Dictators and repressive regimes often assume that they will enjoy impunity for persecuting opposition activists, brutally suppressing peaceful protests, and arresting, torturing or killing those who raise their voices against injustice. Similarly, many parties to armed conflicts do not fear legal consequences for targeting civilians or perpetrating sexualized violence against women. ECCHR seeks to put an end to such crimes by ensuring that those responsible are brought before national, regional or international courts.
Cluster
Repression & War
Cases (42)
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Brussels – Networks & Exchange – Impunity
Universal Jurisdiction in Practice
Universal jurisdiction (UJ) is an important tool that can help advance criminal accountability for serious human rights violations. At the same time, practice has shown that UJ has intricasies and challenges that can be hard to navigate. For this reason, ECCHR has produced a series of three videos to introduce how UJ works in practice and the strategic decisions it entails. The videos provide viewers with a basis on how to bring a UJ complaint before the courts of another state.
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Gaza – Arms exports – Germany
No German weapons to Israel
ECCHR has now filed several requests for provisional measures against German exports of weapons of war and armaments to Israel, which explicitly and exclusively concern weapons and armaments used in Gaza. We have submitted our urgent requests to administrative courts in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main on behalf of up to five Palestinian plaintiffs, all of whom live in Gaza and have already lost one or more family members as a result of the conduct of the Israeli military. The lawsuits are supported by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights from Gaza, as well as the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq from Ramallah in the West Bank.
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Brussels – Networks & Exchange – Impunity
Global Initiative Against Impunity
Impunity remains the greatest barrier to justice and reparation for victims and survivors of human rights violations and core international crimes. Too often, only a few perpetrators are brought to justice. Therefore, empowering victims and survivors to combat impunity through both formal and informal transitional justice processes is essential. In June 2024, nine civil society organizations and two associate partners united to launch the “Global Initiative Against Impunity for International Crimes and Serious Human Rights Violations: Making Justice Work”.
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Gaza – Armed conflict – War crimes
International law under attack
The enormous number of civilians killed and a daily death rate unparalleled in the 21st century – along with the massive destruction of civil infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, which is potentially rendering the region “uninhabitable” – have raised grave concerns worldwide about violations of international humanitarian law and possible international crimes committed by Israeli armed forces, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
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Afrin – Syria – Crimes against humanity
Crimes in Syria: The neglected atrocities of Afrin
In January 2018, the Turkish army and allied armed militias invaded the northern Syrian region of Afrin. The so-called military operation "Olive Branch" lasted for over two months, beginning with intensive aerial bombardment followed by a ground invasion. As Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups seized control of the region, the predominantly Kurdish population was driven from their homes and stripped of their livelihoods.
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Ukraine – War crimes – Mariupol
War crimes in Mariupol: Justice for Lithuanian filmmaker
The Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius was apprehended by pro-Russian militias in the spring of 2022 while trying to evacuate civilians from Mariupol. He was found murdered a few days later. At the time, the Ukrainian city was under siege by Russian troops, exacting extreme brutality on the civilian population. His fiancée, Hanna Bilobrova, managed to recover Mantas’ body and turn it over to the Lithuanian investigating authorities. ECCHR is supporting the investigation of the case with the aim of holding those responsible to account.
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Ukraine – Crimes against humanity – Sexual violence
Sexual violence by members of the Russian armed forces: Federal Public Prosecutor must investigate
Torture of civilians, arbitrary killings, sexual violence – in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, evidence of international crimes committed by Russian soldiers continues to mount. A survivor is now calling for investigations in Germany: members of Russian armed forces allegedly first killed her husband and then raped her several times.
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Iran – Death Penalty – Crimes against humanity
Criminal complaint against judicial authorities in Iran: German Federal Public Prosecutor must investigate crimes against humanity
In 2020, the Iranian secret service kidnapped the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd from Dubai and took him to Iran. There he was sentenced to death and executed on October 28, 2024. Because of his German citizenship alone, the German judiciary is obliged to investigate this case. With the support of ECCHR, his daughter Gazelle Sharmahd filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Public Prosecutor General (GBA) in Karlsruhe on June 21, 2023. Our legal efforts will continue even after his execution.
