ICC Presidency constitutes Trial Chamber VIII and IX; Al Mahdi and Ongwen cases referred to them respectively
On 2 May 2016, the Presidency of the International Criminal Court (ICC) constituted Trial Chamber VIII and IX and referred respective cases to them. Trial Chamber VIII will be in charge of the case of The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi and Trial Chamber IX will be in charge of the case of The Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen.
Trial Chamber VIII is composed of Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Judge Bertram Schmitt (Germany) and Judge Raul C. Pangalangan (Philippines). Trial Chamber IX is composed of Judge Bertram Schmitt (Germany), Judge Peter Kovacs (Hungary) and Judge Raul C. Pangalangan (Philippines).
The Trial Chamber is responsible for the conduct of trial proceedings and is adopting all the necessary procedures to ensure that the trial is fair and expeditious, and is conducted with full respect for the rights of the accused with regard for the protection of victims and witnesses. The judges will schedule a date for the opening of the respective trials in due course.
Background:
The confirmation of charges hearing in the case of The Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen took place from 21 to 27 January 2016. On 23 March 2016, Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed the 70 charges brought by the Prosecutor against Dominic Ongwen, as alleged former Commander in the Sinia Brigade of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and committed him to trial. The confirmed charges concern crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during attacks against the Pajule IDP (October 2003), Odek IDP (April 2004) Lukodi IDP (May 2004) and Abok IDP camps (June 2004), as well as sexual and gender-based crimes directly and indirectly committed by Dominic Ongwen and crimes of conscription and use in hostilities of children under the age of 15 allegedly committed in northern Uganda between 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2005. Mr Ongwen was surrendered to the ICC on 16 January 2015 pursuant to an ICC warrant of arrest and transferred to the ICC custody on 21 January 2015.
The confirmation of charges hearing in the case of The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi took place on 1 March 2016. On 24 March 2016, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the war crime charge against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi regarding the destruction of historical and religious monuments in Timbuktu (Mali) between around 30 June 2012 and around 11 July 2012, and committed him to trial. Mr Al Mahdi was surrendered to the ICC on 26 September 2015 pursuant to a warrant of arrest issued on 18 September 2015.
For more information on these cases, click here
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