Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, following the transfer of the first suspect in the Mali investigation: “Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are grave crimes”. The surrender by Niger authorities of the suspect, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi and his transfer earlier today to the custody of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) is a welcome development. It represents an important step forward in the fight against impunity, not only in Mali but also in the broader Sahel and Sahara region of Africa, whose populations have in recent years been subjected to unspeakable crimes. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, also known as “Abou Tourab”, is accused of allegedly committing the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against ten buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments in the ancient city of Timbuktu, Mali. A zealous member of an armed group, self-proclaimed “Ansar Dine”, he played a predominant and active role in the functioning of the local structure put in place during the group’s occupation of Timbuktu in 2012, as detailed in my Office’s application for the warrant of arrest which led to his surrender. The people of Mali deserve justice for the attacks against their cities, their beliefs and their communities. Let there be no mistake: the charges we have brought against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi involve most serious crimes; they are about the destruction of irreplaceable historic monuments, and they are about a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations, and their religious and historical roots. The inhabitants of Northern Mali, the main victims of these attacks, deserve to see justice done. Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are serious crimes under the Rome Statute – the founding treaty of the ICC, adopted by more than 120 states from around the world. No longer should such reprehensible conduct go unpunished.   It is rightly said that “cultural heritage is the mirror of humanity.” Such attacks affect humanity as a whole. We must stand up to the destruction and defacing of our common heritage. This is the first time that on the strength of the evidence collected my Office has brought such charges against a suspect in proceedings before this Court. We will continue to do our part to highlight the severity of such war crimes with the hopes that such efforts will deter the commission of similar crimes in the future. I am grateful to the authorities of Mali and Niger for their cooperation in this surrender, as well as other regional and international actors who facilitate the work of the Court in the region. This is our first significant step in Mali, built on the heels of our investigations. I am confident that our close collaboration with the Malian authorities will continue to generate positive results for our common cause of holding to account those most responsible for perpetrating atrocity crimes in the country.

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi remis à la CPI pour des accusations de crimes de guerre de destruction de monuments historiques et religieux à Tombouctou. Aujourd’hui, le 26 septembre 2015, M. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, surnommé Abou Tourab, a été remis à la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) par les autorités du Niger et est arrivé au quartier pénitentiaire de la Cour aux Pays-Bas. M. Al Faqi est suspecté, selon un mandat d’arrêt délivré le 18 septembre 2015 par la Cour, de crimes de guerre d’attaque intentionnellement dirigée, à Tombouctou, au Mali, entre environ le 30 juin 2012 et le 10 juillet 2012, contre des bâtiments consacrés à la religion et/ou des monuments historiques. Il s’agit de la première affaire à être présentée devant la CPI concernant la destruction de bâtiments consacrés à la religion et de monuments historiques. Le Greffier de la CPI, M. Herman von Hebel, a remercié les autorités du Niger, ainsi que celles de l’Etat hôte de la Cour, les Pays-Bas, pour leur coopération dans le cadre de cette affaire. Selon le mandat d’arrêt délivré par la Chambre préliminaire I, il y a des motifs raisonnables de croire qu’un conflit armé à caractère non international a débuté en janvier 2012, et était toujours en cours au Mali pendant toute la période des faits allégués qui ont tous eu lieu à Tombouctou. Pendant toute cette période, la ville auraient été sous la domination des groupes armés Al Qaïda au Maghreb Islamique (« AQMI ») et Ansar Eddine, mouvement principalement touarègue associé à AQMI. M. Al Faqi, né à Agoune, à 100 kilomètres à l’ouest de Tombouctou, au Mali, Touareg de la tribu Ansar Touareg, aurait été une personnalité active dans le contexte de l’occupation de la ville de Tombouctou et aurait été membre d’Ansar Eddine, opérant en étroite association avec les leaders des deux groupes armés et dans le contexte des structures et institutions mises en place par eux. Il aurait été notamment, jusqu’en septembre 2012, à la tête de la « Hesbah », « Brigade des mœurs », opérationnelle à partir de mai 2012, et également associé au travail du Tribunal Islamique de Tombouctou et aurait participé à l’exécution de ses décisions. Plus spécifiquement, il aurait été impliqué dans la destruction des bâtiments mentionnés dans le chef d’accusation. La Chambre a conclu que les preuves présentées par le Procureur donnent des motifs raisonnables de croire que M. Al Faqi est pénalement responsable pour avoir commis, individuellement et conjointement avec d’autres personnes, facilité ou autrement contribué à la commission, les crimes de guerre allégués par le Procureur concernant des attaques dirigées intentionnellement contre les bâtiments suivants : 1) le mausolée Sidi Mahmoud Ben Omar Mohamed Aquit, 2) le mausolée Cheick Mohamed Mahmoud Al Arawani, 3) le mausolée Cheikh Sidi Mokhtar Ben Sidi Mouhammad Ben Cheick Alkabir, 4) le mausolée Alpha Moya, 5) le mausolée Cheick Sidi Ahmed Ben Amar Arragadi, 6) le mausolée Cheick Mouhamad El Micky, 7) le mausolée Cheick Abdoul Kassim Attouaty, 8) le mausolée Ahamed Fulane, 9) le mausolée Bahaber Babadié, et 10) la mosquée Sidi Yahia. L’affaire Le Procureur c. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi est la première dans le contexte de l’enquête du Bureau du Procureur concernant la situation au Mali. La situation au Mali a été déférée à la CPI par le Gouvernement du Mali le 13 juillet 2012. Le 16 janvier 2013, le Procureur de la CPI a ouvert une enquête sur les crimes présumés commis sur le territoire du Mali depuis janvier 2012.

