May
31

ICC Pre-Trial Chamber Notifies Security Council of Sudan’s Failure to Cooperate

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued a document titled “Decision informing the United Nation’s Security Council about the lack of cooperation by the Republic of Sudan.“  The decision gives notice to the Security Council that the one situation referred to the ICC by the Security Council has not been able to proceed, in large part because the indicted parties in the Sudanese government have not appeared before the court.

The President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has been indicted by the court for crimes against humanity and war crimes, as have the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Omar Harun, and the leader of the Janjaweed Militia, Ali Kushayb.  Interestingly the decision does not mention President Bashir, only Harun and Kushayb.  A fourth leader from Sudan, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda appeared voluntarily before the court and the charges were dismissed at the confirmation of charges hearing.

At least one commentator has suggested the decision is of “lamentable quality” and poor timing, coming out just before the Association of States Parties are to meet in Kampala for a review of the progess of the court and the Rome Statute.  111 nations have ratified the Rome Treaty and joined the court.  Three notable holdouts have been Security Council members Russia, China and the United States.    Kofi Annan, who was U.N. Secretary General at the time of the creation the court has argued the need for universal ratification.

The Situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC by the Security Council because of the concerns of an ongoing genocide.  Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by an international tribunal.  Some governments have promised to arrest him if he enters their territory, others have allowed him safe passage.  When or whether he appears before the court is an open question.

May
04

Lubanga Defense Again Raises Concerns About Translation Errors

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo’s defense team again raised concerns about the accuracy of the translations and transcripts of the proceedings.  Defense counsel Catherine Mabile reported to the chamber that the defense had found “extremely important discrepancies” in the testimony of some witnesses.  It is unclear what the discrepancies were.  The Open Society Institute blogged the report here. The trial was previously stopped because of reported errors in translation and transcription which was blogged here, and by the Open Society Institute blog here.

The official languages of the International Criminal Court are English and French and all proceedings are simultaneously translated and transcribed in both languages.  Both transcripts are intended to be authoritative records of the trial proceedings.  Witnesses often testify in a third language so the possibility for errors and for entirely different translations of the testimony effects the quality of the record.

Thomas Lubanga is the first accused to come to trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Lubanga was brought to the court in 2007, his trial commenced in January 2009.  The defense began to present its case in January 2010.  Lubanga was the leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC in French) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is accused of the war crime of recruiting, conscripting and using child soldiers.  The defense has contested the evidence that soldiers were younger than 15 at the time they joined the UPC and have asserted that some of the witnesses were not in fact in the UPC.

The ICC was created by the Treaty of Rome, and became effective when 60 nations ratified that treaty in July 2002.  The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes occurring after that date within the countries that have ratified the treaty or by nationals of countries that have ratified the treaty. The ICC can assert jurisdiction over cases when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.  The ICC has investigations open in the DRC, Uganda, the Central African Republic, and has opened an investigation into the post-election violence in Kenya.  In addition to those nations which have signed the treaty, the ICC has an active investigation and indictments against three persons regarding Darfur, Sudan.  The Darfur situation was referred to the court by the Security Council of the United Nations and is different from the other cases because Sudan is not a signatory to the Treaty of Rome.  The ICC is seated in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Apr
30

ICC Appeals Chamber Rejects Prosecution Appeal

The office of the prosecutor appealed the decision of the pre-trial chamber declining to confirm charges again Bahar Idriss Abu Garda.  The trial chamber decision, originally blogged here,  found that the office of the prosecutor had not produced enough evidence to continue the case for trial.   The standard of proof at the confirmation of charges hearing is “substantial grounds.” Abu Garda was charged with three war crimes, violence to life, directing attacks against peacekeeping forces, and pillaging.

The court issues indictments when the prosecutor establishes “reasonable grounds” for the charges.  If the pre-trial chamber finds “substantial grounds,” the case is continued for trial where the case must be established beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Abu Garda case is unique in a number of ways.  Abu Garda is the first defendant from the situation in Darfur to appear before the court, and the first accused in any situation to appear voluntarily before the court.  He is now the first to have his case dismissed at the confirmation of charges hearing and the first to have a dismissal affirmed by the appeals chamber.

The Hague Justice Portal blog on the appeals chamber decision is available here. The  appeals chamber decision was issued on April 23, 2010, the pre-trial chamber declined to confirm the charges on February 8, 2010.  The other three accused from the Darfur situation,  Omar Al Bashir, the President of Sudan, the country’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and the leader of the Janjaweed militia all remain at large.  The Government of Sudan has not cooperated with the court and is not a signatory to the treaty.  The situation in Darfur was referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council.

