"Rwanda was largely destroyed in 1994. Among an endless host of problems, highly complex questions and dilemmas of justice, unity, and reconciliation haunt Rwanda to this day. A basic question confronting Rwanda is how to deal with the legacy of the conflict that culminated in the genocide of the Tutsi and in the massacres of Hutu opponents of the genocide. The UN set up an International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, and Rwanda has its own courts. In both cases, the process of trying accused genocidaires is long, laborious, and frustrating. Only eight convictions have been handed down in Arusha after five years of work, while in Rwanda only some 3,000 cases have been disposed of. At least 120,000 detainees are in prisons around the country, the vast majority of whom are accused of participation in the genocide. At the present rate it is estimated that it will take anywhere between two and four centuries to try all those in detention. The Rwandese government has developed a new procedure called “gacaca,” lower-level tribunals that attempt to blend traditional and contemporary mechanisms to expedite the justice process in a way that promotes reconciliation. The impact of gacaca remains to be seen, and as a process, it certainly needs an evaluation or, at least, an attempt to evaluate its possible contribution to the perplexing questions of justice, unity and social reconstruction in the aftermath of genocide. This paper mainly aims to analyse the draft legislation on the gacaca jurisdictions. Further, this essay attempts to examine the impact of criminal trials in the aftermath of mass violence and genocide. Although conventional wisdom holds that criminal trials promote several goals, including uncovering the truth; avoiding collective accountability by individualising guilt; breaking cycle of impunity; deterring future war crimes; providing closure for the victims and fostering democratic institutions, little is known about the role that judicial intervention have in rebuilding societies. The present essay deals only with criminal trials. By definition, these are focused on the perpetrators of abuses and their allies. Although not examined in the essay, a comprehensive and holistic approach to dealing with a legacy of past atrocities should also include range of victim-focused efforts, such as programs for compensation and rehabilitation, the establishment of memorials, and the organisation of appropriate commemorations. The main sources of this study are textbooks, articles from journals and official documents of national and international bodies. Since this essay aims at evaluating the gacaca proposals, a great deal of attention is paid to the terms of the draft legislation. It is certainly premature to make an in-depth assessment of a draft law and the merits and flaws of the legal institution it is designed to set up. Only gradually and over a period of time can the gacaca become effective and credible. Further research aimed at gathering data through interviews, field observations, participant observation, study and analysis of the implementation can also illuminate experience in ways that analysis of published sources do not. A thorough and sound appraisal of this new institution must therefore wait some time. I shall nevertheless attempt in this essay to set out some initial and tentative comments on some of the salient traits of the future gacaca tribunals. This paper makes a preliminary “human rights impact assessment” of the implementation of the draft law establishing “gacaca jurisdictions”. The potential role of the new institution in rebuilding the Rwandese society is also discussed. Considering the many complex issues which still surround the process of justice in Rwanda six years after the genocide, as well as the continuing challenge to the judicial system in terms of the inadequacy of resources for dealing with such an enormous caseload, recommendations to help the process follow the analysis of the gacaca proposals (Chapter Three). To end impunity, it is necessary to respond in accordance with human rights law to the genocide and mass killings. Therefore, the starting point for our evaluation of the gacaca proposals will be an analysis of the proposals in human rights law. Does