By Carlotta Duken. Today marks an important day in the ongoing refugee crisis: the European Commission in Brussels agreed on the redistribution of 160 000 refugees in Europe. Other measures which will be taken include increasing the budget and amount of personnel of EU-agencies to address the refugee crisis. This year and in 2016, considerable amounts of the money will go to EU agencies, humanitarian aid, the World Food Program and to the emergency assistance for the most affected member states. Besides the budgetary support, the EU Commission plans to enhance its operations on-site. In a plan by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, which he will present to the European Heads of State and Government tonight, the EU will improve the relocation and migration management in the most affected areas, support boarder guards on outer European borders, intensify cooperation with third countries and enhance the protection, assistance and supplies to the people themselves. The above-mentioned measures are a reaction to the sudden rise in the number of refugees arriving on European borders. The redistribution is mainly meant to relieve those countries which have been receiving most refugees, namely Greece and Italy, and which capacities are exhausted. According to the newest numbers by the International Migration Organization (IOM), the number of arrivals by sea in Greece have again increased dramatically in the past weeks. Most people that flee their countries and seek shelter in Greece in the first place come from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Just this year, the number of arrivals exceeds 350,000. In Italy, the IOM records a slight decline in the number of arrivals by sea from August to September of this year. Most refugees arrive from Syria or African countries such as Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. This year, the IOM counted 127,605 arrivals, thereof about 70% men. With regard to the 9472 minors landing on Italian soil this year, nearly all of them arrived unaccompanied.      

More Responsibility in managing the refugee crisis: European Commission adopts 40 infringement decisions to make European Asylum System work.   Press conference by First Vice President Timmermans, VicePresident Georgieva, Commissioner Avramopolous.   The European Commission adopted today 40 infringement decisions against several Member States  for failing to fully implement legislation making up the Common European Asylum System. Following up on the second implementation package of the European Agenda on Migration, the European Commission is stepping up its efforts to ensure the full application of EU law in the area of migration and asylum. The pieces of legislation concerned focus on fairer, quicker and better quality asylum decisions (the Asylum Procedures Directive); ensuring that there are humane physical reception conditions (such as housing) for asylum seekers across the EU (the Reception Conditions Directive); and clarifying the grounds for granting international protection (the Qualification Directive). European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “Solidarity and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. EU leaders in an extraordinary European Council in April called for the rapid and full transposition and effective implementation of the Common European Asylum System to ensure common European standards under existing legislation. The European Commission is the guardian of the Treaties and today’s 40 infringement proceedings are meant to ensure that Member States actually implement and apply what they had previously agreed to do – and agreed to do rapidly and fully. Our Common European Asylum System can only function if everyone plays by the rules.” Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “In Europe everyone must uphold the commonly agreed standards, in the way we receive asylum seekers. All participating Member States, must process their asylum applications according to the common criteria and standards, which are used by national authorities to determine whether someone is entitled to international protection. These standards need to be fully implemented and respected, while always respecting the dignity and human rights of the applicants.” Today, the European Commission adopted 40 infringement decisions against 19 Member States in the following areas: 1.The Commission is sending Reasoned Opinions to Bulgaria and Spain for having failed to communicate national measures to transpose the updated Qualifications Directive (2011/95/EU). The Directive harmonises minimum standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection. It also foresees a series of rights on protection from refoulement, residence permits, travel documents, access to employment, access to education, social welfare, healthcare, access to accommodation, access to integration facilities, as well as specific provisions for children and vulnerable persons. The deadline for the transposition of the Directive expired on 21 December 2013. Despite letters of Formal Notice (the first formal step of an infringement procedure) sent to Bulgaria and Spain in June 2013 and January 2014 respectively, the two Member States have not transposed the Qualifications Directive, or in any event have not yet notified the Commission of the national transposition measures. 