Entrevista a Fernando Andreu, magistrado de la Audiencia Nacional 01 (cropped)

Fernando Andreu Merelles is a judge of the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. He plays a leading role especially in

humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pr ...

and in pursuing war-crime and similar issues (see linking articles relating to Rwanda,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, etc.). Such investigations are made possible by Spain's principle of

universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused's nationality, ...

in alleged cases of crimes against humanity,

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the L ...

, and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

2002 Gaza Strip bomb

On 29 January 2009 Andreu opened preliminary investigations into claims that a bomb attack on

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

in 2002 warranted the prosecution of the former Israeli defence minister

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer (, he, בנימין "פואד" בן אליעזר; 12 February 1936 – 28 August 2016) was an Iraqi-born Israeli politician and general. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1984 and 2014, and held several min ...

, the former defence chief-of-staff

Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 20 ...

, the former air force chief

Dan Halutz Dan Halutz ( he, דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007. Bi ...

, and four others, for crimes against humanity. He has been investigating the deaths of 15

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

terrorists, part of them civilians, who died when the

Israeli air force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

bombed a house in Gaza City. The attack killed a leader of the military wing of the Islamist movement

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

, Salah Shehade, along with 14 civilians, mainly children, and wounded some dozens of civilians, according to the complaint.

Rwandan genocide

Andreu has also investigated the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

and allegations of war crimes by

Rwandan Patriotic Army french: Forces rwandaises de défense sw, Nguvu ya Ulinzi ya Watu wa Rwanda , image = Rwanda Defense Force emblem.png , alt = , caption = , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 ...

(RPA) and

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, win ...

figures in Rwanda and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

between 1994 and 2000.RNC Leader Theogene Rudasingwa Testifies Against Rwandan Paul Kagame in Spanish High Court
''AfroAmerica Network'', 14 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2014

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References

External links

"Spain judge indicts Rwanda forces" (BBC)Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law
21st-century Spanish judges Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{Spain-law-bio-stub