Arusha, April 27, 2012 (FH) \u2013 Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was this week convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for his role in the civil war in Sierra Leon between 1991 and 2002, while the East African Legislative Assembly passed a resolution, seeking the Kenyans\u2019 \u201cOcampo Four\u201d to be tried by the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).<\/p>\n
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SCSL<\/p>\n
Taylor found guilty for supporting war in Sierra Leon: The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) Thursday convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for aiding and abetting crimes in Sierra Leon. The court presided by Judge Richard Lussick found that Taylor provided military, operational and financial support to Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, knowing that they were committing serious crimes, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, conscripting and using child soldiers. A sentencing hearing was set for May 16 and the sentence will be pronounced on May 30.<\/p>\n
ICC<\/p>\n
Parliament seeks Kenyan cases transferred to the East African Court of Justice: The East African Legislative Assembly, Thursday passed a resolution, seeking the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to hear the cases for four Kenyans allegedly linked to crimes committed during violence after December 2007 presidential election. The EALA has urged the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers to implore the International Criminal Court (ICC) to transfer the cases to EACJ and request the Heads of State at its the10th Extra-Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State on April 28, 2012 to amend the EAC Treaty to expand its jurisdiction and that such amendments should act retrospective to accommodate the cases.<\/p>\n
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RWANDA<\/p>\n
Uwinkindi granted four months to prepare his defence: A Rwandan court Friday granted genocide-suspect Jean Uwinkindi four months to study his case. In his first appearance on Thursday, the suspect had requested for such a delay to enable him decide whether to plead guilty or not guilty to the charges of \u201cgenocide\u201d and \u201cextermination\u201d brought against him.<\/p>\n
Mugesera losses appeal over use of Kinyarwanda during his trial: Genocide suspect Leon Mugesera Friday lost his appeal, challenging a decision by a High Court, which had ruled that court proceedings in his case should be heard in Kinyarwanda. He had earlier requested that he be interrogated in French, while the prosecution insists on using Kinyarwanda throughout the process.<\/p>\n
NEXT WEEK<\/p>\n
There will be resumption of trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday (May 1). The judges are expected to receive testimony from victims in the case in which Bemba, a Congolese senator and leader of Movement for Liberation of Congo is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003.<\/p>\n
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FK\/NI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, April 27, 2012 (FH) \u2013 Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was this week convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for his role in the civil war in Sierra Leon between 1991 and 2002, while the East African Legislative Assembly passed a resolution, seeking the Kenyans\u2019 \u201cOcampo Four\u201d to be tried by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-24395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n