ICC says can rule on Rohingya deportations from Myanmar

Yahoo – AFP, 6 September 2018

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority have fled 

Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last 

year to escape a bloody military crackdown Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees 

staged angry protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a 

Myanmar military crackdown that sparked a mass exodus to camps in Bangladesh

The International Criminal Court said Thursday it had jurisdiction to probe the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar as a possible crime against humanity.

The ICC's "pre-trial chamber... decided by majority the court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportations of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh," the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.

The Myanmar government on Thursday declined to comment on the announcement when contacted by AFP.

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last year to escape a bloody military crackdown.

The violence has left a trail of torched villages in its wake, amid allegations of murder and rape at the hands of troops and vigilantes.

In an unprecedented move in April, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to rule whether she can investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.

It is a legally complicated request, as Myanmar is not a signatory and member of the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC.

Bangladesh,however, is a signatory and Bensouda argued that should give her office jurisdiction to investigate the plight of the Rohingya.

She likened deportation to "a cross-border shooting", arguing the crime "is not completed until the bullet (fired in one state) strikes and kills the victim (standing in another state)".

Could the US be tried for war crimes in Afghanistan?

The ICC is looking into possible war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan. There are doubts about whether any CIA agents will ever be prosecuted for torture - but there are other options.

Deutsche Welle, 15 November 2016

 The alleged kidnapping, torture and rape of detainees in Afghanistan by US armed forces are coming under more scrutiny at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's annual Preliminary Examination Activities report for 2015 found that "members of the US armed forces and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) resorted to techniques amounting to the commission of the war crimes of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape."

The prosecutors have found evidence that 61 detainees were subjected to "torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity" in Afghanistan between May 2003 and December 2014 (mostly at the outset of the war in 2003 and 2004). Meanwhile, the CIA is being investigated for the same crimes - as well as rape - against 27 detainees in Afghanistan and secret prisons in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

Fatou Bensouda presented the report 

this week

Systematic cruelty

The ICC also underlined that the alleged crimes seemed to have been part of an officially sanctioned system "approved at senior levels of the US government." "The alleged crimes were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals," it read. "Rather, they appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract 'actionable intelligence' from detainees."

This systematic nature of the crimes increased their "gravity," the report added, and caused considerable suffering: "Some victims reportedly exhibited psychological and behavioral issues, including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation."

Andreas Schüller, program director for international crimes at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), welcomed the report, but emphasized that this was just part of a wider examination, and that the ICC itself was part of an international judicial process that also involves military and civilian courts in the US and elsewhere: there are criminal investigations and pending court cases ongoing in Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania and Lithuania into alleged crimes committed by the CIA - either because they were perpetrated on their territories or with the collusion of their security forces.

The ECCHR itself filed a lawsuit on behalf of the German-Lebanese man Khalid el Masri, who was a victim of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program and says he spent several months being tortured in Afghanistan.

"You also have cases currently open on Guantanamo against US officials by the French judiciary, where former Guantanamo commander Geoffrey Miller has been summoned earlier this year to appear as an accused witness," said Schüller. (Miller, a retired US army general, ignored the summons.)

Overcoming the obstacles

The fact that the US, like many African countries, is not a party to the ICC is not an obstacle to the investigation. For one thing, Afghanistan ratified the Rome Statute that underpins the court in 2003, and therefore any crimes carried out on its territory (whether by military personnel or not) are within ICC jurisdiction.

German citizen Khalid el Masri was
abused in Afghanistan by CIA agents

Moreover, as the ICC itself pointed out in a statement on Tuesday, its prosecutor's office is obliged to investigate all alleged crimes brought to its attention, regardless of potential legal problems. In the case of Afghanistan, prosecutors said on Tuesday that they will decide "imminently" whether to seek authorization to open a full-scale investigation.

But whether that will ever lead to any prosecutions of CIA agents is very doubtful. "It's not realistic, because the US has not signed the statute, and even if it had, the US government has said repeatedly that it will not extradite any of its citizens to the ICC," said Wolfgang Heinz, senior policy adviser at the German Institute for Human Rights.

