Ecuador to begin first trial for CAH: Ecuador’s National Court of Justice will begin the country’s first trial for crimes against humanity this week. Four former army generals, colonels and a police general face charges for the disappearance and torture of three members of the Alfaro Vive Carajo guerilla group, Luis Vaca, Susana Cajas and Javier Jarrin. The Fiscal General of the State admits that the individuals were “forcibly disappeared” in 1985 during the government of President Leon Febres-Cordero. According to reports, some retired military officers continue to protest the trial. (WW4 Report)
Witness at Extraordinary African Chambers trying Habre testifies on grave sites: Clement Abaifouta, a former prisoner under Hissene Habre’s ex- regime in Chad told the Extraordinary African Chambers he was forced to bury victims of the secret police operating under Habre. Abaifouta said that he was given the job of digging graves for dead fellow detainees at a burial site outside N’Djamena now known as the Plain of the Dead. He said he would visit the site “once, two, or three times (daily) depending on the rate of people dying…There we would only dig a metre deep and they would say ‘that’s enough- make sure you aren’t seen’”. He also described the treatment of the detainees and said that sometimes as many as 40 people died in a day in the prisons. Habre’s defence team accused Abaifouta of giving contradictory evidence. (Yahoo! News)
Bangladesh PM criticizes Amnesty on allegations of protecting war criminals: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly accused Amnesty International of trying to protect war criminals. Hasina implied that Amnesty took money for its media statement on 27 October 2015 before the final court verdict for Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid. PM Hasina said “We’ve strongly condemned [the statement] and will continue to do so.” PM Hasina also urged an early conclusion of the war crimes trials. Chowdhury and Mujahid were sentenced to death on 29 July and 16 June with full verdicts published 30 September 2015. Both have sought a final review of the verdict before execution, set for hearing on 17 November 2015. (The Times of India, Business Standard)
Oric asks ICTY to order Court of BiH to discontinue proceedings: Nasar Oric’s lawyer, Vasvija Vidovic asked judges to “issue an order requesting the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to permanently discontinue proceedings against the applicant.” The request was made to the UN Mechanisms for International Criminal Tribunals, which is gradually taking over follow-on legal proceedings from the ICTY as it winds down. Vidovic said in filings that were made public on Monday, 9 November 2015 that under international law no person can be tried before a national court for crimes for which they have already been tried. Oric was sentenced by the ICTY to two years in prison for not doing enough to protect Srebrenica’s Serb population during the war, but was acquitted two years later in 2008. Most recently he was arrested in Switzerland on a warrant issued by Serbia to try him for alleged war crimes against ethnic Serbs in Srebrenica. (Expatica)
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