Criminal Courts and Tribunals Tracy French American University Washington College of Law

Human Rights Brief Volume 20 | Issue 2 Article 10 2013 Criminal Courts and Tribunals Tracy French American University Washington College of Law Megan Wakefield American University Washington College of Law William Xu American University Washington College of Law Alli Assiter American University Washington College of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief Part of the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation French, Tracy, Megan Wakefield, William Xu, and Alli Assiter. "Criminal Courts and Tribunals." Human Rights Brief 20, no. 2 (2013): 59-64. This Column is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Human Rights Brief by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. French et al.: Criminal Courts and Tribunals Criminal Courts AND Tribunals INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT attack on Bogoro were held in camps as of the Prosecutor does appear to be of sex slaves after the attack. The Charging concern to Bensouda, who was elected in ICC HANDS DOWN ACQUITTAL IN Document indicted Ngudjolo and Katanga June 2012 to the position and confirmed CONGOLESE MILITARY CASE under Article 25(3)(a) as principals who her commitment to the cause at the ICC indirectly co-perpetrated war crimes and Assembly of States Parties session in The The International Criminal Court crimes against humanity. Article 25(3) Hague in November. Without effective handed down its second verdict and first (a) provides that a person shall be crimi- investigation, prosecutorial practices, and acquittal in its ten-year history on December nally responsible and liable for punishment policy, it will be impossible for the ICC to 18, 2012, in the case of Mathieu Ngudjolo. if that person “commits such a crime, provide justice to victims of human rights Ngudjolo, together with Germain Katanga, whether as an individual, jointly with abuses worldwide. faced charges of war crimes and crimes another or through another person, regard- against humanity with regard to acts in the less of whether that other person is crimi- Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of ICC APPEALS CHAMBER CONFIRMS nally responsible.” The war crimes charges Congo in 2003. As of February 2013, the JURISDICTION IN CASE AGAINST fell under Article 8(2)(b) and comprised Trial Chamber had not issued a verdict on FORMER CÔTE D’IVOIRE PRESIDENT using child solders, directly attacking a the charges against Katanga. In Ngudjolo’s civilian population, willful killing, destruc- The ICC Appeals Chamber held on case, the panel of three judges of Trial tion of property, pillaging, sexual slavery, December 12, 2012, that the Court has Chamber II found that the Prosecutor had and rape. The crimes against humanity jurisdiction to try former Côte d’Ivoire presented insufficient evidence to estab- charges fall under Article 7(1) and include President Laurent Gbagbo despite the lish beyond a reasonable doubt Ngudjolo’s murder, rape, and sexual slavery. defense’s numerous challenges. Gbagbo responsibility for the attack on the village faces charges related to events surround- of Bogoro. Those who viewed Ngudjolo’s The ICC’s standard of proof in Article ing his failure to step down after losing the trial as a sign that the international com- 66(3) of the Rome Statute states that “in 2010 presidential election. The Court con- munity would hold accountable those order to convict the accused, the Court firmed charges on four counts of crimes responsible for the atrocities committed in must be convinced of the guilt of the against humanity including murder, rape the Ituri region see his acquittal as a major accused beyond a reasonable doubt.” and other sexual violence, persecution, setback. The outcome has also raised ques- According to Article 66, accused persons and other inhuman acts committed during tions about the Office of the Prosecutor’s are presumed innocent until proven guilty. the post-election violence in Côte d’Ivoire ability to effectively collect and present In the judgment, the three-judge panel between December 16, 2010, and April 12, evidence in a court so far removed from the found that the prosecution failed this stan- 2011. The confirmation of jurisdiction in this crimes it tries. dard because the judges noted unreliable case strengthens the Court’s ability to exer- testimony by three crucial prosecution The Prosecutor issued warrants for cise jurisdiction in order to hold international witnesses who could not definitively sup- Ngudjolo’s and Katanga’s arrests on June human rights violators accountable. port that Ngudjolo was responsible for 25, 2007, and submitted the Amended the attack. Despite the ruling, Presiding Gbagbo served as president from his Charging Document in June 2008. On Judge Bruno Cotte added that Ngudjolo’s election in 2000 until his defeat by current September 30, 2008, Pre-Trial Chamber acquittal “does not necessarily mean