The Ongwen Case, International Criminal Court
The Opening Statements in the Prosecution case were on 6 December 2016. The Opening Statements of the Defence case were on 18 September 2018.
The Defence Opening Statements are available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMoAxBpyCM&t=3277s
Beth’s Statement on fair trial violations starts at about 40.00.
The Closing Arguments took place 10-12 March 2020. They are available in English, French and Acholi from the ICC website at https://www.icc-cpi.int/uganda/ongwen/Pages/all-videos.aspx.
Beth’s part of the Closing Statement – including sections on fair trial; affirmative defences; mental health, child soldier and spiritualism experts; accommodations for a mentally disabled client; and others – is found in Sessions 2 and 3 on 12 March 2020. Lead Counsel Krispus Odongo Ayena and Co-Counsel Chief Charles A. Taku present Closing Statements for the Defence in Sessions 1, 2 and the end of 3. https://www.icc-cpi.int/uganda/ongwen/Pages/all-videos.aspx.
Appellate Acquittal for Major F.X. Nzuwonemeye in the “Military II” Case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
On 11 February 2014, the ICTR Appeals Chamber acquitted Major F.X. Nzuwonemeye, reversing his Trial Chamber convictions.
My article, “Litigating Human Rights: Fair Trial and International Criminal Justice, the Appellate Acquittals of Major F.X. Nzuwonemeye in the Ndindiliyimana (“Military II”) Case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (‘ICTR’)” discusses the reversals of convictions based on fair trial (right to notice) grounds and failure to provide a reasoned opinion. The Appeal Judgment, where it holds that there were fair trial violations, is a significant contribution toward strengthening the jurisprudence in support, and defense of fair trial as an international human right.
Chief Charles A. Taku and I represented Major Nzuwonemeye at trial and on appeal.
The article was published in the Spring 2015 Edition of Africa Law Today, the ABA-SIL’s (American Bar Association-Section on International Law) Africa Committee Newsletter. The article is available at Litigating_Human_Rights_Fair_Trial_and_International_Criminal_Justice
Interviews and Presentations
Interview on Defence Perspectives, Hague Girls – The Podcast, hosted by Evelyn A. Ankumah, Africa Legal Aid, at The Marginalised Intruder – A Conversation with Beth Lyons (buzzsprout.com), April 2023.
Centre for African Justice, Peace and Human Rights (CAJPHR)
Beth was invited to speak by CAJPHR in the Hague at its 3rd Annual Conference on Sexual Violence against the Male Gender in Conflict Situations: The Case of Child Soldiers, on 11 February 2020.
Here is a link to some of her comments on child soldiers:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fj_6n1sgfH0doH2_bLdf7PSm8jdPc7Bu/view
Ad Hoc Tribunals Oral History Project
Beth was interviewed in 2015 by the Ad Hoc Tribunals Oral History Project, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, Brandeis University about her experiences as a Defence Counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). A full transcript and the video can be accessed at https://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/internationaljustice/oral-history/interviews/lyons.html
Voices of the Rwanda Tribunal
Beth was interviewed in 2008 for this project of University of Washington’s (Seattle, Washington, United States) Information School, at http://www.tribunalvoices.org/voices/interviews
Interviewed for and cited in International Criminal Trials, A Normative Theory, by Sergey Vasiliev, University of Amsterdam, 2014
Interviewed for and quoted in Writing History in International Criminal Trials, by Richard Ashby Wilson, Cambridge University Press, 2011
International Criminal Defence and Human Rights 