Ethr 103 ethr 103 Week 13

ETHR 103

• ETHR 103

• Week 13

The 20th Century has been named as the “era of human rights”. It has been said that the past century was the golden age as far as the development of fundamental rights and freedoms, and their incorporation into international documents and national legislation is concerned. Thousands of rules have been laid down in international instruments in order to guarantee the full protection of all types of human rights.

• The 20th Century has been named as the “era of human rights”. It has been said that the past century was the golden age as far as the development of fundamental rights and freedoms, and their incorporation into international documents and national legislation is concerned. Thousands of rules have been laid down in international instruments in order to guarantee the full protection of all types of human rights.

• Even so, the actual success in effectively protecting human rights has to be questioned. The truth is that the past century has witnessed the worst actions of violence in the history of mankind. Only in the last 85 years of the century more than 250 conflicts have erupted around the globe and 86 million civilians, most of whom were children and women, have been killed.

• In reality, the international community has largely failed to prevent and to punish large-scale human rights violations which amount to int’l. crimes. Neither int’l. organizations at a collective level (for example, the UN), nor states at an individual level managed to take action with regard to establishing the individual responsibility of the perpetrators, or regarding the imposition of sanctions against those States behind such acts.

"There can be no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaningful law without a Court to decide what is just and lawful under any given circumstance." -- Benjamin B. Ferencz, a former Nürnberg prosecutor

• "There can be no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaningful law without a Court to decide what is just and lawful under any given circumstance." -- Benjamin B. Ferencz, a former Nürnberg prosecutor

• As we shall see in the next slide, abstract rules are ineffective unless backed up by some sort of enforcement mechanism. To give an example, prohibiting murder is meaningless if there is no court that can try murderers.

The truth is that, despite the existence of various abstract rules prohibiting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the missing link was a system (a “control mechanism”) which would implement these norms and try those who violate the relevant rules.

• The truth is that, despite the existence of various abstract rules prohibiting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the missing link was a system (a “control mechanism”) which would implement these norms and try those who violate the relevant rules.

• Indeed, despite the many norms guaranteeing human rights, a control mechanism which would enforce these guarantees and establish the responsibility of the violators was yet missing on the international level. There was no international court that could try individuals accused of international crimes. The result is that most criminals would get away with their terrible misdeeds.

• Until very recently, the tribunals operating on the int’l. level only had jurisdiction over States. This is the case with the Permanent Court of International Justice, the Court of International Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights...

• However, as stated in the Nuremberg judgment [1], “crimes against international law are committed by men and not by abstract entities and it is only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes” that international law can be upheld.

• Because there was no international court to try individuals committing international crimes, those who committed such acts remained unpunished.

• [1] International Military Tribunal, 22 Trials of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal 466 (1948).

The lack of mechanisms such as international criminal courts was a major factor encouraging the perpetrators of large-scale human right violations.

• The lack of mechanisms such as international criminal courts was a major factor encouraging the perpetrators of large-scale human right violations.

• It is very sad to think that most perpetrators of heinous international crimes must have known that they would get away with it, because history taught them so.

• "A person stands a better chance of being tried and judged for killing one human being than for killing 100,000." -- José Ayala Lasso, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The first international criminal tribunals were established after WWII, in Nuremberg and in Tokyo. It took almost fifty years for the next examples to come into existence: the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY- 1993) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR- 1994).

• The first international criminal tribunals were established after WWII, in Nuremberg and in Tokyo. It took almost fifty years for the next examples to come into existence: the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY- 1993) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR- 1994).

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