Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 4. Juli 2006 / Time Line July 4, 2006
Version 3.507/04/2006
First African human rights court judges sworn in
Holly Manges Jones at 10:09 AM ET
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/07/first-african-human-rights-court.php
[JURIST] Eleven African jurists [profiles] were sworn-in Monday as
the first members of Africa's first continent-wide human rights
court, the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR)
[PICT backgrounder], sponsored by the African Union [official
website]. The swearing-in took place at the end of a two-day AU
summit in Banjul, Gambia. The legal experts vowed to "preserve,
protect and defend" the African Charter of Human and Peoples'
Rights [text, PDF], which will allow prosecutions for human rights
infractions rather than just handing out resolutions and judgments,
according to AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia Joiner
[Wikipedia profile].
The ACHPR was officially created by a 1998 African Union protocol
[text], but the appointment of the judges indicates that the panel
will now start to carry out its intended functions, including
interpreting and ruling upon any international laws or treaties
ratified by the offending states. AU organizations, individuals,
states, and non-governmental bodies will all be able to petition
the court for rulings on human rights violations. Earlier this
year, the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and
Peoples' Rights [advocacy website] criticized [JURIST report] the
process of nominating judges [JURIST report], suggesting that the
AU commission should select the judges rather than leaving final
determinations up to election by the member states. IRIN has
more.
AFRICA: AU launches people’s court
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54369&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=AFRICA
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
BANJUL, 3 Jul 2006 (IRIN) - The African Union on Monday launched
the continent’s first court that gives states and people
equal rights to challenge governments suspected of human rights
violations or other infractions.
Taking the podium and raising their right hands, 11 African legal
experts pledged to "preserve, protect and defend" the African
Charter of Human and People's Rights.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the end of a two-day summit
of the AU, which was set up to debate continent-wide issues.
The African Court on Human and People’s Rights, established
on paper in 1998, will be based in the Tanzanian capital Arusha. It
can apply and rule on any international treaty or law ratified by
the state in question, including treaties that do not themselves
refer violators to a court. States, AU organs, individuals and
non-governmental organisations can all ask for rulings.
"This court will strengthen jurisprudence and contribute to the
promotion and protection of human rights in the continent," AU
Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia Joiner told IRIN.
"It means you have another level where states and people can seek
recourse before the African Commission [on Human and People’s
Rights] and prosecutions can be made, not just judgments and
resolutions," she said.
Impunity has taken center stage recently in Africa. On Sunday, the
AU requested that Senegal try former Chadian President Hissene
Habre, who has been living in exile in Senegal since 1990. Habre
has been charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and
torture. He has avoided trial so far because of legal wrangling
over jurisdiction.
In June, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was extradited
from Sierra Leone to The Hague to answer to war crimes charges. The
UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone retains jurisdiction.
Officials in Liberia and Sierra Leone feared Taylor could
destabilize the region if he were tried locally.
Africans in other countries who are keen to take the stand will
have to wait until a second court, the African Court of Justice, is
set up, said Joiner. That court then has to be merged with the
People's Court before cases, such as those involving former rulers,
will be heard.
Although the People’s Court is nascent, Monday’s
ceremony provided a glimmer of hope at a summit marked by the
defeat of a proposed charter on democracy and governance, which was
debated and eventually refused by African heads of state.
The charter was supposed to make it easier for power to change
hands through the ballot box.
Negotiations broke down when some African leaders refused to agree
to a clause banning standing presidents from extending their term
limits by changing their countries' constitutions.
nr/cs
07/04/2006
Freedom of Information at 40:
LBJ Refused Ceremony, Undercut Bill with Signing
Statement
National Security Archive Update, July 4, 2006
Washington D.C., 4 July 2006 – Forty years ago, President
Johnson signed the landmark Freedom of Information Act while
vacationing at his Texas ranch. But documents from the LBJ Library
show that the normally gregarious President, who loved handing out
pens at bill signings, refused even to hold a formal ceremony for
the FOIA, personally removed strong openness language from the
press statement, and only agreed to approve the bill after the
Justice Department suggested the tactic that has become President
Bush’s favorite – a signing statement that undercut the
thrust of the law.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Freedom of Information
Act, the National Security Archive (www.nsarchive.org) today posted
on the Web the LBJ Library documents, compiled and edited by
Archive director Thomas Blanton, together with the full legislative
history of the 1966 FOIA. In a related posting, the
www.freedominfo.org site posted the latest 2006 global survey by
contributing editor David Banisar of the 68 countries that now
boast freedom of information laws.
See: http://www.freedominfo.org/documents/global_survey2006.pdf
07/04/2006
US Independence Day protest occupation of top secret nuclear
bunker in the UK
By: Adam Conway
Peace campaigners today carried out an audacious occupation at a
top secret United States Navy nuclear command bunker to protest
against the continuing occupation of Iraq on July 4th - US
Independence Day. The protesters, from Berkshire and
Buckinghamshire Citizens Inspection Agency (CIA), walked
unchallenged through the grounds of the US Navy base at Daws Hill,
near High Wycombe, and established 'Camp Freedom' - a peace camp
inside the secure area surrounding the bunker. The Daws Hill base
is responsible for providing command, control, communications, and
computing (C4) support to US armed forces across the globe. Daws
Hill provides support to the US National Command Authority
communications network, through which the US President would issue
any command to use nuclear weapons. The three story underground
bunker was built in the 1980s to act as a US command centre for use
in the event of nuclear war. The campaigners have occupied the
secure area inside the base in opposition to the continuing US-led
occupation of Iraq and George Bush's so-called "war on terror".
They set up camp yesterday evening (July 3rd). One of the
campaigners inside the base, Kate Holcombe, said: "We set up Camp
Freedom here as a direct act of defiance to the US armed forces and
the US government. Although there are no aircraft or bombs here,
this base, like other US signals and intelligence bases in the UK
is critical to the US war machine. "People need to recognise who
the real enemies of peace, freedom and democracy are. The United
States has made its ambitions for global military and economic
domination of our entire planet, and space, clear in its published
'Joint Vision for 2020'. They need to be stopped from lying about
their agenda and killing for corporate profit." Campaigner Peter
Burt said: "George Bush's so-called "war on terror" is, in fact, a
war against the large part of the world's population who oppose the
way the USA uses its military and economic power to force its
wishes on them. "Many people in other parts of the world see the
invasion of Iraq, the revenge bombing of Afghanistan, and the
systematic human rights abuses for which the US military is
responsible as acts of terrorism every bit as unforgivable as the
September 11th and July 7th atrocities. "US military bases like
Daws Hill don't make us safer or protect us - they bind us into an
aggressive US foreign policy that makes the world a dangerous and
violent place for everyone." PHOTOS AND VIDEO FOOTAGE: For
photographs and high quality video footage of Camp Freedom, inside
the secure area surrounding the Daws Hill nuclear bunker, please
contact Sarah Lasenby on 0845 458 2544. For information on the
current situation or to contact the protesters please phone
Anna-Linnea Rundberg on 01436 674850 or Adam Conway on 0774
3341934.
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