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Laurent Gbagbo One Step Closer to Spending the Rest of His Life in Prison…
In a rather dramatic scene on Tuesday night, Laurent Gbagbo left his house arrest in remote Cote D’Ivoire to turn himself in to the International Criminal Court. Let this be a lesson to the candidates in DRC: If you lose an election don’t unleash fury on those that did not vote for you.”Gbagbo is likely to be joined by other high-level suspects from both sides of the conflict, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said. ‘Mr Gbagbo allegedly bears individual criminal responsibility, as indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts,’ the ICC said in a statement. Gbagbo’s detention was welcomed by human rights groups, but could prove divisive in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, and trigger unrest among his supporters.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/rq3g5A)
…And Gbagbo May Want to Save a Seat for Bashar al Assad.
The Human Rights Council will meet in a special session on Friday to consider a resolution that would recommend that the Security Council enact a series of punitive measures against Syria. This is a very significant political step toward a big, bad sanctions resolution against Syria. “An EU draft resolution to be presented to the U.N. rights forum for adoption, obtained by Reuters, strongly condemns ‘continued widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities.’ These included executions, killing and persecution of protesters, activists and journalists, as well as arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and torture. ‘The resolution will certainly be adopted, no question, it has wide support,’ the Arab diplomat said. The draft text recommends that the General Assembly consider the commission of inquiry’s report and refer the report to the Security Council ‘for its consideration and appropriate action.’ The Security Council has the power to refer a country to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). (Reuters http://reut.rs/uHaWgX)
Fallout from UK Embassy Attack
If Monday’s attack on the British Embassy in Tehran seemed like a throwback to an earlier era, well, it kind of was. This time though no foreigner seems to have been injured. The only damage done was the physical premises of the UK embassy, and of course, Iran’s standing internationally. “Unlike the 1979 attack, in which more than 50 Americans were held hostage for more than a year, all British personnel were reported safe late Tuesday though protestors entered offices, broke windows and tossed documents around the grounds…The U.N. Security Council approved a non-binding statement that condemned the embassy attack and called on Iran to fully comply with international obligations. Russia and China, which have resisted additional Security Council sanctions on Tehran, joined in the unanimous vote on the document.” (VOA http://bit.ly/stIYWg)