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International Criminal Tribunals and Special Courts

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( General )

 

Nuremburg Trials, Picture credit: Dodd Library
The United Nations established special international criminal tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia to prosecute those responsible for atrocities during times of war and genocide. Successful convictions of these political and military leaders are meant to bring justice to victims and to deter others from committing such crimes in the future.

These special tribunals gave impetus to the formation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), finally established in 2003. Unlike the ICC, the special tribunals have limited jurisdictions and do not threaten the possible prosecution of leaders or nationals of powerful countries like the United States.

This section follows important cases in the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, as well as developments at the Special Courts in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Cambodia and East Timor. In addition, the page covers discussions about the trials of Saddam Hussein and other top Baath Party officials, as well as the implications for international justice and criminal law.

Links

General

The Crimes of War website provides a unique collaboration of leading scholars, journalists, writers, and legal experts on war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and international law as it is developing to confront these atrocities and the social and political crises they engender.

ICTY

The International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia's website includes introductory material to the tribunal, text of basic legal documents, indictments and judgements, press releases, and a variety of other excellent resources.

 

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting provides outstanding coverage and analysis of the ICTY and other developments within the Balkans.

 

ICTR

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda's website includes introductory material to the tribunal, the text of basic legal documents, indictments and judgements, press releases, and a variety of excellent resources.

 

 

Sierra Leone

The website of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

 

 

Cambodia

The Documentation Center of Cambodia is a non-governmental organization that provides information on the Khmer Rouge regime and serves as a resource for those who wish to pursue legal redress for the crimes committed between 1975 and 1979.

The Yale University's Cambodian Genocide Program established in 1994, offers access to documentation including the 100,000-page archive of the Khmer Rouge regime's security police, the Santebal. It also provides documents, translations, maps, books and research papers on the genocide.

 

East Timor

The Judicial System Monitoring Programme monitors and reports on occurrences at the Ad-Hoc Court for East Timor.

 

The website of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor provides information about the Commission and its work. Includes links to other relevant pages.

Iraq

Official website of the Iraq High Tribunal (formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal)


 

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