How can the world wage justice for atrocity crimes when perpetrators are so hard to reach? The Clooney Foundation for Justice offers a practical answer and a way forward.
The Clooney Foundation invites you to the official launch of the Justice Beyond Borders mapping tool, the result of a months-long data-gathering and legal analysis project that tracks opportunities for prosecuting the perpetrators of serious international crimes ? war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression ? in national courts around the world.
Our research shows that more than 170 countries and territories can hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable under national laws, even when the crimes were committed beyond their own borders. But so far, only 24 countries have launched such prosecutions, primarily in the Global North.
Given the limited jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, national prosecutions of international crimes are a critical tool for combating impunity and a beacon of hope for survivors from Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other places where mass atrocities are being committed. But the lack of up-to-date, accessible information on relevant national laws has limited their effectiveness.
Justice Beyond Borders is an online tool that enables survivors, lawyers, civil society actors and law enforcement practitioners to make use of existing laws to access justice. This searchable database tracks the criminalization of serious international crimes across 217 countries and territories. The database also shows the conditions for exercising jurisdiction over each crime, as well as the procedural requirements for triggering successful cases.
The project seeks to increase access to justice for all survivors and ensure that perpetrators have nowhere to hide. Achieving this goal means mobilizing as many countries as possible to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes and ensuring that survivors know and can exercise their rights. Only then will accountability become the norm and impunity the exception.
The launch event will feature a presentation of the mapping tool and the key findings of the project, a panel discussion and Q&A with leading international experts, and a reception.