1. The framework 2. The preconditions of a NIAC 3. Thresholds and interaction of armed conflicts 4. Insurgent armed groups and individuals 5. Foreign intervention in a NIAC 6. Recognition 7. State responsibility 8. The principal LONIAC treaty provisions 9. Additional treaty texts 10. NIAC war crimes 11. LONIAC customary international law 12. LONIAC and human rights law Conclusions.

Non-International Armed Conflicts in International Law

Serious gender-based crimes were committed against women and girls during Sierra Leone’s decade-long armed conflict. This article examines how the Special Court for Sierra Leone has approached these crimes in its first four judgments. The June 20, 2007 trial judgment in the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council case assists international criminal law’s limited understanding of the crime against humanity of forced marriage, but also collapses evidence of that crime into the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity. The February 22, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to correct this misstep. In contrast, the August 2, 2007 trial judgment in the Civil Defence Forces case is virtually silent on crimes committed against women and girls, although the May 28, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to partially redress this silence. This article concludes that the four judgments, considered together, raise the specter that the Special Court could potentially fail to make a significant progressive contribution to gender-sensitive transitional justice.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Consideration of Gender-based Violence: Contributing to Transitional Justice?

In Lubanga, the International Criminal Court rendered its first judgment convicting the accused for the war crimes of conscripting, enlisting and using children under the age of fifteen to ‘participate actively in hostilities’. These original charges were also relied on by the Prosecution to pursue acts of sexual violence against young girls, mostly in the service of armed forces, but also civilians—a decision made belatedly in the proceedings. The novelty of the argument that the crime of using child soldiers also encompassed acts of sexual violence against child soldiers was dismissed on a technicality by the majority and only a minority of Trial Chamber I engaged with, and found favorably, in the Prosecution’s favor. The analysis in this chapter addresses some of the concerns with the premises underlying the reasoning in the minority decision. Most problematically, its over reliance on international human rights law and ‘soft law’ norms to expand the concept of using children to ‘participate actively in hostilities’, so as to include acts of rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery, may have unintended effects by decreasing the protection of those victims in international humanitarian law. This does not suggest that impunity for sexual violence offenses should be tolerated. Other specific war crimes and crimes against humanity provisions within the Rome Statute are more suitable to deal with offenses of sexual violence against child soldiers and could have been charged cumulatively along with the offense of recruiting and using child soldiers. The Trial Chamber was also unassisted by the confusion caused by Prosecution’s failure to appreciate the distinction between the separate crimes of conscription, enlistment and use of child soldiers. As a result, other possible bases of liability that may have had greater merit were overlooked, including sexual violence solely as a crime of conscription, or the use of child soldiers themselves to commit crimes of sexual violence.

Sexual Violence Against Children on the Battlefield as a Crime of Using Child Soldiers: Square Pegs in Round Holes and Missed Opportunities in Lubanga

The phenomenon of using international criminal justice to address war crimes and human rights violations in conflict and post-conflict situations of Africa has emerged. This consist of a platform which is anchored in universal norms, with a court which does not form part of the domestic criminal system, and which in some cases sits outside the geographical jurisdiction of where the offences took place. The adjudicators may also be non-nationals. This paper examines the experiences regarding the enforcement of international criminal justice in Africa as instituted in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone as well as in the framework of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It emerged that international criminal justice is meshed up in politics and hence lacks the unflinching cooperation and support from the continent. The evidence as to its policy appropriateness for peace-building in conflict and post-conflict situations is mixed. The package offered by internationalized justice alienates both the adjudicators and the adjudicating society from the process, thereby denying the process with the impetus required for it to be beneficial to the end users. The implication of this study then is that the prospect of international justice in Africa is currently uncertain and its success would require concerted efforts by African governments, the African Union as a unified continental body and civil society organizations in collaboration with the international community.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1927947_code1696517.pdf?abstractid=1927947&mirid=4

International Criminal Justice in Africa: Some Emerging Dynamics

Crimes against humanity and genocide In the present chapter, we shall concentrate on NIAC war crimes. This is shorthand for serious violations of LONIAC for which individuals are personally accountable (see supra 42). We shall not canvass other international crimes that are possibly relevant to NIACs. In particular, we shall not enquire into crimes against humanity or genocide, although these international crimes can be – and have been – committed while a country is consumed by a NIAC. The elision is due to the fact that there is no built-in direct linkage between crimes against humanity or genocide and a NIAC. Since its treaty origins in 1948, it has consistently been made clear that the crime of genocide (as defined in Article 1 of the Genocide Convention) can be ‘committed in time of peace or in time of war’. A NIAC is not posited. In the Kayishema et al . Judgment of 1999, the ICTR Trial Chamber held that a NIAC under AP/II was in progress in Rwanda, yet massacres of Tutsis (emanating from an elaborate policy of genocide) were perpetrated in certain areas without any direct link to the hostilities.

