Send In the Lawyers: The Political Architecture of Justice

Abstract

The society of states, whether through the United Nations (UN) or alternative arrangements, did not send troops to halt the slaughter in Rwanda. But within the Security Council, a clear dynamic evolved toward international judicial intervention—the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal to hold individuals accountable for the genocide and other violations of international humanitarian law. The road to the international tribunal began in April 1994—the first month of the mass killings. Although, as we have seen, the United States and Britain were reluctant to put the label “genocide” on the killings in Rwanda at that time, the statement issued by the president of the Security Council on April 30, 1994 condemned all breaches of international humanitarian law in Rwanda and noted that the persons who instigated or participated in such acts where individually responsible. The statement referred to the killing of members of an ethnic group with the intention of destroying the group, wholly or partially, as a crime according to international law.

We believe that the independence of the International Tribunal is its most important attribute: independence vis-à-vis Governments, independence vis-à-vis national tribunals and even independence vis-à-vis the United Nations itself.

—Yâñez-Barnuevo, permanent representative of Spain to the United Nations (1994)