Universal jurisdiction
Reading
- Chapters I and II, pp. 4-16, of International Council on Human Rights Policy, Hard cases: bringing human rights violators to justice abroad, (1999)
- Case of ex-Chadian dictator, Hissen Habre. Convicted of crimes against humanity by a court in Senegal in 2016. Read about the case here.
- "George W. Bush and the War on Terror", on the website of the Canadian Centre for International justice (CCIJ). This is an account of the efforts made by CCIJ to initiate a prosecution in Canadian courts against former President Bush (on the occasion of his visiting Canada) for his role in authorizing the use of torture against detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. Under “Documents” read the following:
Reflection questions
What do you think about the attempt to have George W. Bush arrested in Canada? Was it a brave attempt to uphold international law? Or a misguided and futile effort – in effect, a waste of time? What are the pitfalls of universal jurisdiction? In thinking of these questions, read the following exchange:
- Henry Kissinger, The pitfalls of universal jurisdiction
- Kenneth Roth, The case for universal jurisdiction