africom related news clips 3 may 2011

8/7/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 3 May 2011

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UPDATE 3-I.Coast's Gbagbo urges supporters to seek peace (Reuters)(Ivory Coast) Ivory Coast's deposed former leader Laurent Gbagbo urged supporters onMonday to drop political quarrels for now and help the West African country revive itseconomy in peace.

At least 68 killed in Southern Sudan cattle raids (AP)(Sudan) Nearly 70 people were killed in a weeklong cattle raiding conflict between tworival tribes in Southern Sudan last week, officials said Monday.

Somali Pirates Release Indonesian Ship (VOA)(Somalia) The European Union's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have released anIndonesian ship after holding it for 46 days. The EU said pirates released the bulkcarrier MV Sinar Kudus on Sunday, but it did not say if a ransom was paid. Thestatement added the vessel sailed to a safe port.

Q and A On Trial of Two Rebel Leaders (Human Rights Watch)(DRC/Rwanda/Germany) On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, judges in a local court inStuttgart, Germany, will start hearing evidence against two Rwandan rebel leaders,Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni, for war crimes and crimes againsthumanity carried out thousands of kilometers away, in the Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC).

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey

Southern Kordofan polls should lead to inclusive government, says UNs Sudanenvoy

y New UN-African Union project aims to boost humanitarian access in Darfur-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, May 5th; DOD Intelligence Systems Support Office, BrianHibbeln's Conference Room, 2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 900, Crystal Park 3WHAT: Cyber Security Form Initiative (CSFI) Briefing on Libyan cyber vulnerabilities.Discussion of "Project Cyber Dawn"WHO: Paul de Souza, Director of Cyber Security Form Initiative

Info: No website available; call 703-746-1200----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

After bin Laden death, Libya rebels ask US to kill Kadhafi (AFP)By Unattributed AuthorMay 2, 2011


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BENGHAZI, Libya Libya's rebels on Monday welcomed the death of Al-Qaedaleader Osama bin Laden and said it would be a great "gift" if the United States nowkilled Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.

"A big part of international terrorism has now ended" with bin Laden's death at the

hands of US special forces, said Ahmed Omar Bani, military spokesman for the rebelTransitional National Council in the eastern city of Benghazi.

"It would be a great gift if the US killed Kadhafi," he added.

Bin Laden was killed on Sunday in a raid by US covert forces in Pakistan, triggeringcelebrations across the United States a decade after the September 11, 2001 attackslevelled the World Trade Centre in New York and damaged the Pentagon.----------------------------High-level info. was Libya strike tip-off (UPI)

By Unattributed AuthorMay 2, 2011BENGHAZI, Libya - High-level messages were a tip-off the building a NATO missilestruck killing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son was vital command bunker, aNATO officer said.

"Signals intelligence" indicated Gadhafi's regime was using a building disguised as anupscale villa in Tripoli, Libya's capital, to communicate with military units carrying outattacks on rebel-held areas, the senior NATO official told the Los Angeles Times.

Up to three missiles slammed into the building late Saturday after NATO received"clear indications from signals," the unidentified official said.

Libya said the missiles killed Gadhafi's 29-year-old son Saif Gadhafi and threegrandchildren.

The grandchildren were identified to The New York Times by Gadhafi friends as the 4-year-old daughter of Gadhafi daughter Aisha Gadhafi, a 1-year old son of Gadhafi'soldest son, Mohammed Gadhafi, and a 2-year-old child of Gadhafi son HannibalGadhafi. The friends did not say if the last child was a boy or girl.

The victims' funerals were to be held Monday, the friends told the newspaper.

State TV Sunday showed a body identified as Saif Gadhafi covered in the green Libyanflag designed by the Gadhafi regime, with no face visible.

"Signals intelligence" involves intercepting personal and electronic communications,including from cellphones and e-mail. It can also involve code-breaking, since sensitive


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information is often encrypted, and "traffic analysis" to see who is communicating withwhom and to what extent.

The NATO officer did not say what intelligence had been detected to tip off officials.

The attacked building "had been disguised as a residence but was really a C2[command-and-control] bunker," the NATO officer, who spoke on condition ofanonymity because he was discussing intelligence, told the Times Sunday.

"It just so happened certain folks were there," he said.

Purported Gadhafi supporters in Tripoli burned and vandalized the closed U.S., Britishand Italian embassies and ransacked U.N. buildings, forcing the evacuation of the 12remaining international staff members to neighboring Tunisia, officials said.

A BBC report from Tripoli said the British Embassy was "completely burned out" byfire.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had no comment on the airstrikes, which wereauthorized under a U.N. Security Council resolution to prevent troops loyal to Gadhafifrom killing civilians in Libya's 2-month-old civil war.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC the airstrikes fell within theSecurity Council mandate to stop a "loss of civilian life by targeting Gadhafi's war-making machine."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague ordered Libyan Ambassador Omar Jelban toleave the country Monday for failing to protect diplomatic missions.

Hague said the Gadhafi regime had "once again breached its internationalresponsibilities and obligations."

The Obama administration had no comment on the airstrikes but criticized the embassyattacks. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington condemned theretaliation "in the strongest possible terms."

