Cambodia / Genocide Tribunals

"Former Khmer Rouge leader 'Brother Number Two' Noon Chea attends the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal." (Mark Peters/AFP/Getty Images)

Khmer Rouge Court Unable to Pay Cambodian Salaries
Agence France-Presse dispatch in The Telegraph, January 31, 2012
"Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal has run out of money to pay the wages of hundreds of workers as contributions from donor countries have dried up, a court spokesman said on Tuesday. None of the more than 300 Cambodians working at the tribunal, from judges to drivers, will be paid this month and may not receive their salaries in February and March either, said Neth Pheaktra. 'We have no money,' he told AFP, adding that some judges and prosecutors had not been paid since October. The funding shortfall does not affect the more than 130 international employees at the war crimes court, whose wages are paid by the United Nations. Cambodian salaries are paid through voluntary contributions from donor nations such as Japan, France and Australia. 'It affects morale at the court,' said Neth Pheaktra. 'The people depend on their salaries to support their families and it's not good to go without pay.' The court, set up in 2006 to find justice for the deaths of up to two million people during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule, is perpetually cash-strapped but this is thought to be longest period of non-payment to date.

Germany / Nazism

"A magazine supplement with an image of Adolf Hitler and the title 'The Unreadable Book' is pictured in Berlin. No law bans 'Mein Kampf' in Germany, but the government of Bavaria, holds the copyright and guards it ferociously." (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

In Germany, Attitudes toward "Mein Kampf" Slowly Changing
By Michael Birnbaum
The Washington Post, January 27, 2012
"The city that was the center of Adolf Hitler’s empire is littered with reminders of the Nazi past, from the bullet holes that pit the fronts of many buildings to the hulking Luftwaffe headquarters that now house the Finance Ministry. What it doesn’t have, nor has it since 1945, are copies of Hitler's autobiography and political manifesto, 'Mein Kampf,' in its bookstores. The latest attempt to publish excerpts fizzled this week after the Bavarian government challenged it in court, although an expurgated copy appeared at newspaper kiosks around the country. But in Germany -- where keeping a tight lid on Hitler's writings has become a rich tradition in itself -- attitudes toward his book are slowly changing, and fewer people are objecting to its becoming more widely available. No law bans 'Mein Kampf' in Germany, but the government of Bavaria, where Hitler officially resided at the time of his 1945 suicide, holds the copyright and guards it ferociously. German-language copies that were printed before 1945 are legal, although they command a premium price, and the book is available in translation elsewhere in the world. But the question of whether to publish it in the country where Hitler plotted his empire has lost some of its edge in the Google era, when a complete German-language copy of the book pops up as the second result on the local version of the search engine.

Syria

"Syrian army defectors patrol a street in Homs province, central Syria, on Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012." (AP )

Syria Activists: "Terrifying Massacre" In Homs
By Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam
Associated Press dispatch in The Huffington Post, January 27, 2012
"Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday. Video posted online showed the bodies of five small children, five women and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a building was hit in the city of Homs. A narrator said an entire family had been 'slaughtered.' Much of the violence was focused in Homs, where heavy gunfire hammered the city Friday in a second day of chaos. A day earlier, the city saw a flare-up of sectarian kidnappings and killings between its Sunni and Alawite communities, and pro-regime forces blasted residential buildings with mortars and gunfire, according to activists. At least 384 children have been killed, as of Jan. 7, in the crackdown on Syria's uprising since it began nearly 11 months ago, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said Friday. The count, based on reports from human rights groups, included children under age 18. Most of the deaths took place in Homs and most of the victims were boys, UNICEF said. It said 380 children have been detained, including some under age 14. The United Nations estimates that more than 5,400 people have died in the turmoil. The UN Security Council met in a closed-door session to discuss the crisis, which diplomats said was a step toward a possible UN resolution against the Damascus regime. However, any resolution faces strong opposition from China and Russia, and both nations have veto power.