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Libya – Europe – Crimes against humanity
Severe deprivation of liberty in the Mediterranean Sea and in Libya – The ICC must investigate
Migrants and refugees who are intercepted while crossing the Mediterranean and forcibly returned to Libyan detention centers are subjected to grave human rights abuses. Despite knowledge of these crimes, a number of EU actors have increased their cooperation with Libya. To push for an end to this impunity, we filed a communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2022 against 24 individuals, including 16 high-level decision makers from EU member states, the EU Commission, the EU border management agency FRONTEX, the European External Action Service EESAS, and the EU military mission EUNAVOR MED.
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The Gambia – Crimes against humanity – Germany
Proceedings on crimes against international law in The Gambia
Life imprisonment for member of Gambian armed forces – A member of a special paramilitary unit of the Gambian armed forces under the authoritarian Jammeh regime was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Higher Regional Court of Celle for the murder of journalist Deyda Hydra and other crimes. It is the first verdict on the crimes committed during the regime of Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia.
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Syria – Crimes against humanity – Military hospitals
Proceedings against doctor Alaa M: Coming to terms with crimes in Syria continues
In June 2020, the German police arrested Alaa M, who has since been held in detention awaiting trial. The reason: strong suspicion of complicity in crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime since 2011. Approximately one year after his arrest, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had filed charges against M, a former Syrian doctor who allegedly tortured, killed and sexually abused people in military hospitals.
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Libya – Migration – Crimes against humanity
Migrants and refugees in Libya face crimes against humanity: The ICC must investigate
Enslavement, arbitrary detention, sexual violence – these are just some of the serious crimes that migrants and refugees have been systematically subjected to in Libya. In order to bring an end to impunity for such crimes, ECCHR, Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have, in cooperation with 14 survivors, filed a Communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2021.
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Belarus – Repression – Shrinking spaces and authoritarianism
Anti-government protests in Belarus
The systematic repression of the Belarusian population qualifies as a crime against humanity. In Germany, the Federal Public Prosecutor can act on the basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction when violations of international law have been committed.
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Chechnya – Repression – LGBTQ
The brutal persecution of LGBTQ in Chechnya
From 2017 to 2020, Chechen security forces arrested, imprisoned and tortured more than 150 people. Most were gay or bisexual men. The underlying issue is that, according to the government, these men do not correspond to the heterosexual image of masculinity in Chechnya. As a result, they are systematically persecuted.
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Syria – Sexual violence – Air force intelligence
Survivors: Sexual violence by Syrian intelligence services are crimes against humanity
German authorities must finally prosecute sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Syrian detention centers for what it is: a crime against humanity. This is the aim of a criminal complaint that seven survivors of Bashar al-Assad’s torture system submitted in June 2020 to the German Federal Public Prosecutor in Karlsruhe.
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Syria – Torture – Trial monitoring
Trial updates: First trial worldwide on torture in Syria
In April 2020, the first criminal trial worldwide on state torture in Syria started in Germany. ECCHR supported 17 Syriacan find our reports on the proceedings.
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Yemen – Arms exports – Europe
Made in Europe, bombed in Yemen
Despite countless attacks on civilian homes, markets, hospitals and schools – conducted by the Saudi/UAE-led military coalition – transnational companies based in Europe continued and continue to supply Saudi Arabia and the UAE with weapons, ammunition and logistical support. European government officials authorized the exports by granting licenses.
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Syria – Torture – Norway
Norway: Syrian torture survivors file criminal complaint against Assad's senior intelligence officers
In order to end impunity for state torture in Syria, five Syrian torture survivors filed a criminal complaint in November 2019 in Norway. The complaint is the next step in a series of criminal complaints against 17 high-ranking officials of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government that have been submitted in Germany, Austria and Sweden.