Nevertheless, should the ICC decide to pursue its investigations and if it identifies US suspects living in other countries, it could seek their extradition. "That's been done before - the US embassy will apply pressure of course, but then you're not absolutely safe," Heinz said.

Not only that, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) can also file charges against European governments suspected of colluding in the CIA's human rights abuses. This has happened before: in 2014, the Polish government was convicted of collusion in the CIA's extraordinary rendition program and ordered to pay compensation to two men.

The US' alleged crimes are not the only ones being examined in Afghanistan - those perpetrated by the Taliban, other anti-government groups, and Afghan government forces are also mentioned in the report, as are war crimes by various parties in eight other conflict zones around the world - in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

Thai cops bust gang sending fake passports to migrants to Europe

Yahoo – AFP, Sally Mairs, 10 February 2016

Thai police said they recovered more than 200 travel documents (AFP Photo/

Nicolas Asfouri)

Thai police have broken up a major fake passport ring led by an Iranian known as "The Doctor" which sent hundreds of passports to Middle Eastern customers trying to enter Europe, authorities said Wednesday.

The kingdom has long been a hub for a forged document industry serving human traffickers and other criminals.

Five years of investigation culminated in Monday's arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind Hamid Reza Jafary who had learnt his skill from his late father, police said.

The 48-year-old had for many years been crafting sophisticated forgeries from his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok, they said.

"He (Jafary) produced passports for people from countries including Iran, Syria and Afghanistan who were escaping wars and wanted to enter Europe," according to immigration police commander Lieutenant General Nathathorn Prousoontorn.

"The Doctor" confessed to the crime and could face a decade in jail if convicted, he added.

Clients emailed the Iranian forger their photos and specified the country for which they wanted a passport, the commander said, adding that Jafary guaranteed his top-quality counterfeits would not be detected by border officials.

The forged documents were then sent via private courier companies or delivered to clients in Thailand by middlemen, who ensured that Jafary never met customers directly.

The Iranian forger known as "The Doctor" could face a decade in jail if convicted 

(AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

It was not immediately clear if "The Doctor" provided passports to people fleeing to Europe during the current migrant crisis.

Best fakes around

Jafary's fake passports were the "best quality in the market", although he was unable to copy the latest microchipped travel documents, Natthorn said.

"He himself used six different passports -- three from Brazil, and one each from Peru, Portugal and New Zealand," the officer added.

"The Doctor" was wanted by security agencies in several foreign countries, especially in the EU and Japan, according to a police press release.

Five Pakistani middlemen were also arrested in raids in and around Bangkok for assisting the forgery ring, which sold the passports for up to 80,000 baht ($2,300).

Some of the nearly 200 travel documents found in a Monday raid on Jafary's home were completely forged, while others had been stolen from tourists and doctored, police said.

The raid also uncovered a laser engraving machine, rolls of ribbon, thin leather for passport covers as well as metal plates and stamps from various countries.

Thousands of passports are reported missing annually in Thailand, where forged documents of every variety can be purchased on the streets.

Thai police display counterfeit passport printing plates they recovered from the raid, 

during a press conference at the immigration bureau in Bangkok (AFP Photo/

Nicolas Asfouri)

The flourishing market has helped establish Thailand as a hub for human traffickers and smugglers.

Two Uighur men awaiting trial for planting a deadly bomb in Bangkok last August have also been accused by police of running a crime group that helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents.

The pair are currently being held in a military prison.

In 2014, the spotlight also swung onto the Thai-based trade when two mystery passengers boarded the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using European passports stolen in Thailand.

In 2010, Thai authorities took part in an international police sting that saw two Pakistanis and a Thai woman arrested in Thailand for providing fake passports to groups behind global terror attacks.