The Italian Foreign Ministry also condemned the "acts of vandalism," calling them"grave and vile."

Italy last week became the seventh NATO nation to take part in the Libyan bombingmissions.---------------------------Fighting rages in Libya's Western Mountains (Reuters)


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By Lin NoueihedMay 2, 2011TRIPOLI - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi stepped up their onslaught on rebel areasof Libya's Western Mountains late on Monday, rebels said, and refugees said towns inthe isolated region were on the brink of starvation.

At least 10 Grad rockets landed on the town of Zintan, rebel spokesman Abdulrahmantold Reuters by telephone. "They were fired by Gaddafi forces positioned north ofZintan," he said.

Berber towns in the Western Mountains, close to the border with Tunisia, have beenpounded by government forces after joining the rebellion that erupted two months ago.

"If I had stayed there my two little daughters would have been among the dead," FatmaDouri, 35, who has fled the besieged town of Yafran, said in a refugee camp in the

Tunisian border town of Dehiba.

"The siege of the town absolutely has to be lifted, otherwise thousands of children aregoing to be among the dead in the next few weeks."

Like anti-Gaddafi groups in other parts of Libya, rebels in the Western Mountains wantmore help from Western warplanes. Asked if NATO air strikes on pro-Gaddafi forcesaround Zintan had been effective, Abdulrahman said:

"No. They are better than no strikes at all but they could do much better. The targets are

clear. If rebel fighters can see them, surely NATO aircraft are able to spot and destroythem."

MINES BLOCK PORT

Further east, a rebel spokesman in the besieged coastal city of Misrata said fighting tookplace on Monday near the city's airport, which remains under the control of Gaddafiforces.

NATO minesweepers searched the approaches of Misrata harbor on Monday for adrifting mine blocking aid supplies.

A NATO statement said the alliance had destroyed two of three mines laid bygovernment forces. It said the mines were small and hard to detect but capable of doingserious damage.


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The International Organization for Migration said an aid ship was still waiting offMisrata for bombing to stop and mines to be cleared before it tried to deliver suppliesand evacuate some 1,000 foreigners and wounded Libyans.

The rebel interim National Council's senior spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga urged

NATO to step up air strikes on Gaddafi forces near Misrata, saying they were trying todestroy the port.

"We would like to see heavier and more intensive bombardment of Gaddafi forces,particularly now that they're building up forces in areas 50 or 60 km outside Misrata,"he said. "They're building up forces in preparation for attack."

A Misrata resident and rebel sympathizer named Ghassan told Reuters hospital recordsshowed 110 civilians and rebels had been killed in the besieged city since April 24, andmore than 350 wounded.

Crowds chanting support for Gaddafi gathered in Tripoli on Monday for the funeral ofhis 29-year-old son Saif al-Arab. The government says a NATO air raid on Saturdaykilled him and three of Gaddafi's young grandchildren.

The announcement of the deaths triggered attacks by angry crowds on the British andFrench embassies and the U.S. diplomatic mission in Tripoli, and accusations from theLibyan officials that NATO had been trying to assassinate Gaddafi.

About 2,000 people carrying flags and pictures of Gaddafi turned out for the funeral.

They pumped their fists in the air and vowed to avenge the death of Saif al-Arab.

"We are all with Gaddafi's Libya," read one placard.

The coffin, covered in flowers and wrapped in the green flag that has represented Libyasince Gaddafi took power in a 1969 coup, was carried through crowds to the grave atHani cemetery.

Gaddafi did not appear to be at the funeral but Saif al-Islam, the most prominent of hisseven sons, attended along with his elder half-brother Mohammed.

MILITARY PACE INCREASING

Despite denials from Western leaders that the air raid was an assassination attempt, ithas renewed debate on whether the strikes are exceeding a UN mandate to protectcivilians.


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British Foreign Secretary William Hague said NATO would intensify militaryoperations in Libya.

"Time is not on the side of the Gaddafi regime," he said during a visit to Cairo. "Thepolicy is to continue to increase pressure on the Gaddafi regime -- diplomatic, economic

and military pressure. We have increased the pace of the military operations underU.N. resolution 1973 and will go on doing so."

Switzerland said it had found 360 million Swiss francs ($415 million) of potentiallyillegal assets linked to Gaddafi and his circle. Some 410 million had been traced toformer Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and 60 million to former Tunisian PresidentZine al-Abidine Ben Ali.-------------------------Turkey Latest to Close Its Embassy in Libya (NYT)By KAREEM FAHIM and C. J. CHIVERS

May 2, 2011BENGHAZI, Libya Turkey closed its embassy in Tripoli, Libya, on Monday,apparently worried about the angry crowds that had attacked the missions of NATOcountries after the airstrike that the Libyan government said killed a son of Col.Muammar el-Qaddafi and three of his grandchildren.

Since the bombing raid on Saturday night, Col. Qaddafis supporters have vandalizedor set fire to the Italian, British and American Embassies, which were already closed,and ransacked United Nations buildings, forcing the diplomats to flee.

In light of recent changes in the security conditions in Libya and emergence of thepotential security risks, we took an important decision last night to temporarilyevacuate our embassy in Tripoli, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, toldreporters in a live broadcast from Ankara, Turkey.

