DOCSLIB.ORG

The Unspoken Tension Around Sexual Violence Crimes in the International Criminal Justice System

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Unspoken Tension Around Sexual Violence Crimes in the International Criminal Justice System The Missing Gender Frame: The Unspoken Tension Around Sexual Violence Crimes in The International Criminal Justice System By Annie Lentz Washington and Lee University, Class of 2020 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………2 Chapter 1: Literature Review……………………………………………………………………...5 The Reality of Rape Prosecutions………………………………………………………....6 The Role of Feminist Theory in Rape Convictions….…………………………………..10 The Role of Race in Gendered Crimes….……………………………………………….17 The Role of Practitioners………………………………………………………………...19 The Role of Civil Society…….……………………………………………………….....21 Order Building and Feminist Theory………………………………………………….... 25 Humanitarian Organizations and Criticisms in Treatment….………………………….. 29 Where We Are Now…. ………………………………………………………………….34 Chapter 2: Outlining Our History Prosecuting Sexual Violence………………………………...35 Codifying the Rules: The Geneva and Hague Conventions….………………………….39 The First Trial: Leipzig War Crimes Trial….…………………………………………....42 A Missed Opportunity: The Nuremburg Trials………………………………………….44 Underplaying Even the Most Brutal Rapes: Tokyo Trials……………………………….47 Trying to Universalize the Rights of Women: CEDAW………………………...………50 The First Tribunal in The New System: ICTY……………………………………….….51 Pushing the Definition and Convictions Further: ICTR………………………………....54 Changing the Structure, Consolidating the Process: International Criminal Court……...57 The New System and Restorative Justice: ICC Situations………………………………59 Progress for the Treatment of Victims and Witnesses…………………………………...64 Chapter 3: Practitioners Within the System….…………………………………………………..67 David Scheffer: U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001)……....70 Clint Williamson: U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (206(2006-2009)…-2009)……...72 Stephen Rapp: U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (2009-2015)………..74 Stephanie Barbour: Lawyer and Investigator for the ICC……………………………….78 Lucy Seyfarth: Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Global Criminal Justice at U.S. Department of State….…………………………………………………………………..80 The Challenge of Getting Justice for Women, as Women……………………………….84 We Cannot Adjudicate Sexual Violence Unless We Address Gender…………………..85 The Gender Bias in the ICJS……………………………………………………………..87 Practitioners See Their Roles as Important and Norm Defining………………………...90 Chapter 4: If We Want to Better Adjudicate Rape, We Have to Address It……………………..91 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………99 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………103 The Missing Gender Frame Lentz 2 Introduction: Facing My – And Our Collective – Unfamiliarity The first time I was exposed to the reality of gendered violence, violence that targets certain individuals because of their gender, during conflict was the second semester of my junior year. I was in my fifth class that covered WWII in detail. This class in particular outlined war tactics and movements of the Allied and Axis powers, providing context for our current global political environment. About halfway through the semester, the professor was lecturing on German military activity in France, illustrating the movements for the class on the white board. As he concluded his representation and shifted back to the PowerPoint, he added, “Over this particular movement, it is suspected that somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 women were raped by traveling soldiers.” Then he moved on. I was shocked. I raised my hand and asked if he could go into more detail. He summarized that it was estimated that over the course of the military movement he was outlining, between 50,000 and 100,000 women had been raped between both the Allied and Axis regimes. I could not believe it. I was not only shocked by the number of attacks but also by the fact that this was the first time I was learning about any such violence. I was in my fifth class covering WWII history at the collegiate level, and this was the first time I had even heard of gendered and targeted violence. After class I did some more digging on sexual violence during WWII and found that the numbers my professor referenced were actually minimal compared to the projected total number of female rape victims in WWII. It is estimated that 2 million German women were raped by the Soviet Red Army soldiers during the war.1 I could not get over the exclusion of such widespread sexual 1 Walter S. Zapotoczny, “The Russian Army in Germany: 1945,” in Beyond Duty: The Reasons Some Soldiers Commit Atrocities (Fonthill Media, 2017). The Missing