Author: Communication Department

A message from Philip Grant, Executive Director of TRIAL International

There is a time-tested and particularly odious military strategy used by State actors, militias and armed groups alike. This powerful strategy is widely employed throughout the world: no continent is spared. Today, I would like to tell you about conflict-related sexual violence. This horrific form of violence most often targets civilians, primarily women but also men and even children.

In the Kavumu case, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the youngest victim was barely one year old!. In this case, the systematic nature of the attacks perpetrated against more than 40 children enabled prosecutors to characterize the attacks as crimes against humanity. When sexual violence crimes are recognized as war crimes or crimes against humanity, the gravity of the violence is underscored. Characterizing sexual violence crimes in this way also makes it possible for victims to file complaints many years after the crimes occurred, because there is no statute of limitations on international crimes. TRIAL International works to ensure that sexual violence is recognized as an international crime every time it is relevant to do so.

By making a donation today, you make our work possible as we raise awareness among judicial actors and offer free legal assistance to countless victims.

Survivors of wartime sexual violence are not collateral victims. They are not victims of uncontrollable sexual urges. No, their victimization is inherent to the conflict; their bodies are a battlefield. They are survivors of war who have the right to be recognized as such and to receive appropriate reparations. This is what justice demands.

TRIAL International has been working for nearly 20 years, with determination and professionalism, to elevate the voices of these survivors. I am proud of our organization for its role as a driving force behind these cases. Impunity for these crimes is slowly becoming less frequent due notably to our work in multiple trials, in the DRC but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Nepal and elsewhere.

The fact remains that the number of sexual violence crimes far exceeds the number of prosecutions. Sexual violence is a taboo subject. Every successful prosecution has the potential to set a legal precedent and thereby contribute to changing our world. Every reparation paid allows victims to rebuild their lives, physically and emotionally. Every victory gives hope to hundreds of victims and encourages them to continue along the path to justice. Support them. Support our fight against impunity. Please donate today!

Together, let’s work to ensure that even more survivors of this heinous crime can speak out and obtain justice.

On behalf of the entire team at TRIAL International, sincere thanks.

  Philip Grant, Executive Director of TRIAL International

The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) will hold hearings at its current session which began on 22 February 2021 on the 2005 massacre of more than 50 West African migrants. It was the largest loss of life during the rule of former president Yahya Jammeh. 

About 44 Ghanaians, 9 Nigerians, 2 Togolese, and nationals of Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia and Senegal are believed to have been killed over several days in July 2005. Among those scheduled to testify is Martin Kyere of Ghana, the sole known survivor.

Previous official attempts to investigate the massacre have been stymied or flawed. Ghana attempted to investigate the killings in 2005 and 2006, but was blocked by the then-Jammeh government. In 2008, the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) formed a joint investigative team, which produced a report in April 2009 that was said to have concluded that the Gambian government was not “directly or indirectly complicit” in the deaths and enforced disappearances. It blamed “rogue” elements in Gambia’s security services “acting on their own” for the massacre. The UN/ECOWAS report has never been made public, however, despite repeated requests by the victims and by five UN human rights experts. 

A 2018 report by TRIAL International and Human Rights Watch, based on interviews with 30 former Jammeh-era officials, found, however, that Jammeh’s closest associates in the army, the navy, and the police detained the migrants, and then the “Junglers,” a unit of Gambian soldiers operating under Jammeh’s orders, summarily executed them. TRIAL International and Human Rights Watch also found that the Gambian government destroyed key evidence before the UN/ECOWAS team arrived.

In July 2019, three former Junglers testified publicly before the truth commission that they and 12 other Junglers had carried out the killings on Jammeh’s orders. One of the officers, Omar Jallow, recalled that the operation’s leader told the men that “the order from … Jammeh is that they are all to be executed.”

The upcoming TRRC hearings are expected to shed further light on the massacre and the cover-up.

“I have been fighting for 15 years for truth and for justice for my companions who were killed,” said Kyere. He had escaped from a moving truck carrying other detained migrants who were killed shortly thereafter. Since then he has been organizing the families of the victims. 

