March 2020 - Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes Updates
By: Sophia Zademack, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL
This month, several states have initiated or continued to prosecute international crimes in their domestic jurisdiction. This article summarizes and highlights some of them, relying on international and national sources.
EUROPE
Netherlands | Netherlands start trial in the MH17 case
The first hearings of the MH17 case started in absence of the four suspects accused of muder for their alleged involvement in the crash of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014. To continue the trial in absentia, it had to be proven that the indictments were valid. In this regard, the court decided that the indictments were valid and that it had no doubt that the suspects were aware of the proceedings initiated against them. [March 9, 2019]
Germany | Several trials against former IS members have started
In the city of Koblenz, the trial against two former Syrian Intelligence Officers accused of participating in crimes against humanity will start mid-April. This month, the court allowed the claim and opened the main proceedings. Also, the trial against the widow of a former IS fighter has started in Hamburg. The woman is accused of keeping a 12-year-old as a slave. Furthermore, the court of Frankfurt has opened the main proceedings against a former IS fighter who is charged with crimes against humanity and genocide.
Switzerland | Swiss tights group accuses Jammeh ally of pillaging
Trial International, has filed a criminal complaint against a former associate of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, Nicolae Bogdan Buzaianu, over illegal timber trade. The exported timber was illegally felled in neighboring Casamance where the separatist armed group has been fighting the Senegalese army for decades. Mr. Buzaianu is accused of having pillaged conflict timber. [March 23, 2020]
THE AMERICAS
Guatemala | Defense motion challenging jurisdiction in the Maya Ixil case dismissed
In the Maya Ixil case, a defence motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court was dismissed. The trial against three senior military commanders charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and force disappearance then entered the evidentiary phase. [March 11, 2020]
United States | Judge approves extradition of Bosnian war rape suspect
The US Federal Court in Missouri approved the extradition request of Adem Kostjerevac to Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is wanted for trial in Sarajevo on war crimes charges. The Bosnian prosecution accuses Mr. Kostjerevac, a former military policeman with the Bosnian Army’s First Muslim Brigade in Zvornik, of raping a pregnant Serb woman who was being detained in a building that he was guarding in 1992. [March 23, 2020]
AUSTRALIA
Australia | Video released that shows Australian soldiers in Afghanistan shooting a civilian in the head
A video release, showing three Australian soldiers shooting a civilian in the head, points new attention to this incident. The shooting had already been discussed by the Australian Defence Investigation Unit and was understood as a lawful killing as the soldiers acted in self-defense. The video that was now published contradicts the situation that was described by the soldiers during the investigation. The Defence Investigation Unit later said that the situation was under review and that investigations into whether the situation constitutes a war crime are still ongoing. [March 17, 2020]
AFRICA
South Africa | Court Rejects Extraditions of Suspected War Criminal and Arms Trafficker
A Dutch war criminal and arms trafficker, G. Kouwenhoven was sentenced to 19 years in prison by Dutch courts. He is understood as one of the key figures in Mr. Taylor’s regime in Liberia. As Mr. Kouwenhoven is currently living in South Africa, the Dutch authorities issued an extradition request, which was dismissed by a South African court. This reasoning of the South African court was that extradition is only possible if the offenses have been committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the state requesting extradition. [March 18, 2020]