The Middle East

ICC Holds That Their Jurisdictional Authority Extends to Palestine

By: Elizabeth Maugeri

Impunity Watch Staff Writer

THE HAUGE, The Netherlands – The International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered a landmark ruling in response to a request by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (the Office) to clarify jurisdictional authority in Israeli-occupied Palestine. By a majority vote, the presiding judges held that the Court’s jurisdiction extends to the occupied West Bank areas of East Jerusalem and Gaza.

The panel of the pre-trial chamber judges assigned to the Situation of the State of Palestine – Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Péter Kovács, and Reine Alapini-Gansou pictured in 2019. Photo Courtesy of Human Rights Watch.

This decision came after the end of a nearly 5-year-long preliminary inquiry as to the possibility of opening an investigation into human rights abuses in the West Bank. Palestine made a formal request for an investigation in 2018, which allowed the Office to initiate one outright. However, the Office still sought guidance from the ICC before doing so.

The preliminary inquiry concluded that Rome Statute Article 53(1), detailing the ability of the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate an investigation, had been satisfied. Through the inquiry, the Office found that: [1] war crimes were being committed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza; [2] potential cases arising would be admissible; [3] there is no reason the investigation would not serve to provide justice.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called upon the Court using Article 19(3) which concludes that the Prosecutor may seek the Court’s ruling regarding questions of jurisdiction or admissibility. She called for a ruling on jurisdiction based on Article 12(2)(a) which states that the Court may grant jurisdiction because Palestine is a party to the Rome Statute and it made a formal request for an investigation in its own territory. She marked the significance of the ruling as a foundational answer to the potential for future litigation. The Prosecutor’s request was then submitted to Pre-Trial Chamber I for the ruling.

The Pre-Trial Chamber I invited Israel and other interested countries to submit relevant observations of human rights abuses to the Chamber for review. These submitted observations, compiled with testimony of victims and an amicus curiae, helped to determine the final decision.

The Chamber held that, despite countervailing international law and recognition, Palestine is a signatory party to the Rome Statute and is therefore governed by ICC terms and must be treated as any other signatory state. UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19, which reaffirmed Palestinians right to self-determination and independence in the occupied Palestinian territory also guided the ruling.

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Israel/Palestine: ICC Judges Open Door to Formal Probe – 6 Feb. 2021

International Criminal Court – ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issues its decision on the Prosecutor’s request related to territorial jurisdiction over Palestine – 5 Feb. 2021

International Criminal Court – ICC Pre-Trial Chamber invites Palestine, Israel, interested States and others to submit observations – 28 Jan. 2020

International Criminal Court – Pre-Trial Chamber I: Situation in the State of Palestine – 5 Feb. 2021

International Criminal Court – Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the Situation in Palestine, and seeking a ruling on the scope of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction – 20 Dec. 2019

Two Female Members of Kurdish-led Administration in Syria Found Beheaded.

By: Christopher Martz

Journal of Global Rights and Organizations, Associate Articles Editor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – On January 26th, 2021, Hind Latif Al Khadir and Sa’da Faysal Al Hermas, political leaders of the Kurdish-led autonomous region in northeastern Syria, have been found beheaded after being kidnapped, in an attack blamed on the Islamic State group. The two women, who were found dead in Al Dashisha in the countryside of northeastern Syria’s Hasakah province, were known for their work for local institutions within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).

Hind Latif Al Khadir and Sa’da Faysal Al Hermas, both officials with the Til Shayir municipality in Hasakah, northeast Syria, were assassinated on January 22, 2021. Photo Courtesy of Rudaw.

A continuous pattern of violence against Kurds, and specifically women in northeastern Syria, culminated in their kidnapping from their homes by unknown men. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that they were both found dead hours after being kidnapped. Hind Latif Al Khadir was head of the economy committee of the town of Til Shayir, while Sa’da Faysal Al Hermas was co-president of the town’s people’s council.

