Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-68ccn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T06:54:34.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

39 - Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

By
George Andreopoulos
Edited by
Mangai Natarajan
George Andreopoulos
Affiliation:
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA
Mangai Natarajan
Affiliation:
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The atrocities that have been associated with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity have been witnessed throughout human history. Whether in times of war, or in times of peace, human wrongs have been committed against fellow human beings, often in a systematic or widespread manner, irrespective of existing moral and legal restraints. While each of these concepts has followed its own trajectory, there are considerable overlaps among them; overlaps which progressive codification and evolving jurisprudence have both confirmed and reaffirmed in an effort to prevent and punish the commission of such acts.

WAR CRIMES

“War crimes” refers to serious violations of treaty and customary rules applicable in situations of international and noninternational armed conflict. The body of rules and customs that address issues pertaining to armed conflict situations is known as the laws of war, or international humanitarian law (IHL). The term IHL, although increasingly used by many analysts and commentators, is resisted by others because it is viewed as reflecting the influence of human rights law on the laws of war and as privileging one section of the laws of war, known as “Geneva law,” over the other, known as “Hague law.” The latter section of IHL (“Hague law”) includes the set of rules and regulations found in The Hague Conventions that cover the various categories of lawful combatants and issues relating to the means and methods of warfare, as well as to the treatment of those who do not take part in hostilities (civilians) or are hors de combat (wounded and sick, prisoners of war). The former section (“Geneva law”) refers to the set of rules found in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols (I and II), and cover issues that relate to the treatment of those who do not, or no longer, take part in hostilities (Cassesse 2003).

Type
Chapter
Information
International Crime and Justice , pp. 299 - 305
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreopoulos, G. J. (Ed.) (1994). Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Andreopoulos, G. J. (2002). On the Prevention of Genocide. Humanitarian Intervention and the Role of the United Nations. In Andreopoulos, G. J. (Ed.), Concepts and Strategies in International Human Rights. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Cassesse, A. (2003). International Criminal Law. New York: Oxford.Google Scholar
Henckaerts, J-M. & Doswald-Beck, L.. (2005). Customary International Humanitarian Law. Volume I: Rules. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Justice, International Court of. (2007). Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina Versus Serbia and Montenegro) Judgment.
Kaldor, M. (1999). New & Old Wars. Organized Violence in a Global Era. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Meron, T. (1998). War Crimes Law Comes of Age. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mettraux, G. (2006). International Crimes and the Ad Hoc Tribunals. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prosecutor v. Tadic, IT-94–1, Chamber, Appeals (1995). Decision on the Defense Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction.
Prosecutor v. Anto Furundzija, IT-95–17/1-T (1998). Judgement. Prosecutor v. Krstic, IT-98–33-T (2001). Judgment.
Prosecutor v. Dragoljub Kunarac, Kovac, Radomir and Vukovic, Zoran, IT-96–23-T & IT-96–23/1-T (2001). Judgment.
Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalic, Zdravko Mucic (aka. “Pavo”), Hazim Delic and Esad Landzo (aka. “Zenga”). Celebici Case. IT-96–21-A (2001).
Vasiljevic, Prosecutor v. Mitar, IT-98–32-T (2002). Judgment.
The Prosecutor v. Ferdinand Nahimana, Barayagwiza, Jean-Bosco, and Ngeze, Hassan, ICTR-99–52-T (2003). Judgement and Sentence.
Van Schaack, B. (1999). The Definition of Crimes Against Humanity: Resolving the Incoherence. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 37(3), 787–850.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×