JURIST - Paper Chase: Saturday, July 14, 2012

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday she would send Friday's ruling by the Constitutional Court [official website] to the Council of State to determine what the next steps will be in amending the country's constitution. The Constitutional Court ruled [JURIST report] yesterday that parliament could amend the constitution on a piecemeal basis, and that a national referendum would only be required to rewrite the whole charter. The case stemmed from the plans of the Puea Thai party [official party website, in Thai] to change an amendment that was passed by the country's interim military government which allows them to establish a drafting committee to make changes to the constitution. Shinawatra said after the Council of State deliberates, its recommendations will be raised at the next cabinet meeting.

Thailand's political system is still recovering from instability caused by a 2006 coup which forced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] into exile. The government extended its state of emergency [JURIST report] in 2010 for an extra month due to political violence and unrest. The government had previously imposed a curfew [JURIST report] on Bangkok after protesters in support of Thaksin surrendered. A Thai court also sentenced 27 protesters [JURIST report] to six months in prison for violation of an emergency decree prohibiting political gatherings of more than five people.

[JURIST] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] released a statement [text] on Friday expressing deep concern regarding the most recent violence in Syria, casting doubt over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's commitment to the recent peace plan agreed to by the Syrian government [JURIST report]. The Secretary General was referring to the recent shelling of the city of Treimseh in the Hama region on Thursday where there was open use of heavy artillery and helicopters against civilian populations. Reportedly, more than 100 people died in the attack [LA Times report]. Secretary Ban reiterated his call for an end to the violence and a return of both sides to the agreed upon six step peace process to facilitate "a peaceful Syrian-led transition that truly meets the legitimate aspiration of the Syrian people."

The attack comes the same day video of unexploded cluster munitions found in the Hama region [JURIST report] was reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. Syria has been plagued with violence over the past year and a half, and human rights groups have blamed both the government and anti-government groups for the resulting deaths. Last week, HRW reported that Syrian authorities have been maintaining secret detention facilities [JURIST report] to hold and torture prisoners. In June, a UN commission stated that Syrian forces "may have been responsible" for the killing of more than 100 civilians [JURIST report] in Al-Houla in May. In April the UN Security Council approved a resolution [JURIST report] to send 300 unarmed soldiers and other humanitarian aid to supervise the implementation of a peace plan. In March, HRW reported on videos that show Syrian forces rounding up civilians [JURIST report] to use as human shields.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] issued a second warrant [text, PDF] on Friday for the arrest of Congolese General Bosco Ntaganda on charges of war crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between September 2002 and September 2003. Ntaganda is already wanted [text, PDF] for war crimes in relation to the recruitment and use of child soldiers in the DRC from July 2002 until December 2003. The latest warrant, which revolves around fighting in the mining town of Mongbwalu, states:

Considering the material presented, the Chamber further finds that there are reasonable grounds that Mr. Ntaganda satisfies the subjective elements of the alleged crimes pursuant to article 30 of the Statute. He knew that the execution of the common plan would result in the commission of the alleged crimes. Furthermore, he was aware that he had joint control over the organisation. Mr. Ntaganda knew that his conduct was part of the widespread and systematic attack. He was also aware of the circumstances establishing the existence of an armed conflict.

Despite the charges, Congolese President Joseph Kabila has ignored calls to arrest Ntaganda in order to bring him to the ICC to answer for the charges against him.

The new warrant comes just three days after the ICC sentenced Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo [JURIST report, case materials] to 14 years. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] has called for Ntaganda's arrest on 3 separate occasions: most recently a direct appeal to Kabila in 2012, then again in 2011 during an international conference, and the first request coming in 2010 [JURIST reports]. In addition to Ntaganda, the ICC is also bringing charges against Callixte Mbarushimana, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui and Germain Katanga [case materials].