Latest news with #crimesAgainstHumanity
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Ousted Bangladesh leader's defence lawyer removed over social media post demanding her execution
Bangladesh's international crimes tribunal has removed a state-appointed lawyer for ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina for allegedly demanding her execution. Ms Hasina has been charged with crimes against humanity for her alleged role in the killings of protesters during last year's anti-government protests. She is also facing a contempt of court trial before the tribunal. The tribunal sacked Dhaka-based lawyer Aminul Gani Titu as state defence counsel for Ms Hasina shortly after appointing him to defend the fugitive prime minister. The tribunal said Mr Titu had been removed to "avoid conflict of interest' and to "ensure justice", New Age reported. He was replaced with Amir Hossain to represent Ms Hasina and her federal home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. The decision came after Ms Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, pointed out that Mr Titu in a Facebook post last year had demanded a death sentence for the former leader. The interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus"has appointed a lawyer on my mother's behalf" who "himself has demanded the death penalty for my mother on social media", Mr Wazed Joy said on Facebook last week. "This is not a trial. It is a cold-blooded preparation for a farce called a trial where the judicial system is being used as a weapon. I condemn this ridiculous farce of judicial activities.' During Wednesday's proceedings in the contempt case, the tribunal asked Mr Titu whether he had sought the former leader's execution. The lawyer admitted to making the Facebook post last August when the protests against Ms Hasina were raging in the country. The post called for Ms Hasina to be hanged. Mr Titu reportedly told the tribunal the post only reflected his personal opinion and that it would not influence his job. Ms Hasina fled by helicopter to neighbouring India after a student-led protest turned into an anti-government agitation and ended her 15-year authoritarian rule in the South Asian country. She continues to live in Delhi, close to the corridors of power in the Indian capital, evading an extradition bid, while her party members are in Bangladeshi prisons. According to a UN estimate, nearly 1,400 people were killed during the protests between July and August last year after Ms Hasina's Awami League government launched a crackdown on demonstrators in the capital Dhaka. The tribunal found that Ms Hasina 'directly ordered' security forces, her party and affiliated groups to launch operations which resulted in mass casualties. "Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack," Mohammad Tajul Islam, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, said. "The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.' Mr Islam had filed charges against Ms Hasina and two of her officials, who were also charged with "abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising". Prosecutors argued that Ms Hasina, as head of the government, was responsible for the security operations during the unrest. The tribunal last October issued an arrest warrant for the former prime minister as well as 45 of her ministers, advisors, and military and civil officials.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
ICC had no jurisdiction to arrest former Philippines president – Duterte's daughter (VIDEO)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was acting outside its jurisdiction when it arrested former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, his daughter Sara Duterte, currently vice president of the Philippines, has told RT. In an interview on Wednesday, Duterte slammed the court for denying her father's petition for interim release and accused the organization of serving political interests rather than justice. Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in March 2025, six years after the Philippines left the ICC, at Manila's international airport. He was extradited to The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign. The ICC has asserted jurisdiction over the case, citing the fact that the Philippines was a member of the court from 2011 to 2019. Duterte has denied all allegations and called the arrest unlawful and 'tantamount to kidnapping.' Speaking to RT Sara Duterte rejected the legitimacy of the court's actions, pointing out that the Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC in March 2019 and that the investigation only began two years after that. She has also claimed the number of alleged murders in the ICC case does not even meet the threshold for a crimes against humanity charge. 'The ICC is all about human rights and justice, but we don't see it in the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte,' she said, noting that her father has already been in detention for more than 100 days without bail. She argued that the former president, now 80 years old, is not a flight risk and is in poor health. 'He is at his thinnest,' she said. 'He has no appetite, he is suffering from the cold, and he longs to be with family and familiar faces.' Sara Duterte has claimed the case is politically motivated as her father was preparing to support senatorial candidates critical of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and that his arrest was intended to weaken political opposition. The vice president herself is now also facing an impeachment process, which she said was engineered to block her from running in the 2028 presidential elections. She claimed that President Marcos doesn't want to step down and intends to perpetuate himself and his family in power. WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
EU imposes asset freeze, travel ban on five people tied to Syria's Assad
BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - The European Union imposed on Monday an asset freeze and a ban on travel to the EU on five people linked with toppled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for supporting crimes against humanity, including backing the use of chemical weapons against civilians and fuelling sectarian violence. The Council of the EU said the measures targeted three former members of the Syrian Republican Guard and Armed Forces responsible for human rights violations during Assad's rule, including torture and extrajudicial killings, and who were involved in a wave of violence that took place in March. Those affected also included two prominent businessmen who represented the Assad government's business and financial interests in Russia, which the EU says helped finance crimes against humanity.
