CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

In 1945, two monumental tribunals arose out of the ashes of World War II.

The International Military Tribunals at Nuremberg, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

Both were established by the victorious nations of the World War II, in order to

provide swift justice for the victims of atrocities and punishment for the

perpetrators.

In the decades after the war, several adhoc tribunals were established to

deal with various states sponsored crimes, including those tribunals set up in

Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s. An all encompassing tool of Justice, though

had yet to be organized.

The 1998 meeting of nations in Rome however addressed the wide spread

desire for international justice by creating the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC was constructed by the United Nations to be a permanent, non-partisan

judicial instrument to promote the Rule of Law and ensure that gravest crimes do

not go unpunished.

Those “grave crimes” include genocide, crimes against humanity; war

crimes and the crimes of aggression. The court officially became operational on

July, 1, 2002 in Hague, Netherlands.

The entry into force of the ICC statute has enabled the court to exercise

jurisdiction to try individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and

genocide. The court has jurisdiction over crimes committed by individuals who

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are nationals of states which have ratified its statute, or who have committed

crimes on the territory of such states. Those conditions are not applicable when a

case is referred to the court by the United Nations security council.

In addition, the court can only act when the relevant state is unable or

unwilling to carry out investigation or prosecutions.

The ICC is a permanent court with potentially universal and over half of the

states have so far ratified its statute. Although the U.S initially started an active

anti-ICC campaign, its opposition has recently lessened since its strategy to

undermine the court has proven to be ineffective and its fears have prove to be

unfounded.

The ICC would not undermine the sovereignty of nations because it would

function only where states are unable or unwilling to.

The imperatives of International Criminal Tribunal, A case study of Crimes

of genocide, deal with the historical evolution of this important branch of Public

International Law. It is the aim of this research work to critically analyse and

appraise the contribution of international community to the development of world

peace. Over the years from antiquity, to the modern times, rules, regulations,

protocol and conventions were evolved which govern the contract of hostilities in

both international and non-international conflicts.

The world has witnessed some of the most gruesome attacks on humanity

by totalitarian and authoritarian regimes leading to the murder of innocent people

to such alarming proposition that the international community could not ignore.

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Global response to the United Nations to make genocide on international crime

and bring its perpetrator to justice. These efforts culminated in the United Nations

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of genocide in 1948.

And the event in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda which led to the

destruction of thousands of innocent lives further strengthened the need for an

International Criminal Court, which had long been under consideration. And with

the adoption of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court, International

community took major steps towards ending the culture of impunity that has so

often prevailed in our world.

“In the prospect of an International Criminal Court lies the promise of universal justice. That is the simple soaring hope of this vision, we are close to its realization and we will do our part to see it through till the end. We ask you to do yours in our struggle to ensure that no ruler, no state, no junta and no army anywhere can abuse human right with impunity. Only then will the innocent of distant wars and conflicts know that they may sleep under the cover of justice; that they too have rights and that those who violate that rights will be punished”.

The words of the former United Nations Secretary-General, quoted above,

aptly demonstrated global view with concern on the negative. It also indicates

the direction of international community wants or intends to go in the quest to

curb incidences of genocide around the world.1

1 Kofi Anan, Former United Nations Secretary General. Available at http://www.un.org/law/icc/general/overview.htm 16th November, 2010

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The history of mankind is the story of power struggle, confrontations and

armed conflict between nations, people and individuals. From earliest times, men

have been pre-occupied with the problem of how to control the effect of violence

and its attendant human sufferings with varying degrees of success.

For example, prior to the middle of the 19th Century, agreements to protect

victims of wars were of more transient character, binding only, upon the

contracting parties thereto and based upon strict reciprocity. In reality, they

constituted purely military agreement usually effectively only for the duration of a

particular period of hostility. This state of affairs was changed by the birth of

modern law.

The general assembly in 1995 session therefore decided to convene a

preparatory     committee     of     member     states;     non     governmental     and

intergovernmental statutes in light of the myriad of amendment to ILC drafts as at

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