This thesis is a study of international 'core crimes', namely, crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against peace. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that all these crimes share striking similarities, not only in respect of their qualifying elements, but also as regards the legal regime of individual responsibility attached to them. While focusing on these similar features, this thesis will highlight the defects of the rules applicable to genocide, war crimes and crimes against peace respectively, defects which might ultimately impede effective punishment of these particular crimes. In order to avoid such a risk, it is here submitted that, in fact, all these crimes should be considered as crimes against humanity. Such a re-qualification, it is argued, would indeed have the advantage of securing appropriate prosecution for these most heinous crimes thanks to the wider scope of application of the concept of 'crimes against humanity'. The purpose of this work is certainly not to erase the existence of different international crimes from the legal sphere, as it does not presuppose that the definitions of international crimes are malleable, not that the notion of 'crimes against humanity' is a stretchable one. Rather, it is merely to re-qualify the 'core crimes' against international law as 'crimes against humanity', notion which would then encompass a wider array of offences, all of which overlap considerably. This proposal is based on the assumption that prosecutions for international crimes have remained much too rare, and that, accordingly change and improvement are necessary. The re-qualification of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against peace as crimes against humanity could be a first step towards a better respect of international legal norms.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / In July 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began operations as the primary international institution for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide or international crimes. During the 1990s, the United Nations Security Council authorized international war crimes tribunals for conflicts in the Balkans and in Rwanda. Despite the important developments that these institutions made in international criminal law, these courts have not contributed to the longterm capacity of post-conflict states to operate under the rule of law. In the late 1990s the United Nations started to use new types of hybrid tribunals designed to prosecute international crimes in post-conflict states that combined the power and expertise of the international community with the indigenous law and legal community. This thesis will use case studies to make a detailed evaluation of the institutions and the options facing the individual states and the international community when designing policies or authorizing a tribunal to try international crimes in a post-conflict environment. / Major, United States Marine Corps

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs), June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Letitia Lawson, Karen Guttieri. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Osnabrück, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis uses the war crimes investigations carried out by the Wehrmacht between 1939-1945 to explore the creation and development of the narrative which the Nazi regime constructed to justify its war of aggression, conquest, and extermination. This source has been sorely underused and provides deep insight into the regime's official narrative - a narrative which seems fundamentally at odds with its true aims and its murderous actions. It claimed that the Reich was waging a war in self-defence and for humanitarian reasons. These justifications were designed to convince both the German population and international audiences. The regime did not simply lie, however, but gathered empirical evidence which it then used selectively to legitimise the war. By reconstructing this process, the thesis aims to understand the degree to which the regime was able to make its arguments convincing. This allows us to better understand how it was possible to mobilise so many ordinary Germans to support and fight the war and, indeed, to perpetrate horrendous crimes. In particular, this thesis seeks to explore the tension between the official narrative and the Reich's own crimes, arguing that these two were not diametrically opposed, but that there was a direct justificatory link between them. Crucial in this context was the degree to which the regime could portray its criminal actions as a response to those of the enemy. In doing so, this thesis develops on a historiography which has acknowledged the importance of the regime's justificatory framework, but which has yet to study the foundations on which this was based and how it developed over the course of the war. In short, this is a study of the German narrative of victimhood which underpinned the brutal war of extermination.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Charles Morris / In September 2005 the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and torture. Following an extradition request, Habré was arrested in Senegal – the country he had been living in since 1990, when he was deposed in a coup. The Senegalese government, however, did not follow through on the extradition order. The charges and order had not come from a Chadian court but rather from a Belgian judge. Faced with the delicate issue of extraditing a former African head of state to stand trial in the court of a former colonial power, the Senegalese government turned to the African Union, asking the organization to recommend how to try Habré.During the period between Habré’s arrest in November 2005 and the African Union’s ruling in July 2006, the Habré case appeared in the news framed in several different contexts. For human rights groups, the trial was not only the chance to bring Habré to justice; it was also a chance to further develop the legal precedent established in the Pinochet case. For the Senegalese government, the Belgian extradition order was a threat to African sovereignty.The Habré case as it appears in the media and as it is framed by the involved parties reveals the complexities of the case, demonstrating that the Habré case is not simply about trying a former head of state; rather it is about the politics of war crimes, from the scope and limitations of international law to the emerging role of the African Union on the world stage. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Communications.

This thesis seeks to examine the military culture of obedience and the standards that exist relating to the defence of superior orders. It will explore laws and practices for this defence that have been adopted nationally and internationally. It will also propose guidelines for differentiating legal from illegal orders.

"Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007." / Advisor(s): Franck, Raymond ; Gates, Bill ; Coughlan, Pete. "December 2007." "MBA professional report"--Cover. Description based on title screen as viewed on January 10, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50). Also available in print.