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One of the main human rights bodies of the United Nations has just ruled that the transitional justice mechanisms envisaged by the Government of Nepal do not meet international human rights standards, as they do not offer sufficient guarantees to victims of the civil war to realise their rights to justice and truth.     On 12 October 2012 the United...

The Human Rights Committee (HRC) adopted its concluding observations on the second periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Despite some progresses, numerous remain the measures to be undertaken, in particular with regard to relatives of missing persons, former camp-detainees and...

he United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted a list of issues related to the combined 4th and 5th periodic reports on the implementation by Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The CEDAW remains concerned about the situation of women victims of...

On 23 August 2012, TRIAL together with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Advocacy Forum – Nepal and seven other local organisations working with victims of human rights violations and their families submitted a briefing note to the new Special Rapporteur on the Promotion o...

Respect Obligations to Prosecute Worst Crimes From Civil War Era (New York, August 31, 2012) – President Ram Baran Yadav of Nepal should return an executive ordinance that would effectively permit amnesty for crimes committed during the country’s civil war from 1996 to 2006, four human rights groups said today in a letter to the president. The president should retu...

In September 2012, TRIAL, together with six associations of relatives of missing persons, four associations dealing with the subject of rape or other forms of sexual violence during the war, and seven associations or federations of associations of former camp-detainees, submitted a report highlighting the violations of the fundamental rights suffered by the above-ment...

In 2008-2009, Mr Dias was the Major General of the 57th Division of the Sri Lankan army, tasked with attacking the Tamil Tigers during the final offensive against the rebel group. In this respect, he is alleged to have committed serious violations of the law of war. It is alleged that, from December 2008 to January 2009, the town of Kilinochchi was relentlessly shell...

Bern/Geneva/Berlin, 13.09.2011 According to media reports today, Jagath Dias, a former Sri Lankan General suspected of having committed war crimes, was stripped of his diplomatic status. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) and ECCHR (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights) welcome this decision. However,...

Geneva/Bern, 22nd September 2011 Following a criminal complaint brought by TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) and the Society for threatened peoples (SPM) against the Sri Lankan Deputy Ambassador to Switzerland, Jagath Dias, for war crimes, the Swiss Federal Attorney General has decided that a criminal investigation will be launched if Mr. Dias were to come...

ECCHR-Dossier confirms allegations against the Sri Lankan diplomat accused of committing numerous war crimes. 3 May 2011 (Berlin/Bern/Geneva). ECCHR has today published a new dossier which substantiates allegations of war crimes committed by the 57 Division of the Sri Lankan Army under the command of Jagath Dias (available at www.ecchr.eu). Jagath Dias was Major Ge...

Modification of the Swiss Military Penal Code Press release of 19 December 2003 : On Friday 19 December 2003, despite TRIAL's appeal to the Chambers and the signatures of 35 International Law professors, the federal Chambers formally adopted a revision of the Swiss Military Penal Code which will render Switzerland highly attractive to war criminals. After...