The Moot Problem

5th Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot (2007)

The Moot Problem

1. Background Information

1.1; THE PARTIES:

Gondwana – the country in which the action takes place.

Laurasia – the neighbouring country that supplies weapons, advice and nuclear armed artillery shells to the Poaths.

Manchaca – the superpower that provides military advice, military advisors and military hardware to the Gondwanian army.

Blight - the town in the highlands in which most of the action takes place.

Molo – one of the two main tribes that occupy Gondwana. The Molos live on the lowlands. The Molos hold most senior government positions and make up most of the soldiers in the Gondwanian army. The Molos are secular.

Poath – the other main tribe in Gondwana. The Poaths live in the highlands. The Poaths are very religious but in recent times the Poaths have been dominated by fundamentalists who believe women are not as important as men and women should do exactly what they are told to do. These fundamentalists act as religious, political and military leaders.

Bexaton - an international oil exploration company with its head office located in Manchaca.

General Ready – Commander of the Gondwanian army.

Colonel Doddy – a military advisor from Manchaca.

Freida Sopono – representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Pastor Lee - the senior religious, political and military leader of the Poaths in the town of Blight.

Molo Brotherhood - a secretive Molo tribal sub-group that acts to exert Molo control over Poaths.

Miles Ado - leader of the Molo Brotherhood.

1.2; Teams should concentrate on the facts supplied. All characters, countries, companies, tribes and religions are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, countries, companies, tribes and religions, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Jurisdiction is not an issue. State responsibility may be an issue. Teams may be assisted by looking at matters before the International Criminal Tribunals of Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the International Criminal Court and its predecessors as well as decisions by national courts on ‘torture’. If teams are going to rely on decisions by national courts these decisions should be leading decisions and teams should expect to be asked for copies of the head note and the portion of the transcript or judgement referred to in argument. It would be advisable to have copies available for all judges in the moot in which the team is competing.

1.3; Teams acting for the Prosecution will be known as the Applicant. Teams acting for the Accused, General Ready will be known as the Respondent.

1.4; Following the end of World War Two the Colony of Gondwana was given its independence by its colonial power which then departed having set up a fledging democracy. Gondwana was occupied by peoples who looked alike, but over time had split into two main tribes. These were the Poath who occupied the highlands and the Molo who occupied the plains.

1.5; The key difference between the two tribes was religion. The Molo were largely secular believing religion was an individual personal matter and everybody should be treated equally. The Poath were very religious believing there were two gods, the god of light and the god of dark, which co-existed to ensure the universe was balanced. Everybody had a duty to comply with the laws of Poath as interpreted and enforced by the religious leaders who were also part of the government. Since independence fundamentalist Paoths had taken control of key religious posts. While the Poath religion highlighted the superior physical strength of men over women the Poath fundamentalists interpreted this to mean that women should be totally submissive. Women occupied no positions of power or responsibility and were required to wear loose fitting pants suits, a floppy hat and only talk to males to answer questions asked of them by males.

1.6; Prior to independence the differences between the tribes were of little importance because the colonial power that ran the country demanded obedience to the colonial laws that had no role for religion. At the time of independence there was considerable mixing of the tribal groups. After independence all Molos soon left the highlands because of the growing influence of Poath religious police. Many Poaths moved to the highlands.

1.7; In 1975, Bexaton, an international oil exploration company with its head office located in Bigtown, the capital of the state of Manchaca, a superpower with a big thirst for oil, discovered large oil reserves in Gondwana. By 1980 the economy of Gondwana was booming but most of the development and wealth was concentrated on the lowlands. A ruling elite amongst the Molos entrenched themselves in power with the help of Bexaton and Manchaca. Using its oil wealth and advice from Manchaca, Gondwana had by 1989 modernized its army, but most of the soldiers came from Molo tribe. The army commander was General Ready. General Ready was a Molo. At the same time there was increasing violence between the two tribes. The violence came from the unequal distribution of oil generated wealth. Problems also occurred because of the increasing number of young women who were leaving the highlands for the freer life on the lowlands.

1.8; The violence eventually died down because a clandestine force had infiltrated the highlands killing Poaths involved in positions of power, influence or violence. This force was called the Molo Brotherhood. Reports trickled out of the highlands that one of the reasons the Molo Brotherhood were so successful was that when they killed a Poath leader, they also killed his immediate family. Some of these reports of the killings were reported in the Gondwanian media.

