International Tribunals
The United Nations has sanctioned five separate war crimes tribunals, four related to specific events in specific locations and one permanent court with universal jurisdiction.
Opinions differ on the effectiveness of the tribunals and some question whether the effort is worth the time and expense that is involves. It is likely the issue will get renewed attention when conflicts in places such as Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Syria wind down and thoughts turn to accountability for atrocities that occurred during the conflicts. Will their domestic courts be too weak to handle such cases? If so, is the pool of potential cases large enough to warrant consideration of a special ad hoc tribunal or is the International Criminal Court a better choice?
The United Nations convened a conference in Rome in 1998 to negotiate a treaty to establish a permanent tribunal to prevent impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The United States was one of the leaders in that effort.
The Rome Statute, as it is called, created the ICC and went into effect in April 2002 when it was ratified by the 60th state party as required by the agreement. It sets out probably the most complete and universally accepted listing of war crimes.
Seven countries voted against the Rome Statute – the United States, China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, and Yemen – and 116 countries are currently state parties to the ICC.
The ICC is a court of last resort – if another domestic or international tribunal has meaningful jurisdiction over an accused and an offense the ICC will not intervene – and it only pursues the most serious allegations against individual defendants.
The ICC has indicted 26 individuals (including Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir) and has completed two cases as of August, 2011. Of the two, one died before the trial was done and charges against the other were dismissed.
The ICC is located at The Hague and is funded by contributions from state parties. The ICC operates independently of United Nations control and receives no U.N. funding.
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Milosevic
The ICTY was the first international war crimes tribunal established since World War II. It was created in 1993 to deal with war crimes committed during the war in the Balkans in the 1990s in order to facilitate reconciliation in the region and prevent impunity. Its jurisdiction is limited to individuals and offenses committed in the period of the war and it will wrap up its operations and close when the last case is completed.
The ICTY finished its investigations into possible crimes committed during the war in 2004 and it has indicted 161 individuals.
With the transfer of Goran Hadzic to The Hague in July 2011, all 161 individuals are in custody, dead, at trial, convicted or acquitted, referred to a domestic court for disposition, or had charges dismissed.
The United Nations has spent nearly two billion dollars on the ICTY. One of its most infamous cases was the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic who died in 2006 in the midst of his trial.
International Tribunal for Rwanda
The United Nations created the ICTR in November 1994 to deal with war crimes committed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The ICTR is located in Arusha, Tanzania, and its objective is to provide justice for victims and facilitate reconciliation.
The ICTR will wrap up its operations and close when the last case related to the genocide is completed. As of August 2011, the ICTR has completed 65 trials, 10 are in progress, one person is awaiting trial, and nine individuals remain at large. The United Nations provided the ICTR $245 million for 2010-2011 and set a target of December 31, 2014, to bring the ICTR to a conclusion.
Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was created in 2002 as a joint effort of the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone to bring to justice those with the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed after November 30, 1996, during the country’s civil war. The court is located in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and it is funded by contributions from more than 40 countries, including the United States.
The Court has indicted 23 people and completed 15 trials. The trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor is the most significant. Taylor is alleged to have supported rebel forces by supplying them with arms in exchange for blood diamonds (those mined in a war zone) and assisting in recruiting child soldiers, among other things.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to transfer Taylor to The Hague for trial because of concern for the potential impact a local trial might have on political stability given Taylor’s lingering influence in the area. A verdict is expected in 2011.
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
The United Nations and the government of Cambodia created the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in June 2003 for serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979 when as many as three million people died. The ECCC, often called the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, is independent of the U.N. and the Cambodian government and operates as a Cambodian court applying international standards and with international participation.
The ECCC has indicted five individuals. One trial has been completed resulting in the conviction of a former commander of a Khmer Rouge prison camp where more than 15,000 Cambodians were tortured and killed. Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