human rights law impose any affirmative duties to punish genocide and other mass killings that occurred in Rwanda? In addition, for the “gacaca jurisdictions” to be effective, they should not be viewed in isolation, as their performance will depend to a large extent on whether other judicial mechanisms and institutions are functioning properly. The relationships between the gacaca jurisdiction and other mechanisms are thus reviewed. In particular, the process of setting up the gacaca jurisdictions should include an evaluation of the genocide trials which have taken place to date both at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and in the domestic courts and apply the lessons learnt (Chapter Two). An evaluation of the potential contribution of the use of gacaca courts needs to be put into the broader context of the conflict in Rwanda. Thus, an analysis of the conflict in Rwanda is necessary to grasp the challenges facing the questions of justice and social reconstruction in the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda (Chapter One)." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Jeremy Sarkin, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2000. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"In response to President Kabah's request of June 2000, the United Nations Security Council called on the Secretary-General to negotiate an agreement with the government of Sierra Leone for the creation of a special court for Sierra Leone (hereafter SCSL), to investigate the atrocities committed within the country, by Resolution 1315 of 14 August 2000. Under the agreement concluded in February 2001, the SCSL has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed since November 1996. The author assesses in detail the efficacy of the SCSL in dispensing justice up to date. The author concludes that, although the SCSL has accomplished much, it has shortcomings and faces changes that hamper the attainment of its objectives. ... This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one provides the context in which the study is set, the focus and objectives of the study, its significance and other preliminary issues, including a statement of the problem and the literature review. Analysis of the conflict in Sierra Leone are necessary to grasp the graveness and the nature of the human rights violations and to understand the nature and extent of justice already meted out. Chapter two focuses particularly on the historical background of the conflict and the reasons that necessitate the establishment of the SCSL. The SCSL was established specifically to respond to human rights abuses committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Chapter three examines the major achievements of the Court in dispensing justice, and chapter four identifies the shortcomings and the challenges that confront the Court in its aim to fulfil its mandate." -- Chapter one. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Lovell Fernandez, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The thesis deals with the question, in which situation the International Criminal court would probably open an Investigation of such crimes by an international body is a delicate question mainly with regard to a great extend of intervention into a state sovereignty, which manifests itself also as jurisdictional sovereignty. The thesis focuses on the case of Kenyan post-election violence in years of 2007 and 2008 and the aim to suppress Libyan revolution of 2011. Besides, the work is based upon the theory of (liberal) institutionalism, which could hopefully be applied to the international-law case of investigation of the crimes committed outside an armed conflict. Within the framework of the thesis I try to reveal criteria determining whether the International Criminal court opens or not an investigation to a situation of human rights abuse. For the purpose I take into consideration world and local country status, character of the perpetrators, extend of the attacks, country's relation to the great powers, as well as readiness of the country to prosecute the perpetrators within the national jurisdiction. As conclusion I try t compare the findings from the part applying liberal institutionalism and from the case studies.

