A witness at the ICC or an asylumseeker in The Netherlands? Congolese men stuck in a "Dutch" jail
On the 4th of April the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that if it becomes clear that the Refugee Treaty and the ECHR would prevent those witnesses to be send back to the DRC The Netherlands is obliged to let them out of detention and let them enter The Netherlands. But that as long as there is no decision on their asylum request they can be held in detention by the ICC awaiting return to their Congolese jailcells. In the following article in Dutch (but Google Translate does wonders) Hemme Battje discusses the case and all the court rulings. This whole proceeding can have it's effects on the willingness of states to send their criminals as witnesses to The Hague and the ICC and can also leave the Netherlands with criminals they cannot deport. This is a link to that article by Hemme Battje: http://verblijfblog.nl/2014/05/08/getuige-bij-het-strafhof-of-asielzoeker-in-nederland/ --------------------------------------------------- Want to read more about the ICC? Click on the pictur...