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]