Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court on Friday said it cannot rule on a prosecutor's request to resume a war crimes investigation of Afghanistan until it can decide who represents the country in international bodies.

The judges asked U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the ICC's governing body for help identifying which group officially rules Afghanistan from an international law standpoint. It asked for a response by Nov. 8.

Prosecutor Karim Khan had asked the ICC to proceed and said there was no need to decide who runs Afghanistan. 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Two leaders of a Kosovo veterans association pleaded innocent Thursday to charges including obstructing justice and intimidation of witnesses, as their trial opened at a court in The Hague.

Hysni Gucati, who was chairman of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Association when he was arrested last year, and his deputy, Nasim Haradinaj, both face charges of obstructing justice and intimidation in September last year for allegedly revealing information including the identity of potential witnesses at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court.

THE HAGUE, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN’s top court said it will hold hearings on Oct 18 and 19 on the case between arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan, which accuse each other of racial discrimination.

“The hearings will focus on the request for provisional measures submitted by the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the Hague-based International Court of Justice said in a statement.

A week after Armenia filed an application against Azerbaijan at the ICJ, Baku filed a counter complaint against its neighbour on Sept 23, accusing it of racial discrimination and “ethnic cleansing”.

THE HAGUE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Nicaragua on Monday accused Colombia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of not respecting a 2012 ruling on their maritime boundaries in the western Caribbean by that same court.

The hearing centres around a 2012 ruling by the ICJ, also known as the World Court, which drew a demarcation line in favor of Nicaragua in Caribbean waters, reducing the expanse of sea belonging to Colombia.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — King Willem-Alexander officially unveiled a new memorial in the heart of Amsterdam’s historic Jewish Quarter on Sunday honoring more than 102,000 Dutch victims of the Holocaust, and the Dutch prime minister vowed that it would remind citizens today to be vigilant against antisemitism.

Designed by Polish-Jewish architect Daniel Libeskind, the memorial is made up of walls shaped to form four Hebrew letters spelling out a word that translates as “In Memory Of.”

THE HAGUE, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Dutch defense minister has resigned over the government’s handling of evacuations from Afghanistan, announcing her move one day after the Netherlands’ foreign minister stepped down.

Both high-profile figures were accused by legislators of bearing responsibility for the government’s slow response to the surge of the Taliban in Afghanistan and muddled management of evacuations.

“I wanted to finish our mission to bring those who are still in Afghanistan and who count on us to safety,” Bijleveld said.

178 Sep 2021; MEMO: A Dutch court will hear an appeal next week against Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz and co-defendant Amir Eshel for their alleged role in the murder of a family during Israel's 2014 military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

AMSTERDAM, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Relatives of the 298 victims of Malaysian Airlines flight 17 on Monday accused Russia of lying about its alleged role in the downing of the plane as they began testifying in the Dutch murder trial of four suspects.

International investigators concluded that the passenger plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine with a missile fired by pro-Russian rebels. Moscow denies all responsibility.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The international team investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine seven years ago appealed Thursday for Russians in the city of Kursk to come forward with information about the deployment of the missile that investigators say downed the plane, killing all 298 people on board.

The call for witnesses included an emotional video featuring the parents of one of the victims, 29-year-old Australian Victor Oreshkin.

His mother, Vera Oreshkin, called her son a “gift from God.”

13 Aug 2021; MEMO: The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is examining the possibility of opening an investigation into Israel's demolition of the homes of dozens of Palestinians in the village of Khirbet Humsa in the occupied Jordan Valley.

The investigation comes in response to a petition titled "Israel Practices a War Crime" filed by the Combatants for Peace organisation; which includes former Israeli soldiers and Palestinians who are working together to end the Israeli occupation.