Misplaced Pages

#931068

84-581: Scilingo was charged under Spain's universal jurisdiction laws by investigating magistrate Baltazar Garzón with genocide, 30 counts of murder, 93 of causing injury, 255 of terrorism and 286 of torture. He denied the charges but initially refused to plead, claiming to be unwell. In 2005 doctors ruled Scilingo was fit to stand trial. The murder charges were related to 30 drugged political prisoners thrown out of government aircraft during Leopoldo Galtieri 's military junta 's Dirty War against leftist insurgents between 1976 and 1983. Scilingo, who retired from

168-675: A case against the Guatemalan military leadership in a Spanish Court. Six officials, among them Efraín Ríos Montt and Óscar Humberto Mejía , were formally charged on 7 July 2006 to appear in the Spanish National Court after Spain's Constitutional Court ruled in September 2005, the Spanish Constitutional Court declaration that the "principle of universal jurisdiction prevails over the existence of national interests", following

252-452: A case in which seven former Chinese officials, including the former Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin and former Premier Li Peng were alleged to have participated in a genocide in Tibet . This investigation follows a Spanish Constitutional Court (26 September 2005) ruling that Spanish courts could try genocide cases even if they did not involve Spanish nationals. China denounced

336-727: A grievance with the United Nations for Canada's failure to invoke universal jurisdiction to enforce the Convention Against Torture , a petition on which action is pending. On 14 February 2002, the International Court of Justice in the ICJ Arrest Warrant Case concluded that state officials may have immunity under international law while serving in office. The court stated that immunity was not granted to state officials for their own benefit, but instead to ensure

420-744: A humanitarian mission in Somalia the previous year. Finally in July 1994, after the genocide was over, the UN Security Council called for an investigation of the events, and acted to establish an international criminal tribunal to prosecute those individuals most responsible for the genocide. Adopting Resolution 955, the Security Council created the ICTR on 8 November 1994 and the ICTR would also deal with other crimes against international humanitarian law committed on

504-582: A member of Liwa al-Quds , was convicted in the Netherlands for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out during the Syrian civil war while fighting on the side of Syrian government forces. He was sentenced to twelve years of imprisonment. A case against the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré , started in 2015 in Senegal . Spanish law recognizes the principle of universal jurisdiction. Article 23.4 of

588-547: A more passive tone, referring to the usage of this principle to ensure that the specific country is not a territorial refuge for any suspects of international crimes. Universal jurisdiction differs from a state's prosecuting crimes under its own laws, whether on its own territory ( territorial jurisdiction ) or abroad ( extraterritorial jurisdiction ). As an example, the United States asserts jurisdiction over stateless vessels carrying illicit drugs on international waters—but here

672-491: A particular geographic location, Nazi "crimes against the peace of the world"—even if the acts were perfectly legal at the time in Fascist Germany. Indeed, one charge was Nazi law itself became a crime, law distorted into a bludgeon of oppression. The Nuremberg trials supposed universal standards by which one nation's laws, and acts of its officials, can be judged; an international rule of law unbound by national borders. On

756-486: A statute specific to Nazi crimes against Jews, its Supreme Court claimed universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity. Eichmann's defense lawyer argued that Israel did not have jurisdiction on account of Israel not having come into existence until 1948. The Genocide Convention also did not come into effect until 1951, and the Genocide Convention does not automatically provide for universal jurisdiction. It

840-576: A strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war." The trial against " hate media " began on 23 October 2000. It was charged with the prosecution of the media which encouraged the genocide of 1994. On 19 August 2003, at the tribunal in Arusha, life sentences were requested for Ferdinand Nahimana , and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza , persons in charge for the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines , as well as Hassan Ngeze , director and editor of

924-514: A total of 96 individuals. The proceedings against one individual are suspended before the IRMCT. The ICTR (or the IRMCT as its successor) convicted 61 individuals: 25 of whom are currently serving sentences, 22 of whom have completed their sentences, and 14 of whom died while serving their sentences. The Tribunal acquitted 14 individuals and transferred the cases against 10 individuals to national jurisdictions. Proceedings against nine individuals ended before

