“THE PENAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
“THE PENAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
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Date
2002-12
Authors
CHARLES, ONYEKA IGALAWUYE
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Abstract
During this century, millions of children, women and men have been victims
of unimaginable atrocities in the threatre of wars that deeply shook the
conscience of humanity. It is against this background that an analysis of the
penal responsibility and sanctions for violations of International
Humanitarian Law becomes necessary.
The first chapter is a general introduction which highlighted all the core
issues to be discussed and analysed in the course of this research work.
The second chapter will examine the definition of crimes under international
law, war crimes and the prosecution of war criminals which has become so
vitally important to stem the impunity with which violations international
humanitarian law go unpunished.
The general scheme of repression codified in the four Geneva Conventions
of August 12, 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977, International
Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the Rome
Statute of International Criminal Court will equally be examined.
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Chapter three espouses the theory of state and individual responsibility
under international law. It takes into cognizance that international
humanitarian law establishes not only basic rights of the individual, but also
contains important machinery for guaranteeing observance of these rules,
imposes obligation necessary to repress any act constituting a serious
infringement on personal dignity or a grave threat to the security of the
civilian population.
Though the prosecution of war criminals after World War I was largely
ineffectual, coupled with the different interpretations given to the November
trial with regard to the position of individual under international law.
Chapter four establishes that whatever the case may be regarding the
position of the individual under international law after the Nuremberg trials
through the creation of the two ad hoc international criminal tribunals for
the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the United Nations Security Council
took a great leap forward and established, beyond doubt, that individuals
may now, with respect to international humanitarian law, appear as subject
bound by certain legal obligations directly under international law, and can
be held individually responsible.
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The main thrust of chapter four is the examination of the elaborate penal
regime and the concomitant sanctions in the Geneva Conventions and the
Additional Protocols, the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia
and Rwanda and finally the Statute of International Criminal Court.
Chapter five will examine the fundamental issue of which court has
jurisdiction to prosecute the breaches of international humanitarian law
against the backdrop that despite all the indignation aroused by the crimes,
the international criminal tribunals are called upon to prosecute, the accused
must be accorded the right to a fair hearing or trial. It takes cognisance of
the fact that the effective humanitarian law and respect for human rights are
complementary and indispensable to each other. They both contribute in
upholding the rule of law.
It is our conviction that research on the penal responsibility and sanctions for
breaches of international humanitarian law cannot be complete without
according a pride place to international committee of the Red Cross that
informed the elaborate discussion on the same in Chapter six before
concluding the research work and proffering the way forward
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POST-GRADUATE
SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF LL.M
Department of : Public Law
Faculty of: Law
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Date: December, 2002
Keywords
PENAL RESPONSIBILITY,, SANCTIONS,, VIOLATIONS,, INTERNATIONAL,, HUMANITARIAN LAW.