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Syria – Torture – Al-Khatib trial
First criminal trial worldwide on torture in Syria before a German court
The first trial worldwide on state torture in Syria started in Germany in April 2020. The main defendant was Anwar R, a former official at the General Intelligence Directorate in Syrian President Assad’s government.
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Colombia – Repression – Human rights defenders
Violence against human rights defenders in Colombia: The Hague should act
Death threats, telephone surveillance, kidnapping of family members – the Colombian government uses a range of means in its efforts to intimidate human rights defenders. Since 2012, ECCHR has researched and documented the brutal repression of trade unionists, environmental activists or community leaders in Colombia.
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Syria – Torture – Sweden
Sweden: Criminal complaint against Assad’s intelligence officials
(Also) Sweden can play an important role in the fight against impunity for turture in Syria. This is why, in February 2019, nine torture survivors submitted a criminal complaint in Stockholm against senior officials in the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – including for crimes against humanity.
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Syria – Surveillance technology – Corporate responsibility
Surveillance in Syria: European firms may be aiding and abetting crimes against humanity
The Syrian intelligence services have been collecting without cause information about political opponents, members of the opposition and human rights activists. Spying often goes hand in hand with torture. Software from Western corporations may have played a role in the surveillance. In order to address this, transnational investigations have to be initiated.
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Gaza – War crimes – Kilani
Israeli air strikes in Gaza: No justice for the Kilani family
In the course of a military action in Gaza in 2014, Israel’s armed forces killed, among others, members of the German-Palestinian Kilani family. For seven years, ECCHR and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) have attempted to seek justice on behalf of the bereaved son from Germany, Ramsis Kilani, for these attacks. In August 2021, the German Federal Public Prosecutor decided not to initiate proceedings.
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Syria – Torture – Austria
The path to justice leads through Europe – e.g. Austria
The path to justice for war crimes and torture in Syria also leads through Europe. After Germany, Sweden and France, Austrian authorities have initiated investigations into the Syrian intelligence services’ role in systematic torture. This followed a criminal complaint submitted by 16 Syrians, ECCHR, and its partners to the public prosecutor in Vienna in May 2018.
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Yemen – Arms exports – RWM Italia
European responsibility for war crimes in Yemen
In October 2016, an airstrike – alleged to have been carried out by the Saudi-led military coalition – struck a civilian home in the village of Deir Al-Hajari in northwest Yemen. The intentional directing of attacks against the civilian population amounts to war crimes. ECCHR is taking legal action against this.
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Syria – Torture – Military intelligence
Torture under the Assad regime
The Syrian government led by president Bashar al-Assad is responsible for systematic and widespread torture. This is why in March 2017, ECCHR, seven Syrian torture survivors and lawyers Anwar al-Bunni and Mazen Darwish submitted the first criminal complaint against high-level officials of the Syrian military intelligence service to the German Federal Prosecutor.
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India – Pesticides – Bayer
Bayer: Double standards in the sale of pesticides
Bayer CropScience sells highly toxic pesticides in India. The company fails to ensure that consumers are adequately informed of both the dangers of pesticides and the requisite protective measures.
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Syria – Torture – Saydnaya
Saydnaya military prison – Objective is to physically and psychologically break detainees
In Syria, the word Saydnaya has become a synonym for unimaginable torture, systematic degradation and mass executions. Together with four individuals who survived the torture in Saydnaya ECCHR has filed in Germany a criminal complaint against seven high-ranking Syrian military officials.
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Bahrain – Arab Spring – Torture
Alleged crimes against humanity in Bahrain: Serious investigations must be initiated
ECCHR sent an advisory opinion to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. The statement seeks to draw the commission’s attention to the cases of two persons who suffered severe injuries when they were shot at by Bahraini security forces before being forcibly removed from hospital, imprisoned, and abused.
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Bahrain – Torture – Prince Nasser
British court confirms end of Bahraini prince’s immunity
Torture of detained members of the opposition: London High Court accepted in 2014 that Bahraini Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa is not immune from prosecution. This decision opened the door to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team.