Zawya
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Central African Republic: Breakthrough as ex-combatants of rebel group are convicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity but trial tarnished by absence of four defendants
Reacting to the news that the Special Criminal Court has convicted six former combatants of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique) for crimes against humanity and war crimes, Alice Banens, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International, said: 'The decision handed down by the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Ndélé 2 case represents a breakthrough in the fight against impunity for serious crimes committed in the Central African Republic. Light has been shed on the atrocities committed in Ndélé in March 2020. 'However, four of the six people found guilty and given heavy sentences were convicted in absentia. Amnesty International considers that the defendant's right to be present at their trial, to prepare their defence with their lawyer, and to address the Court directly are pillars of the right of defence, without which there can be no fair trial. 'Several suspects who are accused of serious crimes and subject to arrest warrants from the SCC are still at large. This situation continues to deprive victims of their right to truth, justice and effective reparation. The execution of arrest warrants is essential if the fight against impunity is not to be selective.' Background In the Ndélé 2 case, six defendants were found guilty of crimes against humanity, including murder, attempted murder, inhuman acts and persecution, and war crimes, and sentenced to between 18 and 25 years' imprisonment. In March 2020, the town of Ndélé, in the north-east of the country, was attacked by members of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic, an armed group from the former Séléka coalition. The violence left dozens dead and displaced hundreds of people. The Special Criminal Court is a hybrid court set up in the Central African Republic in 2018. It is composed of Central African and non-Central African judges and personnel. It was created to investigate, prosecute and judge the most serious crimes committed since 2003. The Ndélé 2 case is the third to be heard by the SCC since the effective start of its judicial work, following the Paoua and Ndélé 1 cases. In 2020 and 2021, Amnesty International published two reports analyzing the challenges facing the SCC. The organization called for increased support for the Court and greater transparency. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
The Independent
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Executions, forced labour and starvation persist in North Korea, UN official says
A decade after a landmark UN report found North Korea guilty of crimes against humanity, many abuses continue, a UN official has said. James Heenan, the UN human rights official, said that while North Korea has engaged more with some international bodies, it has tightened control over its population. Mr Heenan said he was still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country. Mr Heenan, who investigated rights in the isolated state, told Reuters in an interview that 'the post-Covid period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms', referring to North Korea 's official name (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK). A follow-up UN report by Mr Heenan's team at the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in DPRK is expected later this year. North Korea has repeatedly rejected allegations of human rights abuses, claiming that the UN and foreign nations are using such accusations as political tools to undermine its government. The 2013 UN report into the human rights situation in North Korea stated: 'We heard from ordinary people who faced torture and imprisonment for doing nothing more than watching foreign soap operas or holding a religious belief.' 'Women and men who exercised their human right to leave the DPRK and were forcibly repatriated spoke about their experiences of torture, sexual violence, inhumane treatment and arbitrary detention. Family members of persons abducted from the Republic of Korea and Japan described the agony they endured ever since the enforced disappearance of their loved ones at the hands of agents of the DPRK,' said Michael Kirby, the then-chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK. A 2023 Reuters investigation revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Kim Jong Un focused on constructing an extensive network of walls and fences along the once loosely controlled border with China, later extending similar barriers around Pyongyang. According to a new report from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Covid-19 spread in North Korea for over two years before the regime acknowledged its presence in May 2022, mishandling the crisis in ways that restricted basic freedoms and forced much of the population to survive without adequate support. In March this year, Human Rights Watch and Transitional Justice Working Group claimed Pyongyang implemented excessive and unnecessary measures to tackle Covid that made the 'already isolated country even more repressive'. On Wednesday, SI Analytics, a satellite imagery firm based in Seoul, reported that North Korea is renovating a major prison camp near the Chinese border, likely in reaction to global criticism, while also tightening physical control over inmates, disguised as infrastructure upgrades. Mr Heenan said that interviews with over 300 North Korean defectors revealed deep despair, with some even hoping for war to change the situation. 'Sometimes we hear people saying they sort of hope a war breaks out, because that might change things,' he said. Several of those interviewed will share their stories publicly for the first time next week. 'It's a rare opportunity to hear from people publicly what they want to say about what's happening in the DPRK,' Mr Heenan said.