Kyere will be in Banjul for the hearings together with Wiliam Nyarko of the Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) who coordinates the Jammeh2Justice Ghana campaign.

See a graphic illustrating the basic facts of the massacre 

Watch the short video Gambia’s Ex-President Linked to 2005 Massacre

Watch the documentary film The Massacre of Ghanaians in The Gambia: Justice in Limbo?

Watch the documentary film I Cannot Bury My Father

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

TRIAL International welcomes the condemnation on appeal of two Imbonerakure for the murder of an opposition party member. It demonstrates that this league, linked to the ruling party, is not above the law.

Richard Havyarimana, a member of the opposition party Congrès national pour la liberté (CNL), had been abducted in May 2020 and found dead in a river a few days later. In the months preceding his execution, the Imbonerakure had repeatedly threatened Mr Havyarimana.

Officially, the Imbonerakure is the youth league of the ruling party in Burundi. In the facts, it acts as a feared militia known for its brutality and the quasi-total impunity they have so far enjoyed.

On 12 August 2020, the tribunal of Mwaro had condemned two suspects, Dieudonné Nsengiyumva and Boris Bukeyeneza, to 15 years imprisonment. It had also ordered the payment of roughly 5’000 USD to the victim’s relatives as compensation. In early February 2021, the Court of Appeal in Bujumbura confirmed this judgment.

Isolated fact or glimmer of hope?

“We welcome this decision, and not just for the satisfaction it brings to the family of Richard Havyarimana. If it marks the end of the Imbonerakure’s omnipotence, it also carries a symbolic weight for all the victims of their crimes” says Pamela Capizzi, Country Coordinator for Burundi at TRIAL International. “It is now up to the political and judiciary authorities to maintain this momentum: the road to the rule of law is still long.”

In December 2020, the condemnation of a State agent for the rape of a minor had already opened a breach in Burundi’s rampant impunity.

Nepal has a poor record of implementing international human rights decisions, resulting in mounting frustration among victims. But the United Nations Human Rights Committee could also do more to follow up on its own recommendations.

Between 29 October 2014 and 15 July 2019, the Human Rights Committee (HRC or “the Committee”) decided on six cases whose authors are represented by TRIAL International and the Human Rights and Justice Centre (HRJC) in Nepal. All these cases concern crimes of torture, including sexual violence, and forced labour.

Read the summary of implementation statuses

Despite the passing of time (in some cases even more than seven years) from the adoption of the Committee’s decisions, none of the measures of reparation indicated has been implemented and the perpetrators still enjoy impunity.

A “reward” for inertia

Nepal’s failure to implement the decisions issued by the Committee is generalized and concerns all the 26 cases adjudicated between 2008 and 2021. In this sense, in June 2020 TRIAL International and the HRJC had already submitted a follow-up report to the Committee, concerning the lack of enforcement of its decisions on cases of enforced disappearance and extra-judicial executions and expressing serious concern vis-à-vis this systemic failure to abide by international obligations.

The victims and their families feel betrayed and frustrated at the State’s inertia; but they are also troubled by the fact that, in the absence of any engagement by Nepal, the HRC does not prompt the follow-up dialogue and remains silent on the lack of implementation of the measures it recommended. The authors of the complaints feel that, at the end of the day, the State party is being “rewarded” for its lack of diligence.

Requests to the Committee

The six represented victims, with a view to launching a meaningful debate with the State party and eventually prompt the implementation of the relevant decisions, respectfully call on the HRC to:

• Establish a “joint follow-up procedure” on all its cases concerning Nepal, with the aim to make this a “country case study” and to streamline the efforts to boost the level of implementation of the measures indicated;
• In the context of such “joint follow-up procedure”, hold an oral hearing where the State party, as well as the authors and/or their representatives, can make their comments on the matter.

It is essential that, regardless of how the follow-up dialogue with the State party is conducted, four elements are elucidated as soon as possible:

• • the precise identification of the specific Nepalese authorities that are in charge of implementing at the domestic level each measure of reparation in each case;
  • the determination of a time-frame for the implementation of each measure;
  • the establishment of a forum to discuss the subject of implementation, where the authors of the communications and their representatives can have a regular and transparent dialogue with the competent authorities;
  • the facilitation for immediate and free of charge psycho-social support and medical treatment, which is regarded by all victims as a first priority.

