{ "generated": "2026-10-15T18:35:42.522Z", "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "applies_to": "Our own text and data in /data. Linked sources keep their own licences." }, "about": "People's and independent tribunals: who convened them, what they asked, what they found (attributed to them), their legal status, and the primary record. A tribunal's findings are its own, not a court's and not ours.", "tribunals": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-uk", "name": "The Gaza Tribunal: Inquiry into British Complicity", "tags": [ "peoples-tribunal", "israel-palestine", "uk", "inquiries", "london" ], "status": "concluded", "convened_by": "The Peace & Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn MP.", "panel": "Jeremy Corbyn MP, Dr Shahd Hammouri and Professor Neve Gordon.", "question": "What has happened in Gaza, what Britain's legal responsibilities are, what Britain's role has been (including arms supply, surveillance flights and the use of RAF bases), and whether Britain has met its legal obligations.", "summary": "A two-day UK tribunal at Church House, Westminster, held after a bill for an official inquiry stalled. It concluded that the British government failed its obligation to prevent genocide.", "sat": [ { "date": "2025-06-04", "date_label": "JUN 2025", "text": "Jeremy Corbyn's Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill has its first reading in the Commons.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-inquiry-bill-2025", "title": "Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill (2024–26 session)", "url": "https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3987", "type": "official" } ] }, { "date": "2025-09-04", "date_label": "SEP 2025", "text": "The tribunal sits for two days at Church House, Westminster, hearing survivors, medics, aid workers, journalists and legal experts.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-uk-report-2026", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal: An inquiry into Britain's role in Israeli war crimes in Gaza — Report", "url": "https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/139/185/original/the-gaza-tribunal-report.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2026-03", "date_label": "MAR 2026", "text": "Report published.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-uk-report-2026", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal: An inquiry into Britain's role in Israeli war crimes in Gaza — Report", "url": "https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/139/185/original/the-gaza-tribunal-report.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2026-06-22", "date_label": "JUN 2026", "text": "A new Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill has its first reading; second reading is listed for 4 December 2026.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-inquiry-bill-2026", "title": "Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill (2026 session)", "url": "https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4183", "type": "official" } ] } ], "findings": [ "The report concludes that the British government \"failed in its fundamental obligation to prevent genocide\" and has been complicit in atrocity crimes, and says evidence suggests it was in some instances an active participant.", "It says it will draw the evidence to the attention of UK lawyers, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, and calls for a full, official, independent public inquiry." ], "nuance": [ "Why a tribunal and not an inquiry: under the Inquiries Act 2005 only a Minister can establish a statutory public inquiry, with powers to compel evidence. A citizens' tribunal has none of those powers.", "The tribunal's website says the government rejected Corbyn's inquiry bill at second reading on 4 July. Parliament's bill record shows a first reading on 4 June 2025 and no second-reading sitting for that bill; a new bill was introduced in June 2026.", "Not the same body as the international Gaza Tribunal presided over by Richard Falk." ], "legal_status": "A civil-society inquiry with no statutory powers. Its conclusions are those of its panel and publisher, not of any court or official body.", "responses": [], "related_tribunals": [ "gaza-tribunal" ], "website": "https://thegazatribunal.uk/", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-uk-report-2026", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal: An inquiry into Britain's role in Israeli war crimes in Gaza — Report", "url": "https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/139/185/original/the-gaza-tribunal-report.pdf", "type": "report" }, { "id": "gaza-tribunal-uk-site", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal: Inquiry into British