The top prosecutor for the International Criminal Court says he will seek “close to the maximum” sentence for Thomas Lubanga, the Congolese warlord convicted of recruiting and using child soldiers. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo spoke at The Hague Thursday, a day after the court convicted Lubanga of war crimes in its first verdict since being […]
ICC Prosecutor to Seek Long Sentence Congolese Warlord
Charles Taylor to Hear Verdict April 26
The court trying former Liberian president Charles Taylor for war crimes says it will hand down its verdicts next month. The U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone said Thursday it will announce April 26 whether Taylor is guilty on 11 counts of murder, rape, recruiting child soldiers and other charges. Taylor is accused of arming […]
Bangladesh Jails Islamist Charged With War Crimes
A tribunal has jailed the former chief of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party while he awaits trial on war crimes charges. 89-year-old Ghulam Azam is accused of collaborating with Pakistan’s army in carrying out murders and rapes during Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan. He was head of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party. On Wednesday, the government’s […]
Bosnian Serb Woman Arrested for Suspected War Crimes
Police in Bosnia-Herzegovina have arrested a Bosnian Serb woman suspected of committing brutal crimes against non-Serbs during the war in the Balkans in the 1990s. Officials said Wednesday the woman was detained in the northern Bosnian town of Brcko. Local media have identified her as Monika Ilic. She was a wartime girlfriend of Goran Jelisic, […]
Sri Lanka Panel Clears Military of Civilian Deaths
A Sri Lankan war commission has cleared the military of deliberately targeting civilians in the final stages of the country’s civil war. The government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission said it was “satisfied” security forces had taken precautions to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. The 440-page report was presented to parliament Friday. The commission […]
Sri Lanka Tallying Civilian Deaths From Civil War
Sri Lanka’s defense secretary says the government is counting how many civilians were killed in the final months of the country’s civil war, but that the number of dead will be far too small to constitute war crimes by the Sri Lankan military. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa made the announcement Thursday, after the government acknowledged for the […]
War Crimes Trial Begins in Bangladesh
The first war crimes trial stemming from Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan has begun. The trial of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a senior leader in the opposition Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami party, got under way Sunday in the capital, Dhaka. Among the charges against Sayedee are crimes against humanity, genocide, rape and murder. If found guilty, […]
War Crimes Trial Begins in Bangladesh
The first war crimes trial stemming from Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan has begun. The trial of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a top leader in the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami party, got underway Sunday in the capital, Dhaka. Among the charges against Sayedee are crimes against humanity, genocide, rape, and murder. If found guilty, the 71-year-old […]
FBI: Hate Crimes in US Remained Steady in 2010
The U.S. government says the number of reported hate crimes in the United States remained steady in 2010. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Monday that 6,628 hate crime incidents were reported last year, while 6,604 were reported in 2009. It said 47 percent of the incidents with a single motivation were driven by race, […]
War Crimes Prosecutor May Trim Indictment Against Mladic
The chief prosecutor for the U.N. war crimes tribunal has announced he is considering dropping some of the charges against Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic in order to speed up his case. Serge Brammertz said Wednesday his prosecution team is looking at ways to accelerate the trial due to concerns about Mladic’s failing health. Last […]