1.9; In 1985 large reserves of uranium were discovered in the highlands. The Poath negotiated key clauses in development contracts. These clauses included preferential hiring of Poath men and positions for Poath religious leaders in management positions. Senior Poath men were often seen in Laurasia. An increasing number of foreign men, believed to be Laurasian military men, were seen in the Gondwanian highlands. Laurasia was a religious state dominated by fundamentalists who enforced the Poath religion. The people of Laurasia traced their origins back to the same source as the Poaths in the Gondwanian highlands.

1.10; By 1989, it became obvious that significant changes had taken place in the highlands. To start with, all non-Poath police had either left the highlands or gone missing. Male Poaths had taken to carrying small arms, mostly pistols and light caliber rifles. Vehicles entering the highlands were being stopped and searched by Poath religious police supported by armed civilians. The occupants of the vehicles were told the search was for pornographic materials but women in these vehicles were especially targeted if their clothing or demeanor did not meet the expectations of the religious police. Many women were detained for several days and all left the highlands immediately upon release. When the Molo Brotherhood re-entered the highlands many were killed because most Poaths were now armed. Political leaders on the lowlands tried to negotiate with the Poaths but soon realized the Poaths had been armed by Laurasia, a country dominated by the Poath religion. Laurasia was also believed to be fast-tracking the development of nuclear weapons using uranium missing from mines in the highlands.

1.11; Manchaca had, on several occasions, expressed concern to senior Laurasian and Gondwanian politicians about the increasing interference of Laurasia in the affairs of Gondwana. On 13 January 2002 a large, conventional bomb (non-nuclear) went off in Bigtown, the capital city of Manchaca, a superpower. Investigations traced bomb components back to Laurasia and the bombers back to the town of Blight in the highlands of Gondwana.

1.12; Manchaca considered the bomb explosion an act of war and on 20 January 2002:

(a) Told Gondwana that it had better take control of the Highlands in Gondwana,

(b) Told Gondwana that it would send military advisors to help the Gondwanian army and to identify terrorists hiding in the Highlands of Gondwana, and;

1.13; Manchaca told Gondwana that Manchaca proposed to invade Laurasia after the monsoon rains if Laurasia did not apologise for its involvement in the bombing in Bigtown.

2. The Case

2.1; On 10 February 2002 a war started between the Molos and the Poaths when the Gondwanian Government sent the Gondwanian army, full of Molos, into the highlands. The Gondwanian army was instructed to:

(a) subdue the Poaths,

(b) eject any Laurasian military personnel,

(d) capture any terrorists involved in the Bigtown bombing.

2.2; General Ready was in charge of the Gondwanian army and under his control the army:

(a) entered the highlands,

(b) took over several towns and villages,

(d) were, by 16 February 2002, forced to stop because of Poath armed resistance.

(e) at the time the Gonwanian army stopped, it had taken over half the town of Blight and was waiting for reinforcements to arrive before it preceded further.

2.3; The town of Blight had a population of some 20,000 and was divided by the river El. The Gondwanian army occupied the western bank while local Poath forces controlled the eastern side. These local forces had become an armed force. Both sides exchanged small arms fire with occasional artillery fire from the Gondwanian army. A civil war had started.

2.4; The Poath armed forces were comprised of local armed civilian fighters, some armed foreigners and armed guerillas. A majority of the Poath armed forces were guerillas. The guerillas could be identified because they wore a multi-coloured scarf. These guerillas had been blessed by religious leaders and their multi-coloured scarf had been blessed and personally handed to them by Pastor Lee, the religious, political and military leader of the Poath armed forces. The Poath guerilla fighters considered the scarf a religious object.

2.5; General Ready sent patrols across the river to gauge the buildup and extent of Poath forces. These patrols were always supported by artillery fire if they were attacked by Poath forces. General Ready also found his supply lines and forces in and around Blight were being attacked by small numbers of Poath guerilla fighters, who had infiltrated behind his lines. Local Poaths supported these guerrilla fighters, offering them accommodation, food and information.

