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THE LONG ARM OF JUSTICE: Bosnian leader Radovan Karadžić jailed for 40 YEARS for genocide, crimes against humanity, murder, terror! 

25/3/2016

10 Comments

 

Fijileaks: Fiji's Karadžićs have remained on the run because of the likes of former NFP leader JAI RAM REDDY. He has NOT raised HIS VOICE against Injustice and Gross Human Rights Violations and Violence since he abandoned Fiji to become International Court of Justice JUDGE! Parliament and handsome parliamentary salary and allowances is the greed for many in Fiji, including political and human rights activists - street protest is not in their book! All they want is to sit in Parliament and make empty noises while filling up their bank accounts or hiding millions in overseas bank accounts! "Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct." - Thomas Jefferson

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Radovan Karadžić at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

"International justice is still a new idea. So far, it is a long way from perfect. But it is still better than nothing at all"

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The conviction of Radovan Karadžić at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia may be the court’s most prominent achievement in its 23-year history. Karadžić, who evaded capture for more than a decade after the war ended, has been found criminally responsible on a long list of charges that included the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, in which at least 5,000 men, women and children died, and the 1995 genocide at Srebrenica, where 8,000 men and boys were taken from a supposedly safe zone and gunned down.

The testimony of survivors has been heard. Mothers have learned where their sons are buried, fathers have some closure for the killing of their child by a sniper’s bullet. At least some of the crimes of a European civil war, watched by western powers in handwringing inaction, have been fleshed out and their perpetrators punished. Karadžić, who is now 70, was sentenced to 40 years. He will spend the rest of his life in prison. For its supporters, the court has served its purpose: the age of impunity is over.

That at least is the case of the promoters of the idea of a global tribunal that stands in impartial judgment over those charged with crimes against humanity. From the tribunal seeking retribution for the crimes of the Balkans, and its sister tribunal trying the perpetrators of Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, came the international criminal court. It laid the foundations for an architecture of international criminal justice. By ending impunity it would both bring some justice to survivors and families of victims, and deter future crimes. The most cursory look around the bleak landscape of the 21st century, from Sudan to Syria, shows how far such an effort has still to go. The ICC has been bitterly criticised for indicting only African dictators. The failure to sign up to the UN resolution establishing the court by the US, Russia, China and many of the major regional powers of the Islamic world, makes it hard to deny the appearance of the justice of the powerful against the weak.

Events in the prosecution of Balkan war crimes have added to the criticism that the ICC’s conduct is shaped by the interests of the main sponsor of the original Balkan tribunal, the US. Most of the convicted are Serbs, few are Croats and fewer still Bosnian Muslims. That may have contributed to the lack of a sense of ownership of the court that even its most articulate backers, such as the lawyer Philippe Sands, acknowledge. It has also played into a narrative of martyrdom: on the eve of Karadžić’s conviction, his successor as president of Republika Srpska named a new school dormitory after him. The hope that the element of closure from the conviction of the guilty would also make reconciliation easier has not been realised. In a region where memories of historic grievances date from the 13th century, it was an ambition too far for any court.

Perhaps the most devastating criticism of these early experiments in international justice is the charge that first the former Yugoslavia tribunal and then the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda were, in inspiration, exercises in salving the conscience of a world that had failed to intervene, an attempt to expunge the guilt of inaction. Now that the complexities of action are painfully familiar, that may seem a lesser weakness. Bringing people to justice at the end of a messy war was always going to be a messy business. But it is still worth doing. Source: Editorial, The Guardian, London

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"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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SILENT AS A LAMB: Judge Jai Ram Reddy

Argentina: Obama visits 'Dirty War' memorial on coup anniversary; The US was "too slow to stand up for human rights" in Argentina, he said

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Presidents Obama and Macri throw flowers into the River Plate in honour of the victims of Argentina's "Dirty War"
President Barack Obama has visited a memorial for the victims of Argentina's military dictatorship, on the final day of his visit to the country.

He promised to release more secret military and intelligence files from the era, revealing the US government's role in the 1976 coup.

The US was "too slow to stand up for human rights" in Argentina, he said.

Some 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed during the six years of military government.

Thousands of other people were illegally detained and tortured in what became known as the "Dirty War".
President Obama said US foreign policy had changed since to always take into account transparency and human rights.

He expressed hope that his gesture to release secret files of the 1970s would help mend relations between the two countries.

"There`s been controversy about the policies of the United States early in those dark days, and the United States when it reflects on what happened here has to examine its own policies as well, its own past," he said.
"Democracies have to have the courage to acknowledge when we don't live up to the ideals that we stand for.
"When we've been slow to stand up for human rights, and that was the case here."

Later, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets the Buenos Aires to mark the 40th anniversary of the coup.

'Never again'

More than 4,000 secret files from the American government were released in 2002.

But on Wednesday, after a meeting with President Mauricio Macri, Mr Obama announced that for the first time the US had agreed to declassify military and intelligence files from the era. Source: BBC world, 24 March 2016

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Former Argentine military leader Jorge Rafael Videla died in jail aged 87
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https://www.facebook.com/BoycottFijiSun/

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10 Comments
Reddy
25/3/2016 10:10:45 am

Yes. Justice even when late is justice. But Victor, why is JR Reddy to blame for current Fiji ills. I am a Reddy but your ethics is misplaced. Holier than thou. Are we. I follow your blog but I have begun to question your ethics. You don't have to print my comments. I only hope you pursue objectiveness.

