DATE=11/4/98
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
NUMBER=7-30798
TITLE=WAR CRIMES AROUND THE WORLD
BYLINE=JUDITH LATHAM
TELEPHONE=619-3464
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=GARY EDQUIST
CONTENT = (TAPE CUTS IN AUDIO SERVICES)
INTRO: IN HIS NEW BOOK ON "WAR CRIMES," ARYEH NEIER ['AHR-YAY
'NYE-ER] CHRONICLES HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES THROUGHOUT THE
20TH CENTURY AND THE EFFORTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY TO RESPOND TO THEM. THE LAST DECADE OF THE
CENTURY HAS WITNESSED BOTH A PROLIFERATION OF WAR CRIMES
AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES
TRIBUNALS FOR RWANDA AND THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. VOA'S
JUDITH LATHAM EXPLORES THE SUBJECT OF WAR CRIMES WITH
MR. NEIER. ______ HAS THIS REPORT.
TEXT: ARYEH NEIER HAS CONDUCTED HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS IN
MORE THAN 40 COUNTRIES. A SURVIVOR OF THE HOLOCAUST IN
NAZI GERMANY, MR. NEIER FOUNDED HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND
IS NOW PRESIDENT OF THE SOROS FOUNDATIONS' OPEN SOCIETY
INSTITUTE. ARYEH NEIER SAYS WHAT CONSTITUTES A WAR
CRIME HAS BEEN EXPANDED AND NOW APPLIES TO REBELLIONS
AND INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICTS AS WELL AS TO INTERNATIONAL
ARMED CONFLICTS.
TAPE: CUT ONE -- NEIER (0:41)
"WHEN THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS, OR THE CURRENT VERSION OF
THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS, WERE ADOPTED IN 1949, ONE OF
THEIR PROVISIONS WAS A LIST OF OFFENSES THAT COULD TAKE
PLACE IN INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICTS. IN 1977 A PROTOCOL
WAS ADDED TO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS WHICH EXPANDED THAT
LIST OF OFFENSES. AND, WHEN THE U-N SECURITY COUNCIL
CREATED THE TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA, WHICH WAS ONLY AN
INTERAL CONFLICT, THE U-N SECURITY COUNCIL PROVIDED THAT
THE CRIMES THAT HAD BEEN COMMITTED IN RWANDA COULD BE
PRESECUTED AS WAR CRIMES."
TEXT: MR. NEIER SAYS PERHAPS THE MOST INFAMOUS WAR CRIMES IN
THE PAST DECADE WERE COMMITTED IN CENTRAL AFRICA AND IN
EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE. FOR EXAMPLE, IN RWANDA IN 1994, UP
TO A MILLION ETHNIC TUTSIS WERE SLAUGHTERED BY ETHNIC
HUTUS, PARTLY IN REPRISAL FOR ATROCITIES THE HUTUS SAID
THEY HAD SUFFERED BY THE TUTSIS. AND, IN THE FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA FROM 1991 TO THE PRESENT, SAYS MR. NEIER,
THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN TORTURED.
TAPE: CUT TWO -- NEIER (1:18)
"I WOULD SAY THAT THE DETENTION CAMPS THAT THE BOSNIAN
SERBS ESTABLISHED IN BOSNIA, SUCH AS OMARSKA -- THOSE
WERE PLACES WHERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE TORTURED AND
MANY PEOPLE WERE RAPED -- SO I WOULD SAY THOSE DETENTION
CAMPS WERE AMONG THE MOST NOTORIOUS CRIMES. ALSO, OF
COURSE, THE MASSACRE OF SOME 8,000 MUSLIM MEN AND BOYS
IN SREBRENICA. THAT WAS THE LARGEST SCALE KILLING
DURING THE WAR, AND PERHAPS THE MURDERS AT SREBRENICA
WERE THE MOST GROTESQUE OF ALL THE WAR CRIMES COMMITTED
IN BOSNIA. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN WAR CRIMES THAT ARE MUCH
LESS WELL KNOWN IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD. THERE HAVE
BEEN WAR CRIMES IN VARIOUS ASIAN COUNTRIES, FOR EXAMPLE,
IN BURMA. THERE HAVE BEEN WAR CRIMES IN OTHER AFRICAN
COUNTRIES, FOR EXAMPLE, IN LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE, AND
SUDAN. I THINK THE PERIOD WHEN SIGNIFICANT WAR CRIMES
WERE COMMITTED IN LATIN AMERICA IS BEHIND US,
THANKFULLY. (OPT) THE 1990'S HAVE NOT BEEN A PERIOD OF
GREAT WAR CRIMES IN MOST OF THE REGION, BUT STILL IN
COLUMBIA TODAY, THERE ARE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT ARE
TAKING PLACE. AND THERE HAVE BEEN WAR CRIMES ALSO IN
PERU." (END OPT)
TEXT: ARYEH NEIER SAYS, IN SITUATIONS SUCH AS THE MURDER OF
CIVILIANS IN THE CONGO, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO PROSECUTE THOSE RESPONSIBLE WHILE
THEY ARE ACTUALLY IN POWER.
