Holding to Account the Commission of International Crimes in the Central African Republic: The Establishment of the Special Criminal Court

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Ignacio Tredici ◽  
Renaud Galand
Keyword(s):  
Central African Republic ◽  
National Court ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
National Reconciliation ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

The Special Criminal Court for the Central African Republic (scc) is a national court that has been established with the assistance of the Un Multidimensional Integrated Mission of Stabilization in the Central African Republic (minusca) to bring to justice perpetrators of international crimes committed in car from 2003. The establishment of the scc is a response to the legal obligation to fight impunity for the most serious crimes in a country severely affected by decades of internal armed conflicts, social and political crises: car has been depleted of the resources required to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the commission of international crimes. Taking to justice the perpetrators will help consolidate peace, security and justice and break the cycle of violence. The scc is hence expected to serve as a catalyst for the restoration of the rule of law in car more broadly and to advance national reconciliation and peacebuilding processes. Notwithstanding the challenges that it will face, it is submitted that the scc could be a valid model to be replicated in other post-conflict contexts where impunity for either international crimes or serious organized crime is a fundamental impediment to social peace and progress.

Building respect for the rule of law in violent contexts: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' experience and approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 96 (895-896) ◽  
pp. 881-900
Author(s):  
Annyssa Bellal
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Concerted Action ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
High Commissioner

AbstractHow does the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) discharge its mandate of “promoting and protecting the effective enjoyment by all of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights”, especially in armed conflicts and other situations of violence? What are its concrete responsibilities, and how does it work to generate respect for the rule of law on the ground? This article aims to provide an overview of OHCHR's activities, and point to some of the challenges associated with its work to generate respect for the rule of law, in particular in violent contexts. It begins with an overview of the unique mandate of OHCHR and situates it within the broader United Nations human rights machinery. It then gives an account of OHCHR's experience and approach in building respect for the rule of law, including in armed conflicts and post-conflict situations, outlining how this informs OHCHR's field setup. Finally, the article summarizes the main challenges that OHCHR faces in the discharge of its mandate. It highlights the need for more concerted action on the part of human rights/humanitarian protection organizations on the ground, despite differences in mandates and constituencies.

The ICC Prosecutor and Positive Complementarity: Strengthening the Rule of Law?

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Tillier
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Preliminary Examination

The purpose of this study is to examine the practice of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with regard to his/her policy of positive complementarity. This policy aims at encouraging domestic jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of core international crimes. In order to achieve this goal, the Prosecutor can act at various stages of the proceedings. First at the preliminary examination phase, where he/she will determine if conditions of admissibility are met, and secondly at the investigation and prosecution phases of the proceedings. This study shows that the ability of the Prosecutor to pursue such a policy is real, but limited, as his/her core mandate, is to bring perpetrators of international crimes before the International Criminal Court. Consequently, the implementation of the policy of positive complementarity must be envisioned in collaboration with other actors working on Rule of Law Programs. In this respect, the Prosecutor must engage in cooperation with international organisations and civil society actors.

The Iraqi High Criminal Court: controversy and contributions

2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (862) ◽  
pp. 399-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Newton
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
International Forum ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Common Purpose ◽  
The Relationship

The Iraqi High Criminal Court established to prosecute Saddam Hussein and other leading Ba'athists is one of the most visible of the current efforts to establish criminal accountability for violations of international norms. Juxtaposed against other tribunals, the High Criminal Court has provoked worldwide debate over its processes and its prospects for returning societal stability founded on respect for human rights and the rule of law to Iraq. This article explores in detail the legal basis for the formation of the High Criminal Court under the law of occupation. It addresses the relationship between the Iraqi model of prosecuting crimes in domestic fora incorporating international law and the alternative model of transferring jurisdiction to an international forum. The controversial aspects of the Iraqi model are considered, such as the legitimacy of its creation, the revocation of official immunity, the procedural fairness of the Statute in the light of international norms, and the substantive coverage of what some have termed an internationalized domestic process. The author concludes that accountability for international crimes is one of the unifying themes that should bind humanity in common purpose with the Iraqi jurists as they pursue justice in accordance with international norms.

scholarly journals The Crisis of International Criminal Law in Africa: A Regional Regime in Response?

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-311
Author(s):  
Eki Yemisi Omorogbe
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Crimes

Abstract This article considers the African Union’s (AU) proposal for a regional court for international crimes under the Malabo Protocol 2014 (Protocol). It places that within the AU’s rejection of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for African Heads of States that are not party to the Rome Statute and a more general protection of incumbents. It argues that the enthusiasm for establishing a regional criminal court, which lacks jurisdiction to prosecute incumbents, has not been sustained and African states remain committed to the ICC. It shows that nevertheless the Protocol’s provisions on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, although imperfect, better address the specific character of armed conflicts in Africa than current international law, including the Rome Statute of the ICC. It concludes that the regional court for international crimes is unlikely to be established unless the ICC takes further action against incumbent leaders but that the Protocol’s provisions could be used in the development of a more Africa-centric international law.