Gender Frame Lentz 3 violence from my education, and I was determined to learn more about sexual violence during conflict. That exploration led me to this project. In the subsequent pages, I will explore the phenomenon of sexual and gendered violence during war. When I began this venture, I set out to answer the question, “What is it about sexual violence crimes that makes them different from other crimes against humanity such that we do not talk about them?” In pursuit of an answer, I will provide a summary of some of the leading scholars’ work on gender imbalance, as well as the writings of practitioners in the field. Then, I will outline the history of prosecuting sexual violence and gendered crimes in the international criminal justice system (ICJS). I will explore case studies from the ICJS and track the development of precedent that has led to the current international justice approach in use today. I will utilize interviews I conducted with leading practitioners in the field to explore the ICJS from the view of those working inside it. I will explain my method for the questions I asked – ranging from their view of their role to the justice priorities of those working in international criminal courts – and the answers I received. Finally, I will close this project by concluding that we have a gender framing problem that spans from domestic policy to that at the highest level of international criminal justice. I will argue that our inability to verbalize the gender imbalance in our society inhibits our legal system from achieving justice for female victims of sexual violence. I will argue that in order to truly achieve justice for sexual violence crimes, we have to be able to address that on top of rape being an atrocious crime – as the ICJS has established through convictions over the past three decades – it is also a gendered crime. I will maintain that because of the gendered nature of sexual violence, rape is distinctive from other crimes against humanity as it targets victims based on gender. I will argue that only through addressing sexual violence The Missing Gender Frame Lentz 4 crimes committed against women as gendered crimes can we achieve justice for women as women. Throughout this analysis, I maintain that the ICJS employs criminal law to promote social good. In my estimation, the ICJS is promoting a broader socioeconomic and spiritual understanding of sexual violence for a particularly heinous form of crime. I make the distinction that no legal institution fights against the rule of law, rather, that changes are slow moving because progress has to be purposeful. I also maintain that the ICJS has made positive steps toward adjudicating sexual violence, even though there is a missing gender frame. I argue that we can continue to make our system better by acknowledging the gendered nature of sexual violence crimes. I will suggest that the effort to address the legacy of sexual violence should begin with education, as we can only tackle the problem if the public knows it exists. The Missing Gender Frame Lentz 5 Chapter 1: Literature Review Rape as a war crime is not a new idea. Rather, it has been a tool of domination for actors in conflict for centuries.2 The first recorded tribunal for war crimes – held in 1474 for German military leader Peter von Hagenbach – featured rape as a prominent portion of the conviction. But, in the centuries that followed, sexual violence was sparsely mentioned in military convictions or trials. By the time the Nuremberg Trials were conducted following WWII, rape was all but excluded from the court proceedings and entirely absent from the convictions. However, that is not to say that no progress has been made. In the past century, the international criminal justice system (ICJS) has been completely transformed. Formal tribunals were established and have convicted and sentenced those guilty of mass atrocity crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC), the newest organism of the ICJS, is a staple of international justice and sets precedents for the adjudication of war crimes with its convictions. Over the past three decades there has been increased scholarship in the field of rape as a war crime, prompted both by the civil society interest in the issue and the increasing international attention paid to women’s rights and sexual violence. This work spans countries and ideologies. Scholars and field actors alike contribute to the body of work, studying the use of rape in conflict and the evolution in the legal treatment thereof. It is my view, for the reasons outlined throughout this project, that the developments in the treatment of rape in the ICJS have been path dependent. Each conviction delivered in the system is informed by the work of the preceding trials. It is also my view that expansion in approach and