The report of the international commission of inquiry on Darfur & genocidal intent - A critical analysis

Netherlands International Law Review

Volumn 53, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 205-245

  Van Haren, Mathilde K ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN   (Netherlands)

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EID: 67651035533     PISSN: 0165070X     EISSN: 17416191     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0165070X06002051     Document Type: Article

References (121)

1. SC Res. 1564, 18 September 2004, S/RES/1564, para. 12.
2. Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General, Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1564 (2004) of 18 September 2004, Annex to Letter dated 31 January 2005 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, 1 February 2005, S/2005/60 (hereinafter: Report).
3. Although the government publicly denied links with the Janjaweed militias, eyewitness testimonies and government documents, obtained by among others Human Right Watch, irrefutably demonstrate the recruitment, training, arming and deployment of the Janjaweed militias by government officials. See, e.g., 'Darfur Documents Confirm Government Policy of Militia Support. A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper', 20 July 2004, available at < hrw.org/ >.
4. D. Guha-Sapir, 'Sensational Numbers Do not Help The Darfur Cause', Financial Times, 7 May 2005, available at < www.genocidewatch.org/SudanDarfurFinancialTimes7May2005.htm >, visited on 20 October 2005.
5. R. Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation - Analysis of Government - Proposals for Redress (Washington, DC, Carnegie Endowment for World Peace 1944) p. 79.
6. GA Res. 96(I), 11 December 1946, UN Doc. A/64/Add. 1, p. 189.
7. GA Res. 180(II), 21 November 1947, UN Doc. A/519, p. 129.
8. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 9 December 1948, 78 UNTS p. 277.
9. GA Res. 260A(III), 9 December 1948, UN Doc. A/810.
10. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of Its Forty-Eight Session, 6 May-26 July 1996, UN Doc. A/51/10, p. 44, para. 4 (hereinafter: ILC Report).
11. D.L. Nersessian, 'The Contours of Genocidal Intent: Troubling Jurisprudence from the International Criminal Tribunals', 37 Texas ILJ (2002) p. 231 at p. 256.
12. The ILC referred to this intent as follows: 'The prohibited acts. are by their very nature conscious, intentional or volitional acts which an individual could not usually commit without knowing that certain consequences were likely to result. These are not the type of acts that would normally occur by accident or even as a result of mere negligence.' ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 44, para. 5.
13. Report, supra n. 2, at p. 2.
14. On 31 March 2005, the UNSC passed resolution 1593 referring the situation in Darfur, since 1 July 2002, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. On 6 June 2005, the ICC's Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo decided to start an investigation into atrocities in the Darfur region after he determined that Sudanese authorities were unwilling or unable to prosecute those most responsible for the crimes committed. See 'The Prosecutor of the ICC opens investigation in Darfur', 6 June 2005, available at < www.icc-cpi.int/pressrelease-details&id=107&l=en.html >, visited on 15 September 2005.
15. Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR 96-4-T, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment, 2 September 1998 (hereinafter: Akayesu (TC)), para. 498.
16. Prosecutor v. Kambanda, Case No. ICTR 97-23-S, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment and Sentence, 4 September 1998 (hereinafter: Kambanda (TC)), para. 16.
17. Prosecutor v. Krstić, Case No. IT-98-33-T, ICTY Appeals Chamber Judgment, 19 April 2004 (hereinafter: Krstić (AC)), para. 134.
18. Prosecutor v. Kayishema & Ruzindana, Case No. ICTR-95-1-T, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment and Sentence, 21 May 1999 (hereinafter: Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC)), para. 91.
19. Prosecutor v. Bagilishema, Case No. ICTR-95-1A-T, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment and Sentence, 7 June 2001 (hereinafter: Bagilishema (TC)), para. 55.
20. W.A. Schabas, 'The Jelisić Case and the Mens Rea of the Crime of Genocide', 14 Leiden JIL (2001) p. 125 at p. 129.
21. A.K.A. Greenawalt, 'Rethinking Genocidal Intent: The Case for a Knowledge-Based Interpretation, 99 Columbia L Rev. (1999) p. 2259 at p. 2259.
22. Ibid., at p. 2269.
23. O. Triffterer, 'Genocide, its Particular Intent to Destroy in Whole or in Part the Group as Such', 14 Leiden JIL (2001) p. 399 at p. 405.
24. Ibid., at pp. 404-405.
25. A. Gil Gil, Derecho Penal International: Especial Consideración del Delito de Genocidio (Madrid, Editoral Technos 1999) pp. 259 et seq. See also H. Vest, Genozid durch Organisatorische Machtapparate: an der Grenze von Individueller und Kollektiver Verantwortlichkeit (Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft 2002) pp. 104 et seq. and M.C. Bassiouni and P. Manikas, The Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Irvington-on-Hudson, Transnational Publishers 1996) p. 527.
