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]