United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights

The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was created by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1947 as the main expert body to advise the Commission on Human Rights. It has become a permanent advisory body for the Commission on all human rights issues, better described as a scientific advisory body or "think tank" for the Commission. In contrast to the Commission, which is comprised of state representatives, the Sub-Commission consists of twenty-six independent experts. Its annual three-week sessions in Geneva are attended by its members and alternates, government observers, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, other intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. Indeed, the Sub-Commission has become an important link between intergovernmental institutions and the public through representation by nongovernmental organizations. Consequently, its relations with its parent bodies have not always been harmonious.

The Sub-Commission has achieved many notable results, including the elaboration of draft conventions, declarations, and general principles on subjects as diverse as racial discrimination, the death penalty, the rights of indigenous peoples, the rights of minorities, the independence of the judiciary, and the human rights responsibilities of transnational corporations. Its in-depth studies have resulted in the creation of new special rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission on Human Rights addressing topics such as the independence of the judiciary, freedom of opinion, arbitrary detention, religious intolerance, toxic waste, the right to food, the right to adequate housing, human rights, and terrorism. Its debates, resolutions, and studies dealing with the issue of genocide have served to refine the definition and understanding of genocide contained in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to review the historical development and legal implications of the convention's provisions, to apply its template to various historical events, and to recommend ways in which the international community can improve its response to genocide.

The original functions of the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities (as it was known from 1947 to 1999) were to undertake studies, particularly in the light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to make recommendations to the larger Commission on Human Rights concerning the prevention of discrimination of any kind relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms and the protection of racial, national, religious and linguistic minorities. In addition, the Sub-Commission was charged with the duty to perform any other functions, which may be entrusted to it by the council or the Commission. The Sub-Commission's mandate and activities have substantially evolved over the last half century to include considering specific questions in public and private, examining petitions from alleged victims and NGOs, sending communications to governments, and adopting resolutions on particular situations.

Consideration of Country Situations

When the Commission on Human Rights requested in 1966 to be empowered by the Economic and Social Council to make recommendations about specific human rights violations brought to its attention, ECOSOC Resolution 1235 (XLII) of 1967 was adopted authorizing both the Commission and the Sub-Commission "to examine information relevant to gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms." Three years later, ECOSOC Resolution 1503 (XLVII) provided for a confidential procedure to handle communications revealing a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights.

In practice, Resolution 1235 has served as the basis for annual public debate in the Commission and Sub-Commission on human rights violations in various countries. Allegations ranging from disappearances to torture to genocide have been discussed during these debates, on the basis of which both the Commission and Sub-Commission began the practice of adopting resolutions expressing concern about the situation in specific countries. Through resolutions and the Sub-Commission chairman's statements, as well as the strategic withdrawal of draft resolutions on certain conditions, the Sub-Commission has been able to achieve dialogue with governments and furthered the adoption of measures to improve human rights. Further, the Sub-Commission has played an important role regarding countries not dealt with by the Commission by originating resolutions and initiatives that were later adopted by the Commission.

Several of the Sub-Commission's resolutions have called attention to situations involving genocide. With regard to the former Yuglosavia, the Sub-Commission noted in Resolution 1993/17 that the "abhorrent policy of ethnic cleansing was a form of genocide." Its resolution on the same subject one year later went further, declaring that the Sub-Commission was

appalled by the acts of genocide carried out by the rebel Pale Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the evidence indicating that large-scale massacres of the Muslim population have taken place after the occupation of the safe areas of Zepa and Srebrenica.

The resolution emphasized that any peace plan should not contain provision for impunity for acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, or other serious war crimes. In a 1995 resolution expressing solidarity with the special rapporteur on the former Yugoslavia for his decision to resign from his position following the Srebrenica massacres, the Sub-Commission noted, "a veritable genocide is being committed massively and in a systematic manner against the civilian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, often in the presence of United Nations forces."

