Mar 15, 2021 | News
As Syria marks 10 years of a devastating armed conflict, the UN Security Council continues to abdicate its responsibility to address the gross human rights abuses committed by the Syrian government and various other actors in the country, including the use of chemical weapons and the perpetration of other crimes against humanity, likely genocide and war crimes, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today.
Since a popular uprising began in March 2011, the regime’s unabated repression has driven Syria into a full-scale civil war. Hundreds of thousands have been killed; tens of thousands have been tortured and forcibly disappeared; over 11 million have been forcibly displaced, either internally or to host countries; and tens of thousands continue to to be arbitrarily detained.
Notwithstanding this, Russia and China have vetoed at least 15 Security Council resolutions seeking to address and deter the perpetration of crimes under international law in Syria, including through the establishment of investigations into the use chemical and other weapons, by imposing sanctions over such use, and by referring the Syria situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The SC’s failure to address the Syrian conflict has been chronic and structural, and so wrong about so much and at the expense of so many”, said Said Benarbia, MENA Programme Director at the ICJ. “The SC’s failure calls into question its very role as a guarantor of peace and security and its relevance in upholding a rule-based order.”
To end impunity and ensure victims’ right to justice and effective remedies, the SC must reform its accountability practices, including by ensuring that decisions on the investigation of crimes under international law, the referral of these crimes to the ICC, and the establishment and operationalization of other forms of accountability be based on the existence of overwhelming evidence of such crimes, rather than political expediency.
In the meantime, individual UN Member States must act to begin filling the accountability gap in Syria, including by supporting United Nations accountability mechanisms, such as the the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, and by seeking out, prosecuting and punishing those responsible for the atrocities committed in the country pursuant to the principle of universal jurisdiction, as the recent, first-ever guilty verdict against a former official of the Syrian regime delivered by the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, shows.
Contact:
Asser Khattab, Research and Communications Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, asser.khattab@icj.org
Mar 10, 2021 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ delivered a statement today on the occasion of the interactive dialogue on the oral update by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the situation in Venezuela calling for attention to the persistence of widespread serious human rights violations in the country.
The statements reads as follows:
“Madame President,
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission’s oral update on the situation in Venezuela.
The ICJ calls attention to the persistence of widespread serious human rights violations, as reported by the FFM in its 2020’s report, including extrajudicial killings.
Venezuelan authorities have wholly failed to comply with the Mission’s recommendations, including the need for “prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into the human rights violations and crimes”.
This underscores the deficits in judicial and prosecutorial independence that has undermined fair trial rights.
The ICJ is extremely concerned about attacks on human rights defenders and civil society organizations in Venezuela by the authorities, which include the criminalization of the defence of human rights protected under international human rights law.
Civil society organizations that were targeted in 2020 include “Acción Solidaria”, “Provea”, “Alimenta la Solidaridad” and “CONVITE”, and early this year five members of “Azul Positivo” were arbitrarily detained and continue to be harassed.
The ICJ urges that the Venezuelan authorities ensure their full cooperation with the FFM and immediately cease the attacks on human rights defenders; conduct independent investigations and bring to justice those responsible for serious human violations; and remove obstacles to access to justice for victims.
Thank you.”
Contact:
Massimo Frigo, ICJ UN Representative, e: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org, t: +41797499949
Mar 4, 2021 | News
Israeli and Palestinian authorities should immediately grant the International Criminal Court unhindered access to Palestinian territory to investigate alleged crimes under international law committed by all parties to the conflict, the International Commission of Jurists said today.
The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor yesterday announced the initiation of an investigation into “war crimes [that] have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”
“Israel, the United States and other States must refrain from any efforts undermining the Office of the Prosecutor and the integrity of its investigation,” said Said Bearbia, ICJ’s MENA programme director. “Rather, they should comply with universally recognized norms on the independence and impartiality of judges and prosecutors.”
The ICJ calls on all states and concerned organizations to cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to Office of the Prosecutor in carrying out its investigation.
The Israeli and Palestinian authorities, in particular, should grant the Office of the Prosecutor and its members unhindered access to all Palestinian territory without delay, and allow them to visit sites, meet and speak freely and privately with victims and witnesses, and access any relevant documentation or records.
