What happens when the ICC becomes too politicized?
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The Bitter Scales of Justice in Syria
By Sana Kikhia
Following the first convictions of high-level figures of the Assad regime in August, human rights activist Sana Kikhia says civil society must step out of the ‘all or nothing’ trap and navigate speed, rigor, and legitimacy strategically.
In Syria, people are on trial for their involvement in crimes committed under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Photo: The trial of Wasim al-Assad, standing in a cage at the side of a relatively empty courtroom.
Eritrea has been under the rule of a dictatorship for decades, with compulsory military service of indefinite duration. Photo: Eritrean soldiers lined up on the border with Ethiopia. Eritrea: what hope of justice for “Africa’s North Korea”?
By Julia Crawford
September 18 marks 25 years since Eritrea’s iron-fisted regime arbitrarily arrested critical politicians and journalists, never to be heard of again. A new UN report points to three decades of crimes against humanity, never punished.
The Kosovo Special Chambers (KSC), a UN international tribunal based in The Hague (Netherlands), has just handed down a verdict on four Kosovar figures charged with war crimes, including former President Hashim Thaçi. Photo: the four judges are seated on a platform above their five assistants in a very bright, cold white setting. The ambiguities of the Kosovo Chambers
By Margherita Capacci
In a much-anticipated verdict, Hashim Thaçi and three other former Kosovo guerrilla leaders were found guilty of war crimes by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on September 16. We look back at 10 years of a controversial court.
Hashim Thaçi, former president of Kosovo, seated in the dock at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and red tie, staring ahead. In the blurred foreground, a lawyer in a gown and white bands. Thaçi's reflection appears in a glass pane on the right. Convictions and heavy sentences for 4 Kosovo leaders
By AFP
On September 16, the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers convicted Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaçi for war crimes and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Three other leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army were also found guilty and sentenced. 
In Colombia, the appeal judges of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) have clarified and tightened the restrictions on freedom imposed on those on trial, as these were deemed too vague. Photo: Members of the FARC have gathered outside the JEP to offer apologies to the victims. Colombia: how the JEP appeal judges corrected its first historical ruling
By Andrés Bermúdez Liévano
Clarifying a “vague” first instance judgment on the special sanction against seven former high-ranking rebels: this was the stated aim of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace’s Appeals Section in Colombia, in a new ruling delivered last July.
War in Ukraine
War in Ukraine
Justice moves into action
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Ten heads of state wanted for international crimes
Ten heads of state wanted for international crimes
Putin, Netanyahu and the others
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Transitional Justice
Transitional Justice
Understanding how it works and analysing its impact
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20 years of the African Court: “States’ support is slow in coming”
How in August, Steve Biko’s murder inquest re-opened
What’s on the international justice agenda?
Kasai: FONAREV under fire
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The scandal of victims’ funds in DRC Special focus 10 publications
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Kasai: FONAREV under fire The Kamuina Nsapu armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo took place ten years ago. But in Kasai FONAREV, the public body in charge of reparations for victims, is coming increasingly under fire.
FRIVAO: Is collective compensation being used for embezzlement?
Chaos and corruption: investigating the FRIVAO fund in Kisangani
All our special focus
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Special report: ‘Life under sanctions’ (imposed by the US) for staff at the International Criminal Court and NGOs working with the ICC. Illustration: a colourful drawing showing a judge swimming underwater, surrounded by jellyfish. Papers bearing the ICC logo are also submerged. Life under sanctions
6 publications
Illustration showing a concrete mixer truck (with the Lafarge logo printed on it) stopped at a checkpoint manned by several figures dressed in black, armed and wearing balaclavas. A long arm extends from the truck, holding a suitcase filled with banknotes bearing the image of Bashar al-Assad. On the side is an ISIS flag. War and business: Lafarge in the dock
16 publications
At the Lundin trial in Sweden, two former executives of the oil company are on trial for alleged complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Illustration: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter are drowned in a pool of oil. Conflict rages in the background. War and oil: Lundin in the dock
25 publications
Fighting gender-based crimes - Illustration: a crime scene (police banner and numbered exhibits) where the silhouette of a character marked on the ground is filled in with the colors of the LGBTQ+ community's rainbow flag. The Fight Against Gender Crimes
9 publications
What justice for enforced disappearances around the world? © Marina Margarina / Justice Info The disappeared who will never be forgotten
27 publications
Félicien Kabuga, in a wheelchair, seems to be running away from a huge blood-red Félicien Kabuga, the last judgment
16 publications