With regard to the situation in Rwanda, a Sub-Commission resolution of August 1994 expressed deep concern "at the convincing and appalling evidence of the genocide resulting from the massacres of the Tutsis, the political assassinations of the Hutus and the various attacks on human rights in Rwanda." It further deplored the tardy and insufficiently effective intervention of the international community (including the UN and the OAU), making it impossible to prevent the genocide. It recommended effective follow-up to the report of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Rwanda, giving an account of political assassinations and genocide. At the same session, the Sub-Commission adopted a thematic resolution on the strengthening and punishment of the crime of genocide, in which it claimed that the atrocities being committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia highlighted the deficiencies of the Genocide Convention. It recommended improving the convention by adding a clause concerning universal jurisdiction and considering extending its application to political genocide.

Again in 1995, the Sub-Commission expressed concern at the "convincing and appalling evidence of the genocide resulting from the massacres of the Tutsis, the political assassinations of the Hutus and the various attacks on human rights in Rwanda." That same year, the Sub-Commission adopted a resolution on the prevention of incitement to hatred and genocide, particularly by the media. This resolution referred to the situations in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire, and Burundi, categorically condemning the role played with increasing frequency by printed or audiovisual media in inciting genocidal hatred. Finally, the Sub-Commission's 1996 resolution on Rwanda noted with dismay that more than two years after genocide on an enormous scale, no judgment condemning those guilty had been delivered either by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or by national or foreign courts. The Sub-Commission expressed further concern that "persons responsible for acts of genocide were infiltrating Rwanda with the purpose of eliminating the witnesses of the genocide."

With regard to the situation in Burundi, the Sub-Commission adopted Resolution 1996/4 drawing attention to the findings of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi regarding "genocide by attrition." Further, it appealed to the Burundian authorities to spare no effort in "banishing the specter of genocide." It called upon them or the authorities to create mutual trust among ethnic groups, encourage peaceful coexistence, and return quickly to the rule of law.

Although it held discussions on the situation in Cambodia, the Sub-Commission was unable to pass a resolution on the country. In 1991 the Sub-Commission considered and dropped from its agenda a draft resolution that referred to "the atrocities reaching the level of genocide committed in particular during the period of Khmer Rouge rule." In 1978 the governments of Canada, Norway, and the U.K. had submitted statements concerning the continuation of violations of human rights in Democratic Kampuchea, along with voluminous evidence containing the factual basis for a charge of genocide. Democratic Kampuchea rejected the Sub-Commission's decision to appoint a member to analyze the materials submitted "as an impudent interference in internal affairs" and denied all allegations in the years hence.

Indeed, it was the political sensitivities inherent in country resolutions that gradually eroded the Sub-Commission's role in condemning human rights violations in particular countries. In 1990, to protect the independence of its members, the Sub-Commission introduced secret voting on any resolution relating to an individual country. In 1999 the Commission on Human Rights decided through its inter-sessional Working Group on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Commission on Human Rights that the Sub-Commission should not make any pronouncements on the human rights situation in any country already under consideration by the Commission (it also reduced its session time from four to three weeks). Most drastically of all, in its decision 2000/109, the Commission withdrew the Sub-Commission's right to adopt country-specific resolutions or even to refer to country-specific situations in thematic resolutions. Three years later, in Resolution 2003/59, the Commission prohibited the Sub-Commission chairpersons from issuing country-specific statements.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been highly critical of this fundamental role change. Despite the fact that the Sub-Commission may still consider country situations during its debates, NGOs point to a decline in the quality and quantity of such debates and poor or nonexistent reporting. For example, revisiting the issue of the Rwandan genocide at its 2002 session, Sub-Commission member El-Hadji Guissé criticized the UN for failing to intervene during the genocide and suggested it might have done otherwise had the victims been of another race. Nothing further was stated for the record and no action was taken. Such scant consideration of an issue that had received considerable attention in earlier sessions would seem to support the contention coming from within the Sub-Commission itself that the experts increasingly saw little point in addressing the protection of human rights in individual countries.

