Sunday, November 07, 2010

ICC in the Media, Update #11

This week France approved the extradition of Callixte Mbarushimana, wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mbarushimana is scheduled to be transfered to the facilities at the ICC within the next month. In Kenya, this week suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto spent three days at the ICC voluntarily giving his account of the post-election violence in order to "set the record straight." The Kenya investigation is also progressing domestically with Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal, mandated by the ICC, set to interview ten security chief witnesses starting on November 24.



Jean-Pierre Bemba's appeal was knocked down on Tuesday, clearing the way for the trial to take place. Bemba is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes as leader of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, which launched widespread attacks on civilians in the Central African Republic between October 2002 and March 2003. With this appeal as the final hurdle, the trial is now scheduled to begin later this year. In the ongoing Lubanga trial, the court gave the prosecutor until Friday to justify its withholding of witness testimony from the defense. In the meantime, however, the court will continue to hear testimony from witnesses and intermediaries on Monday, November 8.

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