Posts tagged SGBC
International Justice Tribune | Bemba at the ICC: How much is 18 years?
International Justice Tribune | Bemba at the ICC: How much is 18 years?

[...]

Human rights organisations have all stressed that this is the highest sentence handed down by the ICC to date but also pointed out that with the credit given for the eight years Bemba already spent in detention, he is eligible for early release already in 2020 when he will have served two thirds of his sentence.

“Obviously the sentence was less than requested by the prosecutor who sought 25 years and the victims representatives (who wanted even more) but it is higher then what the defence sought and it's the longest sentence by the ICC so far. We need to factor that in,” said Carrie Comer of rights watchdog FIDH.

“I think we need to look beyond the number and look at the content of the ruling. Look at the aggravating circumstances the judges found the particularly cruel manner of the rapes, the vulnerability of the victims and take the deterrent message from that,” she told IJT.

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Carrie ComerICC, Bemba, War Crimes, SGBC, CAR
Expatica | DRCongo's Bemba to be handed landmark war crimes sentence

[...] "It's really important that the court recognise the command responsibility .. and there's an opportunity here to provide a deterrent," said Comer, the permanent representative to the ICC for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

"If you knew, or you should have known, that these things were going on and you execute effective control over your troops then, yes, you're absolutely responsible for ... not preventing or punishing these crimes."

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Carrie ComerICC, Bemba, CAR, DRC, SGBC
AFP | U.N. war crimes court gets Timbuktu monuments case
AFP | U.N. war crimes court gets Timbuktu monuments case

[...] “I think this is an extremely powerful case,” said Stephen Rapp, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes. “In these sorts of conflicts, the destruction of religious, cultural or historical objects, and the patrimony of the people, is another way in which you destroy a civilization, destroy a religion — the kind of things on which life is based in our societies.”

[...]

Carrie Comer, permanent representative to the ICC for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said it is a “fascinating case.”

“We definitely believe that the destruction of cultural property and heritage is indeed a war crime,” she said. “However, it is a bit of challenge for those of us who work with victims in Mali because the destruction of cultural property is not the only thing that this man has been accused of.”

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Carrie ComerICC, Mali, War Crimes, Cultural Property, SGBC
Deutsche Welle | Islamist leader faces ICC over Timbuktu mausoleum destruction
Deutsche Welle | Islamist leader faces ICC over Timbuktu mausoleum destruction

[...] Rights organizations have welcomed Al Mahdi's arrest but urge prosecutors to file more criminal cases against the Tuareg leader, including rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage.

"So we do believe that it is very important for the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to take into account the credible evidence that has been provided within the national system," said Carrie Comer of the International Federation for Human Rights, referring to a criminal complaint the group filed in Mali against Al Mahdi earlier this year.

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Carrie ComerICC, Mali, Cultural Property, SGBC