Universal jurisdiction and the future of human rights

[Warren]

Idea Exchange topic

My topic for the virtual idea exchange on Sunday will be the principle

of "universal jurisdiction" over war crimes and other crimes against humanity.

This is an important new concept in law which allows such crimes to be

prosecuted anywhere in the world without being protected by individual

state sovereignty.  It was recently used in a German court to convict

a torturer from the Assad regime in Syria who had fled to Germany as

a refugee but was recognized by many of his victims.

To familiarize yourself with the general concept see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_jurisdiction#:~:text=Universal%20jurisdiction%20allows%20states%20or,relation%20with%20the%20prosecuting%20entity.

To read about the German case see:

https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-hands-down-historic-syrian-torture-verdict/a-56670243