SECTION 10

#1732851852932

1008-752: A whole, universal jurisdiction holds that such acts are beyond the scope of any single nation's laws. Instead, these crimes are considered to violate norms owed to the global community ( erga omnes ) and fundamental principles of international law ( jus cogens ), making them prosecutable in any court that invokes this principle. While universal jurisdiction has been championed by organizations such as Amnesty International for ensuring that perpetrators of grave crimes find no refuge, it remains controversial. Critics, like former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger , argue that it undermines national sovereignty and risks turning judicial proceedings into politically motivated trials. The principle gained prominence following

1092-400: Is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as genocide , war crimes , and crimes against humanity , regardless of where the crime was committed and irrespective of the accused's nationality or residence . Rooted in the belief that certain offenses are so heinous that they threaten the international community as

1176-478: Is also argued that Israeli agents obtained Eichmann illegally, violating international law when they seized and kidnapped Eichmann, and brought him to Israel to stand trial. The Argentinian government settled the dispute diplomatically with Israel. Israel argued universal jurisdiction based on the "universal character of the crimes in question" and that the crimes committed by Eichmann were not only in violation of Israel law, but were considered "grave offenses against

1260-619: Is outlined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal court as a serious criminal act committed as part of a "widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack", including murder, rape, slavery, persecution, extermination, and torture. Universal jurisdiction over the crimes enumerated in the Rome Statute was rejected by the signing parties, however universal jurisdiction

1344-500: Is regarded as a major failure. The international response to the Rwandan genocide was poor. For weeks, the major power nations denied that a genocide was taking place in Rwanda. The United States refused to call the incident genocide because using the term would make an obligation for the United States to send troops, which it was reluctant to do after several of its soldiers were killed during

1428-711: Is running a court and proceeding according to common law. This is a little too sanctimonious a fraud to meet my old-fashioned ideas." Kenneth Roth , the executive director of Human Rights Watch , argues that universal jurisdiction allowed Israel to try Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961. Roth also argues that clauses in treaties such as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the United Nations Convention Against Torture of 1984, which requires signatory states to pass municipal laws that are based on

1512-625: Is what allows the United Nations Security Council to refer specific situations to the ICC. This has only happened with Darfur (2005) and Libya (2011). In addition the United Nations has set up geographically specific courts to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity under a theory of universal jurisdiction, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994), and the International Criminal Tribunal for

1596-704: The Center for Constitutional Rights tried first in Switzerland and then in Canada to prosecute former U.S. President George W. Bush on behalf of persons tortured in US detention camps, invoking the universal jurisdiction doctrine. Bush cancelled his trip to Switzerland after news of the planned prosecution came to light. Bush has traveled to Canada but the Canadian government shut down the prosecution in advance of his arrest. The center has filed

1680-571: The Commentaries of Gaius , says that "All nations ... are governed partly by their own particular laws, and partly by those laws which are common to all, [those that] natural Reason appoints for all mankind." Expanding on the classical understanding of universal law accessible by reason, in the seventeenth century, the Dutch jurist Grotius laid the foundations for universal jurisdiction in modern international law, promulgating in his De Jure Praedae ( Of

1764-417: The Geneva Conventions (which deals with internal conflicts ). The first trial, of Jean-Paul Akayesu , began in 1997. Jean Kambanda , interim Prime Minister, pleaded guilty. According to the ICTR's Completion Strategy, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1503 , all first-instance cases were to have completed trial by the end of 2008 (this date was later extended to the end of 2009 ) and all work

SECTION 20

#1732851852932

1848-592: The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT or Mechanism) which had begun functioning for the ICTR branch on 1 July 2012. The Tribunal was officially closed on 31 December 2016. The tribunal's failure to prosecute war crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front or try RPF leader Paul Kagame was widely criticized, to the point of being characterized as " victor's justice ". The Rwandan genocide refers to

1932-744: The Kangura newspaper. They were charged with genocide, incitement to genocide , and crimes against humanity, before and during the period of the genocides of 1994. On 3 December 2003, the court found all three defendants guilty and sentenced Nahimana and Ngeze to life imprisonment and Barayagwiza to imprisonment for 35 years. On 28 November 2007, the Appeals Chamber partially allowed appeals against conviction from all three men, reducing their sentences to 30 years' imprisonment for Nahimana, 32 years' imprisonment for Barayagwiza and 35 years' imprisonment for Ngeze. French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière

