Celebrating 19 Years of International Criminal Court: HRW Daily Brief

Good international justice news as the International Criminal Court (ICC) celebrates its 19th anniversary today: the European Union has reaffirmed its commitment to justice for war crimes in Syria. The EU contributes 1.5 million euro to the international justice mechanism that will investigate and prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes committed during the war in Syria. There's more positive news from India, where the Supreme Court has ordered an inquiry into allegedly unlawful killings by Manipur state security forces in the period 1979-2012. It’s a familiar story: Soldiers blame the “fog of war” for civilian deaths. Sometimes it only takes one soldier with a conscience to reveal the truth, but it requires a government’s commitment to see justice done. While the Australian government has started an investigation into killings of civilians by its troops, albeit in secret, the authorities in the United Kingdom are showing themselves unwilling to do the same. While no public mourning was allowed for Liu Xiaobo in mainland China, thousands of people in Hong Kong sent a powerful message of freedom to Beijing, organizing the only large-scale commemoration for the deceased Nobel laureate on Chinese soil. Mass protests this weekend in Poland against the latest purge of the judiciary, that will remove the last check on the illiberal government of the Law and Justice party of leader Jarosław Kaczyński. Big question: how will the European Union respond? Authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine have been unlawfully holding Stanyslav Aseev, a blogger known for his pro-Ukraine views, in unacknowledged detention for over six weeks. Australian officials should press the government of Laos to respect human rights at the Australian-Laos human rights dialogue, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Military trials held by the Israeli army – a defining feature of the 50-year occupation – have a near 100-percent conviction rate and fall well short of any standards of justice.