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Evidentiary challenges in
universal jurisdiction cases
Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2019 #UJAR
1 Photo credit: UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata
This publication benefited from the generous support of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Oak Foundation and the City of Geneva.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
6 METHODOLOGY AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
7 FOREWORD
8 BUILDING ON SHIFTING SANDS: EVIDENTIARY CHALLENGES IN
UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION CASES
11 KEY FINDINGS
12 CASES OF 2018
Argentina
13 VICTIMS DEMAND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FRANCO DICTATORSHIP
15 ARGENTINIAN PROSECUTORS CONSIDER CHARGES AGAINST
CROWN PRINCE
Austria
16 SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS JUDGMENT FOR WAR CRIMES
IN SYRIA
17 INVESTIGATION OPENS AGAINST OFFICIALS FROM THE AL-ASSAD
REGIME
Belgium
18 FIVE RWANDANS TO STAND TRIAL FOR GENOCIDE
19 AUTHORITIES ISSUE THEIR FIRST INDICTMENT ON THE 1989
LIBERIAN WAR
Finland
20 WAR CRIMES TRIAL RAISES TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
22 FORMER IRAQI SOLDIER SENTENCED FOR WAR CRIMES
France
ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS ON SYRIA
23 THREE INTERNATIONAL ARREST WARRANTS TARGET
HIGH-RANKING AL-ASSAD REGIME OFFICIALS
24 SYRIAN ARMY BOMBARDMENT TARGETING JOURNALISTS IN HOMS
25 STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION BASED ON INSIDER PHOTOS
26 FIRST IN FRANCE: COMPANY INDICTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY
28 FRANCE REVOKES REFUGEE STATUS OF MASS MASSACRE SUSPECT
29 SAUDI CROWN PRINCE UNDER INVESTIGATION
30 INVESTIGATION OPENS ON BENGAZHY SIEGE
331 A EUROPEAN COLLABORATION: SWISS NGO SEEKS A WARLORD’S
PROSECUTION IN FRANCE
32 IS SELLING SPYING DEVICE TO AL-ASSAD’S REGIME COMPLICITY IN
TORTURE?
RWANDAN TRIALS IN FRANCE
33 DEFINITIVE SENTENCE FOR THE FORMER HEAD OF INTELLIGENCE
34 LIFE SENTENCE CONFIRMED AGAINST TWO MAYORS
35 FINAL HEARINGS IN EIGHT-YEAR-LONG PROCEDURE
36 GENOCIDE FUGITIVE ARRESTED IN CAMEROON
37 LAST CHANCE OF JUSTICE FOR A PRIEST’S VICTIMS
39 TWO MORE UPCOMING GENOCIDE TRIALS
Germany
41 STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT
43 PROSECUTING MASS ABUSE IN SYRIAN DETENTION FACILITIES
44 STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST NON-STATE ARMED GROUPS
IN SYRIA
45 FOUR SIBLINGS SUSPECTED OF WAR CRIMES
46 JABHAT AL-NUSRA FIGHTERS ON TRIAL FOR KILLINGS IN RAQQA
47 ABDUCTION, BLACKMAIL AND TORTURE RESULT IN LIFE SENTENCE
48 IDLIB WAR CRIMES SUSPECT IN CUSTODY
49 FORMAL INDICTMENT OF TWO ISIS SUSPECTS
50 SENTENCE LENGTHENED FOR A UN EMPLOYEE KIDNAPPER
51 WAR CRIMES CHARGES UNDER SCRUTINY
52 TALIBAN INDICTED AND HELD IN CUSTODY
53 AFGHANI ARRESTED FOR INTERROGATING DETAINEES UNDER
TORTURE
54 SHEDDING A LIGHT ON CIA SECRET DETENTION CENTERS
55 WERE GAZA ATTACKS BY ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES
DISPROPORTIONATE?
Ghana
56 CIVIL SOCIETY COMES TOGETHER AGAINST FORMER DICTATOR
Italy
57 DOES SELLING ARMS TO SAUDI ARABIA CONSTITUTE COMPLICITY IN
WAR CRIMES?
Norway
58 PAST CRIMES CATCH UP WITH NORWEGIAN CITIZEN
4Senegal
59 WITNESS UNDER THREAT IN A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
MURDER CASE
Spain
60 EXTRADITED SALVADORIAN COLONEL AWAITS TRIAL
61 GUATEMALAN FORMER MINISTER CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES
62 SYRIAN CASE CALLS SPAIN’S JURISDICTION INTO QUESTION
Sweden
63 REMOTE WITNESSES CONTRIBUTE TO GENOCIDE CONDEMNATION
64 FORCIBLE DISPLACEMENTS FOR PROFIT? OIL COMPANY ON THE
AUTHORITIES’ RADAR
Switzerland
65 COURT ORDERS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE ALGERIAN
GENERAL
67 DETENTION EXTENDED FOR FORMER GAMBIAN MINISTER UNDER
INVESTIGATION
68 INVESTIGATIONS AT A STANDSTILL AGAINST THE “BUTCHER OF
HAMA”
69 THIRD (AND FINAL?) SENTENCE FOR HEAD OF GUATELAMAN POLICE
The Netherlands
71 ETHIOPIAN “RED TERROR” SUSPECT APPEALS HIS CONVICTION
72 LIBERIAN “BLOOD TIMBER” BUSINESSMAN AWAITING EXTRADITION
The United Kingdom
74 LIBERIAN AND SWISS NGOS JOIN FORCES AGAINST EX-FIRST LADY
75 “SPECIAL MISSION IMMUNITY” CONFIRMED FOR EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL
The United States of America
76 HISTORICAL SENTENCE IN IMMIGRATION FRAUD CASE
77 LONG-TERM RESIDENT CONVICTED OVER MASS MASSACRES
78 CIVIL CASES TAKE OVER CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
80 TABLE OF CASES
84 WHO WE ARE
5METHODOLOGY AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The present report only highlights cases where judges or prosecutors have
initiated investigations into the most serious international crimes. It does not,
therefore, include every complaint that victims, lawyers and NGOs filed under
universal jurisdiction with national authorities in 2018, if they did not result
in significant judicial advances, are still pending, or have been dismissed by
relevant national authorities. The report also refers to cases of serious crimes
under international law based on active or passive personality jurisdiction where
the relevant case has also had an impact on the practice of universal jurisdiction.
While every attempt was made to ensure accuracy, information may be subject
to change without notice.
