Sian

Ceasefire holds their first fundraising concert in Islington on 4 November with Ukrainian concert pianist Sasha Grynyuk  

Ceasefire are set to host their first fundraising concert in support of their work to empower civilians caught in conflict zones, including Ukraine, and the Middle East and North Africa.

The concert will be held on Friday 4 November 7.30pm in the beautiful venue of St James Church in Islington, London. Internationally acclaimed Ukrainian concert pianist, Sasha Grynyuk, and the Morello Quartet, are set to perform a uniquely themed programme centering around several composers of significance in relation to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Find out the full programme here.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sasha Grynyuk has been described by legendary Charles Rosen as “an impressive artist with remarkable, unfailing musicality always moving with the most natural, electrifying, and satisfying interpretations”. Winner of over ten International competitions, prizes and awards, Sasha was chosen as a ‘Rising Star’ for BBC Music Magazine and International Piano Magazine, as well as First Prizes in the Grieg International Piano Competition and the BNDES International Piano Competition.

He has performed around the world in many major venues including Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), Wiener Konzerthaus, Weil Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall, New York), Teatro Real (Rio de Janeiro) and Salle Cortot (Paris). He has performed with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Brasiliera and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. You can visit Sasha’s website here.

The Morello Quartet was formed by four good friends and graduates of The Royal Academy of Music in 2019 – Anna Caban (violin), Ana Popescu-Deutsch (violin), Kesari Pundarika (viola), and Anil Umer (cello). Their inaugural concert was part of St. James’ Concert series in Paddington in March the following year. Since then, they’ve performed as part of ‘Enescu and Friends’ concert series at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, at the Shipwright Festival in Deptford, the Artisti con Brio series at the Candid Arts Trust and in many places around the UK. Recent engagements include a cross-sensory concert at the Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall where a three-course meal themed on the programme was served alongside the performance. The group is passionate about performing varied and diverse programmes combining classical, folk-inspired, and contemporary music. Listen to the quartet on their website here.

Tickets are available on the door or online. Prices are £20 General Admission, £10 for Under 25s/Unemployed and Free for Under 15s. Group discounts of 5+ are also available by emailing the Ceasefire Fundraising Team on fundraising@ceasefire.org

There will also be a raffle with many fantastic prizes up for grabs, a short talk by a member of our charity, and plenty of wine and nibbles to enjoy for a small donation. Raffle prizes include a Luxury Food Hamper and £50 voucher from The Cheese Geeks.

To find out the full event details, and buy tickets click here.

Can‘t make the concert but still want to support us? Visit our JustGiving Fundraising Concert Page by clicking here

SianCeasefire holds their first fundraising concert in Islington on 4 November with Ukrainian concert pianist Sasha Grynyuk  
read more

Reparations for Ukraine: An international route map

June 2022

To bring justice to Ukraine’s civilians and enable them to rebuild their lives will require reparations. But while firm progress has been made on instituting war crimes investigations following the Russian invasion, international planning for the delivery of reparations has lagged behind, finds a major new report by Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights.

Reparations for Ukraine: An international route map considers the international legal authority for grounding reparations and what form they should take.  It then maps out the mechanisms that could be entrusted to take on the task of awarding and administering reparations on the scale required – and how Russia could be made to contribute.  In the light of international precedents and what has worked in other conflict and post-conflict situations, the report proposes a number of principles which should guide the process.

‘Civilians in Ukraine have suffered the full force of Russia’s invasion, but the experience of other conflicts shows us just how easily civilians can be forgotten by the international community when it comes to reconstruction and stabilization’, said Mark Lattimer, Ceasefire’s Executive Director. ‘Members of the EU, the G7 and the UN General Assembly have both the power and access to the resources to deliver reparations for civilians. What are they waiting for?’

Ukrainian civil society organisations have long called for the implementation of an effective compensation mechanism for the victims of war and occupation. Given the extensive preparatory work which needs to be done, civilians who have suffered harm cannot afford to wait for a resolution to the conflict. In order to establish an effective reparations process for Ukraine, it is imperative that the international community avoids further delay.

Notes for editors:

Ceasefire works to support reparations and accountability for violations of civilian rights in the Middle East, Africa and other world regions, and maintains a legal help desk in Mosul, Iraq, supporting claims for conflict-related civilian harm.

Other Ceasefire reports on the issue of reparations include:

Reparations for civilian harm from military operations: Towards a UK policy

Mosul after the Battle: Reparations and the future of Ninewa

Reparations for the Victims of Conflict in Iraq: Lessons learned from comparative practice

SianReparations for Ukraine: An international route map
read more

Ceasefire opens legal helpdesk in Mosul to promote civilian access to reparation

Ceasefire opens legal helpdesk in Mosul to promote civilian access to reparation

December 2021

Civilians harmed by military operations have a right to compensation under Iraqi law, but the complex requirements to file a claim have left the process out of reach for many. Ceasefire’s new legal helpdesk in Mosul hopes to solve some of those problems.

