War Crimes

Assyrian Christians, who had fled the unrest in Syria and Iraq, attend a prayer for the 220 Assyrian Christians abducted by Islamic State group jihadists from villages in northeastern Syria in recent days, at the Saint Georges Assyrian Church in Jdeideh, northeast of the Lebanese capital Beirut on February 26, 2015. One person holds a sign reading, “Assyrian Genocide 1915 Never Again!”

Accountability for War Crimes in Syria: The “Criminalization” Confusion

A new approach to defining what constitutes a "war crime" is needed to ensure domestic courts can provide accountability for war crimes committed in Syria.

Apr. 11, 2019 Oona A. Hathaway, Paul Strauch and 2 more

Sri Lankan Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa rides in a jeep with military officers during a Victory Day parade rehearsal in Colombo on May 17, 2013.

BREAKING: Sri Lankan Presidential Hopeful Sued in Federal Court for Human Rights Violations

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sued in federal court in the Central District of California by a Canadian citizen who alleges he was detained and tortured from 2007-2010 by the Terrorism…

Apr. 8, 2019 Beth Van Schaack

Two men walk near the Paloch oil fields in Upper Nile State, the site of an oil complex and key crude oil processing facility in the north of the country near the border with Sudan. March 2, 2014

Beyond Sanctioning Elusive War Criminals, Prosecute the Profiteers

Bidibidi is the world’s second-largest refugee camp. A sea of tents and huts spilling into Uganda from its northern border, the settlement now hosts more than a quarter million…

Apr. 4, 2019 Holly Dranginis

A police officer stands next to portraits of Guatemalas 1960-1996 civil war victims outside the Congress building in Guatemala City on March 13, 2019.

The U.S. Must Forcefully Oppose Blanket Amnesty for Civil War Atrocities in Guatemala

“All the people have disappeared.” So reads a declassified cable from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, dated Dec. 28, 1982. The subject was an incident that occurred just…

Mar. 26, 2019 Edgar Chen

EU Commissioner for migration and home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, speaks during his visit at Europol in The Hague on June 28, 2018.

Domestic Courts Step Up: Justice for Syria One Case at a Time

Further to Ryan Goodman’s recent post on the United States’ welcome support for the German request for the extradition of a high-level Syrian suspect, I have just finished…

Mar. 25, 2019 Beth Van Schaack

Former Bosnian Serbian commander Ratko Mladic appears on a TV screen when people gather to watch a live broadcast from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on November 22, 2017 in Sokolac as UN judges began handing down their verdict in the trial of Mladic, accused of genocide and war crimes in the brutal Balkans conflicts over two decades ago.

Revisiting the Mladić Trial Amidst Trump Admin’s Attacks on International Criminal Justice

International criminal justice has hit a rough patch. The work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is under regular attack from the Trump administration, which opposes the…

Mar. 19, 2019 Kate Brannen

International Law Commission holds special commemorative event.

Letter to the Editor – Germany’s Extradition Request for Gen. Jamil Hassan, with U.S. Support

I very much appreciate Just Security’s bringing to your readers’ attention the German extradition request to Lebanon for Syria’s General Jamil Hassan, who is under suspicion…

Mar. 13, 2019 Claus Kress

Colombian commanders of the FARC-EP leftist guerrillas Jesus Santrich and Victoria Sandino arrive at Convention Palace in Havana for the peace talks with the Colombian government, on November 9, 2015.

Colombian President’s Veto Threat Challenges Peace Process

Colombian President Ivan Duque is threatening to veto legislation that would endorse and regulate a special tribunal established to address atrocities committed during the country’s…

Mar. 7, 2019 Juan Franco

Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) (C) speaks as Syrian Army defector "Caesar," who has smuggled out of Syria more than 50,000 photographs that document the torture and execution of more than 10,000 dissidents, listens through an interpreter during a briefing before House Foreign Affairs Committee July 31, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Photos in the background show disturbing images of the torture and deaths.

BREAKING: United States Supports Germany’s International Arrest Warrant for Accused Syrian War Criminal

"On Tuesday, the United States government issued a statement supporting Germany’s request to Lebanon to extradite a high-ranking Syrian official accused of war crimes and crimes…

Mar. 6, 2019 Ryan Goodman

St. Peter's Lutheran Church in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

Liberian War Crimes Claims Survive in Alien Tort Statute Case

Victims of human rights abuses abroad scored a win recently, when the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania ruled in Jane W. et al. v. Thomas that claims involving war crimes…

Feb. 27, 2019 Ela Matthews, Nushin Sarkarati and 2 more

Judges Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Bertram Schmitt and Raul Pangalangan sit in the courtroom prior to the sentencing of Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and his accomplices before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands, on March 22, 2017.

ICC Judge Schmitt Counsels Resilience to Preserve International Justice

Editor’s note: At a difficult time for the International Criminal Court (ICC)—criticism over recent rulings, resistance from current and prospective members, and threats from…

Feb. 13, 2019 Bertram Schmitt

International Human Rights Unit seal reads, "No Safe Haven - Criminal Investigative Division"

EXCLUSIVE: FBI’s War Crimes Unit on the Chopping Block

The FBI's International Human Rights Unit may be dissolved, according to US officials. Here's why that's a bad idea, writes Beth Van Schaack.

Feb. 10, 2019 Beth Van Schaack