1 September 2021 - NPWJ News Digest on international criminal justice

Articles

German federal court sentences Syrian rebel with ISIS links to 12 years in prison
Jurist, 01 Sep 2021

The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court sentenced a unnamed “Free Syrian Army” member earlier this month to twelve years in prison for war crimes committed in Syria and for links to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The decision was made public on Monday and the sentencing follows the rejection of the defendant’s appeal by the Third Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice, which found no error in the law with respect to the Stuttgart court’s judgment making it final.

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In Guatemala, two ex-generals ordered to stand trial for genocide
Reuters, 31 Aug 2021

A Guatemalan judge on Monday ordered two high-ranking ex-generals to stand trial on genocide charges from four decades ago, as the Central American country grapples with past massacres of mostly indigenous people during a brutal civil war. In his ruling, Judge Miguel Angel Galvez authorized the trial on accusations the two former generals - Manuel Benedicto Lucas and Manuel Antonio Callejas - committed genocide, crimes against humanity and forced kidnapping from 1978 to 1982 in a case where more than 1,700 people were killed over 31 separate massacres.

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Central African Republic - the Truth Commission With Feet of Clay
All Africa, 30 Aug 2021

A "Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission" was officially launched in July in Bangui, with the swearing in of its members and election of its executive body. Without facilities, without a budget and without peace, some are worried that it will be just another empty shell like the Special Criminal Court for the Central African Republic.

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Nepal: Stop Stalling Enforced Disappearance Inquiries
Human Rights Watch, 30 Aug 2021

The government of Nepal should promptly enforce Supreme Court rulings and permit the regular courts to try cases of enforced disappearance and other grave international crimes, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today. On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, August 30, 2021, thousands of Nepali families are no closer to knowing the truth of what happened to their missing loved ones than they were when the country’s armed conflict ended 15 years ago.

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Preserve Evidence of Potential Rights Abuses in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, 30 Aug 2021

Human Rights Watch joined Access Now, Amnesty International USA, and Mnemonic today in issuing the following statement, saying that social media platforms need to preserve and archive content that may provide evidence of past or ongoing serious human rights abuses in Afghanistan and that could be used for future efforts to provide justice and accountability, while ensuring the privacy and security of vulnerable individuals associated with that content: Human Rights Groups Call on Social Media Platforms to Preserve Evidence of Potential Human Rights Abuses in Afghanistan.

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South Africa: Mandela Lecture Underscores Justice As Key to International Peace
All Africa, 26 Aug 2021

"Peace and justice must work side by side and prioritising one over the other jeopardises the chance of either." These were the words of former International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Madame Fatou Bensouda, when she delivered the 19th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture on Wednesday. Bensouda delivered her speech virtually from The Hague in the Netherlands, as COVID-19 considerations prevented the annual lecture from being presented in person.

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