INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

                                     And from a legal standpoint, how do we take action?

The conflict opposing the Iranian regime and its own citizens has given rise to egregious violations of human rights. Mutilations, summary executions, rape, sexual assault, kidnappings, and acts of torture are a daily reality for the Iranian people, simply because they are demanding their freedom. These crimes cannot go unpunished. However, the only way to obtain justice is for the authors of these crimes to be held accountable before international legal and judicial entities.

Insofar as the ADHI is preponderantly made up of lawyers, we undertake – in collaboration with competent authorities based mainly in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States - to collect, classify and analyse the legal cases of victims of the Iranian regime who have sought asylum in Luxembourg.

In creating a commission specialized in international criminal law, our aim is to collate an exhaustive file made up of the cases of Iranians having fled persecution and sought asylum, in order to be able to collaborate with other European entities in summoning and prosecuting the authors of these crimes in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, or else in front of Luxembourgish courts on the basis of universal jurisdiction.

                                                         Absolute universal jurisdiction

                                              What is absolute universal jurisdiction?

Absolute universal jurisdiction enables the intervention of ‘third party’ jurisdictions where the jurisdictions in which the crimes have been committed are either incapable or unwilling to penally sanction such acts.

As such, absolute universal jurisdiction is concerned with the prosecution of crimes committed by foreign actors, in foreign territory, and against foreign vic:ms, where these crimes are addressed by Article 5 of the Rome Statute:

(a) The crime of genocide;

(b) Crimes against humanity;

(c) War crimes;

(d) The crime of aggression.

Unlike relative universal jurisdiction, absolute universal jurisdiction allows for criminal proceedings to be brought against the authors of the aforementioned crimes, irrespective of whether they have direct ties with the country that decides to prosecute.

For example, Germany specified that "the present law applies to all offences [...] where the acts were committed abroad and have no connection with Germany" (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch).

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and France, however, have merely adopted relative universal jurisdiction.

     Why is it important to establish absolute universal jurisdiction in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg?

The Grand Duchy urgently needs to adopt absolute universal jurisdiction for the following reasons:

• Insofar as it is a key actor on both the European and international stage, adopting absolute universal jurisdiction would enable Luxembourg to join the countries at the frontline who are contributing to ending impunity for authors of egregious international crimes and violations of human rights.

• By dissuading and hopefully preventing such crimes from happening in the first place, the adoption of universal jurisdiction would indirectly ensure the security of the international community.

• Above all, it would prevent Luxembourg from becoming a safe haven for the authors of such crimes.

It is thus with these aims in mind and in light of the success stories in certain neighbouring European countries that the ADHI strives to encourage the adoption of absolute universal jurisdiction in Luxembourg.

However, we would like to point out that we are far from being the first to point out the shortcomings of Luxembourg’s restrictive adoption of universal jurisdiction. Indeed, Amnesty International Luxembourg had already stressed the legal limits thereof around a decade ago:

"In this context, we salute Luxembourg's adoption on 27 February 2012 of a law that punishes genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. However, we regret that crimes committed abroad can only be tried in Luxembourg under certain conditions. This is a restriction on the principle of universal jurisdiction that prevents Luxembourg from taking effective action against impunity".

                                                     The International Criminal Court (ICC)

                                                                        What is the ICC ?

The ICC is the first permanent international penal jurisdiction mandated to investigate and judge individuals and accomplices accused of massive violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, respectively:

• Genocide

• War crimes

• Crimes against humanity

• Crimes of aggression

This permanent jurisdiction is complementary to national jurisdictions - the remit of its jurisdiction begins when a party State neither exhibits the will nor the capacity to prosecute those responsible for these crimes. As such, the ICC is a subsidiary jurisdic:on.

                                          What does the procedure in front of the ICC look like?

According to the Statute of Rome, there exist three ICC referral procedures:

• A State that is party to the Rome Statute can refer to the ICC procurator one or more crimes that are addressed by the Statute;

• In application of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council may refer a situation to the ICC;

• The ICC procurator may, at their own initiative and on the basis of information gathered and communicated by States, international and inter-governmental organisations, as well as by non-governmental organisations, open an investigation. This is, however, subject to the obtaining of the preliminary chamber’s authorisation.

                                               What are the characteristics of the ICC’s jurisdiction?

• As regards the temporality of its jurisdiction: The ICC is only mandated to judge crimes committed as off the 1st of July 2002 (date of the Statute of Rome’s entry into force)

• As regards the territoriality of its jurisdiction, there are 4 criteria to be taken into account:

o The crime must have been committed on the territory of a State that is party to the Statute of Rome, or aboard a vessel or aircraft registered in one of these States;

o The crime must have been committed by a citizen of one of the party States; 

o Where a crime has been committed on the territory of a State that has not ratified the Statute of Rome, the State must - in order for the ICC to have

jurisdiction – have signed a declaration stating their recognition of the ICC’s competence

• Lastly, if the crime(s) committed jeopardise international peace and security, the Security Council of the United Na:ons can refer it/them to the ICC, according to the procedure stated hereabove.

                                                            Why is this so important for the ADHI ?

We firmly believe that for society to be able to truly consider itself an upholder of the rule of law and a bastion of human rights, no international crime should be condemned to oblivion and allowed to be forgotten.

More importantly, however, it is impossible for victims of such egregious crimes to ever heal fully from their trauma, for as long as their suffering is not officially recognised. As such, by summoning the authors of these crimes in front of international jurisdictions, collating the stories of persecution suffered by their victims, recognising these acts as egregious violations of human rights, the veil can finally be lifted on these atrocities. This is essential for the victims to be able to heal, and it is for this reason that we endeavour to gather as much factual evidence, in order for the perpetrators of these crimes to be, ultimately, brought to justice.