‘What other country would do this to its people?’ Cambodian land grab victims seek int’l justice
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in 2014 estimated that at least 770,000 people had been affected by land grabs that cover some 4 million hectares of land. Sources say Indigenous communities are more adversely affected by land grabs because the land is often central to their animist beliefs and their livelihoods, and they are even less likely to be afforded justice than ethnically Khmer victims.
FIDH, along with Global Witness and Climate Counsel, submitted an open letter dated March 16 to Fatou Bensouda, the current prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to open a preliminary examination into land-grabbing in Cambodia.
Workers Revolutionary Party
THE International Criminal Court ruled on Friday that it has jurisdiction over war crimes and atrocities committed in the Palestinian territories and can thus prosecute Israeli soldiers settlers and politicians who have killed and injured large numbers of Palestinians.
The judgement paves the way for the court to open a criminal investigation into Israeli war crimes in occupied Palestine and its prosecution for these crimes. Palestinian rights groups have welcomed the ruling and called on the court’s prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to take swift action.
‘A critically important step towards ensuring the rule of law, the decision also marks an important step towards ending impunity, while ensuring the dignity of the Palestinian people,’ read a statement by rights groups Al-Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al Dameer Association for Human Rights.
Palestinian Organisations Review ‘Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2020’ and Call on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to Open an Investigation into International Crimes in the OPT
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Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and Al Dameer (the organisations) express concern that significant time has passed since the opening of the second preliminary examination on the Situation in Palestine in January 2015, and since the closing of that preliminary examination in December 2019, when the Office of the Prosecutor determined that all the statutory criteria under the Rome Statute for the opening of an investigation had been met .[1] The victims of continuing clearly apparent crimes, subject to intensifying occupation, discrimination, and violence require the immediate opening, at the very least, of a formal investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine. The urgency of such investigation is further
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THE Philippine Star last week ran a front-page story headlined “ICC sees crimes against humanity in Philippines drug war.” Its lead read: “The International Criminal Court has found ‘reasonable basis’ to believe that crimes against humanity were committed in President Duterte’s war on drugs, which has reportedly killed over 20,000 people since 2016.” The next day, Duterte’s critics were ecstatic over the report, with the Philippine Daily Inquirer banner story screaming: “Drug War Critics on ICC Report: Reckoning Near.”
These are outright lies.
They are “journalism” of the most despicable kind: They spread false, fake news. (The Star article even used the “20,000” figure, which has been proven to be totally without basis, with the government’s figure of about 6,000 fatalities accepted by most.)
[Luis Liwanag/BenarNews]
Lawmakers in the Philippines on Friday called for an investigation into a spate of brazen killings across the country, especially in the second half of 2020.
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the slayings of a doctor and her husband this week followed a disturbing trend of gunmen killing lawyers, doctors, journalists and activists in broad daylight, without fear of arrest or apprehension.
“With the end in view of attaining justice for the slain victims,” the killings must be investigated transparently, said Hontiveros and seven other opposition senators who signed a senate resolution calling for a probe.
“This attack is only one of the many horrific killings in the country, legitimized by an administration that has distorted the meaning of human rights,” Hontiveros said when filing the resolution, referring to the killings of the doctor and her spouse on Tuesday.