Beyond Impunity: Can International Criminal Justice Prevent Future Atrocities?

Abstract

Although still in the early stages of their institutional life, die International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR) provide a unique empirical basis for evaluating the impact of international criminaljustice on postconflict peace building. The pursuit of justice may be dismissed as a well-intentioned, but futile, ritualistic attempt to restore equilibrium to a moral universe overwhelmed by evil. Moreover, measuring the capacity of punishment to prevent criminal conduct is an elusive undertaking, especially when a society is gripped by widespread habitual violence and an inverted morality has elevated otherwise “deviant” crimes to the highest expression of group loyalty. Yet an appreciation of die determinate causes of such large-scale violence demonstrates that stigmatization of criminal conduct may have far-reaching consequences, promoting postconflict reconciliation and changing die broader rules of international relations and legitimacy.

International Criminal Justice in Africa: Some Emerging Dynamics

“…Conversely the Special Court did not bring about national reconciliation in Sierra Leone (International Crises Group as cited in Artzt, 2006). Similarly, Akhavan (2001) and Cobban (2006) reported that the ICTR did not bring about reconciliation in Rwanda.…”

“…Thus one of the main goals cited for international criminal justice is that it "would contribute to the process of national reconciliation and to the restoration and maintenance of peace" (Cobban, 2006). Controversy however surrounds the perceived contribution of international criminal justice generally and specifically regarding its application as a peace-building tool to conflict and post-conflict situations (Akhavan, 2001;Feher, 1999;Meernik, 2005). It is important to point out that the mechanisms under considerations namely the ICTR, the Special Court and the ICC were invoked in respect of war related abuses.…”

The Bête Noire and the Noble Lie: The International Criminal Court and (the Disavowal of) Politics

“…To be clear, I do not necessarily agree with these rather pessimistic statements; nor do I disagree with them. Rather, my take on the question of whether the ICC can deter future atrocities must remain agnostic because the literature-from both theoretical and empirical perspectives-does by no means yield a clear answer to this question (Wippman 1999;Akhavan 2001;Chung 2008;Vinjamuri 2010;Bosco 2011;Buitelaar 2016;Hillebrecht 2016;Dancy 2017). And how could it be otherwise?…”

Justice beyond borders? Australia and the International Criminal Court

“…Thus, a state could extradite to another country an individual suspected of committing such crimes in a third country (see Barker 2000Hawthorn 1999, Weller 1999 Many of the states involved in trying to keep the peace argued that there was a need to end the culture of impunity and deter future offenders. Supporters of the idea argued that only a powerful, independent and universal judicial instrument would accomplish this (Akhavan 2001). The ILC created a Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) to begin work on a draft treaty based on a text that had originally been developed after the conclusion of the 1948 Genocide Convention.…”