May 2022

Monthly News Updates: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes – May 2022

By: Pauline Pfaff, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL 

May saw important developments in the recording of evidence and prosecutions of war crimes in Ukraine. This post provides an overview of these developments and other important news relating to the domestic prosecution of international crimes worldwide.

EUROPE

Ukraine | Guilty plea of two Russian soldiers in war crimes trial

The Kotelevska district court opened the second war crimes trial relating to the Russian invasion. The two defendants, Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov, allegedly participated in the shelling and destruction of an educational facility in Derhachi, a town in eastern Ukraine. Both plead guilty to the charges. The Ukrainian state prosecutor demands a 12-year prison sentence for each. [May 26, 2022]

European Union | Announcement of initiative Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) for Ukraine

The European Union issued a joint statement with the United States of America and the United Kingdom announcing the establishment of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA). The purpose of the ACA is to coordinate and streamline the members’ support for accountability efforts in Ukraine. The Council of the European Union moreover adopted new evidence preservation rules for Eurojust, the Union agency that deals with judicial cooperation in criminal matters. They enable the preservation, storage, and analysis of evidence of international core crimes.  Eurojust can also share information with national and international judicial authorities. [May 25, 2022]

Netherlands | Police arrests Syrian war crimes suspect

The Dutch public prosecution service announced the arrest of a 34-year-old Syrian man alleged of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The suspect is part of the militia Liwa al-Quds and was allegedly involved in the violent arrest and torture of an opposition member. This marks the first arrest of an individual accused of war crimes who was fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad’s government during the conflict in Syria. [May 24, 2022]

Ukraine | Court sentences Russian soldier to life imprisonment in first war crimes trial

A Ukrainian court sentenced Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year old Russian soldier, to life in prison for the murder of an unarmed civilian.  Shishimarin pleaded guilty to killing the 62-year-old unarmed civilian in the Sumy region. This is the end of the first war crimes trial in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Other trials are likely to follow as Ukrainian authorities are currently investigating approximately 10,800 incidents of alleged war crimes and have identified 600 suspects.[May 23, 2022]

France | Appeals Court upholds crimes against humanity charges against cement company

A French appeals court confirmed the charges against the cement company Lafarge of complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria. Lafarge allegedly paid around 13 million euros to Da’esh and other jihadist groups through middlemen to keep their Syrian factory operating in 2013 and 2014. In September 2021, the French supreme court overturned a 2019 court decision to drop the charges against the company. [May 18, 2022]

Netherlands | Police arrests genocide suspect

The Dutch police arrested a Rwandan former army officer in Ermelo who has been living in the Netherlands since 1998. The Rwandan government requested the individual’s arrest and extradition based on his alleged involvement in the 1994 genocide.  [May 13, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | State prosecutor indicts two former policemen for war crimes

The Bosnian state prosecutor charged two wartime policemen, Milenko Samardzija and Kosta Stanic, with the murder of 22 civilians in the area around Bijeljina in September 1992. Among the victims were children and elderly persons. The trial was due to start on March 29, but was postponed because the defendant failed to appear in court. [May 13, 2022]

France | Investigating magistrate to decide on pressing charges against Interpol president

The French anti-terror prosecutor referred the investigative findings on the torture allegations against Interpol president Ahmed Naser al-Raisi to an investigative magistrate. The magistrate will decide whether to press charges. Two British individuals, Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmed, accuse al-Raisi of being ultimately responsible for their arbitrary detention and torture in the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and 2019. At the time, al-Raisi served as a senior interior ministry official in the country.  [May 11, 2022]

France | Genocide trial of former Rwandan prefect starts

The Paris Court of Assizes opened the trial of former Rwandan prefect Laurent Bacyibarut for genocide and crimes against humanity. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the 78-year-old defendant was the head of the western Rwandan prefecture of Gikongoro. The opening of the trial marks the fourth universal jurisdiction case in France related to the Rwandan genocide. [May 9, 2022]

Serbia | Report titles Serbian war crimes prosecution as “extremely inefficient”

The Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre published its report on the work of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office. It alleges that most indictments issued the preceding year were in fact based on efforts from entities other than the prosecutor’s office and called it “extremely inefficient.” [May 6, 2022]

