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During Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor from 1975 until East Timorese independence in 2002, the Indonesian Armed Forces along with a number of militia groups promoted Indonesian autonomy through violent means.

The Accused was forced to join the Laksaur militia group in 1999 and, in the course of his membership, perpetrated a number of crimes against supporters of East Timorese independence. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted and sentenced the Accused to 9 years’ imprisonment for the stabbing to death by machete of three victims, the beating of numerous villagers, and the enforced disappearance of another victim who was wounded, taken out to a forest and left there. At sentencing, the Court took into consideration the frailty and sickness of the Accused who was by now 55 years old, his expression of regret at the crimes, and his having pleaded guilty. It also took into consideration the brutality of the crimes and the Accused’s apparent lack of humanity when committing them.

In the morning of 27 August 1999, pro-independence members attacked pro-autonomy militia members at a market in Home, East Timor. In retaliation for the attack, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and local militia groups attacked the home of Verissimo Dias Quintas, the local figurehead for the pro-independence group Conselho Nacional da Resistencia Timorense (CNRT). Inacio Olivera, Gilberto Fernandes and Jose Da Costa (the Accused) were present at the attack and contributed to the destruction of the building by shooting rifles, directing the action and bringing in weapons.

Although the Prosecution had charged the Accused with crimes against humanity, the Special Panels for Serious Crimes found that the conduct of the Accused could not be qualified as such. Importantly, there was no link between the attack on the CNRT compound and a widespread or systametic attack against the Timorese population, which is a requisite for crimes against humanity. Instead, the Court requalified the offense as the domestic offense of violence against persons or property, contrary to the Indonesian Penal Code. They were acquitted of the crime of murder as the Court found that they did not contribute to the murder in any way. The Accused were sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment each.

The three Accused in this case were charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II in connection with the massacres and other crimes committed in Cyangugu Prefecture in 1994.

Trial Chamber III of the ICTR sentenced Samuel Imanishimwe, former military commander in the Rwanda armed forces to 27 years in prison after convicting him on six counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II.

The Chamber found that Imanishimwe, as the commander of Karambo military camp, issued orders to soldiers authorizing the arrest, detention, mistreatment, and execution of civilians. He was also found criminally responsible for extermination and for failing to prevent or to punish his subordinate soldiers’ participation in the massacre at the Gashirabowba football field on 12 April 1994.

Imanishimwe was found guilty of genocide,; of murder, of extermination, of imprisonment, of torture as crimes against humanity, and of serious violations of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II, count 13.

However, the Chamber acquitted both André Ntagerura, former Minister of Transport and Communications and Emmanuel Bagambiki, former Prefect of Cyangugu of similar charges.

During Indonesia’s illegal occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002, a number of pro-autonomy militia groups operated throughout the territory. They were responsible for perpetrating a number of crimes against the civilian population, particularly those perceived to be independence supporters.

The Accused, Abilio Mendes Correia, was a member of the Besi Merah Putih (BMP) militia group who in August 1999 came across a truck carrying a well-known leader of the pro-independence group Conselho Nacional da Resistencia Timorense (CNRT). Acting on orders, the Accused and other militia members proceeded to remove the victim from the truck in which he was travelling and then severely beat him. The beating was halted when the victim was taken away for questioning; He was never seen alive again.

The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted the Accused of the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts and sentenced him to 3 years’ imprisonment. However, with credit for the time he had already served in pre-trial detention, he was released two days after the judgment.

Post-apartheid South Africa continues to be faced with the difficult question on how to deal with past human rights violations. From 1999 until 2005, the South Africa Prosecution Authority attempted to have Wouter Basson convicted. Basson was head of the secret chemical and biological warfare project during the apartheid era. He was charged with a variety of crimes, including murder, fraud and dealing drugs. After several charges were dismissed and Basson was acquitted of all other charges, the prosecutor sought permission to appeal. The prosecutor argued that the trial judge should have stepped back from the case, as the prosecutor had accused him of being biased. Also, the prosecutor held that several charges should not have been dismissed and that the bail records should have been admitted during the trial proceedings. The Supreme Court of Appeal had denied this request, after which the prosecutor turned to the Constitutional Court.

In the preliminary ruling under review here, the Court refused to grant permission to appeal, although it did held that the issues raised by the prosecution were constitutional matters. Therefore, the Court ruled, these issues fell within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court.