Read the summary of implementation statuses

More than a year after the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) called on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to compensate and issue an official apology to the victim of a rape during the war, no measures of reparation have yet been implemented. As TRIAL International’s follow-up report submitted to the Committee in January 2021 shows, State inaction in this particular case is problematic as it constitutes a violation of several international treaties to which BiH is a signatory. This case is unfortunately not unique. And the first to suffer are the survivors, who often do not obtain justice during their lifetime.

As a reminder, in August 2019, the CAT had concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina failed in its obligations towards Ms. A., who had been raped in 1993. The Committee based its decision on the fact that although the perpetrator was convicted and ordered to compensate the victim, no payment was made. In this case, like in others, the State did not follow up, judging that the perpetrator did not have the means to pay his debt. Consequently, the CAT concluded that the survivor was denied an effective and enforceable right to adequate and fair compensation, as well as rehabilitation.

Implementing the CAT decision would set a significant precedent for better and more responsible treatment of victims of war crimes. Instead, BiH seems bogged down in a slow process of implementation, in which old habits – such as non-compliance with the decisions of international bodies – die hard.

There are of course certain legal, administrative and financial obstacles due to the complex decision-making process in BiH that may explain the State’s delay in taking action. Especially given the fact that some of the obligations required by the UN CAT entail a strategic approach that cannot be done overnight. Nevertheless, victims of war crimes often depend only on civil society organizations. It is time for the State to play a greater role in such matters. “Presenting an official public apology is easy. It is therefore the bare minimum that Bosnia and Herzegovina must do for this survivor, as soon as possible”, stated Lamija Tiro, legal advisor for TRIAL International in Sarajevo.

Mr. Rohit Koirala, aged around 32 years, was a resident of Sunsari, an eastern district of Nepal. A vocal advocate against discrimination, he joined the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), around 1997. Mr. Rohit Koirala became prominent in the movement, acting as district secretary and travelling to other districts of Nepal.

On 6 March 2002, he was in Madhurmara (district of Morang). Despite being discreet, the local police somehow learned that CPN-M cadres were planning party-related activities. Mr. Koirala and his three colleagues were dragged out of their hideout, beaten up and taken to the Morang District Police Office.

On 8 March 2002, a few villagers from Indrapur (district of Morang) witnessed the extrajudicial killing of the four detainees, including Rohit Koirala. Their statements later established that around 4:30 AM, an open van passed by them that carried Mr. Rohit Koirala and three other people. Since Mr. Koirala was actively involved in the CPN-M, the villagers recognized him but were too scared to follow the vehicle. The van came back later, carrying bodies whose clothes were similar to those Mr. Koirala and his friends had been wearing. Patches of blood were also found around the area.

The victim’s brother seeks the truth

On the same day, Mr. Rohit Koirala’s brother Ram heard on the radio that four “terrorists” had been killed in Morang. He worried because he knew his brother was a Maoist cadre in that district. He spent the subsequent few days in harrowing uncertainty, not knowing where to search for him or whether he was even alive. Ram Koirala decided to go to the Morang district police office to denounce the crime, but he was denied the registration of the case. Thrice more in the following years, his legitimate demand to open a case was rejected. He was even once warned by a police officer not to bring any case concerning “a terrorist”.

After several years, Mr. Koirala received a letter from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), formally recognizing that his brother had been arbitrarily arrested, beaten up and killed. But despite this acknowledgment and follow-up letters Mr. Koirala wrote to the NHRC, no perpetrator has ever been identified and punished.

In December 2020, with the help of TRIAL International and the Human Rights and Justice Centre, Ram Koirala took his case to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The case is pending.

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Exactly 39 years ago, Syrian armed forces began besieging the city of Hama as a retaliation for an attempted uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. In little less than a month in February 1982, the troops of Hafez al-Assad carried out a full-scale massacre that cost the lives of tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians. Rifaat al-Assad, brother of the President, who was leading the Defense Brigades, has been denying his involvment in these events ever since. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has been investigating Rifaat al-Assad for war crimes since December 2013, following a criminal complaint filed by TRIAL International.