Explaining How Human Rights Protections Change After Internal Armed Conflicts

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-264
Author(s):  
Johannes Karreth ◽  
Patricia Lynne Sullivan ◽  
Ghazal Dezfuli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

Abstract Societies emerging from internal armed conflicts display surprising variation in the degree to which governments protect human rights. Employing new data on civilian victimization by both government and rebel forces, we find that the human rights climate of a post-conflict country is not simply a perpetuation of pre-conflict conditions, or the result of repressive regimes remaining in power. Instead, the treatment of civilians during conflict has an independent impact on post-conflict human rights protections (HRP). Analyses of ninety-six post-conflict periods (1960–2015) show that when governments systematically and extensively target civilians during counterinsurgency campaigns, post-conflict human rights conditions decline substantially compared to pre-conflict levels, even accounting for other predictors of human rights violations, including pre-conflict human rights conditions. This holds regardless of who is in power after conflicts end. These findings have implications for theoretical models of repression and conflict cycles, and for practitioners and policymakers aiming to restore and protect human rights after war.

scholarly journals Monstrosity and War Memories in Latin American Post-conflict Cinema

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-112
Author(s):  
Maria Chiara D'Argenio
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Between The Acts ◽  
War Memories ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

This article explores the relationship between inhumanity, monstrosity, war and memory in two Latin American films: Días de Santiago (Peru, 2004) and La sombra del caminante (Colombia, 2004). These aesthetically innovative films tackle the internal armed conflicts that have occurred in Colombia and Peru in recent years. Focusing on former soldiers’ reintegration into civilian life, they display war as a traumatic experience that produces monstrosity, understood as a dehumanisation of the individual. By analysing the tropes of monstrosity and the haunting past, and the films’ aesthetics, I show how the performance of the monster articulates a tension between inhumanity and humanness, which can be read as a metaphor for the tension between the acts of remembering, investigating and forgetting within post-conflict societies. 

scholarly journals Accounting for Crimes: The Role of International Criminal Tribunals in Effectively Addressing Impunity

Refuge ◽  
1998 ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
Iris Almeida
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Lasting Peace ◽  
Practical Reality ◽  
International Rule

In this paper, the author examines the ways in which accountability for international crimes could become a practical reality. She takes the position that "impunity" is inimical both to justice, and to lasting peace and democracy in post-conflict societies and proposes a conceptual framework for the international rule of law as an alternative. She also argues that a strong, independent and permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) would ensure the kind of universal enforcement of international law that will lead to a progressive, long-term reduction of human rights violations.

scholarly journals International legal foundations of responsibility for international crimes against cultural heritage in conditions of armed conflicts

Legal Ukraine ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 67-72
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Bazov
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Community ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Hague

The article is devoted to the analysis of issues of international legal provision of responsibility for international crimes in the field of protection of cultural values. The main international legal acts and case law in this area are analyzed. Proposals for improving international and domestic legal acts are provided. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of a free human person free from fear and need can only be realized if conditions are created in which everyone can enjoy their economic, social, cultural and political rights. Understanding the systemic nature of these rights implies the creation of appropriate conditions for their implementation at both national and international levels, including in the field of judicial protection. As the realization of economic, social, political and cultural rights is complex, systemic, the issues of preservation and protection of cultural values have recently become especially important, as it applies not only to the state in which they are located, but also to all peoples of the world. Thus, the preservation and protection of cultural heritage sites, especially in armed conflicts, is a matter not only of an individual state, but of the entire international community. As you know, issues of protection of cultural values are constantly in the field of view of the international community. In particular, these issues were reflected in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, especially in the Hague Regulations of 1907. The most important international legal act on the preservation and treatment of cultural heritage sites in armed conflict is the Hague Convention of 14 May 1954 on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Additional Protocols of 1954 and 1999, respectively, which is perceived as a universally recognized universal set of norms in the field of protection of cultural values. Key words: international criminal court, cultural values, cultural heritage, international crimes.

scholarly journals President Trump Authorizes Economic Sanctions and Visa Restrictions Aimed at International Criminal Court

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 775-778
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Executive Order ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Trump Administration

In the spring of 2020, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized the ICC's prosecutor to investigate alleged international crimes committed in Afghanistan. The Trump administration strongly condemned this decision. In an escalation of retaliatory measures against the ICC, President Trump signed an executive order authorizing economic sanctions against foreign persons involved in the investigation and visa restrictions against those persons and their immediate family members. The ICC described these actions as a threat to the rule of law.

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