scholarly journals Lessons in Atrocity Prevention: A Closer Look at Guinea

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 367-401
Author(s):  
Cristina G. Stefan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Perceived Success ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Internal Stakeholders

Abstract This article identifies the most significant atrocity risk factors and their indicators in accordance with the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes and provides a taxonomy of measures, taken by a variety of external and internal stakeholders, in different combinations, which reduced the risk of atrocity crimes reoccurring after the 2009 stadium massacre in Conakry, Guinea. On the 28th of September 2009, 157 protesters were killed, at least 1200 were injured, and over 100 women were raped by security forces in a stadium in Conakry. The UN’s Commission of Inquiry (coi) concluded that these crimes committed by the security forces amounted to crimes against humanity. The efforts to halt further violence and prevent the commission of crimes post-2009 stadium massacre were varied and encompassed regional and international preventive diplomacy. The coordination of a coherent political strategy among international, regional and sub-regional actors in the Guinean context contributed towards the perceived success in preventing further atrocities in Guinea, post-2009 massacre. Importantly, Guinea is not a typical example in terms of atrocity and conflict prevention, due to a unique regional and global dynamics that allowed for a rapid and rather coherent response to the September 2009 stadium massacre.

Notes for the Next un Secretary-General

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
Simon Adams
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Response ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Ethnic Cleansing ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Existential Crisis ◽  
Mass Atrocity ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

The United Nations faces an existential crisis. The norms that bind and ‘safeguard humanity’ are currently under threat. The deliberate bombing of hospitals and the indiscriminate killing of civilians has become almost routine in Syria and several other conflicts. Numerous governments and murderous non-state actors (like isis or Boko Haram) are defying international humanitarian and human rights law. This article argues that the solution to the current global exigency and a central challenge facing the next Secretary-General is to achieve an equilibrium shift away from crisis response and towards conflict prevention. This is especially true with regard to preventing mass atrocity crimes (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing). Historically, no single issue has done more to tarnish the reputation of the un than the failure to halt atrocities. Under a committed Secretary-General, the un has unique capacity to prevent these crimes.

scholarly journals Understanding Mass Atrocity Prevention during Periods of Democratic Transition

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen McLoughlin 
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Ethnic Cleansing ◽  
Horizontal Inequality ◽  
Mass Atrocity ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of why some countries experience mass atrocities during periods of democratic transition, while others do not. Scholars have long regarded democracy as an important source of stability and protection from mass atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. But democratic transition itself is fraught with the heightened risk of violent conflict and even mass atrocities. Indeed, a number of studies have identified regimes in transition as containing the highest risk of political instability and mass atrocities. What is overlooked is the question of how and why some regimes undergo such transitions without experiencing mass atrocities, despite the presence of a number of salient risk factors, including state-based discrimination, inter-group tension and horizontal inequality. Utilizing a new analytical framework, this article investigates this lacuna by conducting a comparative analysis of two countries—one that experienced atrocities (Burundi) during transition, and one that did not (Guyana). How countries avoid such violence during transition has the potential to yield insights for the mitigation of risk associated with mass atrocity crimes.

scholarly journals “I Would Prefer to Be Famous”

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Karstedt
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
World War ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
The Impact

The reentry of sentenced perpetrators of atrocity crimes is part and parcel of the pursuit of international and transitional justice. As men and women sentenced for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the other tribunals return from prisons into society and communities questions arise as to the impact their reentry has on deeply divided postconflict societies, in particular on victim groups. Contemporary international tribunals and courts mostly do not have penal or correctional policies of their own, and the legacy of early release, commuting of sentences and amnesties that Nuremberg and other post-World War II tribunals have left, is a particularly problematic one. Germany’s historical experience provides an analytic blueprint for understanding in which ways contemporary perpetrators return into changed and still fragile societies. This comparative analysis between Nuremberg and the ICTY is based on two data sets including information on returning war criminals sentenced in both tribunals. The comparative analysis focuses on four themes: politics of reentry, admission of guilt and justification, memoirs, and political activism.

Part VI Impact, ‘Legacy’, and Lessons Learned, 47 The Deterrent Effect of the ICC on the Commission of International Crimes by Government Leaders

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grono Nick ◽  
Wheeler Anna de Courcy
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

This Chapter examines in which circumstances, and under what conditions, the prospect of prosecution by the ICC may act to curtail the actions of government or rebel leaders by shifting the strategic calculus in favour of avoiding war crimes or crimes against humanity. It studies ICC engagement and its impact in Uganda, the DRC, Colombia, Sudan, Kenya, and Mali. It argues that success or failure of ICC deterrence rests to a large degree on its ability to pursue successful prosecutions. It concludes that potential to deter future atrocity crimes may not exist in all cases, and probably not in the midst of armed conflict, but could exist in those situations where the commission of crimes is one of a series of policy options available to a leader facing a challenge to his or her authority.

Cosmopolitan Pluralist Hybrid Tribunals

2020 ◽  
pp. 594-625
Author(s):  
Elena Baylis
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Core Features

This chapter assesses hybrid tribunals as an example of cosmopolitan pluralist engagement. Hybrid tribunals, also known as internationalized criminal tribunals or hybrid courts, are ad hoc courts that incorporate a blend of international and national components and have jurisdiction over atrocity crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. These tribunals are expected to achieve their transitional justice and rule of law goals in no small part through the mechanism of pluralist engagement among multiple international and national legal communities. This chapter reviews the evolution of hybrid courts’ original core features of mixed staffing, mixed law, domestic location, and close relationship to the national legal system, including the emergence of new elements such as victim participation and domestic outreach. It evaluates their efforts to promote the goals of domestic perceived legitimacy, capacity building, and norm penetration, assesses the inclusivity of their design processes, and considers their influence on norm fragmentation in international criminal law. Overall, as institutions, some hybrid tribunals offer substantial opportunities for cosmopolitan pluralist engagement between international and local actors, while others are significantly constrained by institutional design or operational choices.

