DIGEST OF LATIN AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMES r Due Process of Law Foundation Washington, DC Due Process of Law Foundation 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 510A Washington, DC 20036 www.dplf.org © 2010 Due Process of Law Foundation All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-9827557-0-9 This volume was published with financial support from theUnited States Institute for Peace (USIP). The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are exclusively those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USIP. CONTENrTS Foreword by Naomi Roht-Arriaza ............................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................................... xv Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. xvii List of Judgments ....................................................................................................................................... xxiii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................. xli Chapter I Crimes under International Law .............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter II Individual Criminal Responsibility and Forms of Punishable Criminal Intervention .......................... 73 Chapter III Grounds for Exclusion from Criminal Responsibility ............................................................................ 125 Chapter IV National Legislation on Crimes under International Law and the Principle of Legality ...................... 147 Chapter V Jurisdiction over Crimes under International Law .................................................................................. 187 Chapter VI State Decisions that Hinder Investigation, Prosecution, and, as the Case May Be, Punishment of Crimes under International Law ...................................................................................... 255 Epilogue by Susan Kemp ..........................................................................................................................r 333 CHAPTER I. CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW ............................................................. 1 1. Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 3 A. Contextual elements of crimes under international law ............................................................. 7 B. Crimes under international law cannot be considered as political crimes ................................. 10 2. Genocide ........................................................................................................................................ 12 A. Evolution and recognition of the crime of genocide as a crime under international law .......... 13 B. Elements of the crime of genocide ............................................................................................ 15 i. Specific intent: Intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a specific group as such .............. 15 ii. Victim of the crime of genocide: National, ethnic, racial, or religious group ...................... 17 a. Genocide and political groups ....................................................................................... 18 iii. Perpetrator of the crime of genocide: State and non-State actors ....................................... 20 iv. Underlying conducts of the crime of genocide .................................................................... 20 C. Legally protected value in the crime of genocide ...................................................................... 22 D. Application: Genocide .............................................................................................................. 22 i. Guatemalan case: Classifying facts as genocide .................................................................. 22 ii. Argentine case: Determination of the group ...................................................................... 23 3. Crimes against humanity .............................................................................................................. 26 A. Evolution and recognition of crimes against humanity as crimes under international law ....... 29 B. Elements of crimes against humanity ....................................................................................... 32 i. Widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population ........................................ 33 r iii DIGEST OF LATIN AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMES r a. Civilian population ........................................................................................................ 35 ii. Knowledge of the attack ..................................................................................................... 36 C. Application: Plan or policy ....................................................................................................... 37 i. Panamanian case ................................................................................................................. 37 ii. Argentine case .................................................................................................................... 37 iii. Bolivian case ....................................................................................................................... 38 iv. Chilean case ....................................................................................................................... 38 v. Peruvian case ...................................................................................................................... 40 D. Evidence of the existence of a plan or policy ............................................................................ 40 E. Forced disappearance as a crime against humanity ................................................................... 41 i. Overview ............................................................................................................................ 41 ii. Forced disappearance as a crime against humanity ............................................................. 44 a. Chilean case .................................................................................................................. 45 iii. Forced disappearance is a permanent crime ........................................................................ 46 F. Torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatments ................................................. 49 i. Overview ............................................................................................................................ 49 ii. Torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatments during detention ............... 51 4. War crimes ..................................................................................................................................... 54 A. Elements of war crimes ............................................................................................................ 55 i. Existence of an armed conflict ............................................................................................ 55 a. Armed conflict of a non-international character .......................................................... 56 ii. Nexus between conduct and armed conflict ....................................................................... 59 a. Geographic nexus .......................................................................................................... 60 iii. Perpetrator of the crime: State and non-State actors .......................................................... 60 iv. Victims: War crimes against persons protected under international humanitarian law ...... 61 a. Civilian person .............................................................................................................. 62 b. Civilian population ........................................................................................................ 63 c. “Persons hors de combat” under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions ........ 63 B. Determination of a non-international armed conflict by national courts ................................. 64 i. Chilean case ....................................................................................................................... 64 ii. Guatemalan case ................................................................................................................. 65 iii. Salvadoran case ................................................................................................................... 66 C. War crimes in armed conflicts of a non-international character ............................................... 66 i. Violations of Common Article 3 constitute war crimes ..................................................... 66 ii. War crimes under Common Article 3 and Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions ................................................................................................ 69 a. Willful homicide against a protected person ................................................................. 69 b. Hostage taking .............................................................................................................