Confidential Procedure

The 1503 (Confidential) Procedure arose out of the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1503 (XLVI II) of 1970. It authorized the Commission on Human Rights to establish a process for the examination of communications (a UN euphemism for complaints) pertaining to "situations which appear to reveal a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights requiring consideration by the Commission." It constitutes the oldest human rights complaint mechanism in the United Nations. NGOs and others hailed its establishment as a significant success because it opened up new ways for complaints to receive a formal examination, even when they involved states that had not ratified the relevant human rights treaties. Previous to the adoption of this procedure, the Commission had employed communications only as a means of identifying general trends, without responding to the violations at issue.

The resolution, and the confidential procedure it established, originated in the dramatic change in the composition of the major UN organs that had occurred by the mid-1960s. This was a time when the many newly independent African and Asian states gained membership in the UN, and total membership of the Commission on Human Rights went from 18 in 1960 to 21 in 1967. Developing countries were eager to press for additional means by which to pursue the struggle against racist and colonialist policies.

The Confidential Procedure involves a process by which complaints are examined in order to identify the existence of a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights. First, the Sub-Commission would undertake a review of thousands of complaints received by the United Nations Secretariat. (After the year 2000, a Working Group on Communications, rather than the entire Sub-Commission, was tasked with this responsibility.) Those cases considered that appeared to indicate "a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" are passed along to the Commission on Human Rights. A separate Working Group on Situations would then undertake a pre-examination of the evidence and, finally, the full Commission would meet in private session to discuss each situation.

Resolution 2000/3 provided the Commission with a repertoire of responses to these situations, including appointing an independent expert to make direct contacts with the government and the people concerned, keeping the case under consideration, transferring the case to the public procedures, or dismissing the situation. Perhaps the most effective of these, in terms of applying pressure on states against which complaints have been lodged, is the possibility that the situation will be transferred to a public procedure. When the Commission returns to public session, the chairperson announces the list of countries that have been examined under the 1503 process, the violations at issue, and any action taken to date.

More than 80 states have been examined by the Commission under the 1503 Procedure since 1972. The majority of these countries were responsible for a large number of human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention, summary or arbitrary executions, and disappearances. The 1503 procedure has never been formally employed to deal with specific allegations of genocide. On the other hand, complaints against several countries have alleged situations of gross violations of human rights that might have amounted to genocide. These include Rwanda (considered from 1993 to 1995), Burundi (considered from 1974 to 1975) and Cambodia (considered in 1979).

The 1503 Confidential Procedure has been criticized for its secrecy, slowness, complexity, and vulnerability to political influence. Reform was initiated in July 2000 by ECOSOC Resolution 2000/3 to streamline the process, but the procedure's importance has nevertheless diminished, due to the rapid development over the years of the public procedures and the system of individual complaints before treaty bodies. At the same time, the procedure provides a useful, incremental technique for placing increasing pressure on offending governments, while encouraging them to engage in a constructive exchange of views to improve the situation. At the minimum, the 1503 procedure affords a mechanism for complaints to be received through official UN channels and for governments to respond.

Studies

The loss of its ability to respond to human rights violations within particular countries has increased the relative importance of the Sub-Commission's studies program, which was established in 1952. Studies are indepth reports on particular human rights issues carried out by Sub-Commission members who are designated as special rapporteurs for the preparation of a report on a particular issue. Upon completion, studies are submitted to the Sub-Commission for discussion. The level of interest in any given report varies; the experts may take a keen interest, or they may make only general, noncommittal remarks. Unless the Sub-Commission members have significant concerns about the report, it will usually be submitted to the Commission for broad dissemination.

With the proliferation of studies over the years, the Sub-Commission established criteria in 1997 for selecting new subjects for study. It determined that priority should be given to subjects for study recommended by the Commission on Human Rights. After these, priority should be given to subjects suggested by the working groups of the Sub-Commission. Special attention should be given to subjects proposed by treaty bodies, and economic, social, and cultural rights should be considered as a priority area in the selection of new studies. Finally, the Sub-Commission determined that proposals for isolated studies that lacked the necessary background and framework should be discouraged.

