News updates
(For older news updates, please visit our news archive)
17 November 2025: On 12 November, the Austrian authorities Khaled Al-Halabi with charges of torture, serious bodily harm and sexual coercion. He is the highest-ranking former Syrian official to be detained and charged in Europe for war crimes allegedly committed during the conflict in Syria. The indictment follows an investigation which opened in 2016 after CSOs located him in Vienna, and the investigation and trial of five Austrian intelligence officials who allegedly facilitated his concealment in co-operation with Israel’s secret service.
13 November 2025: The Svea Court of Appeal in Sweden has upheld the judgment of 12 years imprisonment against a Swedish citizen for the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Yazidi community. The case was the first conviction in Sweden for crimes against humanity and the first ever finding of genocide through the act of forcible transfer of children.
13 November 2025: Yesterday, the trial of Roger Lumbala, former leader of the non-state armed group the Congolese Rally for National Democracy (RCD-N), began for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Second Congo War. The trial will be held until 19 December 2025.
11 November 2025: Last week, the Court of Appeal of The Hague on multiple claims brought against the Dutch State regarding its relationship with Israel. Although the Court found the claims inadmissible, it did conclude that there is a that Israel will commit (further) acts of genocide and violations of international humanitarian law in Palestine, giving rise to third-state obligations (including for the Netherlands).
7 November 2025: Osama Almasri Njeem, whom Italy failed to arrest pursuant to an ICC arrest warrant, has been arrested in Libya on charges of torture.
5 November 2025: Yesterday, the trial of French multinational Lafarge and several of its former executives began before the Paris Criminal Court for financing terrorist organisations during the Syrian civil war. The trial will be held until 16 December.
4 November 2025: The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC expressed concern over reports emerging from El-Fasher, Sudan, about mass killings, rapes, and other crimes allegedly committed during Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) attacks, which may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. The Office called for the submission of any available information on the matter.
30 October 2025: An Israeli reservist, who has fought in Gaza and Lebanon, was detained at Prague's Vaclav Havel airport while travelling with his wife. This was due to a Schengen alert issued against him by France for his alleged involvement in serious crimes. After denial of entry into Czechia the couple returned to Israel.
28 October 2025: On October 24, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC ruled that Mongolia failed to comply with its obligations under the Rome Statute, by non-complying with the Court’s request for co-operation in the arrest and surrender of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The Chamber reaffirmed that personal immunity, including that of Heads of State, does not apply before the ICC, and referred the matter to the Assembly of States Parties.
28 October 2025: The UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), has set out legal duties for British intelligence agencies to prevent complicity in torture when cooperating with foreign States. The judgement relates to a trial in June 2025 examining the involvement of British intelligence services in the case of torture of Mustafa al-Hawsawi by US authorities. The IPT concluded that the British intelligence services did not act unlawfully in this case.
27 October 2025: A polish court rejected Germany’s request to extradite a Ukrainian national recently detained on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant issued by Germany. The individual is suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
27 October 2025: French authorities have issued a new arrest warrant for Syrian ex-president Bashar al- Assad. The arrest warrant concerns suspected government chemical attacks, prohibited under IHL, on Adra and Douma outside Damascus and in Eastern Ghouta in August 2013.
24 October 2025: On 16 October, Polish authorities arrested an individual at Warsaw Chopin Airport on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant issued by Croatia. He is accused of committing war crimes during the war in the former Yugoslavia.
23 October 2025: Last week, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC ruled that Italy failed to comply with its obligations under the Rome Statute. This related to Italy's failure to properly execute the Court’s request for the arrest and surrender of Osama Elmasry / Almasri Njeem while he was on Italian territory and by not consulting and cooperating with the Court.
16 October 2025: The Belgrade Higher Court has sentenced three Bosnian Serb paramilitaries for war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. Mr. Lukic and Mr. Vasijevic were sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Mr. Djekic was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment.
9 October 2025: The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to create an independent mechanism to investigate past and ongoing human rights abuses in Afghanistan. This independent mechanism will be entrusted with investigating international crimes, and collecting, preserving, and preparing evidence for potential future prosecutions.
8 October 2025: Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has found Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman guilty of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in Darfur, Sudan, between August 2003 and April 2004. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place between 17-21 November 2025.
7 October 2025: A preliminary investigation of the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican has been launched by Ukrainian judicial authorities as per Article 438-2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, in addition to a war crimes investigation launched by France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office. Antoni Lallican was killed on 3 October 2025 in Eastern Ukraine during a Russian drone strike.
6 October 2025: The Swedish Prosecutor has indicted a Swedish citizen for two counts of war crimes allegedly carried out in Syria in 2012-2013.
