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| Keynote speakers (from left) Adama Dieng, United Nations, Serge Brammertz, ICTY, Michel de Smedt, ICC, and US Ambassador-at-large Stephen Rapp addressed the theme of “Information for justice”. |
Lyon: International experts on genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity are meeting at INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters to
share their expertise and enhance information sharing and cooperation so as to
better prevent, investigate and prosecute these crimes.
Centred around the theme ‘Information for Justice’, the
three-day (20-22 November) INTERPOL Fifth International Expert Meeting on
Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity brings together some 150 law
enforcement and judicial experts from 44 countries, as well as representatives
from more than 20 international organizations, to discuss intelligence
gathering and sharing, investigations, prosecutions, training and capacity
building.
Keynote speakers on Tuesday included Adama Dieng, UN Special
Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide; Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor,
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); Michel de
Smedt, Head of Investigations Division, Office of the Prosecutor, International
Criminal Court; and Stephen Rapp, Ambassador-at-large, Office of Global
Criminal Justice, US Department of State.
ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz described the INTERPOL
meeting as a ‘very important opportunity’ for the assembled experts to ‘invest
in working together and put into place mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of
information'. Brammertz highlighted the need for international law
enforcement to investigate the role of organized crime networks in facilitating
or exploiting acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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INTERPOL supports national authorities, international
criminal tribunals and courts investigating genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity through its Fugitive Investigative Support unit, law
enforcement tools, services and training. INTERPOL Red Notices, or international
wanted persons alerts, notify police about individuals wanted for these crimes,
with almost 850 notices currently issued for genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
“Investigations into war crimes are extremely complex.
Bringing together international experts to share their knowledge is part of
INTERPOL’s ongoing commitment to support the efforts of its 190 member
countries to protect their citizens through the location and arrest of
suspected war criminals so that they are brought to justice,” said INTERPOL
Secretary General Ronald K. Noble after meeting with Brammertz.
In this respect, the conference heard how Védaste Banguwiha,
wanted by INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Kigali for alleged
complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, was detained in October by
authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after he was identified from a
single hit when immigration records were cross-checked against INTERPOL’s
global wanted persons database.
INTERPOL’s Director of Operational Police Services, Mick
O'Connell, added: “INTERPOL has assisted and supported International Criminal
Tribunals and Courts and national authorities in achieving extremely important
results in their investigation on genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes cases. International investigations are being enhanced, and prominent war
criminals and mass atrocities perpetrators have been identified, located and
brought to justice. Yet plenty of work remains,” with nine fugitives for
example still wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and more
than 130 Red Notices issued at the request of NCB Kigali still outstanding.
Other topics to be discussed include refugee protection,
international cooperation in tracking perpetrators, legal assistance and case
studies involving the Balkans, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Rwanda.
At the close of the meeting, participants will adopt a set
of recommendations for improving the global response to genocide, war crimes
and crimes against humanity.