ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Former First Lady of Ivory Coast

By | Published December 1, 2012

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands,  last week unsealed an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo, the former First Lady of the Ivory Coast.   The warrant, issued under seal in February, was unsealed and made public last week.

The warrant says that the prosecutor requested a warrant against:

Simone Gbagbo (“Ms Gbagbo”) for her individual criminal
responsibility as regards the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and
other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhumane acts
committed during the post-election crisis from 28 November 2010 onwards
by the Ivorian Defence and Security Forces (“FDS”), which were reinforced
by youth militias and mercenaries loyal to President Gbagbo (“pro-Gbagbo
forces”), in Abidjan, including around the Golf Hotel and elsewhere in the
country.

The court found reasonable cause to issue the warrant for the crimes against humanity of murder, rape, persecution and “other inhumane acts.” The court found Mrs. Gbagbo responsible as “an indirect co-perpetrator.”    Even so, the court found reasonable grounds that she participated by:

i) adopting the common plan; ii) being aware of its implementation and the
means other members of the inner circle had at their disposal to implement
the common plan; iii) meeting with members of Mr Gbagbo’s inner circle to
discuss and coordinate the implementation of the common plan; iv) playing a
key role in recruiting and instructing the galaxie patriotique, and integrating
them into the FDS; and v) being aware of the contribution of other members
of Mr Gbagbo’s inner circle to the implementation of the common plan.
Furthermore, the Chamber is of the view that Ms Gbagbo was fully conscious
of the factual circumstances that enabled her and other members of
Mr Gbagbo’s inner circle to exercise joint control over the crimes.

Mrs. Gabagbo is the first woman to be charged publicly by the court. Her husband,  former president Laurent Gbagbo, is currently in ICC custody awaiting his confirmation of charges hearing, (similar to probable cause to proceed to trial).  Ivory Coast is not an ICC state party, but acceded to the authority of the court to investigate the post-election violence.  Mrs. Gbagbo is in custody in Ivory Coast, and may face trial there.  As apparently the two remaining indictees in Libya may stay in Libya for trials.  Libya has made clear it does not wish to send Saif Qadafi to the ICC, but wants to proceed with a trial in Libya.

 

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Will Muammar Qadafi Appear at the ICC?

By | Published August 29, 2011

When the United Nations referred the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in February, there seemed to be a theory that it would reduce the violence with which the regime responded, and that it would deter others from responding to uprisings with force.  Neither has quite happened, and now there seems to be a growing movement to ignore the ICC indictment and let Libya determine the appropriate resolution for Qadafi.  Since rebels took control of Tripoli, it has been reported that a bounty of $2 million has been placed on the “arrest or death” of Qadafi, along with amnesty for the claimant.

In July, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Qadafi, his son Saif, and the country’s intelligence chief.  British Prime Minister David Cameron recently appeared to voice support for a Libyan process rather than the ICC process.  This led to at least one commentator to argue to the contrary.  According to lawyer Geoffrey Robertson:

It is too much to expect that Gaddafi can receive justice at the hands of those whom he has repressed for so long, in a corrupt judicial system that he controlled (and so could not be considered “judicial” in any real sense). It must now be reconstructed from scratch, with new judges independent of the National Transitional Council. That gimcrack organisation’s UN spokesman said that it wants to organise Gaddafi’s trial, but it is plainly unable to secure an unbiased legal process when he does fall into its hands. The bounty on his head seems to confirm the NTC’s preference for Gaddafi’s summary execution.

There is a more important reason of principle why the fate of the Gaddafis must not be left to the Libyans. The colonel is charged with crimes against humanity – the mass murder of civilians by perpetrating offences so barbaric that the very fact that a fellow human being can commit them demeans us all. Ordering the massacre of 1,200 captives in a prison compound, blowing 270 people out of the sky over Lockerbie, and almost as many in a UTA passenger jet over Chad a few months later – these are merely the most egregious examples of international crimes committed by the worst man left in the world. It is essential, therefore, that Gaddafi face real justice in The Hague and not revenge in Benghazi.

This is a bit of overstatement, given that the mandate from the U.N. Security Council was only to investigate crimes against humanity, war crimes occurring since February, 2011.  Other commentators have questioned whether the ICC has the tools and credibility to carry out the investigation and prosecution, with all the cases going on, the lead prosecutor leaving at the end of his term next year.

