A/HRC/8/4 page 26 lies in the fact that they are aimed at all those working in the justice system or involved with it in one way or another. The justice system itself can thus make a substantial contribution to fighting inequality and fostering social cohesion. IV. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE A. International Criminal Court 55. Democratic Republic of the Congo - In a noteworthy and promising development, the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the founder and leader of the Union des patriotes congolais (Union of Congolese Patriots) began on 31 March 2008. He is the first person to be tried by the International Criminal Court since its establishment in 2002. In February 2008, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, the former head of the Front des nationalistes et intégrationnistes (Nationalist and Integrationist Front - FNI) and the Force de résistance patriotique d’Ituri (Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force - FRPI), appeared for the first time before the Pre-Trial Chamber, while Germain Katanga, the former head of FRPI in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, appeared in October 2007. For this case, the confirmation of charges hearing initially scheduled for 28 February 2008 has been rescheduled. 56. Darfur - In December 2007 the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court presented his sixth report to the United Nations Security Council pursuant to Security Council resolution 1593 (2005). He criticized the lack of cooperation on the part of the Government of the Sudan, requesting a unanimous message to be sent asking the Sudan to comply with resolution 1593 (2005) and proceed with the arrests. In April 2007 the Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb on 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. On 16 June and 17 October 2007 the Court requested the Government to execute the warrants, and the Registry of the Court requested an update as to “the activities undertaken by the Sudan in the execution of the warrants and as to any potential difficulty, which may have arisen in this process”, by 15 November. The Special Rapporteur regrets that, at the time of writing, the Court has received no response, and urges the Government to follow up promptly on the Court’s request. B. Supreme Criminal Tribunal of Iraq 57. Despite repeated requests from the Special Rapporteur and from United Nations bodies, death sentences are still being handed down in Iraq following trials that are in breach of international principles and standards of human rights. For example, on 14 March 2007 Iraq’s Supreme Criminal Tribunal confirmed the death sentence for Taha Yassin Ramadan. He was executed on 20 March, in violation of international human rights principles and standards, in particular the right to be judged by an independent and impartial court and the right to an effective defence. Awraz Abdel-Aziz Mahmoud Sa’id was likewise executed on 3 July 2007. He had confessed to involvement in the attack on the United Nations office in Baghdad on 19 August 2003, and was the only surviving alleged perpetrator of the attack, which took the lives of Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others (see document A/62/207). On 19 June the Special Rapporteur issued an urgent appeal to the Iraqi Government in a press release, with the aim of forestalling the imminent execution. By issuing the call in public, he also sought to mobilize the international community, in particular the Governments of the Western countries that considered themselves the institutional architects of the new Iraq, and including senior officials who had