conception of gendered violence in the 2 Linda Grant, “Exhibit Highlights the First International War Crimes Tribunal,” in Harvard Law Today (15 Apr. 2020), today.law.harvard.edu/exhibit-highlights-the-first-international-war-crimes-tribunal/. The first known war crime was that of Peter von Hagenbach, who, in 1474, was tried and convicted by the first international criminal tribunal. His crimes included that of “violation of ‘the laws of God and man,’ specifically murder, rape and perjury.” The Missing Gender Frame Lentz 6 ICJS can come from the public. Civil society actors have been behind many of the developments that have expanded the equality and treatment of women in the ICJS, as examined in Chapter 2. In a similar vein, with the rise in feminist scholarship like that evaluated in this chapter, we have also seen an elevation in the treatment of sexual violence in the ICJS.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 16. the Nuremberg Trials: Nazi Criminals Face Justice
    fdr4freedoms 1 16. The Nuremberg Trials: Nazi Criminals Face Justice On a ship off the coast of Newfoundland in August 1941, four months before the United States entered World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill agreed to commit themselves to “the final destruction of Nazi tyranny.” In mid-1944, as the Allied advance toward Germany progressed, another question arose: What to do with the defeated Nazis? FDR asked his War Department for a plan to bring Germany to justice, making it accountable for starting the terrible war and, in its execution, committing a string of ruthless atrocities. By mid-September 1944, FDR had two plans to consider. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. had unexpectedly presented a proposal to the president two weeks before the War Department finished its own work. The two plans could not have been more different, and a bitter contest of ideas erupted in FDR’s cabinet. To execute or prosecute? Morgenthau proposed executing major Nazi leaders as soon as they were captured, exiling other officers to isolated and barren lands, forcing German prisoners of war to rebuild war-scarred Europe, and, perhaps most controversially, Defendants and their counsel in the trial of major war criminals before the dismantling German industry in the highly developed Ruhr International Military Tribunal, November 22, 1945. The day before, all defendants and Saar regions. One of the world’s most advanced industrial had entered “not guilty” pleas and U.S. top prosecutor Robert H. Jackson had made his opening statement. “Despite the fact that public opinion already condemns economies would be left to subsist on local crops, a state their acts,” said Jackson, “we agree that here [these defendants] must be given that would prevent Germany from acting on any militaristic or a presumption of innocence, and we accept the burden of proving criminal acts and the responsibility of these defendants for their commission.” Harvard Law School expansionist impulses.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Coverage of the Special Court for Sierra Leone Jessica Feinstein Stanford University Law School
    Loyola University Chicago International Law Review Volume 7 Article 3 Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2010 2010 The yH brid's Handmaiden: Media Coverage of the Special Court for Sierra Leone Jessica Feinstein Stanford University Law School Follow this and additional works at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/lucilr Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Jessica Feinstein The Hybrid's Handmaiden: Media Coverage of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, 7 Loy. U. Chi. Int'l L. Rev. 131 (2010). Available at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/lucilr/vol7/iss2/3 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by LAW eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola University Chicago International Law Review by an authorized administrator of LAW eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HYBRID'S HANDMAIDEN: MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE Jessica Feinsteint I. The Media as 'Surrogates for the Public' ...................... 134 A . Publicity .................................................. 134 B . W atchdog ................................................. 136 II. Local Media Coverage of Preceding International Criminal T rials ......................................................... 136 A . N urem berg ................................................ 137 B. Second Generation Tribunals .............................. 138 C . IC T R ..................................................... 139 III. The M edia in Sierra Leone .................................... 140 A . History ..................................................
