Focus on International Justice – July
Kenyan court confirms jurisdiction over crimes against humanity case
In 2017, after the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya saw a wave of electoral violence where the police clashed with protesters and conducted violent house-to-house operations. The case of ‘Baby Pendo’, a 6-month-old baby who was killed during a raid at her home, became the symbol of a widespread demand for accountability for police violence. In 2022, 12 police officials were charged with 47 crimes against humanity under the International Crimes Act, which incorporates the Rome Statute into Kenyan law. The case then became the subject of a complicated jurisdictional challenge as to whether it should be heard by international or national courts.
On 25th July, the High Court of Nairobi confirmed that the court did have jurisdiction and could hear the case in accordance with Kenyan laws and procedures and did not have to defer to the ICC. This decision has been commended by activists. It marks another example of domestic courts taking the lead in pursuing accountability for international crimes rather than depending on international bodies. Kenya has already seen cases of electoral violence in 2007-8 being taken up and then ‘bungled’ and dropped by the International Criminal Court. Confirming the jurisdiction of national courts over international crimes will allow the justice process to remain within the hands of the Kenyan justice system rather than deferring to external authorities.
Read more:
- High Court ruling marks major steps towards justice for Baby Pendo, 2017 post-election victims – Amnesty
- Dismissal of case against Kenya’s Ruto huge blow to ICC
What else happened this month?
[Guinea] Cases before national authorities – The Dixinn Criminal Court in Conakry has found former Guinean President, Moussa Dadis Camara, as well as several military officials, guilty of crimes against humanity and has convicted Camara and his police chief to 20 years imprisonment. During the Conakry Stadium Massacre, hundreds of protestors contesting Camara’s standing for election faced killings, rapes and sexual violence at the hands of the armed forces. Also this month, families of two government opponents filed a criminal complaint of enforced disappearance with authorities in France against Guinea’s interim President, Mamadi Doumbouya. It is reported that the two activists were arrested at the beginning of the month and are being held incommunicado on the island of Kassa, off the coast of Conakry.
Read more:
- Guinea: Convictions for crimes against humanity following 28 September 2009 massacre trial a historic moment
- Families of missing Guinea junta critics turn to France court
[Syria] Atrocity suspects arrested in the US and Europe – This month, Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, a former military official who worked under President Bashar al-Assad, was arrested in Los Angeles on immigration fraud charges. A complaint lodged with federal authorities claims that al-Sheikh persecuted political dissidents and ordered the execution of prisoners while he was head of the infamous Adra prison in Damascus. A joint operation between Germany, Sweden, Eurojust, and Europol led to the arrests of 8 Syrians suspected of committing crimes against humanity during a violent crackdown of peaceful anti-government protests in 2012. The investigations were triggered after a defector who had worked as a military police photographer shared 50,000 photographs with authorities.
Read more:
- Syrian official who ran prison where detainees alleged torture arrested in US
- Germany, Sweden arrest 8 over suspected war crimes in Syria
[China] International crimes brought to light – The Court of the Citizens of the World, based in the Hague, has issued an arrest warrant against Chinese President Xi Jinping for crimes of aggression against Taiwan, crimes against humanity in Tibet, and genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The warrant issued by the People’s Court is not legally binding, but compiles written evidence, expert testimonies, and hearings documenting widespread abuses committed by the Chinese state. The highest criminal court in Buenos Aries has reversed the archiving of and ordered investigations into a case of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghur population in China. A complaint filed by NGOs in 2022 claims that evidence of ‘re-education camps’, where over one million Uyghur detainees face severe human rights abuses, demonstrates a systematic repression of Turkic people in the Uyghur Region.
Read more:
- ‘People’s court’ issues arrest warrant for Xi Jinping
- Lawyers for WUC and UHRP Submit Universal Jurisdiction Complaint to the Criminal Courts of Argentina
[Myanmar] Weapons sales under scrutiny – The Bank of Thailand and the Anti-Money Laundering Office announced that they are establishing a joint task force to investigate and prevent bank transactions that could lead to arms purchases and human rights abuses in Myanmar. A court in South Africa has ordered the halt of permits facilitating weapons sales to Myanmar. It also ordered the suspension of any contract or export permit issued to countries that have experienced an unconstitutional change of government, crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide.
Read more:
- Thailand to set up task force to prevent transactions for Myanmar arms
- S.Africa court orders suspension, review of arms exports to Myanmar
[Palestine] UN court declares Israel’s occupation illegal – The International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s top court, released a non-binding advisory opinion declaring that Israel has ‘abused its status as an occupying power’, and that its continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and East Jerusalem is unlawful. The court also ruled that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were built and are being expanded in violation of international law. The Israeli military has detained and is investigating 9 soldiers for the suspected abuse of a Palestinian man detained at the Sde Teiman detention camp near Gaza.
Read more:
- ICJ says Israel’s presence in Palestinian territory is unlawful
- Israeli inquest into alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees sparks far-right fury
[Sierra Leone] Businessman arrested in blood diamonds case – At the beginning of the month, a Spanish businessman was arrested on suspicion of illegally trading ‘blood diamonds’ and of complicity in war crimes committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. He is suspected of supporting Revolutionary United Front rebels, who enslaved civilians in Kono, Sierra Leone, and forced them to work in diamond pits.
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[Ghana] Enforced disappeared and the right to information – The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled that Ghana violated the right to information of a man whose father was killed in The Gambia. The court ordered Ghana to transfer information released by Gambian authorities on investigations into the disappearance and deaths of a group of Ghanaians who were travelling through The Gambia on their way to Europe and who were arrested by state security forces.
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[Kosovo] Specialist Chambers hands down war crimes conviction – Pjeter Shala, also known as Commander Wolf, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for war crimes that he committed as a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. He was charged with arbitrary detention and the cruel treatment, torture and murder of at least 18 ethnic Albanian civilians, whom he accused of collaborating with Serbian forces.
Read more:
[Ukraine] Innovative case at the UN Human Rights Committee – A human rights case on behalf of Ukrainian victims of a Russian missile attack in Vinnytsia has been filed with the UN. The case hopes to use an untested interpretation of international human rights law, where any killing arising from an act of aggression constitutes a violation of the victim’s right to life.
Read more: