Golden Gate University Law Review Volume 34 | Issue 2 Article 7 January 2004 Justice for Rwanda: Toward a Universal Law of Armed Conflict Heather Alexander Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev Part of the Human Rights Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Heather Alexander, Justice for Rwanda: Toward a Universal Law of Armed Conflict, 34 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. (2004). http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol34/iss2/7 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at GGU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Golden Gate University Law Review by an authorized administrator of GGU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Alexander: Justice for Rwanda COMMENT JUSTICE FOR RWANDA TOWARD A UNIVERSAL LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT INTRODUCTION In 1994, an armed conflict raged in Rwanda between a non-state party and the Rwandan Government. l This armed conflict triggered the attempted extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group by the Rwandan Government. As a result of this appalling campaign, the United Nations (hereinafter "U.N.") created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (here inafter "ICTR") to prosecute three categories of offenses against the law of nations, classified as human-rights violations, com mitted during the Rwandan conflict: genocide,2 crimes against humanity,3 and violations of humanitarian law.4 Because of the 1 s.c. Res. 955, U.N. SCOR, 49th Sess., 3453rd mtg., at P2, U.N. Doc. S/Res/955 (1994) !hereinafter S.C.