Law Commons^™

Global Insider: Despite Challenges, Bangladesh War Crimes Trials Bring Justice, An Interview With Zakia Afrin, Global Insider

Interviews

Last month, a war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh handed down a guilty verdict against Islamist party leader Ghulam Azam, its fifth conviction of a prominent political figure for involvement in atrocities committed during the country’s 1971 war for independence. In an email interview, Zakia Afrin, an adjunct professor in international law at Golden Gate University who focuses on intra-state conflict and peacebuilding, discussed the state of Bangladesh’s war crimes trials and the lessons they yield for other contexts.

The U.S. Codification Of War Crimes: 18 Usca §2441, Hamed Adibnatanzi

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

The purpose of this paper is to examine the U.S. codification of its Geneva Convention obligations to prosecute war crimes. The War Crimes Statute is rarely used for its original enactment purpose. Instead the cases that have appeared are in response to political maneuvering in detaining foreign enemy combatants. The War Crimes Statute has been used with the Geneva Convention in order to guarantee detainees certain fundamental rights to due process and impartial hearings. Finally, the paper examines some of the Legislative responses to this judicial interpretation and the new proposed War Crimes Statute.

The International War Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973 Of Bangladesh, Zakia Afrin

Publications

Bangladesh earned her independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody war that continued for nine months. By December 16 of 1971, the day Bangladesh declared victory, an estimated 30 million people died and 200,000 women reported sexual violence by the Pakistani Army and their Bengali accomplices. Known as one of the worst genocide in history, the systematic killing of Bengalis included a chilling attempt to exterminate the intellectuals from within Bangladeshi society. A published report claims that by 19 April, 1975 individuals were arrested for war crimes and 752 were convicted. After the assassination of the country’s first Prime …

What Have Women Got To Do With Peace?: A Gender Analysis Of The Laws Of War And Peacemaking, Benedetta Faedi Duramy

Publications

This article proposes an engaged analysis of the impact that armed conflicts have on women and the diverse roles that women might conceivably play in peacemaking. Recalling the original theories of international law, the article recounts how historical chronicles and modern Western authors have depicted women in wartime. Primarily portrayed as victims of brutalization and sexual violence, women have been confined to the private realm and, thus, excluded from the decision-making processes of war and peace. This research argues that the same exclusion has been reflected in the international law instruments that have reinforced the paradigm of women as mainstays …

Dissertation On The Prosecution And The Trial Of Heads Of State Under International Law: The Case Of Slobodan Milosevic And Charles Ghankay Taylor, Julia A. Shilunga

Theses and Dissertations

In the past, the responsibility of head of State and of Government was national competence. There were no international rules which established their responsibilities in international law. If they committed crimes, this remained exclusively the matter of the State and if there was the responsibility for the wrong behavior, it was the responsibility of the States themselves and not of the leaders as persons.

It was only very slowly that the State leaders started to be called to responsibility. One of the first attempts, which failed, was the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which wanted to prosecute the German Emperor. The …