Freed ISIS captives have given detailed accounts of their experiences

 Freed ISIS captives have given detailed accounts of their experiences of “draconian rules and regimented torture” by the militant groups; 69 Arab prisoners of the Islamic State were rescued last week in a joint US-Kurdish operation in northern Iraq.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/world/middleeast/freed-prisoners-of-isis-tell-of-beatings-and-torture.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

Turkey Says It Struck Kurdish Forces in Syria

 Ankara has confirmed that it carried out strikes against US-backed Kurdish YPG forces in Syria, potentially sparking a new fight with the Obama administration which has been increasing its support for the Kurds in light of their success against ISIS.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-opens-new-front-against-kurds-in-syria-1445968338

European Court Tackles the Definition of Genocide, by Marko Milanovic, EJIL Talk

European Court Tackles the Definition of Genocide

Published on October 27, 2015        Author: Marko Milanovic

Last week the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered a very interesting judgment in Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania, no. 35343/05, in which it examined in detail the definition of the crime of genocide. This is another one in a series of relatively sui generis cases, mostly coming from the Baltic states, dealing with historical crimes and pleaded under Article 7 ECHR, which incorporates the nullum crimen sine lege principle. The basic issue in the case was that the applicant, who worked for Soviet security services and was involved in the killings of Lithuanian partisans, was convicted of genocide by Lithuanian courts after the resumption of independence by the Baltic states, under the new Lithuanian Criminal Code which explicitly had retroactive application.

The question that the Court had to answer, therefore, was whether the applicant’s conviction for genocide was reasonably foreseeable, in light of international law as it stood in 1953, when the crime was committed. The Court comes out terribly split on the outcome, ruling by 9 votes to 8 that the conviction was not foreseeable and that there was a violation of Article 7.

The majority and the minority both agree that customary international law at the time prohibited genocide, in parallel to the 1948 Genocide Convention. They also agree that the list of protected groups under Article II of the Convention, which is reflective of custom, deliberately excluded political groups. Thus, a conviction for genocide would not have been sound if the Soviets were ‘merely’ destroying their political opponents in Lithuania. But where the case really gets interesting is in the analysis of the ‘in part’ element of genocidal intent. Here the minority believes that it is perfectly fine to first define the protected group as ethnic Lithuanians, and then further define a ‘part’ of that group as Lithuanian partisans or opponents of Soviet rule. The majority, on the other hand, believes that while the idea of the ‘part’ of a group could foreseeably be thought of in numerical terms in 1953, it was not foreseeable that the part could also be defined in qualitative terms, as emerged from the case law of modern international criminal tribunals (para. 177). This last point is I think highly problematic, since those individuals convicted for intending to destroy a part of a group in modern trials could then also say that their convictions violated nullum crimen, since their crimes also preceded in time the jurisprudence of the tribunals who convicted them – that this happened by 5 or 10 years rather than 50 seems entirely immaterial.

On the other hand, accepting the minority’s approach to the definition of a ‘part’ of a group would expand the scope of genocide far beyond the approach taken so far in international criminal law. For example, if the applicant had intended to kill all gay Lithuanians or all disabled Lithuanians this would, under the minority’s reasoning as far as I understand it, also constitute genocide, even though sexual orientation or disability are not covered by the Genocide Convention. Both groups would be ‘substantial’ in number, much like the partisans. But in any event the whole case is yet another demonstration of the highly problematic and morally arbitrary nature of the definition of genocide, which is unfortunately coupled with the peculiar political magic that the word has. An excessive focus on that crime by prosecutors, judges and in public discourse only serves to systematically devalue other crimes against international law, be it in Bosnia, Darfur, Cambodia, or indeed in Soviet-controlled Lithuania.

U.S., allies conduct 18 air strikes in Iraq, five in Syria: U.S. military

Continuing this same "counter-terrorism" strategy while Russia and Iran openly engage in warfare certainly will not lead to some sort of democratic transition.
Meanwhile, world leaders and international media try to push the attention to the old anthem to blame  Israel for the middle east instability.