2.6; When the army entered the highlands on 16 February 2002 it was accompanied by military advisors from Manchaca. These Manchacian advisors were experienced professional soldiers who went with General Ready’s headquarters to work with senior Gondwanian army officers providing advice on military tactics and recommending courses of action. These military advisors also had intelligence reports that said that some of the people involved in the bomb explosion in Bigtown, on 13 January 2002, lived in and around the town of Blight.

2.7; In the town of Blight on 20 February 2002 the following conversation took place between the senior Manchaca military advisor, Colonel Doddy and General Ready the commander of the Gondwanian army:

Colonel Doddy: “General, you should round up all men between the ages of 15 and 65 and transfer them to a camp on the lowlands for questioning. We will sort out the terrorists from the rest. This will have several benefits; it will allow interrogation that will reveal intelligence on both the Poath military status and on the terrorist bombing. There would also be a reduction in guerilla activity”.

General Ready: “I doubt if you will get much effective intelligence, the Poaths are religious fanatics and very tough. I’ll see if some of the Molo Brotherhood will help you. They know what hurts the Poath. I expect some to arrive soon; they have offered to help the army. In the meantime I would like your men to check whether our defences along the river front are satisfactory”.

Colonel Doddy: “I will send some of my men down there straight away”.

A detachment of Molo Brotherhood arrived on the 22 February 2002. Their leader,

Miles Ado said to General Ready and Colonel Doddy:

“We are going to sneak across the river and have a look around on the other side. We will give those fanatics a scare like we normally do”.

2.8; Between 20 February and 25 February 2002 some 3,200 men from Blight and surrounding areas were rounded up by the Gondwanian army and marched some 50 kilometres to a camp in an open field on the lowlands surrounded by barbed wire with open sided tents for cover. Initial observations and questioning revealed fifteen (15) men of interest.

2.9; Five (5) of these fifteen (15) men of interest who had been rounded up did not seem to be citizens of Gondwana. They did not have identity papers, did not wear or have on them Poath scarfs and all failed to convince interrogators that they were citizens of Gondwana. They were all unable to answer questions based on local knowledge.

2.10; A further five (5) of these fifteen (15) men of interest who had been rounded up were suspected of being involved in the terrorist bombing in Bigtown, Manchaca. They were identified by photos taken from surveillance cameras in Manchaca around the time of the bombing.

2.11; The last five (5) men of these fifteen (15) men of interest who had been rounded up were identified as Poath guerilla fighters. They were identified because they had on their possession the multi-coloured scarf blessed by Pastor Lee.

2.12; On 28 February 2002, these fifteen (15) men of interest were moved to a nearby factory on the lowlands for further interrogation. After talking to members of the Molo Brotherhood Colonel Doddy’s advisors, from 1 to 6 March 2002, interrogated the fifteen (15) men with:

(a) sleep deprivation,

(b) very loud painful noise; and,

(c) restricting breathing using pieces of cloth which were forced in and over airways. The Poath guerillas had their breathing restricted by their own Poath scarfs after the interrogators urinated on the scarfs in front of the Poath men.

2.13; The interrogation of the five (5) Poath guerillas revealed:

(a) the Poaths had 30 small tactical nuclear armed artillery shells,

(b) these shells could be fired from cannons,

(c ) the cannons were being sent by Laurasia,

(d) the shells were already hidden in a small factory on the Poath side of the river in Blight,

(e) these cannons to fire these shells were due to arrive on the Poath side of Blight on or about 10 March 2002,

(f) the Poath armed forces were going to use some of these nuclear armed artillery shells to destroy General Ready’s army; and,

(g) the rest of the nuclear armed artillery shells were going to subdue the rest of Gondwana and set up a Poath religious state.

2.14; On 6 March 2002 Colonel Doddy told General Ready about the information his interrogators had got from the five (5) Poath guerilla fighters. Colonel Doddy also said to General Ready:

“We will look after those 15 men. We are thinking of taking them back to our special, isolated, desert prison. They are terrorists; they don’t deserve to be free. I think we will get more information from them. Don’t worry; we will keep them out of circulation for years and that will send a clear message to anybody who messes with Manchaca. We will eventually find some way to bring them to trial but it will take a very long time”.

General Ready replied:

“I am very busy at the moment, I have to capture or destroy those nuclear armed artillery shells”.