Of course, this does not mean Turkey will cease its activity in this country, he said.

Even so, the announcement was considered a blow to the efforts to mediate an end tothe conflict, and it reflected Turkeys difficult position. With historic and business ties toLibya, Turkey has tried to act as an intermediary between Colonel Qaddafisgovernment and the rebels, who do not seem interested in reconciliation. As a result,each side has accused Turkey of favoring one or the other, or of hedging its bets.

Turkish diplomats have also played a crucial role in negotiating the release ofimprisoned journalists, including four from The New York Times who were capturedby Col. Qaddafis forces in March. The withdrawal of the Turkish diplomats onMonday cast uncertainty on the fate of other imprisoned journalists, including fourfrom the West who have been held by the Qaddafi government since early April.


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Three of those journalists James Foley, a contributing reporter at GlobalPost; ClareMorgana Gillis, a freelancer who contributes to The Atlantic and USA Today; and ManuBrabo, a Spanish photographer were captured together on the outskirts of the easterncity of Brega on April 5.

Theyve been able to call out and contact their families, said James Bennet, the editorin chief of The Atlantic. We havent succeeded in getting any independent observers ofany sort in to see them.

The Austrian government is negotiating the release of a fourth journalist, AntonHammerl, a photographer who was detained about the same time, according toReporters Sans Frontieres, which advocates for press freedoms. The group said that atleast 10 other journalists were being held by the government, including six Libyans andKamel Atalua, a photojournalist for Al Jazeera who has been held since early March.

Philip S. Balboni, the president of GlobalPost said he was concerned about the loss ofTurkey as a mediator. We have asked the State Department to clarify what diplomaticchannel the U.S. government intends to use to replace the role played by Turkey, whichhas been tremendously helpful to us during the past weeks.

The NATO airstrike that led to Turkeys announcement remained clouded in mystery.The Libyan government has said that one of Col. Qaddafis sons, Seif al-Arab el-Qaddafi, 29, and three of the Libyan leaders grandchildren two boys and a girl were killed in an attack on the sons house on Saturday. Colonel Qaddafi, the

government said, narrowly escaped injured.

NATO officials denied that they were trying to kill Colonel Qaddafi or any of his familymembers, and they said the house, which contained a bunker complex and basementcommand center, was a legitimate military target.

Rebel leaders continued to insist that Colonel Qaddafi had lied about the deaths toundermine the NATO campaign and to garner international sympathy.

Hundreds of people flocked to funerals for the four Qaddafis at a Tripoli cemetery onMonday. Footage on Libyan state television showed Seif Qaddafis coffin, draped in agreen flag and topped with a bouquet of flowers, carried through the crowd to thegravesite. His brother, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, was seen praying next to the site.

In Benghazi, Libya, the chief rebel spokesman, Abdul Hafidh Ghoga, was unequivocal:We do not believe it.


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He also said that he would support any attempt by NATO to assassinate ColonelQaddafi because, he said, that goal would be in keeping with the aim of protectingcivilians.

Colonel Qaddafis forces continued to attack the besieged city of Misurata, Libya, with

artillery shells and ground-to-ground rockets, and several people were being treated attrauma centers in the city.

Misurata itself remained almost entirely in the hands of the rebels, who have beenhoping to retake the airport in the southwest part of the city.

The rebels claimed by nightfall to have made advances, and to have captured at leastone piece of artillery that Colonel Qaddafis forces had been using to fire on Misuratasneighborhoods.

But the government forces appeared to have won a potentially important tacticalvictory by keeping aid and resupply ships from reaching the citys port.

The loyalists struck the port late Sunday with a barrage of Grad rockets, killing twomen and demonstrating that they can, with evident ease, pound the entrance to theharbor.

Almost simultaneously, a mortar or artillery crew fired shell after shell at a fleeingTurkish aid vessel. The munitions exploded on the jetty and in the water near the ship.The vessel was not hit, but no ship has since dared enter the port, the citys only lifeline

to the outside world.

The citys residents and urged NATO on Monday to do more to keep the port open.Rumors swept Misurata that Colonel Qaddafis forces were preparing another groundassault, perhaps to occupy the port and cut off the rebels supply line.

With the situation uncertain, the representative of at least one international aidorganization Mercy Corps said it was closing its office in Misurata and evacuatingits staff.------------------------Libyan rebels deny al-Qaida involvement (Xinhua)By Unattributed AuthorMay 3, 2011BENGHAZI, Libya - The Libyan opposition denied there is any involvement of al-Qaidaterrorists in the Libyan rebel forces.

Commenting on the killing of leader of al-Qaida terrorist network Osama bin Laden,the opposition spokesman Abdelhafld Ghoga said "there is no al-Qaida in our ranks."


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Libya has been witnessing nation-wide unrest for two months after the anti-government protests broke up in mid February, which demand the country's leaderMuammar Gaddafi to end his 42 years rule.

The ground fighting between insurgents and the Libyan government troops has been ina stalemate for weeks, and the front- line is now between Brega and Ajdabiyah, about100 km west to Benghazi.