UN unanimously adopts resolution targeting IS finances

Yahoo – AFP, 17 December 2015

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew (R) votes yes on a wide-ranging draft

 resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group as

 finance ministers gather at the United Nations Security Council on December 17,

2015 (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Finance ministers from the UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group and cutting off its revenue flows.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew led the council's first-ever meeting of finance ministers, shoring up a major diplomatic push to end the war in Syria, where IS jihadists control a large swathe of territory and have installed their de facto capital.

Drafted by the United States and Syrian ally Russia, the measure will update an Al-Qaeda blacklist by renaming it the "ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda sanctions list" to signal the UN's focus on the IS extremists.

The resolution urges countries to "move vigorously and decisively to cut the flow of funds, and other financial assets and economic resources" including oil and antiquities to IS, and to "more actively" submit names to the sanctions list.

It calls on governments to ensure they have adopted laws that make the financing of IS and of foreign fighters who join its ranks a serious criminal offense.

A Russian-drafted resolution on cutting off the extremists' revenue streams was adopted in February, but countries have been slow to take action to choke off funding channels.

"While we are making progress to financially isolate ISIL, if we are to succeed we all must intensify our efforts, on our own and together at the international level," said Lew.

The latest measure would require all countries to report within 120 days on steps taken to target IS financing.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be asked to prepare a sweeping report in 45 days on the IS threat and its revenue streams, focusing also on funding for foreign fighters.

A UN sanctions committee made up of the 15 Security Council member states can impose an assets freeze, travel ban and arms ban on individuals and entities linked to IS extremists.

About half of the Islamic State group's revenues come from extortion and looted
property, 43 percent from oil sales and the remainder from drug smuggling,
electricity sales and donations, according to IHS analysis firm (AFP Photo)

IS earning millions

According to the London-based IHS analysis firm, the Islamic State group is pulling in $80 million per month, but Russian and US coalition air strikes on oil facilities are putting a strain on its finances.

About half of IS revenues come from extortion and looted property, 43 percent from oil sales and the remainder from drug smuggling, electricity sales and donations, according to IHS.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin recalled that the gunmen behind the November 13 attacks in Paris resorted to online financial services to make anonymous payments and avoid detection by financial watchdogs.

"It is vital that information be better shared, as completely and rapidly as possible. Sometimes, a few hours can make the difference in preventing an attack," Sapin told the council.

"We must do everything in our power to choke off terrorism," he said.

British finance minister George Osborne called for widening the net, to "target the traders and middle men" involved in oil smuggling, which has generated $500 million to IS so far.

After the finance ministers' meeting on Thursday, the Security Council on Friday will bring together foreign ministers to adopt a separate resolution endorsing steps toward a political transition in Syria to end the nearly five-year war.

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2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - Nov, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!)

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”

Thailand destroys ivory stockpile amid junta crackdown

Yahoo – AFP, 26 Aug 2015

Thai Department of National Parks (DNP) workers display pieces of ivory 

during a destruction ceremony in Bangkok on August 26, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Bangkok (AFP) - Thailand destroyed more than two tonnes of ivory Wednesday -- a victory for animal rights groups fighting against the trade in a country renowned for being a hub for illegal tusks.

The ceremony, in which 2,155 kilograms of raw tusks and carved trinkets were fed into an industrial rock crusher before being incinerated, was presided over by the Thai junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha and is the first time the kingdom has taken steps to destroy part of its stockpile.

"This is to show the Thai government's strong determination to oppose ivory trafficking and that Thailand will comply with international rules," he said during the ceremony.

Animal rights campaigners have long accused successive Thai civilian and military administrations of turning a blind eye to the lucrative trade.

They have pushed for Bangkok to destroy its stockpile to signal its determination to stamp down on the trade and avoid the risk of seized ivory finding its way back onto the black market through corrupt officials.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (2nd R) looks at pieces of ivory

 on display during a destruction of confiscated ivory exercise at Thailand's 

Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation in Bangkok on

August 26, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). But that has not stopped criminal gangs seeking to exploit a continued demand for tusks in Asia.