The Sub-Commission has made key contributions to the definition and understanding of genocide through its studies. The two most notable in this regard are those of Nicomède Ruhashyankiko and Benjamin Whitaker, both entitled "Study on the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." The Ruhashyankiko report originated in a 1967 decision of the Sub-Commission to undertake a study of the question. Ruhashyankiko was a member of the Sub-Commission and a Rwandan national. He presented a preliminary report and three progress reports to the Sub-Commission before the presentation of his final study in 1978.

The Ruhashyankiko study was largely devoted to a history of the adoption of various articles of the 1948 Genocide Convention and an examination of controversies concerning the interpretation, value, and scope of those provisions. The report concluded that the 1948 convention should only be considered a "point of departure" in the adoption of effective international measures to prevent and punish genocide; but argued against interpreting the convention in broader terms than those envisaged by the signatories. According to Ruhashyankiko, it was preferable to adhere to the convention's spirit and letter, and then prepare new instruments whenever appropriate. The report acknowledged that a number of allegations of genocide had been made since the adoption of the convention, but noted that these allegations were not promptly investigated by an impartial body, making it impossible to determine whether they were well-founded. Ruhashyankiko recommended the establishment of an ad hoc committee to inquire into all allegations of genocide brought to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights. He also recommended that serious consideration be given to the establishment of an international criminal court to try allegations of genocide.

Ruhashyankiko's report was generally well-received, although some argued with the exception of his omission of the Armenian massacres that occurred in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1918. While reference to the Armenian genocide had been included in the preliminary study, Ruhashyankiko removed it from the final report. This deletion prompted impassioned critiques by Sub-Commission members and by NGOs who felt that the event deserved mention. They cited the significant size of the genocide, its comparatively recent occurrence, the ample documentary evidence establishing its existence (including a predetermined plan to exterminate the Armenian nation), the disturbing growth of movements challenging the veracity of the Holocaust, the need to analyze causation in past cases to contribute to future prevention, and perhaps most importantly, the overall moral obligation of the United Nations to adhere to historical truth and objectivity. In an attempt to address the political pressures that influenced Ruhashyankiko's decision to delete the reference, several members drew attention to the fact that the international law of state succession absolved the modern Republic of Turkey of responsibility for crimes committed by the Ottoman Empire. This did not prevent the observer from the Turkish government from taking the floor on several occasions to strongly deny the occurrence of the Armenian genocide.

Partially in an attempt to resolve this issue, the Sub-Commission and the Economic and Social Council requested a revision and updating of the Ruhashyankiko report. Benjamin Whitaker was appointed to undertake this task. During the Sub-Commission's discussions of the scope of the report, Whitaker observed that the first study was excellent, but there were "some omissions due to political pressure exerted on the Special Rapporteur who had prepared it . . . [that] resulted in the flagrant omission of the genocide of the Armenians." According to Whitaker, "rectifying such omissions was a matter of integrity and independence for the Sub-Commission."

Whitaker's final report cited nine instances of genocide in the twentieth century, including the Ottoman massacre of Armenians, that he claimed resulted in the killing or death-marching of "at least one million, and possibly well over half the Armenian population." The Turkish government intervened to advocate deletion of the mention of genocide. These debates resulted in a resolution that simply took note of Whitaker's report, but stopped short of endorsing it.