Sweden | Trial against former Iranian prison administrator concludes

The Stockholm district court concluded the trial of Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prison administrator. The war crimes and crimes against humanity charges relate to his potential role in the killing of up to 5,000 prisoners across Iran in 1988. The court scheduled the deliverance of the verdict in July. Iranian authorities oppose the trial of the former official in Sweden and summoned the Swedish envoy in protest. [May 5, 2022]

AFRICA

Liberia | Deputy Minister signals government’s intention to establish war crimes court

During the International Criminal Court’s regional conference in Dakar, Senegal, the Liberian Deputy Minister of Codification pledged his government’s commitment to the establishment of a war crimes court. The other participants of the conference welcomed the statement and simultaneously reaffirmed their commitment to the ICC and the principle of complementarity. [May 26, 2022]

Gambia | Government announces plan to implement truth commission recommendations

Following five months of deliberations, the Gambian government announced the acceptance of 263 out of 265 recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. The commission investigated crimes committed during the 22-year rule of former president Yahya Jammeh which was characterized by several political assassinations and the suppression of opposition. The government further signaled its intention to establish a special court to try alleged perpetrators of international crimes, including former president Jammeh. [May 26, 2022]

Liberia | Former defendant sues British advocates for wrongful prosecution

Agnes Reeves Taylor, the former wife of Charles Taylor, filed damages claims for malicious prosecution and action against the Global Justice Research Project. The organization played a role in Taylor’s 2017 arrest in London on war crimes charges related to her role in the First Liberian Civil War 1989-1996. On December 6, 2019, the Central Criminal Court in London dismissed the charges against Taylor. Subsequently, she returned to Liberia, where she now filed the claim. [May 13, 2022]

THE AMERICAS

United States of America | Launch of evidence gathering program

The U.S. State Department announced the start of the program “Conflict Observatory,” which will collect, preserve, and analyze open-source evidence on alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Further, the State Department intends to share the gathered evidence with international partners, including the International Criminal Court. [May 19, 2022]

Colombia | Commissioner resigns from Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Commissioner Carlos Ospina resigned from his position at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Colombia only two months before the scheduled release of the Commission’s final report. Ospina disclosed in media interviews that he resigned over differences in the narrative provided in the report. He claims that the role of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in crimes is not represented adequately. [May 2, 2022]

April 2022

Monthly News Updates: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes – April 2022

By: Pauline Pfaff, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL 

Several war crimes trials started in the month of April. This post provides an overview of the core developments worldwide regarding the domestic prosecution of international crimes.

EUROPE

Finland | Court acquits former Sierra Leonean rebel commander of war crimes

The court of Tempere, Finland, released its judgment in the case against Gibril Massaquoi, a former Sierra Leonean rebel commander. The court acquitted Massaquoi of all war crimes and crimes against humanity charges based on insufficient evidence. Massaquoi stood trial for crimes committed in Sierra Leone and Liberia between 1999 and 2003. [April 29, 2022]

Ukraine | State prosecutor prepares war crimes charges relating to the Bucha massacre

The Ukrainian state prosecutor announced plans to prepare charges against several members of the Russian military for war crimes committed in Bucha. Following the retreat of Russian troops from the city, Ukrainian authorities discovered the remains of more than 410 civilians, some of which showed signs of torture and execution. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published the identities of ten Russian soldiers allegedly involved in the Bucha massacre. [April 28, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court charges former Bosniak political and military leaders with war crimes

The Bosnian state court indicted ten individuals for their alleged involvement in an attack on a Yugoslav People’s Army convoy on May 3, 1992 which killed eight individuals and injured 24. The attack occurred when the convoy attempted to retreat from Sarajevo under the escort of United Nations peacekeepers. Among the charged individuals are several former ministers and retired Bosnian army generals. [April 27, 2022]

Germany | Trial against Gambian national for crimes against humanity starts

The trial of a Gambian individual accused of committing crimes against humanity and murder commenced before a German court. The defendant allegedly belonged to the so-called “Junglers,” a death squad under the direct command of former Gambian authoritarian ruler Yahya Jammeh. The charged crimes include the murder of journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004. The trial is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. [April 25, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court acquits four former members of the Sarajevo police force of war crimes charges

The Bosnian state court acquitted Dragan Vikic, the former police chief of Sarajevo, and three co-defendants of war crimes. The prosecution indicted the four defendants for the murder of eight Yugoslav People’s Army prisoners in the early days of the siege of Sarajevo in April 1992 and the failure to punish the direct perpetrators. The judgment may be appealed. [April 21, 2022]