Hungary / Roma

Poor, Abused and Second-Class: The Roma Living in Fear in Hungarian Village
By Helen Pidd
The Guardian, January 27, 2012
"The first snow of 2012 had fallen on the day Natasha Váradi invited us into the house she shares with her 10 children, mother and father-in-law in the Hungarian village of Gyöngyöspata. The two rooms were dark and dank: for four months the family had been living without electricity, gas or running water. Every half an hour a child went down the hill with a bucket to draw water from the communal pump. By night they stumbled around with torches as they squeezed on to mattresses. The air in the bungalow carried the sour stench of urine. "They've started wetting the bed again," said Natasha, who has lived in Gyöngyöspata for all of her 31 years. 'Someone only need knock on the door and they are scared.' There is not much door left on which to knock. Much of the wood has been smashed in. On 22 December, the family say a stone came flying through the front room window. The family members have reason to fear for their lives: seven adults and two children died in 49 attacks on Roma communities in Hungary between January 2008 and April 2011, according to the European Roma Rights Centre. Until last Easter, 31-year-old Váradi had never left Gyöngyöspata, an old coalmining village 50 miles north of Budapest, which then had a population of about 2,800, including 450 Roma. Then, on 1 March, the militia arrived. Wearing black uniforms and calling themselves the Civil Guard Association for a Better Future (Szebb Jövóért Polgárór Egyesület) they marched through the village singing war songs and bellowing abuse. Soon, they were joined by groups including Vederö (Defence Force), wearing camouflage fatigues and armed with axes, whips and snarling bulldogs. For almost two months they roamed the streets day and night, singing, hammering on doors and calling the inhabitants 'dirty fucking Gypsies'.

Guatemala / Genocide Tribunals

Relatives of victims of Guatemala's civil war listened to proceedings on Thursday. (Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press)

Accused of Atrocities, Guatemala's Ex-Dictator Chooses Silence
By Elisabeth Malkin
The New York Times, January 26, 2012
"Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s former military dictator, was ordered by a Guatemalan judge on Thursday to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity leveled at him. He is accused of orchestrating the razing of Indian villages decades ago during the country's long civil war. On Thursday, prosecutors charged Efraín Ríos Montt, center, a former dictator, with genocide and crimes against humanity. The ruling by Judge Carol Patricia Flores Blanco was a symbolic victory for the relatives of people killed in Guatemala’s 36-year civil war and for human rights groups, who have long argued that Mr. Ríos Montt was behind much of the worst wartime violence. It came at the end of a daylong hearing in which prosecutors described mass killings, torture and rape in distant mountain villages almost 30 years ago and stressed that Mr. Ríos Montt, a former general, had full command over his troops and knowledge of their actions. Nearly three hours into the prosecutors' presentation, the judge asked Mr. Ríos Montt, now 85, if he had any response. In a firm voice, he said, 'I prefer to remain silent.' The judge ordered Mr. Ríos Montt to be detained under house arrest. During the 17 months of Mr. Ríos Montt’s rule in 1982 and 1983, the military carried out a scorched-earth campaign in the Mayan highlands as soldiers hunted down bands of leftist guerrillas. Survivors have described how military units wiped out Indian villages with extraordinary brutality, killing all the women and children along with the men.

South Sudan

"A woman and her 18-month-old baby, displaced by ethnic violence, wait for aid at a UN food distribution center in Pibor, South Sudan, this month." (Hannah McNeish/AFP/Getty Images)

Witnesses Give Graphic Accounts of South Sudan Ethnic Violence
By Robyn Dixon
The Los Angeles Times, January 26, 2012
"Neighbors found the 18-month-old boy crying alone in the bush outside his village of Wek in South Sudan. Both his parents had been shot to death about two weeks ago during ethnic clashes between the Murle and Luo-Nuer tribes in Jonglei state. The attackers had smashed the child's head against a tree and left him for dead, according to witness accounts collected by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders. His head injuries were severe. 'He was abandoned, without any help,' a witness told the group, which released a report Tuesday on the violence. 'We, the community, came looking for people who needed help in the bush and we found him, still alive and alone.' Doctors Without Borders did not release the names of the witnesses out of concern for their safety. About 55 people died in the Jan. 11 assault, which left dozens wounded. Many remain missing. The violence was carried out by Murle tribesmen in revenge for attacks by the opposing Luo-Nuer tribe late last year. At least 120,000 people in Jongwei are in need of aid after violent attacks in December and January, according to the United Nations. There are no reliable estimates of the dead, with victims scattered over vast areas of bush. ... Intercommunal violence between the Murle and Lou-Nuer tribes has been going on for centuries, mainly around the issue of cattle rustling, which brings honor to young tribal men when they successfully steal stock and increase their own herds.