SianCeasefire opens legal helpdesk in Mosul to promote civilian access to reparation
read more

UK compensation bill for civilian harm in Iraq and Afghanistan reaches £32m

UK compensation bill for civilian harm in Iraq and Afghanistan reaches £32m, but MoD still has no effective policy to handle claims – new report

December 2021

Reparations for Civilian Harm in Military Operations: Towards a UK policy

The compensation bill for civilians harmed in UK military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has now reached £32 million, according to a new report by Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights. During the last year the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has quietly settled some 417 claims related to Iraq, and 13 related to Afghanistan, to add to thousands already settled.

SianUK compensation bill for civilian harm in Iraq and Afghanistan reaches £32m
read more

Afrin after Operation Olive Branch: An update on the situation in north-west Syria

As the UN Human Rights Council prepares to hear the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights and YASA e.V. – Kurdish Centre for Studies & Legal Consultancy have submitted a briefing to the Commission about the human rights situation in Afrin in Turkish-occupied northern Syria.

SianAfrin after Operation Olive Branch: An update on the situation in north-west Syria
read more

Syria’s minorities used in war of narratives, at the cost of civilian lives – new report

June 2021

Syria’s minorities have been caught in a war of narratives waged by the Syrian state, regional and international actors, according to a new report by the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights. Most notably, the Assad-led government’s narrative that it is a ‘protector of minorities’ has been used to justify ongoing violations against civilians and activists.

In the Name of Protection: Minorities and identity in the Syrian conflict draws on 14 in-depth interviews with Syrian activists and civilians of diverse religious minority backgrounds to explore the multifaceted and layered experiences of minorities during the conflict. Their testimonies challenge and complicate widespread assumptions made about religious minorities in Syria.

SianSyria’s minorities used in war of narratives, at the cost of civilian lives – new report
read more

The Yazidi Survivors’ Law: A step towards reparations for the ISIS conflict

On 1 March 2021, after nearly two years of deliberations, Iraq’s parliament passed the Yazidi Female Survivors’ Law, a major step forward in addressing the legacy of violations committed by ISIS against members of religious minorities in Iraq. The law (Law No. 8 of 2021) provides a comprehensive programme of reparations to Yazidi, Christian, Shabak, and Turkmen survivors of sexual violence and other ISIS crimes, including both individual and collective measures.

The law comes in the aftermath of more than three years of armed conflict in Iraq, which left thousands dead and millions displaced. While ISIS targeted many of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities during the conflict, the group’s treatment of the Yazidi community was particularly brutal. It is estimated that around 6,800 Yezidis were abducted and around 3,100 killed over a few days in early August 2014. Men and boys were massacred and buried in mass graves while thousands of women and girls were forced into sexual slavery, in a campaign that has been recognized as genocide by numerous international bodies.

SianThe Yazidi Survivors’ Law: A step towards reparations for the ISIS conflict
read more

First to Know: promoting civilian-led early warning in armed conflict – new report

April 2021

Civilian-led early warning of violence in armed conflict is a viable technique that has significant potential to save lives by alerting both responsible authorities and civilian populations of impending threats, finds a new report. ‘First to Know: Civilian-led early warning in armed conflict examines the lessons learned from a pilot early warning system in South Sudan implemented by Ceasefire and the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation.

SianFirst to Know: promoting civilian-led early warning in armed conflict – new report
read more

After decades of disappearances, Iraq preparing to turn the page – new report

January 2021 

Iraq’s disappeared persons might finally have a chance at justice, according to a new report by the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights.

The report, entitled The Forever Crime: Ending enforced disappearance in Iraq, argues that Iraq is at a historic juncture in the struggle against enforced disappearance, a practice which has gone on for decades and left virtually none of Iraq’s communities untouched. Draft legislation to suppress enforced disappearances is now under consideration by the Iraqi parliament.

SianAfter decades of disappearances, Iraq preparing to turn the page – new report
read more

Official figures reveal only one prosecution of UK armed forces personnel for war crimes overseas since 2001

Official figures reveal only one prosecution of UK armed forces personnel for war crimes overseas since 2001

December 2020

Official figures released by the Ministry of Defence to Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights reveal that since 2001 there has only been one prosecution of UK armed forces personnel for war crimes overseas.