Ivory and other body parts of elephants are prized for decoration, as talismans, and for use in traditional medicine across parts of Asia with Thailand a key transit point.

The country's generals, who seized power in a coup last spring, have vowed to crack down on the illegal ivory trade.

Earlier this year, they ordered all Thais to register any ivory they owned, warning that those who failed to do so would see their items confiscated.

They have also made a series of high profile seizures including four tonnes of ivory found hidden in containers in April that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was destined for Laos.

Thai police seized more than three tonnes of ivory a week later in a second haul, this time from Kenya that was again destined for Laos.

Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 - but that has not stopped criminal gangs

 seeking to exploit a continued demand for tusks in Asia (AFP Photo/

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

The ivory destroyed on Wednesday accounts for most of Thailand's stockpile where criminal cases have been completed.

A further 540 kilograms has been donated to museums, government institution and universities to be used for educational and awareness raising purposes.

Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, from the World Wildlife Fund, said Thailand's junta had taken significant steps to tackle the illegal trade and that the destruction of the stockpile was "more than just a symbolic act".

"For too long Thailand has been exploited by wildlife criminals as both a gateway and marketplace for ivory poached in Africa and Asia," she added.

The ceremony came as state media in Vietnam reported two significant seizures of elephant tusks in the last few days, including two tonnes from Nigeria and another yet to be weighed haul that came via Malaysia.

Related Article:

Vietnam seizes illegal ivory from Malaysia

Vietnam seizes illegal ivory from Malaysia

Customs officials in Vietnam have confiscated illegally imported ivory for the second time in two weeks. The elephant tusks and pangolin scales were hidden amongst red beans in a container imported from Malaysia.

Deutsche Welle, 26 Aug 2015

Seized ivories and ivory products prior to its destruction in Brussels, 
Belgium(Photo: Xinhua/Gong Bing)

According to the Vietnamese VNExpress news website, the police seized ivory in central Danang's Tien Sa port on Tuesday.

"This is a very big case. At least a ton of elephant tusks and pangolin scales were hidden inside the container," said Dang Van Toan, head of the control division of Da Nang customs.

In a similar case last week, Vietnamese police busted two tons of ivory from Nigeria.

Earlier this month, officials confiscated more than 700 kilograms of rhino horns and elephant tusks imported from Mozambique.

Ivory products are popular in the Southeast Asian country. A kilogram of elephant tusk sells for at least $2,100 (1,822 euros) on the black market - around double the country's annual per capita GDP.

Vietnamese activists have long campaigned to convince people not to buy ivory products, but they haven't had much success.

Trading in ivory has been a crime since 1989 following the hunt of scores of elephants in Africa. Their population had dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to just 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

shs/msh (AFP, dpa)

Related Article:

Thailand destroys ivory stockpile amid junta crackdown

"More than just a symbolic act." Thailand destroys ivory stockpile amid junta crackdown http://t.co/IbZQdZjPHm pic.twitter.com/4HtdLSUQPx

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) 26 augustus 2015

Hundreds arrested in global crackdown on wildlife contraband

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop, 18 June 2015

Workers put ivory items on a sliding belt before being destroyed in Beijing

on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)

The Hague (AFP) - A global crackdown on wildlife trafficking has netted "huge" amounts of whale bones, rhino horn, ivory and other contraband, leading to hundreds of arrests, European and Asian authorities announced Thursday.

Operation Cobra III saw police in 62 countries swoop on suspected wildlife smugglers between mid-March and May, European police agency Europol said in a statement.

The operation, which was "the biggest ever coordinated international law enforcement operation targeting the illegal trade in endangered species" yielded "huge amounts of wildlife contraband," said Europol, which is based in The Hague.

Carved ivory is shown to the media

 before being destroyed in Beijing on 

May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)

The Association of Southeastern Asian Nations' Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), which helped organise the operation, reported "over 600 seizures of assorted wildlife contraband" and at least 300 arrests.

