On Sunday, February 27, 2022, Karim A. A. Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), concluded the first visit by an ICC prosecutor to Bangladesh.  Khan’s visit was prompted by the alleged crimes being committed against the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.  He asserted that he would prioritize investigation into this matter during his leadership.  He confirmed his intention to accelerate the collection and analysis of evidence in support of the claims which was previously hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic, and that he has dedicated additional resources to the process.

On March 3, 2022  following consultation with Ukraine, 45 OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) participating States invoked  the Moscow Mechanism in order to “address the human rights and humanitarian impacts of the Russian Federation’s invasion and acts of war, supported by Belarus, on the people of Ukraine, within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and territorial waters.”[1]

On April 12, 2022, the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor released the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices covering internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Increasingly Mexican drug cartels are participating in the harvest, transport, and sale of marine wildlife species, including endangered species.  They often collaborate with Chinese wildlife trafficking networks. [1]

On April 12, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper granted the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss the suit of a Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Morgunov, seeking to stop the U.S. government’s efforts to extradite him from the Netherlands on criminal charges pending in the Southern District of Florida.[1]      

On April 12, 2022, the United States Department of Justice and Europol announced the seizure of the RaidForums website, a popular marketplace for cybercriminals to buy and sell hacked data, and unsealed criminal charges against Diogo Santos Coelho, 21, of Portugal, the RaidForums’ founder and chief administrator.  British authorities arrested Coelho in the United Kingdom at the request of the U.S.  He remains in custody pending the resolution of his extradition proceedings.[1]

On April 7, 2022, a Turkish court decided to transfer the trial of 26 Saudi suspects accused of the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia.   The decision came after a panel of judges granted a request last week by the prosecutor in the trial to transfer the case because none of the suspects were in Turkish custody and that the case would be inconclusive.  Soon after, Turkey’s justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, recommended that the Istanbul court close the trial in absentia and resume the case in Saudi Arabia.[1]   While endorsing the case’s transfer, Bozdag stated that if the Saudi authorities convict the defendants, the Turkish court would drop the case, but if they are acquitted, the Turkish court may resume the trial.[2]

On March 14, 2022, the Dutch and Australian governments launched a legal case against Russia at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) seeking to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.[1]

On April 6, 2022, the European Commission sent Malta a reasoned opinion concerning its investor citizenship program, also referred to as “golden passport” scheme. The Commission informed Malta that conferring EU citizenship in return for pre-determined payments or investments, without any genuine link to the Member States, violates EU law.[1]

On April 4, 2022, Spanish law enforcement executed a Spanish court order freezing the Motor Yacht (M/Y) Tango (the Tango), a 255-foot luxury yacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg, a sanctioned Russian oligarch.  Spanish authorities acted at the request from the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a seizure warrant.  The warrant alleges that the Tango was subject to forfeiture based on violation of U.S. bank fraud, money laundering, and sanction statutes.  In addition, seizure warrants obtained in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia target approximately $625,000 associated with sanctioned parties held at nine U.S. financial institutions.  The seizures are based on sanctions violations by several Russian specially designated nationals.[1]  Meanwhile, on April 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed in the Southern District of New York an indictment charging a Russian oligarch with violating U.S. sanctions arising from the 2014 Russian take-over of Crimea.[2]