ICTY: Appeals Chamber Affirms Stanišić’s and Župljanin’s Sentences

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Julien Maton

Mićo Stanišić (left) and Stojan Župljanin

Today, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) confirmed the convictions of Mićo Stanišić, former Minister of the Interior of Republika Srpska, and Stojan Župljanin, former Chief of the Regional Security Services Centre of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Appeals Chamber affirmed that Stanišić and Župljanin are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in BiH in 1992, in 20 and eight municipalities respectively. The Judges affirmed both of the accused’s sentences of 22 years’ imprisonment.

The Appeals Chamber dismissed all of Stanišić’s and Župljanin’s grounds of appeal. It confirmed their convictions for committing, through participation in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE), persecutions as a crime against humanity and murder and torture as violations of the laws or customs of war. Župljanin’s convictions for committing extermination, through participation in a JCE, and ordering persecutions through plunder as crimes against humanity were also affirmed. Continue reading →

ICC: Bemba sentenced to 18 years in prison

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Vera Padberg

Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today sentenced Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to 18 years’ imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.

In March the Chamber had found the former vice-president of the DRC guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crimes of murder, rape and pillaging committed by militiamen under Bemba’s command.

For the crimes of rape the Chamber imposed 18 years of imprisonment while 16 years of imprisonment were imposed for the crimes of murder and pillaging. However, the Chamber decided that the sentences imposed shall run concurrently. Continue reading →

Lecture: The International Criminal Court at the Mercy of Powerful States

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Raphaëlle Rafin

Date: 29 June 2016, at 7 pm

Venue: T.M.C. Asser Instituut, R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20-22, The Hague, Netherlands

T.M.C. Asser Instituut, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University organize a lecture on “The International Criminal Court at the Mercy of Powerful States: How the Rome Statute Promotes Legal Neo-Colonialism” with speaker Dr Res Schuerch, from the University of Amsterdam and University of Zürich.

Supranational Criminal Law Lectures are public and free of charge. Registration is not necessary, seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Former Auschwitz Guard Convicted

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Raphaëlle Rafin

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Mr. Reinhold Hanning at his trial ©AFP/Getty Images

Today, the Detmold Court in Germany sentenced Mr. Reinhold Hanning to five years in jail for his former role as a guard at Auschwitz from 1942 to 1944. The 94-year-old was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder of at least 170,000 people. Mr. Hannig had acnkowledged that he knew what was happening in the camp but that he did nothing to stop it.

During the trial, about a dozen Auschwitz survivors testified. Mr. Hanning told the court “I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it and I apologise for my actions. I am very, very sorry.”

Until 2011, German prosecutors were required to provide evidence that defendants were directly involved in the killings. That changed with the conviction of John Demjanjuk, when a judge concluded that his activities as a camp worker in Nazi-occupied Poland amounted to complicity in mass murder.

Commission on Syria: ISIS Committing Genocide Against the Yazidis

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Raphaëlle Rafin

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic has today released a report establishing that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) is committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Yazidis. The report entitled “They Came to Destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” focuses on violations committed against Yazidis inside Syria, where thousands of women and girls are still being held captive and abused, often as slaves.

Yazidi women in a refugee camp, August 2014

“Genocide has occurred and is ongoing”, emphasised Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Commission. “ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities.” ISIS sought – and continues to seek – to destroy the Yazidis in multiple ways, as envisaged by the 1948 Genocide Convention. “ISIS has sought to erase the Yazidis through killings; sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and forcible transfer causing serious bodily and mental harm; the infliction of conditions of life that bring about a slow death; the imposition of measures to prevent Yazidi children from being born, including forced conversion of adults, the separation of Yazidi men and women, and mental trauma; and the transfer of Yazidi children from their own families and placing them with ISIS fighters, thereby cutting them off from beliefs and practices of their own religious community”, the report says. Continue reading →

UNESCO and ICC Join Forces to End Impunity for Destruction of Cultural Heritage

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Julien Maton

The ruins of a Mausoleum in Tumbuktu

Today, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, met with the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Silvia Fernandez de Gurmandi, and Deputy Prosecutor James Stewart, to explore ways to deepen cooperation on the protection of cultural heritage and the fight against impunity of war crimes.