26. J.D. van der Vyver, 'Prosecution and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide', 23 Fordham ILJ (1999) p. 286 at p. 307.
27. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 44, para. 5. See also Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Forty-Seventh Session, 2 May-21 July 1995, UN Doc. A/50/10, p. 43, para. 79.
28. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 44, para. 5.
29. Prosecutor v. Jelisić, Case No. IT-95-10-T, ICTY Trial Chamber Judgment, 14 December 1999 (hereinafter: Jelisić (TC)), para. 86.
30. Prosecutor v. Jelisić, Case No. IT-95-10-A, ICTY Appeals Chamber Judgment, 5 July 2001, (hereinafter Jelisić (AC)), para. 46.
31. Prosecutor v. Krstić, Case No. IT-98-33-T, ICTY Trial Chamber Judgment, 2 August 2001 (hereinafter: Krstić (TC)), para. 561.
32. See, e.g., Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 91 and Kambanda (TC), supra n. 30, at para. 16.
33. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 520.
34. See, e.g., Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 498 and Krstić (AC), supra n. 31, at para. 134.
35. See, e.g., Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 520 and Krstić (AC), supra n. 31, at para. 134.
36. C. Kress, 'The Darfur Report and Genocidal Intent', 3 Journal of International Criminal Justice (2005) p. 562 at p. 564.
37. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 518.
38. Kress, loc. cit. n. 50, at p. 564.
39. Prosecutor v. Jelisić, Case No. IT-95-10-A, Prosecution's Appeal Brief (Redacted Version), para. 4.22.
40. Kress, loc. cit. n. 50, at p. 565.
41. See, e.g., Greenawalt, loc. cit. n. 35 and Triffterer, loc. cit. n. 37.
42. Greenawalt, loc. cit. n. 35, at pp. 2266-2269. It falls outside the scope of this article to examine these issues. However, one of them will be dealt with more thoroughly when discussing the proving of genocidal intent.
43. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 100 and Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 94.
44. Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 549. See also W.A. Schabas, Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2000) p. 255: 'Genocide is, by nature, a collective crime, committed with the cooperation of many participants.'
45. See also Kress, loc. cit. n. 50, at p. 563.
46. Report, supra n. 2, at para. 491.
47. Kress, loc. cit. n. 50, at fn. 59.
48. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 520.
49. Schabas, op. cit. n. 59, at p. 212. See also Vest, op. cit. n. 39, at pp. 104 et seq.
50. Kress, loc. cit. n. 50, at p. 568.
51. Krstić (AC), supra n. 31, at para. 134.
52. N. Robinson, The Genocide Convention: A Commentary (New York, Institute of Jewis Affairs 1960) p. 15.
53. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 523.
54. Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 533.The victimisation is only a contributory factor in establishing genocidal intent and must be considered within the overall framework of events.
55. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 73.
56. Kayishema and Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 93.
57. Prosecutor v. Karadžić and Mladić, Case No. IT-95-5-R61 and IT-95-18-R61, Consideration of the Indictment within the Framework of Rule 61 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, ICTY Trial Chamber, 11 July 1996 (hereinafter: Karadžić and Mladić), para. 294.
58. See, e.g., Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 580 and Karadžić and Mladić, supra n. 74, at paras. 94-95.
59. Karadžić and Mladić, supra n. 74, at para. 84.
60. Prosecutor v. Musema, Case No. ICTR-96-13-T, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment and Sentence, 27 January 2000, para. 167 and Prosecutor v. Rutaganda, Case No. ICTR-96-3-T, ICTR Trial Judgment and Sentence, 6 december 1999 (hereinafter: Rutaganda (TC)), para. 63.
61. Report, supra n. 2, at para. 502.
62. Greenawalt, loc. cit. n. 35, at p. 2267.
63. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 523.
64. Greenawalt, loc. cit. n. 35, at p. 2267.
65. Lemkin, op. cit. n. 6, at p. 79 and pp. 82-90.
66. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 46, para. 12.
67. See Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 580; Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at paras. 78-83 and Prosecutor v. Sikirica et al., Case No. IT-95-8, ICTY Trial Chamber Judgment on Defence Motions to Aquit, 3 September 2001 (hereinafter: Sikirica et al.), paras. 63-86.
68. Report, supra n. 2, at paras. 515, 517, 518 and 520.
69. Krstić (AC), supra n. 31, at para. 33.
70. Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at para. 731. See also Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 95.
71. Triffterer, loc. cit. n. 37, at pp. 401-402. The ILC Report on the Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind also argues that it is not necessary that the destruction is actually achieved but that it is sufficient that the perpetrator committed one of the prohibited acts, listed in Art. II of the Genocide Convention, with the clear intent to destroy totally or partially the protected group. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 46, para. 18.
72. D. Alonzo-Maizlish, 'In Whole or in Part: Group Rights, the Intent Element of Genocide, and the "Quantitative Criterion"', 77 NY Univ. L Rev. (2002) p. 1369 at p. 1371.