Netherlands | Appeal hearings in Ethiopian war crimes case conclude

The Appeal Court of The Hague completed hearings in the case of Ethiopian-Dutch Eshetu Alemu after two weeks. In 2017, a first instance court convicted Alemu of war crimes committed during the so-called red terror in Ethiopia in 1978. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment. The underlying acts include 75 murders, six instances of torture, as well as 320 counts of arbitrary detentions which took place between February and December 1978. [April 18, 2022]

Netherlands | Court sentences Afghan national to 12 years imprisonment for war crimes

The District Court of The Hague sentenced Abdul Rafief to twelve years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction.  Rafief was a top commander at the infamous Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the 1980s. The court found that while there, Rafief engaged in the inhumane and degrading treatment of political prisoners. [April 14, 2022]

Germany | Court charges suspect with war crimes in Syria

The German state prosecutor charged Moafak D. with war crimes before a Berlin court. In 2014, D. allegedly threw a grenade into a crowd of civilians waiting to receive food in Damascus, Syria. At least seven individuals lost their lives. D. is stateless and a former member of the Free Palestine Movement, the group that controlled the Yarmouk district of Damascus at the time.  [April 14, 2022]

Switzerland | Criminal proceedings start against company for plunder in Libya

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland formally announced the start of criminal proceedings against the Swiss-based company Kolmar Group AG for pillage as a war crime.  The company allegedly procured smuggled gasoil from a Libyan state-owned company during the Libyan civil war from 2014 to 2015.  [April 13, 2022]

Ukraine | Prosecutor announces war crimes investigations into 500 Russian individuals

The Ukrainian state prosecutor announced investigations into the possible culpability of 500 Russian officials for war crimes. In the announcement, the prosecutor alleged that Russian individuals committed approximately 5,600 alleged war crimes on Ukrainian territory since the start of the Russian invasion earlier this year. [April 10, 2022]

Serbia | Court convicts former Bosnian Serb reservist policeman of torture

The Belgrade Higher Court found former Bosnian Serb reservist policeman Milorad Jovanovic guilty of torturing non-Serb civilians in the Sanski Most area in 1992.  The court sentenced Jovanovic to nine years’ imprisonment.  [April 8, 2022]

Germany | Former ministers file war crimes complaint against Russian individuals

Former minister of justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrberger and former minister of interior Gerhart Baum filed a criminal complaint against several Russian officials with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The aim of the complaint is to prompt a war crimes probe. Russian president Vladimir Putin is among the implicated individuals. [April 7, 2022]

AFRICA

Democratic Republic of Congo | Third war crimes trial starts

The military court opened the trial against seven former members of the Kamuina Nsapu militia. The defendants allegedly committed war crimes in the Kasai Central province in 2017. This is the third such trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [April 21, 2022]

Central African Republic | First trial of war crimes court postponed

The long-awaited hybrid Special Criminal Court opened its doors in the Central African Republic to adjudicate international crimes committed during the protracted armed conflict within the country. The defense lawyers boycotted the inaugural trial hearing to protest their unequal treatment. As a response, the court adjourned the hearing and will continue on April 25. The first case of the court pertains to the alleged killing of 46 civilians in the villages Koundjili and Lemouna by members of 3R rebel group in May 2019. [April 19, 2022]

THE AMERICAS

Colombia | First public admission of guilt for crimes against humanity and war crimes

Nine military officials and one civilian co-defendant admitted to having orchestrated the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing of 120 civilians as part of the so-called ‘false positives’. This marks the first public admission of guilt for crimes against humanity and war crimes before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.  [April 27, 2022]

March 2022

Monthly News Updates: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes – March 2022

By: Pauline Pfaff, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL 

In March 2022,  public attention was largely focused on developments in the conflict in Ukraine. This is reflected in various initiatives to investigate potential Russian war crimes.  Developments in relation to the domestic prosecution of international crimes also occurred worldwide.

