JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, April 1, 2012

[JURIST] George Boley, former leader of the Liberian Peace Council (LPC), was removed from the US on Saturday for his role in human rights abuses in the 1990s during the Liberian Civil War [Global Security backgrounder]. An immigration judge ordered his removal [press release] from the US in February for recruiting child soldiers and other human rights violations. His removal order was the first to be obtained under the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008 [text]. Boley had been living in New York State until his arrest two years ago, which was prompted by the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] recommending his prosecution in July 2009. No charges have been filed in Liberia against Boley yet.

The TRC led to the prosecution of former Liberian president Charles Taylor [JURIST backgrounder], whose trial ended [JURIST report] more than a year ago, but no verdict has been given yet. In February, Taylor's lawyers asked to reopen the case [JURIST report] in light of new evidence, but the court did not respond. The TRC submitted a report [JURIST report] to the Liberian government in 2010 that detailed crimes committed during the civil war, which the government used to contemplate possible prosecutions. The TRC also urged the government [JURIST report] in 2009 to prosecute many former political and military leaders for crimes against humanity.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns on Friday called on India's government to take stronger measures to end extrajudicial and arbitrary executions [press release]. While commending India for its willingness to listen to new ideas and improve in the area of human rights, Heyns said at the conclusion of a 12-day visit to the country that there is evidence that the Indian police has been creating "fake encounters," where they create a shoot-out in which a targeted person is killed. After the shoot-out is over, the targeted person is painted as the aggressor, so the police can claim he or she was killed in self-defense. Heyns believes the main reason these encounters happen is that there is a high level of impunity given to police officers and prosecutions are hard to obtain through the legal process. He also expressed concern over a number of other questionable execution practices, such as killing of "witches" and honor killings. Heyns encouraged the Indian government to ratify international treaties, such as the Convention Against Torture [text] and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances [text], and to work with other countries and develop policies to prevent these types of executions.

India has been under fire lately for its human rights and execution practices. Last week, Amnesty International [advocacy website] urged India to stop [JURIST report] its first formal execution since 2004 and abolish the death penalty. In January, Human Rights Watch called on India to prosecute soldiers for torture and extrajudicial executions on its Bangladesh border. The country has, however, made some positive strides in support of human rights in the last few years. In May, the India high court approved of the death penalty for honor killings [JURIST report] in an attempt to put an end to them. The high court also found last year that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel [JURIST report].

[JURIST] A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website]on Friday urged the Cambodian government to give its full cooperation to the new judges [text] that will eventually be appointed to investigate the genocide during the Khmer Rouge regime [BBC backgrounder]. The statement also explained that the secretary-general will begin the process of selecting a new Co-Investigating Judge and reserve Co-Investigating Judge to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive]. These appointments have become necessary after both previous judges, Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet and Judge Siegfried Blunk [JURIST reports], resigned citing interference on the part of the Cambodian government in relation to cases 003 and 004 [case materials]. The secretary-general noted the importance of government cooperation in this matter in his statement:

It is essential that the Royal Government of Cambodia extend full cooperation to the new judges once it has been informed by the Secretary-General of their selection. ... The Royal Government of Cambodia should afford the new international Co-Investigating Judge every assistance and full cooperation to carry out his or her functions. The United Nations will remain vigilant in its efforts to ensure that such assistance and cooperation are provided. ... The Royal Government of Cambodia and the international community [should] view the selection of the new judges as an opportunity to move forward beyond recent events, and enable the ECCC to carry out its obligations in full by considering all of the cases before it in accordance with international standards of fairness.

The court is charged with leading the investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for an estimated 2.5 million deaths hundreds of thousands reported instances of torture.

There has been much controversy surrounding the ECCC, including questions of its legitimacy coming from two separate reports: one report [JURIST report] from the International Bar Association [official website] and another report [JURIST report] from the Open Society Justice Initiative [advocacy websites]. Thus far, the only former Khmer Rouge leader to be convicted [JURIST report] is Kaing Guek Eav [ECCC materials], who was sentenced to life in prison last year. In October, accused Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen [BBC profile] for interfering with the UN-backed war crimes tribunal. In October 2010, Hun Sen informed the UN that Cambodia will not allow further prosecutions of low-ranking Khmer Rouge officers [JURIST report].

[JURIST] President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) [advocacy website] Nabeel Rajab, an outspoken critic of violent government crackdowns against protesters, may face criminal charges for the role he has played in anti-government protests, his lawyer said Sunday. Rajab was arrested [AP report] just before a planned demonstration against the imprisonment of a prominent rights activist, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and is charged with participation in illegal gatherings [official Twitter page, in Arabic]. The government has responded violently to protests, which began last year, resulting in more than 70 deaths [BCHR report]. The protesters are seeking grants of basic freedoms similar to other movements in the Arab Spring, including democratic elections, but protests in Bahrain have not been as successful as those in other Arab nations.

Protests and demonstrations in Bahrain [BBC backgrounder] have been ongoing since February 2011 [JURIST report]. In March, Amnesty International urged [JURIST report] the Bahraini government to release Al-Khawaja, who had at that time been on a hunger strike in protest of his charges for 50 days. That same month, the UN expressed concern [JURIST report] over the escalation of the government crackdowns on protesters. In addition to open violence against activists, Human Rights Watch released a report in March claiming protesters are being convicted in unfair trials [JURIST report]. All of this comes after the government announced constitutional reforms [JURIST report] in January that were rejected by opposition groups.