On October 29, 2021, a Dutch woman, Farhia Hassan, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to face charges related to her alleged involvement in Somalian terrorist group al-Shabaab. She is facing up to 15 years in prison.

On November 25, 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a preliminary judgment on what information must be provided by the requesting tax authority soliciting tax information on request.[1]

On November 16, 2021, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego partially unsealed an indictment in a U.S. District Court, charging 29 alleged members of an international money laundering organization linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico.[1]  On November 10, 2021, Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr. of Tamaulipas, Mexico, pleaded guilty to drug and money laundering charges, admitting that he was the leader of a trafficking organization that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the U.S.[2]

On November 22, 2021, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation announced that, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, it repatriated a trove of stolen artifacts to the Republic of Mali. ICE transferred the artifacts to Ambassador Issa Konfourou, permanent representative of Mali to the United Nations.[1]

On October 28, 2021, in Bogota, Colombia, two events took place, which is significant for both Colombia and the International Criminal Court (ICC).  ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan QC, head of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), announced that the + termination of the preliminary examination regarding the situation in Colombia. At the same time, the Prosecutor concluded a Cooperation Agreement with the Government of Colombia that renews the commitment of the OTP with Colombia’s accountability mechanisms.[1] While marking a new chapter for complementarity in the country, it is also the first time the Office concluded such an agreement with a State Party.
 

                On November 18, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice calling attention to the increasing trend in environmental crimes and associated illicit financial activity.[1]

Jineth Bedoya Lima is an internationally known Colombian journalist whose notoriety has come at enormous personal cost. In 2011, the Bedoya Lima y Otra v. Colombia was brought on her behalf before the Inter American Court of Human Rights (IACHR)  for events on May 25, 2000.  The case has now concluded, and after a lengthy process, Bedoya has been granted an important judgment against Colombia by the IACHR.  Relief includes directives for training and education to prevent future violence against female journalists. 

As the Convention on Cybercrime (“Budapest Convention”) turns 20, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, at its 1417bis meeting on November 17, 2021, has adopted a Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on enhanced cooperation and the disclosure of electronic evidence (“Second Additional Protocol”).

On November 12, 2021, the United States Department of Justice announced the extradition on November 10, 2021, of a Mexican national to face international drug trafficking charges.  Jose González-Valencia, also known as Jafett Arias-Becerra, La Chepa, Camaron, and Santy, 46, made his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on November 11.  He was detained pending his appearance the following afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.[1]  On November 15, 2021, Mexican authorities arrested Rosalina González-Valencia, the defendant’s sister and the wife of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).[2]

On October 25, 2021, a German Court sentenced a German woman turned Islamic State (ISIS) supporter to 10 years of imprisonment for her involvement in the death of a Yazidi girl. This is the first conviction against an Islamic State member involved in a Yazidi persecution. Other nations could follow suit and bring ISIS perpetrators of Yazidi persecution accountable with the application of universal jurisdiction, the doctrine that allows any nation to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of link between prosecuting country and location of a given crime.