Abstract
The short answer to the question posed in the title of this article is ‘no’. However, while there is no direct causal connection between doing justice and preventing future genocide, it may be the case that the political will and ability to bring perpetrators to account reflect the emergence of political transformations (domestic and international) required for preventing future genocides. Also, although doing justice may not prevent genocide, not doing justice may not prevent genocide either. Justice, understood as perpetrator accountability, should be pursued for independent reasons, and not primarily for its instrumental value to the goal of prevention.
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Notes
- 1.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo , “Building a Future on Peace and Justice” (address, Nuremberg , June 24/25, 2007), http://wwwold.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/otp/speeches/LMO_nuremberg_20070625_English.pdf.
- 2.
See Catherine Lu, “The International Criminal Court as an Institution of Moral Regeneration: Problems and Prospects,” in Bringing Power to Justice: The Prospects of the International Criminal Court, eds. Joanna Harrington, Michael Milde and Richard Vernon (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006), 191–209.
- 3.
Judith N. Shklar , Legalism: Law, Morals, and Political Trials (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964), 143–144.
- 4.
An account of current cases before the ICC is provided in Luis Moreno-Ocampo , Chapter 16 (above).
- 5.
United Nations Security Council , “United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), adopted by Vote of 11 in Favour To None Against, with 4 Abstentions (Algeria, Brazil, China , United States ),” SC/8351, March 31, 2005, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sc8351.doc.htm.
- 6.
Different conceptions of the role of the ICC are discussed in Noah Weisbord, Chapter 17 (above).
- 7.
Mark A. Drumbl, Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 144–146.
- 8.
Paola Gaeta, “Is the Practice of ‘Self-Referrals’ a Sound Start for the ICC?” Journal of International Criminal Justice 2, no. 4 (2004): 952.
- 9.
Drumbl, Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law, 145.
- 10.
Shklar , Legalism, 146.
- 11.
See Catherine Lu, “Agents, Structures and Evil in World Politics,” International Relations 18, no. 4 (2004): 499.
- 12.
See Iris Marion Young, “Responsibility and Global Labor Justice,” The Journal of Political Philosophy 12, no.4 (2004): 365–388, on responsibility for structural injustice, and the distinction between the blame model and political model of responsibility.
- 13.
See United Nations , “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court : Overview,” United Nations Treaty Database, http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/general/overview.htm.
- 14.
The argument that there is no conflict between justice and peace is presented in Luis Moreno-Ocampo , Chapter 16 (above).
- 15.
Helena Cobban, Amnesty After Atrocity? Healing Nations after Genocide and War Crimes (Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers, 2007).
- 16.
Ibid., 208–211.
- 17.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 , U.N. Doc. S/Res/1593 (March 31, 2005).
- 18.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo , “Building a Future on Peace and Justice”(address, Nuremberg , June 24/25, 2007), http://wwwold.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/otp/speeches/LMO_nuremberg_20070625_English.pdf.
- 19.
The positive impact of the ICC is illustrated in Luis Moreno-Ocampo , Chapter 16 (above).
- 20.
John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York : W.W. Norton, 1999): 464–465. For a more nuanced view of the achievements and failures of the Tokyo trial , see Yuma Totani, The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008).
- 21.
Charles Taylor , “The Politics of Recognition,” in Multiculturalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 66–67.
- 22.
Samantha Power, “Never Again: The World’s Most Unfulfilled Promise,” Frontline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/karadzic/genocide/neveragain.html (acc-essed July 15, 2009).
- 23.
Pragmatic ways short of intervention to stop mass atrocities are examined in Frédéric Mégret, Chapter 13, http://Section 13.5 (above).
- 24.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo , “ICC Prosecutor on Darfur : “Stop the Crimes, Stop the Criminals,” International Criminal Court , http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/situations%20and%20cases/situations/situation%20icc%200205/press%20releases/icc%20prosecutor%20on%20darfur_%20%E2%80%9Cstop%20the%20crimes_%20stop%20the%20criminals%E2%80%9D.
Cobban, Helena. Amnesty after Atrocity?: Healing Nations after Genocide and War Crimes. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2007.
Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999.
Gaeta, Paola. Is the Practice of “Self-Referrals” a Sound Start for the ICC?, Journal of International Criminal Justice 2, no. 4 (2004): 949–952.
Lu, Catherine. Agents, Structures and Evil in World Politics, International Relations 18, 4 (December 2004): 499–510.
Taylor, Charles. The Politics of Recognition In Chap. 2 Multiculturalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Young, Iris Marion Responsibility and Global Labor Justice, The Journal of Political Philosophy 12, no.4 (2004): 365–388.
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Lu, C. (2011). The Politics of Legal Accountability and Genocide Prevention. In: Provost, R., Akhavan, P. (eds) Confronting Genocide. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_18
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