The suspects included eight alleged smuggling kingpins, including a Chinese national involved in Namibia's biggest rhino horn smuggling case and a notorious elephant poacher in India, ASEAN-WEN said.

In Europe alone, police recovered 11,439 dead and live specimens, including 20 kilos (44 pounds) of live leeches in Bulgaria and 10,000 dead seahorses and 400 tortoises in Britain, Europol said.

Seahorses in particular are prized as aquarium animals, ornaments or used in traditional medicine.

Around 20 million seahorses are estimated to be traded every year for traditional Chinese medicine, according to Endangered Species International.

In Spain, police seized 90 kilos of coral and animal horns and heads and a further 25 kilogrammes of coral were netted in Bulgaria.

In India, nearly 11,000 kilos of suspected tigers' bones were found.

Chinese and German police meanwhile confiscated around 800 cactus plants, while 50 kilogrammes of unworked ivory were found in France and 16 whale ribs were discovered in the Netherlands.

Eight suspected kingpins were arrested

 in the operation, including a Chinese 

national involved in Namibia's biggest

 rhino horn smuggling case (AFP

Photo/Tony Karumba)

Massive ivory haul

In Thailand, police in April netted more than four tonnes of ivory hidden in containers originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and destined for Laos.

Thai police again seized more than three tonnes of ivory a week later in a second haul, this time from Kenya and again destined for Laos.

The 511 pieces of ivory was found in a container "marked as tea leaves transported from Mombasa, Kenya," Thai customs officials said.

The shipping of ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the tusks are worth millions of dollars (euros) on the black market.

Elephants and rhinos are mainly poached in Africa and India and their tusks and horn sent to South East Asia.

While tusks are used in a "long tradition of ivory carving", powdered rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine.

"Sales generate significant profits for the organised crime groups involved," Europol said.

"Investigations continue in many countries," it added.

Thai customs officers carry confiscated elephant tusks during a press conference at

the Customs Bureau in Bangkok on April 27, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Europol, which supported the operation, said COBRA III was organised by ASEAN-WEN and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, consisting of seven African countries.

"The trafficking of endangered species remains a problem in the EU and beyond," Europol's director Rob Wainwright said.

"Operation COBRA III once again shows the true global dimension of these crimes," he added.

"We will continue our efforts to fight these cruel crimes, to ensure a safe environment for endangered species in Europe and all over the world."

China executes tycoon who bid for Australian miner

Yahoo – AFP, 9 Feb 2015

Liu Han, a Chinese mining billionaire said to have links with disgraced former
 security tsar Zhou Yongkang, has been executed for "organising and leading a
mafia-style group", murder and other crimes (AFP Photo/Str)

A Chinese mining billionaire said to have links with disgraced former security tsar Zhou Yongkang and who once launched a bid for Australia's Sundance Resources was executed for multiple murder on Monday, a court said.

Liu Han, his younger brother Liu Wei and three accomplices were condemned to death in May for "organising and leading a mafia-style group", murder and other crimes.

Their appeals were unsuccessful and all five were put to death on Monday, the Xianning Intermediate court in the central province of Hubei said on its verified account on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

The five met with their "close relatives" before the execution, the court said in a separate posting.

"The executed criminals' legal rights were fully protected," it added.

Liu Han led private company Hanlong, which is based in the southwestern province of Sichuan and launched a takeover bid of more than $1 billion for Sundance, a listed Australian iron ore firm, in 2011.

But the deal collapsed in 2013 after the Chinese firm failed to follow through. Chinese media reports said at the time that Liu Han had been detained.

Sichuan is one of the power bases of Zhou, who once enjoyed vast power as China's security chief but whose targeting in a corruption investigation was announced in July.

The influential business magazine Caixin has reported that Liu Han once had dealings with a businessman believed to be Zhou's son. State media have also hinted that the gang had connections to central government officials.

Zhou was handed over to prosecutors in December.

The official announcement of the long-rumoured probe into Zhou made him the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four -- a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong -- were put on trial in 1980.