Local councils in the region and news outlets condemned the crime and blamed their kidnapping and death on ISIS sleeper cells. Crimes of this variety have been common in the region, with the goal of destabilizing security and stability, while spreading terror among the people. Opponents of the autonomous administration, notably ISIS and Turkish backed militias, have targeted politicians involved with the organization in the past. A notable victim of a similar crime was Hevrin Khalaf, a politician with the Future Syria Party. He was assassinated by the Turkish-backed armed group Ahrar Al Sharqiya in October 2019.

According to SOHR, at least 234 people have been killed by ISIS sleeper cells in northeastern Syria since June 2018.

The news of their deaths brings to focus the ongoing ISIS emergence in Syria. Since the organization’s takeover of large swaths of Syria and Iraq in 2014, several US-backed military campaigns whittled away at the terrorist organization. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an armed group linked to AANES, expelled the militants from their last patch of land in the Dayr Az Zawr village of Baghouz, located south of Sousa in 2019. Yet violence continues to spread in the name of the organization, often targeting women and those most vulnerable in war-torn Syria.

Since the overthrow of the group, the SDF and AANES have managed tens of thousands of prisoners and displaced people in the region, including ISIS relatives and fighters from around 50 countries. Adding to the crisis, western nations have been largely reluctant to repatriate their ISIS-linked nationals held in northeast Syria, though some have brought home women and children on a case-by-case basis.

While crime has largely targeted political leaders in the region, murder and violence have plagued many of the refugee camps offering protection from similar violence. Just last week, the UN reported that 12 murders had taken place in Al Hol camp in northeast Syria in just over two weeks, sounding the alarm over an increasingly untenable security situation.

While outlets and governments have reported the deterioration of the ISIS presence in the region, violence continues to plague those most vulnerable to the present instability. Women and refugees are still at high risk, requiring more protection and action from the region and the international community at large.

For further information, please see:

Kurdistan24 – Two local female politicians abducted and killed in northeast Syria – 24 Jan. 2021.

MEE And Agencies – Two female members of Kurdish-led administration in Syria found beheaded – 26 Jan. 2021.

Rudaw – Two Rojava municipal council women assassinated: reports – 23 Jan. 2021.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights –  After threats in 2018, ISIS executes two female officials in the Autonomous Administration in southern Al-Hasakah – 23 Jan. 2021.

Iraq: Enforced Disappearances

By: Alexis Eka

Impunity Watch Staff Writer

IRAQ – Following the letter sent by Human Rights Watch on November 5th, 2020, there remains little action on the part of the Iraqi government in their promised efforts in identifying the enforced disappearances of Iraqi citizens. The letter was sent to the Prime Minister and provided details of eight missing individuals. Since taking office in May 2020, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi announced that his committees would be enforcing a new mechanism to locate victims of enforced disappearances, but the legal authorities have not yet executed this decision.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), along with other international partners, supported Iraqi authorities during recent excavations of several mass graves in the Sinjar area and a campaign to collected information and blood samples from families with missing relatives. Photo Courtesy of the ICMP.

Enforced disappearances occur when a state forcibly detains citizens and authorities fail to provide information to the families of those that have disappeared about the reasoning behind the detainment, the location of the detainment, and the time span of the detainment. Enforced disappearances are a serious criminal act under international law. There have been increases in the number of detained Sunni Arab families and Sunni Arab men in Iraq. Enforced disappearances are not a new occurrence in Iraq.  These disappearances have been common here for over a decade.

Human Rights Watch has documented the enforced disappearances of over seventy-eight men and boys from the ages of nine to seventy years old from April 2014 until October 2017. Members of the victims’ families received threats from these armed authorities and often times the victim’s family members are even physically present during the time of the victim’s detainment. Often times the security forces indicate to victims’ families that the arrests were related to or occurred from their participation in the fight against ISIS. As a result, several victims’ family members have been intimidated and taunted by government officials to the extent that they no longer attempt to locate their family members out of fear of their own execution or abduction. .

Several organizations including the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), have participated in the excavations of numerous mass graves located near Sinjar. ICMP has worked together with Iraqi citizens in creating a “sustainable process to locate all missing persons, regardless of the period of disappearance, the circumstances, or the national origin of the missing persons.” Additionally, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) held a public discussion with Iraq that focused on the country’s governmental response to the reoccurring issue of enforced disappearances.  