This report has been researched and written by Valérie Paulet, Project
Coordinator at TRIAL International, in collaboration with REDRESS, the European
Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the International Foundation Baltasar
Garzón (FIBGAR).
The organizations are grateful to the following persons for their assistance
and collaboration in collecting the information compiled in this report:
the NGOs Guernica 37, The Center for Justice and Accountability
(CJA) and Civitas Maxima, as well as Aitor Martínez, Alain Werner, Luc
Walleyn, Joseph Breham, Hélène Legeay, Thijs Berger, Tom Laitinien,
Eric Emeraux, Una Schamberger, Juliette Rémond-Tiedrez, Louis Perez and all
the prosecutors from war crimes units that gave us the latest updates on their
public cases.
This publication benefited from the generous support of the Taiwan Foundation
for Democracy, the Oak Foundation and the City of Geneva.
6FOREWORD
In 2018, universal jurisdiction has again demonstrated its potential to curb
impunity for international crimes. Several arrest warrants were issued against
the inner circle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in France and in Germany.
The former Gambian Minister of the Interior is awaiting trial in detention in
Switzerland. Investigations are ongoing in Austria against officials of the Syrian
intelligence services. Around the world, the net is tightening around suspects of
the gravest crimes.
Yet, all practitioners know how hard-won these victories are, and how
many other cases have been abandoned due to political, legal, logistical or
budgetary hurdles.
For the fifth edition of the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review (UJAR), we have
chosen to focus on the evidentiary challenges inherent to universal jurisdiction.
Each case presented in the following pages, successful or unsuccessful,
illustrates the countless complexities arising from investigating and prosecuting
crimes remotely.
But this publication also highlights the solutions and good practices that have
emerged in 2018. From many of the selected cases, lessons can be drawn and
eventually applied to different contexts. We hope that the UJAR will be used as a
practical tool to disseminate good practices and inspire judicial actors resorting
– or considering resorting – to universal jurisdiction.
This UJAR also sheds a light on the continuing cooperation required in universal
jurisdiction cases. The fight against impunity brings together a wide array of
actors, both legal and non-legal. Joining forces, recognizing our complementarity,
overcoming our differences, and building mutual trust are the only way to ensure
no state remains a safe haven for war criminals.
The stakes are too high. The need is too urgent. The moment for action is now.
Philip Grant
TRIAL International Director
Valérie Paulet
TRIAL International Project Coordinator
7Photo credit: Pexel
Building on shifting sands:
evidentiary challenges in
universal jurisdiction cases
8Survivors, prosecutors, lawyers,
Mass crimes, remote locations,
protection of victims and investigators, diasporas, NGOs, Authorities, civil
witnesses, procedural obstacles, victims’ associations and media are
learning to work together, sometimes
society, local
outreach. Those are just some in unexpected ways, to offer victims communities
of the challenges inherent to the best chance of justice for the most
universal jurisdiction cases. serious crimes. A crucial ally for national prosecuting
From gathering evidence to authorities is civil society. NGOs have
more flexibility to enter a country
tracking down suspects, each Investigating from the and document atrocities, insofar as
step of the process is long,
complex, often frustrating other side of the world a simple visa could let them in – as
opposed to the official laissez-passer
and sometimes downright Crime scenes are the traditional required by state institutions. They can
dangerous. The legal world’s starting point for any criminal therefore operate more freely, more
answer to those challenges? investigation. But in universal swiftly, and more discreetly.
Joining forces. jurisdiction cases, they are by
definition situated abroad. Where to NGOs also have a more permanent
The nature and scale of international start fieldwork in a country one has presence in the field and direct
crimes – such as genocide, crimes never been to? Collaboration with contacts with victims and survivors.
against humanity and war crimes – local authorities “is as necessary For these reasons, they can offer
make them among the most complex as it is tricky”, according to Thijs valuable contacts in the field. “We
to prosecute. These difficulties are Berger, a Prosecutor of the Dutch War collaborate closely with local NGOs,”
multiplied when investigations or Crimes Unit. explains Emmanuelle Marchand.
trials take place far away from where “They are the ones present in the
the crimes were committed. Be it for For the sake of fair trials, prosecuting country, interviewing victims and
political, legal or security reasons, authorities are bound by the same witnesses, identifying zones where
holding accountable alleged criminals standards when they investigate crimes were committed. Without the
may only be possible remotely: that is abroad as when they build locals’ knowledge, we would not know
when universal jurisdiction kicks in. domestic cases: independence where to start.”
and confidentiality. Likewise, the
Under this principle, states may or standard of proof they will have to Tom Laitinen, a State Prosecutor in
shall prosecute criminals present present in court remains unaltered Finland, recalls for instance how an
on their territory, regardless of the by the tremendous challenges to international NGO assisted his team in
criminal’s nationality, where the investigating abroad. a Rwandan case: “They had conducted
crimes took place, or the victims’ their own investigation on the same
location and nationality. Based on the An additional challenge is that these village where our suspect had acted
concept that certain crimes endanger standards vary from one country to during the genocide. We were able to
the very essence of mankind, this tool another, and there is sometimes no talk to one of their researchers, who
was developed to give power to the telling in advance where the trial shared some information with us.”
whole world to punish these crimes. will take place. “Where and when a
But universal jurisdiction comes with
trial opens is very dependent on the
suspects’ movements, and the will of a
The paper chase of
significant challenges. In some cases, state to initiate prosecution,” explains finding witnesses
prosecuting authorities are unable to Emmanuelle Marchand, Senior Legal
enter the states where atrocities were Counsel at Civitas Maxima, a Swiss Because of the difficulty of accessing
committed; unstable contexts mean NGO defending victims of war crimes crime scenes, forensic evidence
witnesses are hard to find and may be and crimes against humanity. “As a is often scarce in universal
too afraid to testify; evidence may be result, we gather evidence without jurisdiction cases. Therefore, a case
hard to collect. Geographical distance knowing which court will examine is often heavily reliant on witnesses’
places a large financial burden on the it, and the rules of admissibility of statements. But both NGOs and
investigations. evidence may be widely different.” prosecuting authorities acknowledge
the difficulty of identifying and meeting
An impossible task? Not quite. with witnesses.
Around the world, a constellation of
actors is joining forces against the
odds to uphold universal jurisdiction.
