Saif Qadafi to Stay in Libya

By | Published August 22, 2012

The Libyan authorities have announced that Saif Al-Islam Qadafi will stay in Libya for trial.  His trial will begin next month. Saif Qadafi, the son of Muammar Qadafi is one of three person indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.  Muammar Qadafi was also indicted but did not survive the fall of Tripoli.

The United Nations Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC in February 2011.  The court indicted Muammar Qadafi, Saif Al-Islam Qadafi and the country’s intelligence chief.  Even while Muammar Qadafi was alive some suggested he should face a Libyan rather than an International process.

There has been an ongoing battle between the ICC and Libya for the handover of Qadafi, and Libya has now refused.  Qadafi would not face a death penalty at the ICC and would have access to lawyers to present a defense to the charges.  During the fight, Libya arrested lawyers sent by the ICC to prepare Qadafi’s defense.

The court has no authority or force to enforce its warrants for arrest and instead relies on the international community and the 121 state parties to the Rome Statute to enforce warrants and arrest those charged by the court.  The court has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide occurring in the borders of those countries, or by nationals of those countries, or if the situation has been referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council, as has been the case in Darfur, Sudan, and Libya, which are not signatories to the treaty. The ICC is intended to provide a fair process where a national court cannot, or will not, or if the court does not have the means to provide a fair process.

Muammar Qadafi, and Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan are the first sitting heads of state to be indicted by international criminal tribunals, neither has yet appeared to face charges.

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Philippines Ratifies the Rome Statute

By | Published August 31, 2011

This week The Philippines became the 117th nation to ratify the Rome Statute and submit its citizens and politicians to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The nation offered the following official statement:

“The Philippines, a democracy that champions international law and the rule of law, views being party to the Rome Statute of the ICC as a vital part of the on-going global campaign to end impunity and violence against individuals and to further strengthen a rules-based international system, specifically in relation to international human rights law and humanitarian law,” Philippine Permanent Representative Ambassador Libran Cabactulan said.

“It is a clear signal of the importance with which the Philippines places to this treaty,” he added.

Ambassador Cabactulan further elaborated that, “The ICC also serves as a deterrent against genocide and other heinous crimes and ensures that all perpetrators of these serious crimes of concern are held accountable.

The ICC sits in The Hague, The Netherlands and has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide within the territory of the 117 nations that have ratified the treaty, or by their citizens, or when the United Nations Security Council refers a situation to the ICC for investigation.  So far, the Security Council has referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan and in Libya.  In response the prosecutor has sought, and obtained, warrants for the arrest of two heads of state, Muammar Qadafi of Libya, and Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan.

State’s Parties to the Rome Statute are, among other things charged with enforcing the court’s warrants.  Should those with outstanding warrants appear on their territory, those 117 nations are expected to effect the arrest.

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Pre-Trial Chamber Confirms Charge in Darfur Case

By | Published March 8, 2011

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a finding confirming the charges against Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo.  The court statement said the court  found that Banda and Jerbo should stand trial for three war crimes:

  • violence to life and attempted violence to life;
  • intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and
  • pillaging.

The court included the following information supporting the charges:

These crimes were allegedly committed during an attack led by Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo and other commanders and directed against the compound of the African Union Mission in Sudan at Haskanita on the evening of 29 September 2007. The Chamber found substantial grounds to believe that the attack was directed to personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations which were entitled to the protection afforded to civilians and civilian objects.

Banda and Jerbo appeared voluntarily before the court, following the lead of Bahar Idriss Abu Garda who also appeared voluntarily, but won a dismissal at the confirmation of charges hearing.  The court has also issued indictments against the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayab.  The situation in Darfur was the first case referred to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council.  The second, Libya, was referred last week.

To date, Sudan has refused to turn the indictees over to the court, so the only ones who have appeared are the three who have appeared voluntarily.

The seventy five page decision is available here. There are currently three cases in trial stage at the ICC, the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a joint case against Matthieu Ngdolo Chui and Germain Katanga, and the case against Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo.  Another accused, Callixte Mbarushimana has recently arrived in The Hague. In addition to the Sudan accused at large, there is one accused from the Democratic Republic of Congo still at large and three from Uganda who have not yet appeared before the court.

There may be other indictments that have not yet been made public.  Indictments in the post-election violence in Kenya case were also released today.

