Abstract
At the time The Hague’s "justice bubble” was rejoicing the grandeur of the UNICTY’s “legacy”, the city’s District Court heard its latest war crimes verdict on 15 December 2017. A second of its kind in 2017 (Kouwenhoven re. Liberia and Guinea), it virtually went unobserved. Absent from the courtroom during sentencing at the Paleis van Justitie was the main character, the accused, now convict: Eshetu Alemu. It was inprotest against the life sentence for mass atrocities in Ethiopia, 39 years ago. The 10-day trial before the ‘International Crimes Chamber’ was one of the most intense,unique and historical trials I attended in the past 15 years. After 39 years, eightvictims shared their grievances before foreign judges. In time and space, the crimescene was distant. In the dock sat a conversational, intelligent but unsettledperpetrator.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 6-9 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Newsletter Criminology and International Crimes |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Jan 2018 |
Keywords
- Ethiopia
- Eshetu Alemu
- International Crimes
- Perpetrators
- Genocide
- Red Terror
- Mengistu Haile Mariam