Prosecution First Charge

Mr. President.
Your Excellencies.
Good Evening.

I am Mary Christel Joy Contreras appearing as Counsel for the Prosecution. With me, are my co-counsels, Yrvin Joel
Quinto and Jed Nicolo Von Aranda. We will be allotting 6 minutes of our time for our first submission, 6 minutes
for our second submission, and another 6 minutes for our third submission.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies.

If you have no preliminary questions, the Prosecution would like to proceed with its arguments.
May it please the court.

Your Excellencies, we appear before this Court to prosecute Colonel Michell Nazir for his violation and disregard of
the International Humanitarian Law and his indifference for humanity. For the success of this prosecution, we submit
that the following charges against him and their elements be established:
First, that Colonel Nazir is criminally responsible for committing the crime against humanity of
extermination under Article 7(1)(b) of the ICC Statute;
Second, that he has criminal responsibility for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against
building dedicated to religion under Article 8(2)(b)(ix) of the ICC Statute; and
Third, that he committed the crime of torture under Art. 8(2)(a)(ii) of the ICC Statute.

On to our first submission, Your Excellencies. The crime against humanity of extermination requires the following
elements:
First, that there be a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population;
Second, that there be killing of persons in a massive scale;
Third, that there be the accused’s intent shown by his act or omission; and
Lastly, that there be a condition of living that would lead to their deaths.

On to the first element, Your Excellencies. Widespread in the context of the Rome Statute pertains to the number
of the acts committed and the number of the victims affected. With this regard, may I invite your attention to
paragraph 16 where it was reported that 1000 civilians were killed in Bonham, including 153 who died in the attack
in the community hall which was deduced in paragraph 13 (where 69 suspected BLO members were killed during
the exchanges of fire between Mewani Police and the BLO Members in six incidents within a week and 50 others
were killed during a protest after a three hour confrontation) and paragraph 15 (where 56 people died after the
military, under the command of Colonel Nazir, exchanged fire with the alleged BLO members for 20 minutes);
paragraph 22 where 12 people died after a carefully planned attack by the military forces, ordered by Colonel Nazir,
in the Butterfly Temple. The aforementioned circumstances are enough evidence that the attack is widespread
having murdered more that 1000 people in different occasions, in different places.

Furthermore, not only are the attacks widespread for they are also systematic. Systematic refers to the organized
nature of the acts of violence and the recurrence of similar criminal conduct on a regular basis. It involves a
methodical plan that is thoroughly organized and following a regular pattern. We submit that such pattern is present
in paragraph 13 where it was deduced that several BLO activists were detained and that military measures had been
employed to stop the protest leading to the death of more than 100 people; paragraph 14 where 150 people went
missing right after the confrontation between the BLO and the forces of Colonel Nazir; paragraph 15 where Colonel
Nazir himself stated in a press conference that he deployed Donkan military personnel as per an intelligence report
he had received, asking for the surrender of those in the community hall, and when such was unheeded, the 20
minute exchange of fire leading to the death of 56 people; paragraphs 19 and 20 where the Donkan government
employed the services of BDS, forming part of the brigade of Colonel Nazir; and paragraph 22 wherein the military
carefully planned an attack in the Butterfly Temple where BLO Leaders will reportedly hold their meeting, such
leading to the death of 12 people and serious injuries to 72 people. All these circumstances are enough evidence to
prove that there is indeed a pattern, a system of attack formulated by the military under the command of Colonel
Nazir.

This leads me to the second element, Your Excellencies. The attacks ordered by Colonel Nazir and was conducted by
the military forces under his command is a large-scale murder, having more than 1000 people dead in different
occasions, in different places. Extermination, as characterized, must be collective and not just directed towards a
singled-out individual. Mass killing which is the actus reus of the crime against humanity of extermination, is also
evidenced by the evidence used to establish the widespread character of the attack, which I have established earlier,
Your Excellencies.

As to the third element, Your excellencies, the intent of Colonel Nazir to cause the killing and deaths that took place
is evidenced by his statement in the in the press conference in paragraph 15 wherein he stated that he had already
deployed 256 military personnel in the closed community hall. Such manifestation of his intent to bring destruction
to the people therein, leaving a number of dead, injured, and arrested civilian who were only suspected to be
members of the BLO, is a proof enough to establish that, indeed, the third element of the first charge against him is
present.

Lastly, with regard to the fourth element of the crime, Your Excellencies. The mens rea of the crime against humanity
of extermination is that there be conditions in life that would lead to their deaths. Aside from the military strategies
employed by Colonel Nazir in paragraphs 15 and paragraph 22 of the compromi which eventually lead to the death
of various people, Colonel Nazir also effected the detention of people allegedly suspected to be BLO activists
supported by the statement of an escapee in paragraph 28. Their detention is in a subhuman condition as stated in
paragraph 27 and paragraph 30 of the compromi. Such conditions of detention facility, having inadequate space,
food, water, and medical services, will eventually lead to the death of the detainees. It is an evidence that there are
indeed conditions in life employed by Colonel Nazir and his military forces that will lead to the death of the people
detained.

