UpRights co-founders Asa Solway and Valerie Gabard conducted a two-day training for civil society organisations in South Korea on pursuing accountability in different forums for crimes in North Korea.

The training outlined accountability mechanisms with a particular emphasis on submissions before the International Criminal Court. It set out jurisdictional challenges and provided guidance on building effective and persuasive Article 15 communications. The impact and likelihood of different pathways were outlined including recent developments concerning universal jurisdiction, the jurispurdence of the International Court and the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing international criminal law and human rights law. UpRights trainers’ further set out relevant modes of liability and related issues of international criminal law.

The training also focused on best practices related to gathering and analysing evidence in the specific context of civil society in South Korea. International standards and the importance of effective evidence collection was discussed in detail as a foundation to pursue multiple paths to ensuring accountability for victims.

The training built on UpRights recent experience submitting a successful Article 15 Communication to the International Criminal Court concerning crimes against migrants in Libya and its ongoing work to develop the capacity of national actors to effectively leverage domestic and international law to pursue accountability for victims of serious human rights violations.

From 12 to 14 January , UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, led a training in Niamey (Niger) for the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (“CNDH”) designed to improve the effectiveness of drafting human rights investigation reports.

Around 20 participants, technical staff at the central and regional level and certain Commissioners from the CNDH actively participated in the training. Over the course of three days, participants shared their experience in relation to the drafting of human rights reports. The training provided participants with the tools to analyse information collected during human rights investigations and effectively report on them in order to obtain positive change. The training involved presentation of best practices, practical analysis and drafting exercises and targeted discussions and experience sharing on exisiting reports of the CNDH.

These capacity-building initiatives are part of the “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger” project “Adalci Project” implemented by a consortium of organisations including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, Search for Common Ground and PACT. This four-year program is funded by USAID.

This activity was building on the expertise acquired by the technical staff and Commissioners of the CNDH last October during a first training on investigation’s best practices.

UpRights Co-Founder Alessandro Pizzuti has co-authored with Assistant Professor Giulia Pinzauti, UpRights Advisory Board Member, an article in the Journal of International Criminal Justice titled “Prosecuting Aggression against Ukraine as an ‘Other Inhumane Act’ before the ICC”.

The article, building on a past blogpost in OpinioJuris, revisits the possibility of prosecuting the underlying acts of aggression as crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court, with specific reference to the February 2022 unlawful use of force against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

In particular, the article contends that Russia’s unlawful use of force in breach of the right to self-determination of the Ukrainian people, which caused them great suffering or serious injury to mental/physical health, can be qualified as other inhumane acts under Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute. While this approach has its challenges, it would allow the Court to prosecute the underlying acts of aggression as crimes against humanity avoiding the jurisdictional limitations that apply to the crime of aggression.

From 11 to 15 October, UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, in coordination with an on-site facilitator and investigator, led two trainings designed to build capacity to investigate serious human rights violations and abuses during crises to support victims in their quest for justice in Niamey, Niger.

The first training involved 25 participants, composed of technical staff at the central and regional level and certain Commissioners from the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (“CNDH”). It was a targeted and practical three-day training. The training aimed to strengthen existing investigation practices of the CNDH and to equip participants with best practices to conduct secure, ethical and victim-centered human rights investigations with a focus on victim and witness protection and investigation planning. This training was followed by a two-day training on the same topic for 20 representatives of civil society organizations located in conflict-affected areas of Niger and who cooperate with the CNDH.

These capacity-building initiatives are part of the “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger” project “Adalci Project” implemented by a consortium of organisations including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, Search for Common Ground and PACT. This four-year program is funded by USAID.

On Friday, September 30, from 9 to 18:30, the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna will host the Seminar “Migrants’ rights and international crimes. New perspectives and challenges for international and domestic jurisdiction” (Sala Armi, Palazzo Malvezzi, via Zamboni 22, Bologna and online).

The seminar is organized by StraLi for strategic litigation, UpRights and the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna. Together with journalists, researchers, civil society’s representatives, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges, we will discuss pivotal issues at the intersection of migration and criminal law, such as the qualification of abuses against migrants as international crimes and the impact of European migration policies on human rights. It will comprise of three panels (panel 1 and 2 will be held in English, panel 3 in Italian) which will deal respectively with: migration policies from a human rights perspective; migrations and international criminal law; migrations and Italian criminal law.

Alessandro Pizzuti will be among the speakers of panel 1 to discuss human rights’ application at sea. Alice Giannini and Tomas Manguel will be among speakers of panel 2 and will discuss StraLi’s, UpRights’, and Adala for All’s Article 15 Communication on War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Libya.