Petra Šrédlová Diploma thesis Abstract Abstract The trial of Klaus Barbie was an important turning point in the French memory of the Vichy regime. For a purpose of Barbie's conviction, the interpretation of the crime against humanity was changed in the French legal system. Barbie's victims were, for the first time, given the opportunity to publicly testify. Furthermore, the trial provided an opportunity for development of the Jewish memory and the memory of the resistance. The trial of Klaus Barbie provided the basic legal and procedural framework later on used by the courts in trials with Vichy's criminals. Moreover, the personality of Klaus Barbie remained sealed in a negative sense in French memory, when he was often remembered on the occasion of various events. The aim of this diploma thesis is to prove that, on the basis of qualitative content analysis of articles by Le Monde containing the term "Klaus Barbie" in the period from July 3, 1988 to July 4, 2017, further development of the phase of Obsession of the Vichy syndrome can be traced, along with its thematic categories and intensity. This diploma thesis also argues that the memory development did not proceed consistently, but kept on returning in the form of various events in order to recall not only Klaus Barbie and his trial, but also other...

Le 8 octobre 2014, M. Uhuru Kenyatta le président kényan comparaissait devant les juges de la Cour pénale internationale. Cette comparution était un évènement inédit ; car pour la première fois un chef d’État durant son mandat comparaissait devant cette juridiction ; inculpé depuis le 8 mars 2011, tout comme le vice-président, de crimes contre l’humanité pour son rôle présumé dans les violences qui ont émaillé l’élection présidentielle de 2007. S’il est le premier à se présenter devant les juges de la CPI, il n’est pourtant pas le premier chef d’État poursuivi par cette juridiction. Les présidents soudanais, Omar El-Béchir et le « Guide » libyen avaient reçu des notifications de mandats d’arrêt depuis 2009 pour le premier, et 2011 pour le second.Avant les poursuites de la CPI, seuls des anciens dirigeants avaient comparu devant les TMI de la seconde guerre et les TPI pour le Rwanda et pour l’ex-Yougoslavie qui l’ont précédé. Cette caractéristique commune aux premières poursuites qui n’ont pas épargné non plus les premières enquêtes du Procureur de la CPI ; posait une problématique majeure : celle de l’effectivité de la poursuite des dirigeants en exercice devant les juridictions pénales internationales ; de la Cour pénale internationale en particulier. Les actes de procédures de la CPI contre les dirigeants durant leur mandat viennent répondre en partie à ces préoccupations.Cependant, l’abandon des charges contre le président kenyan par le Procureur le 5 décembre 2014 et plus tard contre son vice-président et les motivations de ces décisions ; mais aussi l’impossibilité pour cette juridiction d’obtenir l’exécution des mandats d’arrêt émis depuis le 4 mars 2009 contre le président soudanais remettent en perspective la problématique de la justiciabilité des chefs d’État en exercice devant la CPI. / On October 8, 2014, Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan President, appeared before the judges of the International Criminal Court. This appearance was an unprecedented event; for the first time a head of state in Office appeared before that jurisdiction; accused since March 8, 2011, like his vice-president, of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the violence that swept the 2007 presidential election. While being the first to appear before the judges of the ICC, he is not the first head of state prosecuted by this court. Sudanese president Omar El-Bashir and the Libyan "Guide" had received arrest warrants since 2009 for the first, and 2011 for the second.Before these ICC prosecutions, only former leaders had appeared before the IMT of the Second World War and the TPIs for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. There is a characteristic common to these first prosecutions, which did not spare either the first investigations of the Prosecutor of the ICC; posed a major problem: that of the effectiveness of the prosecution of leaders in office before international Criminal jurisdictions; and particularly of the International Criminal Court. The ICC's proceedings against leaders during their term of office partially address these concerns.However, the dismissal of charges against the Kenyan President by the Prosecutor on 5 December 2014, and later against his Vice President and the motives for those decisions, but also the impossibility for this jurisdiction to obtain the execution of arrest warrants issued since March 4, 2009 against the Sudanese president put into perspective the issue of the justiciability of the heads of state in office before the ICC.

This dissertation offers a philosophical analysis of the ecological crisis through the lens of Hannah Arendt. It frames the ecological crisis as a struggle for situated cohabitation. By analyzing the work of Arendt, this dissertation shows the ways in which the ecological crisis is entwined with the political crisis of plurality. I suggest that these two issues are interconnected and that we need to address both for situated cohabitation. This dissertation is an interdisciplinary work, drawing from environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, and educational practice. The work is intended to provide novel insight into the current ecological crisis in three ways. First, it grounds its theory in the work of Arendt, a thinker not usually situated in the prevue of environmental scholarship. Second, by synthesizing Arendt's account of plurality with the work of Judith Butler and Ricardo Rozzi, this dissertation explores a politics of plurality that can take account of social and ecological conditions of plurality. Third and finally, the dissertation merges theory with praxis by offering a practical program for doing environmental philosophy with children, a program derived from my sustained experiences working as a facilitator of a philosophy for children (P4C) program. This dissertation does not seek just a theoretical understanding of the ecological crisis, but also a practice of situated cohabitation in the crisis.