Sudan sends ground troops to Yemen

Aden, a strategic port and shipping hub, became the seat of the Yemeni government earlier this year after the Houthis, a clan from northern Yemen, seized the capital Sanaa and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to the south.

A military source in Aden said that 300 Sudanese soldiers and officers arrived by sea on Saturday. Their purpose was to "help maintain security for the city against the Houthis and Saleh," the source said, referring to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose supporters have sided with the Houthis.

« Drone Papers » : dix révélations sur le programme américain d’assassinats ciblés

Des milliers de tirs de missiles et de morts, sur une demi-douzaine de théâtres d’opération… Le programme d’assassinats ciblés mené par les Etats-Unis en Afghanistan ou au Yémen, dans le cadre de sa lutte contre le terrorisme, est vaste — et très secret. L’enquête du site The Intercept, « The Drone Papers », lève le voile sur de nombreux aspects inconnus de ce programme, et confirme des informations déjà connues, à l’heure où la France commence elle aussi à procéder à des frappes ciblées en Syrie avec l’aide des services de renseignements américains.
En savoir plus sur http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2015/10/17/drone-papers-dix-revelations-sur-le-programme-americain-d-assassinats-cibles_4791688_4408996.html#wQTyeqBDVkFX0vel.99

http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2015/10/17/drone-papers-dix-revelations-sur-le-programme-americain-d-assassinats-cibles_4791688_4408996.html#MXgDR4SmJiimSf4m.99

Syrian army, backed by Iranian fighters, advance south of Aleppo: monitor

There is a bloody war raging in Syria territory, including indirect use of force, through open terrorism support, and international interference at the internal strife. And this is a completely different situation, other than the cold war or the multilateral post-cold war channels, the outcome is unknown, the war crimes are well documented, and is this going to be the first precedent of a GZero international order?? 


http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/17/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0SB0E220151017

Twin blasts in the centre of the Turkish capital kill at least 86 and injure nearly 200 more, government says

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced three days of national mourning during a televised press conference on Saturday afternoon.

"We are confident that there is no single citizen who doesn't share the deep sorrow for those who have lost their loved ones in these attacks." 
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/explosions-hit-turkey-ankara-peace-march-151010073827607.html

UN demands probe into deadly Yemen wedding strike

UN aid chief calls for "real accountability" after at least 47 people killed in Sanban town in missile attack.

09 Oct 2015 20:06 GMT | War & Conflict, Middle East, Yemen

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/demands-probe-deadly-yemen-wedding-strike-151009181109645.html

War in the Muslim world Putin dares, Obama dithers The danger of Russia’s intervention in Syria, and America’s timidity in Afghanistan

TO HEAR Vladimir Putin, Russia has become the leader of a new global war on terrorism. By contrast Barack Obama seems wearier by the day with the wars in the Muslim world that America has been fighting for more than a decade. On September 30th Russian jets went into action to support Bashar al-Assad’s beleaguered troops. It is setting up an intelligence-sharing network with Iraq and Iran. The Russian Orthodox church talks of holy war. Mr Putin’s claim to be fighting Islamic State (IS) is questionable at best. The evidence of Russia’s first day of bombing is that it attacked other Sunni rebels, including some supported by America. Even if this is little more than political theatre, Russia is making its biggest move in the Middle East, hitherto America’s domain, since the Soviet Union was evicted in the 1970s.http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21669950-danger-russias-intervention-syria-and-americas-timidity-afghanistan-putin-dares?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709

NATO rejects Russia explanation on Turkish air space

"The MIG-29 locked its radar onto the Turkish patrol for 4 minutes 30 seconds, and a Syria-based missile system locked onto them for 4 minutes 15 seconds, the Turkish military said. Russia flies MIG-29s, as does Syria's own air force. "

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0S01DS20151006