The full program, including the list of the topics discussed and the panelists, are available here.

No registration needed.

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In a two-part blogpost (part 1 and part 2) published on OpinioJuris, UpRights co-founder Alessandro Pizzuti and Assistant Professor Giulia Pinzauti discuss the prospect of prosecuting aggression against Ukraine as the crime against humanity of “other Inhumane act” before the International Criminal Court.

The International Criminal Court’s lack of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression committed by the leadership of the Russian Federation and Belarus against Ukraine has prompted several voices to advocate alternative avenues to address a potential impunity gap, including the creation of a new international tribunal. The blogpost explores whether the ICC could exercise jurisdiction over the acts underlying Article 8bis of the Statute (crime of aggression) by subsuming the relevant conduct under the framework of crimes against humanity.

The Blogpost argues that while not without challenges, the intentional and severe violation of the right to self-determination of the Ukrainian people caused by Russia’s unlawful use of force caused the people of Ukraine great suffering or serious injury to mental or physical health that can be qualified as an other inhumane act under Article 7(1)(k) of the Statute.

On 28 April 2022, during a regular briefing to the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Libya, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reported that crimes committed against migrants in Libya may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes and fall within the ICC jurisdiction. Never before had the Prosecutor been so clear on the nature of these crimes or his Office’s intention to pursue such a line of investigation.

These conclusions are fully consistent with the Article 15 Communication on War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Libya filed on 17 January 2022 by UpRights, Adala for All, and StraLi. In his report the Prosecutor confirmed that the communication assisted his work and inquiry concerning relevant crimes committed against migrants in Libya.

The Article 15 Communication filed on 17 January 2022 – and now publicly available – concerns war crimes committed in Libya between 2017 and 2021 against migrants and asylum seekers. The Communication requests the ICC to investigate international crimes committed by Libyan armed groups against thousands of migrants, including women and children, trapped in detention centres in Libya following their interception at sea. Once returned to Libya, the victims were routinely and systematically subjected to various forms of mistreatments and abuse including murder, torture, rape, forced labour and forced conscription. The Communication underlines that the ICC Prosecutor must investigate war crimes against migrants and asylum seekers detained in Libya committed by Libyan armed groups and officials with the support of Italian and Maltese Authorities.

In a blog post published today on Justice in Conflict, UpRights co-founder Alessandro Pizzuti and Alice Giannini from StraLi discuss the ICC Prosecutor’s report to the United Nations Security Council and the content of the Article 15 Communication filed on 17 January 2022. The post reconstructs some of the challenges, in terms of qualification and jurisdiction, which are behind the ICC Prosecution’s conclusion that the abuses against migrants in Libya may qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Court must investigate war crimes against migrants and asylum seekers detained in Libya committed by Libyan armed groups and officials with the support of Italian and Maltese Authorities

(The Hague, Paris, Turin) 18 January 2022 – Yesterday, Adala for All, StraLi, and UpRights filed a Communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning crimes committed in Libya between 2017 and 2021 against migrants and asylum seekers which may amount to war crimes within the jurisdiction of the court. The Communication requests the ICC to investigate international crimes committed by Libyan armed groups against thousands of migrants, including women and children, trapped in detention centres in Libya following their interception at sea. Once returned to Libya, the victims were routinely and systematically subjected to various forms of mistreatments and abuse including murder, torture, rape, forced labour and forced conscription. The Communication underlines that the ICC Prosecutor should scrutinize, in addition to Libyan actors, the potential criminal conduct of Italian and Maltese authorities and officials for the support they provided to Libyan actors.

Since the Revolution of 2011, Libya has been subject to ongoing armed conflict and political instability. Armed groups have dominated smuggling and trafficking throughout the country and developed a predatory economy in which migrants are intercepted at sea during their journey to Europe, returned to Libya and placed in detention centres in which they are systematically subjected to serious abuses. Actors involved in the commission of these alleged crimes include members of armed groups in control of detention centres, acting under the nominal authority of Libyan authorities, as well as the Libyan Coast Guard and the Department Combatting Illegal Migration under the Ministry of Interior.

The crimes committed against migrants and asylum seekers qualify and should be investigated as war crimes under Article 8 of the ICC Statute. Members of armed groups, taking direct part in ongoing hostilities in Libya, have subjected migrants intercepted at sea to numerous abuses in detention centres under their control including murder, torture and/or cruel treatment, forced labour, hostage-taking, and various forms of sexual violence including rape and sexual slavery. The Communication submits that these acts meet the threshold necessary for war crimes as they took place in the context of and were associated with the ongoing armed conflict in Libya. Additionally, these crimes qualify as crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the ICC Statute.

