The South African Supreme Court of Appeal ordered an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe. In a ground-breaking judgment, handed down in November 2013, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal resoundingly affirmed South Africa’s international obligations to exercise jurisdiction over alleged crimes against humanity, even when committed in another country. Being the first case that has directly raised the question of South Africa’s competence to investigate crimes against humanity, National Commissioner of the South African Police Service v Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre has been instrumental in testing the exercise of investigative powers of South African authorities, as mandated by the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act, 2002 or “the ICC Act”.
The matter dates back to 2008, when the South African Litigation Centre sent a dossier to certain South African authorities detailing allegations of crimes against humanity (particularly torture) committed against Zimbabwean nationals in Zimbabwe. The memorandum implicated senior officers in the Zimbabwean government. For various reasons (including resource constraints, diplomatic considerations, and scepticism regarding the evidence placed before them), the South African authorities declined to initiate an investigation.
The authorities asserted that the obligation to investigate crime was territorially limited to inhabitants of South Africa and their property. Furthermore, they argued that in terms of the ICC Act, the actual presence of the perpetrator was required in South Africa before an investigation could be initiated (it was claimed by the authorities that the alleged perpetrators were not present in South Africa, and that the majority had never previously visited South Africa). Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Appeal rejected these arguments and the South African Police Service was ordered to initiate an investigation into the alleged offences….
South Africa Today – Africa News
