Millions in extra funding pledged for ICC work in Ukraine
March 21, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — An international conference in London raised 4 million pounds ($4.9 million) to support the International Criminal Court in its investigations into alleged war crimes in Ukraine and its work to hold Russia to account, officials said Monday.
Myanmar army killed 17 people in 2 villages, residents say
March 7, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Soldiers in Myanmar rampaged through several villages, raping, beheading and killing at least 17 people, residents said, in the latest of what critics of the ruling military say are a series of war crimes since the army seized power two years ago.
Zelenskyy tells US, Europe law chiefs Russia must face court
March 3, 2023 GMTUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Friday with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and top European legal officials, and called for Russia to face international prosecution for war crimes.
German court convicts man over deadly 2014 attack in Syria
February 23, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — A German court on Thursday convicted a Palestinian man from Syria of a war crime and murder for launching a grenade into a crowd of civilians waiting for food in Damascus in 2014. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Ex-Wagner Group member apologizes to Ukrainians in Norway
January 31, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN (AP) — A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group who's seeking asylum in Norway has apologized to Ukrainians living in the Scandinavian country, who object to his presence there.
Nobel laureate wants more to help probe Russian war crimes
January 26, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — A Ukrainian human rights lawyer who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize called Thursday for more international investigative and legal help to deal with the staggering amount of war crimes cases since Russia invaded its neighbor almost a year ago.
EU assembly wants special court for Russia’s war in Ukraine
January 19, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's assembly called on the member states on Thursday to back the creation of a special court to judge any war crime of aggression by Russia in Ukraine.
The nonbinding resolution was approved by a 472-19 vote with 33 abstentions in the European Parliament, and underscored the EU's willingness to make sure Moscow should be brought to justice for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Norway wants to talk to asylum-seeker from Wagner Group
January 17, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian police unit that investigates war crimes said Tuesday that it wants to talk to a Russian asylum-seeker who reportedly is a former high-ranking member of the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group.
US says Iran may be ‘contributing’ to war crimes in Ukraine
January 9, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday that Iran's sale of lethal drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be "contributing to widespread war crimes."
Bulgaria summons Russian envoy over warrant for journalist
December 29, 2022 GMTSOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The Bulgarian foreign ministry on Thursday summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain why Moscow has placed a Bulgarian journalist working for an international investigative website on a list of wanted persons.
Al Jazeera wants court to probe Palestinian reporter’s death
December 6, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE (AP) — News channel Al Jazeera on Tuesday formally asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the fatal shooting of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was reporting from a Palestinian refugee camp in May.
ICC prosecutor opposes EU plan for special Ukraine tribunal
December 5, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday denounced a European Union proposal to create an U.N.-backed special tribunal to prosecute crimes in Ukraine, saying his court was capable of effectively dealing with war crimes committed there.
UN: Iraq Christians were victims of Islamic State war crimes
December 2, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Evidence collected in Iraq strengthens preliminary findings that Islamic State extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014, a U.N.
EU seeks specialized court to investigate Russia war crimes
November 30, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union proposed Wednesday to set up a U.N.-backed court to investigate possible war crimes Russia committed in Ukraine, and to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild the war-torn country.
EU parliament calls Russia terror sponsor in plenary vote
November 23, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for its invasion of and actions in Ukraine.
In a lopsided 494-58 vote with 48 abstentions, the EU legislature sought to increase pressure on Moscow to bring anyone responsible for war crimes committed from the Feb.
New special counsel has long career confronting corruption
November 19, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The year was 2010 and the Justice Department's prestigious public integrity section was still recovering from a costly debacle over the withholding of exculpatory evidence in a case against Alaska Sen.
EXPLAINER: What are special counsels and what do they do?
November 19, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The appointment of a special counsel to oversee the remainder of two significant investigations related to former President Donald Trump focuses fresh attention on the role such prosecutors have played in modern American history.
ICC prosecutor seeks new arrest warrants for crimes in Libya
November 10, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced Wednesday that he has submitted new applications for arrest warrants stemming from his investigations of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya.
ICC prosecutor seeks to resume Venezuela investigation
November 1, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor sought Tuesday to reopen his investigation into allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings committed by Venezuelan security forces under President Nicolás Maduro’s rule.
ICC judges approve request to reopen Afghanistan probe
October 31, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges have approved a request by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to reopen an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, saying Afghan authorities are not carrying out meaningful probes into the alleged crimes.
Takeaways from investigation of Russian general in Ukraine
October 27, 2022 GMTZDVYZHIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The carnage left by Russian soldiers on the road to Kyiv wasn’t random. It was strategic brutality, perpetrated in areas that were under tight Russian control where military officers — including one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top generals accused of war crimes in Syria — were present, an investigation by The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” found.
Keeping history alive in legal thriller ‘Argentina, 1985’
October 21, 2022 GMTThe 1985 Trial of the Juntas was a seismic moment in Argentina’s history, helping to solidify the country’s democratic future after seven years of military dictatorship. But when filmmaker Santiago Mitre started talking about making a classic political thriller about the David vs.