9Once again, human connections are Central Office to fight crimes against for a couple of days. In these cases,
the answer: “There is a lot of calling humanity, genocides and war crimes, we work night and day in order to
around. You talk to one person, and explains: “When we are looking gather information and prepare a
they know somebody who knows for someone, we leave no stone complaint up to standards that are
somebody, who tells you ‘my wife’s unturned: we look at bank accounts, necessary to trigger the opening of a
cousin’s nephew used to be in that energy or telecommunications bills, criminal investigation,” says Benedict
fighting faction’. If you are lucky interrogate hotels and hospitals in De Moerloose, Head of International
enough to talk to that person, then case the suspect checked in, search Investigations and Litigation at TRIAL
maybe he will be an interesting the database of airplane companies. International.
witness,” says Thijs Berger. We knock on every door, because
one successful lead is all we need Eric Emeraux agrees that universal
According to human rights consultant to get started.” jurisdiction relies on momentum,
Hélène Legeay: “Families of victims which is often unpredictable: “A case
are often willing to speak, but they Yet even the most organized is like a living thing: it stalls for a
only have second-hand information. prosecuting authorities cannot while, then something moves and
The story of a direct victim is a lot operate alone. Immigration services, suddenly everything is moving fast!
more compelling, unfortunately it is a diasporas, intelligence agencies, and When it happens, you have to be ready
lot harder to find them and convince – once again – NGOs, are all crucial or you may miss your chance.”
them to talk.” channels of information. “We never
work alone,” explains Eric Emeraux. In the face of all these difficulties, it
Often, the most unlikely sources “We are immersed in a galaxy of is permitted to ask: is it worth all
provide the best information. Insiders other actors including NGOs, Europol, the trouble? The answer from the
– witnesses who may themselves have Interpol, Eurojust, etc. It’s all about legal world is an unequivocal yes.
taken part in the crime – can provide collaboration and trust.” Firstly, because universal jurisdiction
valuable information on the internal constitutes the only hope of justice
organization of a criminal enterprise. The boom of social networks has for countless victims. And secondly,
Thijs Berger is all too aware of that, also revolutionized this task. Joseph because tremendous successes –
as he has seen a case crumble like Breham is a French lawyer working unimaginable just a few years ago –
a house of cards: “In a case relating on universal jurisdiction cases: have been achieved. And every single
to Afghanistan, we lacked insider “One of the suspects of a case case is not only a victory in itself: it
witnesses who could make sense of we were working on had posted a also eases the way for many others,
a complicated military situation. We picture of himself on Facebook, because it reinforces the belief that
were able to establish that at least and the background buildings were justice can – and must – triumph. “We
two fighting units were present on looking remarkably like Paris. owe it to the victims to do our utmost,
the crime scene. And the question We had this picture authenticated to but also to future generations,”
was: which unit actually committed check whether he was indeed in the concludes Eric Emeraux. “If impunity
the crimes? We could not prove it French capital.” wins today, then sooner or later
in court. A crucial connection was conflicts will re-emerge and new
lacking between the suspect and the
crimes.” Unsurprisingly, insiders A narrow window of atrocities will be committed.”
willing to collaborate are difficult to
find, since they may end up
opportunity
incriminating themselves. Why is locating the suspect so
crucial and delicate? Because in
Hunting down the most cases,state authorities can only
open a case when a suspect enters
suspects themselves their territory. And sometimes, their
passage can be limited to a simple
In addition to all these investigative transit through an airport: then speed
hurdles, there is also the tracking is of essence. For NGOs, there is an
of the suspects themselves. The additional hurdle: they do not have
increasing permeability of frontiers the power to open a case or arrest
has made movements easier and a suspect and must rely on national
swifter than ever before for fleeing prosecuting authorities to do so.
criminals. Locating them can be
a needle-in-a-haystack task, as “In some instances, we find out that
Eric Emeraux, Head of the French a perpetrator will only be in town
10KEY FINDINGS
149 18% 17
named suspects in more named accused on
15 countries suspects than last trial
year
8 2 111
convictions acquittals war crimes
charges
90 15 42
crimes against genocide torture
humanity charges charges charges
11Photo credit: Will Baxter/TRIAL International
Cases of 2018
12ARGENTINA
The first applicant, Ruben Amor
VICTIMS DEMAND Benedicto Salmerón, is the
THE TRUTH ABOUT grandson of the disappeared José
Salmerón Céspedes who was forcibly
THE FRANCO disappeared, tortured, and executed
in 1936 in Tetouan, then part of the
DICTATORSHIP Spanish protectorate in Morocco. The
applicant demanded the exhumation
Rodolfo Martín Villa and others of his grandfather’s remains, which
he believes are buried in the European
cemetery of Tetouan.
Context
The second case relates to Gustavo
Ongoing proceedings in Argentina Adolfo Muñoz de Bustillo, a 16-year-
against former Spanish officials and old executed on 11 September 1978,
other actors of the Franco dictatorship during violent riots in the transitional
for alleged serious crimes under period in Barcelona. Judge María
international law committed in Spain Servini de Cubría had first rejected
between 1936 and 1977 the case as it happened after the 1977 However, the Supreme Court
elections that ousted Franco. overturned this decision, while
Judge Baltasar Garzón was put on
Suspects On 22 October 2018, the Spanish trial for prevarication for his alleged
National Court (Audiencia Nacional, unfair interpretation of the amnesty
Former Spanish officials and other Sala de lo Penal) denied the request law. He was finally acquitted but the
actors of the Franco dictatorship from the Argentinian judge María amnesty law remains applicable, and
(including González Pacheco, former Servini de Cubría to come to Spain to the crimes committed by the Franco
police officer; Jesús Muñecas Aguilar, hear Rodolfo Martín Villa, as part of dictatorship cannot be investigated or
former captain of the Civil Guard; and the international rogatory commission prosecuted in Spain.
former government minister, Rodolfo issued in September 2017. The
Martín Villa) Spanish judge argued that the crimes
are prescribed; and executing the Procedure in
Country of residence international rogatory commission
would violate the 1977 amnesty law.
Argentina
of suspects On 14 April 2010, Spanish and
On 26 October 2018, Judge María Argentinian human rights
Spain Servini de Cubría admitted the organizations filed a criminal
complaint filed two years ago by the complaint with the Argentinian
Charges NGO Women’s Link Worldwide on
behalf of six women repressed by
investigating judge Servini de Cubría
on behalf of Spanish victims. On 18
the dictatorship. The investigation September 2013, the Argentinian
Crimes against humanity, including
will examine cases of sexual assault, judge issued arrest warrants against
torture, extrajudicial killings, and
murder, forced abortion, and the theft four former officials of the Franco
enforced disappearances
of children under Franco’s regime. dictatorship (including González
Pacheco and Jesús Muñecas Aguilar)
Current status Procedure in Spain and requested their extradition in
order to stand trial for crimes against
Under investigation humanity, including acts of torture,
In December 2006, the Spanish
investigating judge, Baltasar allegedly committed in Spain between
Developments in Garzón, opened an investigation into July 1936 and June 1977.
allegations of crimes against humanity
2018 committed during the Franco
dictatorship. In October 2008, he ruled On 24 April 2014, the Spanish National
On 21 June 2018, the Argentinian that the 1977 Spanish law granting Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo
Federal Tribunal allowed two victims amnesty for crimes committed during Penal) rejected an extradition request
to join the proceedings against former the Franco dictatorship did not apply, issued on 18 September 2013 by Judge
Spanish officials and other actors of owing to the nature of the crimes. Servini de Cubría against González
the Franco dictatorship. Pacheco and Jesús Muñecas Aguilar.
