January: Acquittal in Finland, former Gambian minister on trial in Switzerland
Former rebel commander acquitted on appeal in Finland. Gibril Massaquoi, former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) commander and spokesperson, was acquitted by the Turku Court of Appeal on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, and torture. He had previously been acquitted by the Tampere District Court in 2022, a decision appealed by the Finnish prosecutors. The Appeals Court, agreeing with the District Court, ruled that it had been established that most of the acts that Massaquoi was accused of took place, but it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it was he who committed them. Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima, along with its Liberia-based sister organisation, had provided the initial information to the Finnish authorities.
Both the Tampere District Court and the Turku Appeals Court relocated to Liberia for most of the hearings, for many months – the District Court also travelled to Sierra Leone, to hear some witnesses in Freetown. In total, more than 200 people testified across both trial and appeal. As the practice of universal jurisdiction is becoming one of the most used tools to tackle impunity related to international crimes, this case will surely become an important reference when it comes to the practice of this legal principle.
Daily summaries of the appeal proceedings and trial monitoring (ongoing) can be found here. An analysis of the judgement will be published by Civitas Maxima in the next coming months.
Former Gambian Interior Minister faces Swiss court for crimes against humanity. The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has held hearings for 13 days in the case of Ousman Sonko, The Gambia’s former Interior Minister under then-President Yahya Jammeh. He is charged with crimes against humanity relating to torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, and unlawful killings allegedly committed between 2000 and 2016. Sonko is the highest ranking official to be prosecuted in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Pleadings will take place in early March.
After receiving information of his presence in Switzerland in 2017, TRIAL International filed a criminal complaint against him. The Swiss NGO has worked with various other Gambian NGOs and is supporting several plaintiffs in the case.
What else happened this month?
- The defense pleads in Uganda’s first war crimes trial. Thomas Kwoyelo was a commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Christian extremist insurgent group which sought the overthrow of the government in Uganda and has committed atrocities throughout the country as well as in South Sudan, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1987. He is facing up to 70 charges, including murder, rape and the recruitment of child soldiers, before the International Criminal Division, a specialized Ugandan court which was set up to try international crimes. Kwoyelo denies all charges and maintains that he himself was kidnapped by the armed group when he was 12 years old.
- Ireland lodged a complaint with the ECHR over controversial Troubles Act. UK’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, signed into law in September 2023, would violate the European Convention on Human Rights, claimed the Irish government. In its application, Ireland contends that the parts of the Act which provide immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during The Troubles (1968-1998), violate the rights to a fair trial, to an effective remedy, and the prohibition of discrimination. It is also argued that these provisions are in violation of the Convention’s articles protecting the right to life and the prohibition against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Read more.
- Investigations move forward for atrocity crimes in Darfur. Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the ICC, reported to the United Nations Security Council this month, declaring that the Court has grounds to believe that international crimes have and are being committed in Darfur, Sudan since the resurgence of the conflict in 2023. The Court will be continuing its investigations, and the prosecutor has asked the international community, as well as Sudanese authorities, for cooperation. The United States has released an arrest warrant and award of up to 5 million $ for information leading to the arrest of Sudan’s former Minister of State for the Interior, Ahmad Mohammad Harun, suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
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- Gender-based violence a ground for asylum in the EU. The European Court of Justice has ruled that a woman who faced honour-killing in Turkey be granted refugee status in Bulgaria. The Court ruled that women form part of a social group, and that if they are subject to physical, mental, sexual, or domestic violence on account of their gender, they are entitled to asylum.
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- Italian government vetoes extradition of priest accused of crimes against humanity. An Argentinian-Italian national, Reverend Franco Reverberi, faces charges of murder and torture committed during Argentina’s military regime. While the top criminal court had validated the extradition requested by Argentina last year, Italy’s justice minister vetoed the measure, citing his age and health condition.
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- Lithuania to pay compensation to Guantanamo ‘black site’ torture victim. The European Court of Human Rights has found that Lithuania violated the human rights of a Guantanamo detainee. Mustafa al Hawsawi was tortured in a secret CIA prison (also known as a black site) in Lithuania, and authorities allowed him to be transferred to prison sites in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, where he was subjected to more torture. The Court ordered Lithuania to pay him 100,000 € in compensation. British intelligence services are also currently under investigation by the investigatory powers tribunal for their alleged complicity in the torture suffered by al Hawsawi.
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- Cases build up on Israel in Gaza. On Friday 26th January, the ICJ ruled that it is plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. While it did not order a cease-fire, it ordered that provisional measures be taken to prevent genocide, including taking measures on humanitarian assistance. The decision was based on, among another things, the widespread destruction currently being caused in Gaza, along with statements made by Israeli officials that could be plausibly implied as demonstrating intent to commit genocide. This case was on the necessity of taking urgent provisional measures and will be followed by a case on the merits as to whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Earlier this month, Mexico and Chile referred the situation in Palestine to the ICC, urging the court to look into possible crimes being committed in Gaza. In addition, Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, was hit with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland. The nature and content of the criminal complaint have not yet been made public.
- Rwandan genocide arrest in UK. The War Crimes Division of the Metropolitan Police has arrested a man living in the North of England and questioned him in connection with the Rwandan genocide that took place in 1994. He has since been released on bail while investigations remain ongoing.
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- Complicity in crimes against humanity charges against Lafarge confirmed. France’s highest court has confirmed the charges of complicity in crimes against humanity against cement company Lafarge. The court affirmed that French authorities had jurisdiction over the potential involvement of a French company in international crimes committed abroad. However, a charge relating to endangering the lives of its staff was dropped, as it was ruled that French labour laws do not apply to Syrian employees in Syria.
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- Syrian cases before European courts. A Swedish woman has been remanded into custody in Sweden on suspicion of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed against Yazidis in Syria. She had previously been sentenced to prison for allowing her 12-year-old son to be recruited as a child soldier in Syria, where he died in 2017, and is now facing charges relating to crimes committed between 2014 and 2016 in Raqqa, Syria. In Germany, the ECCHR and NGO Syrians for Truth and Justice have filed a criminal complaint against pro-Turkish militias for crimes committed against Kurdish Syrians in the north of the country. In the Netherlands, Mustafa A., a former member of Liwa al-Quds, a pro-government militia in Syria, was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was found guilty of complicity in the illegal arrest and torture of a man who was tortured in prison by Syrian Air Force intelligence officials. He had invoked his right to remain silent throughout the trial hearings.
- ICJ partially rejects Ukraine’s case against the Russian Federation. On 31 January, after Ukraine had filed with the court in 2017, ICJ judges rejected most of the country’s requests against Russia. This includes Kyiv’s requests for reparations, and declining to rule on the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down in 2014, killing all people on board. The ICJ, however, found that Russia violated provisional measures the court had ordered in April 2017, and that Russia failed to respect anti-terrorism and anti-racial discrimination treaties.
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- ICC opens its judicial year with hearings. The ICC opened the judicial year of 2024 by continuing its hearings of the case against Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona. Both men are suspected of being high-level members of the anti-balaka movement, a militia group that is accused of committing atrocity crimes in the Central African Republic throughout its civil war. Chief Prosecutor Khan also published the document containing the charges against Joseph Kony, of 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, torture, cruel treatment, and forced pregnancy. The ICC had issued an arrest warrant for Kony, founder and leader of the Lord Resistance Army, in 2005, but his location remains unknown. It is still yet to be decided by the court whether he can be formally charged in absentia.
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Featured image: “The Troubles, Argyle Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland-1970” by Kaspar C is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.