Latin American states suffered from widespread crimes of torture and enforced disappearances duri... more Latin American states suffered from widespread crimes of torture and enforced disappearances during the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1980s, the region has transitioned from ignoring international legal obligations, including human rights, to abiding by them. This paper assesses the role of international human rights law in shifting state compliance and state behavior in relation to crimes of torture and enforced disappearances in Latin America. To do so, the article refers to international and regional conventions, customary international law, as well as landmark court cases. It displays empirical evidence on how different international and regional systems have aided domestic efforts to address these two crimes. The main finding of this research is that the existing human rights system cannot sufficiently address gross violations of torture and enforced disappearances if it is left to either international or domestic forms of pressure. Instead, a complex interaction of treaties, case law, laws and state pressure at the international, regional and domestic levels are all necessary conditions to shift state behavior with respect to human rights.
ABSTRACT: One of the lessons from September 11, and the more recent wave of terror in Europe, is ... more ABSTRACT: One of the lessons from September 11, and the more recent wave of terror in Europe, is how latent international terrorism is today, in a world that is increasingly interconnected. This paper analyzes the way that international terrorism is handled from a legal perspective and the reach that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has in terms of jurisdiction on acts of terrorism. The Rome Statute, which gave life to the ICC, excluded the crime of terrorism from its jurisdiction. Two reasons for this exclusion were the opposition from the United States by claiming that this could jeopardize its country’s security when it comes to sharing intelligence with an international court, and the fear of highly politicizing the new permanent international court. However, the o cial position given to the world as to why the ICC did not exercise jurisdiction over international terrorism was the lack of a de nition of the concept of terrorism. This paper argues that since the end of the Cold War, a Post-Westphalian order that gives power not only to States but also to International Governmental Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, has created a space and precedent to consider the crime of terrorism as jus cogens. I argue that with the current pressing situation in Europe and the Middle East on terrorist attacks, having the crime of terrorism within the jurisdiction of the court would cover some existing loopholes, not necessarily because the ICC will prosecute every terrorist, but instead because the crime itself will have universal jurisdiction.
Latin American states suffered from widespread crimes of torture and enforced disappearances duri... more Latin American states suffered from widespread crimes of torture and enforced disappearances during the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1980s, the region has transitioned from ignoring international legal obligations, including human rights, to abiding by them. This paper assesses the role of international human rights law in shifting state compliance and state behavior in relation to crimes of torture and enforced disappearances in Latin America. To do so, the article refers to international and regional conventions, customary international law, as well as landmark court cases. It displays empirical evidence on how different international and regional systems have aided domestic efforts to address these two crimes. The main finding of this research is that the existing human rights system cannot sufficiently address gross violations of torture and enforced disappearances if it is left to either international or domestic forms of pressure. Instead, a complex interaction of treaties, case law, laws and state pressure at the international, regional and domestic levels are all necessary conditions to shift state behavior with respect to human rights.
ABSTRACT: One of the lessons from September 11, and the more recent wave of terror in Europe, is ... more ABSTRACT: One of the lessons from September 11, and the more recent wave of terror in Europe, is how latent international terrorism is today, in a world that is increasingly interconnected. This paper analyzes the way that international terrorism is handled from a legal perspective and the reach that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has in terms of jurisdiction on acts of terrorism. The Rome Statute, which gave life to the ICC, excluded the crime of terrorism from its jurisdiction. Two reasons for this exclusion were the opposition from the United States by claiming that this could jeopardize its country’s security when it comes to sharing intelligence with an international court, and the fear of highly politicizing the new permanent international court. However, the o cial position given to the world as to why the ICC did not exercise jurisdiction over international terrorism was the lack of a de nition of the concept of terrorism. This paper argues that since the end of the Cold War, a Post-Westphalian order that gives power not only to States but also to International Governmental Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, has created a space and precedent to consider the crime of terrorism as jus cogens. I argue that with the current pressing situation in Europe and the Middle East on terrorist attacks, having the crime of terrorism within the jurisdiction of the court would cover some existing loopholes, not necessarily because the ICC will prosecute every terrorist, but instead because the crime itself will have universal jurisdiction.
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