Genocide Watch

Extinct: Andaman tribe's extermination complete as last member dies
Survival International Press Release
4 February 2010

The last member of a unique tribe has died on India's Andaman Islands.

Boa Sr, who died last week aged around 855, was the last speaker of 'Bo', one of the ten Great Andamanese languages. The Bo are though to have lived in the Andamann Islands for as much as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on Earth.

Boa Sr was the oldest of the Great Andamanese, who now number just 52. Originally ten distinct tribes, the Great Andamanese were 5,000 strong when the British colonize the Andaman Islands in 1858. Most were killed or died of diseases brought by the colonizers.

Having failed to 'pacify' the tribes through violence, the British tried to 'civilize' them by capturing many and keeping them in an 'Andaman Home'. Of the 150 children borin in the home, none lived beyond the age of two. (Read more)

Darfur: International Criminal Court's Decision on Bashir Arrest Warrant
Human Rights Watch
3 February 2010

Update: On February 3, 2010, the International Criminal Court (ICC) appeals chamber decided to reject the standard used to exclude genocide charges in the ICC's arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.

Last year, on March 4, 2009, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. At that time, the Pre-Trial Chamber rejected the inclusion of genocide charges in the warrant on the basis that the prosecutor did not present "reasonable grounds to believe" that the Sudanese government possessed the necessary intent for the crime of genocide.

"Today's decision is a strong reminder that President al-Bashir is wanted for heinous crimes committed in Darfur," said Elise Keppler, International Justice Program senior counsel at Human Rights Watch. "President al-Bashir is a fugitive from justice who needs to appear in The Hague to answer to the allegations against him."

With today's decision, the appeals chamber instructed the pre-trial chamber to reassess the inclusion of genocide charges under a revised standard and amend the arrest warrant as necessary.
(Read more)

Secret Orders are Issued to Arrest Turkish Kurds
by MESOP
25 January 2010

Over the last few days, Turkish police have arrested 60 people and charged them with supporting the PKK. Weapons and documents were also seized. January 22, 2010: The Turkish military provided a rare insight into its counter- terrorist and counter-guerrilla intelligence operations in a report released earlier this month to the Turkish media. The military revealed that it had intercepted PKK electronic communications prior to the attack in Tokat (Resadiye district) on December 7 in which seven soldiers were slain. (Read more)

Civilians at Risk: Human Security and Humanitarian Aid in Darfur
By Eric Reeves
17 January 2010

Amidst the various comments and commentary arguing that war is over in Darfur, that there are only remnants of previous violence in the form of "very low-intensity" conflict, several recent reports suggest that human security and humanitarian assistance are deeply imperiled.  The gradual shift in international attention to the crises in Southern Sudan and Sudan's national elections, while perhaps inevitable, has worked to obscure the immense dangers that continue to confront civilians throughout Darfur. (Read more)

Closing Statements: Prosecutor v. Duch
By Beth Van Shaack, Documentation Center of Cambodia
January 2010

After 73 days of trial, the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) recently heard the Closing Statements in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch), the former head of Tuol Sleng prison (a.k.a. S-21). The statements were a moving, intense, and at times baffling exercise. (A more detailed account of the proceedings is available at the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor.) The public gallery was full the entire week with members of the public, NGO representatives, VIPs representing various foreign embassies, monks in saffron robes and nuns in white robes, uniformed school children, the head of security of the Special Court for Lebanon with his own security detail, and journalists. Hundreds of people were bused in from all over the country by DC-Cam and other organizations. The Civil Parties and the Co-Prosecutors were each given 5 hours to present their Closing Statements. The defendant and his counsel had 7.5 hours. An additional 3 hours was reserved for rebuttal. (Read more)