War Crimes in Internal Armed Conflicts

Abstract

Does international law make individuals responsible for perpetrating war crimes during internal armed conflicts? Eve La Haye explores the content of international criminal law applicable in such conflicts and questions the 1995 finding of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia that responsibility could be enforced on the basis of customary international law. This finding is evaluated with regard to state practice and the practice of international organisations. The means to enforce individual criminal responsibility for such crimes are also investigated. The states on whose territory the crimes took place have sometimes tried such perpetrators, but can other states prosecute perpetrators of war crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction? The applicability of universal jurisdiction to war crimes committed in civil wars and the practice of domestic courts are examined, alongside the role and achievements of prosecutions carried out by international courts and tribunals.

Legal Aspects Regarding the Existence of the Internal Armed Conflict

“…It is very difficult to differentiate between internal armed conflict and internal tensions and disturbances in the context of silence of the law. It is only in the Statute of the International Criminal Court that a clearer definition and differentiation is attempted in Article 8 (2) (f), recourses to the case law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [6]: "(f) Paragraph 2 (e) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature. It applies to armed conflicts that take place in the territory of a State when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups."…”

The Democratizing Effects of Transnational Actors’ Access to International Courts

“…For example, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia have asserted that laws of war apply to internal conflicts. 10 Or, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has extended the scope of European Union (EU) law to include human rights. Second, ICs order rules.…”

War Crimes in the Armed Conflict in Pakistan

“…In general, the law of armed conflict, customary law, human rights law (Abresch 2005;Haye 2008), international criminal law (Cassese 2008;Zahar and Sluiter 2006), and municipal laws (Rogers 2004, 216) apply to an internal armed conflict. As stated earlier, Pakistan is not party to 1977 Additional Protocol II but has signed the 1949 four Geneva Conventions; therefore, common article 3 applies.…”