Blog Symposium

Gendered Crime as a Central Focus in the ICC’s Al-Hassan Case

The case of Prosecutor v Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mahomed Ag Mahmoud at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is precedent-setting for the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor: it is the first case in which the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds has been litigated by the ICC, and the ICC is the first …

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The War Crime of Sentencing or Execution without Due Process in the Al Hassan Case: The Interpretative Pitfalls Hidden in the Application of the Crime

1. Introduction The Al Hassan case is the first-ever case before an international (or hybrid) criminal tribunal dealing with the war crime of sentencing or execution without due process. Mr Al Hassan is charged with the crime as an accomplice under Article 25(3)(2)(d) and/or (c) of the Statute for his alleged involvement, as an important member of the Islamic Police, …

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Petite Sardine or Big Fish? Rebel Governance and the ICC Al Hassan Trial

On 25 May, the Defence finished their closing statements in the Al Hassan case at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The case relates to acts committed during the nine months of 2012 and 2013 that Ansar Dine and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AD/AQMI) controlled Timbuktu. The case stems from a self-referral by Mali in July 2012 …

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Aspirant States and the (Non-)Recognition of Legal Identity (Documents)

Introduction The question of legal identity in civil conflict and territories under rebel governance has increasingly been covered in academic and policy circles (e.g. Ukraine, Syria, Sri Lanka). However, the recognition of legal identity (documents) conferred by aspirant states remains under researched. Civil documents are a symbol of state sovereignty/identity, and non-state authorities often issue identity documents to create legitimacy and show …

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An Illegal Republic: the Challenges of the Formation and Proliferation of the Legal Identity of Karabakh Armenians

At the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Union was in turmoil. One problematic instance of the overall crisis was the conflict breaking out between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). NKAO was an enclave populated predominantly by ethnic Armenians within the territory of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (AzSSR). Its administration, …

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On Becoming Citizens of the “Non-Existent”: Document Production and Migration in Abkhazia

Layla, a young girl from Damascus, attended both the adult and children’s Russian classes that the Danish Refugee Council offered Syrian-Circassian newcomers to Abkhazia in 2014-2015. One afternoon after class, I walked with her halfway to her new home up the hill tops as she told me her struggles about living in Abkhazia for the …

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Unrecognised Documents and the Right to Nationality: The Case of Western Sahara

Since 1976, after the end of Spanish colonial domination, Western Sahara has been considered a non-self-governing territory. The legal status of the territory remains disputed with Morocco occupying a part of the territory and the Polisario Front, a national liberation movement, exercising control over the remaining part. Sahrawis live in the occupied territory, in the territory under the …

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Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s Projection of Legitimacy through Identity Documents

As insurgencies and armed groups develop during civil wars, they often take on functions vacated by central governments. Over the course of more than a decade of civil war, power in Syria has fragmented. Various statelets claim control of their respective areas, attempting to administer and rule them and claiming the responsibilities of being a …

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Legal Identity in Limbo: Civil Documentation and De Facto Authorities in Northwest Syria

The consequences of displacement in Syria are becoming increasingly multi-generational, particularly in relation to legal identity, as more children are born into families with lost, damaged or destroyed documents or to families who never possessed documents in the first place. The devastating 6 February earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria has further exacerbated the humanitarian situation …

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