EUROPE

France | Prosecutor opens war preliminary inquiry into torture allegations against the head of Interpol

The French prosecutor specialized in anti-terror cases opened a preliminary probe into allegations against Emirati General Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi. Al-Raisi became the head of Interpol in November 2021. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights filed a legal complaint against Al-Raisi, alleging that he tortured members of the opposition during his term as an official at the United Arab Emirates interior ministry. [March 24, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court finds former Bosnian Serb reservist policeman guilty of crimes against humanity

The Bosnian state court convicted former Bosnian Serb reservist policeman Predrag Bastah of crimes against humanity. The court found him guilty of killing 34 Bosniak civilian prisoners in Mracni Dol in 1992. [March 22, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Supreme Court confirms war crimes verdict against Bosnian Serb Army Soldier

The Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina upheld the first-instance verdict against former Bosnian Serb Army soldier Mile Kokot. The court found Kokot guilty of physically abusing and robbing civilians in Sanski Most in 1992 and sentenced him to two years and five months imprisonment. [March 21, 2022]

France | Prosecutor opens war crimes probe into death of cameraman in Ukraine

The French prosecutor specialized in anti-terror cases announced a war crimes probe into the killing of Franco-Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski.  Zakrzewski died outside Kyiv alongside his Ukrainian colleague Oleksandra Kuvshynova on Monday March 18, 2022. [March 18, 2022]

Poland/Germany/Spain/United Kingdom | Several war crimes documentation and investigation efforts in relation to the war in Ukraine

The Polish thinktank Pilecki Institute set up the Raphael Lemkin Centre for the Documentation of Russian Crimes in Ukraine to document evidence of war crimes during the current conflict in Ukraine. Several researchers have started interviewing Ukrainian refugees to gather testimony. The German Federal prosecutor as well as the Spanish public prosecutor further announced a probe into alleged Russian war crimes. Similar efforts to preserve information and evidence are present in other countries, including the United Kingdom and at international level. In February, PILPG launched the Ukraine Transitional Justice & Documentation portal, aimed at capacity-building for organizations and individuals seeking to document alleged international crimes in Ukraine. [March 6-8, 2022]

Germany | Court charges Gambian individual with crimes against humanity

The German federal public prosecutor charged Bai Lowe, a Gambian national, with crimes against humanity, murder, and attempted murder. Lowe is allegedly a former member of the “Junglers.” The special army unit carried out assassinations on the orders of former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh. The charged acts include the 2004 murder of Deyda Hydara, an AFP news agency journalist. [March 3, 2022]  

AFRICA

Ethiopia | Ethiopian Human Rights Commission releases report documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Tigray region

The independent Ethiopian Human Rights Commission published a report documenting 750 civilian casualties since the start of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s offensive in the Afar and Amhara region last July. The report includes accounts of acts that may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual and gender-based crimes, torture, looting, and enforced disappearances. It names both rebels and government forces as perpetrators. [March 11, 2022]

Gambia | Truth Commission submits recommendations on amnesty applications

Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission submitted its recommendations to the government pertaining to 25 applications for amnesty. The Commission recommended to dismiss eleven applications, deny eight, and grant six. Among those approved is the application of Sanna Sabally, the second-in-command leader of the former military junta. The government’s decision on the recommendations is scheduled for the end of May. [March 21, 2022]

THE AMERICAS

Colombia | Peace tribunal to open three new cases

Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction of Peace announced the opening of three new cases. The tribunal will focus on armed actors, deviating from its previous approach centered around symbolic crimes. Victim communities had mixed reactions to this strategic shift due to concerns that this new approach may not be able to adequately capture their experiences. [March 14, 2022]

OCEANIA

Australia | Myanmar’s National Unity Government prepares submissions to prompt war crimes probe

Myanmar’s National Unity Government, consisting of government officials exiled following the 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, announced it was preparing war crimes cases against several members of the military junta presently in power in Myanmar. It further expressed its intention to submit the files to the Australian authorities to initiate investigations based on the concept of universal jurisdiction. [March 22, 2022]

February 2022

Monthly News Updates: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes – February 2022

By: Pauline Pfaff, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL 

February saw  developments in the domestic prosecution of international crimes, for example in relation to crimes committed during the Dutch colonial past and civil wars in the Americas. The following post provides an overview of the key developments in the domestic prosecution of international crimes worldwide.