“UNESCO and ICC have come a long way together, to strengthen the rule of law, to change the mindset about the destruction of cultural heritage, and we are determined to go further, to end impunity for deliberate destruction of cultural heritage,” said Ms. Bokova.

Immediately after the attacks on the people and heritage of Mali, UNESCO raised the issue of the destruction of the mausoleums to the attention of the Court.

On 1 July, 2012, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda declared that this destruction constituted a war crime under the Rome Statute and then launched a preliminary examination into the violence that had been engulfing the country since January 2012.

The first suspect, Ahmed al-Faqi al-Mahdi, was transferred by the authorities of Mali and Niger to The Hague on 26 September 2015. His trial is scheduled to start on 22 August 2016.

The case of Mali made history in the fight against impunity – recognizing the restoration of justice and the rule of law as an essential step of any recovery process. This sets a historic precedent for similar cases in the future.

In this spirit, UNESCO and the ICC are sharing expertise and information about the importance of the sites, about why they were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the reason why their deliberate destruction can be considered a war crime.

Memorials for John Jones QC – 29 June (The Hague) and 6 July (London)

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Vera Padberg

To celebrate the life and many personal and professional achievements of our much missed friend and colleague John Jones QC, two memorial events are organised in The Hague and London.

A celebration of John’s life will be held at The Hague Institute for Global Justice on Wednesday 29^th June at 7.00pm followed by a reception (a map is available by clicking here).

There will also be a Memorial in London at Middle Temple Hall (click here for directions) on Wednesday 6^th July starting at 5.00pm followed by a reception in Middle Temple gardens. The Hall will be accessible from 4.30pm.

For more details and RSVP, click here.

Authorities and Courts Complicit in Eroding Rule of Law in Kachin State

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Julien Maton

by Vani Sathisan and Sean Bain*

“The scale and severity of human rights violations in Kachin State is one of the worst in Myanmar,” a lawyer told the International Commission of Jurists during a meeting in Myitkyina last month.

Visitors walk along the riverbank at the Myitsone in Kachin State in December 2015. (Wa Lone / The Myanmar Times)

Illegal large-scale land grabbing, harassment of landowners by government and business officials, and a lack of access to justice were the central complaints heard by the ICJ during the discussions with human rights defenders and civil society groups in Kachin State.

Senior state-level judicial officials signalled increased readiness to discuss ways to improve the effectiveness and independence of the courts. Yet meaningful reform also requires revising laws to bring them in line with international human rights standards, respecting judicial independence by government officials, and securing corporate legal compliance through consistent application of the law and access to fair and effective judicial review.

The conflict in Kachin State and northern Shan State, where over 100,000 people remain displaced since fighting between the government and ethnic armed groups re-started in 2011, is partly fuelled by the abundant natural resources.

Eighty percent of Myanmar’s mining operations are located in Kachin State and neighbouring Sagaing Region. Timber, rubies and gold are plentiful. A report by international watchdog Global Witness estimated the value of illegal jade mining at around US$31 billion in 2014 alone. Yet hazardous mining practises are rampant while law enforcement is haphazard. Continue reading →

Event: Crimes against Humanity – Do We Need a New Global Treaty?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Julien Maton

Date: Wednesday 8 June 2016, 18h30-20h00.

Venue: Villa Moynier (Room Cassese), 120B, Rue de Lausanne, Geneva.

Speaker: Professor Sean D. Murphy - George Washington University; Member of the United Nations International Law Commission where he serves as Special Rapporteur on the topic of ‘Crimes against Humanity’.

The International Law Commission is currently drafting provisions of what could become a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity.

This event will explore the key elements to be covered by such treaty, its necessity and what such a convention could bring to the fight against impunity.

If you wish to register, click here.

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Monthly Archives: June 2016