It is critical that the ICC’s investigators and prosecutors, like any other investigators and prosecutors, should be able to perform their professional functions independently, impartially, diligently and without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.
“The ICC investigation offers a unique opportunity to begin addressing the structural impunity that prevails over past and ongoing crimes under international law in Palestine,” Benarbia added. “It’s a crucial initial step in the realization of the victims’ rights to justice, truth and reparations.”
On 5 February 2020, the ICC decided it can assert its jurisdiction over serious crimes alleged to have occurred in the State of Palestine since 13 June 2014.
On 16 March 2020, the ICJ submitted amicus curiae observations in support of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction.
Find the Press Release in Arabic here: PalestineIsrael-PR-ICC-ARA2-2021
Contact:
Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme; t: +41 22 979 3817 e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Asser Khattab, Research and Communications Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, asser.khattab@icj.org
Mar 4, 2021 | News
The escalating killing of peaceful protestors by Myanmar’s security forces should be independently investigated as possible crimes against humanity, said the ICJ today on the eve of a closed-door UN Security Council session on the situation.
According to reliable information provided to the ICJ, security forces have unlawfully killed approximately 50 unarmed people – including at least five children – in more than 10 cities on different days since the military overthrew the civilian government on 1 February 2021. On 3 March, at least 38 people were reported killed by security forces.
In addition, numerous protestors have been injured and a total of 1,498 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced in relation to the military coup, according to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
“As the scale of the violence continues to increase, seemingly as part of a systematic, centralized policy to use lethal force against peaceful protestors, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Myanmar’s security forces are perpetrating crimes against humanity,” said Kingsley Abbott, Director of Global Accountability and International Justice at the ICJ. “This underscores the urgent need for all states, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council, to stop shielding the Myanmar military and work together towards opening avenues to justice for the Myanmar people.”
The UN Security Council will meet this Friday for a closed-door session at the request of the United States which is President of the Council in March 2021.
“The UN Security Council should immediately refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court for a full independent and effective investigation,” added Abbott.
In addition to acts that may constitute murder as a crime against humanity, security forces have also reportedly committed acts which, when committed in a widespread and systematic manner, would amount to other crimes against humanity, including imprisonment, torture, and enforced disappearance – all of which also go towards supporting the existence of an attack.
“These killings and other crimes under international law are a direct result of the culture of impunity that has been allowed to persist in Myanmar for decades,” added Abbott. “All states should support the different accountability initiatives underway, including the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar which is collecting evidence for use in future legal proceedings.”
“It is long past time for perpetrators of serious human rights violations in the country to be brought to justice before the International Criminal Court or in any national jurisdictions willing and able to exercise universal jurisdiction.”
Background
On 12 September 2018, following an independent investigation, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called for Myanmar’s military to be “…investigated and prosecuted in an international criminal tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” concerning alleged violations in Shan, Kachin and Rakhine States and elsewhere throughout the country.
Under general international law, including customary international law and treaties and statutes of international criminal courts, crimes against humanity must be prosecuted. The authoritative definition of crimes against humanity is contained in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, for killings to amount to crimes against humanity, they must be committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack. According to the elements of crimes of the Rome Statute, “’Attack directed against a civilian population’ in these context elements is understood to mean a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Statute against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack. The acts need not constitute a military attack. It is understood that ‘policy to commit such attack’ requires that the State or organization actively promote or encourage such an attack against a civilian population.”
Generally speaking, “widespread” refers to the geographical scope of the attack and the number of victims, but not exclusively. “Systematic” refers to the organized nature of the acts of violence and the improbability of their random occurrence.
Myanmar is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. However, the ICC is investigating crimes committed against the Rohingya minority as part of waves of violence in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017 where one element or part of the crime was committed inside Bangladesh, which is a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC would be able to conduct a full investigation of the situation in Myanmar if the UN Security Council used its Chapter VII powers to refer the matter to the ICC pursuant to Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.
Universal jurisdiction refers to the legal concept that States have the authority, and in some cases the obligation, to bring proceedings in relation to certain crimes, including crimes against humanity, because they are so serious it does not matter where the crimes were committed or the nationality of the perpetrators or the victims. States are generally entitled to exercise jurisdiction for serious under crimes under international law.
