War Crimes Suspect

Putin's India visit: Why New Delhi won't act on the ICC arrest warrant

As Vladimir Putin visits India, the ICC arrest warrant resurfaces, but New Delhi faces no legal duty to detain him since India is not a Rome Statute signatory

Datanomics: The global history and pattern of executing political leaders

Sheikh Hasina's death sentence is only the second this century, but over 30 world leaders have faced execution orders in past 100 years, spanning monarchs, dictators and even elected heads of state

Israel under lens for 'extermination' in destruction of Gaza health system

UN inquiry's statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave besieged Gaza Strip

Japanese shrine that honors war dead, convicted war criminals, vandalised

Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including convicted World War II war criminals, was vandalized again overnight Monday. It is deplorable that an act seeking to denigrate the shrine's dignity has happened again, the shrine said in a statement. In May, a stone pillar at Yasukuni was spraypainted red. A Chinese suspect was arrested in July. Neither the police nor the Shinto shrine would go into details of the latest vandalism, saying an investigation was ongoing. Japanese media reports said graffiti reading toilet in Chinese, written with what appeared to be black markers, was found Monday morning on a stone pillar near the shrine's arch. Asian nations that suffered from Japanese aggression before and during World War II see Yasukuni as a symbol of militarism. Convicted Class A war criminals, including Hideki Tojo, Japan's wartime prime minister, are among the 2.5 million Japanese war dead enshrined at Yasukuni. The shrine itself, a dramatic-looking building w

Israeli, Hamas leaders join list of people accused by top war crimes court

By accusing the heads of Israel and Hamas of war crimes, the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor placed them among world leaders infamous for heinous acts against humanity. The chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced arrest warrants Monday against two Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and three Hamas leaders. The prosecutor focused on actions taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 when militants stormed southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, and on Israel's military response in Gaza, which has killed roughly 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Netanyahu condemned the decision Monday, calling it a complete distortion of reality. I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor's comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas, Netanyahu said. In a statement, Hamas accused the prosecutor of trying to equate the victim with the executioner. It said it has the right to resist Israeli ...

Will intensify investigations: ICC prosecutor after Israel, Ramallah visit

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Sunday that his office will further intensify its efforts to advance its investigations of possible crimes by Hamas and Israeli forces, after he visited the region for this first time since his appointment. There have been widespread claims of breaches of international law by Hamas and Israeli forces since war erupted after the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas and other militants that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel. Around 240 people were taken hostage. The Hague-based court has been investigating crimes in the Palestinian territories committed by both sides since 2021 but has yet to announce any charges. Israel is not a member state of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction. Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a written statement issued after his visit that he witnessed scenes of calculated cruelty at locations of the October 7 attacks. During the visit, he spoke to family member

France issues arrest warrants for Syrian prez, generals over war crimes

French judicial authorities issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother, and two army generals for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, lawyers for Syrian victims said. They include a 2013 chemical attack on rebel-held Damascus suburbs. A victim of the attack welcomed the move as a reminder of the horrors of Syria's civil war and urged countries where Assad might travel to arrest him. While he is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants for a serving world leader are very rare and send a strong message about Assad's leadership at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold. In addition to President Assad, the arrest warrants were issued for his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, the lawyers said. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government on the warrants. Jeann

France issues arrest warrants for Syrian prez for involvement in war crimes

French judicial authorities on Wednesday issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother and two army generals alleging their involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity including in the chemical attack in 2013 on rebel-held Damascus suburbs, lawyers for Syrian victims said. In addition to President Assad, the arrest warrants were issued for his brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan. Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, lawyers at the Paris Bar who represent the plaintiffs, and NGOs behind the complaint, hailed the decision Wednesday. It marks a crucial milestone in the battle against impunity, Sulzer told The Associated Press on the phone. It signifies a positive evolution in case law recognising the grave nature of the crimes committed. The Paris prosecutor's office has not publicly commented on the arrest warrants that remain secret under French l

How the world once handled war crimes

Professor Gary J Bass delves into the forgotten history of the Tokyo trial after World War II, exploring the complex dynamics of justice, politics, and international law in the aftermath of conflict

Iraq Christians were victims of Islamic State war crimes, says UN

Evidence collected in Iraq strengthens preliminary findings that Islamic State extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014, a UN investigative team said in a report circulated on Thursday. The report to the UN Security Council said crimes included forcibly transferring and persecuting Christians, seizing their property, engaging in sexual violence, enslavement and other inhumane acts, such as forced conversions and destruction of cultural and religious sites. In addition, the team said it has identified leaders and prominent members of the Islamic State extremist group who participated in the attack and takeover of three predominantly Christian towns in the Nineveh plains north of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, in July and August 2014 -- Hamdaniyah, Karamlays and Bartella. It also started collecting evidence on crimes committed against the Christian community in Mosul. Islamic .

Russian forces committed more than 400 war crimes in Kherson: Zelensky

"The atrocities the Russian army has left behind in Kherson Oblast (region) are the same as (atrocities committed) in other parts of our country that it was able to occupy."

Ukraine pushes to try alleged war crimes as fighting rages in south, east

The appeal of Ukraine's first war crimes conviction was adjourned as prosecutors keep pushing to hold Russia legally accountable for atrocities even as fighting rages in the south and east of country

Criminal complaint filed against Rajapaksa in Singapore for 'war crimes'

South Africa-based rights group has submitted a criminal complaint to the Attorney General of Singapore requesting the arrest of former Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for alleged war crimes

Ukraine probing over 21,000 alleged Russian war crimes since Feb 24

In May, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova had said that about 600 suspects had already been identified and 80 prosecutions had begun

Russian soldier sentenced to life in Ukraine's first war crimes trial

Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin pleaded guilty to shooting a Ukrainian civilian in the head in a village in the northeastern Sumy region in the early days of the war

Ukraine to hold first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova's office has said it has been investigating more than 10,700 alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces and has identified over 600 suspects

UK to deploy team of war crimes experts to Ukraine for Russia probe

Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities. British expertise will help uncover truth and hold Putin's regime to account for its actions, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said

EU slams Russia's 'war crimes' in Ukraine, but new sanctions unlikely

The imposition of a new round of sanctions asset freezes and travel bans appears unlikely for now

US Senate approves resolution probing Putin and his regime for war crimes

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine

ICC says started investigation into alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has started an investigation into the Russian activities in Ukraine, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said.