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Monitoring in trial against Aria L.

Participants of the Trial Monitoring Programme observed the second trial in Germany under the Code of Crimes against International Law (VStGB). The VStGB was introduced in 2002 to enable the Federal Republic of Germany to independently prosecute offenses under the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Until now, it had only been applied once, namely in the trial against former leaders of the FDLR rebel militia operating in the Congo, but recently several trials under the VStGB have been conducted in connection with the Syrian conflict.

This also applies to the trial against the 21-year-old Aria L., who was accused of posing in later published photos in front of impaled heads displayed in a schoolyard. Such a desecration of the dead in connection with an armed international or non-international conflict constitutes, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, a severely degrading or humiliating treatment of a person protected under international humanitarian law and thus falls under the offense of a war crime pursuant to § 8 para. 1 no. 9 VStGB.

On July 12, 2016, Aria L. was sentenced to two years imprisonment. According to the Higher Regional Court, posing for photos in front of severed heads fulfilled the offense under § 8 para. 1 no. 9 VStGB; the court thus followed the Federal Prosecutor’s argument. The defendant filed an appeal against this judgment.

You can access the weekly reports here:

• Wochenbericht Nr. 1 (3. und 4. Mai 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 2 (10. Mai 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 3 (17. Mai 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 4 (7. Juni 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 5 (21. Juni 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 7 (5. Juli 2016)
• Wochenbericht Nr. 8 (12. Juli 2016)