The International Court of Justice opened oral hearings May 4 on the merits of a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region, with Guyana asking the court to declare that Venezuela has no legitimate claim to the oil-rich territory that constitutes some two-thirds of Guyana's landmass.

Syria's Internal Security Forces on April 24 arrested Amjad Youssef, principal suspect in a massacre of civilians in the Tadamon neighborhood of Damascus in April 2013. Footage emerged in 2022 showing Syrian soldiers leading captives, bound and blindfolded, to a pit before shooting them. The video became one of the most direct pieces of visual evidence of extrajudicial killings by forces of the Bashar Assad dictatorship, which was finally overthrown in December 2024. The leaked footage was released as part of an investigative report prepared by researchers from the Institute for War, Holocaust & Genocide Studies (NIOD) at the University of Amsterdam. Apprehended in a rural area of Hama province following a manhunt, Youssef appeared in the footage, and is believed to have been a member of the notorious Branch 227 of the Assad-era Military Intelligence Directorate. Estimates by the Syrian Network for Human Rights indicate that the death toll in the Tadamon massacre may exceed 450 people. (SNHR, BBC News)

In Episode 325 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case—political, legal and practical—for sending Trump to a jail cell at The Hague to face war crimes charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Actual precedent refutes the conventional wisdom that this demand is "unrealistic." Serbia's long-ruling strongman Slobodan Milosevic died in a cell at The Hague while awaiting trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, while Philippines ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is currently in a cell at The Hague awaiting trial before the ICC. The Court just confirmed that it has jurisdiction in the Duterte case despite the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC. Contrary to the dogma of "American exceptionalism," such an outcome for Trump is within the realm of possibility.

The exterminationist rhetoric that has accompanied Trump's massive bombardment of civilian infrastructure in Iran has been condemned by Amnesty International as possible incitement to genocide—a crime under international law. Can Trump join Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin as the next world leader to face charges before the International Criminal Court? Yes, if Iran follows Palestine and Ukraine in granting jurisdiction to the ICC for crimes committed on its territory. This is legally valid, despite intransigence from the United States, Israel and Russia alike. The next three convictions by the ICC could be the first of figures from outside the African continent—undermining accusations of a double standard that have hindered the Court's effectiveness. In Episode 322 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg makes the case—politically and practically—for sending Trump to a prison cell at The Hague.

Hungary, Namibia, Fiji and the United States on March 12 each filed declarations of intervention to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case against Israel in relation to the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Hague District Court ruled on Jan. 28 that the Netherlands has failed to meet its international obligations on climate change. The court ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to better protect Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island, within 18 months.

Police and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced Jan. 22 the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon.

NATO launched a new exercise dubbed Eastern Sentry on Sept. 12 in response to the ongoing joint Russia-Belarus military exercise dubbed Zapad (West), which involves thousands of troops, naval maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, and simulated nuclear strikes. Yet two US military observers were invited to Belarus to observe the Zapad exercise, standing on a viewing platform to review forces from the same Russian army that is fighting in Ukraine. This comes shortly after the United States lifted sanctions on Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia, while the regime of Alexander Lukashenko released 52 political prisoners, including an employee of the EU delegation in Minsk. (Ukrainska Pravda, Air & Space Forces, National Security Journal, NYT, DW)