October 2019 - Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes Updates
By Raghavi Viswanath and Erez Roman, Junior Research Associates PILPG-NL
Lawyering Justice has resumed the Monthly News Updates segment. This post collects updates from October 2019 concerning the domestic prosecution of international crimes. The information is drawn from local and international news online sources.
Europe
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Bosnia charges former Serbian soldiers with crimes against humanity
The Bosnian prosecution charged Radovan Paprica, alias Papro, and Slavko Ognjenovic, alias Macak, with committing crimes against humanity in Foca in eastern Bosnia in 1992 while they were members of the Bosnian Serb Army. (Oct.3, 2019)
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Bosnia indicts former Serbian soldiers for torturing civilian detainees
The Bosnian state prosecution indicted Jovan Kusic, alias Joja, and Branislav Vukovic, alias Bato, for having participated in the unlawful detention, torture, abuse and beating of Bosniak civilians who were detained in a gym at the Cultural Centre in Pale in May and June 1992. Kusic and Vukovic were charged, in their capacity as employees of the police Public Security Station in Pale, with committing crimes against humanity. (Oct. 4, 2019).
France | French court upholds life sentence for new genocide convicts
The French Court of Cassation has upheld the life sentence of two Rwandans who were convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in 1994 in Rwanda. Octavian Ngenzi and Tito Barahira, successive Mayors (Bourgmestres) of the former Kabarondo Commune, were accused of participating in the massacre of Tutsi refugees at the Kabarondo Catholic Church, resulting in the death of 1,200 people. (Oct.21, 2019)
Bosnia-Herzegovina | 20 years of prison for Visegrad killings
Radomir Šušnjar, also known as “Lalco”, was found guilty for the murder of 57 Bosniaks in Višegrad, a town in the east of Serbian Republic of Bosnia. These people were burnt alive in a house in Pionirska Street in 1992. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced this former Bosnian Serb soldier to 20 years of prison for war crimes against the civilian population. (Oct.30, 2019).
Germany | Criminal trial for crimes against humanity in Syria
Prosecutors in Germany have charged two alleged former Syrian secret service officers with crimes against humanity. Anwar Raslan is alleged to have led an investigation unit which is accused of torturing detainees, and has been charged with 59 counts of murder, as well as rape and aggravated sexual assault. Eyad al-Gharib is accused of reporting directly to Raslan, and arresting protesters who were then delivered to the investigation unit’s prison, known as Branch 251. The trial is set to start in 2020. (Oct.31, 2019).
The Netherlands | Dutch foreign fighter convicted of a war crime
The Rechtbank Den Haag convicted a Dutch national fighting for one of the warring groups in the Syrian civil war. The convict was handed a prison sentence of seven years and six months for committing war crimes perpetrated by the Islamic State. (Oct.11, 2019).
Asia
Bangladesh | Supreme Court upholds Azhar’s death penalty
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld the death sentence of top Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam for his involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. A four-member bench of the SC’s Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, delivered the verdict around five years after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 handed down capital punishment to Azhar for the crimes committed in Rangpur. (Nov. 01, 2019)
South America
Guatemala | Former Chief of Military Operations Arrested in Maya Ixil Genocide Case
Guatemalan authorities arrested retired Army Colonel César Octavio Noguera Argueta. Together with former head of military operations and intelligence chief - Benedicto Lucas Garcia & Manuel Callejas - he is expected to be charged with genocide against the Maya Ixil group in 1982. Noguera Argueta served as Chief of Military Operations during the last months of the Romeo Lucas García government (1978-1982). (Oct.25, 2019)
Argentina | Chaco sees convictions for crimes against humanity against civilians
Former federal prosecutor Roberto Domingo Mazzoni and former penitentiary warden Pablo César Casco became Chaco Province’s first civilians to be convicted for crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The Tribunal Oral Federal Penal court in Resistencia sentenced both to 11 years’ imprisonment and banned both from public office for life. Casco, a former prison warden at the U7 penetentiary, was found criminally responsible for torture inflicted on prisoner Hugo Dedieu. Mazzoni was convicted for his failure to investigate the crime of torture. (Oct.2, 2019)
North America
United States | US takes custody of two high-profile ISIL fighters
The US military confirmed that it has taken custody of two high-profile members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant armed group known for beheading hostages. The two men, previously held in Syria by Kurdish-led fighters, were moved out of the country as Turkey started an offensive there. (Oct.10, 2019)