that President Alassane Ouattara in the long I unanimously found sufficient evidence the alleged fact did not occur,” stressing overdue elections of November 28, 2010. to establish substantial grounds to believe that the ruling did not put into question the Gbagbo refused to accept defeat, leading that Ngudjolo and Katanga had commit- victims’ suffering. to protracted violence throughout Côte ted the crimes charged by the prosecution d’Ivoire until April 2011, when President and so the case progressed to be heard and Since the ICC announced its judg- Ouattara finally took power with the help decided by a Trial Chamber. On November ment, many human rights groups have of French and United Nations forces. The 21, 2012, Trial Chamber II severed the expressed grave concern over the Office of violence by both sides led to 3,000 deaths charges against Ngudjolo and Katanga, cit- the Prosecutor’s effectiveness in bringing and nearly one million displaced civilians. ing evidence that changed the legal charac- human rights abusers to justice. Geraldine The ICC Prosecutor requested authoriza- terization of one of the modes of liability Mattiolo-Zeltner, International Justice tion from the Pre-Trial Chamber to initiate for Katanga. Advocacy Director at Human Rights his own investigation into the situation in Watch, stated that, “given the judges’ com- The charges against Ngudjolo, a Côte d’Ivoire in June 2011. The Chamber ments on the insufficient evidence pro- Congolese militia leader, allege his respon- granted his proprio motu investigation duced during the trial, [Chief Prosecutor sibility for the attack by armed forces request in October 2011, and the Court Fatou] Bensouda should speed up efforts to in Bogoro that resulted in the rape and issued the warrant for Gbagbo’s arrest improve investigative practices and pros- murder of more than 200 people, includ- on November 23, 2011. Gbagbo is being ecutorial policy.” The need to improve ing children. Female survivors of the charged individually as an indirect co- investigations conducted by the Office perpetrator of the attacks against civilian Published by Digital Commons @ American University Washington College59 of Law, 2013 1 Human Rights Brief, Vol. 20, Iss. 2 [2013], Art. 10 Ouattara supporters that the prosecution his fundamental rights had been violated to commit genocide, and extermination argues were committed by forces acting on to the extent that the Court should not and rape as crimes against humanity on his behalf. After his arrest in April 2011, exercise its jurisdiction over him. These December 20, 2012. Ngirabatware was Gbagbo was held under house arrest in claims were based on alleged violations of sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role Côte d’Ivoire until his extradition to The Gbagbo’s fundamental rights from his arrest in orchestrating the Rwandan genocide Hague in November 2011. by domestic authorities on April 11, 2011, as Planning Minister in the Hutu govern- until his transfer to The Hague on November ment. Ngirabatware was the last person The Pre-Trial Chamber categorically 29, 2011. The Appeals Chamber quickly facing trial before the Tribunal, and when rejected all challenges to the Court’s juris- denied these five grounds within the mean- the final cases on appeal are resolved, the diction, despite the fact that Côte d’Ivoire ing of Article 82(1)(a) of the Rome Statute ICTR will close. The Tribunal has stated is not a formal State Party to the Rome as not referring to a decision with respect that it must close by December 2014, Statute. The Chamber based its jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Article 82(1)(a) gives either when all further cases will be transferred on a declaration made by Côte d’Ivoire in party the ability to appeal a decision with to local courts in Kigali. Since its creation 2003 that recognized the Court’s jurisdic- respect to jurisdiction or admissibility. in 1994, the ICTR has resolved 71 cases, tion for actions that occurred from 2002 resulting in 92 indictments, ten acquittals, to 2003 pursuant to Article 12(3) of the The significance of the Appeals and 32 convicted Rwandans who are cur- Rome Statute. Chamber confirmation of jurisdiction in rently serving prison sentences in Mali and this case cannot be overstated given that On August 21, 2012, Gbagbo appealed Benin. The ICTR will attempt to complete Côte d’Ivoire is not a Member State and the decision to the Appeals Chamber the seven outstanding appeals involving that the Prosecutor initiated the investiga- on ten different grounds. The first two seventeen individuals before its closure tion proprio motu. Of the eight situations grounds dealt with the appropriateness next year. The first appellate decision — the Court has investigated, the Prosecutor of Côte d’Ivoire’s participation as a non- an acquittal in the cases of Justin Mugenzi initiated two, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire.

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