Forum for International Criminal Justice Newsletter: June 2014
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Forum for International Criminal Justice Newsletter: June 2014 Welcome to the IAP’s Forum for International Criminal Justice (FICJ) June 2014 Newsletter which focuses on the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including a roundup of video highlights, announcements, upcoming events and the major news developments from May. Please note that the items included in this publication do not automatically carry any endorsement from the IAP. Some domestic legal news covered in this Newsletter include: Sweden adopting crimes against humanity in its penal code which allows Swedish courts to prosecute severe crimes committed abroad following similar moves in France and Canada; the Supreme Court in Québec denying Désiré Munyaneza’s appeal of his 2009 genocide conviction, which was Canada’s first such conviction; and a Hungarian court finding a former senior official in the Hungarian Communist Party guilty of war crimes during the suppression of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising. It was the first trial launched against a former top Communist in Hungary. *Please have a look at the FICJ forum page on the IAP website and feel free to contribute: the Forum provides individual prosecutors with a password protected space to post news, announcements, etc. and to pose questions to fellow prosecutors from around the world. Your contributions will also be posted in this monthly newsletter. Danya Chaikel – FICJ Coordinator | email: [email protected] Video Highlights Click here to watch a short video on the ECCHR's Click here to watch short Al Jazeera clip on the ICC Communication on alleged Join warthe FICJcrimes community: of UK WWW.IAPopening -ofASSOCIATION.ORG/FICJ Ratko Mladic's defence case/HOME at the officials involving systematic detainee abuse in Yugoslav war crimes court, with the Bosnian 1 Follow us on twitter: @iaprosecutors Iraq from 2003 - 2008. On 13 May 2014, ICC Serb ex-army chief accused of masterminding Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, re-opened the some of Europe's worst atrocities since World preliminary examination of the situation in Iraq. War II. Announcements The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, re-opens the preliminary examination of the situation in Iraq On 13 May 2014, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), Mrs Fatou Bensouda, announced that she has decided to re-open the preliminary examination of the situation in Iraq, previously concluded in 2006, following submission of further information to the Office of the Prosecutor in January 2014 in accordance with article 15 of the Rome Statute. The new information received by the Office alleges the responsibility of officials of the United Kingdom for war crimes involving systematic detainee abuse in Iraq from 2003 until 2008. Iraq is a not a State Party to the Rome Statute, however, the ICC has jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on the territory of Iraq by nationals of States Parties. The re-opened preliminary examination will analyse, in particular, alleged crimes attributed to the armed forces of the United Kingdom deployed in Iraq between 2003 and 2008. Read more on the ICC website New Publication: The ICC and Africa: Between Aspiration and Reality - Making International Justice Work Better for Africa This Discussion Paper reflects on the main arguments and perspectives that emerged from a High-level Roundtable co-hosted by The Brenthurst Foundation and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 18-19 March 2014. The Paper identifies three key themes: the interaction of geopolitics and international justice, which speaks to issues of history, colonialism and power; the continuing primacy of politics at the national level, which explains that in tackling the core problem of justice, the rule of law is one component of African solutions to wider economic and political problems, not the other way around; and the importance of building intra-African justice mechanisms. To read more download the full Discussion Paper from the Brenthurst Foundation website Join the FICJ community: WWW.IAP-ASSOCIATION.ORG/FICJ/HOME 2 Follow us on twitter: @iaprosecutors Upcoming events Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict The IAP will be participating in the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict taking place at ExCel London on 10-13 June 2014. The IAP has assisted with the review of the Draft International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict which will be launched at the Summit. Foreign Secretary William Hague will co-chair the Summit with Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. All the governments that have endorsed the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict will be invited, as will legal, military and judicial practitioners and representatives from multilateral organisations, NGOs and civil society. It will be the biggest global meeting on this issue ever convened. Read more on the UK Government website International Criminal Court Summer School From 16-20 June 2014, the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, hosts the premiere summer school on the International Criminal Court. The summer school consists of five days of intensive lectures given by leading specialists on the subject. The summer school is attended by legal professionals, academics, postgraduate students and NGOs. Read more on the Irish Centre for Human Rights website Conference: Proof in International Criminal Trials From 27-28 June 2014, Bangor Law School and the Bangor Centre for International Law will host a conference on proof in international criminal trials, kindly supported by the British Academy. There is now an impressive body of literature on the precise scope, context and application of evidentiary rules in international criminal trials. However, the issues surrounding proof and reasoning on evidence in international criminal law have remained relatively under-examined to date. By bringing together judges, practitioners and leading scholars on evidence, international criminal procedure and analytical methods, this conference will comprehensively address issues related to proof in international criminal proceedings. Read more on the International Law Reporter website Join the FICJ community: WWW.IAP-ASSOCIATION.ORG/FICJ/HOME 3 Follow us on twitter: @iaprosecutors Kosovo war in a suspected mass grave, officials News May 2014 said Tuesday… Click on the hyperlinked headlines to see the Highlights from the Conference on «Africans and full articles of international criminal justice news Hague Justice: Realities and Perceptions of the from April 2014 International Criminal Court in Africa» (IntLawGrrls) 30 May The Hague University of Applied Sciences and the Can Khmer Rouge Survivors Get Justice? School of Human Rights Research cooperated with (The Diplomat) the Netherlands Association of African Studies to …But over the last eight years, the ECCC has been host a fascinating, interdisciplinary conference widely criticized for the languid pace of its exploring the deterioration of Africa’s relationship proceedings. It has also faced many challenges, with the International Criminal Court… making it uncertain whether or not full transitional justice will be possible, not only for those who 26 May were killed, but also for those who lived, Trial of Gadhafi's son in Libya continues despite traumatized and bereft… international court objection (CNN) 29 May The trial of the son of former Libyan leader Europe rights court upholds conviction of Croatia Moammar Gadhafi and dozens of other former war criminal regime officials resumed in Tripoli on Sunday, in (Jurist) continued defiance of the International Criminal The European Court of Human Rights upheld the Court that last week rejected Libya's plea to try Saif conviction of former Croatian army commander al-Islam Gadhafi domestically… Fred Margus on Wednesday…The ECHR ruled that there were no ascertainable facts to justify doubts 23 May regarding the impartiality of Margus's trial, and ICC gives Congo warlord Germain Katanga 12-year that discontinuance of a trial by a prosecutor does jail term not amount to a conviction or acquittal, so he has (BBC) not been tried twice for the same crime… The International Criminal Court has sentenced ex- Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga to 12 28 May years in prison for aiding and abetting war crimes. Crimes against humanity added to Swedish law Katanga was found guilty in March, only the (The Local) second person to be convicted by the Netherlands- Sweden on Tuesday enshrined crimes against based court. He was behind the 2003 massacre of humanity in its penal code, allowing Swedish hundreds of villagers in the north-east of the courts to prosecute severe crimes committed Democratic Republic of Congo… abroad following similar moves in France and Canada. The law, punishable by an unlimited Karadzic Seeks Investigation Into Hague sentence, will apply retroactively against any Prosecutors person who sets foot on Swedish soil, wherever (IWPR) their victims may have been… Wartime Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic is asking for members of the Hague tribunal 27 May prosecutor’s office to be investigated for “failing to disclose all exculpatory evidence and falsely Remains of Kosovo Albanian war victims found in certifying that they had done so”. Karadzic, whose Serbia trial is complete save for closing arguments, argues (Global Post) that the prosecution certified in 2012 that all Forsenic experts in