Genocide: The case of Rwanda

Résumé du document

The situation in Darfur illustrates the difficulties the international community faces when it comes to deal with acts of genocide. Genocide has been defined as a crime in international law, an international Convention has been signed and international tribunals have been created to try individual criminals. The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction to try genocides (there are 4 ratione materiae: the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide ). The recognition of genocide by countries and tribunals has important legal and political consequences that are why there is some reluctance to characterize some events like in Namibia in 1904 or in Armenia in 1905. It is interesting to analyze the Rwandan case of 1994 because it was a key moment of the new signification of genocide, the (absence of) reaction of the world community and the consequences for other cases like Yugoslavia, or now Darfur.

Extraits

[...] The situation of Darfur has been recognized as genocide by numerous political authorities and the UNSC has decided to refer to the ICC Prosecutor to investigate into the events in Darfur. NGOs regret however the lack of political will of Western countries, as opposed to their reaction when the genocide took place in Europe After each genocide, many nations vowed “never again”, but genocide is occurring again and the reaction remains feeble. The legal tools and institutions were created as a result of the 1990s genocides, but the political will is required. [...]

[...] Although some states haven't signed or ratified it, this Convention is widely understood to have the status of jus cogens norm. Nevertheless, in the period of the Cold War, the multilateral system of security embodied by the UN failed to prevent (and punish) genocides like in Cambodia. end of the Cold War had set the scene for fundamental changes in the international legal order. It was hoped that a new era would begin, in which the international legal order would become more advanced and more comparable to national legal orders.”[5] The 1990 decade begun however with two major crises in former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. [...]

[...] Websites International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: (url: http://www.un.org/icty/) International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: (url: http://www.un.org/ictr/) Peace Pledge Union Information (url: http://www.ppu.co.uk/genocide/g_genocide_intro.html/) Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, signed on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002. Idem, art Judith Derenzo and Michael J. Garcia, Genocide: Legal Precedent Surrounding the Definition of the Crime, CRS Report RL 32605, (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2004), p UN General Assembly, G.A. Res. U.N. Doc. A/64/Add.1, (New York: United Nations Documents, 1946). [...]

[...] The SC created the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia in 1993 and for Rwanda in 1994. a sense, the decision to establish these Tribunals is yet another expression of the reactive nature of the international human rights system. In the case of Rwanda in particular, there was ample opportunity, but little willingness, to take preventive action or to intervene.”[12] In both cases, the international community had failed to prevent massive killings. The creation of those tribunals was however a positive step. [...]

[...] Garcia, Genocide: Legal Precedent Surrounding the Definition of the Crime, CRS Report RL 32605, (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2004). [This report for the US Congress was written by two law experts and analyses the notion of Genocide, its history, and other related notions.] Report of the Commission of Inquiry Established Pursuant to Resolution 885 (1993) to Investigate Armed Attacks on UNOSOM II Personnel, S/1994/653, (New York: United Nations Documents, 1994) [This report can be seen as a justification for the reluctance of US (and other national) authorities to act in Rwanda, on the basis of the disaster in Somalia.] UN Security Council, Report of the Independent Inquiry into the actions of the United Nations during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, S/1999/1257, (New York: United Nations Documents, 1999) [This report provides a complete and unbiased analysis of the failure of the UN system and of the member states, the errors made in the way they dealt with the genocide.] UN Resolutions, Treaties and Convention UN General Assembly, G.A. [...]