Non-International Armed Conflicts in International Law: NIAC war crimes

On 29 June 2007, the Special Court for Sierra Leone – a criminal tribunal created by an agreement between the United Nations and Sierra Leone – rendered its first judgement. The three accused, all senior members of a military junta which had ousted the elected government, were amongst other things found guilty of "new" international crimes, such as using child soldiers and collectively punishing the civilian population. This note critically analyses the achievements and shortcomings of what can be seen as a landmark ruling in international criminal law. It discusses the court's rejection of a separate crime of "forced marriages" as well as the application of "effective control" in terms of responsibility of a superior in the context of an "African conflict". Finally, this note examines the treatment of defective pleadings in the indictment in relation to particulars, crimes committed by the accused in person, and the existence of a joint criminal enterprise. It will be demonstrated that the judgement is of significance not only for assessing the success of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but also for future criminal trials dealing with similar charges.

The First Judgement of the Special Court for Sierra Leone: A Missed Opportunity?

On 16 December 2005 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 60/147 on the ‘Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law’ (‘Resolution 60/147’), affirming the importance of addressing the question of compensating victims of such violations in a systematic and comprehensive manner at national and international levels. Referring, inter alia, to various forms of reparation, namely restitution, compensation and satisfaction, Resolution 60/147 makes clear that the remedies to which victims are entitled should be envisioned along two broad spectra; first in acknowledging the wrongdoing caused and second in compensating the harm suffered.

Compensation for the Armenian Genocide: A Study of Recognition and Reparations

Background: Absence of collateral ventilation (CV) in the target lobe is essential for effective endobronchial Zephyr Valve (ZV) treatment in emphysema patients. Closure of the fissure gap with AeriSeal Foam (AF) with successful ZV treatment has been reported (Ing A et al. J Bronchol Interven Pulmonl. 2020;27(1):e14). CONVERT is a multicenter, single arm study to confirm this finding (NCT04559464). Aims and Objectives: Evaluate AF to occlude collateral channels to convert a CV+ lung lobe to having little to no CV. A secondary objective is ZV treatment in the CV- converted patients. Methods: Study will enroll 140 subjects with Chartis® confirmed CV+ status. Up to 40mL AF may be delivered over 2 sessions per a unique fissure defect. CV assessed at 45 days post-AF and if CV-, treatment with ZV. Typical clinical outcomes will be assessed at 3 and 6 months post-ZV. Results: 32 subjects (16M/16F), mean±SD; age 65.2±7.0 yrs; post-BD FEV1 31.9±9.1% pred.; RV 224±38% pred. have been enrolled and treated with AF (21 in one session; 11 in 2 sessions - 6wk apart) across all lobes (11 RUL, 5 RLL, 12 LUL, 4 LLL). 83% of the subjects completing the first stage have successfully converted and treated with ZV. Enrollment and follow-up are ongoing. AEs to date include post-AF acute inflammatory response, 37.5%; lobar pneumonitis 12.5%; cough 9%; COPD exacerbations 9%. All AEs managed with standard of care. Conclusions: AF can safely and effectively occlude collateral channels and convert a CV+ lobe to having little to no CV. Emphysema patients with a defined fissure gap in the target lobe may have an option for BLVR with ZV after closure of the fissure gap with AeriSeal Foam.

Nolwenn Guibert

Papers

The First Judgement of the Special Court for Sierra Leone: A Missed Opportunity?

Compensation for the Armenian Genocide: A Study of Recognition and Reparations

CONVERT Trial: Collateral ventilation conversion by closure of fissure defect with AeriSeal Foam for BLVR with Zephyr valves

[The rise of interventional pulmonology: A special issue coordinated by the GETIF].