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  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

ICC: Milestone decision paves the way for full investigation into atrocities in Nigeria

The International Criminal Court (ICC) must immediately open a full investigation into atrocities committed during the conflict in Northeast Nigeria, Amnesty International said today, as a milestone decision brought its longstanding call for justice for victims one step closer. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor announced today that it was concluding a decade-long preliminary investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed by Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces.

Date:
11 December 2020
  • News
  • Iraq
  • Armed Conflict

ICC decision on UK military in Iraq rewards obstructionism

Responding to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor’s decision to conclude the preliminary examination into allegations of war crimes by the UK military in Iraq, Matthew Cannock, Head of Amnesty International’s Centre for International Justice, said:  ‘The Prosecutor’s damning report found that the UK armed forces committed war crimes in Iraq in 2003, including torture and rape, and that victims had been deprived of justice by the UK authorities.

Date:
10 December 2020
  • News
  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Nigeria: Older people often an invisible casualty in conflict with Boko Haram

Recent Boko Haram massacre in Borno State exemplifies years of repression and abuse of older people by the armed group Older people are frequently killed in military raids and die disproportionately in unlawful military detention Humanitarian response treats older people as ‘an afterthought’ Older people have suffered in unique ways from the conflict that has raged for almost a decade in Northeast Nigeria, with many starved or slaughtered in their homes or left to languish and die in squalid, unlawful military detention, Amnesty International said in a new report today.

Date:
8 December 2020
  • Research
  • Nigeria
  • Armed Conflict

Nigeria: “My heart is in pain” - Older people’s experience of conflict, displacement, and detention in northeast Nigeria

The violence in Northeast Nigeria is now in its second decade, with both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military responsible for war crimes and likely crimes against humanity. Amid the conflict, older people’s perspectives and human rights have been largely ignored, despite the distinct and often disproportionate risks they face, whether in their villages, in military detention, or in displacement. This report examines specific violations and abuses that older people have suffered disproportionately, linked also to the intersection of older age, gender, and disability.

Date:
8 December 2020
Ref:
AFR 44/3376/2020
  • News
  • Americas
  • Armed Conflict

Somalia: US must not abandon civilian victims of its air strikes after troop withdrawal

The US military must not wash its hands of international legal obligations towards civilian victims of US air strikes in Somalia, Amnesty International said, following a Pentagon announcement that troops will be removed by January 2021. Following weeks of speculation about the change in policy, the US Department of Defense issued a press release on 4 December saying US Africa Command (AFRICOM) would “reposition the majority of personnel and assets out of Somalia by early 2021”.

Date:
7 December 2020
  • News
  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Ethiopia: Investigation reveals evidence that scores of civilians were killed in massacre in Tigray state

Amnesty International can today confirm that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the South West Zone of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region on the night of 9 November. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab has examined and digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers. It confirmed the images were recent and using satellite imagery, geolocated them to Mai-Kadra in western Tigray state (14.

Date:
12 November 2020
  • News
  • Europe and Central Asia
  • Justice Systems

Serbia/Kosovo: Confirmed indictment of Kosovo’s President for war crimes brings victims one step closer to long-awaited justice

Following the Hague-based Special Prosecutor’s Office confirmation of the indictment against Kosovo’s president Hashim Thaçi and three other commanders of Kosovo’s Liberation Army (KLA) for their alleged responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Amnesty International’s Balkans Researcher, Jelena Sesar said: “The indictment brings hope for hundreds of victims of the Kosovo war who have waited for more than two decades to find out the truth about the horrific crimes committed against them and their loved ones.

Date:
5 November 2020
  • News
  • Central African Republic
  • Armed Conflict

Central African Republic: While many ‘people are hungry for trials’ some warlords still walk free

New Amnesty report takes stock of latest developments in the fight against impunity Two years on, the Special Criminal Court needs to show more transparency in its judicial activities Justice system needs stronger efforts to prosecute, in fair trials, those who have killed, raped and abducted civilians Despite a few investigations and trials these past few years, many perpetrators of horrendous human rights violations and abuses in the Central African Republic (CAR) have not been brought to justice two years after the inauguration of the country’s Special Criminal Court (SCC), Amnesty International said today.

Date:
22 October 2020
  • Research
  • Central African Republic
  • War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

Central African Republic: “On trial, these warlords lowered their eyes”: The Central African Republic’s challenging pursuit of justice

Central African Republic has suffered waves of violence and armed conflicts since 2002, with numerous crimes under international law and other serious violations and abuses being committed with impunity. Efforts to ensure justice to victims of these horrendous crimes are insufficient. Ordinary courts and the UN-backed hybrid court, the Special Criminal Court, have started investigations and prosecutions.

Date:
22 October 2020
Ref:
AFR 19/3185/2020
  • News
  • Sudan
  • International Justice

Sudan: The ICC is presently the best option for justice for Darfur crimes

Following the historic visit of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to Sudan, Amnesty International urged Sudanese authorities to prioritize the ICC route to justice and immediately transfer individuals indicted on charges of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes to the court. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda visited Khartoum earlier this week to set the stage for constructive cooperation with Sudan and discuss options for the trial of former President Omar al-Bashir and others indicted over crimes committed in Darfur.

Date:
21 October 2020
  • Research
  • Yemen
  • Armed Conflict

Yemen: Human Rights Council must promote accountability in Yemen by supporting the Group of Eminent Experts

With the conflict in its sixth year, and in the midst of the COVID pandemic and floods destroying homes and livelihoods, millions of Yemenis are without adequate food, water, shelter or health care. Yet still, all parties to the conflict continue to commit serious violations of international law too many to name here, but including enforced disappearance, unlawful killing, torture and other ill-treatment amounting to war crimes.

Date:
30 September 2020
Ref:
MDE 31/3116/2020
  • Research
  • War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

UN: Time has come to turn the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity, duly amended, into a UN Convention: Public statement

Amnesty International considers that the text of the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity adopted on second reading by the International Law Commission and circulated to states in 2019 provides a good basis for a future convention on the matter and has repeatedly stated that several improvements should be made to the text of the Draft Articles for them to become a powerful tool to put an end to impunity.

Date:
30 September 2020
Ref:
IOR 40/3150/2020
  • Research
  • Asia and The Pacific
  • Armed Conflict

Sri Lanka: Joint Oral Statement at the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence at the 45th session of the UNHRC

We thank the Special Rapporteur for presenting the much-awaited report on Sri Lanka. To supplement the information in the report, we wish to highlight a series of recent key developments in the country’s transitional justice process. Since the election of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in November 2019, the Sri Lankan government has adopted policies directly at odds with the recommendations contained in your report.

Date:
24 September 2020
Ref:
ASA 37/3110/2020
  • Research
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Libya: ‘Between life and death’: Refugees and Migrants trapped in Libya's cycle of abuse

Refugees and migrants in Libya are trapped in a cycle of serious human rights violations and abuses including prolonged arbitrary detention and other unlawful deprivation of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful killings, rape and other sexual violence, forced labour and exploitation at the hands of state and non-state actors in a climate of near-total impunity. These are not all new revelations.

Date:
24 September 2020
Ref:
MDE 19/3084/2020
  • Research
  • War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

Joint NGO letter to the Core-Group and Co-Sponsoring States to the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Initiative

Amnesty International welcomes improvements made to the March 2020 version of the Draft Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (MLA Draft Convention). However, the organization considers that there are further amendments necessary for the MLA Draft Convention to become a powerful instrument for cooperation and a useful tool for effective investigations and prosecutions of crimes under international law, as set out in this joint NGOs letter.

Date:
24 September 2020
Ref:
IOR 51/3123/2020