The need to investigate and ensure accountability is heightened by the fact that a number of European authorities, including Italian and Maltese nationals, have facilitated the return of migrants to Libya leading to their detention and subsequent mistreatment. As observed by Ramadan Amani from Adala for All, “Crimes committed against migrants in Libya represent an emerging ‘pocket of impunity’ at the border of Europe which has become increasingly and openly accepted by the international community despite the massive amount of evidence of pervasive international crimes on Europe’s doorstep. Available evidence clearly points to responsibilities within Europe.”

Between 2017 and 2021, Italian authorities and officials provided crucial support to the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrants at sea and return them to detention centres including the provision of assets, equipment, maintenance and trainings. Italian and Maltese officials closely coordinated with the Libyan Coast Guard on rescue operations to ensure that migrants at sea would be intercepted and returned to Libya. The communication submits that the support provided by the Italian and Maltese authorities to the Libyan Coast Guard qualifies as a form of contribution to the crimes committed against migrants in detention centres and triggers international criminal responsibility under the ICC Statute.

Alessandro Pizzuti, co-founder of UpRights, underlines that “crimes committed against migrants in Libya differ from past atrocities generally addressed by international criminal courts and tribunals. In Libya the parties to the conflict target migrants because they are perceived as a crucial asset to advance their political and military objectives. To meet the new challenges that the world is facing, it is indispensable that the international criminal court provide robust responses to these new factual scenarios and dynamics”

The submitting organizations reiterate the need for investigation and potential prosecution of all relevant actors outlined in the Communication. As observed by Nicolò Bussolati, vice-President of StraLi, “the Communication requests the ICC to undertake an investigation and take an important first step to ensure that crimes related to migration, traditionally under the purview of human rights and refugee law, are scrutinized through the lens of international criminal law”.

For more information, please contact Alessandro Pizzuti: a.pizzuti@uprights.org

Read the Executive Summary of the ICC Communication and the Press Release.

About the Organizations

Adala For All is a not-for-profit organization, based in France, and composed of a network of dozens of Libyan human rights lawyers and jurists with expertise in the MENA region. Through its members, based in Libya, AFA works with victims and members of local CSOs in need of legal support to defend their cases in front of national courts and access to international accountability mechanisms.

StraLi is an Italian NGO aiming at the promotion and protection of human rights through the judicial system and, in particular, the use of strategic litigation tools. The organisation is mainly based in Turin, but has active members all over Europe. Although mainly composed of lawyers, it includes professionals from various fields – such as doctors, psychologists, social-media managers and journalists – to approach human rights protection from an holistic and multidisciplinary perspective.

UpRights is a non-profit initiative based in The Hague, Netherlands. UpRights strives for effective access to justice for victims of serious human rights violations and international crimes. UpRights works in collaboration with civil society and international organisations to promote victims’ rights, providing professional assistance on matters concerning international criminal law and human rights law. Our team includes professionals from international criminal Tribunals and UN Commissions of Inquiry with extensive knowledge of human rights and international criminal law.

Asa Solway, UpRights Co-Founder, recently completed teaching a course offering on self-determination in international law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

“Self-determination of Peoples in International Law”, offered for the first time at the Berkeley School of Law in Fall 2021, built on his experience working with self-determination movements and national minorities. It introduced students to the legal underpinnings of self-determination in international law including in the context of the United Nations Charter, case law of the International Court of Justice and national and international self-determination movements. Students considered issues related to decolonization and secession, internal versus external self-determination, minority rights, state sovereignty and claims to natural resources while discussing and debating the scope of the right in the context of numerous case studies.

The course presented the opportunity for students to consider modern approaches and re-evaluation of the right to self-determination in light of modern advocacy movements, including in the Pacific Islands and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as ongoing debates over the applicability, scope and intent of the right as envisioned in the drafting of the United Nations Charter. The course further considered human rights-related litigation related to past abuses suffered by self-determination movements.

On 23 to 25 November 2021, 15 participants composed of technical staff and certain Commissioners from the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (CNDH) undertook a training designed to build capacity to draft investigative reports on allegations of human rights violations. The training was led remotely by UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, in coordination with on-site facilitator and human rights specialist Sawadogo Lamoussa Carol.

The training formed part of the three year “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Burkina Faso” program implemented by a consortium of organisations led by the American Bar Association Initiative for the Rule of Law, and including Freedom House and Search For Common Ground and Pact, was funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

The training is an important step towards improved human rights reports, effective collection of evidence and ultimately an improved human rights situation.

For more information click here