Gaddafi has been accusing the insurgents as al-Qaida terrorists, warning the infiltrationof the terrorist group could turn the northern African country as second Afghanistan.

The spokesman called for more intensified airstrikes from NATO to attack the Gaddafitroops which blockade the western city Misrata.

The heavy shelling and artillery bombardment in Misrata has made the humanitariansituation in the city worsening, the media reports said.

Meanwhile, Ghoga did not rule out the possibility of using chemical weapon byGaddafi forces after the death of Gaddafi's second youngest son Saif al-Arab and hisgrandsons in NATO's air strike in Tripoli on April 30.-------------------Strong proof of Libya crimes against humanity: ICC (Reuters)By Louis CharbonneauMay 2, 2011 6:56pm EDT

NEW YORK - International Criminal Court investigators have proof that Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi's forces committed crimes against humanity, and the court's chiefprosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said on Monday he would soon ask for up to fivearrest warrants.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously in February to refer Gaddafi's violentcrackdown against anti-government demonstrators to The Hague-based ICC andMoreno-Ocampo said his first recommendations for indictments should reach ICCjudges within weeks.

"We have strong evidence on the beginning of the conflict, the shooting of civilians," hetold Reuters in an interview, noting that killing unarmed civilians would qualify as acrime against humanity.

"Also, we have strong evidence of the crime of persecution," he said. This includes"massive arrests and torture of people, and some forced disappearances ... (for) talkingto journalists or going to demonstrations."


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Without giving precise details of his proof, Moreno-Ocampo said "for these two crimeswe have a lot of evidence." He plans to brief the Security Council on his probe onWednesday.

Once Moreno-Ocampo makes his recommendations to the ICC's pretrial chamber, the

judges must decide whether there are sufficient grounds to issue arrest warrants.

Moreno-Ocampo said he would initially ask for up to five arrest warrants, but disclosedno names.

It is not clear whether NATO would be involved in the implementation of any futurewarrants. The Security Council has a mandate to protect civilians and enforce a no-flyzone over Libya. Enforcing ICC warrants would require it to target individuals forcapture and transfer them to The Hague.

Permanent veto-wielding council members Russia and China have become increasinglycritical of the U.N.-backed intervention to protect civilians in Libya. U.N. diplomats sayMoscow and Beijing have complained privately and publicly that the operation istargeting Gaddafi and his family.

RAPE AS WEAPON?

The ICC is also looking at the rebel camp, which has been fighting Gaddafi's forcessince February in what is now a full-scale civil war that Western officials say isdeadlocked.

Moreno-Ocampo said the court was probing allegations that the rebels attacked blackAfricans in Libya, whom they assumed to be mercenaries aiding Gaddafi's forces.Western officials and Libyan rebels have said that nationals from Chad, Niger and otherAfrican states have been among the mercenaries in Libya.

The rebels have pledged to cooperate with the ICC, Moreno-Ocampo said, whileGaddafi's government has not responded to the court's requests for information.

ICC investigators are also looking into allegations that Gaddafi's forces have used rapeas a weapon.

As part of the investigation of alleged rapes, Moreno-Ocampo said, the ICC is looking atallegations that some of Gaddafi's soldiers have been issued packets of the popular anti-impotence drug Viagra from Pfizer Inc.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice brought the Viagra charge up in ameeting of the Security Council last week, council diplomats said.


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If it were true that Gaddafi's troops were being issued Viagra, diplomats said, it couldindicate they were being encouraged by their commanders to engage in rape toterrorize the population in areas that have supported the rebels.

"We are trying to confirm this public announcement through evidence so it can stand incourt," Moreno-Ocampo said. "In some other conflicts you have had some battalionsthat are just devoted to rape."

He said the ICC was investigating other alleged war crimes charges against Gaddafi'sforces, including the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas.-----------------------UPDATE 3-I.Coast's Gbagbo urges supporters to seek peace (Reuters)By Ange AboaMon May 2, 2011 5:58pm GMT

KORHOGO, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast's deposed former leader Laurent Gbagbo urgedsupporters on Monday to drop political quarrels for now and help the West Africancountry revive its economy in peace.

Gbagbo was ousted from power on April 11 by forces loyal to his successor AlassaneOuattara, backed by French and U.N. troops deployed to help end a four-month powerstruggle that killed thousands.

His supporters have continued to battle government forces in pro-Gbagbo areas of themain city Abidjan and residents in the Yopougon district reported heavy weapons fire

on Monday after the security forces deployed to the western neighbourhood.

Ouattara has promised to launch a South African-style truth and reconciliation processbut was urged by a delegation of senior international officials on Monday to ensure itwas impartial and balanced.

"I insist that there be an economic and security revival, and after that we can talk aboutpolitics," Gbagbo told a news conference in a presidential residence in the northern cityof Korhogo where he is under house arrest.The bloody political crisis in the world's top cocoa grower paralysed the economy andfroze exports from late-January, driving cocoa futures prices to record highs. Exportersexpect shipments to resume within days.

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, part of a delegation meeting Gbagbo thatalso included former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Irish PresidentMary Robinson, said he was heartened by the comments.


