International Criminal Tribunals (ICTs)

• A state is a territorial and political community run by a government and has recognized borders within which the people live.

• An institution is an organization governed by rules and laws that plays a specific role in society. This role may be political, social, economic, religious, etc.

International law combines the rules and norms that dictate relations between states, individuals and organizations on the international level. This covers a wide range of issues such as the environment, trade, transport of goods and services, human rights, etc.

On November 25, 1981, Canada and the United States asked the International Court of Justice to settle a dispute over the fishing zones they shared because of their proximity to the Gulf of Maine. Members of the jury met to decide on the maritime boundaries separating each country. They delivered their judgment on October 12, 1984.

On August 14, 1953, France asked the International Court of Justice to settle a dispute it had with Lebanon over an electricity company called Électricité de Beyrouth. After a few months, France and Lebanon eventually agreed on a joint solution. The case was closed on July 29, 1954.

On August 27, 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) asked the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the use of nuclear weapons in war. The WHO was considering whether it had the power to ban their use because of their harmful effects on human health and the environment. The ICJ ruled that the regulation of nuclear weapons fell under the scope of the United Nations (UN).

• A civil war is an armed conflict between civilians or military groups of the same country. 

• International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the law of war, regulates the conduct of war (treatment of the wounded soldiers and prisoners of war, prohibition on deliberately attacking non-combattants and prohibition of certain types of weapons). It aims to protect people who are not or are no longer participating in the war. In general, IHL aims to prevent the suffering of citizens, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war.

Ethnic, political and religious tensions were at the root of the civil wars that took place in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1999. More than 200 000 people died in these wars and more than 5 million people were deported.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) punished the individuals who murdered, tortured, raped and deported hundreds of thousands of people. This tribunal convicted 90 of the 161 people who were indicted. On May 27, 1999, Slobodan Milošević, head of state of the former Yugoslavia, was accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. However, he pleaded not guilty. He died in prison on March 11, 2006, while the trial was still ongoing.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania, was established on November 8, 1994. Its purpose was to judge the perpetrators of the genocide aimed at eliminating the Tutsi people. Over 800 000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide between April and July 1994. 

The ICTR, which ended in 2015, made it possible, among other things, to send several soldiers, police, politicians and citizens who had participated in the massacre to prison.

For example, General Théoneste Bagosora, who commanded the Rwandan army responsible for the genocide, was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2008 and his sentence was later reduced to 35 years in 2011.

Voici une entrevue accordée par Louise Arbour à l’Association canadienne pour les Nations Unies (ACNU) : Les grands Canadiens aux Nations unies : Louise Arbour

On July 10, 2012, the ICC sentenced Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to 14 years in prison for war crimes. He was accused of recruiting and using child soldiers under the age of 15 to participate in armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 1993 to 2003.