Contact
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Director of Global Accountability and International Justice; e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Secretary General, sam.zarifi(a)icj.org
Mar 1, 2021 | Advocacy, News
Between December 2020 and February 2021, the ICJ co-hosted a series of workshops for government authorities, medical professionals and lawyers in the southern border provinces of Thailand on how to conduct investigations into alleged unlawful killings and enforced disappearances.
Thailand’s southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla have been affected by a longstanding ethno-nationalist insurgency, which has involved conflict between certain Malay groups and Thai military and security forces. Special security laws have been enacted and applied to the deep south. Over recent years, there are reports of widespread human rights violations, including violations of due process and fair trial rights, torture, ill-treatment while in custody, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings continue to emerge. Investigations into these allegations, prosecutions of perpetrators and provision of remedies and reparations to victims remain slow.
The first workshop was organized between 21 and 22 December 2020 in Songkhla province for authorities from Thailand’s southern border provinces. The event focused on how investigations into unlawful deaths should be conducted in accordance with international human rights law and standards, with a particular focus on the revised Minnesota Protocol (2016), which the ICJ assisted in producing.
The workshop was co-hosted with Thailand’s Ministry of Justice, the Embassy of New Zealand in Bangkok, and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The participants included 48 judges, public prosecutors, police investigators, representatives of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and observers from the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 Forward.
The second workshop was organized on 23 and 24 December 2020 in Pattani province for medical professionals in the same region. The event introduced participants to the international human rights law and standards governing the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other ill- treatment, including the revised Minnesota Protocol (2016) and the Istanbul Protocol (1999), and emphasized the important role of medical professionals in the documentation of torture.
The workshop was co-hosted with Thailand’s Ministry of Justice and the OHCHR. The participants included 28 medical professionals from district and military hospitals and detention centres.
Between January and February 2021, the ICJ also developed training videos for defence lawyers and civil society representatives in the southern border provinces. The videos focused on the use of forensic evidence in cases of alleged unlawful killings and how international human rights law and standards, particularly the revised Minnesota Protocol (2016) and ICJ’s Practitioners’ Guide No. 14, can assist defence lawyers when preparing for criminal proceedings and challenging the forensic evidence of prosecution witnesses.
The project was jointly implemented with the OHCHR, Cross-Cultural Foundation, Muslim Attorney Centre Foundation and the Embassy of New Zealand in Bangkok. Participants included 21 defence lawyers and civil society representatives from Thailand’s southern border provinces.
Speakers at the three workshops included:
- Amornrat Lekvichai, Thailand’s Institute of Forensic Science;
- Badar Fafukh, Human Rights Officer, OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia;
- Duangsamorn Chudeechan, Thailand’s Institute of Forensic Science;
- Duarte Nuno Vieira, Full Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court;
- Gisle Kvanvig, Head of UN Police Secretariat, Norwegian Center for Human Rights;
- Howard Varney, Senior Programme Advisor, International Center for Transitional Justice;
- Ivar Fahsing, Expert on investigation and Human Rights, Norwegian Center of Human Rights;
- Porntip Rojanasunan, member of the Expert Advisory Panel of the revision of the Minnesota Protocol;
- Sanhawan Srisod, ICJ Associate Legal Adviser;
- Stephen Cordner, Professor Emeritus, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University and editor of the Forensic Science sections of the 2016 Minnesota Protocol;
- Steve Wood, Senior Liaison Officer and Regional Coordinator, New Zealand Police National HQ;
- Stuart Casey-Maslen, Honorary Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and Research Coordinator of the Minnesota Protocol;
- Thomas Wenzel, Full Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Vienna; and
- Vitit Muntarbhorn, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University and Former ICJ Commissioner.
The workshops are part of the ICJ’s ongoing efforts under the Global Accountability Initiative to ensure the domestic implementation of international law and standards on the investigation of potentially unlawful deaths and enforced disappearances.
In Thailand, since 2017, the ICJ has held several national and regional-level workshops on the same topics with justice sector actors, defence lawyers and civil society representatives.
Contact
Sanhawan Srisod, ICJ Associate Legal Adviser, Asia & the Pacific Programme, e: sanhawan.srisod(a)icj.org
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Director, Global Redress and Accountability; e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
See also
Thailand: launch of the revised Minnesota Protocol