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"We are very, very pleased that the former president wants to see his country return tonormality," said Tutu, a member of The Elders group brought together by former SouthAfrican leader Nelson Mandela in 2007 to work on peace and human rights issues.

Gbagbo, who refused to quit for months after a Nov. 28 election, appeared relaxed,

wearing a light blue shirt and dark pants. Security around the compound was light.

That contrasted to his dishevelled appearance when forces loyal to Ouattara capturedhim, his wife Simone and close allies at his Abidjan residence after weeks of fightingthat turned the former "Paris of West Africa" into a war zone.

Pro-Gbagbo militia, many of whom were armed in the last days of the showdown,mostly retreated to Yopougon after Gbagbo's capture. Some have since disarmed whileothers have sought to fight on despite calls for reconciliation from all sides.

"The (army) has gone into Yopougon. We can hear the sound of heavy weapons. Thereis also smoke rising from some areas," said Stella Gogo, a resident.

The military said it would not immediately comment.

NEED FOR CONSULTATION

Ouattara has since launched a criminal probe against Gbagbo, Simone and 100 otherclose associates over alleged human rights abuses, notably the lethal attacks by hissecurity forces on opposition protesters after the election.

Ouattara has said he will form a unity government with members of Gbagbo's party bythe end of May, with the aim of restoring full security to the country by June.

He has already named former prime minister Charles Konan Banny to lead the truthand reconciliation commission, but Tutu -- who in the 1990s chaired South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- warned against moving too fast.

"A successful truth and reconciliation process requires wide consultation and ideallythe commission plan should be approved by parliament. It is positive that the presidenthas announced plans for a commission, but we urge him not to rush," he said.

Forces loyal to Ouattara killed hundreds of civilians, raped over 20 supporters ofGbagbo, and burned at least 10 villages in the west of Ivory Coast as they advanced onAbidjan last month, Human Rights Watch said in an April 9 report.

Ouattara's envoy to the United Nations has rejected the allegations. Ouattara has saidjustice must apply across the board for those guilty of atrocities.


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-------------------At least 68 killed in Southern Sudan cattle raids (AP)By PHILIP MABIORMay 2, 2011JUBA, Sudan Nearly 70 people were killed in a weeklong cattle raiding conflict

between two rival tribes in Southern Sudan last week, officials said Monday.

The cattle raid happened near water points in Jonglei state when ethnic Nuer tribesmenallegedly attacked the area and drove off with more than 100,000 cattle owned by theMurle, said Akot Maze, the commissioner of Pibor County, near the south's remoteborder with Ethiopia.

Maze said reports indicated at least 68 people were killed during the attacks, though hesaid more may have been killed. He said more than 5,000 people, mostly women andchildren, have been displaced from their homes. The fighting went on for more than a

week but subsided Friday.

The governor of Jonglei, Kuol Manyang Juuk, said 70 bodies had been discovered so farfrom the recent fighting. A member of the Jonglei state assembly said the number ofdead was in the hundreds.

During the recently concluded dry season, Murle cattle keepers raided the Nuer, killingscores and driving off several heads of cattle. The two tribes have had long-runningbattles over cattle and access to water.

That dynamic is one of many aspects of local violence in Southern Sudan. The oil-richregion voted in January to break off from the north and become its own country in July,but the area has seen spasms of violence since the joyful vote.

The U.N. said last week that 800 people have died and 94,000 more have been displacedin violence in Southern Sudan so far this year.---------------------Somali Pirates Release Indonesian Ship (VOA)By Unattributed AuthorMay 2, 2011The European Union's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have released an Indonesianship after holding it for 46 days.

The EU said pirates released the bulk carrier MV Sinar Kudus on Sunday, but it did notsay if a ransom was paid. The statement added the vessel sailed to a safe port.


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About 50 pirates captured the carrier in the Somali basin on March 16, as it wastraveling from Singapore to Egypt. Officials say pirates later used the ship in a failedattempt to seize a Liberian-flagged vessel.

Separately, South Korean officials said Monday that a recently-seized vessel is due to

arrive in Somalia soon.

The ship's management company said Somali pirates captured the MT Gemini onSaturday, as it sailed toward the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

The chemical tanker was carrying 28,000 tons of crude palm oil from Indonesia. Itscrew includes 13 Indonesians, five Chinese, four South Koreans and three Burmese.

Somali pirates have made hundreds of millions of dollars hijacking ships for ransomover the past few years.

-----------------------Q and A On Trial of Two Rebel Leaders (Human Rights Watch)Press ReleaseMay 2, 2011On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, judges in a local court in Stuttgart, Germany, will starthearing evidence against two Rwandan rebel leaders, Ignace Murwanashyaka andStraton Musoni, for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out thousands ofkilometers away, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This trial will be the first in Germany under its Code of Crimes Against International

Law, adopted in June 2002, which integrates the crimes of the Statute of theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) into German criminal law and allows German courtsto investigate and prosecute them wherever they are committed in the world, becauseof their sheer gravity.