But how can the former leader of the Syrian Defense Brigades be prosecuted in Switzerland for crimes committed in his home country? How can he still be under investigation despite the fact that the crimes go back almost forty years? What are the challenges faced when dealing with investigations and proceedings of such a scale? And what can the survivors of the massacre and the relatives of the victims of Hama hope for? TRIAL International is organizing an online conference to try to answer these questions on 22 February 2021 at 5:00 pm (CET).

Alongside Jennifer Triscone, legal advisor and investigator in charge of the case against Rifaat al-Assad, who will explain the proceedings in Switzerland, the investigation of the case and its difficulties, Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bounni will discuss the importance of this event for Syrians and draw a parallel with the current struggles in Syria. The panel will be completed by Chanez Mensous of the French NGO Sherpa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit brought in France against Rifaat al-Assad for financial crimes.

The webinar will be held on Zoom and broadcasted on Facebook live. A simultaneous English/Arabic translation is also available. To participate, please register here. A link to access the webinar will be sent to you a few days before the event.

A victim of sexual violence, who was a minor when she was assaulted, finally saw her abuser punished by the law. It is quite rare that such a case should be successful before the Burundian jurisdictions and it should to be celebrated … without blotting out the structural flaws of the justice system.

At the end of 2020, a tribunal in Bujumbura convicted the rapist of an underage girl. He received a life sentence and, in addition, the young victim was granted reparations amounting to about 500 EUR.

The victim’s lawyer had taken part to one of TRIAL International’s trainings between 2016 and 2017. As a result, the organization kept a close watch on this particularly shocking case.

 “One swallow does not a summer make”

“We are thrilled for the victim and her family, who fought very bravely to obtain this decision”, says Pamela Capizzi, TRIAL International’s National Coordinator for Burundi. “But one swallow does not a summer make: overall the Burundian judiciary is unable to meet the victims’ expectations.”

A report published in December 2020 by TRIAL International details Burundi’s profound structural insufficiencies in matters of justice and reparations. Pamela Capizzi maintains, in a nutshell, that “all the findings of this report remain accurate, even in light of this verdict”.

Read TRIAL International’s report on the Burundian judiciary

What is more, the positive outcome of this case is at least partly due to the extraordinary relentlessness of the victim’s mother and her lawyer. Working together, they sent out many reminders and went over to the tribunal countless times so that the case would not get bogged down like so many others. Such unparalleled dedication should not be necessary to guarantee one’s right to justice.

Many uncertainties remain

There is no doubt that the verdict must be celebrated, but it does not mean that the case is over, either. First, the accused can appeal the decision. Second, it is rather common that reparations ordered by the court never materialize – an injustice which unfortunately is not limited to Burundi.

Close scrutiny will therefore be in order in the months – perhaps years – to come, so that justice might effectively and definitely be done.

The UN Human Rights Committee must identify the key concerns on human rights protection in view of the periodic exam of Nepal: TRIAL International and its partner in Kathmandu, the Human Rights and Justice Centre, submit an alternative report revealing a worrying lack of progress over the past seven years.

Ahead of the Human Rights Committee’s session in March 2021, TRIAL International and the Human Rights and Justice Center (HRJC) submitted an alternative report, reviewing the main obstacles in the implementation of Nepal’s obligations pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The report focuses on impunity for gross human rights violations during and after the internal conflict; the lack of adequate protection for victims and their families; and the flawed legislation and policy framework.

The alternative report subsequently analyzes Nepal’s compliance with its obligations concerning the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary detention and torture, as well as the prohibition of rape and other forms of sexual violence and enforced disappearance and the obstacles faced by victims and their families in obtaining access to justice, truth and adequate reparation for the harm suffered.

Delayed reporting illustrates Nepal’s lack of commitment

The HRC periodically examines the reports submitted by States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Nepal underwent this review in 2014 and was expected to submit its report by March 2018, but it failed to do so. Next March, the Committee will therefore draft a list of questions and will consider the answers provided by Nepal as its periodic report. NGOs can submit alternative reports to support the Committee in the identification of the key issues.