2016-505: The Nuremberg trials after World War II, which prosecuted Nazi officials for crimes against humanity, even when such acts were legal under German law at the time. Since then, it has been invoked in various international tribunals and national courts to address impunity for crimes committed in conflict zones or under repressive regimes. Notably, universal jurisdiction has been applied in cases like Israel’s prosecution of Adolf Eichmann in 1961,

2100-507: The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its invasion from Uganda furthered ethnic hatred. A ceasefire in these hostilities led to negotiations between the government and the RPF in 1992. On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying then-President Juvenal Habyarimana, and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi was shot down, killing everyone on board. The Hutu held the RPF accountable and immediately began the genocide, targeted at both Tutsis and Hutu moderates. Most of

2184-617: The Rwandan genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda , or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. The court eventually convicted 61 individuals and acquitted 14. In 1995, it became located in Arusha , Tanzania , under Resolution 977 . From 2006, Arusha also became the location of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights . In 1998

2268-608: The Syrian civil war . International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( ICTR ; French : Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda ; Kinyarwanda : Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda ) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to adjudicate people charged for

2352-474: The trials of Rwandan genocide perpetrators , and the prosecution of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet . The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) further strengthened this concept, though its use remains contentious, often constrained by political considerations and the practical challenges of enforcing extraterritorial justice. The Institutes of Justinian , echoing

2436-522: The 2013 Ghouta chemical attack and the 2018 Douma chemical attack . On 21 May 2024, a Paris Criminal Court started a trial in absentia of Ali Mamlouk , former head of the National Security Bureau, Jamil Hassan , former director of the Air Force intelligence service, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud , former head of investigations for the service, for the deaths of two French-Syrian citizens during

2520-622: The Australian Constitution, to exercise universal jurisdiction over war crimes in the Polyukhovich v Commonwealth case of 1991. In 1993, Belgium's Parliament passed a "law of universal jurisdiction" (sometimes referred to as "Belgium's genocide law"), allowing it to judge people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. In 2001, four Rwandan citizens were convicted and given sentences from 12 to 20 years' imprisonment for their involvement in 1994 Rwandan genocide . There

2604-576: The Former Yugoslavia (1993). The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia investigates war crimes that took place in the Balkans in the 1990s. It convicted former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić on 10 charges relating to directing murders, purges and other abuses against civilians, including genocide in connection with the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica; he

Adolfo Scilingo - Misplaced Pages Continue

2688-518: The Government of Sierra Leone. Taylor contested the Special Court's jurisdiction, claiming immunity, but the Special Court for Sierra Leone concluded in 2004 that "the sovereign equality of states does not prevent a head of state from being prosecuted before an international criminal tribunal or court". The Special Court convicted Taylor in 2012 and sentenced him to fifty years' imprisonment, making him

2772-515: The Hutu, who were primarily agriculturalists. The distinction under colonial powers allowed Tutsis to establish ruling power until a Hutu revolution in 1959 abolished the Tutsi monarchy by 1961. The hostility between the two groups continued, as "additional rounds of ethnic tension and violence flared periodically and led to mass killings of Tutsi in Rwanda, such as in 1963, 1967, and 1973". The establishment of

2856-482: The ICTR, the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu established the legal precedent that genocidal rape falls within the act of genocide. "...the [Trial] Chamber finds that in most cases, the rapes of Tutsi women in Taba, were accompanied with the intent to kill those women. ... In this respect, it appears clearly to the chamber that the acts of rape and sexual violence, as other acts of serious bodily and mental harm committed against

2940-532: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ..., and the future International Criminal Court ." In 2003, Charles Taylor , the former president of Liberia , was served with an arrest warrant by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) that was set up under the auspices of a treaty that binds only the United Nations and

3024-546: The Judicial Power Organization Act (LOPJ), enacted on 1 July 1985, establishes that Spanish courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by Spaniards or foreign citizens outside Spain when such crimes can be described according to Spanish criminal law as genocide, terrorism, or some other, as well as any other crime that, according to international treaties or conventions, must be prosecuted in Spain. On 25 July 2009,