Libya / United Nations / Arbitrary Imprisonment / Torture

(Abdullah Doma/AFP/Getty Images)

Libya: UN Alarmed over Failure to Stop Torture of Detainees
By Damien McElroy
The Telegraph, January 26, 2012
"The UN has expressed its alarm over the failure of the Libyan government to disarm militias and stop widespread torture of the thousands of people held in arbitrary detention. The warning that human rights abuses were rampant in Libya came as Medicins San Frontieres, the medical charity, said it was suspending its operations in detention centres in the city of Misurata after encountering scores of torture victims. Ian Martin, the UN envoy for Libya, said that the new Libyan authorities were failing to bring armed factions under control. As a result the law of gun dominated a country scarred by the dictatorship of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Mr. Martin blame militias for fatal clashes around the country. 'The former regime may have been toppled, but the harsh reality is that the Libyan people continue to have to live with its deep-rooted legacy,' said Mr. Martin. There were 'weak, at times absent, state institutions, coupled with the long absence of political parties and civil society organisations, which render the country's transition more difficult'. He warned that the clashes could escalate. The UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she had serious concerns over the fate of the 8,500 prisoners held in around 60 centres by revolutionary forces that were not accountable to a national government. 'The majority of detainees are accused of being Gaddafi loyalists and include a large number of sub-saharan, African nationals,' she said. 'The lack of oversight by the central authority creates an environment conducive to torture and ill treatment.'

Iraq / United States

"Omer Chasib lost his father to the 2005 Marine assault in Haditha that claimed the lives of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians." (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)

In Iraq, Haditha Case is Reminder of Justice Denied
By Raheem Salman and Patrick J. McDonnell
The Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2012
"The teacher still keeps family photos of the dead, visual mementos of lives cut short in an unremitting hail of gunfire. 'The Americans killed children who were hiding inside the cupboards or under the beds,' said Rafid Abdul Majeed Hadithi, 43, a teacher in the city of Haditha who says he witnessed the 2005 assault by US Marines that took the lives of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. 'Was this Marine charged with dereliction of duty because he didn't kill more? Is Iraqi blood so cheap?' In the United States, the brutal saga of Haditha — among the dead were seven children, including a toddler, three women, and a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair -- may have concluded Monday with Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's guilty plea to negligent dereliction of duty. A military judge said Tuesday that Wuterich will serve no time in the brig under the terms of his plea bargain. Charges were previously dropped against six others involved in the Euphrates Valley incident; a seventh Marine was acquitted. The plea closed the books on a politically charged case that sparked debate about the manner in which US troops react amid the 'fog of war' and the tension of combat. For many Iraqis, however, Haditha remains a visceral reminder of the most troubling aspects of the 2003 US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of their homeland.

Malaysia / Colonialism / Gendercide

"Prisoners during the Malayan Emergency: the Foreign Office has produced documents about the deaths of 24 Malaysian men in 1948." (Jack Birns/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Batang Kali Relatives Edge Closer to the Truth about "Britain's My Lai Massacre"
By Owen Bowcott
The Guardian, January 25, 2012
"Lawyers representing relatives of 24 unarmed victims who died at Batang Kali, Malaysia, in December 1948 have finally been provided with key Foreign Office correspondence about past investigations and Cabinet Office guidance on when inquiries should be held. Even Buckingham Palace has been pulled into the furore surrounding the fate of the villagers, who were rounded up on a large rubber-tapping estate in the colonial government's counter-insurgency operation against communists, known historically as the Malayan Emergency. A petition to the Queen about the deaths has been handed to the British high commissioner in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and the royal household has replied. The palace, however, has declined to release the text of the letter. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have always insisted the villagers were shot while trying to escape detention. The incident has been described by some as 'British My Lai massacre', after the US troop killings in Vietnam. The Malaysian relatives' hopes have been boosted by a group of Kenyan survivors, mostly now in their 80s, who won the right last summer to sue the British government for damages over claims of torture during the 1950s Mau Mau uprising. A judicial review of the government's repeated refusal to hold a public inquiry into the alleged massacre at Batang Kali is likely to be heard in the spring.

Guatemala / Genocide Tribunals

"Retired army Gen. Efrain Rios Montt arrives at the Guatemala City Human Rights office in December." (Saul Martinez/EPA)

Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt May Face Genocide Trial
By Alex Renderos
The Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2012
"Former Guatemalan dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt will appear in a civilian court Thursday to face possible prosecution on genocide charges stemming from the army's 'scorched earth' civil war campaign of the 1980s. 'El General,' as Rios Montt is known in Guatemala, faces accusations that include torture, genocide, forced disappearances, state terrorism and crimes against humanity. Now 85 years old, Rios Montt has always denied such charges, claiming that he was never in the battlefield during the war. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala has also accused Rios Montt of burning the Spanish Embassy in 1980. Protesters against the army's killings of Mayan Indians were holed up inside the diplomatic post and 31 were killed in the blaze -- including Menchu's father, Vicente. About 200,000 people were killed or went missing during the 36-year war against small groups of leftist guerrillas. The military razed entire villages, slaughtering civilians. Rios Montt's 17-month rule, from 1982-83, was one of the most brutal periods. Human rights officials praised the fact that the Guatemalan justice system has finally started to take on such cases, especially given the impunity that top military officials have long enjoyed.