TRIAL International and the HRJC’s alternative report also highlights that Nepal shows a lack of commitment to its international obligations and a callous indifference vis-à-vis international human rights mechanisms such as the HRC. Recommendations usually remain unimplemented, generating further frustration among victims and their families and, more in general, threatening international legal order and the rule of law.

TRIAL International and the HJRC hope that the questions raised in their alternative report will be reflected in the questions raised by the HRC, thus enabling a meaningful and constructive dialogue, conducive to the adoption of effective recommendations.

Read the full alternative report

Update of April 2021

On 21 January 2021, Nepal will undergo its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In this unique procedure, the States themselves review their peers’ human rights record. It is an ideal opportunity for countries to weigh in and incite Nepal to do more – a lot more.

Since the end of the civil conflict, Nepal has built a record of ignoring domestic and international prompts to improve its human rights situation. Dozens of decisions by the United Nations Human Rights Committee remain dead letter. Countless appeals by civil society organizations and victims’ groups, demanding truth and justice for victims of human right abuse, have been disregarded. Their struggle is counted not in years, but in decades.

TRIAL International, the Human Rights and Justice Centre (HRJC) and THRD Alliance have been among the many whose plights remained unheard. “This is a discouraging situation” regrets Ranjeeta Silwal, Human Rights Coordinator at the HJRC in Kathmandu. “We are doing our utmost to prompt action from the government authorities, joining forces with as many actors as possible, but mostly went unheard. As a result, thousands of victims are still awaiting justice and their frustration is understandably building up.”

States can and must up the pressure on Nepal

By and large the UN and NGOs have been unsuccessful in prompting action, but what about other States? The upcoming UPR for Nepal, on 21 January, could be the occasion for them to pull their weight in the struggle. Unlike other international procedures, the UPR is State-led: all 47 members of the Human Rights Council may conduct a review, led by three drawn States called “troika”.

Find out more about the Universal Periodic Review

Ahead of the session, TRIAL International, the HRJC and THRD Alliance have shared a series of recommendation with States, hoping that they will be brought up during the review.

“We call on all the States taking part in this UPR to hold Nepal accountable. Their support is vital to improve the situations of victims”, summarizes Mohan Karna, Executive Director at the THRD Alliance. “We ask them to bring our recommendations to the discussions and use all their influence to push Nepal to enact them in the coming year.”

Read all the recommendations

In line with UPR procedures, Nepal responded to these recommendations, showing resistance on certain issues, such as the amendment of domestic criminal legislation. TRIAL International and its partners remain concerned and will continue advocating for changes in the months to come.

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Two years ago, The Gambia created a key tool for transitional justice: the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). The eleven commissioners of the TRRC are tasked with shedding light on the many abuses that took place under Yahya Jammeh‘s regime between 1994 and 2017. The TRRC hearings, which began in 2019, are being attended by many Gambians. They have so far shed light on dark areas of the past through testimony of victims, witnesses and insiders of the former regime. The mandate of the Commission has recently been extended until the spring of 2021.

TRIAL International’s involvement in the Gambian context began with the case against former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko. The TRRC hearings are therefore of great interest to the organization. TRIAL International also investigated the massacre by the so-called “Junglers” –  a death squad under direct orders of the former president – of around fifty West African migrants in 2005. It also supported the proceedings against one of their members, Michael Sang Correa, currently awaiting trial in a district court in Colorado.

Torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence… the human rights violations committed by the security apparatus under Yahya Jammeh’s regime are numerous. But the successive testimonies revealed the identity of certain key figures of the regime, as well as their involvement in the crimes. Over the course of the sessions and the themes discussed – the national intelligence agency, the Junglers, the former president’s “miracle cure” for HIV and his “witch hunts”– , the commissioners patiently reconstructed the outline of the abuses that took place with Jammeh’s approval, as if they were assembling the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The Commission usually devotes three consecutive weeks to each of these hearings, which are organized by theme. Some of those yet to come are of particular interest to TRIAL International, such as the massacre of the West Africans in 2005, or the second parts of the sessions devoted to sexual and gender-based violence, or to the “Junglers”.