Complicity", "url": "https://thegazatribunal.uk/about", "type": "organisation" }, { "id": "gaza-inquiry-bill-2025", "title": "Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill (2024–26 session)", "url": "https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3987", "type": "official" }, { "id": "gaza-inquiry-bill-2026", "title": "Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill (2026 session)", "url": "https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4183", "type": "official" }, { "id": "inquiries-act-2005-s1", "title": "Inquiries Act 2005, section 1 — Power to establish inquiry", "url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/12/section/1", "type": "legislation" } ], "checked": "2026-10-15", "url": "https://independenttribunal.org/independent-tribunals/gaza-tribunal-uk/", "aftermath": [] }, { "id": "belmarsh-tribunal", "name": "The Belmarsh Tribunal", "tags": [ "peoples-tribunal", "press-freedom", "extradition", "united-states", "london" ], "status": "concluded", "convened_by": "Progressive International, inspired by the Russell–Sartre Tribunal of 1966.", "panel": "A rotating cast of activists, artists, thinkers and political representatives at each sitting.", "question": "In its organisers' words: to put the United States government on trial for its twenty-first-century crimes, from Iraq to Guantánamo to CIA surveillance, and to draw attention to the persecution of Julian Assange, who revealed them.", "summary": "A travelling people's tribunal named after the London prison where Julian Assange was held, convened while he fought extradition to the United States.", "sat": [ { "date": "2020-10-02", "date_label": "OCT 2020", "text": "First sitting, held online.", "sources": [ { "id": "belmarsh-tribunal-pi", "title": "The Belmarsh Tribunal", "url": "https://progressive.international/movement/campaign/the-belmarsh-tribunal-49b20783-1491-4b86-b02a-eef879e26318/en/", "type": "organisation" } ] }, { "date": "2023-03-04", "date_label": "→ MAR 2023", "text": "Further sittings in London (Westminster), New York City and Washington DC, then Sydney in March 2023.", "sources": [ { "id": "belmarsh-tribunal-pi", "title": "The Belmarsh Tribunal", "url": "https://progressive.international/movement/campaign/the-belmarsh-tribunal-49b20783-1491-4b86-b02a-eef879e26318/en/", "type": "organisation" } ] } ], "findings": [ "Its organisers describe it as putting the United States government on trial and arguing the case against Assange's extradition. We have not found a published formal judgment; if one exists, tell us and we will add it." ], "nuance": [ "The legal case it campaigned about ended outside any courtroom verdict on the merits. In June 2024 Assange pleaded guilty in a US federal court in Saipan to one Espionage Act conspiracy count and was sentenced to the 62 months he had already spent in custody in the UK.", "Before that, the English High Court had allowed the US appeal against the refusal to extradite (December 2021), and in March 2024 had given the US the chance to provide assurances before deciding whether to allow Assange to appeal." ], "legal_status": "A campaign tribunal convened by an advocacy organisation, with no legal powers.", "responses": [], "aftermath": [ { "date": "2021-12-10", "date_label": "DEC 2021", "text": "High Court allows the US appeal and remits the case for it to be sent to the Home Secretary.", "sources": [ { "id": "usa-v-assange-2021", "title": "Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin)", "url": "https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2021/3313", "type": "judgment" } ] }, { "date": "2024-03-26", "date_label": "MAR 2024", "text": "High Court adjourns three grounds to give the US time to file assurances.", "sources": [ { "id": "assange-v-usa-2024", "title": "Assange v Government of the United States of America [2024] EWHC 700 (Admin)", "url": "https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2024/700", "type": "judgment" } ] }, { "date": "2024-06-26", "date_label": "JUN 2024", "text": "Plea and time-served sentence in Saipan; Assange leaves for Australia.", "sources": [ { "id": "doj-assange-plea-2024", "title": "WikiLeaks Founder Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Conspiring to Obtain and Disclose Classified National Defense Information", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/wikileaks-founder-pleads-guilty-and-sentenced-conspiring-obtain-and-disclose-classified", "type": "official" } ] } ], "related_tribunals": [ "gaza-tribunal" ], "website": "https://progressive.international/movement/campaign/the-belmarsh-tribunal-49b20783-1491-4b86-b02a-eef879e26318/en/", "sources": [ { "id": "belmarsh-tribunal-pi", "title": "The Belmarsh