scholarly journals Atrocity Crimes in Xinjiang: Moving beyond Legal Labels

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Sophie Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

Abstract This article considers the legal tests for establishing genocide and crimes against humanity in relation to the situation in Xinjiang. It suggests that the currently available evidence is likely sufficient to establish atrocity crimes and that the situation in Xinjiang requires urgent international attention, regardless of the precise legal label applied to it.

scholarly journals Qualitative evidence of crimes against humanity: the August 2017 attacks on the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Messner ◽  
Andrea Woods ◽  
Agnes Petty ◽  
Parveen K. Parmar ◽  
Jennifer Leigh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Published Evidence

Abstract Background The Rohingya ethnic minority population in northern Rakhine state, Myanmar, have experienced some of the most protracted situations of persecution. Government-led clearance operations in August 2017 were one of many, but notably one of the most devastating, attacks on the population. The study aimed to conduct a multiphase mixed-methods assessment of the prevalence and contexts of violence and mortality across affected hamlets in northern Rakhine State during the August 2017 attacks. This publication describes qualitative accounts by Rohingya community leaders from affected hamlets, with a focus on the events and environment leading up to and surrounding the attacks. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with Rohingya community leaders representing 88 northern Rakhine state hamlets across three townships affected by the August 2017 attacks (Maungdaw, n = 34; Buthidaung, n = 42; Rathedaung, n = 12). Prior quantitative surveys conducted among representative hamlet leaders allowed for preliminary screening and identification of interview candidates: interviewees were then selected based on prior reports of 10 or more deaths among Rohingya hamlet community members, mass rape, and/or witness of mass graves in a hamlet or during displacement. Recorded interviews were transcribed, translated, and thematically coded. Results Rohingya leaders reported that community members were subjected to systematic civil oppression characterized by severe restrictions on travel, marriage, education, and legal rights, regular denial of citizenship rights, and unsubstantiated accusations of terrorist affiliations in the months prior to August 2017. During the attacks, Rohingya civilians (inclusive of women, men, children, and elderly) reportedly suffered severe, indiscriminate violence perpetrated by Myanmar security forces. Crimes against children and sexual violence were widespread. Bodies of missing civilians were discovered in mass graves and, in some cases, desecrated by armed groups. Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), consisting of the Army, Navy, and Border Guard Police continued to pursue, assault, and obstruct civilians in flight to Bangladesh. Conclusions Qualitative findings corroborate previously published evidence of widespread and systematic violence by the Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya. The accounts describe intentional oppression of Rohingya civilians leading up to the August 2017 attacks and coordinated and targeted persecution of Rohingya by state forces spanning geographic distances, and ultimately provide supporting evidence for investigations of crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.

“Urban Killing Fields:” International Humanitarian Law, Gang Violence, and Armed Conflict on the Streets of El Salvador

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-126
Author(s):  
Kirsten Ortega Ryan
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Gang Violence ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Internal Armed Conflict ◽  
Killing Fields ◽  
The World

SummaryEl Salvador is currently one of the most violent countries in the world with rates of violent death second only to Syria. With gangs running rampant and state security forces unchecked, the streets have become “urban killing fields”1 while the rest of the world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities. It is time for the international community to refocus on El Salvador and work towards a solution to this dire humanitarian crisis. To that end, it is imperative that the gang violence in El Salvador should be understood by the global community as an internal “armed conflict” under international humanitarian law. By recognizing the violence in El Salvador as an “armed conflict,” international attention to resolving this human rights tragedy will increase, and Salvadoran gang leaders and government forces can be prosecuted internationally for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Côte d’Ivoire

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 336-366
Author(s):  
Kwesi Aning
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Proximate Factors ◽  
The Face ◽  
Decisive Action ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Horizontal Inequalities

Abstract Côte d’Ivoire first experienced a civil war in 2002, but the country’s rapid socio-political disintegration after the demise of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993 produced several risk factors that would eventually culminate in atrocity crimes between 2010 and 2011. This article identifies a weak state that only exercised jurisdiction over the south of the country, years of instability driven by horizontal inequalities and an identity crisis, past abuses that had gone unpunished, and election disputes that served as triggers for atrocity crimes. The deeply polarized nature of Ivorian society meant that local mechanisms for resolving disputes and building peace were not wholly effective, even though they helped to resolve disputes and prevent violence in some local communities. Findings from the Ivorian case demonstrate the need to pay closer attention to the structural and proximate factors that underpin conflicts. Côte d’Ivoire also presents lessons on the need for decisive action in the face of unfolding atrocity crimes. There was a need for timely and decisive response in accordance with the principles of R2P. Nonetheless military intervention was delayed for months, resulting in avoidable fatalities.

Perpetrators on Trial

2019 ◽  
pp. 273-295
Author(s):  
Mirza Buljubašić ◽  
Barbora Holá
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Empirical Basis ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

Existing research on atrocity crimes perpetrators is predominantly theoretical and generic. Exploration of characteristics of individuals tried for their involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide might provide an empirical basis for a better understanding of the nature of international crimes and of criminal trials after atrocities. This chapter analyses defendant-related and crime-related characteristics of perpetrators tried by all courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) following the armed conflict in the 1990s at the territory of former Yugoslavia. Based on original data, collected as of January 2016, it briefly examines perpetrators convicted of international crimes by domestic and international courts, and their socio-demographic and crime-related characteristics. In addition to enriching debates on perpetrators of international crimes, the results can serve as a basis for further discussions on transitional justice after atrocities in Bosnia, its scope, and merits.

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