Displaying items by tag: crimes against humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor plans to seek an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity in the alleged persecution and forced deportation of Rohingya Muslims. Over 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in a campaign described by the UN as having ‘genocidal intent’. The military junta denies the accusations, insisting that it has been targeting terrorists. This is the ICC’s first request for an arrest warrant against a high-ranking Myanmar official, with further applications anticipated. Its investigations have been hampered by Myanmar’s lack of cooperation and the escalating turmoil in the country since the 2021 military coup. Human Rights Watch says this is ‘an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity which is a key factor in fuelling the military’s mass violations’. The ICC’s move comes amid huge criticism over its recent arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas leader: see

A landmark human rights trial, lasting nearly four years, concluded on 27 March with 11 former officials convicted of crimes against humanity. This was the first case to focus on the 1976-1983 military dictatorship’s practice of committing sexual violence against transgender women. The trial revealed new atrocities, enhancing the nation's understanding of its traumatic past. During those years, thirty thousand dissenters were abducted, tortured, and ‘disappeared’. The prosecutor said, ‘What is different about this trial is that for the first time in Argentina and in the world, crimes against humanity committed against trans women in the context of state terrorism are condemned.’ The military dictatorship promoted traditional Catholic values and viewed LGBTQ Argentines as subversives. Even being openly gay could lead to jail. The verdict marks a pivotal moment for accountability and remembrance in Argentina's turbulent history.

The international criminal court in The Hague will seek arrest warrants against Russian individuals over war crimes. The arrest warrants come a year after the prosecutor opened investigations into possible war crimes against humanity and genocide. He has made three trips to Ukraine sites of alleged violations. Putin’s spokesperson said, ‘We do not recognise this court; or its jurisdiction.’ Russia left the leading human rights watchdog, Council of Europe, and threatened to withdraw from the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization, thereby deepening the country’s isolation from the west.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sent 42 experts to probe alleged war crimes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The team of investigators, forensic experts and support staff will improve the gathering of witness testimony and the identification of forensic materials, and help ensure that evidence is collected in a manner that strengthens its admissibility in future proceedings. The court is based in the Netherlands and a significant number of Dutch national experts will help the mission, working together with French forensic experts who are already in Ukraine. The work of all those involved in the conflict area must be effectively coordinated. The ICC prosecutor said alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity turned Ukraine into a crime scene just four days after the 24 February Russian invasion. In the first trial of its kind since the war began, a Russian soldier has admitted killing an elderly Ukrainian civilian. If convicted, he faces up to life imprisonment: see

On 13 December, after two years of hearings, the Uyghur tribunal found the Chinese government guilty of crimes against humanity, systematic torture, and genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities in the Xinjiang region. The founder of ChinaAid said, ‘The unanimous judgment by the independent tribunal after nearly two years of extensive hearings from a number of credible witnesses and experts that the Chinese Communist government had verifiably committed systematic genocide and crime against humanity (in particular against ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs and Kazakhs inside Xinjiang) is another vindication of the same finding by the international community. It further proves the brutality of the worst human rights violations in the modern history of China in the past seventy years. It is imperative both morally and legally for all of the free countries, especially the US and EU and international organisations such as the UN, to take immediate and urgent actions to stop these atrocities from happening before they get worse.’