Having established and proved the presence of all the elements of the crime against humanity of extermination
under Article 7(1)(b) of the Elements of Crime, it must also be noted that Colonel Nazir committed the crime through
the military, hence, criminally liable through another under Article 25 (3)(a) of the Rome Statute. We, the
Prosecution, submits that Colonel Michell Nazir be held criminally liable for the first charge.

If you have no further questions, Your Excellencies, I will now give the floor to my co-counsels for our second and
third submissions.
May it please the Court.
Defense First Charge
Mr. President.
Your Excellencies.
Good Evening.

I am Mary Christel Joy Contreras appearing as Counsel for the Respondent. With me, are my co-counsels, Yrvin Joel
Quinto and Jed Nicolo Von Aranda. We will be allotting 6 minutes of our time for our first submission, 6 minutes
for our second submission, and another 6 minutes for our third submission.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies.

If you have no preliminary questions, I would now proceed with the arguments.
May it please the court.

Your Excellencies, we appear before this Court in the defense of a man who was wrongly accused of having
committed three crimes, a man who only desired to protect peace and restore order in Bonham and maintain unity
in the country of Donka, Colonel Michell Nazir. For the Defense, we would like to submit that the following charges
against him and their elements are lacking:
First, that Colonel Nazir is not criminally responsible for committing the crime against humanity of
extermination under Article 7(1)(b) of the ICC Statute;
Second, that he has no criminal responsibility for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against
building dedicated to religion under Article 8(2)(b)(ix) of the ICC Statute; and
Third, that he did not commit the crime of torture under Art. 8(2)(a)(ii) of the ICC Statute.

On to our first submission, Your Excellencies. The crime against humanity of extermination requires the following
elements:
First, that there be a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population;
Second, that there be killing of persons in a massive scale;
Third, that there be the accused’s intent shown by his act or omission; and
Lastly, that there be a condition of living that would lead to their deaths.

On to the first element, Your Excellencies. Widespread in the context of the Rome Statute pertains to an attack
directed against multiple civilian. In Bonham, a line must be drawn between the distinction of an attack directed
against the civilian and BLO combatants. Your Excellencies, may I invite your attention to paragraph 13, paragraph
15 and paragraph 22. It was stated therein that the attacks conducted by the military, under the command of Colonel
Nazir is not towards civilians but against BLO Combatants, activists and direct participants of the hostilities. Article 7
of the ICC Statute is clear, that crimes against humanity, may it be extermination or other form thereof, the attack
must be widespread directed against a civilian population and not against combatants.

Not only is the widespread character of the attack lacking, it is also non-systematic. An attack, to be systematic, must
be part of a bigger plan and not merely an incident of it. It must be noted that the attacks by the Donkan Military
forces employs no system at all, since there is no regularity in the occurrence of the attacks as they are dependent
on military intelligence reports, as gleaned in paragraph 15 and paragraph 22. Furthermore, only the attack in the
Butterfly Temple was carefully planned not to harm civilians but to actually protect them and to not cause panic
among the people. Hence, the attacks conducted under the command of Colonel Nazir are neither widespread nor
are they systematic.
This leads me to the second element, Your Excellencies. The attacks ordered by Colonel Nazir and was conducted by
the military forces under his command cannot be characterized as a large-scale murder or mass killing. In the absence
of an attack directed against the civilian population, as earlier established, your Excellencies, there is neither large-
scale murder nor mass killing. Mass killing which is the actus reus of the crime against humanity of extermination, is
not present in the Colonel Nazir’s case. Therefore, the second element to establish the crime against humanity of
extermination is missing.

As to the third element, Your Excellencies, the fact that there are civilians who died during the attack ordered by
Colonel Nazir does not imply that there is intent in his behalf to cause such deaths. The only intention of Colonel
Nazir is to obey the will of the Donkan President to protect the country from the secessionist movement lead by the
BLO and its Leaders and to fight against infiltration that is detrimental to the existence and unity of Donka.
Paragraphs 14, 15, 22, 23, and 25 manifests the lack of intent on the part of Colonel Nazir to cause the deaths of the
civilians who were affected, since the only target of their military attacks are the BLO members and its leaders.
Hence, the third element, like the first and the second element is lacking.

Lastly, with regard to the fourth element of the crime, Your Excellencies. The mens rea of the crime against humanity
of extermination is that there be conditions in life that would lead to their deaths. The mens rea, in this case, cannot
be established, as, again, there is intention on the part of Colonel Nazir to cause death nor harm to the civilian
population and therefore, the possibility of inflicting conditions in life that will lead to the death of the civilians is in
0%.

Having established and proved that all the elements of the crime against humanity of extermination under Article
7(1)(b) of the Elements of Crime is lacking, it must also be noted that Colonel Nazir cannot be held criminally
responsible through another under Article 25 (3)(a) of the Rome Statute. We, the Defense, submits that the first
charge against Colonel Michell Nazir must not be confirmed.

If you have no further questions, Your Excellencies, I will now give the floor to my co-counsels for our second and
third submissions.
May it please the Court.