3108-639: The Law of Captures ) and later Dē jūre bellī ac pācis ( Of the Law of War and Peace ) the Enlightenment view that there are universal principles of right and wrong. According to Henry Kissinger , at about the same time, international law came to recognize the analogous concept of hostēs hūmānī generis ("enemies of the human race") applying to pirates or hijackers whose crimes took place outside of nation-state territories, while universal jurisdiction subjecting senior officials or heads of states as criminal subjects

3192-615: The Menchu suit brought against the officials for atrocities committed in the Guatemalan Civil War . In June 2003, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón jailed Ricardo Miguel Cavallo , a former Argentine naval officer, who was extradited from Mexico to Spain pending his trial on charges of genocide and terrorism relating to the years of Argentina's military dictatorship. On 11 January 2006, the Spanish High Court agreed to investigate

3276-648: The Navy in 1986, later attracted great notoriety for publicly confessing in March 1995 to journalist Horacio Verbitsky to participating in the so-called death flights - the first of a series of public confessions collectively called in Argentina the 'Scilingo effect' (Feitlowitz 1999). Scilingo was serving a jail term for fraud in Argentina at the time. The court found Scilingo guilty of crimes against humanity and torture and sentenced him to 640 years in jail. 21 years for each for

3360-630: The Rome Statute, Canada passed the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act . Michael Byers , a University of British Columbia law professor, has argued that these laws go further than the Rome Statute, providing Canadian courts with jurisdiction over acts pre-dating the ICC and occurring in territories outside of ICC member-states; "as a result, anyone who is present in Canada and alleged to have committed genocide, torture ... anywhere, at any time, can be prosecuted [in Canada]". François Bazaramba

3444-626: The Rwandan genocide, and complaints filed against the Chadian ex-President Hissène Habré (dubbed the "African Pinochet "). In September 2005, Habré was indicted for crimes against humanity, torture, war crimes and other human rights violations by a Belgian court. Arrested in Senegal following requests from Senegalese courts, he was tried and convicted for war crimes by the Special Tribunal in Senegal in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison. To implement

Adolfo Scilingo - Misplaced Pages Continue

3528-471: The Second World War over fifteen states have conducted investigations, commenced prosecutions and completed trials based on universal jurisdiction for the crimes or arrested people with a view to extraditing the persons to a state seeking to prosecute them. These states include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Senegal , Spain, Switzerland,

3612-587: The Spanish Congress passed a law that limits the competence of the Audiencia Nacional under Article 23.4 to cases in which Spaniards are victims, there is a relevant link to Spain, or the alleged perpetrators are in Spain. The law still has to pass the Senate, the high chamber, but passage is expected because it is supported by both major parties. In 1999, Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú brought

3696-750: The Supreme Court of Spain upheld the Court of Appeals decision against conducting an official inquiry into the IDF's targeted killing of Shehadeh. Universal jurisdiction was used in Sweden for the trial of Hamid Nouri for involvement in the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners . In 2022, Nouri was sentenced to a life in prison. In April 2024, a Swedish court started a trial of Syrian Brigadier general Mohammed Hamo for indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Homs during

3780-648: The Syrian civil war. Under the German legal system, international crimes are offenses that require public prosecution ( Offizialdelikte ) and are not dependent on the victims' individual criminal complaints to initiate the prosecution. Nikola Jorgić on 26 September 1997 was convicted of genocide in Germany and sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for his involvement in the Bosnian genocide . His appeal following his conviction

3864-671: The Tribunal's Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and was the Tribunal's channel of communication. The Registry was headed by the Registrar, who was the Representative of the UN Secretary-General . Bongani Christopher Majola of South Africa was Registrar. after January 2013. After an intense and precisely targeted campaign of a number of international non-governmental organizations, which aimed at raising awareness of gendered violence at

3948-420: The Tutsi, reflected the determination to make Tutsi women suffer and to mutilate them even before killing them, the intent being to destroy the Tutsi group while inflicting acute suffering on its members in the process." Presiding judge Navanethem Pillay said in a statement after the verdict: "From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as spoils of war. Now it will be considered a war crime. We want to send out

4032-415: The US reaches across national borders to enforce its own law, rather than invoking universal jurisdiction and trans-national standards of right and wrong. States attempting to police acts committed by foreign nationals on foreign territory tends to be more controversial than a state prosecuting its own citizens wherever they may be found. Bases on which a state might exercise jurisdiction in this way include

