National courts make up a state’s domestic judicial system. Many view national courts as the preferred forum for the prosecution of past human rights violations because they demonstrate a country’s effectiveness in applying the law within its own judicial and cultural context.
Holding a trial in the country where violations occurred may prove easier and more efficient than holding it in international or hybrid courts.
Examples of national or domestic courts to prosecute serious crimes include:
Indonesia: Between September 2003 – August 2004, fourteen active and retired military officials were tried by an ad hoc domestic court for serious crimes in Tanjung Priok. Two were convicted, but later acquitted on appeal.
Argentina: In 2006, members of the 1970s military junta were put on trial. By mid-2010, 1,464 people had been indicted for crimes against humanity and 74 had been convicted. Former General Reinaldo Benito and five other military officers were convicted and sentenced to 25 years for kidnappings and torture committed from 1976 to 1978. Former head of the military junta, Jorge Videla was also put on trial with over 20 other junta members for killing more than 30 political prisoners in 1976. In 2012, Videla and Bignone were convicted to 50 and 15 years in prison respectively for overseeing kidnappings of babies from 1976 to 1983.
Bangladesh: The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) was established in 2009 as a domestic war crimes tribunal with a mandate to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of the 1971 genocide. The suspects were members of the Pakistani military and their local collaborators.
Guatemala: In 2013, attempts were made to convict former military leader Efraín Ríos Montt is convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Ten days later, however, the Constitutional Court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.