Israeli authorities round up South Sudanese for deportation

JERUSALEM -- Israeli immigration authorities on Monday arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on African migrants mainly targeting asylum seekers from South Sudan.

An estimated 1,500 refugees from South Sudan are among the large numbers of Africans who have entered Israel illegally through the Sinai peninsula in search of a haven. Israel extended protection to the migrants from the war-torn area for a time but ended the program after South Sudan became an independent nation last year.

The deportations had been delayed by court petitions filed on behalf of relief organizations and a government review of conditions in the young African nation. The Foreign Ministry eventually ruled that it was safe enough for the migrants to return home, despite United Nations concerns to the contrary.

A Jerusalem court, in turn, Thursday upheld Israel's plan to deport the refugees, saying the petitioners had not proved that deportees would face life-threatening danger. The Interior Ministry said at the time that the migrants would be able to request interviews to determine individual eligibility for asylum and would be given a week to get organized and register for departure grants of about $1,240.

Liberia's Charles Taylor guilty of aiding, abetting war crimes

LONDON -- In a landmark case, former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity through his arming of ruthless rebel groups in neighboring Sierra Leone in exchange for so-called blood diamonds.

An international war crimes tribunal announced Thursday that it had found Taylor guilty of "sustained and significant" support for the rebels who engaged in a long campaign of terror, murder, rape, sexual slavery and enlistment of child soldiers. However, he was found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of ordering those abuses himself.

Still, it was a milestone verdict in a case that has been seen as an important test of the international justice system. Taylor, 64, is the first former head of state to have a judgment brought against him by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

The verdict followed a year of deliberations by the judges of the Special Court of Sierra Leone just outside The Hague. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 16; Taylor could be imprisoned for life.

His trial lasted five years, during which the court heard a catalog of horrific acts committed by rebels whom Taylor helped arm in Sierra Leone’s civil war. The war ended in 2002 after more than a decade of fighting and more than 50,000 deaths. The rebels backed by Taylor became particularly known for hacking off the limbs of their perceived enemies and carving words onto their bodies.

They also recruited children to fight and terrorized the civilian population through rape, looting and burning down homes. Crucial to their campaign were the weapons they bought from Taylor and paid for with what came to be known as “conflict" or "blood" diamonds, because of their role in fueling conflict in Africa.

At one point during the trial, supermodel Naomi Campbell testified to receiving diamonds from Taylor at a banquet hosted by South African President Nelson Mandela. Actress Mia Farrow also testified regarding that incident.

Taylor, a warlord-turned-elected president, was indicted in 2003, arrested in 2006 and eventually flown to The Hague for trial. Conducting the proceedings in Sierra Leone itself was deemed potentially too destabilizing for West Africa.

Taylor pleaded innocent to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He testified for seven months in his own defense, portraying himself as a statesman, peacemaker and victim of a witch hunt by “vindictive” former colonial powers intent on keeping him out of power. His lawyers acknowledged that terrible abuses took place during Sierra Leone’s civil war but argued that he was not responsible for them.

The prosecution disagreed, describing him as the “godfather” of the rebels. Prosecutors called 94 witnesses and backed up its case with nearly 800 exhibits admitted into evidence. Taylor’s defense team called 21 witnesses.

Another former African leader, Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, is now awaiting trial at The Hague.

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Photo: A journalist records the speech by former Liberian President Charles Taylor (on screen) during his trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, based in Leidschendam outside The Hague. Credit: Peter Dejong / AFP Photo, Pool

Asylum claims hit record high from Syria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast

More people clamored for asylum from countries in Arab Spring tumult, part of the global trends that pushed a 20% jump in applications to industrialized nations last year. The increase was observed by the United Nations refugee agency, which released a new report Tuesday on the 2011 trends.

The report analyzes the asylum claims received by 44 industrialized countries across Europe, North America, Australasia and northeast Asia. Those claims do not reflect the entire scope of people fleeing conflict and deprivation, as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees noted Tuesday.

"The number of asylum claims received across all industrialized countries is still smaller than the population of Dadaab, a single refugee camp in northeast Kenya," commissioner Antonio Guterres said.

Afghanistan had the most people seeking asylum, followed by China, Iraq, Serbia and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, asylum claims jumped by more than a third as uncertainty and violence continued to plague the Central Asian country, rebounding to their highest point since 2001.

Israel seeks to return refugees to South Sudan

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM--Israel doesn't need celebrity activists to call its attention to troubles in Africa. After years of being on the receiving end of a steady stream of work migrants and asylum seekers, the country knows this first-hand.