4116-788: The United Kingdom and the United States. Amnesty writes: All states parties to the Convention against Torture and the Inter-American Convention are obliged whenever a person suspected of torture is found in their territory to submit the case to their prosecuting authorities for the purposes of prosecution, or to extradite that person. In addition, it is now widely recognized that states, even those that are not states parties to these treaties, may exercise universal jurisdiction over torture under customary international law. Examples of particular states invoking universal jurisdiction are Israel's prosecution of Eichmann in 1961 (see § Israel below) and Spain's prosecution of South American dictators and torturers (see § Spain below). More recently,

4200-463: The case entitled ICJ Arrest Warrant Case . The ICJ's decision issued on 14 February 2002 found that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the question of universal jurisdiction, instead deciding the question on the basis of immunity of high-ranking state officials. However, the matter was addressed in separate and dissenting opinions, such as that of President Guillaume who concluded that universal jurisdiction exists only in relation to piracy; and

4284-408: The case of a judge being absent. The column denoted by # indicates the order of precedence . The Office of the Prosecutor was divided into various units at the height of its activity, including the Investigations Division and the Prosecution Division: The Registry was responsible for the overall administration and management of the ICTR. It also performed other legal functions assigned to it by

SECTION 50

#1732851852932

4368-418: The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Malaysian human rights group SUARAM expressed concern about the KLWCC's procedures, and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy , described the KLWCC as having no legal basis, and was sceptical about fair trials taking place in absentia . In January 2024, Mustafa A.,

4452-437: The complaint (or 50, according to other reports). The Israeli chief of operations and prime minister apologized officially, saying they were unaware, due to faulty intelligence, that civilians were in the house. The investigation in the case was halted on 30 June 2009 by a decision of a panel of 18 judges of the Audiencia Nacional. The Spanish Court of Appeals rejected the lower court's decision, and on appeal in April 2010

4536-469: The concept of universal jurisdiction, indicate widespread international acceptance of the concept. Amongst the vast spread of literature surrounding the theory, application, and history of Universal Jurisdiction, there are two approaches: the "global enforcer" and the "no safe haven". "Global enforcer" refers to the usage of Universal Jurisdiction as an active way of preventing and punishing international crimes committed anywhere while "no safe haven" takes on

4620-408: The criminal law of peoples"), which implemented the treaty creating the International Criminal Court into domestic law. The law was passed in 2002 and up to 2014. It has been used once, in the trial of Rwandan rebel leader Ignace Murwanashyaka . In 2015 he was found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Furthermore, section 7(2) of German Criminal Code Strafgesetzbuch (stGB) establishes

4704-472: The decision, and Israeli officials refused to provide information requested by the Spanish court. The attack killed the founder and leader of the military wing of the Islamic militant organisation Hamas , Salah Shehade , who Israel said was responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths. The attack also killed 14 others (including his wife and 9 children). It had targeted the building where Shahade hid in Gaza City. It also wounded some 150 Palestinians, according to

4788-433: The dissenting opinion of Judge Oda who recognised piracy, hijacking, terrorism and genocide as crimes subject to universal jurisdiction. On 1 August 2003, Belgium repealed the law on universal jurisdiction, and introduced a new law on extraterritorial jurisdiction similar to or more restrictive than that of most other European countries. However, some cases that had already started continued. These included those concerning

4872-467: The effective performance of their functions on behalf of their respective states. The court also stated that when abroad, state officials may enjoy immunity from arrest in another state on criminal charges, including charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity. But the ICJ qualified its conclusions, saying that state officers "may be subject to criminal proceedings before certain international criminal courts, where they have jurisdiction. Examples include

4956-427: The first head of state since the Nuremberg trials after World War II to be tried and convicted by an international court. In sum, the question whether a former head of state might have immunity depends on which international court or tribunal endeavors to try him, how the court is constituted, and how it interprets its own mandate. The High Court of Australia confirmed the authority of the Australian Parliament, under

5040-451: The following: Established in The Hague in 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international tribunal of general jurisdiction (defined by treaty) to prosecute state-members' citizens for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, as specified by several international agreements, most prominently the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court signed in 1998. A serious international crime