Several citizens in Iraq have voiced their concerns about the lack of governmental interest in the enforced disappearances. They have indicated that Iraqi security forces have managed to target anyone who willingly speaks out against the security forces and their actions during these protests initiated by the Iraqi citizens. Amnesty International continues to receive reports of activists and journalists that have been threatened by security forces. They have received warnings that if they continue to speak out against human rights violations and the violence used against protesters, that they will be added to the blacklist created and compiled by intelligence services.

For further information, please see:

Amnesty International – Iraq Stop Security Forces from Threatening, Forcibly Disappearing and Abusing Activists – 18 Oct. 2019

Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch Submission to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances – 05 May 2020

International Commission on Missing Persons – ICMP Supports Iraqi teams in Sinjar to Locate and Identify Victims of Da’esh Crimes – 08 Nov. 2020

United Nations Human Rights of Office of the High Commissioner – Enforced Disappearances: UN Committee to Hold Special Online Dialogue with Iraq – 03 Sept. 2020

ECHR Hit By Cyberattack Following Judgment Against The Republic of Turkey For Enduring Pre-Trial Imprisonment of Kurdish Opposition Leader

By: Benjamin Kaufman

Journal of Global Rights and Organizations, Senior Articles Editor

STRASBOURG, France – Following the publication of a ruling in which the ECHR reprimanded Turkey’s refusal to adhere to a 2018 judgment by the court, an as-of-yet unattributed cyberattack was carried out against the court’s website on December 22, 2020.

Supporter of Turkey’s Main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Holds Portrait of Jailed Former Leader Selahattin Demirtas During a Campaign Event in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo Courtesy of Reuters and Huseyin Aldemir.

The Grand Chamber’s decision, understood to have prompted the hack, came 4 years after the imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtaş, the leader of a pro-Kurdish political party called the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and former member of the Turkish Parliament.  HDP is one of the left-leaning opposition parties to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).  

HDP was alleged to have ties to the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) based on contemporaneous tweets calling for public demonstrations from both organizations in October of 2014.  Those public demonstrations led to several dozen deaths and for which PKK was blamed.  In May 2016, the Turkish parliament voted to amend the Turkish Constitution to selectively suspend parliamentary immunity and permitted police to arrest Demirtaş along with 7 other HDP members of parliament for incitement among other terrorism-related offenses on November 4, 2016. Since that time, Demirtaş has remained imprisoned by Turkish authorities.

The first review by the ECHR of Demirtaş’s case came in 2018.  When the Grand Chamber heard his claim in 2020, it considered six alleged violations stemming from the pre-trial detention:  that the pre-trial detention violated his freedom of expression both by denying his ability to sit once elected and by invalidating parliamentary immunity owed to a member of parliament; that his imprisonment was intended to suppress and deter opposition, that his detention was supported by insufficient proof, that the Turkish Codes of Criminal Procedure lacked sufficient remedy for such complaints, and that the time taken to review his initial application was a violation of his right to a speedy trial.

In its judgment, the Grand Chamber largely dismissed the Government’s arguments in favor of Demirtaş’s claims calling his incarceration “a dangerous message to the entire population” to stifle civil society and deter opposition.  The Grand Chamber ordered Turkey to take all necessary measures to immediately release Demirtaş based on violations of his rights under Articles 10, 5 §§ 1 and 3 of the Convention, Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, and Article 18 in conjunction with Article 5. 

For these violations, the Grand Chamber awarded Demirtaş EUR 3,500. Additionally, the Grand Chamber ordered the State to compensate Demirtaş for non-pecuniary damages assumed by virtue of his imprisonment in the amount of EUR 25,000.  Furthermore, the Grand Chamber awarded the full amount claimed for court expenses, totaling EUR 31,900 for his representatives’ hourly rate and translation costs.

Shortly after publishing its judgment, the ECHR’s website was subjected to a cyberattack that took it offline for roughly 16 hours.  The ECHR issued a statement noting that the cyberattack began shortly after the Demirtaş decision was published and “strongly deplor[ing] this serious incident.”

