War crimes

Turkish crimes against women in occupied Afrin documented

Kurdish women’s organisations have issued a new dossier documenting incidents of violence against women carried out by Turkish soldiers and jihadist groups in north-west Syria, reports Susan Price.

Drop prosecution of ABC journalist: MEAA

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance has called for an immediate end to the investigation and possible prosecution of ABC journalist Dan Oakes, reports Jim McIlroy.

Protesters demand Julian Assange be set free

Jim McIlroy reports on a protest organised by People for Assange and the Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition calling for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be set free.

Afghan Files whistleblower accuses his accusers of covering up crimes

David McBride, a former Australian military lawyer and whistleblower on alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan spoke to media outside the ACT Courts on August 22. He was there for a preliminary hearing on charges he is facing for theft of commonwealth property, breaching the Defence Act and unauthorised disclosure of information. If convicted, this 55-year-old could spend the rest of his life in jail.

‘Peace pilgrims’ fined for entering Pine Gap

Six Christian “peace pilgrims” who were found guilty of illegally entering the top-secret Pine Gap military intelligence base near Alice Springs have avoided jail time.

James Dowling, Franz Dowling, Andy Paine, Tim Webb and Margaret Pestorius were found guilty of entering the joint US defence facility at Pine Gap on September 29 last year. In a separate trial Paul Christie was found guilty of committing the same offence a few days later.

Afghanistan occupation leads to war crimes

Australian special forces routinely commit war crimes in Afghanistan.

Such a conclusion is strongly suggested by hundreds of pages of secret Australian Defence Force documents leaked to the ABC, which were revealed on July 11. 

Peace Activists lock themselves to Lockheed Martin gates

Two peace activists, Greg Rolles and Shane Anderson, locked themselves to Lockheed Martin's main gates on August 11, blocking the entrance to the Dandenong research facility in an attempt to disrupt the making of missiles for military drones.

Sri Lanka: UN report calls for war crimes trials

The United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report of its investigation into human rights violations in Sri Lanka found “reasonable grounds to believe that gross violations of international human rights law … were committed.” The investigation deals with the period between February 2002 and November 2011. It thus includes the final years of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE fought for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka and was defeated in May 2009.

Palestine: News in brief

Gaza, July 2014.

Israel plans to shut down Palestinian TV station

Israel plans to shut down a new Arabic-language television station that services Palestinian citizens of Israel, Electronic Intifada said on June 25.

Tamils walk for justice

Two groups of Tamils walked from Glen Waverley and Sunshine to the Melbourne CBD on March 15 to “alert Australians to war crimes and genocide in Sri Lanka”. The walkers converged in front of the State Library, where a rally was held. The Campaign for Tamil Justice organised the walk to coincide with a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The UNHRC meeting had been expected to hear a report on Sri Lanka by the UN human rights commissioner, but this has been delayed for at least six months.

Campaign to list Blair’s memoirs under ‘crime’

“Tony Blair's autobiography, A Journey, is being subversively moved to crime sections in book shops by members of a Facebook protest group. “Over 10,000 Facebook members have joined the group ‘Subversively move Tony Blair’s memoirs to the crime section in book shops’ and have been posting photos of them doing so … “The Facebook group description said: ‘Make book shops think twice about where they categorise our generation’s greatest war criminal.’” — September 8 Webusers.co.uk.

War criminal forced to cancel book launches

“Tony Blair today cancelled a second event scheduled to mark the launch of his memoirs after anti-war campaigners prepared to mount a protest against him … “The decision comes just days after Blair announced he was cancelling a signing session due to be held at the Waterstone's book store in London's Piccadilly this lunchtime, amid concerns over planned protests … “A book signing in Dublin a few days earlier had seen eggs and shoes hurled by protesters, with one individual attempting to make a citizen’s arrest.” — September 8 Guardian.