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Tairod Pugh is an US citizen and a US Air Force veteran who was convicted for providing material support to a terrorist organisation by attempting to travel to Syria in order to join ISIL, and obstruction of justice. After having worked in the Middle East for more than a year as an airplane mechanics, Pugh attempted to reach Syria through Turkey. On 10 January 2015, the defendant took a plane from Cairo and landed in Istanbul airport. As he refused a search of his laptop by the Turkish authorities, he was denied entry and was sent back to Cairo. Upon his arrival, he was detained by the Egyptian authorities who found damaged electronic devices in Pugh’s possession. On 15 January, he was deported from Egypt to the US and was arrested the following day in New Jersey. Pugh’s conviction is the first one after a trial by jury in the US involving an individual who attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIL. On 31 May 2017, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.   

The appellant, Michel Gatera, was convicted by the Court of First Instance of Kibuye of genocide for his role in leading three sisters to a location where he knew they would subsequently be executed by a group of assailants. Two of the sisters died, the third survived as a result of circumstances outside the control of the perpetrators and testified against the appellant at trial. The Court of Appeal of Kigali, however, overturned the conviction and acquitted Gatera on the ground that there was no proof that established that Gatera had indeed led the three victims to their place of execution. The testimonial evidence relied upon by the Court of First Instance was found to be not reliable and contradictory. 

Indonesia’s invasion of Timor-Leste in 1975 marked the beginning of almost 25 years of immense atrocities and human rights abuses, resulting in the deaths of nearly one third of the population of Timor-Leste from starvation, disease, and the use of napalm. Indonesia eventually withdrew in 1999 following international pressure; Timor-Leste achieved full independence in 2002. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes was established to prosecute persons responsible for the serious crimes committed in 1999, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, sexual offenses and torture.

The accused was a former farmer and a leader of the Sakunar militia group in the village of Naetuna. He was indicted for the murder of an independence supporter who was beaten and stabbed repeatedly on his orders as part of a raid carried out against a village housing such supporters. The accused pled guilty to the charge. The Special Panel, after establishing the facts of the case and the validity of the guilty plea, entered a sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment after considering that admitting to guilt merits a substantial reduction in the usual sentence handed out by Timorese courts for murder, which ranges from 12 to 16 years. 

Radovan Stankovic, member of a Serb battalion during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995), was initially indicted by the ICTY Prosecutor for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity in 1996 and 1999. However, his case was ultimately referred to the Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005.

He was charged with crimes against humanity, as he was accused of having set up a detention centre for (often underaged) women, having incited other soldiers to rape detainees, and having coerced several detainees into forced labour and sexual intercourse. The Court heavily relied on witness statements to determine that he was guilty of four of the six charges, stating that the statements were clear and consistent. Stankovic was sentenced to sixteen years' imprisonment on 14 November 2006.

The prosecution appealed against the sentence of 16 years' imprisonment and the acquittal of one of the charges. Stankovic himself basically contested all the Court’s findings, most notably stating that the witness statements were false and fabricated. The Appellate Panel of the left intact almost the entire verdict, though it did raise the sentence to 20 years imprisonment. Shortly afterwards, Stankovic escaped from jail. He was recaptured in January 2012. His five years on the run cost him an additional two years of imprisonment.

Both accused, Enes Handžić and Senad Dautović, were found guilty of war crimes against humanity for their participation in the unlawful transport of civilians to camps, forced labour, inhumane treatments and murders, together with the civilian authorities of the Bugojno Municipality and the military units of the Army of BiH.

The case of Senad Dautović is currently on appeal.