22 Aug 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on International Criminal Justice

Articles

Motoo Noguchi: Victims of war need enhanced reparations
The Asahi Shimbun, 21 Aug 2018

In February 2017, I revisited a village in northern Uganda as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court. Many people in this village suffered their family members being killed, had their hands or legs cut off, and lost their houses and assets during prolonged conflicts in the country. Many children were abducted and forced to serve as child soldiers or “wives” of soldiers. The people are being provided services such as surgery and artificial limbs, psychological rehabilitation, literacy education and occupational training through the TFV’s assistance mandate for victims. They are returning to their families, gaining a livelihood and regaining hope. Smiles of children here convinced me that it was right to have continued the assistance.

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Macri to report Venezuelan government to the International Criminal Court
MercoPress., 21 Aug 2018

Argentine President Mauricio Macri plans to report Venezuela’s government to the International Criminal Court at The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity, according to an interview broadcast on CNN’s Spanish service on Sunday night. Macri said he would seek to refer populist President Nicolas Maduro’s government “in the coming weeks”, and that he had the backing of the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay. “For me, there is no doubt: in Venezuela, human rights are systematically violated by steamrolling the opposition and everyone. There is a growing sense that we need to take more forceful action,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview carried by Miami’s Nuevo Herald, in which CNN interviewer Andrés Oppenheimer has a column.

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CJN bags 2018 Michael Hill award for criminal law reform
New Telegraph, 20 Aug 2018

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has been conferred with the 2018 Michael Hill Prize for his reform agenda which had positively changed the workings of the nation’s Judiciary. The award, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the CJN on Media, Awasam Bassey, was presented to Justice Onnoghen in Montreal, Canada by the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL), an international non-governmental association of judges, legislators, lawyers, academics, police and corrections professionals at its 31st conference in Canada with the theme ”The Scourge of Trafficking in the 21st Century.” While presenting the award, ISRCL President, Major General Greg Melick, described Justice Onnoghen as “a judges’ judge on account of his over 30 years devotion to the pursuit of justice” and a “leading light of the Nigerian Judiciary.”
 

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Israeli NGO to file International Criminal Court grievance against PA, Hamas leaders
Israel Hayom , 19 Aug 2018

Jerusalem Institute of Justice says Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must be held accountable for war crimes before the International Criminal Court. NGO plans to pursue separate investigations against the two. The Jerusalem Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization advocating democracy in the Middle East, announced over the weekend plans to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court in the Hague demanding it investigates Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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What next for Sudan after Bashir's nomination for a third term?
AlJazeera, 14 Aug 2018

It seems Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has no intention of leaving the presidency in the near future - and his insistence on holding on to power will likely have grave consequences for his country. On August 9, Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) announced that it would back Bashir as its candidate in the 2020 presidential election. The party's advisory council said it has endorsed the president for a third term after long consultations among the party's leadership, even though the party charter - and the country's constitution - allows only two five-year terms.

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