News Media and African Genocide

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim J. Savelsberg ◽  
Wahutu Siguru
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
Global North ◽  
Journalistic Field

Today, genocides and other episodes of mass violence are, under specific circumstances, subject to extensive media reporting. A case in point is the mass violence in Darfur, unfolding during the first decades of the 21st century and categorized as genocide by many, including the International Criminal Court. Media reporting about Darfur shows noteworthy patterns. They are revealed by a study supported by the National Science Foundation, involving content analysis of 3,387 reports and opinion pieces published in prominent newspapers of eight countries in the Global North, accompanied by expert interviews, and a doctoral dissertation on the journalistic field in Africa and its reporting on Darfur. First, today’s media reporting replaces denial with acknowledgment. Second, it frames the violence most often as criminal, and frequently as genocidal, even though humanitarian emergency and armed conflict frames also fare prominently. Third, throughout the history of reporting, Africa correspondents, central actors in the journalistic field, adapt to opportunities and external pressures from surrounding social fields. Economic forces (media markets) and politics affect the frequency of reporting. The criminal justice-oriented human rights field, the humanitarian field, and the diplomatic field influence the frames through which the violence is interpreted. Fourth, the criminal justice-oriented human rights field is especially effective in coloring reports, despite substantial barriers between criminal courts and the journalistic field. Fifth, reporting in all countries is affected by interventions by international institutions, including the UN Security Council, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC’s decision to charge Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, for example, intensified reporting in all countries. Sixth, the receptivity to the criminal justice frame varies by country. Seventh, in addition to cross-country similarities and differences within the Global North, a comparison of journalistic fields in the Global North with those in Africa shows distinct patterns, but also astonishing similarities between Global North and African reporting on Darfur.

Extent of Applicability of Human Rights Standards to Proceedings before the International Criminal Court: On Possible Reductive Factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Deprez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Present Article ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Human Rights Standards

Today, it is not seriously challenged that human rights law applies to proceedings before the International Criminal Court. The exact boundaries of this statement, however, might be less clear. The present article argues that the extent of applicability of human rights law cannot be precisely described unless the specific nature of the Court and of international criminal justice in general is taken into consideration. More concretely, it will be demonstrated that the exact scope of applicability of human rights standards to the ICC setting can only be addressed by referring to inherent characteristics (both of the Court and of the international criminal system as a whole) that could possibly bear a reductive impact on that scope. It will be argued throughout the analysis that several of these specific features are indeed capable of reducing the level of protection, while on a closer look others do not display such influence.

Why Retain Membership of the International Criminal Court?

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-387
Author(s):  
Juan-Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
African Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Victim Participation ◽  
First Time

Among international criminal tribunals (‘icts’), the International Criminal Court (‘icc’) for the first time introduced victim participation and reparations for victims. Against potential African withdrawals from the icc Statute, this article seeks to demonstrate the need to retain membership of the icc under victim-oriented considerations. Despite its deficits and limitations, the icc is arguably an important judicial forum for victims of mass atrocities committed in Africa for three arguments. First, human rights are invoked as a standard to examine the legitimacy of the decisions of the icc, African Union (‘au’), and African states. Second, international and African regional human rights law on victim rights binds African states. Third, since au regional criminal justice initiatives present important deficits and limitations in terms of victim rights, they are unfit to replace the icc.

scholarly journals Review of the Monograph by PhD in Law D.A. Pechegin «Competitive and Investigative Models of Proceedings in the International Criminal Court»

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-246
Author(s):  
I I Kucherov
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
European Court

Monograph by D.A. Pechegin «Competitive and investigative models of proceedings in the International Criminal Court» is devoted to the study of the model of criminal justice, as well as its implementation in the structure of adversarial and investigative principles, both internationally and nationally. The reader is presented with a comprehensive analysis of various issues in the production of criminal cases through the prism of analyzing the provisions of not only domestic and foreign legislation, but also statutory and other documents of international criminal tribunals, ad hoc courts, the European Court of Human Rights.

ACCIDENT AND DESIGN: RECOGNISING VICTIMS OF AGGRESSION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-132
Author(s):  
Shane Darcy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

AbstractInternational law has not traditionally recognised individuals as victims of the crime of aggression. Recent developments may precipitate a departure from this approach. The activation of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the crime of aggression opens the way for the future application of the Court's regime of victim participation and reparation in the context of prosecutions for this crime. The determination by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in General Comment No. 36 that any deprivation of life resulting from an act of aggression violates Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights serves to recognise a previously overlooked class of victims. This article explores these recent developments, by discussing their background, meaning and implications for international law and the rights of victims.

An Attempt to Prosecute: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Communication to the International Criminal Court Relating to the Alleged Crimes in Egypt

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-762
Author(s):  
Hossam ElDeeb
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood

The article analyses a communication submitted by the Muslim Brotherhood group (mb) to the International Criminal Court (icc) relating to alleged crimes in Egypt. After the ousting of Morsi, hundreds of Morsi supporters were killed during the dispersal of two sit-in camps. The mb lawyers argued that the ousted, Morsi, is still the legitimate president of Egypt and hence can accept the Court’s jurisdiction pursuant to Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute. It is argued that such controversial communications submitted to the Court have serious implications other than the intended purpose of communications. The article briefly reviews the situation of Egypt’s criminal justice system in relation to the alleged crimes and the legal position of the mb, then analyses the scope of Article 12(3) before it critically argues that the communication submitted to the icc was for political gain and the Court should restrain itself from entering into political debates.

scholarly journals Trial and (Potential) Error: Conflicting Visions on Reparations Within the ICC System

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Balta ◽  
Manon Bax ◽  
Rianne Letschert
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
International Criminal Trials

Twenty years ago, the International Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC or the Court) was established holding the aim of placing victims at the heart of international criminal justice proceedings and delivering justice to them through, among others, reparations. Article 75 of the Rome Statute lays out the reparations regime, and, in practice, court-ordered reparations are a means of delivering such justice. Focusing on Court decisions on reparations, our analysis takes stock of all developments before the ICC and attempts to highlight the mismatch between characteristics inherent to the objectives of international criminal trials such as providing accountability and punishment of the accused and delivering justice for victims of mass crimes—the so-called procedural challenges. We also submit that the Court is facing conceptual challenges, related to an apparent misunderstanding of the various concepts at stake: reparations as such and the various modalities and channels of enforcing them. We conclude that although the ICC’s reparation regime may not be the best reparative response to provide justice to victims in conflict situations affected by mass victimization, we suggest that improving the ICC’s approach includes, at a minimum, tackling these challenges.

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