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Bahrain – Torture – Attorney General
Torture allegations against Bahraini Attorney General
Bahrain-born British citizen Jaafar al-Hasabi submitted a criminal complaint in Dublin against Bahraini Attorney General Ali Bin al-Buainain. Al-Hasabi was detained and tortured in Bahrain in 2010. Since then, he tries to bring those responsible to court.
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Syria – Torture – Caesar
“Caesar” photos document systematic torture
The group around the former Syrian military police employee “Caesar” took for the first legal action by filing together with ECCHR a criminal complaint against senior officials from the Syrian intelligence services and the military police concerning crimes against humanity and war crimes. In September 2024, the Caesar Families Association (CFA) filed a supplementary criminal complaint together with ECCHR.
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Syria – Torture – Air force intelligence
German authorities issue arrest warrant against Jamil Hassan, head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence
In November 2017, ECCHR and nine Syrian women and men filed a criminal complaint concerning crimes against humanity and war crimes with the German Federal Public Prosecutor. The complaint is directed against ten high-ranking officials of the National Security Office and Air Force Intelligence, among them Jamil Hassan, its former head.
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Chechnya – Torture – Impunity
No justice in sight for grave crimes in Chechnya
Chechnya, an autonomous republic in Russia, and a black hole in the Council of Europe’s human rights protection system: civil society has been the target of severe human rights violations for years. Having resumed office as head of the Chechen Republic in 2007, Ramzan Kadyrov and his close allies have repeatedly deployed military and police forces to terrorize the civilian population in order to “ensure political stability.”
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Uzbekistan – Torture – Almatov
Criminal complaint against Zakir Almatov
In December 2005, Wolfgang Kaleck, founder and general secretary of ECCHR, filed a criminal complaint against former Uzbek minister of interior Zakir Almatov, the Uzbek head of secret service Rustan Inojatov, and others to the Federal Public Prosecutor on behalf of eight Uzbek citizens because of torture and crimes against humanity.
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Sri Lanka – Armed conflict – Sexual and gender-based violence
Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka must comply with its international obligations in the fight against gender-based discrimination. The country should bring its law in line with the UN Convention on Women.
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Sri Lanka – Armed conflict – War crimes
Sri Lankan civil war: Government officials still unpunished
Since the final stage of the Sri Lankan civil war, ECCHR has been working to ensure that high-ranking military personnel and (former) members of the Sri Lankan government and security forces are prosecuted for their role in war crimes, crimes against humanity and sexual violence.
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Colombia – Armed conflict – Trade unionist murders
Colombia: Violence against trade unionists
ECCHR submitted a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requesting action on violence against trade unionists and human rights defenders in Colombia.
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Colombia – Peace process – Transitional justice
Amicus curiae brief on command responsibility in Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace
ECCHR criticizes the passing of a new law in context of peace negotiations with Colombian FARC. The law contains gaps, including those regarding military commanders’ effective control over their subordinate units.
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Colombia – Armed conflict – General Padilla
The Padilla case and crimes against humanity
General Padilla was General Commander of the Colombian Military Forces when the practice of “falsos positivos” escalated. He is presumably responsible for international crimes committed by his subordinates, he neither prevented nor punished the wrongdoers.
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Colombia – Armed conflict – Sexual and gender-based violence
Sexual violence in the Colombian conflict
The Colombian state is denying women the protection against sexual crimes and access to justice that it is obliged to guarantee under national and international law. In response, ECCHR has submitted a criminal complaint against Colombia to the International Criminal Court.
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Syria – Armed conflict – Lafarge
Lafarge in Syria: Accusations of complicity in grave human rights violations
Eleven Syrian former employees of the French company Lafarge submitted a criminal complaint against Lafarge in 2016. By maintaining business relations with the terrorist group ISIS in Syria, the company may have contributed to the financing of the group, thereby making them complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.