On behalf of a group of Syrian refugees, an international consortium of lawyers makes the state of Qatar liable for war damage done to the Syrians by terrorist group Al Nusra. According to the lawyers, Qatar is responsible because it financially supports the terrorist group. If it comes to a trial, it will be filed in the Netherlands.
Together with Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and former chief prosecutor David Crane of the Sierra Leone Tribunal, she is preparing a civil case against the state of Qatar.
More below the fold …
On behalf of three ‘proven’ war victims, Liesbeth Zegveld sent a letter of liability to the emir and the ambassador of Qatar, in which she demands financial compensation for hostage-taking, torture and material loss of ‘virtually all their possessions’. Zegveld expects that this group of clients will grow into liability for around one hundred Syrian refugees in the Netherlands and ‘several hundreds’ elsewhere in Europe.
Perhaps the Jewish State of Israel will be added to Qatar for its support of the Al Nusra terrorists near the Golan Heights and providing a safe haven.
○ American Hostage Released by Al Nusra Front on Golan Heights by Oui @BooMan on Aug. 24, 2014
○ Syria Drama In the Making – the Bush and Obama Years 2005-2013
○ Outside Intervention or War by Any Means in Syria July 6, 2012
Former ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo, Front Man For The Empire | Global Research – 2012 |
On November 9, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) conducted an interview with Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC).1 During the interview, Ocampo called for the ICC to prepare an indictment against President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria and for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to issue a warrant for his arrest. The warrant, he added, should be enforced by sending NATO troops, including Canadian forces, to Syria or “bombing to arrest him.”
Ocampo explained that, because Assad is commander-in-chief of the Syrian armed forces and since there have been civilian casualties resulting from military actions on the part of the Syrian government, there would be a strong case against Assad, though he neglected in the interview to outline what the charges against Assad might be. (Is it a criminal offence under ICC rules to use your army to repel a foreign aggression?) Ocampo didn’t mention the role of foreign powers, such as the USA, Canada, Britain, France, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, or indeed the collection of 70 countries in the so-called “Friends of Syria” formation, meddling in the internal affairs of Syria with the illegal purpose of regime change. He also failed to note the glaring war crimes against civilians and the terrorist bombings committed by the foreign-backed mercenaries inside Syria, whose crimes have been repeatedly recorded in graphic detail by international news networks, broadcast on Youtube, and have even been condemned on at least one occasion by the United Nations Security Council.
Secrets of the International Criminal Court: Jolie, Clooney and the World Fixer Psychosis
Spring 2012. The Hague, Netherlands. The office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – the world body which aims to bring war criminals and perpetrators of genocide to justice.
Its Chief Prosecutor, the Argentinian Luis Moreno Ocampo, is preparing to end his nine-year mandate.
Three years previously, the Palestinian Authority demanded an investigation into crimes of Israeli occupation of its territory. Now Ocampo is winding up the case without success.
But he is afraid of the PR fallout from what looks to many as a failure of nerve to take on Israel. For this delicate procedure, it is neither his deputy, Fatou Bensouda, nor his press office, that he asks for advice on how to announce the closure.
It is Angelina Jolie.
On 2 April 2012, Ocampo sends an email to the star of Disney’s `Maleficent’ and Oscar-winner for `Girl, Interrupted’. The subject line is `how to present a decision on Palestine?’ and attached are secret court documents.
“On Tuesday, I will decide that the Office cannot investigate alleged crimes in Palestine,” writes Ocampo. “Palestinian officials understand and respect my decision. The Israelis are also OK. The question is how to present this to normal people.”
Ocampo adds in an email to the American: “Just in case, I am attaching the decision I will take. It is confidential”.
It is not clear why Ocampo has chosen multimillionaire Hollywood celebrity and film director Angelina Jolie as the individual to understand how to communicate complex international judicial procedures to `normal people’, other than her experience as an activist in the Balkans.
Nor does Jolie keep the information confidential. She speaks with her own advisor on the Palestine issue. Her advice to Ocampo is that she sees this as an opportunity to explain to people “the way the court works” and because “rules must be followed” this decision could help “further legitimise the court”.
Jolie is not the only outsider who advises this prosecutor. According to documents obtained by Mediapart and analyzed by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), Ocampo has his own `inner court’ of advisors including Hollywood glitterati, billionaire tech entrepreneurs, and philanthropists, mostly from the U.S. and the Arabian peninsula.
These include Sheikha Mozah, wife of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar until 2013; the founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pamela; and A-List actor, George Clooney.
Officially, the Council of Europe is meant to safeguard democracy and the rule of law. Given that mission, many people are already asking why countries such as Russia and Turkey even have a seat at the table. Most observers in Strasbourg say that it would be pointless to throw them out, as the institution would then have zero influence on rulers like Putin and Erdogan.
There was a similar thought process when it came to accepting the corrupt Caucasian state of Azerbaijan: First, integrate the republic in the Council of Europe, and then export European values to the new member country. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
Sweeping human rights violations under the rug
But back to our enterprising member country from the Caspian Sea. It seems Azerbaijan was much more successful in exporting its values westward than the other way round. Okay, “values” is perhaps a bit too lofty – more like rugs, luxury goods and money, for the most part. Several council members were happy to accept the gifts, in return for sweeping disturbing reports about human rights violations in Azerbaijan under said rugs. Three independent experts have now concluded that such corrupt behavior was “very likely.” It’s a familiar story: Europe likes to portray itself as the model of morality, when that often isn’t the case.