2.15; Colonel Doddy took the fifteen (15) men of interest back to Manchaca’s desert prison without asking General Ready.

2.16; On 7 March 2002 General Ready told the Molo Brotherhood about the nuclear armed artillery shells and his plan to capture or destroy them before they could be used against the Gondwanian army. The leader of the Molo Brotherhood, Miles Ado said to General Ready:

“We will help you as we can hide better than regular army forces”.

General Ready:

“No dirty work, just destroy or capture those nuclear weapons, we will launch a diversionary attack 2 kilometers away and send a detachment of troops to the factory. We also have a few tricks up our sleeve to get close to the factory”.

2.17; On 5 March 2002 a humanitarian convoy of Red Cross vehicles, made up of medical personnel and equipment, had entered Blight and was seeking approval to cross the river to provide humanitarian aid to injured Poaths. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent had been told that all the medical centres and the Blight hospitals were on the Western side of the river occupied by the Gondawanian army. The doctor who had been treating injured persons on the Poath side of the river was old, exhausted and needed help and medical supplies.

2.18; The leader of the humanitarian convoy was Freida Sopono. Frieda was a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The Red Cross/Red Crescent workers accompanying Frieda Sopono were citizens of either Gondwana or Laurasia.

2.19; On 8 March 2002, General Ready gave permission for the humanitarian convoy of Red Cross vehicles to cross the river El onto the Poath side of Blight. It was a condition of General Ready’s approval that each vehicle be checked as it was to be driven out of his army compound on the Western side of Blight. Unbeknown to the Red Cross/Red Crescent ten of General Ready’s soldiers hid in the back of the last truck. The convoy crossed the river at the main bridge that spanned the river.

2.20; After the Red Cross/Red Crescent convoy had crossed the river General Ready’s forces attacked the bridge. The troops in the back of the Red Cross truck leapt from the back of the truck and attacked the bridge defenders from behind killing the bridge defenders and capturing the bridge. Detachments of the Gondwanian army moved quickly across the river and fought their way towards the factory in which they had been told the nuclear armed artillery shells were being hidden. The factory was some 5 kilometres from the river. At the same time a detachment of the Gondwanian army attached the Poath armed forces some 2 kilometres up the river.

2.21; At the same time fighting started around the bridge over the river the Molo Brotherhood, who had infiltrated the Poath side of Blight attacked the factory. The attack lasted several hours and then the Molo Brotherhood withdrew.

2.22; Shortly after the Molo Brotherhood had withdrawn the Gondwanian army arrived at the factory to find it destroyed and many dead Poath guerillas and Poath civilians, including women and children.

2.23; Miles Ado reported to General Ready:

“We destroyed the factory as best we could; we found documentation for the tactical use of small, nuclear artillery shells and 25 nuclear artillery shells. We blew them up. I think they got some of the shells away because a truck had just left and we could not get to it before it got away. The fighting was fierce but we fixed those religious fanatics”.

The Molo Brotherhood killed some 50 Poath fighters along with 75 women and children. The women and children were killed because they were in buildings in or next to the factory or in building along the route the Molo Brotherhood took to withdraw.

2.24; On 10 March 2002 a foreign news reporter on the Poath side of Blight reported the attack to the international media. Part of the media report highlighted the large numbers of civilian casualties. General Ready spoke to Miles Ado about the media report.

General Ready:

“Are the number of reported dead women and children true?”

Miles Ado:

“No, some women and children may have been killed in crossfire, the Poaths are religious fanatics, they fire at anything that moves, typical Poath propaganda”.

2.25; At the same time on 10 March 2002 that Miles Ado and General Ready were talking, Freida Sopono of the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent turned up at General Ready’s headquarters and spoke to both men.

Freida Sopono:

“How dare you behave like that? And all that killing? What are you going to do now General? Wait till I report to my headquarters”.

General Ready”

“But, they had nuclear weapons!”

Miles Ado:

“General, don’t worry I will look after this woman and her people”.

General Ready:

“No, just detain her and her contingent for their own protection till I control all of Blight and then it won’t matter what anybody says. My reinforcements will arrive in two days. Make sure you take all their mobile phones and do not let them communicate with anybody till this is over”.