5124-610: The genocide was carried out almost entirely by hand, usually with the utilization of machetes and clubs. Various atrocities committed include the rape of thousands of Tutsi women, as well as the dismemberment and disfigurement of victims. Frequently the killers were people the victims knew personally—neighbors, workmates, former friends, sometimes even relatives through marriage. At least 500,000 Tutsis were killed, and approximately 2 million refugees (mostly Hutus) left for refugee camps of neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former Zaire. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda

SECTION 60

#1732851852932

5208-425: The infractions that can be judged in France when they were committed outside French territory either by French citizens or foreigners. The following infractions may be prosecuted: In February 2019, Abdulhamid Chaban , a former soldier of the Syrian Army , was arrested and indicted for complicity in crimes against humanity during the Syrian civil war , whereas Majdi Nema , a former spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam ,

5292-558: The invasion of Iraq. In May 2012, the tribunal again under what it saw as universal jurisdiction took testimony from victims of torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo , and convicted in absentia former President Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney , former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld , former Deputy Assistant Attorneys General John Yoo and Jay Bybee , former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales , and former counselors David Addington and William Haynes II for conspiracy to commit war crimes. The tribunal referred its findings to

5376-581: The investigation as an interference in its internal affairs and dismissed the allegations as "sheer fabrication". The case was shelved in 2010, because of a law passed in 2009 that restricted High Court investigations to those "involving Spanish victims, suspects who are in Spain, or some other obvious link with Spain". Complaints were lodged against former Israeli Defense Forces chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz and six other senior Israeli political and military officials by pro-Palestinian organizations, who sought to prosecute them in Spain under

5460-417: The killing during the Rwandan genocide was carried out by the radical Hutu groups known as the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi. Radio broadcasts also were an integral part of the genocide, which further fueled the genocide by encouraging Hutu civilians to kill their Tutsi neighbours, labeled as "cockroaches" in need of extermination. Despite its colossal scale, particularly within such a short period of time,

5544-410: The law of nations itself". It also asserted that the crime of genocide is covered under international customary law. As a supplemental form of jurisdiction, a further argument is made on the basis of protective jurisdiction. Protective jurisdiction is a principle that "provides that states may exercise jurisdiction over aliens who have committed an act abroad which is deemed prejudicial to the security of

5628-401: The mass slaughter of more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu by government-directed gangs of Hutu extremist soldiers and police in Rwanda. The duration of the 1994 genocide is usually described as 100 days, beginning on April 6 and ending in mid-July. The tension between the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi had developed over time but was particularly emphasized late in

5712-603: The murder of 30 victims, who were thrown from planes to their deaths, and a further five years for torture and five years illegal detention. Scilingo is unlikely to serve more than 30 years in jail as that is the maximum time a person can serve for non-terrorist offences. The Spanish case was the first use of a new Spanish law whereby people can be prosecuted for crimes committed outside Spain. Scilingo's confession prompted Argentines residing in Spain to press charges against him. It also led to Chileans living in Spain to file charges against their former dictator, Augusto Pinochet , who

5796-452: The nineteenth century and early in the twentieth century as a result of German and Belgian colonialism over Rwanda. The ethnic categorization of the two was an imposed and an arbitrary construct based more on physical characteristics than ethnic background. However, the social differences between the Hutu and the Tutsi have traditionally allowed the Tutsi, with a strong pastoralist tradition, to gain social, economic, and political ascendancy over

5880-410: The operation of the tribunal was expanded in Resolution 1165 . Through several resolutions, the Security Council called on the tribunal to complete its investigations by end of 2004, complete all trial activities by end of 2008, and complete all work in 2012. The tribunal had jurisdiction over genocide , crimes against humanity , and violations of Common Article Three and Additional Protocol II of

5964-410: The other hand, even at the time, the Nuremberg trials were criticized as victor's justice , revenge papered over with legal simulacra . US Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone remarked that his colleague Justice Jackson acting as Nuremberg Chief prosecutor was "conducting his high-grade lynching party in Nuremberg. I don't mind what he does to the Nazis, but I hate to see the pretense that he

6048-490: The particular state concerned". In November 2011, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC), created in 2007 by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad as a private institution (without the support of any government), exercised what it viewed as universal jurisdiction to try and convict in absentia former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for

