolution is binding.

General Assembly resolutions cannot be enforced.

However the strongly reflects international opinion.

Flying in the face of it brings into question Britain’s commitment to the multilateral system of  governance.

With its military power having waned, Britain, like most other countries, has to rely on moral clout.

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth urged countries to support the General Assembly resolution, saying failure to do so would be endorsing colonialism.

He maintains the United States can lease its military base from his government, adding that Mauritius would find it deeply offensive if Washington did not regard it as a trusted security partner.

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No date has been set for the hearing in The Hague of the man who was known as Rambo.

Alfred Yekatom led a Christian militia called the Anti Balka against the Muslim Seleka rebels who overthrew President Francois Bozize in 2013.

The rebels killed 20 South African soldiers acting as advisors to the Central African Republic President.

Yekatom gained notoriety as an MP when he fired a shot into the parliament in Bangui.

He’s facing charges of murder, deportation, persecution, torture and attacking civilians – all aimed at Muslims.

He’s also charged with recruiting child soldiers under 15-years-old

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Eshetu Alemu insists prosecutors have got the wrong man. He says he’s a teacher not a killer.

The quietly spoken joint Dutch Ethiopian citizen admits he handled propaganda for Mengistu Haile Mariam who overthrew Haile Selassie and led Ethiopia until his defeat when he sought refuge in Zimbabwe.

In fluent Dutch Eshetu Alemu says he had nothing to do with the thousands of killings by Mengistu who ignored a famine that killed a million people.

Prosecutor Wim de Bruin says hundreds of witnesses have come forward.

Alemu’s trial will show there is no impunity for war criminals – even after 40 years.

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The first former head state to appear in the dock at the international tribunal has been held in the Hague for nearly six years.

The defence contends that pleading not guilty is not a factor favoring continued detention.

Both Laurent Gbagbo, now 72, and his former militia leader Charles Ble Goude, have pleaded not guilty to four charges of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, and persecution in five months of bloodshed that wrecked the Ivory Coast.

About 3 000 people died in the turmoil that swept Abidjan in the aftermath of the 2010 presidential poll won by Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo refused to accept defeat.

The post ICC declines to release Laurent Gbagbo during his trial appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

ICC is telling  Burundi, South Africa and Gambia that the powerful may seek to leave the court, but victims everywhere a pleading for its involvement.

ends intro

ICC Assembly of Parties President Sidiki Kaba of Senegal says in a world criss-crossed by violent extremism, it is urgent and necessary to defend the ideal of justice for all.

Kaba accepts the tribunal opened in 2002 as a court of last resort to try the world’s worst crimes is going through a difficult moment.

He  offers reassurances to its critics that they have been heard.

Kaba  says the Hague-based court has to redouble its efforts to convince countries to return, and to ensure that there is truly universal justice for all.

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He’s the highest ranking person yet convicted by the international tribunal in the Hague.

ends intro

The judgment was hailed as a landmark decision in the fight against impunity for sex crimes in conflict.

Bemba’s unanimous conviction marks the first time the court has convicted an accused based on his role as a military commander.

It’s also the court’s first judgment recognising rape as a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Bemba showed no emotion as Judge Sylvia Steiner read out the long judgment highlighting the horrific crimes carried out by his militia.

He will be sentenced following a separate hearing. His lawyers can appeal the convictions.

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