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Mar
10
2024
By EMMA FARGE
Gambian ex-minister alleges racism and lies as Swiss crimes against humanity trial closes

Gambian ex-minister alleges racism and lies as Swiss crimes against humanity trial closes

NEWS
SWITZERLAND'S first full trial of crimes against humanity concluded this week, with the defendant, a former Gambian minister accused of rape and murder, giving a defiant closing speech in which he claimed to be a victim of racism and lies. Ousman Sonko, a former interior minister of Gambia under ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh, is the highest-ranking official ever to be tried in Europe using universal jurisdiction which allows the most serious crimes to be prosecuted anywhere. During the trial in Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, the court heard details of the charges of rape, torture and murder allegedly committed between 2000-2016…
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Mar
01
2024
By MICHELLE NICHOLS
US pushes for UN Security Council action to end war in Sudan

US pushes for UN Security Council action to end war in Sudan

NEWS
THE United States pushed for the United Nations Security Council to take action to help end a nearly year-long conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The United States says the warring parties have committed war crimes and the RSF and allied militias have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The U.N. says that nearly 25 million people - half Sudan's population - need aid and some 8 million have fled their homes and hunger is rising. "It is clear that this is an urgent matter of peace and security that demands greater attention from the…
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Jan
09
2024
By EMMA FARGE
Gambian ex-minister faces rape, torture charges in long-awaited Swiss trial

Gambian ex-minister faces rape, torture charges in long-awaited Swiss trial

NEWS
A former Gambian minister under ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh went on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity in a milestone case where a serial rape victim will testify after a multi-decade wait for justice. Former interior minister Ousman Sonko becomes the highest-ranking official to be tried in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows grave crimes to be prosecuted anywhere, said the Swiss campaign group TRIAL International which filed the complaint against him. Nine Gambian plaintiffs are coming to Switzerland for the hearing at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. Binta Jamba, one of the plaintiffs who…
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Jan
07
2024
By The African Mirror
Sudan’s Burhan says ‘no reconciliation’ with paramilitary RSF

Sudan’s Burhan says ‘no reconciliation’ with paramilitary RSF

NEWS
SUDAN'S army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed to continue a nine-month war between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), rejecting the latest peace efforts. RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo agreed earlier this week to a ceasefire proposed by civilian groups, contingent on the military agreeing also. But observers responded sceptically in light of the paramilitary force's prior unfulfilled promises. The U.S. has accused both the army and RSF of war crimes, and it says the RSF is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. "The whole world witnessed these rebel forces committing war crimes and…
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Dec
23
2023
By The African Mirror
Rwandan Seraphin Twahirwa jailed for life for genocide crimes

Rwandan Seraphin Twahirwa jailed for life for genocide crimes

NEWS
IN a landmark trial that spanned several months, the Belgian Court has delivered a decisive judgment, sentencing Rwandan national Seraphin Twahirwa for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.  Twahirwa, 65, was found guilty on multiple counts related to his involvement in the atrocities that claimed the lives of nearly 800,000 people, predominantly Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The presiding judge stated in a solemn courtroom that Twahirwa had been convicted of crimes against humanity, including genocide, murder, and incitement to commit genocide. The court detailed his direct involvement in orchestrating and executing attacks on Tutsi civilians during the brutal…
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Jun
02
2023
By EMMA FARGE
Swiss court confirms historic war crimes ruling against Liberia warlord

Swiss court confirms historic war crimes ruling against Liberia warlord

NEWS
A Swiss court upheld a guilty verdict for war crimes in the case of a former Liberian rebel commander and convicted him of crimes against humanity in a landmark case. Alieu Kosiah, who fought in the 1990s against then-President Charles Taylor's army, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2021 for rape, murder and cannibalism in Switzerland's first ever war crimes trial. Those charges and others were upheld by the court although he was acquitted of ordering and inflicting cruel treatment, the Swiss Federal Court's appeal bench said in a statement. Four of his acts were deemed crimes…
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Apr
20
2023
By The African Mirror

Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity

NEWS
SWITZERLAND'S attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia's former interior minister for crimes against humanity committed under former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, it said in a statement. Ousman Sonko is accused of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent "systematic and generalised attacks" as part of a repressive campaign by security forces against Jammeh's opponents, the Office of the Attorney General said. Sonko's lawyer, Philippe Currat, told Reuters on Wednesday that his client disputed the charges and that some of the alleged acts occurred before articles on crimes against humanity came into force in the Swiss Criminal Code.…
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Feb
04
2023
By The African Mirror
Liberian warlord’s trial concludes in Switzerland

Liberian warlord’s trial concludes in Switzerland

NEWS
EMMA FARGE THE appeal hearings of a former Liberian rebel commander convicted of war crimes concluded in a trial that was broadened in its final stages to include crimes against humanity for the first time in Switzerland. Alieu Kosiah, who fought in the 1990s against then-President Charles Taylor's army, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2021 for rape, murder and cannibalism in one of the first trials for war crimes committed in the West African country. During the three weeks of appeal hearings at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, the defendant sought to overturn the lower court's ruling, arguing at…
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Mar
19
2021
By The African Mirror
Gambian war crimes suspect arrested

Gambian war crimes suspect arrested

NEWS
GERMAN police detained a Gambian man yesterday suspected of participating in crimes against humanity, including the killing of a journalist, as a driver in the elite guard of former President Yahya Jammeh, Germany's federal prosecutor said. Journalist Deyda Hydara The Federal Public Prosecutor General (GBA) identified the suspect as Bai L., under German privacy rules which bar releasing the surname of suspects. It said the suspect had been a member of Jammeh's elite guard, known as "the junglers", for three years starting in December 2003, and on at least three occasions drove officers to locations where they fired on the…
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Feb
04
2021
By The African Mirror
ICC to hand down judgment against former Lord’s Resistance Army commander

ICC to hand down judgment against former Lord’s Resistance Army commander

NEWS
STEPHANIE VAN DER BERG WAR crimes judges will today deliver their verdict in the case of Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan child soldier turned top commander in the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for extreme violence and forcing women into sexual slavery. Ongwen, 45, faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and could be imprisoned for life if convicted. Judges will not address sentencing on Thursday. The ruling at the International Criminal Court will be the first dealing with crimes by the LRA, New York-based Human Rights Watch said. It highlights the difficulty of trying somebody…
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