6132-484: The principle of aut dedere aut judicare , stating that German criminal law applies to offenses committed abroad by foreign nationals who currently reside in Germany if there is no criminal law jurisdiction in the foreign country or when no extradition request was made. The moral philosopher Peter Singer , along with Kenneth Roth, has cited Israel's prosecution of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 as an assertion of universal jurisdiction. He claims that while Israel did invoke

6216-688: The principle of universal jurisdiction. On 29 January 2009, Fernando Andreu , a judge of the Audiencia Nacional, opened preliminary investigations into claims that a targeted killing attack in Gaza in 2002 warranted the prosecution of Halutz, the former Israeli defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer , the former defence chief-of-staff Moshe Ya'alon , and four others, for crimes against humanity . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly criticized

6300-413: The territory of Rwanda and neighboring states between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. The tribunal consisted of 16 judges in four "chambers" – three to hear trials, and one to hear appeals. In addition, there were 9 ad litem judges, making 25 in all. All 9 ad litem judges were assigned to Chambers II and III. There was an additional pool of 9 further ad literim judges who would be called on in

6384-652: Was a rapid succession of cases: Confronted with this sharp increase in cases, Belgium established the condition that the accused person must be Belgian or present in Belgium. An arrest warrant issued in 2000 under this law, against the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi , was challenged before the International Court of Justice in

6468-481: Was also pursuing a case against the current President, Paul Kagame , and other members of his administration, for the assassination of his predecessor. This case was under the regular jurisdiction of the French courts because French citizens were also killed in the plane crash. The majority of genocide cases were handled by the so-called gacaca courts , a modernized customary dispute resolution mechanism. The ICTR indicted

6552-591: Was arrested and indicted for war crimes and torture, respectively. In May 2023, the French Court of Cassation ruled that French universal jurisdiction allows for a trial of said individuals, and that it was not obligatory that "the offences of crime against humanity or war crime be identically described by the laws of the foreign country", in this case Syria. On 15 November 2023, France issued international arrest warrants for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and three other Syrian officials for war crimes perpetrated during

6636-607: Was later arrested in Britain at the request of Judge Baltasar Garzón . On 4 July 2007, the Supreme Court of Spain increased Scilingo's prison sentence to 1084 years (but effective for only 25 years) and altered the conviction to the specific penalties provided in the current criminal code for the crimes of murder and unlawful detention, but held that these crimes "constitute crimes against humanity according to international law". Universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction

6720-546: Was new. From these premises, representing the Enlightenment belief in trans-territorial, trans-cultural standards of right and wrong, derives universal jurisdiction. Perhaps the most notable and influential precedent for universal jurisdiction were the mid-20th century Nuremberg Trials . U.S. Justice Robert H. Jackson then chief prosecutor, famously stated that an International Military Tribunal enforcing universal principles of right and wrong could prosecute acts without

6804-585: Was rejected by the German Federal Court of Justice , Germany's highest court of appeal for criminal matters, on 30 April 1999. The court stated that genocide is a crime which all nations must prosecute. Since then Germany has implemented the principle of universal jurisdiction for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes into its criminal law through the Völkerstrafgesetzbuch or VStGB ("international criminal code", literally "book of

6888-407: Was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Universal jurisdiction may be asserted by a particular nation as well as by an international tribunal. The result is the same: individuals become answerable for crimes defined and prosecuted regardless of where they live, or where the conduct occurred; crimes said to be so grievous as to be universally condemned. Amnesty International argues that since the end of

6972-555: Was sentenced to life imprisonment in Finland in 2010 for participation in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. In 2021 a trial for Gibril Massaquoi, charged with murder, aggravated war crimes and aggravated crimes against humanity in Liberia , started in Finland, with part of the hearings of witnesses to take place in Liberia and Sierra Leone . The article 689 of the code de procédure pénale states

7056-506: Was to be completed by 2010. As of 2009, the tribunal had finished 50 trials and convicted 29 accused persons, and another 11 trials were in progress and 14 individuals were awaiting trial in detention; but the prosecutor intended to transfer 5 to national jurisdiction for trial. 13 others were still at large, some suspected to be dead. The United Nations Security Council called upon the tribunal to finish its work by 31 December 2014 to prepare for its closure and transfer of its responsibilities to

#931068