EUROPE

Netherlands | Trial against Afghan-Dutch national for war crimes in Afghanistan closes

The District Court of The Hague closed the trial against Abdul Razzaq Rafief for war crimes committed in the 1980s. Rafief has Afghan-Dutch dual citizenship and was tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction. The 76-year old allegedly oversaw, as a top commander, the abuse and torture of prisoners at the Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul. The prosecution requested a 12-year prison sentence for Rafief. The judges will deliver their decision on April 14, 2022. [February 22, 2022]  

Netherlands | Prime Minister Rutte apologizes to Indonesia for war crimes during war of independence 1945-1949

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte officially apologized to Indonesia and its citizens for the Dutch army’s excessive use of force during the 1945-1949 Indonesian war of independence. The apology follows an extensive historical review undertaken by three historical research institutes that contradicted the long-held official view that Dutch troops only sporadically engaged in violence to retain control of its former colony. [February 17, 2022]

France | Court of Cassation closes investigation into 1994 crash of the Rwandan presidential plane

The French Court of Cassation officially terminated the probe into the crash of the Rwandan presidential plane . Then-president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira died in the crash on April 6, 1994. The incident played a crucial role in the onset of the Rwandan genocide. Families of the French flight crew first brought the case to a French court in 1998. [February 16, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court charges nine former Bosnian Serb Fighters with crimes against humanity

The Bosnian state court confirmed charges of crimes against humanity against nine former Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen. The defendants allegedly participated in a mass killing in the village of Zijemlje in 1992. During the attack, approximately 100 Bosniaks died, including several children. [February 9, 2022]

France | National Assembly adopts bill to allow extraterritorial jurisdiction over international crimes in Syrian war

The French National Assembly passed a bill which allows for judicial cooperation with the United Nations International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) for Syria. The government is also prepared to propose legislation enabling French courts to prosecute individuals for international crimes which took place in Syria. The Senate’s approval on the initial bill is pending. [February 9, 2022]

Germany | Court charges woman with war crimes against Yazidis

A court in Frankfurt charged German national Jalda A. with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aiding and abetting genocide. The woman allegedly traveled to Syria in 2014 to marry an ISIS fighter. The couple allegedly enslaved and abused a Yazidi individual. [February 9, 2022]

Netherlands | Court sets aside amnesty considerations in Suriname war crimes case

A court in The Hague prolonged the pre-trial detention of 55-year old Dutch former army member Abdoel L. The defendant allegedly perpetrated war crimes during the Suriname civil war in 1987. The charges include the murder of several individuals.  In its decision, the court rejected the defendant’s claim of amnesty under Surinamese law. It argued that in exceptional cases Dutch courts may forego foreign amnesty and that the severity of the alleged crimes warrants such an exception. [February 7, 2022]

Switzerland | Attorney General ready to try Algerian general for war crimes and crimes against humanity

Following more than 10 years of investigations, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General completed its preliminary hearings in the case against General Khaled Nezzar. The case may now proceed to trial before the Federal Criminal Court. Nezzar allegedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the onset of the Algerian civil war. At the time, he was a leader of the military junta and Minister of Defense. [February 8, 2022]

THE AMERICAS

El Salvador | Forensic experts exhume remains of at least 16 victims of El Mozote Massacre

A team of forensic experts exhumed two mass graves in the northeast of El Salvador. They found the remains of at least 16 victims, mainly children, and are working on identifying them based on DNA analysis. The individuals are likely the victims of a massacre committed around El Mozote by El Salvadorian soldiers during the 1980-1992 civil war.  [February 14, 2022]

Guatemala | Authorities detain nine former soldiers and militia members suspected of participation in 1982 massacre

Guatemalan prosecutors announced that nine former soldiers and militia members  suspected of crimes against humanity are in detention. The individuals allegedly participated in the massacre of 25 civilians in the village of Pacoj on June 29, 1982. The incident took place during the 1960-1996 Guatemalan civil war. [February 2, 2022]

United States of America | Department of Justice rejects use of testimony given under torture in Guantánamo Trials

The US Department of Justice rejected the use of statements given during C.I.A. interrogations before the military commission trying Guantánamo Bay detainees. C.I.A interrogation techniques reportedly included torture. The statement clearly negates retired chief prosecutor Brigadier General Mark S. Martin’s proposed interpretation that, under certain circumstances, such testimony may be used in pretrial proceedings. [February 1, 2022]

January 2022

Monthly News Updates: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes – January 2022

By: Pauline Pfaff, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL 

The first month of 2022 saw developments regarding the domestic prosecution of international crimes. Several courts issued decisions, and numerous individuals and groups filed complaints. Important developments occurred especially in relation to crimes by the Islamic State and the determination of the situation of the Uyghur minority in China.

