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.
Munyemana: a Rwandan doctor sentenced to 24 years in prison in France
Sosthène Munyemana is the seventh Rwandan convicted in France under universal jurisdiction for their participation in the 1994 genocide. The exiled doctor was part of a group that "prepared, organised and managed the daily genocide of the Tutsis", said the president of the court as he announced the verdict, which sentenced him to 24 years' […]
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