News updates
(For older news updates, please visit our news archive)
24 January 2025: The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants to be issued against two individuals in the situation in Afghanistan for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.
23 January 2025: Italian authorities arrested Osama Elmasry Njeem, subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant (under seal) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, in Turin on 19 January. However, authorities later stated that it had released and returned the individual to Libya based on a procedural irregularity during his arrest.
22 January 2025: The Swedish Public Prosecution Service has requested Belgium to extradite a Swedish national accused of committing war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria in 2014. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence in Belgium for involvement in terrorist attacks in Paris (November 2015) and Brussels (March 2016).
20 January 2025: Several individuals have gone on trial in Azerbaijan on charges of war crimes and genocide, among other crimes, relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia has challenged the fairness and validity of the proceedings.
7 January 2025: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has approved the establishment of "The Special Tribunal for The Gambia": a hybrid criminal tribunal envisioned to adjudicate international crimes allegedly committed in The Gambia between 1994 and 2017.
11 December 2024: A Dutch court has found a woman guilty of the crime against humanity of slavery committed in Syria against a Yazidi woman. She was also found guilty of other crimes, including membership of a terrorist group, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
10 December 2024: A U.S. court has unsealed an indictment against two former Syrian intelligence officials for war crimes allegedly carried out at the Mezzeh Prison between 2012-2019.
5 December 2024: A Russian national has gone on trial in Finland for war crimes allegedly committed in the Donbas region of Ukraine between 2014-2015.
30 November 2024: The German Federal Court of Justice has rejected an appeal from an individual convicted of crimes against humanity committed in The Gambia between 2003-2006.
27 November 2024: The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC has requested an arrest warrant against Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing for the alleged crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya within the Situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar.
21 November 2024: The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC has issued warrants of arrest for Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Yoav Gallant, and Mr. Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza from October 2023 onwards.
20 November 2024: Last week, Bangladesh's former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, went on trial before a court in Dhaka, allegedly for overseeing a deadly crackdown that led to more than 700 civilian deaths.
8 November 2024: France has extradited to Croatia a former Serb paramilitary suspected of war crimes, committed at the start of the country's war for independence in 1990s.
1 November 2024: Finnish prosecutors have charged Vojislav Torden, a Russian commander of the Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary Rusich group, with war crimes allegedly committed in 2014 in Ukraine.
31 October 2024: The Paris Assize Court has sentenced former Ugandan doctor Eugène Rwamucyo to 27 years in prison for complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity.
28 October 2024: The International Crimes Division of the High Court in Gulu, Uganda, has sentenced Thomas Kwoyelo, a former LRA commander, to 40 years in prison for war crimes committed between 1996 and 2005.
18 October 2024: Belgian authorities have launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed by a Belgian-Israeli soldier fighting for Israel in Gaza.
17 October 2024: A Bangladeshi court has issued an arrest warrant for exiled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, for crimes against humanity committed during her 15-year presidency.
New cases, briefs and videos
(For older announcements, please visit our announcements archive)
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 2 October 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut co-organised with the IHCL Platform entitled "The principle of ne bis in idem in international criminal law". The lecture featured Dr Gaiane Nuridzhanian, Professor Roger O’Keefe, Marie O’Leary and Teodora Jugrin and can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 11 July 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a joint DILEMA-HILAC lecture entitled "Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring Settled and Open Legal Questions". The lecture featured Dustin A. Lewis (HLS PILAC) and can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Eyad Al-Gharib Case before the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz (February 2021) can now be accessed online. This latest addition is the first decision against a former agent of the Syrian Government regarding the government-led crimes against humanity in Syria. The Higher Regional Court case can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 29 May 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands, organised an SCL Lecture entitled "The Register of Damage for Ukraine: Towards reparation for victims?". The lecture featured Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, Dr. Kustrim Istrefi, Victoria Kerr, and Olesia Zaiets, and can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Al Bahlul Case before the U.S. District of Columbia Courts of Appeal (Opinion by Circuit Judge PAN, July 2023) can now be accessed online. This latest addition sheds light on the issue of providing material support for terrorism. The Opinion by Circuit Judge PAN can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Al Mahdi Case before the International Criminal Court (Trial Chamber VIII, September 2016) has just been updated and is now available online. This latest addition sheds light on the destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict. The Trial Chamber VIII case can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Bemba Case before the International Criminal Court (Trial Chamber III, March 2016) has just been updated and is now available online. This latest addition sheds light on war crimes, crimes against humanity and command responsibility. The Trial Chamber III case can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: Case analysis of the First Instance and the Appeals Judgment in the Ahmad al-Y case (the Hague District Court, April 2021 and the Hague Court of Appeal, December 2022) is now available online. This latest addition sheds light on terrorist organizations and war crimes. They can be accessed here and here accordingly.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 19 December 2023, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the Supranational Criminal Law (SCL) Lecture titled "Navigating the International Legal Landscape of the Israel-Palestine Conflict", featuring Prof. Terry Gill, Prof. Helen Duffy and Yousuf Syed Khan J.D. LL.M. The video is available here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 21 September 2023, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the Supranational Criminal Law (SCL) Lecture titled "Pursuing Accountability for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine", featuring H.E. Mr. Oleksandr Karasevych, Dr. Anton Korynevych, Prof. Larissa van den Herik, Prof. André Nollkaemper, Dr. Astrid Reisinger Coracini and Dr. Owiso Owiso. This specific SCL Lecture was co-organised by the IHCL Platform and the Embassy of Ukraine in The Hague and supported by The Hague Municipality. The video is available here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 22 June 2023, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised in cooperation with the IHCL Platform this Supranational Criminal Law (SCL) lecture, titled "The road to justice: Lessons for Ukraine from the USSR invasion of Afghanistan" featuring Victoria Kerr, Nader Nadery, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett and Dr. Dmytro Koval. The video is available here.
NEW BRIEF: A new ICD brief is available on the International Crimes Database, titled: "Ecocide: The Environment as Victim at the International Criminal Court", authored by Dr. Giovanna Frisso. This brief is part of the ICD Ecocide Brief Series.
