International bounty hunters for war criminals: privatizing the enforcement of justice

Air Force Law Review,  Wntr, 2001  by Christopher M. Supernor

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(31.) Statute of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, adopted at New York, May 25, 1993, S.C. Res. 827, U.N. SCOR, 48th Sess., 3217th mtg., at 1-2, U.N. Doc. SIRES/827 (1993), reprinted in 32 I.L.M. 1159 [hereinafter ICTY Statute]; Statute of the International Tribunal for Rwanda, adopted at New York, Nov. 8, 1994, S.C. Res. 955, U.N.SCOR, 49th Sess., 3453d mtg., U.N. Doc. S/RES/955 (1994), reprinted in 33 I.L.M. 1598 [hereinafter ICTR Statute].

(32.) BEIGBEDER, supra note 3, at 152.

(33.) Id.

(34.) Id. at 175. The differences between the statutes for the ICTY and ICTR can be accounted for by the differences between the armed conflict in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The conflict in Yugoslavia had both an internal and international aspect but the conflict in Rwanda was strictly internal. Id. at 174-75.

(35.) Id. at 175.

(36.) See id.

(37.) U.N. Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, July 17, 1998, U.N. Doc. A/CONF/189/9, reprinted in 37 I.L.M. 999 (1998) [hereinafter ICC Statute].

(38.) Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Ratification Status, http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/status.htm (last modified Feb. 12, 2001). One hundred and twenty-nine nations have signed and twenty-five nations have ratified the court's statute. Id. On June 9, 2000, France, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, ratified the court's statute. Id.

(39.) ICC Statue, supra note 37. Although, the ICC will not exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression until a provision defining this crime is adopted. Under articles 5, 12, and 123, this provision could not be adopted until seven years after the ICC statue has taken effect. Id.

(40.) Carlotta Gall, UN. Mission in Kosovo proposes to Set Up a War Crimes Court, N.Y. TIMES, June 23, 2000, at A3. United Nations Press Release, SC/69 10, Council Asks Secretary-General, Sierra Leone to Negotiate Agreement for Creation of Independent Special Court, Aug. 14, 2000, available at www.un.org (copy on file with the Air Force Law Review); United Nations Press Release, SG/SM/7481, United Nations Legal Counsel Completes Formal Discussions with Cambodian Government on Establishment of Tribunal to Try Former Khmer Rouge Leaders, Jul. 6, 2000, available at http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000706.sgsm7481.doc.html, (copy on file with the Air Force Law Review).

(41.) See Infra notes 47 and 48 and accompanying text.

(42.)M. CHERIF BASSIOUNI, INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION: UNITED STATES LAW AND PRACTICE 356-60 (3d ed. 1996). Universal jurisdiction under customary international law permits States to enact legislation that grants its domestic criminal courts jurisdiction to prosecute war criminals. BEIGBEDER, supra note 3, at 133. Universal jurisdiction permits a State to prosecute a war criminal irrespective of the war criminal's nationality or place of the commission of the offense, or of any link between the prosecuting State and the war criminal. M. CHERIF BASSIOUNI, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW 511-13 (1992). The rationale for universal jurisdiction is that there are certain offenses, which by their very nature, affect the interests of all States. Id. at 512-13.