TAPE: CUT THREE -- NEIER (0:53)
(OPT) "UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL COUNRT WHICH WOULD HAVE JURISDICTION OVER
CONGO. WHAT WE HAVE ARE TWO AD HOC TRIBUNALS WITH
LIMITED JURISDICTION, ONE FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA,
WHICH HAS AN OPEN-ENDED MANDATE, THAT IS, ITS MANDATE
BEGINS IN 1991 BUT THERE ISN'T AN END POINT. AND WE
HAVE A TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED IN
NOVEMBER 1994, AFTER THE GENOCIDE TOOK PLACE. (END OPT)
IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO REACH THE CONGO, WE WOULD HAVE TO
HAVE A PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT -- NO
GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES, NO NATIONAL BOUNDARIES. IT
WOULD BE ABLE TO OPERATE WORLDWIDE AND EXERCISE
JURISDICTION AT THE TIMES THE CRIMES ARE ACTUALLY BEING
COMMITTED, THE WAY DOMESTIC COURTS HAVE JURISDICTION
OVER CRIMES COMMITTED IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES AS THEY ARE
BEING COMMITTED."
TEXT: (OPT) IN CASES OF ABUSES WHERE INTERNATIONAL COURTS HAVE
NO JURISDICTION, SUCH AS IN KASHMIR, MR. NEIER SAYS,
ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH HAVE PUBLISHED
HIGHLY DETAILED REPORTS.
TAPE: CUT FOUR -- NEIER (0:46)
"QUITE FRANKLY, THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS A LOT TO
ANSWER FOR IN TERMS OF THE CRIMES ITS FORCES HAVE
COMMITTED IN KASHMIR. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO POINT
OUT THAT THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT IS PARTICULARLY HOSTILE
TO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS. IT WILL
NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR MOST SUCH INVESTIGATIONS TO TAKE
PLACE. I CAN TELL YOU THAT I TRAVELLED TO INDIA SEVERAL
YEARS AGO TO CONDUCT AN INVESTIGATION OF INDIAN PRISONS,
AND I HAD A COLLEAGUE WITH ME, A PROMINANT MEDICAL
PROFESSOR. SINCE THEN HE HAS BEEN BARRED FROM THE
COUNTRY BECAUSE WE PUBLISHED A REPORT ON THE INDIAN
PRISONS. THAT'S QUITE UNUSUAL FOR A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY
TO BE SO RESISTENT TO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
INVESTIGATIONS." (END OPT)
TEXT: (OPT) ARYEH NEIER SAYS ISRAEL HAS COMMITTED SEVERE HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE WEST BANK.
TAPE: CUT FIVE -- NEIER (0:43)
"TO ME AN EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF ABUSE THAT I THINK IS
INTOLERABLE IS COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT. THAT IS, WHEN THE
FAMILY OF A PERSON WHO IS ACCUSED OF A CRIME IS
VICTIMIZED BY BLOWING UP THEIR HOME, OR WHEN AN ENTIRE
VILLAGE IS VICTIMIZED BY DESTROYING ALL THE OLIVE TREES
IN THE VILLAGE IN PUNISHMENT FOR THE OFFENSE THAT IS
ATTIBUTED TO A PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL. ALSO THERE HAVE
BEEN SIGNIFICANT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE WAY
DETAINEES HAVE BEEN TREATED, AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING
OF A DISGRACE TO ISRAEL THAT ITS SUPREME COURT HAS
UPHELD PHYSICAL ABUSE OF DETAINEES AND SAID THAT THIS IS
PERMISSIBLE." (END OPT)
TEXT: MR. NEIER SAYS, DESPITE THE FRUSTRATION OF SO MANY
ABUSES BEING COMMITTED, THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES.
TAPE: CUT SIX -- NEIER (0:46)
"AND YOU WONDER IF YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. BUT, AS
ONE LOOKS BACK OVER THE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME
POSITIVE CHANGES. I DO BELIEVE THAT THE HUMAN RIGHTS
MOVEMENT CONTRIBUTED TO THE FALL OF COMMUNISM IN THE
FORMER SOVIET EMPIRE, AND WHILE NOT ALL THE COUNTRIES IN
THAT REGION ARE GREAT PLACES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TODAY, IN
GENERAL THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION HAS IMPROVED GREATLY
IN THAT REGION. AND I THINK HUMAN RIGHTS EFFORTS
CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE TRANSFORMATION THAT HAS
TAKEN PLACE IN MOST OF LATIN AMERICA. I DO BELIEVE
HUMAN RIGHTS EFFORTS WERE AMONG THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
TO THE END OF APARTHEID AND TO MAJORITY RULE GOVERNMENT
IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY."
TEXT: (OPT) ARYEH NEIER SAYS, ALTHOUGH THE UNITED STATES DOES
NOT PRACTICE TORTURE OR SUMMARY EXECUTION, THERE ARE
ABUSES BY POLICE AND BY PRISON STAFF THAT NEED TO BE
ADDRESSED. AND, HE ADDS, THE ENSLAVEMENT OF
AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND THE EXTERMINATION OF NATIVE
AMERICAN TRIBES IN PAST CENTURIES TODAY WOULD BE
CONSIDERED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. (END OPT) ARYEH
NEIER -- AUTHOR OF "WAR CRIMES" -- SAYS THERE IS NOW IS
AN URGENT NEED TO EXPAND THE LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR
PROSECUTING WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
04-Nov-98 9:17 AM EST (1417 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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