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Kumar
25/3/2016 11:23:25 am

Why is Reddy defending Reddy. Only because both are of one communal block. This is what Bai-Bai-Kai are exploiting. Just watch: Reddy, Bala and that chap from Ba, the ordinary MP who cant even read speeches prepared by Kai - will be used to take over TISI. Only then the blogger Reddy will realise no point in depending the politician Reddy, who was a scoundrel who cultivated the gujus who are now funding Bai-kai. if the politician reddy had stopped his mate Hari Punja from creating nonsense, Fiji would still be a democratic nation. Now, after all the damage done, JR Reddy is sitting with his millions in NZ. Good on you Victor Lal for exposing this JR Reddy

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Reddy Vision
25/3/2016 01:24:08 pm

The people of Fiji vide election 1999 rejected Reddys vision of Fiji, thus his exist from politics and which is normal in a democracy. What an individual does post his political career is his private choice.

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Incorrect in his case
28/3/2016 11:07:15 pm

This Jai Ram Reddy also had exited politics after 1987 but returned after allegedly asked by Ratu Mara to take over NFP leadership and fight elections to legalise the 1990 Constitution and elections.

He had also agreed to speak at one of the political forums following 2013 constitution and prior to the 2014 elections. BUT at the end he did not turn up apparently fearing other can of worms that would pop up relative to his legal practice!

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Chiku
25/3/2016 04:19:45 pm

A true human rights and democracy defender must defend the same against abuse wherever it occurs and not selectively or politically expediently.. A good starting point is the home front. Charity begins at home. We should ensure things are tidy at home before pointing out or pontificating about the rot elsewhere. As Fijileaks has pointed out that that not happened in former politician Jai Ram Reddy's case. He is indeed sitting pretty with all the paraphernalia of a Judge in the ICC but he has failed to raise his voice against the rape of democracy and the human rights abuse at home. WHY?
In our search for truth we must leave no stone unturned. When we do that we find Jai Ram Reddy wanting. He has fallen short of what was expected of him. He is apparently settled comfortably in his own cacoon . Jai Ram Reddy is no Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King. Just a good old politician who has put his own interests first. So much more was expected of a man of his standing. He has let the people of Fiji down.

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rajend naidu
25/3/2016 04:37:38 pm

President Barack Obama is making a genuine effort to right some historical wrongs done by the US in Cuba, in Argentina and elsewhere. And credit must be given to him for doing that. It is not an easy thing to do given the entrenched special interests - the military-industrial complex - at home.
Some of our political leadership and civil society leadership have shied away from addressing contemporary wrongs in Fiji and they stand indicted for it.

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Andrews
26/3/2016 01:30:40 am

Since 2006 there has been a number of victims of this regime whether directly or indirectly. Some has lost their lives,some has lost their loved ones, jobs , some have ended up in prison and majority have fled the country they have loved for years leaving behind everything.There are a lot of people who will be willing to testify (give statements), and there are lot of documents out there incriminating members of this regime. I observed that there are lot of people willing take up this fight but are doing it in fragmentation thus limiting the impact. There has to be a collective effort, coordinated effort to ensure the criteria of even making an international case is met. This is my thoughts with limited background in legal matters but I am sure there are people with legal background , investigative journalism skills and other learned personalities that can put their knowledge, experience and expertise in putting up a credible case. Again I do not know Hon. Reddy's standing but he can be a great source of advise on such matters. People needs to put their difference aside first to take on a common enemy. Just thinking out loud and putting it out there.

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Sickened
26/3/2016 04:09:12 am

Good one Victor! yes I agree that JReddy should also attempt at least to be the voice of the Fijians being abused by the Bai/Kai current governance style. He has the ability and influence too as an International Court Judge. And yep the current MP's in Parliament are just there for show. Nothing good coming out of the whole lot of them. The Opposition MP's should walk out of parliament for good. I mean how can they allow themselves to look like fools? Govt appoints the new Commanders for the three institutions under their noses and they can't do nothing about it. So why bother and waste taxpayers money eh?

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On-Song
29/3/2016 02:31:09 am

JP Reddy and that lady in Geneva could have spoken out against the violence enacted against Fiji citizens by this ruling regime, but remained silent. The Fiji First Party is running Govt. as if no Opposition exists and business as usual for the coup makers. I appeal to SODELPA, NFP and the Labour Party leaderships to let the Bai-Kai goonships run the affairs of this Nation at will until they burn themselves proper - be not the fools that remain in Parliament knowing that you've been totally ignored as legit partners!!

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Tomasi
1/4/2016 03:07:09 am

Andrews, Excellent idea. Some of us have expressed similar sentiments before. But as Chiku and On Song have said, our fellow citizen JP Reddy may have his own reasons for his seeming indifference to the goings on in Fiji. Maybe, he reckons he has done enough already and Fiji has rejected him with Siti. But I think we should give him another chance, for his understanding of Fiji's situation may be far more superior than any other foreign consultant/s whom we may have. Anyway, we need Funds, Organisation, Strategy, Goals and the People. It is Time to Act Decisively and Strategically to get Kai and Bai to account for their record of dictatorial and evil rule since 2006.

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