2.26; Miles Ado and the Molo Brotherhood detained the Red Cross contingent on the top floor of a nearby two storey building. The Molo Brotherhood occupied the ground floor of this building.

Freida Sopono said to Miles Ado:

“My people are scared. Your treatment of us is outrageous. We want to hang the emblem of the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent from the windows so everybody knows who we are”.

Miles Ado:

“Good idea; but remember, we are in charge, we will look after you, there are 30 of us and we are heavily armed so do as you are told and do not let anybody sneak away”.

The emblem was hung from several windows. The emblem was surrounded on each occasion by the words ‘International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent’.

2.27; Early on the morning of 11 March 2002 the Poath armed forces, enraged by the destruction of most of their nuclear armed artillery shells and the killing of large numbers of women and children, launched a raid on the Gondwanian army occupying Blight. Guerilla fighters hidden in buildings on the Poath side of the river opened fire across the river on Gondwanian army units on the Gondwanian side of Blight. Other Poath guerrillas who had crossed the river during the night attacked Gondwanian army units in the town. The fighting was fierce. A detachment of Poath guerillas approached the building in which the Red Cross/Red Crescent people were being held by the Molo Brotherhood. Seeing the emblem of the Red Cross/Red Crescent hanging from the second storey windows the advancing Poath guerillas did not pay much attention to the building till the Molo Brotherhood opened fire on them from the ground floor killing several Poath guerillas. In the resulting firefight four (4) Red Cross workers were killed and many injured by gunfire. Eventually, the Molo Brotherhood withdrew from the building. Several more Red Cross/Red Crescent workers were injured before the Poaths realized they were unarmed.

2.28; At about 11am on 11 March 2002 General Ready realized the Poath forces had a chance of seizing all of the town of Blight. General Ready ordered his artillery located on the hills behind Blight to open fire on the Poath side of Blight in an attempt to disrupt the Poath attack. General Ready said to his artillery commander:

“They can not reach your artillery in the hills; you are safe if they do not take over all of Blight. But we are in great danger of being overrun; we need to drive those (Poath guerillas) out of town. Start firing at the buildings closest to the river on the Poath side of the river. This will stop the snipers. When you have destroyed all of those building facing the river work your way backwards from the river and keep firing till we force the Poath guerillas out of our side of Blight. That will stop the attacks from the river and give us a chance to force them out of Blight”.

The Gondwanian artillery started firing into the Poath side of Blight. After a while the sniper fire stopped. The artillery continued to fire shells into the Poath side of Blight. Many buildings were destroyed.

2.29; After several hours, word reached Blight that the Gondwanian army reinforcements were approaching. The Poath guerillas retreated from the Gondwanian controlled part of Blight. Shortly afterwards General Ready ordered the artillery to stop firing.

2.30; On the night of 11 March 2002 the monsoon rains came early, the river El flooded large parts of Blight and most military action ceased.

2.31; On 15 March 2002 the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent appealed to the parties to hold a cease-fire to allow the passage of humanitarian relief, evacuation of the wounded and exchange of prisoners. The parties eventually agreed to a cease-fire and on 24 March 2002, after further negotiation between the parties and the United Nations representatives, an agreement was signed between the Molos and the Poaths resulting in:

(a) the Gondwanian army retreating from the highlands,

(b) the Poaths handing over remaining nuclear artillery shells to the United Nations,

(d) the return of all prisoners.

2.32; On 16 March 2002 it was reported in the media that some 350 civilians had been killed and many more injured in the artillery bombardment ordered by General Ready at 11am on 11 March 2002.

2.33; General Ready returned all prisoners except the fifteen (15) men taken back to Manchaca by Colonial Doddy. About those men General Ready said:

“They were terrorists, we have not got them and we do not know where they are”.

The Case: The End of the Conflict

2.34; On 1 April 2002 Laurasia apologized to Manchaca. Manchaca did not invade Laurasia.

2.35; In Gondwana, a new political party comprising moderate Molos and Poaths opposed to war and relations with Manchaca took power. One of their first acts was to set up a special court to try those persons who were believed to have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. This court was set up with funding and assistance from the United Nations. Part of this assistance included the provision of experienced judges to assist the court.

2.36; General Ready was arrested and handed over to the court.

3. The Special Court

The following articles of the Statute of the Special Court for Gondwana may or may not be relevant.