Lawmakers OK Extradition Treaties With Vietnam, Papua New Guinea

Jakarta Globe, Feb 03, 2015

A picture of Tran Thi Bich Hanh, a Vietnamese national who was recently executed
 in Indonesia, is held up by the chief warden of Semarang women’s prison, in this
Jan. 16, 2015, file photo. (Antara Photo/R. Rekotomo)

Jakarta. To help tackle corruption and organized crime, Indonesia is looking to sign extradition treaties with Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.

House of Representatives’ Commission I on Monday discussed a draft law on the matter with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said after the bill was passed by the commission that extradition treaties with Vietnam and Papua New Guinea would be important to support the legal process against those who have committed a crime, especially when linked to corruption, and have absconded from Indonesia.

“This draft is a way to reduce crime, in particular corruption and organized crime, with the help of other countries,” Commission I member Supriyadin said.

“Extradition treaties can also help improve Indonesia’s political and legal relations with other countries,” Supriyadin argued.

Indonesia has already signed a number of extradition treaties, including with Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, and Thailand.

Related Article:

Vietnamese Drug Convict Awaiting Execution Expresses One Final Wish

288 economic fugitives nabbed in China's Fox Hunt 2014

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-11-18

One of the suspects escorted by police in Beijing, Sept. 27. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese police have seized 288 suspects in an international manhunt beginning in July targeting corrupt officials and economic criminals that have fled the county, China's Ministry of Public Security said Monday.

Twenty-one of the suspects have been at large for more than 10 years, the ministry said.

A total of 84 suspects were seized from developed countries such as the US, Canada, Japan and Belgium.

Overall, 126 suspects turned themselves in. The ministry urged those still at large to turn themselves in as soon as possible in order to seek lighter punishment, giving a deadline of December 1 this year.

China is in the middle of an anti-corruption campaign targeting both high-ranking "tigers" and low-level "flies," the terms assigned to different officials depending on rank and level of corruption.

The Fox Hunt 2014 operation was launched in July to "block the last route of retreat" for corrupt officials after the country's crackdown narrowed the space for abuse of power.

China has also helped forge a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transnational anti-corruption cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region, which was adopted by APEC leaders earlier this month.

Related Article:

CPC graft inspections to target state-owned groups

Asean Makes Its Firm Stance Against Extremism Known

Jakarta Globe, Sep 29, 2014

The Islamic State has been actively recruiting members from all over the
world. (Antara Photo/Basri Marzuki)

Jakarta. The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, have expressed concerns over the rise of violence and brutality committed by terrorist organizations and radical groups in Iraq and Syria, noting that they not only pose a threat to the people of these two Middle-Eastern nations, but if left unchecked, to the rest of the world.

In a joint press release, the association denounced acts of destruction, violence and terror in all its forms and manifestations. It reiterated its commitments to the implementation of the Asean Convention on Counter Terrorism and the Asean Comprehensive Plan of Action on Counter Terrorism, both of which aim to prevent and suppress extremist activities by addressing its root causes, and disrupting terror networks’ financing channels.

Asean also announced its support of two resolutions drafted by the United Nations Security Council (Resolutions 2170 and 2178) which call on the international community to prevent their citizens from traveling to Syria, Iraq and other countries known to harbor terrorist insurgents.

The Islamic State (IS), for example, has been actively recruiting members from all over the world, including Indonesia, urging supporters to pick up arms under their twisted ideology.

Indonesia has estimated that some 200 citizens have joined IS’s jihadist fight in Syria. The government quickly moved to denounce the radical group and ban its existence in the archipelago.

In its press statement, Asean also announced it has renewed its commitment to work with the international community to fight against extremism, radicalism and terrorism and address its root causes, including through the promotion of the Global Movement for Moderates (GMM), to prevent further violence and brutality, in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.

“The Association of Southeast Asian Nations deems it is imperative for the international community to work together in unity in the fight against terrorism, extremism and radical groups, wherever they occur,” the association said in its press release.

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