Focus on International Justice – June
Crimes against humanity under the spotlight in Peru
This month, a court in Lima, Peru convicted 10 retired soldiers and sentenced them to up to 12 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed against 9 Quechua-speaking women. The men were found guilty of, in the 1980s, having raped the women, over half of whom were minors at the time, during the country’s armed conflict between the army and Shining Path Maoist guerrillas.
The ‘Manta y Vilca’ case – named after the communities which suffered the crimes in question – was classified by the Peruvian court as a crime against humanity, due to the systematic nature of the rapes committed by soldiers on Indigenous women. According to the Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, state forces were responsible for over 80% of the cases of sexual violence ranging from rape, sexual slavery, prostitution, and forced abortion committed during the conflict.
The case has been hailed as a breakthrough in Peru. It is the first judicial process to prosecute sexual violence as a crime against humanity in the context of the internal armed conflict between the Peruvian government and the guerilla group Shining Path and its remnants in the 80s and 90s.
The Peruvian government’s implication in crimes against humanity has come under scrutiny this month. After announcing a controversial act which would impose a statute of limitations on the prosecution of crimes against humanity committed before 2002 (thereby excluding crimes committed during the internal armed conflict from prosecution) the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held an emergency public hearing. The Court ordered the government to suspend the legislative process while it rules on provisional measures and examines the proposed act. NGOs have filed a complaint with the ICC to investigate murders and violence committed against protestors in the country 2022 and 2023. The complaint holds that the disproportionate and indiscriminate violence used by Peruvian military and police against mainly young, Indigenous men amounts to a crime against humanity.
Read more:
- Peruvian Ex-Soldiers Who Raped Teenagers Jailed
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights held a public hearing to hear representatives of the victims from the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta cases, and of the Peruvian State on the pro-impunity bill
- Peru in the spotlight for crimes against humanity: Boluarte’s government responsible for murders
What else happened this month?
[France] Courts throw out immunities of Syria officials – In a historic decision, an Appeals Court in Paris, France, has held that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not have total personal immunity despite being an acting head of state. It validated the arrest warrant issued against al-Assad and other high-ranking officials on their alleged complicity in war crimes for a chemical attack on eastern Ghouta in 2013 which claimed over 1000 lives. The case will likely go to the French Supreme Court for criminal matters, the Cour de Cassation.
In another case concerning Syria, the court rejected the functional immunity of Franco-Syrian Adib Malayeh, the former governor of the Syrian Central Bank. He had been indicted for complicity in crimes against humanity, war crimes, and laundering the proceeds of said crimes, in 2022.
Read more:
- French court upholds arrest warrant for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad
- Paris court refuses immunity of former Syrian central bank governor
[Corporate accountability] National courts rule on responsibility for international crimes – A civil court in Florida has found multi-national company Chiquita liable for funding the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that committed murders and violence against civilians living in the areas in which the company operated. This case is the first time that an American jury has held an American corporation responsible for serious human rights abuses committed in another country. A British Court of Appeal has held that the refusal of the National Crime Agency to investigate imported cotton, manufactured in Uyghur forced labour camps in Xinjiang, China, was unlawful. Following this decision, the NCA will have to reconsider its decision not to carry out an investigation.
Read more:
- Colombian Victims Win Historic Verdict Over Chiquita: Jury Finds Banana Company Liable For Financing Death Squads
- Press Release: Decision Overturned: ‘Watershed’ Ruling Confirms that UK Companies Trading in Forced Labour Goods Risk Prosecution
[Mali] Atrocities before the International Criminal Court – On the 26th of June, the ICC found Abdoulaziz al-Hassan, former head of the Islamic police in Timbuktu, Mali, guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes. It was found that he directly committed, contributed to or aided and abetted crimes including torture, cruel treatment, and persecution. However, al-Hassan was acquitted of all charges relating to sexual violence. It was found that the crimes of rape, sexual slavery, and forced marriage were committed by members of the Hisba, or morality police, which was not under his authority.
The Court also made public a previously sealed arrest warrant against Iyad Ag Ghaly for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in northern Mali between January 2012 and January 2013.
Read more:
- ICC/Mali: Al Hassan Verdict Leaves Bitter Taste
- Situation in Mali: ICC unseals arrest warrant against Iyad Ag Ghaly
[Ukraine] Russia’s invasion and occupation under scrutiny – The ICC has issued arrest warrants against two high-ranking Russian military officials, Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu and Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov. They are suspected of being involved in missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against electric infrastructure in Ukraine between 2022 and 2023. The European Court of Human Rights found Russia guilty of the systematic violation of human rights of people living in the occupied Crimean Peninsula. It held that since 2014, Russia has committed violations of the right to life, inhuman or degrading treatment, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression.
Read more:
- Russia/Ukraine: ICC arrest warrants for senior Russian officials ‘a crucial step towards justice’
- Ukraine v Russia (re Crimea): the European Court of Human Rights Goes ‘All-in’
[Venezuela] Universal jurisdiction case in Argentina – This month, Venezuelan victims testified, before a court in Buenos Aires, to human rights abuses they claim were committed by President Nicolás Maduro’s security forces in 2014. Responding to a wave of anti-government protests, Maduro’s forces orchestrated a violent crackdown on protestors, where a number of people were arrested, killed and tortured.
Read more:
[Gaza] International crimes before South Korean court – A collective of NGOs and the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, along with nearly 5,000 signatories, has filed a universal jurisdiction case against Israeli officials before a court in South Korea. The case details civilian casualties committed between October 7, 2023, and April this year, and qualifies the Israeli President, Prime Minister, and military officials, as responsible for a number of international crimes including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Read more:
- Accuse 7 Israeli War Criminals (English version)
[Rwanda] Belgian court hands down prison sentence – A court in Brussels found Emmanuel Nkunduwimye guilty of war crimes and genocide for a series of murders as well as the rape of a Tutsi woman. In 1994, Nkunduwimye, known as Bomboko, owned a garage in a complex of buildings in Kigali that saw massacres perpetrated by Interahamwe militiamen against Tutsi people. The trial was marked with considerable difficulties with the defection of one third of the witnesses called to testify.
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[Syria] Mohammed Hamo acquitted by Swedish court – Mohamed Hamo, a former Syrian Brigadier General, has been acquitted of aiding and abetting international crimes. He was accused of providing weapons that were used to commit indiscriminate attacks on military and civilian targets in and around Homs and Hamas in 2012. The Stockholm District Court held that there was insufficient evidence to show that Hamo had armed the squad responsible for the attacks.
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[Democratic Republic of Congo] Military court declines jurisdiction – A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo has ruled that it is incompetent to try the case on the alleged international crimes committed during a Kamwina Nsapu insurrection that occurred in Kasai in 2017. After days of hearings, the court held that as one of the 9 defendants was a military general, the entire case had to be tried by a Military High Court.
Read more:
[Montenegro] Prosecutor investigated for war crimes – Authorities in Montenegro announced that they are investigating Milivoje Katnic, a former special prosecutor, for alleged war crimes. Katnic was arrested previously this year and is accused of crimes such as inhumane treatment and the torture of Croatian civilians during the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991.
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Photo: Palacio de Justicia of Lima, Peru. Wikimedia Commons.
