Experts Discuss Landmark Conviction of Radovan Karadžić, Following Appeal Announcement

On July 28, experts will provide an inside look at the conviction of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić, who announced this week he will appeal the March 2016 ruling finding him guilty of genocide and other crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). [Justice Info] On Thursday, the Bar Association of San Francisco will host

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Argentine Court Convicts Former Dictator for Conspiracy in Operation Condor

An Argentine court has convicted and sentenced former dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other former Argentine military officers of crimes against humanity for their roles in Operation Condor, a transnational conspiracy behind the kidnapping, torture, killing, and forced disappearance of hundreds of political dissidents during the 1970s and 1980s. [NYT; CIJ] Bignone was convicted of participating in an illicit association,

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ICC Convicts Bemba of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role as leader of a rebel group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo whose troops carried out attacks in neighboring Central African Republic (CAR), in support of that country’s former president. See ICC, Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, ICC-01/05-01/08, Judgment

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UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

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Guatemala Prosecutes Soldiers For Sexual Slavery During Civil War

A landmark trial of former Guatemalan soldiers for crimes against humanity commenced this month before the country’s High Risk Court A (Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo A). In 2014, the State arrested and charged former Sepur Zarco base commander Lieutenant Colonel Esteelmer Reyes Giron and former  military commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asij with acts of sexual violence, sexual slavery, murder, and forced

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Recent Developments at Khmer Rouge Tribunal Draw Praise, Criticism

Amid recent developments, legal experts have both lauded and criticized the proceedings of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the tribunal established jointly by Cambodia and the United Nations to prosecute those most responsible for crimes against humanity and other atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. While welcoming progress that has included charges against

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ICTY Orders Retrial of Two Acquitted Defendants, Pursues Contempt Charges

On December 15, 2015, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) overturned the Trial Chamber’s decision to acquit two high-level Serbian government officials charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the forced displacement of non-Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia, and ordered their retrial. The officials, Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović,

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ICTR Reduces Butare Defendants’ Sentences in Last Judgment before Closing

After more than 20 years of prosecuting those most responsible for the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has issued its final judgment and closed its doors. [The Citizen] In its forty-fifth and final judgment, delivered on December 14, 2015, the Appeals Chamber decided appeals from six defendants previously convicted by the Trial Chamber. [BBC]

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New Database Increases Access to Rwandan Genocide Tribunal’s Records

A new database aims to increase access to the proceedings, evidence, decisions, and orders of the international tribunal created to prosecute those most responsible for the commission of international crimes during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. On December 3, 2015, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) launched the Judicial Records and Archives Database (JRAD) to facilitate public access to

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