The International Criminal Court sits in The Hague and is intended to be a permanent court to decide charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide that cannot or will not be prosecuted by national authorities.

Feb
21

Lubanga Trial Takes Two Week Break

The International Criminal Court trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was suspended this week for a two week trip for the defense to the Democratic Republic of Congo for important “research,” presumably this means further investigation into the previous allegations that prosecution witnesses lied  or were paid to lie about being child soldiers.  The trial was earlier suspended on Tuesday because of noted differences in the official English and French transcripts.  The reporting from the Open Society Institute, available here, does not make clear whether or not the court had arrived at a resolution of the transcription problem.

The court also ruled that the Lubanga defense could share information on its investigation with the defense team of Germain Katanga, whose trial, along with co-defendant Matthieu Ngdolo Chui was the second trial to start at the ICC. The trial opened on November 26, 2009, and my summary of the case and its opening is available here. Lubanga is the first person to face a trial at the ICC.  Lubanga, Katanga, and Chui were rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are charged with war crimes, and crimes against humanity.  There are four witnesses who are scheduled to testify for the prosecution in both cases, and the defenses wished to share the information they had collected in their investigations.  Judge Adrian Fulford ruled there was nothing to prevent such sharing between the teams.

Lubanga is accused of using child soldiers in his Union of Congolese Patriots, and Katanga and Chui are charged with  using child soldiers, attacking civilian targets, destruction of property, rape and sexual slavery as war crimes, they are also alleged to have committed crimes against humanity, including murder within the court’s jurisdiction, rape and sexual slavery. Another accused from the DRC, Bosco Ntaganda is still at large.

In the cases of the Sudan, one accused, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda voluntarily appeared at the court, and the charges against him were not confirmed.  A summary of that action is available here.  Three more accused from Sudan remain at large.  In the Uganda case there are four accused, all of whom are still at large.  In the case involving the Central African Republic, there is one accused, Jean-Pierre Gemba, whose trial is expected to begin April 27, 2010.

The International Criminal Court sits in The Hague, Netherlands and is intended to be a permanent court to hear cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide when those cases are not resolved by national authorities.  Thomas Lubanga was the first person brought before the court, he was arrested in 2007, and his trial began in January 2009, the defense began presenting its case in January 2010.  There are also victims who have been given a limited right to participate in the case, and then to seek reparations if they can establish their right to do so.

Feb
08

International Criminal Court Finds For Abu Garda

The Interational Criminal Court, pre-trial chamber I today ruled that the Office of the Prosecutor had not provided sufficient evidence to continue the case against Bahar Idriss Abu Garda for trial.  Abu Garda was the first case from the Sudan to come before the court. He appeared voluntarily with counsel in May of 2009 and has been in The Hague, though not in custody since then.

Abu Garda was charged with three war crimes, violence to life, directing attacks against peacekeeping forces, and pillaging.  The court found there was not sufficient evidence presented at the confirmation of charges hearing to require a trial.

The International Criminal Court uses a three stage process, a warrant and indictment can issue if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the person committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.  Once the accused is before the court, then there is a confirmation of charges hearing where the accused can participate and challenge the evidence, if after that hearing the court determines there is “substantial grounds” to believe the person is guilty of the crimes charged then a trial may be held where the prosecutor must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

It was at this second stage where the court found for Abu Garda and essentially dismissed the charges.  This hearing, the equivalent of a probable cause hearing in an American court case may end the case against Abu Garda, although the prosecutor has the right to appeal the determination, and may ask to reopen if they can provide new evidence of Abu Garda’s involvement or command responsibility for the alleged war crimes.

The court’s press release regarding the decision is available here, the order itself is here, and the court’s fact sheet on the case is located here.  Abu Garda is the fifth person brought to the court to face charges of war crimes, and the first to win the confirmation of charges hearing.

The court has previously confirmed charges against Thomas Lubanga of the Democratic Republic of Congo and against Germain Katanga and Matthieu Ngdolo Chui also of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Lubanga’s defense team is currently presenting its case, and Katanga and Chui are being tried together, their trial recently resumed.  The court has also confirmed the charges against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo of the Central African Republic who is awaiting the start of trial.

The president of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir and a cabinet official, Ahmad Harun have also been indicted by the court for war crimes as has a rebel leader, Ali Kushayb.  None of them has yet appeared before the court to face the charges.

Feb
03

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

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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