INTERNATIONAL LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION

ASIA CUP 2013

ASTRAL v. RESMIN

A CASE CONCERNING THE DEATH OF BEN OSTONOV

Country ASTRAL and RESMIN are neighboring States sharing common borders.
In RESMIN, General KUROL, the powerful leader of RESMINs army, seized power in a coup
detat in 1990 and then assumed the presidency in RESMIN. By shutting down the parliament,
he wielded dictatorial power and oppressed his political oppositions. However, in consequence
of the movement for democratization in RESMIN in December 2012, called the RESMIN
Spring, President KUROL was displaced from power in the overthrow of his regime. He died
as a result of an airplane accident when he tried to escape to another country by military
aircraft.
In March 2009, a presidential election and a parliamentary election were carried out in
RESMIN. In conducting these elections, election monitors set up by the resolution of United
Nations Security Council were dispatched to RESMIN, and they confirmed that the elections
were peacefully conducted under democratic procedures. As a result of the elections, RESMIN
Peoples Party (RPP) won the presidential election as well as the parliamentary election. The
manifest of the RPP was realizing national reconciliation, which aimed to lead to the end of
severe political conflict between the former administration and rebel group. Started in April
2009, the RPP government proposed enactment of National Reconciliation Act (NRA). NRA
was aimed to implement the RPPs manifest of realizing national reconciliation and provided
that the conducts enumerated in the Act during KUROL administration (1990-2008) did not
lead to responsibility under criminal law nor civil law, as long as they were conducted under
political intentions. These conducts are: repression and torture by then governmental officials
against rebel groups and attacks by these rebel groups to the government. The bill of NRA was
adapted at the parliament of RESMIN in August 2009 and came into force at the same time.
Under the KUROL regime during 1990-2008, governmental officials (mainly military and
police) oppressed rebel groups in organized manner, like extrajudicial detention, torture and
killing. On the other hand, rebel groups also committed indiscriminate attacks against

governmental officials and civilians on many occasions, which resulted in considerable amount
of loss of life in RESMIN including government officials, rebel groups and ordinary citizens.
Mr. BEN OSTONOV, a national of ASTRAL and a freelance journalist based in ASTRAL, had
engaged in reporting the situation of human rights oppression under the KUROL regime. In
September 2005, He was abducted by unidentified men immediately after his arrival to an
airport in RESMIN where he would try to gather information and was found dead near the
airport in October 2005. His body was livid with numerous bruises and had many scars, which
indicated that he had suffered the torture.
Some journalists, who were friends of Mr. OSTONOV and based in ASTRAL, made it clear
that in August 2005, just before Mr. OSTONOVs departure from ASTRAL for RESMIN, he
received a letter from the RESMIN embassy in ASTRAL. According to them, the letter
advised him to cancel the travel to RESMIN and the news gathering activities in RESMIN
because the activities of terrorist groups increased in the territory of RESMIN and the
Government of RESMIN could not guarantee the security of Mr. OSTONOV in case of his
entry into RESMIN.
SABENA OSTONOV, wife of Mr. OSTONOV, insisted that the Government of RESMIN was
responsible for the death of Mr. OSTONOV. In November 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of ASTRAL also asked the Government of RESMIN to explain and provide with information
on the death of Mr. OSTONOV. Though the Government of RESMIN promised that it would
try to make investigation into the incident, neither detailed information nor official explanation
was given to ASTRAL.
In January 2010, GLOBAL RESMIN, a prestige newspaper in RESMIN, published an article,
which stated that the death of Mr. OSTONOV was of abduction, torture and killing by the
secret police of RESMIN under the instruction of then top senior official of the KUROL regime.
According to GLOBAL RESMIN, this article was based on verbal evidence obtained from
some former members of the secret police during the KUROL regime and proved enough.
However, the sources of information were not released by GLOBAL RESMIN.
In February 2010, in reaction to the above article of GLOBAL RESMIN, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of ASTRAL once again requested the Government of RESMIN to provide with
information on the death of Mr. OSTONOV and investigate into it. The Government of
RESMIN replied that it had no specific information on this matter.

 SABENA OSTONOV, Mr. OSTONOVs widow, brought a civil charge against the
Government of RESMIN before a local Court in ASTRAL (Court of first instance) in May 2010.
In the course of the litigation she argued as follows: (i) her husband, Mr. OSTONOV was killed
by governmental officials of RESMIN as a result of torture conducted by them and the
Government of RESMIN is responsible for it; (ii) pursuant to Article 14 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the
government of RESMIN is under obligation to pay compensation to the plaintiff. The
government of RESMIN contended that as a sovereign State, RESMIN enjoys immunity from
any domestic Courts in ASTRAL and the case should be dismissed. However, a local Court in
ASTRAL (Court of first instance), in its judgment in November 2011, ruled in favor of
SABENA, accepting all her arguments.
Attorney of the RESMIN appealed to a Higher Court in ASTRAL (the Court of second
instance) afterward, but by judgment in August 2012, the court dismissed the appeal. The
attorney lodged final appeal to the Supreme Court of ASTRAL. In a judgment of December
2012, the Court dismissed the appeal and ordered the Government of RESMIN to pay
compensation which amounts to $10,000,000 to SABENA OSTONOV. The Government of
RESMIN argued that the judgment of the supreme court of ASTRAL violates the rules of
international law governing state immunity and that RESMIN is not under an obligation to
respect the judgment, and at the same time, demanded the Government of ASTRAL to disaffirm
the judgment which infringed international law.
The government of ASTRAL, for its part, requested the government of RESMIN as
follows: (i) to admit that the present Government of the RESMIN is responsible for killing of
Mr. BEN OSTONOV under international law and to offer its apologies both for the
Government of ASTRAL and for SABEBA OSTONOV; (ii) In addition, the Government of
RESMIN shall pay appropriate compensation to SABENA OSTONOV.
In April 2013, the Government of ASTRAL and the Government of RESMIN agreed to
refer the legal dispute regarding the death of Mr. BEN OSTONOV to the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) in accordance with article 36(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
Both ASTRAL and RESMIN are founding members of the United Nations and the parties
to the Statute of the international Court of Justice, Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,
and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties,

and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Neither of them joins any
Optional Protocols to the ICESCR and ICCPR. ASTRAL became a party to Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1990 and
RESMIN did so in 2009, but they are does not join the Optional Protocol to the Convention.
ASTRAL is a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearances, but RESMIN is not. RESMIN ratified United Nations Convention on
Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, but ASTRAL does not.

*This case is not intended to be a description of an actual situation. The copyright belongs
to the organizer of the International Law Moot Court Competition, Asia Cup 2013.