The Crime of Political Persecution before the International Criminal Court

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for the support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this proposal stand for my individual work without any aid, and this proposal has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level, previously. It is also representing my very own views and not essentially those that are associated with university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

In this research, we tried to explore the notion of political persecution in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on the oppression that people go through in different on political lines and they are forced to seek refuge in political asylums in other countries. The research thoroughly discusses the role of the International Criminal Court which prosecutes any person or group for carrying out crimes against humanity, however, there are a lot of countries where political persecution and genocide is rampant but the cases are never taken to the ICC. The research would also shed light on the laws and articles which pertains to political persecution. Finally, an overview of the organization which works against persecution is also discussed in the research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Towards a Women's Human Rights Framework2

Discrimination2

Institutional and Individual Oppression3

Lack of Recognition of Cultural Rights4

Refugees and Asylum Seekers5

Violence against Women5

State-Sponsored Abuses of Human Rights6

Discrimination in Education6

Human Rights Education7

CHAPTER 2: DELIMITATION OF THE PROBLEM9

CHAPTER 3: CONFLICTING CLAIMS, CLAIMANTS, THEIR BASES OF POWER12

Minority Political Strategies12

Accommodationism12

Separatism14

Radicalism15

International Criminal Court (ICC)16

War Crimes19

National Codes20

The Hague Law21

Geneva Law24

Sovereign Immunity25

International Armed Conflict27

State Nexus?29

Command Responsibility31

CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFICATION OF PAST TRENDS35

Links to Armed Conflict?35

Widespread or Systematic Attack37

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda39

Discriminatory Intent43

Crimes Against Humanity and Terrorism44

Genocide50

Genocide and the Nation-State51

Cultural Genocide52

What Makes the Crime Genocide?53

The Causes of Genocide54

Accepting Responsibility56

Prediction of decisions58

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF ALTERNATIVE AND SELECTION OF PREFERRED SOLUTIONS IN THE COMMON INTEREST OF A PUBLIC ORDER OF HUMAN DIGNITY61

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION63

BIBLIOGRAPHY64

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Political persecution is often thought of as a means of maintaining human order within the confines of a specific community. The courts apply the criminal law according to a specific geographical area that they refer to as their “jurisdiction.”

However, notions of what constitutes the boundaries of a community are relative and have changed over time.

Universal recognition and acceptance of a body of law referred to as “international criminal law” is not without its detractors. It is a question of how it is viewed. If the crime of political persecution is seen as merely an extension or part of national law, then it is not a separate law at all. Those who subscribe to this view argue that international customary law cannot conflict with state law, because state law is supreme. They argue that insofar as their own ...