Another important study with regard to genocide was prepared in 1998 by Gay J. McDougall, entitled "Systematic Rape, Sexual Slavery and Slavery-like Practices during Armed Conflict." Commissioned in response to revelations concerning the more than 200,000 women enslaved by the Japanese military in so-called comfort stations during World War II, the report was cited by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as an authoritative statement of international criminal law in a landmark sexual violence case involving the detention, torture, and killing of civilians in a prison camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

McDougall's study provided a description of the legal framework for crimes against humanity, slavery, genocide, torture, and war crimes, and it outlined individual criminal liability for both perpetrators and those complicit in such crimes. It called for an effective response to sexual violence committed during armed conflict; emphasized that rape and other forms of sexual abuse are crimes of violence which may constitute slavery, crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, war crimes, and torture; and reinforced the existing legal framework for the prosecution of these crimes, with a view to achieving a more consistent and gender-responsive application of human rights and humanitarian and international criminal law. The report concluded that systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict constitute violations of human rights, and of humanitarian and international criminal law, and as such must be properly documented, the perpetrators brought to justice, and the victims provided with full criminal and civil redress. McDougall claimed that even in the absence of armed conflict, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence, including rape, may be prosecuted under existing legal norms as slavery, crimes against humanity, genocide, or torture. While women per se are not listed as a protected group under the Genocide Convention, the report argued that targeting a protected group "through attacks against its female members is sufficient to establish the crime of genocide." McDougall further contended that the prosecution need not establish intent to destroy the entire group on a national or an international basis, but "the intent to destroy a substantial portion or an important subsection of a protected group or the existence of a protected group within a limited region of a country is sufficient grounds for prosecution for genocide."

This report received important endorsement and follow-up by both the Sub-Commission and the Commission. In Decision 1999/105, the Commission on Human Rights approved the request of the Sub-Commission to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur for a year, to enable her to submit an update on developments to the next Sub-Commission session. Her updated report considered developments and actions at the international and national levels to end the cycle of impunity for sexual violence committed during armed conflict. The Sub-Commission also asked the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on the subject, which built upon McDougall's conclusions and recommendations. High Commissioner Mary Robinson's report noted not only that the statutes of the international criminal tribunals restated the definition of genocide found in the 1948 convention, but that genocide had been interpreted and developed in international case law—including ICTR's first judicial interpretation of the Genocide Convention in the Akayesu case, where the trial chamber adopted a broad interpretation of genocide, including rape and sexual violence when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group.

Following the first McDougall report, the Sub-Commission began the annual adoption of resolutions on systematic rape, sexual slavery, and slavery-like practices. In Resolution 2003/26, the Sub-Commission underlined as significant the latest verdicts of the ICTY, the ICTR, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which acknowledged that rape and sexual enslavement are crimes against humanity. It also noted with approval the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court's special recognition that sexual violence and sexual slavery committed in the context of either an internal or an international armed conflict may constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, thus falling within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Another issue with clear relevance to genocide that became the subject of a Sub-Commission study is that of population transfers. The first report on the human rights dimensions of population transfer, including the implantation of settlers and settlements, was submitted in 1993 by Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh and Ribot Hatano. It found that population transfer is, prima facie, unlawful and violates a number of rights affirmed in human rights and humanitarian law for both transferred and receiving populations. In Resolution 1993/34, the Sub-Commission endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of the preliminary report and requested Al-Khasawneh to continue the study on the human rights dimensions of population transfer and to submit a progress report on the question to next Sub-Commission session. It also recommended that a multidisciplinary expert seminar provide input for the final report.

Al-Khasawneh's final report, submitted in 1997, recommended that the Sub-Commission consider the possibility of preparing an international instrument to codify international standards regarding population transfer and the implantation of settlers. Such an instrument would expressly reaffirm the unlawfulness of population transfer and the implantation of settlers and define national responsibility in the matter of unlawful population transfer, including the implantation of settlers. It would also establish the criminal responsibility of individuals involved in population transfer, whether such individuals be private or officials of the state and provide a means for adjudicating claims presented by the individuals or populations involved. The report also recommended that the Commission on Human Rights adopt an instrument that embodied the principles of international law recognized by states as being applicable to population transfer and the implantation of settlers. To this end, it included in its annex a Draft Declaration on Population Transfer and the Implantation of Settlers.

