Briefly Noted
Compiled by Chris Stephen in The Hague (TU 329, 17 October 2003)
Briefly Noted
Compiled by Chris Stephen in The Hague (TU 329, 17 October 2003)
Congratulations to French journalists Isabelle Wesselingh and Arnaud Vaulerin for their ground-breaking book, La Memoire á Vif (Living Memory), an in-depth look at the ethnic cleansing of Prijedor in the Bosnian war.
The book required several years of meticulous work to track down survivors and detail the massacres. It also reviews attempts by survivors to return home.
Living Memory is a solid piece of research for which future generations will be grateful. It is also a reminder that journalism, so often guilty of many sins, can sometimes be noble.
AFRICAN LAW GROUP PRESSES FOR TAYLOR ARREST
The African Bar Association is to be commended for shining light on Nigeria's decision to give sanctuary to the former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
Taylor, indicted by the Sierra Leone war crimes court, was allowed to slip out of Liberia into exile in August.
But the association is to petition the Nigerian Federal High Court to order the former president's arrest, arguing that nobody should be above the law.
GUNS FOR SALE CLOSE TO TRIBUNAL
A Dutch arms sales fair opened on October 16. The venue location was unfortunate - right across the street from the Hague war crimes tribunal.
Arms manufacturers insist they only sell to reputable clients. Nevertheless, protestors outside the fair said that the cases which the court has had to deal with showed only too well the dangers of weapons proliferation.
Chris Stephen is IWPR's tribunal project manager.
