In this week’s review, news about the scheduling of the Gbagbo and Ble Goude No Case to Answer and Provisional Release decisions, the MICT’s order to transfer Akayesu to Benin from Mali, the start of the Gambian Truth Commission, charging of former Romanian Pres Iliescu and Vice PM Voiculescu with CAH, and more
ICC Trial Chamber to Deliver Decisions on Provisional Release and No Case to Answer Motions in Gbagbo & Ble Goude Case
Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court has announced an open hearing on 15 January, during which it will deliver its decision on a request for provisional release and a no case to answer motion in the Gbagbo and Ble Goude case. Defence Counsel for Laurent Gbagbo filed the request for provisional release in July 2018 and Defence Counsel for Charles Ble Goude filed the no case to answer motion a month later, arguing that the Prosecution has not presented sufficient evidence to support a conviction. Gbagbo and Ble Goude are charged with the crimes against humanity of rape, murder, other inhumane acts and persecution, committed during the post-election violence in Cote d’Ivoire between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011. The trial opened on 28 January 2016, and after 194 hearing days and 80 witnesses, the Prosecution’s evidence closed in June 2018. The Trial Chamber’s decision can be watched live on the ICC website. (ICC Court Records, ICC Media Advisory)
Hearings begin at Truth Commission in the Gambia
On 7 January, hearings commenced at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission in Banjul, the Gambia. Witnesses have been called to give evidence into the circumstances in which Yahya Jammeh took power in 1994 and overthrew the existing constitutional order. Mr Jammeh ruled the West African nation until 2016 when current president Adama Barrow was elected. Mr Jammeh initially refused to step down which resulted in a crisis which continued until January 2017 when he officially abdicated and went into exile. In particular, the Commission is tasked with investigating human rights abuses and crimes such as enforced disappearances, summary executions, torture and rape. (US News)
Three indicted for crimes against humanity under Bosnia and Herzegovina Criminal Code
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes filed an indictment against three people, Ranko Babić, Bratislav Bilbija, and Đuro Adamović, charging them for the commission of crimes against the civilians of the village of Ljeskare, in the summer of 1992. The charges allege that during the war and armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the widespread and systematic attack on Bosniak civilians in the area of Prijedor, as commanders and members of the VRS, the accused acted contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. According to the indictment, in August of 1992, the accused arrived in Ljeskare where Bosniak civilians lived, separated a number of men including minors and proceeded to torture, mistreat and murder them. Specifically, the accused have been charged with crimes against humanity in violation of Article 172 of the Criminal Code of BiH and the indictment has been forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation. (Sarajevo Times)
Lawyers to take Syrian reparations case to Dutch courts
Lawyers in the Netherlands are preparing to file at least four cases before Dutch courts, which they say would seek damages on behalf of Syrian citizens for pain and suffering caused during the ongoing conflict in Syria. The lawyers say they are seeking witnesses and possible suspects among Syrians who have sought refuge in the Netherlands. These cases would mark the latest in efforts across domestic courts in Europe to exercise universal jurisdiction over crimes committed in Syria and bring accountability to the conflict. Syria is not a member state to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and therefore is not subject to its jurisdiction. Attempts to have the situation referred to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council have been unsuccessful. Despite the lack of an international criminal tribunal to try cases arising out of the situation in Syria, other organisations such as the General Assembly established International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) and the private Centre for Justice and Accountability have been gathering evidence and conducting investigations. (Balkan Insight)
US Navy Veteran pleads not guilty at arraignment for war crimes in US military trial
On 4 January, at a Naval Base San Diego, Edward Gallagher, a decorated 19-year veteran in the US Navy, plead not guilty to charges of premeditated murder and other offences. He was charged with the fatal stabbing of a teenage Islamic State prisoner under his care in Iraq in 2017, and the shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians, including an elderly man carrying a water jug in Mosul in June 2017 and a girl walking in the same area a month later. The military court scheduled his trial to begin in February 2019. Mr Gallagher’s attorney has stated that his client is being falsely accused by disgruntled Navy SEALs who want to get rid of a demanding platoon leader. (VOA News, NPR
US Citizen to Appear before International Crimes Tribunal for Alleged War Crimes
US Citizen, Mohamed Jubair Monir, has been arrested in Bangladesh for allegedly committing war crimes in the 1971 war between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Monir, who is of Bangladeshi descent, was 13 years old during the war. Monir is being held in Keriniganj Jail and will make his first appearance before the International Crimes Tribunal on 20 January. The Tribunal hears cases arising from the war and has so far convicted 75 people and issued 53 death sentences. Reports indicate that Monir’s arrest is likely due to the political tension in Bangladesh following the recent election, which has drawn criticism for related violations of human rights and unfairness. (Jurist)
Former Romanian President and Vice PM indicted for Crimes against Humanity
Ion Iliescu and Gelu Voican Voiculescu, the former President and Vice Prime Minister of Romania respectively, were both indicted for crimes against humanity on 21 December 2018. Two other Romanian military members, Iosif Rus, and Emil Dumitrescu, were also charged with crimes against humanity for the 862 deaths, 2,150 injuries, hundreds of imprisonments and psychological trauma that occurred between 22 and 30 December 1989 as a result of chaotic shooting and contradictory military orders which prosecutors characterised as stemming from “a general psychosis of terrorism”. Prosecutors wrote that “These tragic consequences were much more serious than the repression exercised between December 17 and 22, 1989” and alleged that Ion Iliescu and Gelu Voican Voiculescu “directly misinformed through their televised appearances and press releases (contributing to a general psychosis of terrorism), took part in the diversion created in order for the Ceausescu couple to be executed and accepted diversionist acts carried out by individuals with leadership positions in the Defence Ministry, and did not intervene to stop them.” (Business Review)
MICT orders transfer of Akayesu from Mali to Benin to serve the remainder of his sentence
On 19 December 2018, the then President of the Residual Mechanism (‘MICT’), Judge Theodor Meron ordered the transfer of Jean-Paul Akayesu from detention in Mali to the Republic of Benin. The order came after a confidential memorandum from the Registrar and pursuant to the Enforcement Agreement with the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Benin. Upon the enforcement of the sentence by the relevant national authorities, Mr Akayesu will serve the remainder of the sentence in Benin. Mr Akayesu was bourgmestre of Taba commune, Rwanda between 7 April and the end of June 1994. He was charged with genocide, crimes against humanity including sexual violence and rape and violations of the Geneva Conventions. The case against Mr Akayesu was the first trial before the ICTR. The judgment was the first time that an international tribunal ruled that rape could constitute genocide. Mr Akayesu was also the first person convicted as an individual for rape as a crime against humanity. Mr Akayesu was sentenced to life imprisonment on 1 June 2001 and since December 2001 he has been serving his sentence in the prison in Mali. (MICT Order)
Photos: ICC-CPI/Flickr
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