Tribunal", "url": "https://progressive.international/movement/campaign/the-belmarsh-tribunal-49b20783-1491-4b86-b02a-eef879e26318/en/", "type": "organisation" }, { "id": "usa-v-assange-2021", "title": "Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin)", "url": "https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2021/3313", "type": "judgment" }, { "id": "assange-v-usa-2024", "title": "Assange v Government of the United States of America [2024] EWHC 700 (Admin)", "url": "https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2024/700", "type": "judgment" }, { "id": "doj-assange-plea-2024", "title": "WikiLeaks Founder Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Conspiring to Obtain and Disclose Classified National Defense Information", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/wikileaks-founder-pleads-guilty-and-sentenced-conspiring-obtain-and-disclose-classified", "type": "official" } ], "checked": "2026-10-15", "url": "https://independenttribunal.org/independent-tribunals/belmarsh-tribunal/" }, { "id": "gaza-tribunal", "name": "The Gaza Tribunal (international)", "tags": [ "peoples-tribunal", "genocide", "israel-palestine", "london", "sarajevo", "istanbul" ], "status": "concluded", "convened_by": "An international people's tribunal, established in London in November 2024 in the tradition of the Russell Tribunal, with Richard Falk (former UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories) as President.", "panel": "A Steering Committee, three specialised Chambers (International Law; International Relations and World Order; History, Ethics and Philosophy), an Advisory Policy Council, and an invited Jury of Conscience that delivered the final moral judgment.", "question": "Israel's conduct in Gaza, the complicity of other states and actors, and how civil society can close what the tribunal calls the enforcement gap left by the ICJ and ICC.", "summary": "An international people's tribunal that sat in Sarajevo and Istanbul and whose Jury of Conscience delivered a moral judgment that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.", "sat": [ { "date": "2024-11", "date_label": "NOV 2024", "text": "Established in London.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-conclusion-2025", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal Concludes: \"The Genocide Continues\"", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/the-gaza-tribunal-concludes-the-genocide-continues/", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2025-05", "date_label": "MAY 2025", "text": "Public hearings in Sarajevo; adoption of the Sarajevo Declaration.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-conclusion-2025", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal Concludes: \"The Genocide Continues\"", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/the-gaza-tribunal-concludes-the-genocide-continues/", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2025-10-26", "date_label": "OCT 2025", "text": "Final session in Istanbul; the Jury of Conscience delivers its Statement of Findings and Moral Judgment.", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-jury-statement-2025", "title": "Final Statement of the Gaza Tribunal Jury of Conscience", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/final-statement-of-the-gaza-tribunal-jury-of-conscience/", "type": "report" } ] } ], "findings": [ "The Jury of Conscience described its statement as a moral judgment on the commission by Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and on the complicity of other actors.", "The Steering Committee's concluding statement, issued in Istanbul on 26 October 2025, said the genocide continues." ], "nuance": [ "The tribunal says plainly that it is \"not a court of law\": it does not purport to determine the guilt or liability of any person, organisation or state. Its judgment is moral, not legal.", "It presents itself as an answer to an enforcement gap: in its account, ICJ and ICC decisions depend on the political will of the UN Security Council to be enforced.", "Not the same body as the UK-focused Gaza Tribunal run by the Peace & Justice Project, which examined Britain's role." ], "legal_status": "A civil-society people's tribunal. By its own statement, not a court of law and not a determination of anyone's guilt or liability.", "responses": [], "related_tribunals": [ "gaza-tribunal-uk", "belmarsh-tribunal" ], "website": "https://gazatribunal.com/", "sources": [ { "id": "gaza-tribunal-jury-statement-2025", "title": "Final Statement of the Gaza Tribunal Jury of Conscience", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/final-statement-of-the-gaza-tribunal-jury-of-conscience/", "type": "report" }, { "id": "gaza-tribunal-conclusion-2025", "title": "The Gaza Tribunal Concludes: \"The Genocide