Judging criminal leaders : : the slow erosion of impunity / / Yves Beigbeder ; foreword by Theo van Boven.

• Superior document: Nijhoff Law Specials ; 55
• VerfasserIn: Beigbeder, Yves,
• TeilnehmendeR: van Boven, Theo,
• Place / Publishing House: The Hague, Netherlands ;, New York, New York : : Martinus Nijhoff,, [2002]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: English
• Series: Nijhoff Law Specials ; 55.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (241 pages)

In spite of the Geneva and The Hague Conventions of the late 19th century, the Twentieth Century has been a century of massacres and genocides: the massacres due to European colonialism, two World Wars, the Holocaust, the Armenian and the Rwanda genocides, the casualties caused by the Communist utopia in the USSR, China and Cambodia, and numerous civil wars. Most of the leaders mainly responsible for these massacres and genocides have enjoyed impunity. However, there is a slow popular awakening to the fact that leaders should be accountable for their crimes. A human rights regime was created after World War II, international criminal law has taken root with the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals, and, in the 1990's with the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. In 1998, the Statute for an International Criminal Court was adopted, while the arrest of former dictator Pinochet in London has created both a political storm and a judiciary advance. The "Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction" have been publicized in an effort to strengthen the application of international law in national legal systems. In Cambodia and Sierra Leone, mixed national/international courts are being set up to try criminal leaders. This unique volume offers the reader an overview of the various models which are emerging to ensure that criminal leaders and their collaborators are made accountable for their schemes and actions, and clearly illustrates how national, international and mixed national/international tribunals are slowly eroding the impunity of criminal leaders.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Introduction. List of abbreviations. List of tables and presentations. 1. The Twentieth Century-Massacres and Genocides. Unchallenged impunity. Colonialist crimes. Communism: a criminal utopia. Impunity in civil and International wars. Legal impunity: amnesty. National justice. International justice. Conclusion. 2.The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The reticent founders. Mandate and structure. The attitude of countries. Kosovo and the fall of Milosevic. The tribunal's achievements. Reforms. NATO's 'war crimes' in Kosovo. Conclusion 3. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. A predictable genocide. Rwanda and the International Tribunal. Mandate and structure. A mixed performance. Selected judgments and issues. National justice. Conclusion 4. The International Criminal Court. The origins. The statute. The preparatory Commission for the ICC. The US position. Promoting the ICC. Russian crimes in Chechnya. Conclusion. 5. The Pinochet Effect. The Pinochet's Chile. The prosecution of Pinochet. The Pinochet precedent. Universal jurisdiction. Conclusion. 6.Mixed National/International Tribunals. Judging the Khmer Rouge leaders? Sierra Leone's special Court. East Timor: Indonesian impunity. The Lockerbie Trial. Conclusion. 7. Conclusion. Select bibliography. Index.