Whatever the resolution of the Libya cases, whether or not they wind up in The Hague will be a key test of the credibility of the ICC.  Can the ICC truly be an institution of international justice or will it be a threat rarely fulfilled?

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Darfur Case Starts Confirmation of Charges Without the Accused Attending

By | Published December 9, 2010

The second Darfur, Sudan case has begun the confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC), but without the presence of the accused. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) are accused of directing attacks on African Union peacekeepers in 2007.  Banda and Jerbo appeared voluntarily before the court and have been under court supervision, but not in custody.  The Confirmation of Charges hearing began on December 8th. Banda  and Jerbo have received the approval of the court to not attend the hearings, though their lawyers will be in attendance.

In a previous Darfur case, the accused, Bahr Idriss Abu Garda (Abu Garda), appeared voluntarily before the court and had his case dismissed at the Confirmation of Charges stage.   Abu Garda was also accused of directing attacks on peacekeeping forces and other war crimes.

The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide occurring since 2002 in the territories of the 114 nations that have ratified the ICC treaty, or by their nationals, or in the situations referred to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council.  The situation in Darfur is the first case to come to the court at the direction of the U.N. Security Council for the ongoing concerns of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes alleged to be ongoing in Darfur, though Sudan is not a signatory to the ICC treaty.

In addition to the three accused who have appeared voluntarily before the court, the court has publicly issued warrants for the arrest of the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs of Sudan, Ahmad Harun, and the rebel leader Ali Kushayb.  The warrant for Bashir was the first public indictment of a sitting head of state by an International Tribunal.  The indictments against Banda, Jerbo and Abu Garda were not made public until they appeared before the court.  It is not known how many indictments have been issued under seal.

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Human Rights Watch Asks Kenya to Bar Entry to Bashir

By | Published October 26, 2010

Human Rights Watch along with other NGOs have urged that Kenya refuse entry or arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.  Bashir is the first sitting head of state indicted by an International Criminal Tribunal.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands has indicted Bashir for war crimes and genocide in Darfur, and issued two warrants for his arrest. He traveled to Kenya earlier this year, but was not arrested.  Kenya is a signatory to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.  All state parties of the ICC have agreed to cooperate with the ICC and arrest the persons sought by the ICC.

Sudan is not a signatory to the ICC treaty and has refused to surrender its president or the other ICC accused from its territory.  The situation in Sudan was referred to the ICC by a vote of the U.N. Security Council.

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Fourth DRC Suspect Arrested in France

By | Published October 11, 2010

The fourth person accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Callixte Mbarushimana has been arrested in France.  Mbarushima is listed as the Executive Secretary of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, (FDLR) and is accused of six counts of war crimes and was arrested outside his home in Paris to fact charges at the International Criminal Court, (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

The warrant naming Mbarushimana was unsealed after his arrest, raising the question  of how many other sealed indictments and warrants await public disclosure.  The ICC press release on the arrest of Mbarushimana is available here. Bloomberg news covered the story here.

According to a fact sheet released by the ICC:

 In sealed documents submitted to the ICC
judges on 20 August 2010, the Office of the
Prosecutor (OTP) presented evidence against
Mr. Callixte MBARUSHIMANA, Executive
Secretary of the FDLR, charging him with 6
counts of war crimes and 5 counts of crimes
against humanity.
 The Court’s Pre‐Trial Chamber I issued a
sealed arrest warrant on 28 September 2010.
 On 11 October 2010, the French authorities
executed the arrest warrant and arrested Mr.
Callixte MBARUSHIMANA in Paris, France.

The fact sheet describes the allegations as follows:

 Mr. Callixte MBARUSHIMANA is accused
of being among the top FDLR leaders that, at
the end of 2008 and over the course of 2009,
agreed to conduct widespread and systematic
attacks against the civilian population in order
to create a humanitarian catastrophe. He is
also accused of agreeing to conduct and
personally conducting an international
campaign intended to persuade the DRC and
Rwanda Governments and the international
community that the FDLR could not be
defeated militarily and thereby to extort from
them concessions of political power for the
FDLR in Rwanda as a condition for the FDLR
to stop committing atrocities against civilians.
 The OTP accuses Mr. Callixte
MBARUSHIMANA, as part of the FDLR
leadership, of having used violence against
civilians as their main bargaining tool in their
international campaign to attempt to extort
from Rwanda and the international
community political power for the FDLR.
 The OTP accused Mr. Callixte
MBARUSHIMANA of being responsible for
the crimes committed by the FDLR in pursuit
of this goal as contributor to the commission
of crimes by the FDLR, a group acting with a
criminal common purpose.
 As such, the OTP alleges that Mr. Callixte
MBARUSHIMANA is responsible for the war
crimes of (1) attacks against the civilian
population; (2) destruction of property; (3)
murders or willful killings; (4) rape; (5)
inhuman treatment; and (6) torture, and the
crimes against humanity of (1) murders; (2)
torture; (3) rape; (4) inhumane acts; and (5)
persecution.