The TRRC hearings are a source of background information and details of the abuses that took place in The Gambia under Yahya Jammeh’s regime. This information is also an important source for TRIAL International’s investigations.

The mining riches of South Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), attract violence from (and between) armed militia. Further, the illegal exploitation and monopolization of natural resources can lead to serious crimes against local populations. This is so with the Migamba case which TRIAL International took up in 2019. In January 2021, a militia leader was found guilty of crimes against humanity.

The Raya Mutomboki militia is responsible for numerous acts of violence in South Kivu. TRIAL International itself contributed to the trial of one of its most feared leaders in 2019. But Raya Mutomboki is made up of many smaller groups which sometimes operate together and sometimes against each another. In the Migamba case, the faction called Raiya Mutomboki Charlequin was guilty of civil attacks.

Attacking civilians to exploit ore

More precisely, men of the self-proclaimed General Charlequin Julio, who gave his name to the group, organized a series of attacks against the civil population of the Migamba, Bugumbu and Nyamingilingili villages (territory of Mwenga, South Kivu). For five years, from 2007 to 2012, they committed crimes of murder, rape, torture, sexual slavery and deprivation of liberty against over 100 victims.

It was the soil of the area, rich in ore, which attracted the greed of Raiya Mutomboki Charlequin. By attacking these villages in a repetitive manner, they wanted to force the population to flee and thus to assume control of the surrounding mines.

Charlequin’s deputy in the dock

The right-hand man of the leader of the militia faction, Takungomo Mukambilwa Le Pouce, was arrested in 2020. He appeared before judges for crimes against humanity. In fact, the crimes committed by the Raiya Mutomboki Charlequin militia were generalized and systematic, and could therefore qualify as international crimes.

In 2019, TRIAL International started to work on the case with a local NGO. It trained two lawyers who supported the victims in the examination before the military prosecutor in December 2019. These two same lawyers now represent the victims in the mobile trial, which have opened in the first days of 2021.

On 11 January 2021, following a series of mobile court hearings, Takungomo Mukambilwa Le Pouce was condemned to 20 years imprisonment. He was found guilty of murder, rape, sexual slavery, torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearances and other inhumane acts constitutive of crimes against humanity. Reparations were granted to over 170 victims, and the tribunal also ordered reinstallation measures. The Congolese State was not condemned in solidum.

TRIAL International’s contribution to this case is carried out in the framework of the Task Force for International Criminal Justice, an informal network of international players who work together to support the work of Congolese military courts in investigating and prosecuting mass crimes in DRC.

A message from Philip Grant, Executive Director

Dear friends,

The year 2020 has been unsettling in numerous ways and many of us are glad to see it come to an end! But let us not forget the good that we accomplished this year and the important advances we made on the long road to justice.

As the high point of this end-of-year period, I have to mention the incredible Sheka trial and the landmark ruling that rewards years of work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even though the warlord Sheka is feared by many and still wields considerable influence in Eastern DRC, he was found guilty of war crimes. This verdict, which brings justice to hundreds of courageous victims, has major consequences for regional geopolitics. It also proves that no one is above the law!

On the international front, the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of international crimes without regard to the nationality of the perpetrators or that of their victims, is gaining ground. For example, this year in Germany, we witnessed the world’s first trial on state torture in Syria. At TRIAL International, we are bringing half a dozen cases of this kind. We hope that this important precedent, just like the recent opening in Switzerland of the trial of a Liberian rebel chief, will encourage other judicial authorities to exercise universal jurisdiction.

Finally, TRIAL International is also working hard in Switzerland to identify new avenues of justice. This year, three cases involving unscrupulous economic actors were submitted to the Office of the Attorney General. We hope and expect to see developments in these important cases next year.

On behalf of the entire team and all those whom we serve, I sincerely thank you for your solidarity and I wish you a joyful holiday season. May 2021 be a more peaceful year.

With my best wishes for health and happiness,

Philip Grant, Executive Director

A message from Salina Kafle, Human Rights Coordinator

Sakhi means friend in Nepalese and it is the pseudonym chosen by a brave young woman, in order to allow me to share her story with you.