13On 30 October 2014, notwithstanding In June 2017, Judge Servini de Cubría Zoom in
the Court’s decision, the Argentinian issued an international arrest warrant
investigating judge issued detention against Rodolfo Martín Villa for the Establishing the
orders against 20 of the accused in death of five workers in Vitoria in unconditionality of
order to request their extradition to 1976. However, it was annulled by universal jurisdiction
Argentina. However, these orders were the Appeals Chamber as unfounded.
not executed in Spain, the authorities In July 2017, Judge Servini de Cubría In its judgment, the
arguing that the Spanish Amnesty issued a new arrest warrant against Federal Supreme
law prevails. Martín Villa for crimes against Court clarified that the
humanity and murder. universal jurisdiction
In 2015, the Judge Servini de Cubría principle is not one of
sent a second rogatory commission Read more about the case subsidiary application,
to the local tribunal of Guadalajara concurrent or limited
in Spain, requesting the exhumation to connections between
of the corpse of Timoteo Mendieta, the facts and the state
a trade unionist who was reportedly that intends to judge it.
imprisoned in the Guadalajara
Central Prison and executed in 1939. The Federal Supreme
It also provided for a DNA test of Court also judged
his daughter, Ascensión Mendieta, that the international
victim and plaintiff in the case. On qualification of a crime
24 November 2015, the Tribunal against humanity
of Guadalajara authorized the depends exclusively on
exhumation, which started on 19 the verification that a
January 2016. The exhumation of 22 determined illicit act
bodies from a first mass grave found is committed in the
nearby the Guadalajara prison did context of a generalized
not allow identifying the remains of or systematic attack
Timoteo Mendieta. against a civilian
population. It found
On 16 March 2016, Women’s link that the crimes could
Worldwide, an international women’s occur not only in the
organization based in Spain, filed a spatial-temporal
complaint calling for the investigation epicenter through
into systematic gender-based crimes which the attack
committed against women during the extends, but also in its
Franco regime. margins.
In August 2016, Judge Servini de
Cubría opened an investigation into
the death of Spanish poet Federico
García Lorca, pursuant to a complaint
filed by the Spanish Association for the
Recuperation of Historical Memory
(Asociación para la Recuperación de
la Memoria Histórica).
On 9 June 2017, the remains of
Timoteo Mendieta were identified
in a mass grave uncovered
nearby the Guadalajara prison.
The archaeological team of the
Association for the Recovery of
Historical Memory (ARMH) has
exhumed 28 other victims of the
Franco regime.
14On 28 November 2018, a federal The complaint also denounces his
ARGENTINIAN prosecutor formally requested alleged role in the murder of Saudi
PROSECUTORS inquiries into whether the allegations
are being investigated elsewhere,
journalist Jamal Kashoggi, who was
killed on 2 October 2018 inside the
CONSIDER and into Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi
diplomatic status and immunities. On authorities deny any involvement
CHARGES AGAINST the same day, the competent federal of the Crown Prince. Turkish and
CROWN PRINCE investigating judge sent information
requests to the governments of Saudi
US intelligence agencies found the
murder to have been premeditated
Prince Mohammed bin Salman Arabia and Yemen, to the International and ordered by Mohammed bin
Criminal Court and to the Argentine Salman himself.
Foreign Ministry.
Context
Preliminary examination in Argentina
Current status OTHER PENDING
into alleged complicity in war crimes
and torture committed in Saudi Arabia
Preliminary examination, pending CASES
the opening of an official judicial
investigation • The Paraguayan indigenous
Suspect community case: proceedings
Crown prince and deputy prime
Facts closed in 2017
minister of the Kingdom of Saudi On 25 March 2015, an international
Arabia coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched
air strikes against the armed group
Country of residence of Houthis in Yemen, triggering a
major armed conflict. For three years,
of suspect Yemen has been ravaged by a war that
has already killed more than 10,000
Saudi Arabia people, half of whom are civilians.
Mohammed bin Salman was
Charges appointed Minister of Defense on 23
January 2015. One of his first acts
War crimes; torture and inhuman was to launch the military campaign
treatment in violation of the 1984 in Yemen along with other Arab states.
Convention against Torture
UN bodies and human rights groups
Developments in have denounced the widespread
violations of human rights and
2018 humanitarian law committed in
Yemen. Alleged violations include
On 26 November, the international deliberately targeting civilians, the
NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) filed use of illegal cluster-munitions,
a denunciation with the Argentine indiscriminate airstrikes and a naval
Federal Prosecutor in anticipation blockade which deprived civilians of
of Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to access to basic necessities.
Buenos Aires for the G20 Summit.
The submission asks the Argentine The complaint denounces alleged
authorities to investigate Mohammed violations of international law
bin Salman’s role in war crimes committed during the armed conflict
allegedly committed by the Saudi-led in Yemen as well as sexual harassment
coalition in Yemen, as well as in acts and torture, including electrocution
of torture and ill treatment of Saudi and flogging of Saudi citizens.
nationals, including the murder of
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
15AUSTRIA
these murders were allegedly intended
SUPREME COURT to intimidate the population, to force
OVERTURNS the Syrian army to leave the contested
area, and to threaten or destroy the
JUDGMENT FOR political, constitutional, economic or
social structures of the Syrian state.
WAR CRIMES
IN SYRIA Procedure
Name withheld
The accused sought asylum in Austria
in May 2015. He was subsequently
reported to the authorities by refugees,
Context whom he had told that he belonged
to the Farouq Brigades and that he
Ongoing proceedings in Austria for had fought against Syrian President
war crimes committed between 2013 Bashar al-Assad. The trial opened
and 2014 in Syria in February 2017 but was adjourned
shortly thereafter on medical grounds
Suspect after the accused collapsed in court.
