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Brocklebank: A Questionable Decision of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2009
Extract
During the Canadian mission in Somalia pursuant to resolution 794 (1992) of the Security Council, a stunning incident occurred involving some Canadian soldiers who tortured to death a sixteen-year-old unarmed Somali civilian. The victim was captured during the night of 16 March 1993 while attempting an intrusion into the camp of Belet Huen. Shidane Arone did not offer any resistance and was entrusted to chief corporal Matchee to be kept in custody in a bunker designed for this purpose. This is where the unfortunate Somali had to endure frightful ill-treatment, mainly at Matchee's hands.
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- Current Developments: Canadian and Italian Forces in Somalia
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Instituut and the Authors 1998
References
1. Dishonoured Legacy, Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia (Canadian Government Publishing, 1997) vol. 1, pp. 351–363Google Scholar.
2. Her Majesty the Queen v. Private D.J. Brocklebank, Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, 2 April 1996, hereafter cited as The Queen v. Brocklebank.
3. The Unit Guide to the Geneva Conventions was issued by the Chief of Defense Staff on 15 June 1973. It is a manual aimed at acquainting all ranks of the Canadian Forces with the principles of the Geneva Conventions.
4. Ibid.
5. The Queen v. Brocklebank, op. cit. n. 2.
6. Honourable Jules Deschênes, Commissioner, Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, Part 1: Public (Canadian Government Publishing Center, 30 December 1986) p. 128.
7. Finta case, Canada High Court of Justice, 10 07 1989, ILR 82, p. 435Google Scholar.
8. Nicaragua v. USA, ICJ Rep. 1986, Para. 218.
9. The Corfu Channel case (Merits), ICJ Rep. (1949) p. 22.
10. The Queen v. Brocklebank, op. cit. n. 2.
11. Shraga, Daphna, ‘The United Nations as an actor bound by international humanitarian law,’ in Condorelli, Luigi, La Rosa, Anne-Marie, Scherrer, Sylvie, eds., The United Nations and International Humanitarian Law (Pedone, Paris 1996) pp. 315–338 at p. 324Google Scholar.
12. The UNEF remained in the Sinai until 1967.
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