Working Groups

Since the 1970s, substantial parts of the Sub-Commission's deliberations have focused on the work of its inter- or pre-sessional working groups: the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (established in 1974); the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (created in 1982) and the Working Group on Minorities (established in 1995). Composed of five members each, working groups devote their attention to the in-depth analysis of specific issues, the study of cases, and the drafting of new international standards. Working groups have constituted a unique platform for witnesses and victims, since they permit oral and written statements by NGOs who need not have ECOSOC consultative status or be recognized by their respective governments (they need only be directly concerned with the subject at hand). Year after year, the working groups have provided an opportunity to receive and publicly discuss allegations of specific human rights violations.

The Sub-Commission also establishes sessional working groups, which meet during its annual sessions to consider particular agenda items. Examples include the Working Group on Transnational Corporations, the Working Group on the Administration of Justice, and the Working Group on the Encouragement of Universal Acceptance of Human Rights Instruments. Each working group submits its reports to the Sub-Commission for consideration. On some questions, the Sub-Commission adopts its own resolutions and decisions. On others, it formulates draft resolutions and decisions for consideration by the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council.

The Working Group on Indigenous Populations has dealt with the issue of genocide by examining the effectiveness of the standards contained in national, regional, and international instruments in providing adequate protection to indigenous persons. On several occasions, its discussions included alleged genocide or ethnocide in countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Bangladesh. The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a body created in 2000 to advise the Economic and Social Council, recommended in 2003 that the Working Group on Indigenous Populations "undertake a study on genocidal and ethnocidal practices perpetrated on indigenous peoples, including programs for sterilization of indigenous women and girls, the use of indigenous communities as subjects for nuclear testing or storage of radioactive waste, and the testing of unapproved drugs on indigenous children and peoples."

The Working Group on the Administration of Justice dealt in depth with genocide through a working paper prepared by Louis Joinet on measures to be taken to give full effect to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Indeed, the events in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia prompted this working group's inclusion of an agenda item on genocide. This, in turn, led to Joinet's paper, which was intended more as a pragmatic study than an update of the Ruhashyankiko or Whitaker studies.

Joinet noted that, although the convention was the first such instrument in the history of the United Nations, it had never been implemented. In order to remedy the convention's deficiencies, he proposed a number of measures. Chief among these was the inclusion of a quantitative criterion in the definition of genocide and the extension of the scope of the convention to cover various categories of genocide. At the criminal level, Joinet believed it was desirable to encourage proposals concerning genocide by omission or by complicity and rejection of the doctrine of owed obedience. He believed that states should be made responsible for instituting a juridical basis and establishing an obligation of compensation. Joinet further recommended that technical assistance be provided to states that had not yet ratified the convention or had not yet taken the legislative steps necessary for its implementation.

Joinet recommended giving priority to measures for encouraging prevention of the crime of genocide. In his view, this could be accomplished by defining two methodological approaches: repressive measures and incentives designed to combat incitement to and provocation of genocide; and the establishment of a working group on prevention of genocide. Such a body would be distinct from any international criminal court and would have both a preventive and a repressive role to play. The purpose would be to facilitate the task of future international jurisdiction.

In discussing Joinet's proposals, some Sub-Commission members advocated a more cautious approach. They argued that a clear enforcement mechanism already existed within Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which outlined the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice over cases of genocide. They suggested that this mechanism would not necessarily need revising, but an additional protocol to the convention could be used to expand the definition of the crime of genocide.

Other members argued that it was necessary to expand the definition of genocide by including in it the concepts of cultural, political, and economic genocide. Although genocide was considered a crime against humanity not subject to prescription, that definition had never been given effect. Joinet countered that making too many changes to improve the convention might hamper progress in combating genocide. The pragmatic approach would be to avoid any reform of the convention and to consider only one or two specific proposals that were based on existing initiatives. Unfortunately, none of the suggestions made by Joinet were taken up by bodies in a position to implement such measures.

SEE ALSO Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Victims of War; Impunity; United Nations; United Nations General Assembly; United Nations Security Council; United Nations War Crimes Commission; Whitaker, Benjamin

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Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt

The views expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.