Palestinian national, former member On 10 May 2017, the accused was
of the Farouq Brigades found guilty on 20 charges of murder
as a war crime and sentenced to life
imprisonment by a jury in Innsbruck.
Country of residence The Defense appealed the conviction,
arguing that the court failed to call key
of suspect witnesses who could testify to the fact
that the defendant had left Syria for
Austria Turkey in summer 2013, and that he
had not taken part in hostilities from
Charges January 2013 until his departure.
Terrorist offences, war crimes of On 12 December 2017, the Supreme
murder, and violations of the 1949 Court of Justice overturned the
Geneva Conventions conviction on grounds that the failure
to question these witnesses had
violated the rights of the defendant,
Developments in and remanded the case back to the
2018 regional court.
A retrial was scheduled to begin on 10
December 2018 before the Regional
Court of Innsbruck.
Current status
Conviction overturned; retrial ongoing
Facts
The accused is alleged to have
executed at least 20 unarmed and
injured Syrian government soldiers in
Al Khalidiya and Homs between 2013
and 2014. According to the charges,
16Darwish (Syrian Center for Media
INVESTIGATION and Freedom of Expression), as well
OPENS AGAINST as the Center for the Enforcement of
Human Rights International (CEHRI)
OFFICIALS FROM in Vienna.
THE AL-ASSAD Following the submission, the
REGIME prosecutor heard one of the
complainants and initiated a
Names withheld criminal investigation.
Current status
Context
Ongoing investigation
Ongoing investigation by the
Austrian Prosecutor into international
crimes committed by the Syrian Facts
intelligence services
The investigation concerns crimes
against humanity and war crimes
Suspects committed by Military Intelligence,
Air Force Intelligence and General
High-ranking officials of the Syrian Intelligence, including murder,
intelligence services, including Military extermination, torture, serious bodily
Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and harm and deprivation of liberty
General Intelligence services between February 2011 and January
2017 in 13 detention centers in
Country of residence Damascus, Daraa, Hama, and Aleppo.
of suspect Read more about the case
Syria
Charges
Crimes against humanity and
war crimes
Developments in
2018
Austrian authorities have initiated
an investigation into the Syrian
intelligence services after 16 women
and men from Syria filed a criminal
complaint to the public prosecutor in
Vienna in May 2018.
The group of torture survivors – which
included an Austrian citizen – filed the
complaint together with the European
Center for Constitutional and Human
Rights (ECCHR), Syrian lawyers Anwar
al-Bunni (Syrian Center for Legal
Research and Studies) and Mazen
17BELGIUM
FIVE RWANDANS TO Procedure
STAND TRIAL FOR The first proceeding involves three
GENOCIDE suspects: E.G., accused of genocide
and the war crimes of murder and
Names withheld rape; E.N., accused of genocide and
the war crimes of murder, attempted
murder, and rape; and F.N., accused
Context of genocide and the war crimes of
murder and attempted murder.
Upcoming trials in Belgium for
The second proceeding involves two
genocide and war crimes committed
accused: T.K., suspected of having
during the 1994 Rwandan genocide
committed genocide and the war
crime of murder; and M.B., accused
Suspects of genocide and the war crimes of
murder and attempted murder.
Rwandan nationals
Country of residence
of suspects
Belgium
Charges
Genocide and war crimes
Developments in
2018
In December 2018, pre-trial authorities
of the Brussels Criminal Court ruled
that five Rwandan nationals, E.G.,
E.N., F.N., T.K., M.B., are to stand trial
for crimes allegedly committed during
the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Current status
Detained, awaiting trial
Facts
The five accused allegedly participated
in crimes committed in 1994 in Rwanda
in connection with the genocide
of Tutsis and the massacre of
moderate Hutus.
18AUTHORITIES ISSUE Developments in OTHER PENDING
FIRST INDICTMENT 2018 CASES
ON THE 1989 The investigation is still ongoing but
• Tzipi Livni: investigation ongoing
LIBERIAN WAR should be completed by early 2019.
Martina Johnson
Current status
Under house arrest, indicted
Context
The Martina Johnson case constitutes Facts
the first arrest and indictment for war
crimes and crimes against humanity Martina Johnson was allegedly
allegedly committed during the first actively involved in Operation Octopus
Liberian civil war (1989–1996). launched by Charles Taylor and his
NPFL troops in October 1992. This
Liberia’s former president, Charles offensive against the government and
Taylor, was sentenced on 30 May the peacekeeping forces was aimed at
2012 to 50 years in prison (confirmed taking over the capital Monrovia and
on appeal on 10 December 2013) for resulted in the deaths of hundreds of
the crimes he committed during the civilians, many of whom were targeted
Sierra Leone civil war in the 1990s. for ethnic reasons.
However, he was not prosecuted for
the crimes committed in Liberia by his
troops, the National Patriotic Front of
Procedure
Liberia (NPLF). In 2012, three Liberian victims,
assisted by the NGOs Civitas Maxima
Suspect and its Liberian sister organization
the Global Justice and Research
A former frontline commander of the Project (GJRP), filed a complaint in
NPFL, Liberian Martina Johnson was Belgium against Martina Johnson
allegedly Charles Taylor’s chief of for her alleged direct participation in
artillery during Operation Octopus in mutilations and mass killings during
October 1992. Operation Octopus in October 1992.
Martina Johnson was arrested on 17
Country of residence September 2014 in Gent, Belgium,
of suspect based on documentation collected by
the two NGOs.
Belgium
She was released on 4 May 2015 and
placed under judicial supervision.
Charges
Direct involvement in alleged war
Read more about the case
crimes and crimes against humanity,
including mutilation and mass killings
19FINLAND
WAR CRIMES TRIAL Facts
RAISES TECHNICAL In June 2014, 1,700 unarmed Iraqi
CHALLENGES army recruits were arrested at Camp
Speicher near Tikrit, Iraq, by members
The Iraqi twin brothers of the IS. The victims were laid on
the ground and shot one by one. The
Iraqi twin brothers are alleged to have
Context murdered 11 of them.
Ongoing proceedings in Finland Procedure
against Iraqi twin brothers for their
alleged implication in the Camp The 24-year-old Iraqi twin brothers
Speicher massacre near Tikrit, Iraq, in entered Finland in September 2015 as
June 2014 asylum seekers. They were arrested
by the National Bureau of Investigation
Suspect on suspicion of involvement in the
Camp Speicher massacre committed
on behalf of IS in Iraq. Their trial
Iraqi nationals and alleged Islamic
started on 13 December 2016 before
State (IS) fighters
the District Court of Pirkanmaa.