EUROPE

Germany | Trial starts against female Foreign IS Fighter for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity

The Court in the city of Halle opened the trial of Leonora Messing, a German woman who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State at the age of 15.  She allegedly aided and abetted crimes against humanity by enslaving a Yazidi woman together with her husband in 2015. [January 25, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court confirms indictment of former military commander for crimes against humanity in 1992

The Bosnian state court affirmed the indictment of former Bosnian Serb military commander Miodrag Nikacevic. The charges pertain to his involvement in crimes against humanity, especially persecution, committed against Bosniaks in the Foca area in 1992. [January 25, 2022]  

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court acquits former police chief of illegal detention charges

The Bosnian state court acquitted Malko Koroman, a former Bosnian Serb police chief, of war crime charges based on the absence of a causal link between Koroman and the underlying acts. These acts include the unlawful detention, torture, and killing of Bosniak civilians in the Public Security Station in Pale during the war in 1992. [January 24, 2022]

France/Croatia | European Court of Human Rights finds that Croatia did not violate the rights of the accused during war crime trial

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Croatian authorities did not violate the rights of former police commander Vladimir Milankovic during his trial for war crimes and rejected his complaint.  In 2013, a Croatian court found Milankovic guilty, on the basis of command responsibility, of war crimes committed in 1991 and 1992 in the Sisak and Banovina area. [January 20, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court indicts former Bosnian Army soldier for war crimes

The Bosnian state court confirmed the indictment of former Bosnian Army soldiers Dzevad Avdicevic, Ahmed Hadzajlic, Muharem Efendic, and Izet Ikanovic.  The defendants allegedly engaged in war crimes in the Teocak area in 1993 by abusing and killing prisoners of war. [January 19, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court convicts former Bosnian Serb Army soldier of crimes against humanity

The Bosnian state court found Sabahudin ‘Sasa’ Kajdic guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 12 years in prison in first instance.  Kajdic committed the acts of persecution, murder, and enforced disappearances of Bosniak civilians during his time as member of the Bosnian Serb Army in Prijedor in 1992.  [January 19, 2022]

Germany | Trial of Syrian doctor for crimes against humanity in military hospital starts

The trial of Alaa M., a Syrian doctor, for crimes against humanity started before Frankfurt’s higher regional court.  Alaa M. allegedly tortured and killed detainees while working in a military hospital in Damascus in 2011 and 2012.   [January 19, 2022]

United Kingdom | Metropolitan Police’s war crimes unit reviews war crimes allegations in relation to the disputed Kashmir region

Stoke White, a London-based law firm, filed an application seeking the arrest of two high ranking Indian officials, army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Home Affairs minister Amit Shah, based on their alleged roles in war crimes in the Kashmir region.  The allegations include torture, killings, and kidnappings of civilians, journalists, and activists.  The Metropolitan Police’s war crimes unit is reviewing the application. [January 19, 2022]

France | Torture claims against the new Interpol president

Three individuals filed criminal complaints with French authorities against the new Interpol president, Major General Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi.  Al-Raisi was allegedly involved in torture and arbitrary detentions in the United Arab Emirates.  [January 18, 2022]

Montenegro | Police arrests suspect who allegedly committed war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992

The Montenegrin authorities arrested and charged Slobodan Curcic with committing war crimes. He allegedly killed, raped, and performed other sexual abuse on civilians in Foca, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the war in 1992. [January 18, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Court rejects indictment for crimes against humanity against suspect for the second time

The Bosnian state court rejected, for the second time, claims against wartime Serb official Milenko Stanic for taking part in a joint criminal enterprise to commit crimes against humanity.  The alleged underlying acts include murder, unlawful detention, torture, deportation, rape, and forcible disappearances of Bosniak civilians in the Vlasenica area between April 1992 and March 1993.  The court had already rejected an initial indictment against Stanic in November 2021 and has now noted that the new indictment was not amended as requested. [January 14, 2022]

Germany | Court sentences former security officer to life imprisonment for state-induced torture in Syria

The Koblenz district court convicted former high ranking Syrian security officer Anwar Raslan of crimes against humanity in the forms of murder, torture, deprivation of liberty, sexual violence, and taking of hostages.  Raslan travelled to Germany as a refugee and successfully sought asylum, where fellow Syrians recognized him as the operative director of the notorious Al-Khatib prison.  The case against Raslan was the first worldwide on state-sponsored torture in Syria.  [January 13, 2022]

