News releases

Geneva, 31 July  2012 - The Federal Criminal Court (FCC) released today a landmark decision in the case of Khaled Nezzar, an Algerian former defence Minister denounced by TRIAL for war crimes. The FCC found that Mr. Nezzar cannot claim immunity for acts committed during his tenure, thus paving the way for a trial in Switzerland. The present decision opens up significa...

Geneva, 27 July 2012 TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) participated in the examination of the third periodic report of Kenya before UN Human Rights Committee. TRIAL expressed concerns at the situation of impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of the gross violations committed in the context of a 2008 security operation in Mt. Elgon. In its concluding observa...

Despite the positive achievement of the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereinafter: the Convention), the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have not recognized the crucial competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances to receive and consider individual and inter-state commun...

TRIAL has sent on behalf of the Swiss Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CSCPI) a letter to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs asking Switzerland to follow up not the pledges made during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in June 2010 that took place in Kampala, Uganda. The NGOs members of the CSCPI regret notably that Switzerland i...

Sarajevo / Geneva, 28 May 2012 TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) presented today a report on the situation of former camp detainees in Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Drafted in cooperation wi...

Geneva / Kathmandu – 21 May 2012 After thirteen years of despair, of denial and of waiting for truth and justice, two families of victims of enforced disappearance during the civil conflict in Nepal bring their case to the United Nations. The perpetrators must be brought to account, says TRIAL - a Geneva-based human rights organisation. Thirteen years ago to thi...

Geneva / Sarajevo, 5 April 2012 Under the title BETWEEN STIGMA AND OBLIVION, A Guide on Defending the Rights of Women Victims of Rape or other Forms of Sexual Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, TRIAL has just published, in cooperation with UN Women a legal Guide for victims of sexual violence committed during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using true e...

Bern / Geneva / Berlin, April 5, 2012 Following a Guardian report published today, the international human rights organizations Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and TRIAL (Track Impunity Always) repeat their call to the UK government to immediately take measures against a suspected war criminal. Forme...

ICTY PRESS RELEASE Sarajevo, 4 April 2012 A public debate on wartime sexual violence and accountability was held today in Sarajevo during which the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme premiered its documentary "Sexual Violence and the Triumph of Justice". The event was attended by some 80 guests, amongst whom were victims, Bosnian government officials, membe...

By refusing to give prosecuting authorities the necessary means, Switzerland takes the risk of becoming a safe haven for war criminals and torturers. The Swiss Coalition for the International Criminal Court has submitted a petition to the Swiss Government today, asking for the creation of a war crimes unit tasked with investigating and prosecuting authors of genocides...

Geneva, 15 February 2012. The United Nations Human Rights Committee recently condemned Algeria in two separate cases of enforced disappearances. In November 1994, Mr. Kamel Djebrouni, 31 years old, was abducted from his home in Algiers by a group of soldiers. He has not been seen since. In May and in November 1996, the brothers Djamel and Mourad Chihoub were arrest...