Country of residence On 30 November 2016, they were
charged with war crimes, murder,
of suspects and assault with terrorist intent. The
prosecution sought life imprisonment
Finland for the defendants, both of whom had
pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Charges On 24 May 2017, the District Court of
War crimes, murder and aggravated Pirkanmaa acquitted the Iraqi twin
assault committed with terrorist intent brothers for lack of evidence. They
were granted a compensation for their
pre-trial detention. The two accused
Developments in were allowed to reside in Finland. The
2018 prosecution appealed this judgment.
The appeal trial started on 11 Read more about the case
September 2018 but was postponed
until further notice due to
arrangements regarding hearings of
witnesses in Iraq. The Court of Appeal
decided that the main hearings would
not be formally opened before these
witnesses have been heard, “outside
the main hearing”.
Current status
Acquitted; on appeal
20Field notes
“There were many problems
with the witnesses’
statements”
“The fact that some witnesses
testified from Iraq raised
many problems before the
District Court. We had to rely
on a video line that was very
poor. The statements were
difficult to hear, and the line
dropped for hours on end.
The Court also found
that the anonymity of the
witnesses posed a threat
to fair trial standards.”
Tom Laitinen, State
Prosecutor in Finland
21an IS militant. The video was uploaded
FORMER IRAQI to Ahmed Jabbar Hasan’s Facebook
SOLDIER page, along with another video of him
posing in front of burning bodies.
SENTENCED FOR
WAR CRIMES Procedure
Ahmed Jabbar Hasan The investigation was launched in
May 2017 after the police had been
informed about the video by someone
Context who had seen it online.
The accused was arrested for three
Ongoing proceedings in Finland days at the end of June 2017. He was
against an Iraqi soldier for war crimes indicted in July 2018.
committed in Iraq, in March 2015
Suspect
Iraqi nationals and former corporal in
the Iraqi army
Country of residence
of suspect
Finland
Charges
War crimes of desecrating and
violating the dignity of a dead body
Developments in
2018
The investigation was ongoing in 2018.
On 10 January 2019, a Court in Helsinki
sentenced the accused to a 18 month
suspended sentenced for war crime,
after he was filmed cutting off the
head of a dead Islamic State fighter.
Current status
Sentenced
Facts
In March 2015, during an operation
against the Islamic state (IS) near
Karma in March 2015, the accused
was filmed decapitating the body of
22FRANCE
ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS against three high-level regime
ON SYRIA suspects: Ali Mamluk and Jamil
Hassan, also subject to an arrest
warrant issued in Germany earlier this
year, are both wanted for complicity in
crimes against humanity, torture and
THREE enforced disappearances. Abdel Salam
Mahmoud, in charge of the Air Force
INTERNATIONAL Intelligence investigative branch at
Mezzeh military airport in Damascus,
ARREST WARRANTS a detention site with one of the highest
and enforced disappearances is
TARGET HIGH- mortality rates in Syria according
to the UN’s Commission of Inquiry, ongoing before the French specialized
RANKING AL-ASSAD is wanted on war crimes charges unit for the prosecution of genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes
as well as complicity in crimes
REGIME OFFICIALS against humanity, torture and and torture within the Paris High
enforced disappearances. Court (hereinafter: the specialized
The Dabbagh family investigation unit), resulting in the issuance of three
international arrest warrants against
Current status the high-ranking regime officers.
Context Judicial investigation ongoing; Read more about the case
international arrest warrants issued
Ongoing investigation in France for
international crimes committed in
Syria in 2013 Facts
In November 2013, Patrick Dabbagh
Suspects and his father, Mazen Dabbagh, both
dual French-Syrian nationals, were
Ali Mamluk, director of the National arrested from their home in Damascus
Security Bureau; Jamil Hassan, head by Syrian Air Force Intelligence agents
of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and detained for interrogation at the
and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, director Mezzeh investigative branch. Neither
of an Air Force Intelligence one has been seen since.
investigative branch
In summer 2018, the Dabbagh family
Country of residence received formal notification from the
Syrian authorities that Patrick and
of suspects Mazen had died.
Syria
Procedure
Charges On 24 October 2016, a complaint
was filed with the Paris High Court
Complicity in crimes against humanity, by Obeida Dabbagh, a Syrian-French
torture and enforced disappearances; national, on behalf of his brother and
war crimes nephew, Mazen and Patrick Dabbagh,
both Syrian-French nationals,
together with FIDH and LDH. Obeida
Developments in Dabbagh alleged that they were
2018 arrested in 2013 in Syria by the Air
Force Intelligence Directorate and
In October 2018, in an unprecedented detained at the investigative branch in
step towards accountability for crimes Mezzeh (Damascus). They have since
committed in Syria, French judges disappeared. A judicial investigation
issued international arrest warrants into torture, crimes against humanity,
23French photojournalist Rémi
SYRIAN ARMY Ochlik and American war crimes
BOMBARDMENT correspondent Marie Colvin were
both killed in the attack. Several
TARGETING other journalists were injured in the
attack, including French journalist
JOURNALISTS Edith Bouvier as well as Syrian and
IN HOMS British journalists who were using
the center as a base to report on
The Rémi Ochlik and Edith the events in Homs in early 2012.
Bouvier investigations
Procedure
Context This case was originally opened
in 2012 as a homicide case but
Ongoing investigation into the was reclassified in 2014 as a war
murder of journalists during an army crimes case.
bombardment of a media center in
Syria in 2012 The families of Rémi Ochlik and
Marie Colvin are civil parties in the
case, together with French, Syrian
Charges and British journalists injured in
the attack, FIDH, and Reporters
War crimes without Borders.
Developments in Read more about the case
2018
On 9 April 2018, documents filed in a
US civil case concerning Marie Colvin’s
death were declassified. They allegedly
demonstrate the premeditated nature
of the Syrian army bombardment
of a media center in Homs that led
to the death of American journalist
Marie Colvin, French photographer
Remi Ochlik, and injuries to several
others including Edith Bouvier, Paul
Conroy and Wael al Omar. These
documents have been filed in the
ongoing war crimes investigation
underway in France.
Current status
Investigation ongoing
Facts
On 22 February 2012, a Syrian army
bombardment in Baba Amr, Homs,
led to the deaths or serious injury
of several journalists operating
from a media center based there.
