Executive Director, TRIAL International (@Trial).
Tweets in 🇬🇧 & 🇫🇷.
#UniversalJurisdiction #CompétenceUniverselle
Soft spot: believes in the rule of law.
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Aug 28, 2023 • 38 tweets • 13 min read
⚖️THE REVIVAL OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION⚖️
Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the @IntlCrimCourt.
As highlighted in the preamble of the Rome Statute, the fight against impunity should in priority be the responsibility of States.
#UniversalJurisdiction (UJ) - the possibility or even the obligation of States to investigate and prosecute certain crimes under international law even if the crimes were not committed on their territory or if the victims as well as the alleged perpetrators are not their nationals - can significantly contribute to that goal💪.
The principle of universal jurisdiction is currently experiencing a true revival.
From its shaky start in the late 1990s and early 2000s (around the #Pinochet arrest), to the period of political backlash that saw multiple countries change their legislation to curb such cases, UJ 1.0 and UJ 2.0 have now clearly receded in favour of #UniversalJurisdiction 3.0: a period that has seen in numerous countries increasingly assertive and interesting state practices develop.
The 🧵 below aims to illustrate, using recent and ongoing cases, the state of affairs by revisiting cases
👉 that have led to verdicts (A)
👉 that are currently on trial (B)
👉 or that soon will be (C)
👉 as well as highlighting important ongoing investigations and developments (D).
I will try to keep this list up-to-date. So don't forget to bookmark it.
For additional information about UJ cases, please check the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Reports (UJAR) by @TRIAL International and its partners: .
Also:
👉 For my 🧵 «2022 in #UniversalJurisdiction news»:
👉 For my 🧵 «2021 in #UniversalJurisdiction news»: .
The cases presented below are certainly not exhaustive. I am leaving out civil cases, as well as extraterritorial criminal cases where a link does exist, in the form of the nationally of the victims or of the alleged perpetrators.
Finding reliable information across multiple jurisdictions and languages is not easy. All errors and misses are purely my own.
🙏Thank you for any corrections or info that could complete the global picture.
🧵 1/ ⚖️ The #RifaatAlAssad case in #Switzerland ⚖️
A thread on a roller-coaster #UniversalJurisdiction case.
It all started here. It is in this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ hotel 🏨 on #Geneva's lakefront that Rifaat was first spotted in December 2013 sipping a Martini in the hotel lounge. 2/
Very quickly, @TRIAL was able to file a criminal case against Rifaat before the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of #Switzerland, for his alleged role in the 1982 horrendous Hama massacre.
👉 For a short explanation of the Hama massacre, see here:
Sep 28, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
⚖️Hugely important decision rendered by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in a case regarding the assassination of former Iranian opposition figure Kazem Rajavi, killed by a commando sent by #Iran🇮🇷 in 1990 in #Switzerland🇨🇭: for the FCC...
1/5
...the Office of the Attorney General cannot rule out the application of the crime of #genocide or of #crimesagainsthumanity, even if both provisions only entered the criminal code (well) after the 1990 assassination. Having determined that prosecuting this murder is...
2/5
Sep 28, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
⚖️Décision importante concernant l’assassinat par un commando #iranien🇮🇷 de Kazem Radjavi en #Suisse🇨🇭 en 1990: le Tribunal pénal fédéral juge que le Ministère public de la Confédération ne peut pas exclure que les incriminations de #génocide et… 1/5 swissinfo.ch/fre/l-enqu%C3%…
…de #crimescontrelhumanité puissent s’appliquer à cette affaire, quand bien même ces incriminations sont postérieures aux faits. En déclarant que le crime commis par les agents iraniens n’est pas prescrit, le TPF rend une décision de principe extrêmement importante…
2/5
Feb 25, 2021 • 9 tweets • 8 min read
Alors que la 🇨🇭#Suisse est toujours à la recherche de son/sa prochain/e Procureur/e général/e, qui mènera notamment la politique pénale en matière de crimes internationaux, il est important de rappeler à quel point la Suisse est à la traîne dans ce domaine. 1/
Une récente interpellation parlementaire de @roduitbenjamin a débouché sur une réponse sous forme de pure langue de bois.
À la question par exemple de savoir combien de procureurs travaillaient sur les crimes internationaux, les autorités fédérales... 2/ parlament.ch/fr/ratsbetrieb…
Feb 25, 2021 • 7 tweets • 5 min read
After the historic verdict rendered yesterday in 🇩🇪#Germany, it is essential to remember that such judgments do not pop out of nowhere. To get there you need to have:
➡️ A solid legal framework enacted by parliament 1/
➡️ Specialised #warcrimes units (investigators & prosecutors), endowed with sufficient resources
➡️ NGOs with the capacity to investigate, file complaints and/or support and represent victims
➡️ Courageous victims, sometimes ready to take significant risks as they step forward
2/
Dec 3, 2019 • 12 tweets • 13 min read
It’s #GivingTuesday!
Here are 9 great reasons to support TRIAL.
Oops, 10 reasons actually, as 2 generous donors will match all donations up to a total of 30,000 USD!!!
👉👉👉tri.al/f9D
A palpable revival of #UniversalJurisdiction is underway in Europe.
Here are 7 examples of recent important activities (trials, arrests, investigations) that have taken place only in the last few weeks.
There are certainly more that I am unaware of.
And certainly more to come.
1. #Sweden
>> Arrest of an Iranian national allegedly involved in the #1988Massacre of thousands of detainees. First ever #UniversalJurisdiction case on #Iran to go ahead. nytimes.com/reuters/2019/1…
Nov 13, 2019 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Arrest in #Sweden over 1988 prison massacre in #Iran.
This is what we know so far. 1. A man under the name of Hamid Noury was arrested at Stockholm airport on Saturday 9 November. 2. He is a 58-year old Iranian national.
3. He is suspected of having participated from a prison outside Tehran in the infamous massacre of thousands of detainees during the summer of 1988. 4. He was brought before a judge this morning (13 November). 5. He claims the wrong person has been arrested.
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