73. Secretariat Draft Convention on the Crime of Genocide, UN Doc. E/447.
74. Ad Hoc Committtee Draft Convention on the Crime of Genocide, UN Doc. E/AC.25/SR.24, p. 4.
75. UN Doc. A/C.6/228.
76. R. Lemkin, 'United States Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Genocide Convention, April 12, 1950', 2 Executive Sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Historical Series (1976) p. 370.
77. Robinson, op. cit. n. 69, at p. 63.
78. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 45, para. 8.
79. Draft Statute for the International Criminal Court. Part 2. Jurisdiction, Admissibility and Applicable Law, UN Doc. A/AC.249/1998/CRP.8, p. 11, fn. 1.
80. Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at paras. 96-97.
81. Bagilishema (TC), supra n. 33, at para. 64.
82. Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 590.
83. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 83.
84. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 82. See also Sikirica et al., supra n. 88, at paras. 76-77 and Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 587.
85. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 82. Similarly, Daniel Nsereko stated that '[a]lso qualifying as substantial is a significant section of the group, such as the intelligentsia and the leadership, whose destruction results in a significant reduction of both the quantitative and the qualitative strength of the group'. D.D.N. Nsereko, 'Genocide: A Crime Against Mankind', in G. Kirk McDonald and O. Swaak-Goldman, eds., Substantive and Procedural Aspects of International Criminal Law - The Experience of International and National Courts, Vol. I (The Hague, Kluwer Law International 2000) p. 115 at p. 125.
86. See, e.g., 'SUDAN - Deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Darfur', 7 April 2004 (AFR 54/034/2004), available at < web.amnesty.org/library/eng-sdn/reports >, visited on 20 December 2005; 'Empty Promises? Continuing Abuses in Darfur, Sudan. A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper', 11 August 2004, pp. 14-15, available at < hrw.org/ >.
87. Krstić (AC), supra n. 31, at para. 12.
88. Rutaganda (TC), supra n. 77, at para. 56. See also Bagilishema (TC), supra n. 33, at para. 65 and Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 557: 'A group's cultural, religious, ethnical, or national characteristics must be identified within the socio-historic context which it inhabits.'
89. See Akayesu (TC), supra n. 29, at paras. 512-515.
90. Kayishema & Ruzindana (TC), supra n. 32, at para. 98.
91. Rutaganda (TC), supra n. 77, at para. 56.
92. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 69.
93. Report, supra n. 2, at paras. 498-501.
94. The members of the African tribes speak their own dialect in addition to Arabic. The main classification, however, distinguishes between agriculturalists and pastoralists.
95. Report, supra n. 2, at paras. 509-512.
96. M.N. Shaw, 'Genocide and International Law', in Y. Dinstein, ed., International Law at a Time of Perplexity: Essays in Honour of Shabtai Rosenne (Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1989) p. 806.
97. Ad Hoc Committee Draft Convention on the Crime of Genocide, supra n. 100.
98. UN Doc. E/794, p. 5.
99. UN Doc. A/C.6/SR.75 (Pérez-Perozo, Venezuela).
100. UN Doc. A/C.6/SR.77 (Alfaro (chair)).
101. UN Doc. A/C.6/SR.78 (Maniniy Ríos, Uruguay).
102. UN Doc. A/C.6/SR.78 (thirty in favour, fifteen against, with three abstentions).
103. H.F.A. Donnedieu de Vabres, Le droit privé français au milieu du XXe siècle: Etudes offertes à Georges Ripert, Tome 1: Études générales (Paris, Pichon et Durand-Auzias 1950) p. 245.
104. M. Lippman, 'The Drafting of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide', 3 Boston Univ. ILJ (1985) p. 1 at p. 41.
105. Second Report on the Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind by Mr. Doudou Thiam, Special Rapporteur, Thirty-Sixth Session of the International Law Commission (1984), UN Doc. A/CN.4/377, ILC Yearbook (1984) Vol. II (Part 1) p. 93, paras. 29-30. See also, e.g., T. Meron, 'International Criminalization of Internal Atrocities', 89 AJIL (1995) p. 554 at p. 557 and ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 44.
106. Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Thirty-Eighth Session, 5 May-11 July 1986, UN Doc. A/41/10, pp. 44-45, para. 86.
107. Interim Report of the Commission of Experts, UN Doc. S/25274.
108. Robinson, op. cit. n. 69, at pp. 60-61.
109. ILC Report, supra n. 15, at p. 45, para. 7.
110. Schabas, op. cit. n. 59, at p. 254.
111. Krstić (TC), supra n. 45, at para. 561.
112. Jelisić (TC), supra n. 43, at para. 67.
113. Jelisić (AC), supra n. 44, at para. 49.
114. C. Tournaye, 'Genocidal Intent before the ICTY', 52 ICLQ (2003) p. 447 at p. 453.
115. Schabas, op. cit. n. 59, at p. 255.
116. Report, supra n. 2, at para. 493.
117. Schabas, op. cit. n. 59, at p. 254.
118. Report, supra n. 2, at para. 517.
119. E. Reeves, 'Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur: A Critical Analysis (Part I)', 2 February 2005, available at < www.sudanreeves.org/ >, visited on 15 October 2005.
120. R. Arens, Genocide in Paraguay (Philadelphia, Temple University Press 1976) p. 141.
121. Report, supra n. 2, at para. 519.