24STRUCTURAL Zoom in
INVESTIGATION Starting an investigation
without suspects
BASED ON INSIDER
PHOTOS To investigate crimes under
universal jurisdiction,
French authorities must be
The Caesar investigation
able to prove the physical
presence (for torture and
enforced disappearances) or
Developments in the residence (for the Rome
Statute crimes) of a suspect in
2018 France.
The Caesar investigation is still Yet a structural investigation
ongoing, in collaboration with other on Syria is currently ongoing,
European countries, in particular in which the accused were
Germany, following the creation initially not identified.
in 2018 of the joint investigative How? France first based its
team between the French and jurisdiction on the possibility
German authorities. some perpetrators came
to France to claim asylum,
Procedure proving de facto their
presence in the country.
A former photographer, codenamed In 2018, this structural
Caesar, with the military police of investigation became part
the Syrian regime sought refuge of a joint investigation with
in Europe after fleeing Syria with Germany (see below).
thousands of pictures of dead and
abused bodies, attesting to the torture
committed in the jails of the regime of
Bashar al-Assad.
In September 2015, on the basis of
these pictures, the French ministry of
foreign affairs requested that the Paris
prosecutor of the French specialized
unit for the prosecution of genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes
and torture within the Paris High Court
(Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris)
open a preliminary investigation into
crimes against humanity, war crimes
and torture. France has jurisdiction
over these alleged crimes if one or
more of the victims is French, or if a
suspect has established his habitual
residence on French territory, or, in
the case of the crime of torture, if a
suspect is located on French territory.
Investigations are ongoing.
25to Lafarge risking its employees’
FIRST IN FRANCE: Developments in lives and violating a number of basic
COMPANY INDICTED 2018 labor rights.
FOR CRIMES On 28 June 2018, three investigative Procedure
AGAINST HUMANITY judges of the Paris High Court
charged the legal entity Lafarge SA In September 2016, the French
Lafarge – Eric Olsen and others (now LafargeHolcim) with complicity finance minister filed a complaint
in crimes against humanity, financing before the Paris prosecutor against
of a terrorist enterprise, breaching an LafargeHolcim for its alleged illegal
Context embargo, and endangering the lives of
others. Lafarge allegedly paid millions
purchase of oil in Syria, despite the
EU embargo issued in 2012. The Paris
Proceedings against the cement of euros to ISIS and several armed prosecutor opened an investigation in
company Lafarge SA (now groups to keep their cement factory October 2016.
LafargeHolcim): on the one hand, running. The investigative judges
for financing terrorism, complicity in ordered LafargeHolcim to hand over On 15 November 2016, 11 former
crimes against humanity committed 30 million euros to the authorities as Syrian employees and the human
by the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS), and a security deposit ahead of a possible rights groups Sherpa and ECCHR filed
deliberate endangerment of people’s trial. a criminal complaint as civil parties in
lives; and on the other hand, for illegal Paris against Lafarge, Lafarge Cement
Eight former executives were also Syria, and their current and former
purchase of oil
charged in this case between CEOs, for financing of terrorism,
December 2017 and May 2018, and complicity in crimes against humanity
Suspects were requested to provide the courts committed in Syria and for a series of
with a deposit of several million euros. labor rights violations.
Current and former directors and top
executives of French-Swiss cement
company LafargeHolcim Group Current status On 9 June 2017, three investigative
judges of the Paris High Court
(crimes allegedly committed by the (Tribunal de Grande Instance de
Company as a legal entity and
French company Lafarge prior to Paris) opened an investigation into the
individuals indicted; the judicial
its 2015 merger with Swiss-based crimes alleged by the NGOs Sherpa
inquiry is ongoing
Holcim) and of its subsidiary Lafarge and ECCHR, and 11 former Syrian
Cement Syria. The suspects are employees. In September 2017, three
French and Norwegian nationals Facts of the victims were heard by one of the
investigative judges.
Country of residence The 2016 complaint filed by human
rights groups Sherpa and the European On 13 October 2017, the plaintiffs’
of suspects Center for Constitutional and Human NGOs filed a motion requesting that
Rights (ECCHR), with former Lafarge the investigative judges summon a
France and Switzerland (headquarters) Syrian employees, alleged crimes former French minister of foreign
committed in Syria between 2013 and affairs and two former ambassadors
2014 in relation to Lafarge’s cement
Charges factory in Jalabiya, in northern Syria; in
of France to Syria for questioning.
an area where several armed groups, On 14 November 2017, the French
Financing of a terrorist enterprise, including ISIS, were operating. Lafarge police searched the headquarters
complicity in war crimes, complicity in allegedly entered in negotiations with of LafargeHolcim in Paris. At the
crimes against humanity, deliberate ISIS to purchase oil and pozzolan same time, the Belgian federal police
endangerment of people’s lives, from them, as well as to obtain official searched the premises of Groupe
exploitative labor practices, forced ISIS passes for crossing checkpoints Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), the second
labor, and violation of the EU embargo in order to maintain its production largest shareholder of LafargeHolcim,
on oil purchases in the area. Testimonies also point in Brussels.
26In December 2017, six former CEOs
and directors of Lafarge and Lafarge
Zoom in
Cement Syria were indicted on France leads the way in the
charges of financing terrorism and fight against corporate crime
deliberate endangerment of people’s
lives, and some on the additional France amended its law in
charge of breaching the EU embargo 2004 (Loi n° 2004-1343 du
on Syrian oil – namely: Eric Olsen 9 mars 2004) allowing the
and Bruno Lafont, former CEOs of prosecution of companies
Lafarge; Bruno Pescheux, CEO of the for all crimes entailed in its
Lafarge Syrian subsidiary between Criminal Code – including
2008 and 2014; and his successor, for their activities abroad.
Frédéric Jolibois; Jean-Claude
Veillard, Lafarge’s director of security; The condition is that a
and Christian Herrault, vice director physical representative of
at Lafarge. In March and May 2018, the company must have
Lafarge’s human resources executive committed the crime (in the
Sonia Artinian and former safety present case Eric Olsen and
director at LCS, Jacob Waerness, were his associates) in order to
indicted on similar charges. prosecute the corporation
as a moral person.
In June 2018, Lafarge as a legal entity
was charged in this case (see above).
Read more about the case
27FRANCE REVOKES Current status Zoom in
REFUGEE Detained; under investigation
Why must Ahmed
Hamdane El Aswadi be
STATUS OF MASS judged in France?
