Lessons Learned from the Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction in Respect of Gross Human Rights Offenses

Abstract

On 11 April 2000, Belgian investigating magistrate Damien Vandermeersch signed an arrest warrant against the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi. The warrant alleged that in August 1998 Mr. Yerodia had committed grave violations of international humanitarian law by publicly referring to members of the Tutsi ethnic group as "vermin" and calling for their "extermination." On 17 October 2000, Congo responded by bringing proceedings against Belgium before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In its application Congo asserted that the action taken by the Belgian magistrate represented interference in its internal affairs and that it was incompatible with the diplomatic immunity of its Foreign Minister. The application was accompanied by a request for the indication of a provisional measure. 1