La notion de crimes contre l’humanité s’est affirmée au lendemain de la seconde guerre mondiale. Elle a pris une dimension nouvelle au tournant de la décennie 90. Le génocide rwandais, puis les crimes commis contre les populations civiles albanaises en ex-Yougoslavie, sont passés par là ; ils ont alimenté les débats, soulevés des inquiétudes, et semblent avoir réveillé la « conscience humanitaire » de la « communauté internationale ». Ce réveil coïncide aussi – et ce n’est pas un hasard – avec la fin d’un monde bipolaire (chute du mur de Berlin, effondrement de l’URSS et dislocation des pays du bloc de l’Est). Ainsi, la résurgence du concept de crimes contre l’humanité intervient dans un monde en rupture profonde ; une rupture qui ne manque pas de produire ses effets sur le sens, la définition et la portée du concept. Autrement dit, l’idée de crimes contre l’humanité se déploie dans un monde mouvant où le Droit, plus que jamais, se heurte à la souveraineté des États et aux intérêts stratégiques et géopolitiques des « Puissants », comme en témoigne la gestation difficile de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI). Plus concrètement, les rapports de force tiennent une place importante et continuent de gérer les relations internationales, même dans un domaine qui, en principe, devrait être consensuel : les crimes contre l’humanité. Dans ce contexte, il n’est pas surprenant de voir certains pays accusés de crimes contre l’humanité (le Soudan, la Somalie, la Serbie, la Libye…), mais pas d’autres (crimes commis dans les territoires palestiniens, tortures et crimes commis par l’armée américaine en Irak…). Cette thématique, reposant sur l’idée que la force du droit se heurte au droit de la force, pourrait justifier l’idée selon laquelle le concept de crimes contre l’humanité, tel qu’il se manifeste aujourd’hui, est loin d’être un concept tout à fait neutre. De là découle la formulation de notre hypothèse : alors que les crimes contre l’humanité apparaissent comme un concept en quête d’identité, son application s’avère difficile et à « géométrie variable ». / The notion of crimes against humanity asserted itself after the Second World War. It took a new dimension in the bend of the 90's, after the Rwandan genocide, then the crimes committed against the Albanian civil populations in ex-Yugoslavia. Those events fed the debates, raised anxieties, and seem to have woken the " humanitarian consciousness " of the " international community ". This awakening also coincides - and it is not a fate - with the end of a bipolar world (fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the USSR and dislocation of the countries of the east block). So, the resurgence of the concept of crimes against humanity intervenes in a world in deep break; a break which produce its effects on the sense, the definition and the impact of the concept. In other words, the idea of crimes against humanity spreads in an unstable world where the right, more than ever, collides with the sovereignty of States and with the strategic and geopolitical interests of "Powerful", as shows of it the difficult gestation of the International Criminal Court (CPI). More concretely, the balance of power holds an important place and continue to rule the international relations, even in a domain which, in theory, should be consensual: the crimes against humanity. In this context, it is not surprising to see certain countries accused of crimes against humanity (Sudan, Somalia, Serbia, Libya), wheras others crimes and tortures (those committed in the Palestinian territories or by the American army in Iraq...) remain unpunished. This theme, basing on the idea that the power of right collides with the law of the strongest, could justify the idea according to which the concept of crimes against humanity is far from being a completely neutral concept. From there ensues the formulation of our hypothesis: while the crimes against humanity appear as a concept in search of identity, its application turns out difficult and seems to vary according to circumstances (variable-geometry).

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis examines Mark Twain’s use of the dialectic between the characters Huck and Jim to illuminate Jim’s humanity in the classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Over the course of their adventure, Huck learns that Jim is a human being and not property. This realization leads Huck to choose to assist Jim in his escape from captivity, and risk eternal damnation according to his religious beliefs. Huck’s decision is driven by the friendship that develops between him and his fellow fugitive on their adventure. Jim’s kindness and stewardship also provide a stark contrast to the treachery of the characters on the banks of the river. Twain thus crafts a message that slavery and race discrimination are wrong without taking the tone of an abolitionist, combining an amusing children’s story with a profound social message. Although definitive proof of his intention to do so has never been found, human friendship is the sliver of common ground Twain used to reach across the profound racial gap in the United States in the late 19th century. The analysis takes place in four parts: (1) a comparison of AHF to other nineteenth century works that featured slavery to establish it as unique among those works; (2) an analysis of the aforementioned dialectic from a modern text of the novel featuring previous deleted parts from the early manuscript; (3) a review of the critical response to the novel which reveals that if Twain was trying to send a message of racial equality, he was not doing so overtly; and (4) a conclusion in which I posit that Twain found a creative solution to a social problem and cite critical discourse that notes Twain’s course of action. This yielded a work that was both more widely read and timeless than a work that confronted slavery directly. Chapters one, three and four utilize critical dialogue and history from print and digital sources. Jane E. Schultz, Ph.D., Professor

This thesis examines the international community's meager response – despite the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) – to the conflict in Tigray. Why was the response minimal, and what could be done to make R2P more efficacious in the future? The R2P framework describes the responsibilities to protect populations around the world against mass atrocity crimes, as stated in Article 5 of the Rome Statute. The study shows that R2P as a framework is flawed, and proposes the creation of an R2P ombudsman to monitor conflicts, focus the international community's attention and assist states that are struggling or failing to protect vulnerable people. The thesis draws upon a theory of political realism but also highlights the sometime significance of shared ethical norms and values.

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