Serb arrested in Hungary for alleged war crimes in Kosovo
October 18, 2022 GMTPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The Kosovar prosecutors’ office on Tuesday said an ethnic Serb accused of killing ethnic Albanians in 1999 was arrested in Hungary.
TotalEnergies denies claim it made fuel for Russian forces
October 14, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — A French and a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization have filed a complaint for “complicity in war crimes” against TotalEnergies, which they accuse of having operated a gas field that allegedly produces kerosene used by Russian warplanes in Ukraine.
UN, G7 decry Russian attack on Ukraine as possible war crime
October 11, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces showered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-carrying drones Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people in an attack the U.N.
‘War crime:’ Industrial-scale destruction of Ukraine culture
October 9, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The exquisite golden tiara, inlaid with precious stones by master craftsmen some 1,500 years ago, was one of the world’s most valuable artifacts from the blood-letting rule of Attila the Hun, who rampaged with horseback warriors deep into Europe in the 5th century.
Ukrainian authorities take stock of ruins in liberated Lyman
October 8, 2022 GMTLYMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities are just beginning to sift through the wreckage of the devastated city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine as they assess the humanitarian toll, and possibility of war crimes, from a months-long Russian occupation.
Albanian politicians see jailed Kosovo leaders in The Hague
September 28, 2022 GMTTIRANA, Albania (AP) — Three former presidents of Albania and one of Kosovo on Wednesday visited ethnic Albanian former commanders in the fight against Serbian rule in Kosovo who are being held in a Netherlands prison pending trial for alleged war crimes.
Defense: Evidence is weak in Central African Republic trial
September 27, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A defense lawyer for an alleged Central African Republic rebel told International Criminal Court judges Tuesday that prosecution evidence that led to him being charged with seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes is unreliable and “built on a biased and sketchy narrative.”
Intl court trial for alleged Central African Republic rebel
September 26, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An alleged senior leader of a predominantly Muslim rebel group that ousted the president of Central African Republic in 2013 pleaded not guilty Monday to seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
Occupied Ukraine holds Kremlin-staged vote on joining Russia
September 23, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Kremlin-orchestrated referendum got underway Friday in occupied regions of Ukraine that sought to make them part of Russia, with some officials carrying ballots to apartment blocks accompanied by gun-toting police.
UN rights experts present evidence of war crimes in Ukraine
September 23, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — A team of experts commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body to look into rights violations in Ukraine said Friday its initial investigation turned up evidence of war crimes in the country following Russia’s invasion nearly seven months ago.
One day after Zelenskyy speech, US, Russia square off at UN
September 22, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — One day after Ukraine’s president laid out a forceful case against Russia's invasion at the United Nations, the United States made its own assertions in front of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday about why Russia should face further censure and isolation.
UN experts detail extensive war crimes amid Tigray conflict
September 22, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed investigators said Thursday they have turned up evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Ethiopian government forces, Tigray forces and Eritrea's military — including rape, murder and pillage — over the nearly two-year war centering on Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.
Khmer Rouge tribunal ends work after 16 years, 3 judgments
September 22, 2022 GMTPHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The international court convened in Cambodia to judge the Khmer Rouge for its brutal 1970s rule ended its work Thursday after spending $337 million and 16 years to convict just three men of crimes after the regime caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people.
UK police arrest man over alleged war crimes in Liberia
September 7, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Britain's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday officers have arrested a man over alleged war crimes committed in the Liberian civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The man, who is in his 40s, was held in the city of Newcastle in northeast England on suspicion of offenses against the International Criminal Court Act.
IAEA visit to Ukraine nuclear plant highlights risks
September 3, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are used to risky missions — from the radioactive aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan to the politically charged Iranian nuclear program.
Ukraine train system attacks may be war crimes, experts say
August 26, 2022 GMTRussia’s attack on a Ukrainian train station that killed more than 20 people this week is the latest in a series of strikes on the country’s railway system that some international legal scholars say may be war crimes.
US judge rules against Libya’s Hifter in war crimes suits
July 30, 2022 GMTFALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has entered a default judgment against a Libyan military commander after he repeatedly failed to show up for depositions in a federal lawsuit in which he is accused of war crimes.
Ukrainian court lowers Russian soldier’s war crimes sentence
July 29, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An appeals court in Kyiv on Friday reduced to 15 years the life sentence of a Russian soldier convicted in the first war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The trial has been closely watched as an early test of whether it’s possible to conduct fair trials during the ongoing conflict and of how well Ukraine’s beleaguered justice system will stand up to the enormous task of prosecuting thousands of complex war crimes cases.
PBS series, AP detail toll of Russian invasion of Ukraine
July 28, 2022 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — Two documentaries detailing the punishing effects of Russia's war on Ukraine will air on PBS' “Frontline” investigative series.