1. Who are Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni?

2. What is the FDLR rebel movement and where is it operating?

3. What are the specific accusations against Murwanashyaka and Musoni?

4. How could Murwanashyaka and Musoni have committed these crimes when theywere not in the DRC?

5. Why is this trial taking place in Germany? Are the suspects tried under the principleof universal jurisdiction?

6. Why can't the case be tried in the DRC or Rwanda?


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7. Why didn't the ICC take up the case of Murwanashyaka and Musoni?

8. What is the significance of this case?

9. What are some of the challenges German judicial officials face with this trial?

10. How long is the trial going to last?

11. Wasn't another FDLR leader arrested in France recently?

12. Has the FDLR stopped committing crimes now that several of its leaders have beenarrested?

1. Who are Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni?

Ignace Murwanashyaka is a 47-year-old Rwandan national who was the president, legalrepresentative, and supreme commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation ofRwanda (Forces Dmocratiques de Libration du Rwanda, FDLR), a predominantlyRwandan Hutu armed group active in eastern DRC. He arrived in Germany in 1989,studied economics at the University of Kln, and has lived in Germany ever since. Hebecame politically active in Rwandan Hutu diaspora circles after the genocide inRwanda in 1994. He was elected president of the FDLR in 2001, after which he tookseveral trips to the DRC to meet with FDLR commanders and subordinates there. Hewas re-elected in 2005.

Straton Musoni, a 49 year- old-Rwandan national, was the first vice president of theFDLR and has been Murwanashyaka's deputy since 2004.

At the time of their arrest in Germany on November 17, 2009, the two men were amongthe most senior leaders of the FDLR. Both have remained in custody in Germanypending their trial.

2. What is the FDLR rebel movement and where is it operating?

The FDLR has been operating in the eastern part of the DRC, under various names,following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Some members are believedto have taken an active part in the genocide, which killed more than half a millionpeople in Rwanda.

From its bases in eastern Congo, the FDLR has used military force to seek politicalchange and greater representation for the Hutu in Rwanda.


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Over the years, the Congolese government had repeatedly turned to the FDLR (and itspredecessor movements) for support in its fight against Congolese rebel groups backedby the current Rwandan government or against the Rwandan army. This situationchanged in 2009 after a dramatic shift in political alliances and a rapprochementbetween the Congolese and Rwandan governments. In January 2009, the Congolese

government, together with the Rwandan army and later the UN peace-keeping force inthe DRC (MONUC, renamed MONUSCO), began a military offensive aimed atneutralizing the FDLR. This wave of fighting was characterized by attacks againstcivilians by the FDLR as well as by the Congolese and Rwandan armies.

During 2009, as in previous years, FDLR troops, believed to number about 6,000,conducted widespread and brutal attacks against Congolese civilians. Human RightsWatch has documented numerous deliberate killings of civilians, including women,children and the elderly. FDLR combatants killed their victims with machetes and hoes,and pillaged and burned homes, sometimes with their inhabitants locked inside. FDLR

combatants also engaged in numerous acts of rape and sexual violence.

3. What are the specific accusations against Murwanashyaka and Musoni?

In its March 1, 2011, decision accepting the Federal Prosecutor's indictment andassigning the case for trial, the Stuttgart court stated that the two suspects are chargedwith 26 counts of crimes against humanity and 39 counts of war crimes under theGerman Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL), allegedly committed bythe FDLR on Congolese territory between January 2008 and November 17, 2009.Murwanashyaka and Musoni are suspected, along with others, of instigating and

ordering the implementation of a strategy under which FDLR troops would create a"humanitarian catastrophe" in eastern Congo, through systematic attacks against thecivilian population. The strategy was allegedly intended to force the internationalcommunity to react and press the Rwandan government to negotiate with the FDLR.

Murwanashyaka and Musoni are also charged with belonging to a terrorist group (theFDLR), an offense under the German criminal code.

More precise details of the charges against Murwanashyaka and Musoni are not yetknown, as the document laying out the charges is not public. The charges will be readin court on the first day of the trial.

4. How could Murwanashyaka and Musoni have committed these crimes when theywere not in the DRC?

Under international law, those who order war crimes and crimes against humanity, aswell as those who commit them, are criminally liable. A person in a position ofauthority can be held responsible for crimes committed by his or her subordinates as a


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matter of command responsibility (for example, because of their role as military orcivilian commanders). Pursuant to this rule, section 4 of the German CCAIL provides:"A military commander or civilian superior who omits to prevent his or her subordinatefrom committing an offense pursuant to this Act shall be punished in the same way as aperpetrator of the offense committed by that subordinate. [...]"

The FDLR is a highly organized armed group with a clear chain of command. It has apolitical wing, which was led by Murwanashyaka from Mannheim, Germany until hisarrest in November 2009, and a military wing led by General Sylvestre Mudacumura,based in eastern Congo. According to research conducted by Human Rights Watch,Murwanashyaka wielded significant influence over FDLR combatants and was inregular communication with FDLR commanders on the ground in eastern Congo.Regular contact between Murwanashyaka and FDLR military commanders, includingGeneral Mudacumura, has been well-documented: for example, between September2008 and August 2009, the UN Group of Experts on the DRC[1] recorded 240 telephone

communications between Murwanashyaka and FDLR commanders in eastern Congo.

