On September 21, 2021, the European Human Rights Court’s Chamber overwhelmingly held Russia responsible for the poisoning of Aleksandr Litvinenko.[1]  On the same day, the British government named Denis Sergeev as a suspect in the Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy, Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter Yulia.[2]

On October 16, 2021, Cape Verde extradited Alex Nain Saab Moran (Saab) to the United States to answer an indictment charging him with laundering the proceeds of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a scheme to pay bribes to take advantage of Venezuela’s government-controlled exchange rate.[1]

An October 4, 2021 report published by the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (“Mission”) warned of the likelihood of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the country by multiple conflicting parties since the beginning of 2016.  The report, which the Mission presented on October 5, 2021, examines nine areas of focus for violations, abuses, and crimes under international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law.^[1]  Categories range from deprivation of liberty to extrajudicial killings and gender-based violence.  In response, the U.N. Human Rights Council renewed the Mission’s timeline for an additional nine months to conduct further investigation and assemble information in greater detail.^[2]

On October 7-8, 2021, the European Justice and Home Affairs Council met and agreed to take several initiatives on international enforcement matters.[1]

On September 29, 2021, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator briefed the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA Council) on its Afghanistan Counter-Terrorism Action Plan.[1]

                The JHA Council will review the Counter-Terrorism Action Plan and its implementation after six months in consultation with Working Party on Terrorism (TWP) and Working Party on Terrorism International Aspects  (COTER) and thereafter at six months intervals.

On September 5, 2021, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave funding to the United Nations Investigations Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) to develop Iraq’s witness protection program aimed at protecting witnesses of ISIL crimes. [1]

Harold Koh, a top legal advisor at the State Department, resigned after the Biden administration’s use of Title 42 to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants, calling it “inhumane” and “illegal.”[1]

In an internal memo, Koh criticized the Biden administration’s use of Title 42 and was displeased with the administration’s use of the policy, especially considering he “strongly supports” the administration.[2]

On September 27, 2021, Finews.com in Switzerland reported that Peter Rüegg, the former bank official of Privatbank IHAG, left Mallorca, Spain, where Spanish authorities arrested him on a United States extradition warrant for tax crimes.

On September 24, 2021, China officially declared illegal all crypto transactions.[1] China’s central bank stated that the cryptocurrency business activities seriously harm the safety of people’s assets.

On October 1, 2021, 80-year-old Canadian former fashion mogul Peter Nygard consented to extradition to the United States to face United States federal sex trafficking charges.[1]