    [Show full text]
  • From the Nuremberg Trials to the Memorial Nuremberg Trials
    Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit Memorium Nürnberger Prozesse Hirschelgasse 9-11 90403 Nürnberg Telefon: 0911 / 2 31-66 89 Telefon: 0911 / 2 31-54 20 Telefax: 0911 / 2 31-1 42 10 E-Mail: [email protected] www.museen.nuernberg.de – Press Release From the Nuremberg Trials to the Memorial Nuremberg Trials Nuremberg’s name is linked with the NSDAP Party Rallies held here between 1933 and 1938 and – Presseinformation with the „Racial Laws“ adopted in 1935. It is also linked with the trials where leading representatives of the Nazi regime had to answer for their crimes in an international court of justice. Between 20 November, 1945, and 1 October, 1946, the International Military Tribunal’s trial of the main war criminals (IMT) was held in Court Room 600 at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. Between 1946 and 1949, twelve follow-up trials were also held here. Those tried included high- ranking representatives of the military, administration, medical profession, legal system, industry Press Release and politics. History Two years after Germany had unleashed World War II on 1 September, 1939, leading politicians and military staff of the anti-Hitler coalition started to consider bringing to account those Germans responsible for war crimes which had come to light at that point. The Moscow Declaration of 1943 and the Conference of Yalta of February 1945 confirmed this attitude. Nevertheless, the ideas – Presseinformation concerning the type of proceeding to use in the trial were extremely divergent. After difficult negotiations, on 8 August, 1945, the four Allied powers (USA, Britain, France and the Soviet Union) concluded the London Agreement, on a "Charter for The International Military Tribunal", providing for indictment for the following crimes in a trial based on the rule of law: 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trial of Paul Touvier
    A CENTURY OF GENOCIDES AND JUSTICE: THE TRIAL OF PAUL TOUVIER An Undergraduate Research Scholars Thesis by RACHEL HAGE Submitted to the Undergraduate Research Scholars program at Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation as an UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLAR Approved by Research Advisor: Dr. Richard Golsan May 2020 Major: International Studies, International Politics and Diplomacy Track TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review.....................................................................................................1 Thesis Statement ......................................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................2 Project Description...................................................................................................2 KEY WORDS ..................................................................................................................................4 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................5 United Nations Rome Statute ..................................................................................5 20th Century Genocide .............................................................................................6
    [Show full text]
  • Prosecuting Rape As a War Crime in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
    NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Volume 26 Number 1 Article 5 Fall 2000 Rethinking the Spoils of War: Prosecuting Rape as a War Crime in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Christin B. Coan Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncilj Recommended Citation Christin B. Coan, Rethinking the Spoils of War: Prosecuting Rape as a War Crime in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 26 N.C. J. INT'L L. 183 (2000). Available at: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncilj/vol26/iss1/5 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in North Carolina Journal of International Law by an authorized editor of Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rethinking the Spoils of War: Prosecuting Rape as a War Crime in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Cover Page Footnote International Law; Commercial Law; Law This comments is available in North Carolina Journal of International Law: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncilj/ vol26/iss1/5 Rethinking the Spoils of War: Prosecuting Rape as a War Crime in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia What is wonderful is that we come from all different systems and we are trying to create a system that is acceptable to all. We are doing pretty good thus far. -ICTY Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald' For as long as organized human conflict has existed, the specter of wartime rape has loomed as a deplorable and historically unaddressed side effect of war.2 The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), created to hear cases arising from the conflict in that war-torn area, has had occasion to pass judgment on rape and sexual assault as sanctionable criminal offenses.' This Comment analyzes the ways in which the procedural and evidentiary rules governing the ICTY's treatment of rape have been interpreted and applied in practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Annex 4: Mechanisms in Europe
    ANNEX 4: MECHANISMS IN EUROPE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA Conflict Background and Political Context The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) emerged from World War II as a communist country under the rule of President Josip Broz Tito. The new state brought Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and Slovenes into a federation of six separate republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) and two autonomous provinces of Serbia (Kosovo and Vojvodina). Ten years after Tito’s death in 1980, the country was in economic crisis and the mechanisms he had designed to both repress and balance ethnic demands in the SFRY were under severe strain. Slobodan Milošević had harnessed the power of nationalism to consolidate his power as president of Serbia. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolved in January 1990, and the first multiparty elections were held in all Yugoslav republics, carrying nationalist parties to power in Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia.1763 Meanwhile, Milošević and his political allies asserted control in Kosovo, Vojvodina, and Montenegro, giving Serbia’s president de facto control over four of the eight votes in the federal state’s collective presidency. This and the consolidation of Serbian control over the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA) heightened fears and played into ascendant nationalist feelings in other parts of the country. Declarations of independence by Croatia and Slovenia on June 25, 1991, brought matters to a head. Largely homogenous Slovenia succeeded in defending itself through a 10-day conflict that year against the Serb-dominated federal army, but Milošević was more determined to contest the independence of republics with sizeable ethnic Serb populations.