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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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St. Lucia Ratifies ICC Treaty

By | Published August 21, 2010

This week the Caribbean Island nation of St. Lucia became the 113th nation to ratify the Treaty of Rome and become a member of International Criminal Court (ICC).  The ICC treaty became effective in 2002 when the 60th nation ratified the treaty.   In 1998, the treaty was signed by 120 countries and developed the framework for a court.

The court is intended to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.  The court has jurisdiction in the nations that have ratified the treaty and that jurisdiction extends to acts from the effective date, July 1, 20o2.

The court was in part a response to international tribunals which had been created to prosecute crimes in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.  Instead of creating a new tribunal for each set of atrocities, the idea was to create a permanent court to hear all such cases.

In order to have jurisdiction, the crimes must occur in one of the states which has ratified the treaty, or the case must be referred by the U.N. Security Council.  The ICC has indicted persons from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Darfur, Sudan.  The court has also approved an investigation into the post-election violence in Kenya, but no indictments have been made public.

The first ICC case to go to trial, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended because of the prosecution’s failure to comply with discovery orders by the court.  This case may provide a test of the lasting power of the court and its ability to function.  The court has ordered Lubanga released, but that order has been stayed pending appeal.

The court also has outstanding arrest warrants for the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir.  The court has indicted Bashir for genocide, and war crimes in Sudan, but his government and many other countries have declined to arrest Bashir and present him to the court.

Another case that came to the court from Sudan, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, won dismissal of the charges against him at the confirmation of charges hearing. Two more accused from Sudan have now voluntarily appeared before the ICC and are contesting the confirmation of charges.

A major criticism of the court so far has been that all the cases have come from Africa, in fact adjoining countries in Africa.  The ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said that more cases will be forthcoming and has said investigations are ongoing in Georgia, Guinea, Afghanistan, and Colombia.

The court cannot prosecute cases where a national authority has the jurisdiction and ability to prosecute.  Its mandate is to prosecute only those crimes that will otherwise go unpunished and those that are severe enough to qualify as war crimes or crimes against humanity.  The ICC sits in The Hague, Netherlands.

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International Criminal Court Issues Another Warrant for Sudanese President Bashir

By | Published July 12, 2010

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pretrial Chamber I has issued another arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir.  This decision follows an earlier direction from the appeals chamber, detailed here, that determined that the Pre-Trial Chamber had used the wrong standard in failing to indict Bashir for genocide.

Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by an international tribunal and have a warrant issued for his arrest, he now also bears the distinction of being the first person to be indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court and the first person for whom an arrest warrant for genocide was issued.  There are now two arrest warrants out for Bashir.  The ICC’ press release is available here.

The situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC by the U.N. Security Council. Sudan is not a signatory to the  ICC treaty.  Bashir and the minister of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, Ahmad Harun are the Sudanese government officials who have been indicted.  Ali Kushayab, reputed head of the Janjaweed militia has also been indicted.  None of those three have appeared before the court.  Three other accused from Sudan have appeared voluntarily before the court.  Of the three who have voluntarily appeared, one,  Bahar Idriss Abu Garda had his case dismissed at the confirmation of charges hearing.  The other two are awaiting their confirmation of charges hearings.

Sudan was referred to the ICC for investigation of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.  Several victims have been granted the right to participate in these cases when they commence.  Persons who are victims of war crimes have a right to participate in the ICC cases and to seek reparations if there is a conviction.

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New Sudan Accused Appear Voluntarily Before the International Criminal Court

By | Published June 16, 2010

Two new suspects in the International Criminal Court (ICC) situation in Darfur have now voluntarily appeared before the court to answer charges of war crimes involving attacks on U.N. peacekeepers.  Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) were issued summonses under seal in August of 2009.  Banda and Jerbo are scheduled to make their  appearances before the court on June 17, 2010.  A previous accused from Sudan, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda appeared voluntarily before the court and his case was dismissed at the confirmation of charges hearing.  That case was previously described here.

The court’s press release on the arrest of Banda and Jerbo is available here.  The International Criminal Law Bureau has blogged about the scheduled appearance here.

The President of Sudan, Omar Al Bashir remains under indictment for the crimes against humanity alleged in Darfur.  The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs of Sudan, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, the leader of the Janajaweed militia have also been indicted under public indictments.  None of those three have appeared before the court.  It is not known how many other indictments, summonses or warrants remain under seal.

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

By | Published May 31, 2010

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.

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