From 26 to 29 September 2022 I participated, as a resource person, in a meeting of founding members of the International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Abuses (INOVAS), held in The Hague, the Netherlands. The meeting was organised with support from Impunity Watch. I also participated in a Just Peace Event co-organised by Impunity Watch at The Hague Humanity Hub the same week.
After the meetings I took some time to visit (better than the previous time) The Hague, known as the City of Peace and Justice. I especially visited the Peace Palace, which is home to many judicial institutions (the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law). It is often called the seat of international law.
I also visited the premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC). During my visit I got a chance to attend a hearing of someone from CAR (Central Africa Republic). Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was transferred to the ICC’s custody on 9 June 2020, after surrendering himself voluntarily in CAR. The initial appearance of Abd-Al-Rahman before the ICC took place on 15 June 2020. According to the Prosecution’s submission of the document containing the charges, Abd-Al-Rahman is suspected of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between August 2003 and at least April 2004 in Darfur, Sudan. It was quite a feeling sitting in an ICC court room that morning.
******
More blog posts/articles:
- La justice élève une nation, une société
- The 9th Edition of the African Transitional Justice Forum in Kinshasa
- Highlights from an Advocacy Mission at the African Union in Addis Ababa
- Comprendre la mémorialisation et ses implications
- Highlights from the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
Gentil Kasongo 