26 APRIL 2022 BY THIJS BOUWKNEGT, FOR JUSTICEINFO.NET Last week, The Hague Appeals Court completed its long-awaited hearings on old war crimes in Ethiopia. With ongoing conflict in Tigray, the Derg’s “Red Terror” of four decades ago may seem a story of the past. Yet this belated but unique universal
Last week, The Hague Appeals Court completed its long-awaited hearings on old war crimes in Ethiopia. With ongoing conflict in Tigray, the Derg’s “Red Terror” of four decades ago may seem a story of the past. Yet this belated but unique universal jurisdiction trial has again aroused the pains of a period that still embitters both victims and the accused person, Eshetu Alemu. Historian Thijs Bouwknegt tells the story of man who still hopes for an acquittal as he is about to die.
The legal principle of universal jurisdiction is increasingly being used to bring accountability for atrocity crimes across the world. An overview of recent developments sheds light on certain patterns that may have begun to emerge.