Search results

Refik Saric came to Denmark in 1994 as a Croat refugee. Other refugees at a Red Cross refugee center recognized him as a guard at the Dretelj camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Police investigations revealed that Saric had been a Muslim prisoner at the camp, where he was eventually promoted to guard duty. The original indictment included 25 counts of "causing grievous bodily harm of a grave nature". These acts included, amongst other acts, kicking and punching several persons, dealing a number of blows to persons’ backs with sticks, rifles, chains and metal pipes as well as blows to the head, which in some cases resulted in death of persons. The indictment was based on both the Danish Penal Code and the Geneva Conventions. Since the Accused’s mental condition was in question, the Court determined that he needed to be placed in a mental hospital until his sentence could be served. The Accused was found guilty on 14 counts and not guilty on 6 counts. The jury also granted the request for a more severe sentence because of aggravated circumstances. The Accused was sentenced to eight years in prison and permanently barred from entering Denmark after his sentence.

Hirute Abebe-Jira, EdgeGayehu Taye and Elizabeth Demissie were victims of the so-called “Red Terror” campaign in Ethiopia directed by Mengistu Haile Mariam during his dictatorship in the mid-1970s. The three women were questioned, beaten, threatened and ordered to undress during their illegal detention. The women brought a complaint against Kelbessa Negewo who personally supervised and participated in the interrogations and torture of the women. The District Court for the Northern District of Georgia found Kelbessa Negewo guilty and ordered him to pay $500,000 in damages to the three women. Negewo appealed. On 10 January 1996, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed the appeal and upheld the District Court’s decision.

Jean Bosco Barayagwiza was leader of the Rwandan Hutu political party known as the Coalition pour la Défense de la République (CDR). CDR militia, under his leadership, participated in the 1994 torture and massacre of thousands of Rwanda's Tutsi minority, as well as moderate members of the Hutu majority.

Barayagwiza was also the owner and board member of radio station RTLM, which encouraged the violence against the Tutsi by broadcasting messages of hate stating that the Tutsi were "the enemy", "traitors," and "deserved to die”.

A lawsuit for damages was filed against Barayagwiza by individuals related to persons who died in the massacres. On 9 April 1996, the District Court of New York ordered the award of $500,000 per relative for pain and suffering, $1,000,000 in punitive damages per relative victim, in addition to the $5,000,000 requested for each plaintiff.