Prevention of Genocide under International Law An analysis of the obligations of states and the United Nations to prevent genocide at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels

by Ruvebana, Etienne

• ISBN13: 9781780682730
• ISBN10: 1780682735
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-10-31
• Publisher: Intersentia

Summary

Genocide is 'the crime of crimes' which shocks the conscience of mankind the most because of the unspeakable damage and pain it causes. This book studies the obligation to prevent genocide under international law and, more particularly, the extent of that obligation under the Genocide Convention and customary international law. Although, this obligation is recognized in public international law, the issue of what this obligation actually entails has not received much attention in scholarly works, nor in practice. Even recent debates focused on intervention at the stage where genocide is about to be committed or is being committed, ignoring prevention at early stages. Yet, such early prevention is pivotal in order to effectively reduce the risk of genocide. Drawing upon, inter alia, the 2007 genocide judgment of the International Court of Justice, this book puts forward a distinction between primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention of genocide. Within this temporal structure, the book analyzes and applies the obligation to prevent genocide by States and the United Nations. This leads to a clarification of that legal obligation by filling it with concrete international legal measures to be taken by both States and the UN at each level, and by suggesting improvements, which include the creation of national and international institutions to actively promote and monitor the prevention of genocide. *** Etienne Ruvebana has been awarded the Max van der Stoel Human Rights Award 2014 for this book. (Series: School of Human Rights Research - Vol. 66) [Subject: Public International Law, Human Rights Law]

Author Biography

Etienne Ruvebana studied Law at the National University of Rwanda (LL.B, 2004). He did his LL.M in international law and the law of international organisations at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands (2007). In September 2009 he started his PhD research on the prevention of genocide under international law which he successfully finished in June 2014. Before he started his PhD, he was a University Lecturer of Public Law at the Kigali Independent University in Rwanda. He also served as the head of Department of Law and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law of that University before September 2009. 

In 2008, he authored a book on the responsibility of states and international organisations for the omission to prevent genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda, published in the Editions Rwandaises. In 2009 he authored an article on the protection of the environment during armed conflicts in the Revue Scientifique of the Kigali Independent University. In 2010 he authored an article on the achievements and challenges of Gacaca Courts in Rwanda in solving the extreme legal and social problems of genocide, published by the Commission Nationale de Lutte contre le Genocide. In 2011, he authored a chapter on Victims of the Genocide Against the Tutsis in Rwanda, published by Intersentia. In 2013, he co-authored an article on the legacy of Gacaca Courts in Rwanda, published by the International Criminal Law Review. In 2014, Intersentia published his PhD book in the series of the School of Human Rights Research.

In 2014, he got appointed as Lecturer in the School of Law of the University of Rwanda. In addition to his PhD fields of research, his interests include the responsibility of states and international organisations for their wrongful acts, the use of force in international law and criminal international law.