Prosecutor to look at Rohingya crisis
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor announced Tuesday that she is opening a preliminary investigation into deportations of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Burma into Bangladesh.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a written statement and video message that she has begun an investigation formally known as a preliminary examination to establish if there is enough evidence to merit a full-blown investigation.
Bensouda said she will look at reports of "a number of alleged coercive acts having resulted in the forced displacement of the Rohingya people, including deprivation of fundamental rights, killing, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, destruction and looting."
Burma's military has been accused of widespread rights violations, including rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya villages -- leading about 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh since August last year.
Bensouda's announcement came less than two weeks after judges at the court gave her authorization to investigate the deportations despite Burma not being a member state of the court.
Judges said in their landmark ruling that because part of the alleged crime of deportation happened on the territory of Bangladesh -- which is a member of the court -- Bensouda has jurisdiction.
Bensouda's announcement came on the day that U.N.-backed investigators presented a report that painted a grim picture of crimes against Rohingya.
Insider attack kills 9 Afghan police
KABUL, Afghanistan -- At least nine members of an Afghan police force were killed when another policeman opened fire on them at a checkpoint in northern Balkh province, a provincial official said Tuesday, the latest so-called insider attack in Afghanistan.
One policeman was wounded and three others were missing in the late Monday shooting in the district of Char Bolak, said Mohammadudin Khanjer, a police official.
According to Khanjer, the attacker was a policeman from another checkpoint in the same district. He fled the scene, apparently to join the Taliban, and took with him all weapons from the checkpoint, Khanjer said.
The Taliban made no immediate comment on the attack but insurgents are active in Char Bolak and often attack Afghan security forces there.
In Kabul, the country's intelligence agency said Tuesday that its officers have arrested at least 26 suspected members of the Islamic State group. The agency said the militants had planned to target Shiite Muslims during the commemoration of Ashura this week, a major Shiite holiday.
A statement from the agency Tuesday said that the militants, including a group leader, were nabbed in separate operations in Kabul.
Private use of pot OK'd in S. Africa
JOHANNESBURG -- South Africa's top court said adults can use marijuana in private.
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday upheld a provincial court's ruling in a case involving Gareth Prince, who advocates the decriminalization of the drug.
Prince said cannabis should be regulated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco. Government authorities have said cannabis is harmful and should be illegal.
The top court said an adult can cultivate cannabis in "a private place" as long as it is for personal consumption in private. It said the right to privacy "extends beyond the boundaries of a home."
The court said it would be up to a police officer to decide if the amount of marijuana in someone's possession is for personal consumption or dealing.
A Section on 09/19/2018