Despite lengthy engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and evidence of serious abuses by UK service personnel against local civilians, data supplied to Ceasefire under the Freedom of Information Act show that only one war crimes prosecution has been conducted, in over nearly two decades, under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, which brought within UK law those offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC. No prosecutions against UK personnel were brought under either the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, which first criminalized war crimes in UK law, or under Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which criminalizes torture.

‘These figures contradict the argument by defence ministers that the Overseas Operations Bill, currently going through Parliament, is required to put an end to “vexatious prosecutions” for war crimes,’ said Rose Burke, Policy Officer at Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights. ‘In reality, there have been none. There should no longer be any doubt that war crimes and torture, along with sexual crimes, should now be exempted from the Bill’s “triple lock” on prosecutions after five years.’

The sole war crimes prosecution relates to the killing of Mr Baha Mousa, an Iraqi civilian from Basra, which later formed the subject of a judicial inquiry. Three members of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment were charged, and one convicted in 2007, of inhumane treatment as a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. An autopsy on Mr Mousa’s body recorded 93 separate injuries.

The MoD figures show that, in addition to the one war crimes prosecution, five prosecutions were conducted for other offences allegedly committed against members of the local population in Iraq (this includes one in relation to the Baha Mousa case) and nine for other offences against the local population in Afghanistan.

In relation to military operations in Iraq:

  • Five prosecutions in total were conducted, in which a total of 25 defendants were charged, and six convicted at court martial. This includes the sole war crimes prosecution.
  • In total seven members of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment were tried for the killing of Mr Mousa, the most senior being a colonel. Three were charged with the war crime of inhumane treatment, and five were charged with other offences. All were acquitted except Cpl Donald Payne who was convicted of inhumane treatment but acquitted of manslaughter.
  • It is understood that the convictions listed under ‘other offences committed against the local population’ include those of three members of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who were given custodial sentences of up to two years in 2005 after photographs emerged of them abusing Iraqi civilians at Camp Bread Basket, in Basra in 2003.

In relation to military operations in Afghanistan:

  • Nine prosecutions in total were conducted, with a total of 16 defendants
  • Of those 16, none faced prosecution for war crimes or crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, but were prosecuted for ‘other offences against the local population’. Nine convictions were secured at court martial.
  • The killing of a wounded Taliban fighter, who was hors de combat, in Helmand province in September 2011 led to the prosecution of three members of the Royal Marines, of whom two were acquitted. Sgt Alexander Blackman was convicted at court martial of murder in 2013, reduced on appeal to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. Despite being recorded at the time of the killing as saying ‘I just broke the Geneva Convention’, he was never charged with a war crime.

It emerged in June that the Service Prosecuting Authority had closed all but one of the remaining legacy investigations from Iraq and that any further prosecutions were now unlikely.

The sole prosecution and conviction for a war crime committed in UK overseas military operations demonstrates that the Overseas Operations Bill, which includes a ‘presumption against prosecution’ after five years for alleged war crimes committed by British troops abroad, is fundamentally misguided.

Although there have been few prosecutions, the MoD has approved payments totalling £20 million to settle over 300 cases of alleged violations committed by UK service personnel in Iraq alone, including in relation to conduct which falls within the definition of war crimes. The Overseas Operations Bill introduces an absolute long-stop of six years on claims against the MoD from either service personnel or civilians who have suffered harm.

‘With the release of these figures, the real purpose of the Overseas Operations Bill has now become obvious. It is not to protect UK armed forces from prosecution, but to shield the government from liability,’ said Mark Lattimer, Ceasefire’s Director. ‘It should be renamed the MoD protection bill.’

The new data form a more comprehensive account than the one given to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights on 5 October by Damian Parmenter, Director of Defence and Security Industrial Strategy at the MoD, and follow a review of the historic prosecutions before the establishment of the Service Prosecuting Authority in 2009. Ceasefire wrote last week to the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to provide her with the latest figures.

This information comes as the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has announced the closure of her preliminary examination of the UK’s record in Iraq. The Prosecutor found that there was a reasonable basis to believe that UK servicemen committed war crimes including wilful killing/murder, torture and inhuman/cruel treatment, but declined to pursue a full investigation because it was not shown that the UK had acted to shield perpetrators from justice.

Notes for editors:

  1. The updated MoD response to Ceasefire’s FOI request is available here.
  2. Ceasefire’s briefing on the Overseas Operations Bill is available here. Ceasefire argues that the bill will not only limit accountability for abuses by UK armed forces but will also remove avenues for redress for civilian victims, violating the UK’s legal obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
SianOfficial figures reveal only one prosecution of UK armed forces personnel for war crimes overseas since 2001
read more