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In partnership with the NGOs Open Society Justice Initiative and Conflict Awareness Project, TRIAL International, filed a report against Argor-Heraeus SA before the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in November 2013. That company was accused of refining nearly three tonnes of gold pillaged by rebels in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR...

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAGS) decided not to further prosecute the Swiss precious metals company Argor-Heraeus SA, that handled dirty African gold. While Swiss authorities acknowledged that Argor did refine looted gold and violated its duty of diligence, the case was nonetheless closed, a decision met with disbelief by the three NGOs working...

The Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) rendered a decision on the Argor case on January 24, 2014. It reveals that a search was conducted on the premises of the Swiss refining company on November 4, 2013, following the opening of proceedings on alleged aggravated money laundry and complicity in the looting of raw materials. Documentation and computers were seized on th...

London/Geneva, 12 April 2013 – A Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence In Conflict was agreed yesterday by the G8 countries, declaring that rape and other serious sexual violence amount to war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions constitutes an emphatic reminder that states are required to investigate and prosecute conflict-related sexual violence w...

TRIAL (Swiss Association against Impunity) welcomes the arrest of Nepalese Colonel Kumar Lama in the United Kingdom on suspicion of torture. Following the condemnation of the arrest by senior figures in the Nepalese government, the organisation calls on Nepal to show solidarity with victims of the conflict and fully cooperate with the UK investigation of Col. Lama....