Sakhi is a survivor of sexual violence, and was only 13 years old at the time of the event. When she regained consciousness after being raped by two soldiers, she did not immediately understand what had happened to her. It was only manyyears later that she was finally able to demand justice, once the civil war was over and the transitional justice process had been put in place.

But the road to justice is still long. In this case, the formal criminal proceedings only began in 2019! Like Sakhi, many victims need you to start and continue their legal procedures.

Join our fight against impunity and make a donation today!

When I met Sakhi in 2018, I was astounded by her determination and resilience. Jurisdiction after jurisdiction, we filed complaints, motions and requests for an investigation to be opened and the perpetrators of the crime to be apprehended. After facing numerous obstacles at the domestic level – including an extremely short statute of limitations – we decided to file an individual communication to the United Nations.

Join us in supporting the too many victims of wartime sexual violence. So far, your massive mobilization has allowed us to collect more than 15’000 CHF ! Encouraged by the success of this campaign, our major donors have decided to continue to double your donations throughout the weekend! This means that you still have a few hours left to double your impact.

I thank you with all my heart for your commitment!

Salina Kafle, Human Rights Coordinator at the HRJC

Deep-rooted structural deficiencies have resulted in impunity for human rights violations in Burundi. Based on its own experience with domestic litigation in the country, TRIAL International publishes an overview of the failings of the judicial system in Burundi. All preexisting shortcomings have been further exacerbated since the start of the political crisis in 2015.

The aim of TRIAL International’s report is not to pointlessly criticize Burundi’s judicial system, but to stimulate actors in the regional community, particularly the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to use their full weight to encourage and support a credible process of transitional justice.

Read the report here

Four fundamental rights are systematically violated

The first section of the report looks into the right to an effective remedy. It is one of the foundations of the rule of law, yet the cases monitored by TRIAL International in Burundi show that it is almost systematically disregarded: the attention given to criminal complaints is merely a facade and does not lead to a satisfactory investigatory process. The lack of independence and impartiality of the judicial institutions also constitutes a hindrance.

The failings in Burundi’s judicial system also affect two other fundamental rights that are intrinsically linked: the right to personal liberty and the right to a fair trial (which are addressed jointly in section 3). The violations that undermine judicial proceedings reveal the often unjust and arbitrary nature of arrests and/or detentions. Worse still, these irregularities seem to be based on false accusations against the victims. The excessive duration of proceedings and the shortage of financial, human, material and/or logistical resources of the judicial system are also analyzed.

Lastly, in order for justice to be meaningful, it must have two dimensions: punitive and restorative. Section 4 looks at the right to reparation, and how it should be dissociated from criminal prosecution.

Without the necessary reforms, Burundi will remain incapable of establishing the rule of law and commencing a credible process of transitional justice. And, even more seriously, this situation will prevent the building of peace and stability in the country, which will remain trapped in recurrent cycles of violence.

Read the report here

This report was supported with German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik

A message from Lamija Tiro, Legal Advisor

This year, a survivor of sexual violence finally received international recognition for her suffering. Raped by a soldier in the 1990s, she fought for 20 years for Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfill its obligations and conduct an impartial and effective investigation, but her efforts were in vain.

Confronted by several trying obstacles, this woman from a rural Bosnian village managed to bring her case before the highest international authorities. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) finally proved her right.

Her incredible determination and courage show that justice is possible, but after how long? To ensure the legacy of her struggle and empower many other victims to fight for their fundamental rights: donate now!

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, my work allows victims of the worst atrocities to make their voices heard. Decisions such as that of the CEDAW, and the landmark decision of the Committee against Torture last year have a real impact: they inspire other victims. More and more survivors of sexual violence are empowered to speak out and are now seeking justice at the international level.

This year, a generous donor will double your donations until 18 December 2020 up to 20’000 CHF ! Every franc you donate will therefore become two! Support us now and allow for your contributions to go twice as far!

Thank you for your trust,

Lamija Tiro, Legal Advisor, Bosnia and Herzegovina program

PS: We are happy to share with you the challenges of access to justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Very soon, my colleague Salina, active in Nepal, will bring you news from the ground.