Several FDLR commanders and lower-ranking combatants have confirmed to HumanRights Watch and others that decisions for the group, including decisions about militaryoperations, were made by their president, Murwanashyaka. In an interview withHuman Rights Watch researchers in August 2009, Murwanashyaka confirmed that heplayed a direct role in the FDLR's chain of command, and that FDLR commanders andcombatants treated him as the ultimate "decision-maker"; he said he was "the supremecommander" of the FDLR.

The court in Stuttgart will hear evidence collected by the Federal Prosecutor's office andcounter-evidence presented by the defense to establish whether the alleged crimes inthe DRC did occur and whether the defendants had effective control over the FDLRtroops that engaged in atrocities against civilians.

5. Why is this trial taking place in Germany? Are the suspects tried under the principleof universal jurisdiction?

Both Murwanashyaka and Musoni were residents in Germany and are alleged to haveconducted crimes from the territory of Germany. Germany has the legal obligation toinvestigate and prosecute allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanityagainst them, under the CCAIL, which integrates crimes under the jurisdiction of theInternational Criminal Court-war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide-intoGerman criminal law.

In the case of Murwanashyaka and Musoni, there is a clear link between Germany andthe crimes, as the accused allegedly ordered, or did nothing to stop crimes when theycould have done so, from their homes in Germany.


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The CCAIL also provides universal jurisdiction to German courts for these crimes,meaning that German courts are competent to try war crimes, crimes against humanity,and genocide even if they were committed abroad, by a non-German national andagainst a non-German national-that is, even if the crimes had no link with Germany.

German courts are therefore able to proceed with this case on the basis of eitherjurisdictional principle (territorial or universal).

6. Why can't the case be tried in the DRC or Rwanda?

The judicial system in the DRC is not in a position to handle a case involving the leadersof an armed group that it is still active in the region. Congolese investigators andprosecutors have limited capacity and experience in investigating grave internationalcrimes, especially those based on establishing chain-of-command responsibility rather

than direct perpetration, and the links between orders given at the top and events onthe ground. The security of witnesses and judicial staff would also pose anoverwhelming challenge for the national judicial system, in the absence of anyprotection system.

There are also concerns about the ability of Rwandan courts to try the two men inaccordance with international fair trial standards. In December 2008, the Regional HighCourt in Karlsruhe turned down an extradition request from Rwanda forMurwanashyaka on the grounds that he might not receive a fair trial in Rwanda. On thebasis of its own research on the justice system in Rwanda, Human Rights Watch does

not believe that there are sufficient fair trial guarantees for Germany to extraditeMurwanashyaka and Musoni to Rwanda.

It is therefore particularly important for Germany to uphold its legal obligation toprosecute Murwanashyaka and Musoni in the absence of other credible forum to trythem.

7. Why didn't the ICC take up the case of Murwanashyaka and Musoni?

The ICC has been conducting investigations in the DRC since 2004, following a referralof the situation by the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila. The ICC has issued arrestwarrants for four rebel leaders from the Ituri district, three of whom are on trial in TheHague; the fourth, Bosco Ntaganda, now a serving general in the Congolese army, isstill at large in eastern Congo. In September 2008, the ICC prosecutor announced that hewas turning his attention to the provinces of North and South Kivu, where the FDLR, aswell as other armed groups, are active. In October 2010, the ICC issued an arrestwarrant against the executive secretary of the FDLR, Callixte Mbarushimana (seequestion 11 below).


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Under the Rome Statute, which founded the ICC, states parties retain the primaryresponsibility to investigate and prosecute the crimes under the jurisdiction of the court.The ICC only acts as a court of last resort, when the states with jurisdiction are unableor unwilling to prosecute. In the case of Murwanashyaka and Musoni, the German

judicial authorities upheld their legal obligation to investigate allegations of war crimesand crimes against humanity against them. The ICC therefore did not need to step in.

8. What is the significance of this case?

This case sends a strong signal to FDLR leaders and others who have engaged in graveviolations of international law that justice will catch up with them, wherever they try tohide. This message is particularly important in light of the significant support that theFDLR has received from diaspora cells and satellites in Europe (Norway, Sweden,Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, and France), North America (Canada and the

United States) and Africa (including Burundi, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, andSudan.)

Over the past two decades, national courts in a number of countries have becomeincreasingly willing to investigate and prosecute grave international crimes committedabroad, thus progressively limiting the number of countries where suspected warcriminals can expect impunity.

This case is also significant as the first prosecution in Germany under the CCAIL. Untilrecently, none of the complaints filed by victims and non-governmental organizations

had resulted in any judicial action. In the past, German judicial officials were reluctantto conduct the necessary investigations abroad, in the countries where the crimes werecommitted.

With this case-and an additional case against Rwandan genocide suspect OnesphoreRwabukombe, whose trial started in January 2011 in a local court in Frankfurt[2]-Germany is joining the expanding club of states that are willing to further theircommitment to the fight against impunity for grave international crimes by givingjurisdiction to their national courts over these crimes, wherever they are committed.Similar prosecutions have taken place in a number of countries including Austria,Belgium, Canada Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, theUnited Kingdom, and the United States.

