For many decades, the U.S. has been critically involved in creating a permanent international system of justice that is compatible with the American principles of justice, accountability, and equality. After World Wars I and II, the idea of an individual being held criminally accountable in an international arena came into focus, particularly after the tribunals in Nuremberg that indicted Nazi leadership. Currently, many individuals who committ international crimes are prosecuted in international tribunals and increasingly, in the International Criminal Court. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are sometimes used in lieu of or in conjunction with courts and tribunals.
Within the field of international criminal justice, Citizens for Global Solutions specializes in International criminal law, which deals with individuals that are held responsible for crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, slavery, torture, aggression and war crimes.
International criminal law is still evolving and developing to deal more effectively with perpetrators of these terrible crimes. Citizens for Global Solutions focuses on advocating for policies that deter these crimes from happening as well as strengthening efforts to effectively prosecute individuals who commit them.
Last summer, Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Olympia Snow (R-ME) introduced a resolution which states that helping to prevent and mitigate acts of genocide is in the national interest of the United States. The Resolution passed the Senate unanimously. Now we need a Senate bill - let your Senators know that you want them to sponsor a Genocide Prevention Bill!
GenocideGenocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.
What makes genocide the "crime of all crimes" is that the perpetrator acts with the intent to wipe out and destroy an entire population. In 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that genocide is a crime under international law that is condemned by the civilized world, whether the perpetrators are “private individuals, public officials or statesmen.” Since 1951, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide prohibits genocide under international law and has been ratified by 120 countries, including the U.S.
Crimes Against Humanity are any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population: murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, persecution, enforced disappearance, apartheid or imprisonment. Crimes Against Humanity can occur during either war or times of peace.
War Crimes, or international humanitarian law, is the violation of the laws or customs or war. These crimes includes grave breaches of international humanitarian law, such as willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health. The foundations of international humanitarian law can be found in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which are made up of four treaties and additional protocols.
Aggression occurs when a state unlawfully uses force against another State. In line with the UN Charter, any state that acts with force against another without authorization from the UN Security Council is committing an act of aggression. Following World War II, for the first time in history, the military tribunals in Nuremberg and Tokyo held individuals accountable for the crime of aggression.