Continues\"", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/the-gaza-tribunal-concludes-the-genocide-continues/", "type": "report" }, { "id": "gaza-tribunal-steering-committee", "title": "Gaza Tribunal — Steering Committee", "url": "https://gazatribunal.com/steering-committee/", "type": "organisation" } ], "checked": "2026-10-15", "url": "https://independenttribunal.org/independent-tribunals/gaza-tribunal/", "aftermath": [] }, { "id": "uyghur-tribunal", "name": "Uyghur Tribunal", "tags": [ "peoples-tribunal", "genocide", "crimes-against-humanity", "china", "london" ], "status": "concluded", "convened_by": "Established by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC at the June 2020 request of Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress. Members worked pro bono; funding for witness travel, venue hire and some staff came initially from the World Uyghur Congress.", "panel": "Sir Geoffrey Nice QC (Chair), Nick Vetch (Vice Chair) and seven other members drawn from law, medicine, academia and business.", "question": "Whether the People's Republic of China committed genocide, crimes against humanity and torture against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations in Xinjiang.", "summary": "A London people's tribunal that found, beyond reasonable doubt, that China committed genocide against Uyghurs — through measures to prevent births, not mass killing.", "sat": [ { "date": "2021-06", "date_label": "JUN 2021", "text": "First evidence hearings in London.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2021-09", "date_label": "SEP 2021", "text": "Second evidence hearings.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2021-11-27", "date_label": "NOV 2021", "text": "A third, live-streamed hearing on leaked Xinjiang government papers.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2021-12-09", "date_label": "DEC 2021", "text": "Judgment delivered at Church House, Westminster.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] } ], "findings": [ "Torture attributable to the PRC: established beyond reasonable doubt.", "Crimes against humanity attributable to the PRC, including deportation or forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape and other sexual violence, enforced sterilisation, persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts: established beyond reasonable doubt.", "Genocide: the tribunal was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the PRC committed genocide by imposing measures to prevent births, intended to destroy a significant part of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.", "Killing: evidence of killings, but not on a scale that could threaten the destruction of the group. Serious harm: established, but the tribunal could not conclude it was intended to destroy the group." ], "nuance": [ "The genocide finding rests on one of the five acts listed in the Genocide Convention: imposing measures intended to prevent births (Article II(d)). The tribunal noted this may be the first public, evidence-based determination of genocide on that basis alone.", "The tribunal said it would, as a whole, prefer not to make such a finding, because it does not match the public understanding of genocide as mass killing. It made the finding anyway because, it said, the Convention's drafters had deliberately kept that act in.", "It applied the criminal standard, beyond reasonable doubt, rather than the lower 'clear and convincing' standard used by an earlier independent report." ], "legal_status": "A people's tribunal with no legal force. In its own words, it had no power to enforce the provision of documents or the attendance of witnesses.", "responses": [ { "date": "2021-03-26", "date_label": "MAR 2021", "by": "People's Republic of China", "text": "Announced sanctions on bodies and individuals including the tribunal and its Chair, describing UK sanctions over Xinjiang as based on lies and disinformation.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] }, { "date": "2021", "date_label": "2021", "by": "Governments of the US, UK, Japan and the PRC", "text": "Requests from the tribunal for information were not met, according to the judgment.", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" } ] } ], "related_tribunals": [], "website": "https://uyghurtribunal.com/", "sources": [ { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-judgment-2021", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal Judgment (with appendices)", "url": "https://www.utjd.org/uyghurtribunal/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/UYGHUR-TRIBUNAL-Judgment-2022.09.20.pdf", "type": "report" }, { "id": "uyghur-tribunal-site", "title": "Uyghur Tribunal", "url": "https://uyghurtribunal.com/", "type": "organisation" } ], "checked": "2026-10-15", "url": "https://independenttribunal.org/independent-tribunals/uyghur-tribunal/", "aftermath": [] } ] }