Switzerland, despite its historic role in advancing global anti-torture conventions, still lacks a national law criminalizing torture. Director of Civitas Maxima and laywer Alain Werner urges Parliament to correct this gap, aligning Swiss law with international standards to ensure accountability, justice, and protection for all.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis’s suggestion to grant Vladimir Putin immunity for peace talks undermines international justice. Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima, warns that such a move, though legally possible, would violate Switzerland’s obligations to the ICC and weaken its credibility as a defender of international law.
The world urgently needs a public mobilization around humanitarian law and the necessity of maintaining minimum standards of humanity in war. Switzerland, as the depository state of the Geneva Conventions, should be at the forefront, actively advocating for all victims of violations of international humanitarian law and defending this law with passion.
Not long ago, the appeal trial of Alieu Kosiah, a former rebel leader who committed atrocities during the First Liberian Civil War, took place. The Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona sentenced him on June 1, 2023, for war crimes and, for the first time, crimes against humanity. Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima and lawyer for the plaintiffs in the trial, shares his thoughts on this unprecedented verdict.
It remains to be seen whether Rifaat al-Assad will ever be tried in Switzerland for his alleged crimes. However, thanks to the persistence of Geneva-based Trial International and the Office of the Attorney General in Bern, an international arrest warrant for him, for war crimes, has now been issued.
A Swiss court upheld the conviction of Alieu Kosiah, a former Liberian rebel leader, for war crimes, marking the first conviction for crimes against humanity in Switzerland. Meanwhile, a new treaty on international crimes was adopted, and a US arms dealer was convicted for torture in Iraq.
Benjamin Ferencz, the last Nuremberg prosecutor, passed away this month, leaving a legacy of accountability in international law. His work resonates amid significant legal actions, including the Swiss indictment of Gambia’s ex-minister for crimes against humanity and France’s upcoming trial of Syrian officials for war crimes.
English Switzerland: Federal Prosecutor’s Office opens Investigation into attack of Swiss Journalist in Ukraine On March 26, 2023, the spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), confirmed in a press article that criminal proceedings were being initiated for the attack against Swiss press reporter Guillaume Briquet by an alleged Russian commando, and that further […]
Appeal in Alieu Kosiah Case and Upcoming Trial of Kunti K. in Paris The case of Alieu Kosiah, former United Liberation Movement of Liberia (ULIMO) sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his role in the First Liberian civil war, will go in appeal in January 2023. The Appeal proceedings in front of the Swiss Federal […]
English version Switzerland: Denunciation filed on the attack of a Swiss Journalist by Russian Forces On August 17, 2022, the Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds – assisted by Civitas Maxima – filed a denunciation with the Attorney General of Switzerland. Since 2014, Truth Hounds has documented international crimes committed in Ukraine. Truth Hounds’ team has carried out […]
