Justice monitor (12/20)

This month:

• Domestic prosecutions
• International(ized) prosecutions

Domestic prosecutions

Argentina

On 2 december 2020 Miguel Etchecolatz and 15 others were convicted for abduction, torture and murder of 84 victims -of whom 19 remain missing to this day- during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. For Etchecolatz it was his 8th life sentence. One person was acquitted. The crimes were committed in a clandestine detention centre at the San Justo headquarters of the provincial detective squad. Nine other defendants also received life sentences – three ex-policemen, five former military servicemen, a police doctor and former Buenos Aires provincial Government (Interior) minister Jaime Smart.

Bosnia

• Seven persons have been charged with crimes against humanity against Bosniaks and Croats who were illegally detained, abused and assaulted in Donji Vakuf in 1992;
• Two suspects were charged for their involvement in the killing of 50 persons in Bosanska Krupa in 1992;
• Two suspects were charged for their involvement in the illegal detentions and killings of civilians in Foca in 1992;
• One person was charged with ordering the killing of civilians and abusing prisoners in Ilidza and Hadzici in 1992 and 1993;
• Nine suspects were charged with committing crimes against humanity in the village of Novoseoci in September 1992, where 45 civilians were killed;
• Seven suspects were arrested for crimes committed in Zvornik from 1992 to 1994, including the killing of around 20 persons;
• Two suspects were arrested on suspicion of crimes against humanity, including the murders of civilians, in Foca during the war in 1992;
• Furthermore, some 4 appeals against sentences related to crimes committed during the Yuguslav war were rejected, while in 1 case a retrial was ordered.

Croatia

A verdict convicting three paramilitaries in absentia of the killings of Croatian civilians in the village of Josevica in November 1991 was upheld, while the sentences were increased from 10 years to 15 years each.

Germany

The Syrian doctor living in Germany who was arrested on 19 June 2020 on suspicion of having committed crimes against humanity (torture) in the Homs (Syria) military prison, faced more charges including one case of murder and another 18 counts of torture.

Hungaria

A Hungarian court sentenced a Syrian man to life imprisonment for terrorism and crimes against humanity. Amongst others for the beheading of an imam in Syria in 2015.
The man was a commander of Daesh and was personally involved in the execution of several people.

Kosovo

The sentence of a man who was found guilty of killing his Albanian neighbors in the village of Krusha e Vogel in 1999 was reduced from 22 years to 11 years imprisonment. While in all 109 men were killed in the village Krusha e Vogel in March 1999, the suspect was found guilty of burning the bodies and disposing of them in the White River.

Montenegro

The Residual Mechanism of the Yugolsav Tribunal provided the authorities in Montenegro with information on at least 15 individuals who are alledgedly responsible for core international crimes.

Serbia

A former military policeman was convicted 10 15 years imprisonment for the killing of nine civilians during the war in Croatia in 1991.

Switzerland

The trial of a former Liberian warlord of the first civil war in the 1990s, finally started on 3 December 2020. The suspect has been in pre-trial detention ever since his arrest on 14 November 2014.

International Criminal Court

On 11 December 2020, the case against Paul Gicheru was severed.

Kosovo Tribunal

On 11 December 2020, the indictment was confirmed which was filed by the prosecutor against Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj for offences against the administration of justice, namely obstruction of official persons in performing official duties, intimidation of witnesses, retaliation and violation of secrecy of proceedings.

Lebanon Tribunal

On 11 December 2020 the the sentencing judgment was pronounced in the Ayyash case. The Ayyash case concerns the attack on former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s life perpetrated by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives equivalent of 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms of TNT in daytime on 14 February 2005 in central Beirut. The explosion killed 22 people, including Mr Hariri, and injured 226 others.

The convicted accused Salim Jamil Ayyash was sentenced to life imprisonment for each count on which he had been found guilty:

1. Charges of conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act (count 1);
2. Committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device (count 2);
3. intentional homicide of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials (count 3);
4. intentional homicide of additional 21 persons with premeditation by using explosive materials (count 4);
5. and attempted intentional homicide of 226 persons with premeditation by using explosive materials (count 5).

The tribunal issued a renewed arrest warrant, an international arrest warrant, order and request for the transfer and detention of Mr Ayyash. It also called on those shielding Salim Jamil Ayyash from justice to surrender him to the Special Tribunal.

Residual Mechanism (Yugoslav Tribunal/Rwanda Tribunal)

On 13 December 2020, the prosecutor addressed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Not only did he provide operational updates on ongoing cases, but he also expressed concerns about South Africa’s failure to provide effective cooperation with the court over the last 2,5 years. As a result, fugitive Fulgence Kayishema -who was located in South Africa- remains at large. This suspect is believed to have played a role in the 16 April 1994 massacre of 2,000 Tutsi civilians at Nynage Church. The Prosecutor reported that South Africa is still not providing the cooperation required.

He furthermore addressed the cooperation with domestic war crimes units and the efforts of the Residual Mechanism to address the issue of victims of conflict that are still missing.