    [Show full text]
  • Justice in the Justice Trial at Nuremberg Stephen J
    University of Baltimore Law Review Volume 46 | Issue 3 Article 4 5-2017 A Court Pure and Unsullied: Justice in the Justice Trial at Nuremberg Stephen J. Sfekas Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/ublr Part of the Fourteenth Amendment Commons, International Law Commons, and the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Sfekas, Stephen J. (2017) "A Court Pure and Unsullied: Justice in the Justice Trial at Nuremberg," University of Baltimore Law Review: Vol. 46 : Iss. 3 , Article 4. Available at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/ublr/vol46/iss3/4 This Peer Reviewed Articles is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Baltimore Law Review by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A COURT PURE AND UNSULLIED: JUSTICE IN THE JUSTICE TRIAL AT NUREMBERG* Hon. Stephen J. Sfekas** Therefore, O Citizens, I bid ye bow In awe to this command, Let no man live Uncurbed by law nor curbed by tyranny . Thus I ordain it now, a [] court Pure and unsullied . .1 I. INTRODUCTION In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the common understanding was that the Nazi regime had been maintained by a combination of instruments of terror, such as the Gestapo, the SS, and concentration camps, combined with a sophisticated propaganda campaign.2 Modern historiography, however, has revealed the
    [Show full text]
  • [email protected] Vichy, Crimes Against Humanity
    Henry Rousso Institut d’histoire du temps présent (CNRS, Paris) [email protected] Vichy, Crimes against Humanity, and the Trials for Memory Department of French-Italian, Department of History The University of Texas at Austin Lecture given at 9/11/2003 I would like to begin this talk about the way France coped with its past by making some general statements. Why it may be interesting to study the Vichy legacy, except of course if you are impassionned by French History? Why the history of the memory of the “Dark Years”, the years of the Nazi Occupation, may have some interest for other periods or other situations, in contemporary history? Why to study preciseley how the representations of the past or the behaviour towards the past has evolved from 1944, the Liberation, to the present days, may have a universal meaning ? We can propose several answers : - We may learn a lot in studying the “Dark years” because it’s a period in which a great power, the second world power at that time in terms of political and economic influence, collapsed in six weeks, after a brutal and unexpected agression against its territory. The panic of the defeat, the disarray coming from the vanishing of the State and of other authorities, led to a strong support for a dictatorship, the Vichy Regime, which abolished most of the political rights. The new regime, using the fear of most of the population, declared that France was no more a Republic, and that she had a lot of ennemies : not the Nazi Occupiers, but the Jews, the Foreigners, the Free- Masons, all kind of opponents: in short, for Vichy, one of the result of the defeat, ennemies were at home.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on Nuremberg
    Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review Volume 39 Number 1 Special Edition: The Nuremberg Laws Article 3 and the Nuremberg Trials Winter 2017 Reflections on Nuremberg Frank Tuerkeimer [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr Recommended Citation Frank Tuerkeimer, Reflections on Nuremberg, 39 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 25 (2017). Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr/vol39/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REFLECTIONS ON NUREMBERG MACRO.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 1/24/17 7:24 PM Reflections on Nuremberg FRANK TUERKHEIMER Louise Arbor, former chief prosecutor for the Yugoslav and Rwanda war crimes tribunals remarked that, “collectively . we’re linked to Nuremberg. We mention its name every single day.”1 With the passage of seventy years since the International Military Tribunal (“IMT”) announced its verdicts and pronounced its sentences much in the world has changed and the contour of international criminal law, founded in Nuremberg, has expanded enormously. Nevertheless, Nu- remberg is still a point of reference, reverence and reflection. I. AN AMAZING FEAT IN THE HISTORY OF TRIALS That reflection begins with a statement of pure and basic awe. As a trial lawyer who has tried complex criminal and civil cases in New York City, Washington, DC and Madison, Wisconsin, I have some idea of what it takes to prepare a case.
