• UN Security Council: Press Libya on Impunity
    Press release
    May 16, 2012
    Members of the United Nations Security Council should condemn attempts by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) to prevent accountability for serious and ongoing crimes committed in Libya. The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will brief the Security Council on his Libya investigation on May 16, 2012.
  • Africa: Fugitives Take Note - Justice Can Be Done
    Commentary
    May 15, 2012

    Liberia's "big man" surely thought he'd enjoy a comfortable retirement when he left power back in 2003. But on April 26 the Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity, proving that even the most powerful aren't immune from justice

  • ICTY/Bosnia: Start of Mladic Trial Shows Persistence Pays
    Press release
    May 14, 2012

    The opening of the trial of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, is a salient reminder that justice catches up with those accused of atrocity crimes. Mladic’s trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide is scheduled to begin on May 16, 2012, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

  • A victory for The Hague
    Commentary
    Apr 26, 2012

    The verdict against former Liberian President Charles Taylor at the Sierra Leone Special Court has been eagerly anticipated by many in Sierra Leone. But, as is often the case with abusive leaders wielding power, bringing Taylor to justice was once considered a less than welcome development in diplomatic circles. More than a few feared at that time that bringing charges against a sitting president in the midst of a conflict would do more harm than good.

  • Sierra Leone: Landmark Conviction of Liberian Ex-President
    Press release
    Apr 26, 2012

    The conviction on April 26, 2012, of Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, for serious international crimes during Sierra Leone’s brutal armed conflict provides justice for victims and shows that no one is above the law. Taylor was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity before the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges that stemmed from his support for rebel groups there.

  • Council of Europe: Shelve Risky Court Reforms
    Press release
    Apr 17, 2012
    Council of Europe member states should reject proposed UK changes to the European Court of Human Rights that could limit access to the court for those who most need it.
  • Charles Taylor: Q&A on The Case of Prosecutor v. Charles Ghankay Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone
    Q & A
    Apr 16, 2012
    The Special Court indicted Taylor on March 7, 2003 on 17 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international law for his role in supporting Sierra Leonean rebel groups during that country’s armed conflict. The Taylor judgment will be a watershed moment for efforts to hold the highest-level leaders to account through a credible judicial process.
  • The Other Half of the Kony Equation
    Commentary
    Apr 4, 2012

    The African Union last month announced a plan to improve coordination to end atrocities by Joseph Kony’s Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Efforts to arrest Kony and other LRA leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to end LRA abuses are urgently needed. But that is only half of the picture; addressing the legacy of the LRA and Ugandan army abuses is the other. This history of abuse also has implications for US and other foreign support to Ugandan-led arrest operations for Kony. 

  • Habré Case: Q&A on “Belgium v. Senegal”
    Q & A
    Mar 29, 2012

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard arguments from March 12 to 21, 2012 in “Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal)” over the fate of the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré.

     

  • Mauritania: Surrender Abdullah Sanussi to ICC
    Press release
    Mar 17, 2012

    Mauritania should promptly surrender Libya’s former intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he is wanted for crimes against humanity.