Universal jurisdiction
Trying people wherever they are, whatever their nationality
Universal jurisdiction enables national judicial systems to try individuals, regardless of their nationality or the place where the crimes were committed. This justice approach deals with international crimes committed a long time ago, as during the civil wars in Liberia, or when no other jurisdiction, international or national, is able or willing to try them,, as in the case of Syria. As with the trials of Rwandans in several European countries (for genocide), the trial of Gambian Ousman Sonko (accused of crimes against humanity in Switzerland) or of Chadian Hissein Habré, tried and convicted in Senegal (for crimes committed in Chad in the 1980s). Discover universal jurisdiction through the news documented by our experts.
At Belgian trial, two former Interahamwe leaders dodge testifying
Dieudonné Niyitegeka and Eugène Mbarushimana are the only two surviving former members of the National Committee of the Interahamwe, the militia that spearheaded the genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. They have never been prosecuted. Their testimony was eagerly awaited in Brussels in the trial of Emmanuel Nkunduwimye. But they bailed out at the […]
Read more