2.The Commission is sending Letters of Formal Notice to 18 Member States[1] for having failed to communicate national measures taken to fully transpose the revised Asylum Procedures Directive (2013/32/EU)[2]:This Directive establishes common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection and sets clearer rules on how to apply for asylum. It applies to all applications for international protection made in the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of the Member States. Member States were under an obligation to transpose this Directive, which updates Directive 2005/85/EC, and to communicate national transposition measures to the Commission by 20 July 2015 (with the exception of Article 31(3), (4) and (5) for which the transposition deadline is 20 July 2018). 3.The Commission is sending Letters of Formal Notice to 19 Member States[3] for not having communicated the national measures taken to fully transpose the updated Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU)[4] which sets out common minimum standards for the reception of applicants for international protection across Member States. It provides a legal obligation for Member States to ensure that material reception conditions are available to applicants when they apply for international protection. These include access to housing, food, health care and employment, as well as medical and psychological care. It also restricts the detention of vulnerable persons, in particular minors. Member States had to transpose the Directive, which updates Directive 2003/9/EC and communicate the national transposition measures taken by 20 July 2015. 4.The Commission is sending a second supplementary Letter of Formal Notice to Greece for violation of certain provisions of the updated Reception Conditions Directive and the updated Asylum Procedures Directive. It concerns serious deficiencies in the Greek asylum system, notably with regard to the material reception conditions to applicants for international protection, particularly those with special reception needs and vulnerable persons, and structural flaws in the functioning of the guardianship system or legal representation of all unaccompanied minors during the asylum procedure. Following the Commission’s Letter of Formal Notice in 2009 and a first supplementary Letter of Formal Notice in 2010, Greece committed to comprehensively reform its asylum system on the basis of a Greek Action Plan on Asylum Reform and Migration Management presented in August 2010 and revised in January 2013. The Commission closely monitored the implementation of the measures of the Action Plans and provided financial and technical support. Greece presented a new Road Map on Asylum for 2015 in March. While progress has been made, there is still a structural and persistent lack of reception capacity, independent of the large and unexpected influxes which have recently been observed. As a consequence, the European Commission still has serious concerns about the availability of adequate reception conditions for asylum applicants and the situation of unaccompanied minor asylum applicants.   What are the next steps? Letters of Formal Notice are the first formal step of an infringement procedure. After receiving a letter of formal notice, Member States have two months to reply to the letter of formal notice and in cases of non-communication have to notify their national transposition measures to the Commission. In the absence of satisfactory replies or in the continuing absence of notification of national measures fully transposing a Directive, the European Commission can decide to send Reasoned Opinions, the second step in an infringement proceeding. After Member States receive Reasoned Opinions, they have two months to respond to the Commission, notifying the latter of the measures taken to ensure full transposition, or bringing national legislation in line with EU law. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer them to the European Court of Justice. In cases where there is no communication of the national transposition measures, the Commission may propose to the Court to impose financial sanctions under Article 260 (3) TFEU.   Background Since the early 2000s, the Commission has proposed a number of legislative acts aimed at building a Common European Asylum System. And the Parliament and the Council have enacted this legislation, piece by piece. Across Europe we now have common standards for the way we receive asylum seekers, in respect of their dignity, for the way we process their asylum applications, and we have common criteria which our independent justice systems use to determine whether someone is entitled to international protection. Five different pieces of legislation form the core of the Common European Asylum System (the Dublin Regulation, the recast Asylum Procedures Directive, the recast Qualification Directive, the recast Reception Conditions Directive and the EURODAC rules on fingerprinting). On 13 May 2015, the European Commission presented its European Agenda on Migration, setting out a comprehensive approach for improving the management of migration in all its aspects. This included a commitment to prioritise transposition and implementation in practice of the recently adopted legislation on asylum rules when considering infringement procedures. The Commission today opened 37 new cases, stepped up 2 open cases and sent a second supplementary Letter of Formal Notice in one case. The Commission recently also sent administrative letters requesting clarification on compliance with the EURODAC Regulation (Regulation EU/603/2013) to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Italy on 28 August 2015 and administrative letters requesting clarification on the adoption and enforcement of return decisions (Directive 2008/115/EC) to Germany, Italy and Greece on 11 September 2015.