ATS3462 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Outsourcing, Forced Abortion, Transnational Crime
28 May 2018
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Week 8 -Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
Lecture
• International criminal justice
o International community response to mass atrocity
o HOW they respond
o Ie war, rupture of society, systemised murder and persecution
• Jus in Bello
o Civilians protected and treated humanely
o Not killing/injuring surrendering enemies
o Wounded and sick cared for
o Captives protected, have right to contact families, right to receive relief
o No torture, corporal punishment or cruel/degrading treatment
o No attacking civilians, only combatants
• Inhumane acts committed during times of conflict include:
o War crimes
▪ An act that violates the treaties of the war
▪ Act that Does not follow normal procedures or protocols
o Crimes against humanity
▪ Target a specific group
▪ Not isolated or sporadic, but are part of government policy
• War crimes
o = Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions
o Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed
conflict & in conflicts "not of an international character" listed in the Rome Statute
o Are committed as part of a plan or policy or on a large scale
o Include:
▪ murder;
▪ mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
▪ taking of hostages;
▪ intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population;
▪ intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion,
education, art, science or charitable purposes, historical monuments or
hospitals;
▪ pillaging;
▪ rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy or any other form of sexual violence;
▪ conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed
forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities.
(international Criminal Court)
• Crimes against humanity
o Committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack
o directed against any civilian population,
o with knowledge of the attack
o Include:
▪ murder;
▪ extermination;
▪ enslavement;
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ deportation or forcible transfer of population;
▪ imprisonment;
▪ torture (etc);
• Crimes of aggression
o = Serious violation of the rules that govern the use of force by a state (Jus ad Bellum)
o Coitted ol states leadership
o Only in international conflict (always involves at least two states)
• War crimes
o = Serious violations of the rules applicable in armed conflict (Jus in Bello)
o Committed by soldiers on the field
o In both international and non-international armed conflict
• Torture as a case study of crimes against humanity
o Linked to all countries across diff historical periods
o A key tool in
▪ Processes of colonisation
▪ Conflict
▪ War o/of terror
▪ Peae-tie detetio failities
o UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (definition of torture):
▪ A at hih severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes of obtaining from him
or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or
a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at
the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or
other person acting in an official capacity.
o UN convention applied universally
o Torture condemned at all times
▪ Cannot be justified
o No extradition if suspicion of torture
o Orders of superior officers/ authority = no defence ???
o Evidence obtained through torture rendered inadmissible
o “tates hae oligatio to reate puli aareess aout tortures prohiitio
• A continuum of state violence
o Where is the line between cruel treatment and torture?
o Ie solitary confinement
o Refer to ruling and reports of the European Court of Human Rights / UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture
• Objectives of torture
o Gain information
o Prepare eeies for trial or ofessio
o Inflict punishment
o Terminate political effectiveness
o Encourage change in alliances
o Eed a ulture of terror or liate of fear
o Consolidate state power
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 8 -genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. International community response to mass atrocity: how they respond. Ie war, rupture of society, systemised murder and persecution. Ie solitary confinement: refer to ruling and reports of the european court of human rights / un special. Rapporteur on torture: objectives of torture, gain information, prepare (cid:858)e(cid:374)e(cid:373)ies(cid:859) for trial or (cid:858)(cid:272)o(cid:374)fessio(cid:374)(cid:859) Killing members of the group includes direct killing and actions causing death. Causing serious bodily or mental harm includes inflicting trauma on members of the group through widespread torture, rape, sexual violence, forced or coerced use of drugs, and mutilation. Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group includes the deliberate deprivation of resources needed for the group(cid:859)s ph(cid:455)si(cid:272)al survival, such as clean water, food, clothing, shelter or medical services. Deprivation of the means to sustain life can be imposed through confiscation of harvests, blockade of foodstuffs, detention in camps, forcible relocation or expulsion into deserts.