Civil war, tribal troubles and economic hardship in African countries have sent tens of thousands on the dangerous journey across the desert to try their luck in Israel, which they have entered through the country's sprawling, largely open border with Egypt.

In 2006, there were 300 asylum seekers from Sudan in Israel. By April 2011, Israel was the reluctant home to 35,000 asylum seekers, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, as well as a few thousand from the Ivory Coast and Congo. People hailing from Sudan and Eritrea received group protection from Israeli authorities, a status requiring renewal every few months.

A few years ago, Israel's Interior Ministry took over the Refugee Status Determination process (RSD) from the United Nation's refugee agency, UNHCR. Despite the review of thousands of cases, relatively few have been granted refugee status by Israel.

The asylum seekers are part of a larger issue for Israel. Between caretakers, nursing aides, construction workers and farm hands outstaying their work permits by years and settling in Israel, and the influx of African migrants infiltrating its southern border, the country has an uninvited foreign community estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Israel's immigration policy is tangled up with religion, demographics and politics and years of Band-Aid solutions, resulting in a situation many in Israel consider a threat to security, society and economy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is expediting work on a fence along its border with Egypt, taking legal measures against employers and others assisting illegal immigrants and is constructing a large holding facility for infiltrators who enter illegally but cannot be sent back to strife-torn countries. Most Israelis agree on the need for a secure border, with the consensus growing since last year's revolution in Egypt. Other measures are widely criticized by rights organizations.

Israel was swift to recognize the new state of South Sudan in July 2011. Following the formation of the state, Israel ended collective protection for those from South Sudan and wants asylum seekers to leave the country. The window for voluntary departure and a $1,300 incentive closes March 31; those still in Israel would be deported after that.  

Another group of about 2,000 people from the Ivory Coast may also face deportation after the sweeping protection ended last month.

Currently, the Israeli foreign ministry maintains South Sudan is safe to return to and, according to rights organizations, Israel intends to deport 700 people, among them 400 children. The United Nations has expressed grave concern over the current situation in South Sudan, still plagued by violence and hunger. 

Orit Marom, of Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, warn South Sudan is far from safe. A recent report by the research and information department of Israel's parliament also concluded South Sudan remains acutely dangerous and in fierce humanitarian crisis "yet the government of Israel thinks this is the right time to send them back," Marom told Israel radio.

According to Marom, most arrived in Israel between 2006 and 2008 and formed a community with families. Many had been on the road for years, some leaving as long as 20 years ago. The younger ones have never been in Sudan, she says.

Rights organizations are lobbying for a stay, high schoolers are rallying to keep their classmates, citizens have demonstrated in Tel Aviv and 400 prominent public figures have signed a letter to Netanyahu asking how a state in which most residents were once refugees could turn its back on refugees.

At least on one occasion, Israel returned a consenting group of asylum seekers to Sudan, with the discreet aid of a third party. This was before South Sudan gained independence. 

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Photo: South Sudanese refugees protest Israel's deportation policy in Tel Aviv on March 17. Credit: Oliver Weiken / EPA

Court convicts former Congolese warlord of using child soldiers

REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- The International Criminal Court in the Hague on Wednesday found former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of using children as soldiers, the first verdict in the panel's 10-year history. He could face life imprisonment.

After a three-year trial, the court convicted Lubanga of recruiting boys and girls as soldiers during a civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and 2003.

The verdict was seen as a major breakthrough in forcing warlords and politicians to be accountable for atrocities and crimes against humanity, sending a message that international justice eventually would catch up with them.

Three victims gave evidence during the trial, while others participated indirectly, such as by making submissions to the court. The evidence said girls forcibly recruited by Lubanga were used as sex slaves, while videos aired in court showed Lubanga surrounded by child combatants.

Former Ivory Coast leader faces charges of crimes against humanity

REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo arrived at the International Criminal Court in the Hague on Wednesday to face four charges of crimes against humanity committed by supporters following elections last year.

The charges relate to the violence that broke out after Gbagbo refused to cede power to his rival, Alassane Ouattara. At the time, pro-Ggagbo militias set up roadblocks in the capital Abidjan, burning people alive or beating them to death. Many of the atrocities were videotaped on cellphones.

Mass killings also occurred in the west of the country, some of which were committed by pro-Ouattara forces, according to rights organizations.

A statement by the court said Gbagbo was allegedly responsible, "as indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts, allegedly committed in the territory of Côte d’Ivoire between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011."