Article 1

Competence of the Special Court

The Special Court shall have the power to prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Gondwana from 1 January 1980 to date.

Article 2

Crimes Against Humanity

The Special Court shall have the power to prosecute any persons who committed the following crimes as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population:

a. murder

b. extermination

c. enslavement

d. deportation

e. imprisonment

f. torture

g. rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy and any other form of sexual violence

h. persecution on political, racial, ethnic or religious grounds

i. other inhuman acts.

Article 3

Violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions

And of Additional Protocol II

The Special Court shall have the power to prosecute person who committed or ordered the commission of serious violations of article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the Protection of War Victims, and of Additional Protocol II thereof of 8 June 1977. These violations shall include:

a. violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment

b. collective punishments

c. taking of hostages

d. acts of terrorism

e. outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution, and any form of indecent assault

f. pillage

g. the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples

h. threats to commit any of the foregoing acts.

Article 4

Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law

The Special Court shall have the power to prosecute persons who committed the following serious violations of international humanitarian law:

a. intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not directly taking part in hostilities

b. intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict

c. failing to protect personnel involved in humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping missions,

d. improper use of the equipment, vehicles or symbols of humanitarian or peacekeeping missions.

e. conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities.

Article 5

Individual Criminal Responsibility

a. A person who planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of a crime referred to in articles 2 to 4 of the present Statute shall be individually responsible for the crime.

b. The official position of any accused persons, whether as Head of State or Government or as a responsible government official, shall not relieve such person of criminal responsibility and shall not mitigate punishment.

c. The fact that any of the acts referred to in articles 2 to 4 of the present Statute was committed by a subordinate does not relieve his or her superior of criminal responsibility if the superior knew or had reason to know that the subordinate was about to commit such acts or had done so and the superior had failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or punish the perpetrators thereof.

d. The fact that an accused person acted pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior shall not relieve him or her of criminal responsibility, but may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Special Court determines that justice so requires.

Article 6

Jurisdiction over juveniles

a. The Special Court shall have no jurisdiction over any person who was under the age of 15 at the time of the alleged commission of the crime. Should any person who was at the time of the alleged commission of the crime between 15 and 18 years of age come before the Court, he or she shall be treated with dignity and a sense of worth, taking into account his or her young age and the desirability of promoting his or her rehabilitation, reintegration into and assumption of a constructive role in society, and in accordance with international human rights standards, in particular the rights of the child.

b. In the disposition of a case against a juvenile offender, the Special Court shall order any of the following: care guidance and supervision orders, community service orders, counseling, foster care, correctional, educational and vocational training programmes, approved schools and, as appropriate, any programmes of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration or programmes of child protection agencies.

Article 7

The amnesty signed between the Molos and the Poaths shall have the status of international law.

Article 8

The Composition of the Court

The trial chamber of the Court shall be constituted by two Gondwanian judges and one foreign judge experienced in International Humanitarian Law.

Article 9

Procedure

The Special Court may make its own Rules of Procedure. In the absence of any Rules, or in interpreting the Rules, the Court shall be guided by the Rules of Procedure of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

4. International Conventions

During the whole of the period 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2006, Gondwana was at all relevant times a party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the two additional Protocols of 1977.

5. The Indictment

5.1; In January 2005, General Ready was charged with violations of the Tribunal’s Special Statute.

First Indictment:

Under articles 2(f) and 3(a) and (e) of the Special Statute, superior criminal responsibility for the torture of prisoners seized from Blight and surrounding areas by the Gondwanian army between 20 February and 25 February 2002.

Second Indictment:

Under articles 4(a) and 5(a) of the Special Statute superior responsibility for the killing of civilians by the Molo Brotherhood between 1 January 1980 and15 March 2002 in the highlands of Gondwana and in the town of Bright.

Third Indictment:

Under article 4(a) of the Special Statute for individual criminal responsibility for intentionally directing artillery attacks against the civilian population in the town of Blight on 11 March 2002.

Fourth Indictment:

Under articles 4(c) and (d) of the Special Statute and Article 12 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Protocol II), superior and individual criminal responsibility for improper use of the emblem of the Red Cross/Red Crescent in Blight between 3 March and 15 March 2002.