The specials are part of an extensive collaboration between the series and The Associated Press that includes gathering, verifying and cataloging potential war crimes and co-publishing stories and videos from AP and “Frontline" war reporting.
ICC unseals warrant for Central African Republic ex-minister
July 28, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant Thursday for a former government minister in Central African Republic for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during sectarian hostilities in 2013.
Ukraine pushes to try alleged war crimes as fighting rages
July 26, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The appeal of Ukraine’s first war crimes conviction was adjourned on Monday, as prosecutors keep pushing to hold Russia legally accountable for atrocities even as fighting rages in the south and east of the country.
Group seeks ex-Sri Lankan president’s arrest in Singapore
July 25, 2022 GMTCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A human rights group said Sunday it had filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general to seek the arrest of Sri Lanka’s former president for alleged war crimes during his country’s civil war.
Albania asks human rights body to cancel stolen organ claims
July 22, 2022 GMTTIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian Parliament has asked Europe's top human rights body to rescind a 2011 resolution that cited since-unsubstantiated allegations of human organ harvesting during the 1990s war in Kosovo.
Iran recalls ambassador to Sweden over court decision
July 21, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s state TV said Thursday the country’s foreign ministry recalled its ambassador from Sweden after an Iranian citizen was sentenced to life by a Swedish court for committing war crimes and murder during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Iran’s envoy protests Swedish war crime verdict for Iranian
July 15, 2022 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — The Iranian ambassador to Sweden went to the Swedish Foreign Ministry on Friday to protest the sentencing of an Iranian citizen to life by a Swedish court for committing grave war crimes and murder during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Iranian gets life in prison in Sweden for 1980s crimes
July 14, 2022 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — An Iranian citizen was sentenced Thursday to life imprisonment by a Swedish court after being convicted of committing grave war crimes and murder during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Nations discuss coordinating Ukraine war crimes probes
July 14, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor called Thursday for an “overarching strategy” to bring perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine to justice, and representatives from dozens of countries pledged to cooperate in their investigations.
Putin’s aide warns US against pressing for war crimes court
July 6, 2022 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — A top Kremlin official warned the U.S. Wednesday that it could face the “wrath of God” if it pursues efforts to help establish an international tribunal to investigate Russia's action in Ukraine, while the Russian lower house speaker urged Washington to remember that Alaska used to belong to Russia.
International Criminal Court marks 20th anniversary
July 1, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court marked the 20th anniversary of its establishment Friday as its prosecutors probed war crimes in countries around the world, including what one expert called a “make or break” investigation in Ukraine.
ICC seeks arrest of 3 suspects linked to Russia-Georgia war
June 30, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — International Criminal Court judges have issued arrest warrants for three men wanted on suspicion of committing war crimes during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, the court announced Thursday.
Macron says Russia can’t win in Ukraine after strike on mall
June 29, 2022 GMTKREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP) — France's president denounced Russia’s fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine as a “new war crime” Tuesday and vowed the West's support for Kyiv would not waver, saying Moscow “cannot and should not win" the war.
Colombia truth commission gives scathing report on civil war
June 28, 2022 GMTBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Truth Commission presented its final report on Colombia’s armed conflict Tuesday, urging the government, military and rebel groups that are still fighting in the countryside to recognize the suffering victims have endured and ensure that political disputes are no longer solved through violence.
Greece: Serbian vacationer held on war crimes warrant
June 27, 2022 GMTTHESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Police in Greece have detained a 59-year-old Serbian man wanted in Croatia for alleged war crimes committed in 1991, during the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia.
Authorities said the man, who has not been named, was detained Monday after crossing the border from North Macedonia, en route to a holiday resort in northern Greece with his wife and daughter.
Kosovo arrests man accused of war crimes in 1999 fighting
June 27, 2022 GMTPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo prosecutors on Monday charged a man with war crimes for allegedly being part of a group of Serbian forces that executed at least nine ethnic Albanian civilians during the country's 1998-1999 war.
The AP Interview: Estonian PM says Russia not weary of war
June 23, 2022 GMTTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The West should not underestimate Russia’s military capabilities in Ukraine, Estonia’s leader told The Associated Press, saying that as the war enters its fifth month, Moscow’s forces are in it for the long haul.
Former Colombian rebel leaders recognize role in kidnappings
June 22, 2022 GMTBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A group of former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said Tuesday that the guerrilla organization was responsible for war crimes, including the kidnapping of thousands of civilians for ransom and also holding politicians as hostages for several years in the hopes of exchanging them for imprisoned rebels.
Dutch prime minister apologizes to Srebrenica peacekeepers
June 18, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government formally apologized Saturday to soldiers who were sent as U.N. peacekeepers to defend the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica with insufficient firepower and manpower to keep the peace.
Kosovo official says ex-leaders’ trial is taking too long
June 17, 2022 GMTPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A senior Kosovo official on Friday criticized the length of the international trial process for detained former independence fighters charged with war crimes during and after the 1998-1999 war in the Balkan country.