Lithuania | Six Lithuanians file lawsuit against former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for war crimes in 1991

Six Lithuanian individuals who lost relatives during the 1991 independence struggle filed a lawsuit against former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for war crimes.  A Lithuanian court convicted several former Soviet officials of war crimes in 2019.  However, it refused to investigate Gorbachev.  [January 13, 2022]

Sweden/France | Swedish and French authorities launch joint task force to investigate Yazidi genocide

Swedish and French authorities established a joint task force to investigate and prosecute the atrocity crimes committed by the Islamic State against the Yazidi community.  The team will work within the Eurojust framework and aims at sharing information and evidence to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of investigations.  [January 7, 2022]

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian authorities charge former Bosnian Serb general for attack on Srebrenica in 1995

The Bosnian state prosecutor charged Milenko Zivanovic, a former Bonsian Serb General, with planning and directing attacks against Bosniak civilians in the areas of Srebrenica and Zepa in 1995.  Zivanovic further allegedly commanded military and police units responsible for the capture and illegal detention of thousands of male Bosniaks in the Srebrenica area. [January 4, 2022]

Sweden | Swedish prosecutor charges woman with war crime for enlisting her son as IS fighter

The Swedish prosecutor charged an unnamed woman with war crimes for allegedly allowing her son to fight as a child soldier for the Islamic State in Syria.  The woman and her son allegedly joined IS in 2013, when the child was 12 years old.  He remained with the group until May 2016 and allegedly took active part in hostilities.  The boy died in 2017. [January 4, 2022]

ASIA

China/France | Chinese leadership condemns French parliament resolution on genocide against the Uyghurs

The Chinese leadership issued a statement rejecting the French National Assembly’s allegation of genocide against the Uyghur Muslim minority. In its resolution, the National Assembly termed the treatment of members of the Uyghur minority by the Chinese authorities a genocide while acknowledging that a definite legal determination can only be based on a judicial investigation. Other countries, including the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Belgium have taken a similar position to France in relation to the situation of the Uyghurs. [January 21, 2022]

Cambodia | Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia dismisses last genocide case

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia dismissed the charges of genocide against Yim Tith, a businessman and former commander during the Pol Pot reign. The dismissal is based on a prior Supreme Court decision to terminate the case dated December 28, 2021, due to a lack of an enforceable indictment. The dismissal formally marks the end of ECCC prosecutions of Khmer Rouge atrocities. [January 4, 2022]

Turkey/China | Uyghurs file criminal complaint against Chinese officials for genocide and crimes against humanity before Turkish court

Nineteen members of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic group filed a criminal case against several Chinese individuals associated with state entities in Turkey.  The claimants allege that the officials committed crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.  The underlying acts, which include torture and rape, allegedly took place in detention camps that Chinese authorities set up in 2016 to detain approximately one million Uyghurs.  The claimants chose Turkey as a venue for their case due to the presence of a large Uyghur diaspora community and close ethnic, religious, and linguistic ties with the country. [January 4, 2022]

THE AMERICAS

Guatemala | Court sentences five men to 30 years imprisonment for rape of indigenous women during civil war

A Guatemalan court sentenced five individuals to prison sentences of 30 years each for crimes against humanity committed during the Guatemalan civil war in the early 1980s.  The individuals are former paramilitary patrolmen and raped five Maya Achi women, some of which were only 12 years old at the time.  [January 25, 2022]

Guatemalan authorities filed the charges against these five former members of the Civil Self-Defence Patrols (PAC) in early January. The charges included allegations of the rape of 36 indigenous Mayan women over a five-year period during the 1980s civil war. The accused denied the charges. [January 7, 2022]

United States/Cuba | U.S. Department of Defense charges Guantanamo detainee with war crimes in relations to the Bali bombing and attack on JW Marriott hotel in 2002

The U.S. Department of Defense referred charges against Encep Nurjaman (fighter name Hambali), a former member of the Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian extremist group. He allegedly committed war crimes by participating in the so-called Bali bombing in 2002 and the attack on the JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta in 2003. Nurjaman has been detained in the Guantanamo Bay prison for the past 16 years. [January 13, 2022]