MASSACRE Facts
France granted refugee
SUSPECT Ahmed Hamdane El Aswadi is status to Ahmed
Hamdane El Aswadi
suspected of having participated in
Ahmed Hamdane El Aswadi the June 2014 massacre of Camp in 2017. It revoked this
Speicher, a military base near status following the
Tikrit, where armed men abducted war crimes allegations,
Context and executed hundreds of young yet still recognized the
threats the accused
army recruits, mainly Shiites,
Ongoing investigation in France for killing up to 1,700 people. Based on would be exposed to if
war crimes and murder committed testimony from other suspects, the he returned to Iraq.
in Iraq in 2014 Iraqi authorities claim that Ahmed
Hamdane El Aswadi personally Subsequently,
executed 103 soldiers. The accused pursuant to the 1951
Suspect denies all involvement in the Geneva Convention
alleged crimes. on Refugees, Ahmed
Iraqi national and suspected member Hamdane El Aswadi
of Islamic State (IS) The accused arrived in France during could not be sent back
the summer of 2016. He was granted there to face trial.
Country of residence the refugee status in June 2017.
This protection was removed after
The only remaining
option was to judge
of suspect his arrest. him in France.
France
Procedure
Charges In the summer of 2017, the French
intelligence services identified
Inhuman and degrading treatment Ahmed Hamdane El Aswadi as an
as war crimes and violations of the alleged IS member and reported his
1949 Geneva Conventions; terrorist presence to the judicial authorities.
conspiracy and murders linked to a
terrorist group In November 2017, the office of the
prosecutor of the French specialized
Developments in unit for the prosecution of genocide,
crimes against humanity, war
2018 crimes and torture within the
Paris High Court (hereinafter “the
On 6 March 2018, Ahmed Hamdane specialized unit”) requested the
El Aswadi was arrested in Lisieux, opening of an investigation against
Normandy. After two days in Ahmed Hamdane El Aswadi. He is
custody, he was indicted for criminal accused of having participated in the
conspiracy, murder in connection massacre of Camp Speicher in June
with a terrorist enterprise, and war 2014. He denies any involvement in
crimes of inhuman and degrading the events. This is the first case to
treatment and of using prohibited be investigated jointly by the anti-
means and methods of warfare. He terrorism and the specialized unit.
was subsequently placed in pre-trial
detention. Read more about the case
28On 24 November 2018, the Argentine were known to the coalition; and the
SAUDI CROWN authorities received a complaint from bombing of a funeral hall in Sana’a
PRINCE UNDER Human Rights Watch for his alleged
responsibility in war crimes committed
on 8 October 2016, which resulted in
dozens of civilian casualties.
INVESTIGATION in Yemen, as well as alleged torture
against Saudi citizens. Mohammed
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
bin Salman arrived in Buenos
Aires for the G20 Summit on 28
November 2018.
Context
Ongoing investigation in France Current status
for torture and inhuman treatment
committed during the Yemen war Under investigation
Suspect Facts
Crown prince and deputy prime On 25 March 2015, an international
minister of the Kingdom of coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched
Saudi Arabia air strikes against the armed group of
Houthis in Yemen, triggering a major
armed conflict. For three years now,
Country of residence Yemen has been ravaged by a war that
has already killed more than 10,000
of suspect people, half of whom are civilians.
Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman was
appointed Minister of Defense on 23
Charges January 2015. One of his first acts
was to launch the military campaign
Torture and inhuman treatment in Yemen along with other Arab states.
UN bodies and human rights groups
Developments in have denounced the widespread
2018 violations of human rights and
humanitarian law committed in
Yemen. Alleged violations include
On 9 April 2018, while Mohammed
deliberately targeting civilians, the
bin Salman was in France on a
use of illegal cluster-munitions,
personal visit, the Yemeni human
indiscriminate airstrikes and a naval
rights group Legal Center for Rights
blockade that deprived civilians of
and Development (LCRD) lodged a
access to basic necessities.
complaint against him with the French
specialized unit for the prosecution of
The complaint alleges that certain
genocide, crimes against humanity,
attacks on civilian targets constitute
war crimes and torture within the
violations of the 1984 Convention
Paris High Court (hereinafter “the
against Torture. These include the
specialized unit”). The complaint
destruction of an Oxfam warehouse
alleges that Mohammed bin Salman
containing humanitarian supplies
bears complicity in acts of torture
on 18 April 2015; airstrikes on a
and inhuman treatment committed
wedding ceremony on 28 September
by Saudi forces in Yemen since 2015.
2015, which killed 131 civilians; the
A judge should be designated to
26 October 2015 attack on an MSF
investigate the case.
hospital, the GPS coordinates of which
29took command of the rebel army, the
INVESTIGATION “Libyan national army” (LNA).
OPEN ON BENGAZHY During the spring 2014, Khalifa
SIEGE Haftar and the LNA launched the
“Operation Dignity” to take over the
Khalifa Haftar
city of Benghazy.
Khalifa Haftar is accused of having
Context ordered, in October 2014, the attack of
a family in Benghazy. One of the family
Ongoing proceedings in France for members was allegedly arbitrarily
torture allegedly committed in Libya arrested and tortured for three weeks.
between 2016 and 2017
Between 2016 and March 2017, the
LNA is suspected of having committed
Suspect crimes while occupying the city of
Benghazy. Khalifa Haftar is accused
Commander-in-chief of the Libyan of having launched a campaign of
National Army (LNA) indiscriminate shelling, murders,
and forced disappearances against
Country of residence Al-Laitti, Bu-Atni and Ganfouda
neighborhoods, where many civilians
of suspect had found refuge.
Libya
Procedure
Charges On 18 April 2018, a first complaint was
filed against Khalifa Haftar before the
Torture and acts of barbarism specialized unit for acts of torture.
The victim alleges that his family was
Developments in killed during “Operation Dignity” in
Benghazi. He also denounces that he
2018 was arbitrarily detained and tortured
for three weeks.
While Khalifa Haftar was in France for
medical reasons, two complaints for On 26 April 2018, Ali Hamza, a
acts of torture were filed respectively Lebanese-Canadian citizen residing
on 18 and 26 April 2018 against him in Canada, launched a complaint to
to the French specialized unit for the Prosecutor of the specialized unit
the prosecution of genocide, crimes for acts of torture and barbarity. He
against humanity, war crimes and alleges crimes committed by the ANL
torture, within the Paris High Court during the siege of Benghazi between
(hereinafter “the specialized unit”). 2016 and March 2017, during which
The investigation is ongoing. his mother and four of his brothers
and sisters lost their lives.
Current status Khalifa Haftar returned to Libya
following the filing of the complaints.
Under investigation
Read more about the case
Facts
In 2011, Khalifa Haftar joined the
Libyan insurgency against the
regime of Muammar Gaddafi and
30You can also read
