The Prosecutor v. Ms. Mazet Against the Prosecution
Statement of Facts
Ms. Mazet is the founder, owner, and CEO of Anonpal, a social media platform operating in the Republic of Molis, which is a UN member and is a party to the . Cermar is a neighboring republic to Molis, which is also a UN member but not a party to the International Criminal Court. Cermar was ruled by a military junta led mainly by the Rappeter community, with ethnic tensions being an ongoing issue for the country.
The Rappeter community experienced resentment and distrust on the part of the majority population. Since Cermar became a democracy in 2017, the ethnic tensions increased significantly. Human Rights Worldwide documented numerous cases of murders, sexual assaults, and forced disappearances. The organization found that around 40% of the Rappeter population has been forcibly displaced out of their homes.
Anonpal, managed by Ms. Mazet, was found to the attacks on the Rappeter community through an intense and coordinated campaign. The social media platform disseminated messages of hate, propaganda, false news, and conspiracy theories. Ms. Mazet rejected any accusations regarding her role in spreading misinformation and hate propaganda.
The for the opening of a preliminary investigation into the case concerning Cermar for crimes against humanity, which have been alleged, including murder, forcible transfer of population, rape, enforced disappearance of persons, and persecution. Ms. Mazet was summoned in court based on the claim that there existed enough evidence to suggest that she was responsible for crimes against humanity.
Statement of Issues
The challenge for the prosecution in the presented case is to establish points regarding the following issues:
- Showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms. Mazet has criminal responsibility for committing crimes against humanity of persecution under Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute for indirect perpetration;
- Showing that there are reasonable grounds for believing that Ms. Mazet is criminally culpable of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity, namely, murder, rape, enforced disappearances, and forcible population transfer under article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute.
Crimes against humanity are associated with certain acts purposefully committed as a part of a widespread and consistent attack directed at any civilian in the time of war or peace (United Nations, 2012). The law that governs the prosecution of such crimes has been mainly developed through the development and integration of customary international law. An international convention has not codified such crimes; however, there are currently international efforts for establishing a treaty under the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative. The account of the legal notion of crimes against humanity developed since the Nuremberg trials after the end of , when the global community made a decision to prosecute political and military leaders for crimes they committed against their subjects.
The 1998 Rome Statute that enabled the establishment of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) is the the most recent consensus within the international community regarding this matter. Crimes against humanity are seen as violent acts of similar nature and character that or suffering to the physical and/or mental health and well-being of the population. According to Article 7(1) of the Rome Statute, a crime against humanity does not necessarily have to occur during the war (International Criminal Court, 2011). It has physical, contextual, and psychological elements, which describe the nature of the crime (International Criminal Court, 2011). Specifically, a physical element implies commissioning any of the acts such as murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, grave forms of sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance, apartheid crime, as well as other inhumane acts (Renzo, 2012, p. 444). The contextual element of crime implies that it should be committed within a systematic framework as directed to any civilian population. The psychological element of the crime is concerned with knowledge of the violent act.