Illustration mettant en scène des hommes et femmes d'affaire flottant sur un océan déchaîné. Certains semblent confiants et d'autres paniquent. Au fond, un radeau flotte transportant un magistrat en robe (mat symolisant la balance de la justice). Corporations face the rising tide of justice
51 publications
Religious people (in small format) are lined up to confess in turn to the ear of a church member (in large format) who hides one eye while listening with one ear. The Church and its sexual crimes
18 publications
Colonial crimes: a chess game to negotiate reparations, restitution, truth and the duty to remember Hour of reckoning for colonial crimes
50 publications
Massaquoi trial in Liberia The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test
21 publications
ICC's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV): a failure The failure of the ICC Victims Fund
7 publications
ICC desperately seeking prosecutor
7 publications
Transitional Justice: The great Colombian challenge
86 publications
Time for the truth in Gambia
77 publications
Rwanda, 25 years after the genocide
8 publications
Richard Rogers, a human rights lawyer, answers questions from Thierry Cruvellier (Justice Info) regarding the sanctions imposed by the US government on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and various NGOs. Illustration: portrait of Richard Rogers (watercolour).
“What has changed is who the U.S. consider to be friends or foe”
17 March 2026 by Thierry Cruvellier
The International Criminal Court is undermined by its internal dysfunctions, crises, and contradictions. It is sometimes weakened by its own member states. But the fatal weapon that seems to threaten its very existence is the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. What are they? What impact have they already had on the institution, its judges and prosecutors, and the NGOs that have worked with it? How has a tool used by human rights activists turned against them? To kick off this special focus, British lawyer Richard Rogers explains the origins and workings of the main sanction’s regime in the field of human rights.
Justice for Syria: what are the various initiatives for justice for Syria around the world, at the national level (in Syria or elsewhere, under universal jurisdiction) or at the international level (via the ICJ and UN bodies)? Image: world map with a photo of Sednaya prison (Syria) seen from the air and a portrait of Bashar al-Assad superimposed on it.
Justice for Syria: who is doing what?
8 December 2025 by Hannah El-Hitami
One year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, on 7 December 2024, the landscape of justice for grave violations of international law in Syria has transformed. Some transitional justice institutions have been established in Syria. And there have never been so many active Syrian cases under universal jurisdiction. 
Justice for Gaza: what are the various initiatives for justice for Gaza around the world, at the national and international levels (via the ICC, the ICJ, and the UN)? Image: world map with a photo of a completely destroyed street in Gaza, seen from the sky, superimposed on it.
Justice for Gaza: who is doing what?
4 November 2025 by Golnouche K. Barzegar
It’s a battle outside the battlefield, and it is worrying the State of Israel: in January 2025, the Israeli army warned its soldiers about possible arrests when they travel abroad. Since the start of the offensive in Gaza launched after the attack on October 7, 2023, two international courts have been seized: the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants, and the International Court of Justice, whose decisions have been supported by resolutions of the UN General Assembly. At the same time, the Human Rights Council has set up a commission, which has concluded that a “genocide” is taking place. Finally, complaints have been filed in dozens of national courts, and universal jurisdiction proceedings have been opened around the world.
In Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power station was attacked and damaged by a Russian drone strike. An overview of the situation and a focus on international law in such circumstances. Photo: our correspondent in Ukraine poses, wearing safety gear, beneath the concrete arch.
Inside Chernobyl after a drone attack: what can international law do?
26 June 2026 by Oksana Rekun
On February 14, 2025, a Russian drone struck Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the fourth reactor destroyed in 1986. What’s nuclear safety in wartime? Journalist Oksana Rekun went to Chernobyl and asked.
Syria
6 July 2026
A former Syrian intelligence general convicted in Vienna
Palestine
7 July 2026
Facing the threat of annexation in Palestine
Philippines
18 May 2026
ICC exposes democratic wounds in Philippines
Dem. Rep. Of Congo
24 August 2026
Kasai Central: Truth and Reconciliation Commission abandoned by the state
Colombia
31 July 2026
The radical shift in Colombia’s new president’s stance on transitional justice
Central African Republic
31 August 2026
Special Criminal Court: Guen trial resumes with closing arguments

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All our original publications listed in chronological order+

International justice news, according to AFP

21 September 2026 UK joins call for limiting UN Sec. Council vetoes 21 September 2026 Notorious 'death squad' leader court martialled in Gambia 21 September 2026 First charges brought in UK for Rwanda genocide 21 September 2026 Zelensky to meet Trump in New York on Tuesday: source tells AFP 19 September 2026 EU urges US to reconsider visa denial to Palestinian delegation for UN meeting 18 September 2026 UN chief 'deeply regrets' US visa refusal to Abbas for annual meeting 18 September 2026 Thousands protest Kosovo ex-president's war crimes conviction 18 September 2026 Mideast turmoil, AI set to dominate UN gathering of world leaders 17 September 2026 US again denies Palestinian leader Abbas visa to attend UN assembly 17 September 2026 US suspected of war crimes in Iran, govt repression rising: UN mission
+ All AFP dispatches