    [Show full text]
  • OSJI-Options for Justice-FR-11-14-2018.Indd
    ANNEXE 4 : MÉCANISMES EN EUROPE TRIBUNAL PÉNAL INTERNATIONAL POUR L’EX-YOUGOSLAVIE Historique du conflit et contexte politique La République fédérative socialiste de Yougoslavie (RFSY) était au sortir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale un pays communiste dirigé par le président Josip Broz Tito. Le nouvel État réunissait les Serbes, les Croates, les musulmans bosniaques, les Albanais, les Macédoniens, les Monténégrins et les Slovènes dans une fédération de six républiques distinctes (Slovénie, Croatie, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Macédoine, Monténégro et Serbie) et deux provinces autonomes de Serbie (Kosovo et Vojvodine). Dix ans après la mort de Tito en 1980, le pays connut une crise économique, tandis que les mécanismes conçus par Tito pour à la fois réprimer et équilibrer les exigences des différentes ethnies en RFSY furent mis à rude épreuve. Slobodan Milošević avait profité de la force du nationalisme pour consolider son pouvoir à la présidence de la Serbie. La Ligue des communistes de Yougoslavie fut dissoute en janvier 1990, et les premières élections multipartites furent organisées dans toutes les républiques yougoslaves, amenant des partis nationalistes au pouvoir en Bosnie, en Croatie, en Slovénie et en Macédoine.1763 Entre-temps, Milošević et ses alliés politiques revendiquèrent le contrôle du Kosovo, de la Vojvodine et du Monténégro, donnant au président serbe un contrôle de facto sur quatre des huit droits de vote au sein de la présidence collective de l’État fédéral. Cet événement et la consolidation du pouvoir serbe sur l’Armée populaire yougoslave (APY) amplifièrent les craintes et contribuèrent à la montée du nationalisme dans d’autres régions du pays. Les déclarations d’indépendance de la Croatie et de la Slovénie le 25 juin 1991 précipitèrent les choses.
    [Show full text]
  • American Leadership on Atrocity Crimes and the Fight for Justice Ambassador (Ret.) Nicholas Burns Carnegie Endowment for Interna
    American Leadership on Atrocity Crimes and the Fight for Justice Ambassador (ret.) Nicholas Burns Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conference January 25, 2018 This is an important conference on a vital American interest—standing up for human rights and prosecuting those responsible for atrocity crimes. I thank the Carnegie Endowment for bringing us together this morning. This conference on this vital subject fits right in the center of the Endowment’s long commitment to a more just world. It is particularly gratifying for me to be here with so many distinguished American diplomats with whom I served during the last two decades in both Democratic and Republican Administrations. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Ambassadors at Large for War Crimes Issues David Scheffer, Pierre Prosper, Clint Williamson and Stephen Rapp. We are in debt to Ambassador Todd Buchwald, to Ambassador John Shattuck, to former State Department Legal Advisor John Bellinger and others here today who held high the American commitment to human rights, to helping the victims of genocide, mass atrocities, torture and abuse. We salute President Clinton and Secretary Madeleine Albright for creating the Ambassadorial position in the first place. David Scheffer reminded me that we are the only country that has such a position. The United States has been the central country worldwide that has kept these issues at the center of the attention of the international community. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all made a clear commitment that we would pursue justice on behalf of the victims. They appointed the public servants I have just saluted.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Issue 2.1
    Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal Volume 2 Issue 1 Article 1 April 2007 Full Issue 2.1 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp Recommended Citation (2007) "Full Issue 2.1," Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 1: Article 1. Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol2/iss1/1 This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Editor’s Introduction We are very excited to be entering the second volume year of Genocide Studies and Prevention. Our first three issues were diverse and contained some of the most important new research in the field. As we enter our second year, and publish our first issue of volume 2, we hope to continue that tradition. Broadly speaking, GSP 2:1 focuses on the prevention of genocide. The lead article, by Thomas Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, examines genocide prevention in the real world of politics. Weiss points out that, ‘‘except for the label, the responses of the international community of states to Rwanda and Sudan were comparable.’’ He notes that ‘‘perhaps, as Scott Straus has argued in these pages, we have invested too much time and energy in parsing the ‘G-word.’’’ In this sense Weiss is a perfect supplement to David Scheffer’s arguments, originally published in GSP 1:3, concerning the need for a new category of crime.
    [Show full text]