| APPG calls for urgent action to prevent UK being a safe haven for war criminals |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Administrator | |||
| Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:56 | |||
|
The All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa (APPG) is calling for a strengthening of UK legislation after a high court judgment raised the prospect of suspected genocidaires walking free in the UK.
The April 8 High Court ruling blocked the extradition of four men suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide - one day after the 15th anniverasary of the start of the massacres was commemorated around the world. With the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda no longer accepting cases, the ruling means the four men are unlikely to face trial.
Under current legislation, suspects cannot face justice in the UK for even the worst acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed abroad unless they took place after the passing of the 2001 International Criminal Court Act. This includes those suspected in some of the most brutal crimes of the last century, including the Rwandan genocide and the conflicts in Yugoslavia and Cambodia.
The APPG on the Great Lakes Region of Africa is working with parliamentary colleagues and the Aegis Trust to see that the law is changed as a matter of urgency, if necessary through a Private Members’ Bill currently under preparation.
APPG Chair Eric Joyce MP and other MPs met with the Home Secretary at the time the four Rwandan suspects were arrested to discuss changes to legislation, receiving an assurance that legislation would be seriously considered if extradition failed. Eric Joyce called on the UK government to now lend its support to changes in the law to close the loophole, saying:
“The UK cannot be a safe haven for those suspected of some of the most serious crimes in international law – war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. We must act quickly to close the current gaps in the law so that suspects can face justice.”
In addition to making the jurisdiction of the ICC act retrospective, the APPG chair called for a removal of the residency requirement for prosecution that currently means genocide suspects who visit the UK for short periods cannot be arrested – and urged the government to consider re-establishing a permanent war crimes unit to pursue cases systematically.
This statement was originally made as a press release on 10 April 2009
|
|||
| Last Updated on Sunday, 20 February 2011 22:43 |
APPG Delegation Visit DRC Report
Oral Parliamentary Questions and Debates July 2011
The OECD Guidelines and the DRC casesWomen's Voices
Regional News Feeds
|
JOHANNESBURG 03 February 2012 (IRIN) - The belief that the end is nigh for Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - a small but ruthless transnational armed group operating in four African states - underestimates its resilience and overestimates the unity and capability of the forces ranged against it, say analysts. 
NAIROBI/KINSHASA 02 February 2012 (IRIN) - The lives of thousands of HIV-positive people in the Democratic Republic of Congo are at risk as the country faces declining donor funding and a severe shortage of HIV treatment, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. 
BUJUMBURA 27 January 2012 (IRIN) - There are fears of a looming food shortage in Burundi after heavy rains damaged two successive harvests, say officials.
|
NAIROBI 28 December 2011 (IRIN) - Launched in 2004, IRIN’s film unit has won numerous awards for its productions, several of which have been aired by prominent international broadcasters. Here is a list of the unit’s most-watched films in 2011. 
KAMPALA 02 December 2011 (IRIN) - Brandishing a plea for developed countries to make good their promises to reduce carbon emissions, 300 farmers, youths and activists took the scenic route to the COP17 conference in Durban, travelling more than 7,000km from Burundi in 17 days, through 10 eastern and southern African countries, aboard a convoy of buses draped in various national flags.
|
POINTE NOIRE 25 January 2012 (IRIN) - Forced child labour remains rampant in Central Africa, where poverty fuels the trafficking of children from poorer countries to oil-rich states such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo, according to experts.
|
LONDON 26 January 2012 (IRIN) - Breast cancer continues to be misunderstood, under-diagnosed and fatal, particularly in developing countries, say researchers, despite more than one million official annual diagnoses and almost half a million recorded deaths annually. 
KIGALI 09 January 2012 (IRIN) - This will be a busy year for Rwanda's health centres as the country attempts to reach its goal of medically circumcising 50 percent of men by June 2013 as part of HIV prevention efforts.
|
JUBA/KAMPALA 30 January 2012 (IRIN) - Petty traders from Uganda, South Sudan's largest trading partner, crowd into Konyo Konyo market in Juba selling used clothes, vegetables and household wares. Lacking economic prospects at home, they come in the hope of finding better opportunities in Juba's booming post-war economy. 
BUNDIMASOLI 26 January 2012 (IRIN) - The marginalized western Ugandan Basua community is fighting extinction; forcibly removed from their forest home two decades ago, they have struggled to cope with modern life and have been ravaged by health crises, including HIV.
|
ISIOLO, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - Politically motivated violence in the northern Kenyan town of Moyale, which has left dozens dead and tens of thousands displaced in recent weeks, shows little sign of abating and there are fears that the clashes could continue until elections are held for new local government positions. 
LAGOS, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - A month after an angry public launched protests across Nigeria over skyrocketing fuel prices due to the removal of a government subsidy, a measure of calm has returned and people seem to have settled into accepting a compromise. 
HARARE, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - With global funding for HIV/AIDS on the decline, Zimbabwe's innovative AIDS levy - a 3 percent tax on income - has become a promising source of funding for the country, with a dramatic increase in revenue collected in the past two years. E-mail Newsletter
Keep yourself updated with our FREE newsletters now!
Le Petit Journal
Copyright © 2005 - 2012 APPG on the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
Developed by Andora Productions