ECHR’s website is back online, though responsibility for the attack has not yet been claimed.

For further information, please see:

European Court of Human Rights, Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction): SELAHATTİN DEMİRTAŞ v. TURKEY (No. 2), Grand Chamber – 22 Dec. 2020

European Court of Human Rights, Press Releases: Cyberattack on the website of the European Court of Human Rights – 23 Dec. 2020

Human Rights Watch – Turkey: Opposition Politicians Detained for Four Years – 19 Nov. 2020

InfoSecurity Magazine – Sarah Coble: Cyber-attack on European Court of Human Rights – 23 Dec. 2020

Reuters – Ali Kucukgocmen: European Court of Human Rights says Turkey must free Demirtas – 22 Dec. 2020

Injustice for Woman Human Rights Defender, Loujain al-Hathloul

By: Katherine Davis

Journal of Global Rights and Organizations, Associate Articles Editor

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – After being detained over peaceful activism for more than two years, Loujain al-Hathloul now stands trial before Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal court.

Saudi Activist Loujain al-Hathloul Stands Trial Before a Specialized Court That Hears National Security and Terrorism Cases. Photo Courtesy of CNN and Walid al-Hathloul.

The jailed Saudi women’s rights activist, who ignited the movement to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia, has been accused of activities that “undermine the kingdom’s security, stability, and national unity”. Since her arrest, the United Nations, other human rights organizations, and activists have called for the immediate and unconditional release of al-Hathloul as well as many other women human rights defenders across the region. 

Al-Hathloul was arrested in March of 2019 while driving in the United Arab Emirates. After her arrest, she was sent to Saudi Arabia and was arrested again in a sweep that targeted ten women’s right-to-drive activists. She and the other women were accused of violating Royal Decree 44a. This violation leaves the women facing terrorism charges that can be punishable by three to twenty years imprisonment. Without warning, al-Hathloul’s trial commenced December 10.

Her brother, Walid al-Hathloul, claims that his sister has not had access to a lawyer and was not aware of the charges against her. Other family members say she has been subjected to electric shocks, whipping, and sexual harassment during her detention.

The Saudi government denies all allegations of torture. A Saudi official told CNN in November, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s judiciary system does not condone, promote, or allow the use of torture. Anyone, whether male or female, being investigated is going through the standard judiciary process led by public prosecution while being held for questions, which does not in any way rely on torture, either physical, sexual, or psychological.”

On December 10, the United Nations released a statement, calling for the immediate release of al-Hathloul. In the statement, Elizabeth Broderick, the chairperson of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, commended al-Hathloul for being a dedicated woman human rights defender, “who has greatly contributed to advancing women’s rights in a country where gender discrimination and stereotyping are deeply entrenched in the fabric of society.”

Other organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Free Saudi Activists Coalition, have also called for the immediate release of al-Hathloul. Human Rights Watch urges all countries in the Middle East and North African region to guarantee and protect women’s rights and calls on governments around the world to call for the release of women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.

Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Lynn Maalouf, said, “the only just outcome for this trial would be the immediate and unconditional release of Loujain al-Hathloul. She is not a criminal – she is a human rights defender who is being punished simply for daring to advocate for change.”

For further information, please see:

21 WFMJ – Detained Women’s Rights Defender, Loujain al-Hathloul, put on Trial by Saudi Arabia on Human Rights Day – Dec. 11, 2020

Aljazeera – Saudi Activist al-Hathloul Appears in Court, UN Calls for Release – Dec. 10, 2020

Amnesty International – Saudi Arabia: Loujain al-Hathloul Must be Unconditionally Released – Nov. 24, 2020

BBC News – Lourjain al-Hathloul: Saudi Activist’s Trial ‘Moved to Terrorism Court’ – Nov. 25, 2020

CNN World – Saudi Women’s Rights Activist Loujain al-Hathloul goes on Trial in Riyadh – Mar. 13, 2019

Human Rights Watch – Is Saudi Arabia Serious About Clemency for Women Rights Activists? – Nov. 10, 2020

Human Rights Watch – Together We Must Protect and Support WHRDs in Middle East and North Africa – Dec. 11, 2020