The Permanent People’s Tribunal (successor to the Bertrand Russell Tribunal) will be conducting a People’s Tribunal on the war in Sri Lanka and its aftermath in Dublin in January 2010. The People’s Tribunal will investigate the allegations that the Government of Sri Lanka and its armed forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during its final phase of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tribunal will also examine the local and international factors that led to the collapse of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. [ more ]

One day after judges at the International Criminal Court ordered his arrest for atrocities committed in Darfur, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan offered a fiery and defiant response on Thursday, telling a crowd of thousands in his own country that "we are not succumbing, we are not bending" to outside pressure. [ more ]

U.S. President Barack Obama will sign a presidential order on Thursday to shut down Guantanamo Bay within a year, raising the possibility that Canadian-born detainee Omar Khadr could return home. On Wednesday, Obama circulated a draft order calling for the closure of the contentious prison. [ more ]

As Palestinians yesterday counted the human cost of the conflict, Israel was again accused of war crimes for using white phosphorus munitions. "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate," said Donatella Rovera, a researcher with Amnesty International. "Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime." [ more ]

Lasantha Wickramatunga, an extraordinarily courageous journalist, wrote his own obituary. After he was murdered on Jan. 8, his letter from the grave appeared in papers all over the world including his own, The Sunday Leader in Sri Lanka. [ more ]

Around 230 international lawyers are set to file a lawsuit at the international Criminal Court against Israeli war crimes against Gaza. A French lawyer working on the lawsuit, Jill Devier made the announcement at a Sunday night protest in Paris against the Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip. [ more ]

Rocket attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas and Israel's invasion of densely-populated Gaza are raising questions about whether both sides are committing war crimes. Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza, half of them women and children. But the situation is complicated, with experts accusing both sides of unnecessarily putting civilians in danger. [ more ]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday that it was "extremely concerned" for the thousands of civilians fleeing the ongoing fighting between government forces and LTTE rebels in northern Sri Lanka. The agency said that it was concerned as both the rebels and the government forces have not agreed for a safe passage for the civilians fleeing the fighting, adding that thousands of people are still trapped in the conflict zone. [ more ]

Two Sudanese groups have formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to issue an arrest for President Omar al-Bashir. He is accused of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Darfur. [ more ]

COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Increasing numbers of refugees are fleeing Sri Lanka's war zone, which is rapidly shrinking as the military bears down on the Tamil Tiger rebels' last remaining territory, the military and the Red Cross said on Friday. [ more ]

THE HAGUE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague said on Wednesday it lacks jurisdiction to investigate possible war crimes recently committed in the Gaza Strip. [ more ]

JERUSALEM — Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells packed with the incendiary agent white phosphorus over populated areas of Gaza, including a crowded refugee camp, putting civilians at risk. [ more ]

It is being called "the voice from the grave", a remarkable and accusing article written by one of Sri Lanka's best-known journalists and published days after he was murdered in a hail of gunfire. In a 2,500 word editorial, Lasantha Wickrematunge foresees his own death, hints at the identity of the killers from within the ranks of Sri Lanka's government, and lays out a gripping and detailed account of what he sees as his country's descent into persecution of citizens and flouting of democracy. [ more ]

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Lasantha Wickrematunge, a prominent Sri Lankan journalist and outspoken critic of the government's war on ethnic Tamil rebels, knew he was marked for death — and thought he knew why. Three days after he was gunned down execution-style, Wickrematunge's newspaper published a haunting, self-written obituary Sunday in which he says he was targeted for his writings and adds: "When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me." [ more ]

JERUSALEM -- The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting. The Security Council resolution was approved Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining. The resolution "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." [ more ]

In 1948, three years after the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of some of the worst human atrocities in history, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which was eventually ratified by 140 nations, including the U.S. in 1986. The Convention marks its 60th anniversary on Dec. 9 against the backdrop of a monumental human rights crisis in Darfur and an enduring debate over the effectiveness of the CPPCG and other measures aimed at stopping genocide. (See pictures of the U.N. General Assembly members.) [ more ]

The Genocide Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S. government can prevent these crimes in the future. [ more ]

The United Nations must put more effort into prevention of genocide through diplomacy and must also be prepared to defend civilians from mass killings when necessary, an anti-genocide group advised Tuesday. The Genocide Prevention Project is focusing on the U.N. because it believes a multilateral approach is the best way to tackle the problem, said Jill Savitt, the project's director. [ more ]

Amnesty International today called on the EU to make tomorrow’s 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) a time for action as well as celebration. Although the EU has been a human rights leader on some important issues, such as helping to abolish the death penalty, progress on basic human rights should not be taken for granted, neither in the EU nor in the world. [ more ]

UNITED NATIONS - Genocide and other mass atrocities are underway or risk breaking out in at least 33 countries, says a new comprehensive watch list slated for release Tuesday - the 60th anniversary of the United Nations prevention of genocide convention. [ more ]

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Floods caused by days of heavy rains killed at least seven people, left four soldiers missing and displaced tens of thousands in insurgency-ravaged northern Sri Lanka, officials said Saturday. [ more ]

Quick IDP action averts carnage from Cluster bombs [TamilNet, Monday, 01 December 2008, 01:33 GMT] “Three bombs exploded first time. Second time, when the bomber returned after 5 minutes from the opposite direction, there were 3 more blasts. But, the third time, bombs exploded with a parachute effect, like an auto explosion,” said the head of the camp of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) that came under indiscriminate attack by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) in the early hours of Saturday. Many children fled into the jungle during the five-minute window before the aircraft returned for the second attack. [ more ]