Mbarushmina is the first accused at the ICC to face charges for crimes alleged to have been committed in the Kivus provinces of the DRC.  The three accused from the DRC who are presently at the ICC are in trial.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo former head of the Union of Congolese Patriots was brought to the court in 2006, his trial began in January 2009, with the defense case beginning in January 2010.  His trial was adjourned for failure by the prosecutor to disclose the identity of an investigator, but is expected to resume shortly.

Germain Katanga and Matthieu Ngdolo Chui are also from the DRC and are being tried together.  Their trial commenced on November 24, 2009.  Katanga and Chui are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity including, using child soldiers, sexual slavery, attacking civilians, rape and pillaging.

Those are the only cases to come to trial in the history of the ICC.  A third trial, that of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, of the Central African Republic accused of rape and murder as crimes against humanity and rape, murder and pillaging as war crimes is awaiting the end of the  Lubanga trial in order to start trial.

The ICC began in 2002 when the 60th nation ratified its treaty, as of November 1, there will 114 nations that have ratified the treaty and subjected their citizens to the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Three citizens of Sudan, which is not a state’s party to the ICC have appeared before the court voluntarily to face charges.  The first, Bahr Idriss Abu-Garda had his case dismissed at the confirmation of charges hearing.  Two others, Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jermus are awaiting the confirmation of charges hearing after appearing voluntarily in June of 2010.

There are outstanding warrants for the arrest of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, the president of Sudan for genocide and war crimes, Ahmed Harun, minister of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan and the leader of the Janjaweed Militia, Ali Kushayeb. The case against Al-Bashir is the most controversial, having raised concerns about the indictments of sitting heads of state. Al Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted for war crimes or crimes against humanity by an international tribunal.

There have been public indictments issued from investigations in Uganda, and the prosecutor has announced the indictments will be published in the next few months in the investigations into post-election violence in Kenya.

The prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has also said there may be investigations into crimes within the jurisdiction of the court in Afghanistan, Colombia,  Georgia, and  Guinea.  At the moment, the only publicly disclosed investigation are from five contiguous countries in Africa, DRC, Central African Republic, Kenya, Uganda and the Darfur region in Sudan.

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Appeals Chamber Reverses Pre-Trial Chamber in Bashir Warrant Decision.

By | Published February 3, 2010

The International Criminal Court made history in March of 2009 by issuing an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state, Omar Al Bashir, the President of Sudan. The warrant for his arrest was based on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The pre-trial chamber though declined to issue a warrant for the charge of genocide, finding at the time that the prosecutor had not established sufficient evidence of genocidal intent.

Today the appeals chamber of the ICC issued a decision, available here, determining that the pre-trial chamber erred by using the wrong standard for making its determination. The pre-trial chamber decided that since genocidal intent was only one of the reasonable inferences based on the evidence submitted and that a warrant should not issue for genocide. The appeals chamber reasoned that the pre-trial chamber read in too high a requirement when reading the statute’s requirement that a warrant of arrest required “reasonable grounds to believe” that a crime within the jurisdiction of the court occurred.

The appeals chamber said the pre-trial chamber’s determination effectively required the prosecutor to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt and “disprove any other reasonable conclusions.”  The appeals chamber determined that this effectively required a trial standard of proof at the issuance of an arrest warrant and did not recognize the statute’s escalating standards of proof, “reasonable grounds to believe” at the warrant stage, “substantial grounds to believe” at the confirmation of charges stage and “beyond reasonable doubt” for a conviction at trial.

The appeals chamber did not issue a warrant based on charges of genocide but sent the matter back to the pre-trial chamber for a determination based on whether or not there are reasonable grounds to believe that Bashir and the Government of acted with genocidal intent in Darfur.  The court’s press release summary of the decision is available here.

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