9. What are some of the challenges German judicial officials face with this trial?

Investigating and prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially thosethat occurred in a foreign country thousands of kilometers away, is a complex exercise,which requires specific knowledge, expertise, and resources. Yet there have been


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positive precedents, including in other European countries, where national judicial staffhave developed innovative and creative responses to address the challenges.

One such innovative practice is the creation of "national war crimes units" of police andprosecutors, who focus on the investigation of grave international crimes, including war

crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and torture. Belgium, Denmark, theNetherlands, Norway, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Stateshave such units, and France will soon create one. This model allows police andprosecutors to specialize in techniques for investigating and prosecuting such cases.

In April 2009, the German federal police office (Bundeskriminalamt) set up a CentralUnit for the Fight Against War Crimes and further offenses pursuant to the Code ofCrimes Against International Law, based in the State Security Division. The unit hasseven permanent investigators ,who focus on investigating allegations of war crimes,crimes against humanity and genocide. The Unit cooperates closely with prosecutors in

the Federal Prosecutor's office, also dedicated to these cases. This unit and theprosecutors intensively investigated and prepared the Murwanashyaka and Musonicase for trial, including through several missions to the Great Lakes region.

At the trial phase, new challenges will arise. First, the judges of the local court inStuttgart will have to familiarize themselves with the history of the conflict and crimesin eastern Congo and with a context and cultures that will be foreign to them. Theappearance of witnesses coming from the DRC will require careful preparation. Victimsand witnesses of serious crimes are likely to require specific protection measures as wellas psychological support. The court will also have to ensure that the rights of the

accused are scrupulously upheld and that they are afforded all the means to build aneffective defense. A final challenge will be to ensure that affected communities ineastern Congo have access to some information about the trial. This may require formsof communication that are unusual for a local German court, such as issuing newsreleases in languages other than German or making transcripts of testimonies available(when security allows) in the original language spoken by witnesses.

10. How long is the trial going to last?

The length of the trial is difficult to predict. At this point, hearings are scheduledthrough the summer of 2011. In light of the complexity of the case, observers predictthat the trial is likely to last several months.

11. Wasn't another FDLR leader arrested in France recently?

On October 11, 2010, French police arrested Callixte Mbarushimana, the executivesecretary of the FDLR, acting on an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. Mbarushimana iswanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity (murder, torture, rape, and


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inhumane acts) and war crimes (attacks against the civilian population, destruction ofproperty, murder, torture, rape, inhumane treatment, and persecution) allegedlycommitted in eastern DRC in 2009. The prosecutor of the ICC has said he is consideringincluding additional charges against Mbarushimana for incidents that took place in2010, evidence permitting. Mbarushimana was transferred to The Hague at the end of

January. The ICC's hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send hiscase to trial is scheduled to start on July 4.

Mbarushimana had moved into the leadership role of the FDLR following the arrest ofMurwanashyaka and Musoni in Germany. He had been living in France since 2003 andassumed his functions as executive secretary of the FDLR from there. Unlike Germany,France did not have national legislation giving its courts jurisdiction over the crimes heis accused of committing in his role as a leader of the FDLR until August 2010, whenICC implementing legislation was finally passed by the French parliament.[3]

12. Has the FDLR stopped committing crimes now that several of its leaders have beenarrested?

The arrest of three of the FDLR's top political leaders significantly weakened thegroup's political wing and its support networks outside of the Great Lakes region. Withmembers of the diaspora no longer willing to take up official posts with the FDLR,military leaders based in eastern Congo have taken over key political positions. Thearrests, together with ongoing military pressure and efforts by the UN's Disarmament,Demobilization, Reintegration, Rehabilitation, and Repatriation (DDRRR) program,contributed to the departure from the group of 2,360 FDLR combatants and children

associated with the group, including 81 officers, since January 2010. Yet the groupremains a highly organized movement with an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 combatants anda clear structure and chain of command.

Many of the hardliners are still operating in the forests of eastern Congo, where theycontinue to commit atrocities and forcibly recruit new combatants, including children,to replenish their ranks. Human Rights Watch research identified at least 83 Congolesechildren under 18, some as young as 14, recruited in the last several months of 2010 bythe FDLR. According to UN sources, at least 300 new combatants were recruited inFebruary 2011 alone, mostly around one of the FDLR's main training camps in Walikaleterritory, North Kivu Province.

FDLR combatants continue to kill, rape, abduct, kidnap for ransom, and burn civilians'homes, leading to the displacement of thousands of civilians. In one of the worst recentincidents, at least 53 women and girls were raped by FDLR combatants in southern Fizi,South Kivu Province, between January 19 and 21.


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[1] The Group of Experts was established by UN Security Council resolution 1533 in2004 to assist the Security Council Sanctions Committee in monitoring theimplementation of the sanctions regime in the DRC with a specific focus on North andSouth Kivu and Ituri. See "Final Report of the Group of Experts on the DRC submittedin accordance with paragraph 8 of Security resolution 1857 (2008)," November 23, 2009,

para. 92, http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1533/egroup.shtml (accessed April 22,2011).

[2] This case is tried under the German criminal code as the crimes, allegedly committedduring the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, happened before the adoption of the CCAIL inJune 2002.--------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

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