New cases, briefs and videos
(For older announcements, please visit our announcements archive)
NEW CASE: The case summary for the Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) can now be accessed online. Access it here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 10 September 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a panel discussion entitled "Business and human rights amidst Russia’s war against Ukraine: Rethinking corporate accountability". The panel featured H.E. Andriy Kostin, Eva Gerritse, Olena Uvarova, Ella Skybenko, Waleed Mahmoud, and Maryna Kupchuk. The video can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) can now be accessed online. The case summary can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 9 September 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a webinar entitled 'Fifteen years of review: The Office of the Ombudsperson to the UN Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee'. The webinar was organised in cooperation with the Office of the Ombudsperson, and featured Mr. Richard Malanjum, Judge Kimberly Prost, Professor Devika Hovell, Mr. Peter Robinson, and Dr. Bibi van Ginkel. The video can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Prosecutor v. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud case before the International Criminal Court (November 2024) can now be accessed online. The case summary can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 10 June 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a Handbook launch of the Global Rights Compliance 'Practitioners’ Handbook on Extraterritorial or Universal Jurisdiction to Pursue Accountability for International Crimes Committed in Ukraine'. The Handbook was developed under GRC’s project Support to Ukrainian National Prosecutors and CSOs in Building Strategic Cases under Universal Jurisdiction and is part of the ‘Restoring Dignity and Justice in Ukraine’ consortium programme. The Handbook Launch can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 4 June 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a panel discussion titled "The crime of aggression: legal developments and accountability efforts". The event featured Andriy Kostin, Dr Kateryna Busol, Prof. Dr Frank Hoffmeister, Dr Anton Korynevych, Myroslava Krasnoborova, and Prof. Dr Karolina Wierczyńska. It can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 9 April 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the event "Innovative ways to counter terrorism: the role of transitional justice". This conference was co-organised with Queen’s University Belfast, and featured Prof. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Prof. Richard English, Prof. Josefina Echavarría Álvarez, Prof. Chris Maccabe, Prof. Cheryl Lawther, Dr Lina Malagon Diaz, Dr Beatriz Mayans Hermida, and Judge Catalina Díaz Gómez. It can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 4 February 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the event "Sights, sounds, and sensibilities of atrocity prosecutions: the sensory experience of justice". This lecture, which is part of the Benjamin Ferencz Lecture Series, featured Prof. Mark A. Drumbl (Washington and Lee University), Prof. Caroline Fournet (University of Exeter), Prof. Barbora Hola (VU Amsterdam), and Simon Meisenberg (Kosovo Specialist Chambers), and was co-organised with the IHCL Platform. It can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 21 January 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the event "Tackling the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia: Pathways to accountability". This lecture, which is part of the Benjamin Ferencz Lecture Series, featured Ms Viktoriia Pasik, Dr Marieke de Hoon (University of Amsterdam), Deniz Dirisu (OSINT for Ukraine), and Natalia Jasztal (OSINT for Ukraine), and was co-organised with the Embassy of Ukraine in The Hague and the IHCL Platform. It can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 2 October 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised the event "The principle of ne bis in idem in international criminal law". This lecture, which is part of the Benjamin Ferencz Lecture Series, featured Dr Gaiane Nuridzhanian, Professor Roger O’Keefe, Marie O’Leary and Teodora Jugrin and was co-organised with the IHCL Platform. It can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 11 July 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut organised a joint DILEMA-HILAC lecture entitled "Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring Settled and Open Legal Questions". The lecture featured Dustin A. Lewis (HLS PILAC) and can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Eyad Al-Gharib Case before the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz (February 2021) can now be accessed online. This latest addition is the first decision against a former agent of the Syrian Government regarding the government-led crimes against humanity in Syria. The Higher Regional Court case can be accessed here.
NEW VIDEO: A new video is available online. On 29 May 2024, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands, organised an SCL Lecture entitled "The Register of Damage for Ukraine: Towards reparation for victims?". The lecture featured Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, Dr. Kustrim Istrefi, Victoria Kerr, and Olesia Zaiets, and can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Al Bahlul Case before the U.S. District of Columbia Courts of Appeal (Opinion by Circuit Judge PAN, July 2023) can now be accessed online. This latest addition sheds light on the issue of providing material support for terrorism. The Opinion by Circuit Judge PAN can be accessed here.
NEW CASE: The Al Mahdi Case before the International Criminal Court (Trial Chamber VIII, September 2016) has just been updated and is now available online. This latest addition sheds light on the destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict. The Trial Chamber VIII case can be accessed here.
