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This book examines the creation and operation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which is a hybrid domestic/international tribunal tasked with putting senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge on trial. It argues that the ECCC should be considered an example of illiberal transitional justice, where the language of procedure is strongly adhered to but political considerations often rule in reality. The Cambodian government spent nearly two decades addressing the Khmer Rouge past, and shaping its preferred narrative, before the involvement of the United Nations. It was a further six years of negotiations between the Cambodian government and the United Nations that determined the unique hybrid structure of the ECCC. Over more than a decade in operation, and with three people convicted, the ECCC has not contributed to the positive goals expected of transitional justice mechanisms. Through the Cambodian example, this book challenges existing assumptions and analyses of transitional justice to create a more nuanced understanding of how and why transitional justice mechanisms are employed.
Punishing Atrocities through a Fair Trial examines the tension between punishing mass atrocity and ensuring a fair trial for defendants.
Using case studies and the results of extensive fieldwork, this book considers the nature of state power and legal violence in liberal democracies by focusing on the interaction between law, science, and policing in India. The postcolonial Indian police have often been accused of using torture in both routine and exceptional criminal cases, but they, and forensic psychologists, have claimed that lie detectors, brain scans, and narcoanalysis (the use of “truth serum,” Sodium Pentothal) represent a paradigm shift away from physical torture; most state high courts in India have upheld this rationale. The Truth Machines examines the emergence and use of these three scientific techniques to a...
Legal scholars and practitioners examine the role of the ICC’s first prosecutor
This book is the first comprehensive study on the work and functioning of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The ECCC were established in 2006 to bring to trial senior leaders and those most responsible for serious crimes committed under the notorious Khmer Rouge regime. Established by domestic law following an agreement in 2003 between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the UN, the ECCC’s hybrid features provide a unique approach of accountability for mass atrocities. The book entails an analysis of the work and jurisprudence of the ECCC, providing a detailed assessment of their legacies and contribution to international criminal law. The collection, containing 20 chapt...
This book assesses the role aesthetic factors play in shaping what forms of mass violence are viewed as international crimes.
Combining interdisciplinary techniques with original ethnographic fieldwork, Christoph Sperfeldt examines the first attempts of international criminal courts to provide reparations to victims of mass atrocities. The observations focus on two case studies: the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, where Sperfeldt spent over ten years working at and around, and the International Criminal Court's interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Enriched with first-hand observations and an awareness of contextual dynamics, this book directs attention to the 'social life of reparations' that too often get lost in formal accounts of law and its institutions. Sperfeldt shows that reparations are constituted and contested through a range of practices that produce, change, and give meaning to reparations. Appreciating the nature and effects of these practices provides us with a deeper understanding of the discrepancies that exist between the reparations ideal and how it functions imperfectly in different contexts.
The ABA Journal serves the legal profession. Qualified recipients are lawyers and judges, law students, law librarians and associate members of the American Bar Association.
Wars from Within brings together an international and multidisciplinary group of academics and practitioner-researchers specializing in the study of insurgent movements in order to provide a deeper understanding of the violent manifestations of insurgencies in different parts of the world. In doing so, the book adopts both a functional and regional approach. Firstly, thematic chapters discuss the typology of insurgencies (ethnopolitical, religious and ideological), past and potential responses to them, as well as the impact of advance communication technology on insurgent activity. The book then presents a series of case studies assessing the successes and failures of managing contemporary insurgencies. These are drawn from European, Asian and Middle Eastern insurgencies, as well as the global al-Qaeda network that typifies the post-9/11 challenge posed by internationally operating terrorist organizations. The case studies highlight factors and conditions that trigger, escalate, de-escalate and ultimately end insurgent campaigns. The book concludes with an assessment of how the international community at large has responded and should respond to insurgencies in the future.
The disintegration of Soviet Union in 1991, led to five new countries gaining independence in Central Asia. The Muslims, a predominant majority in the region, had faced religious suppression under the rule of the communist. Thus, began an era where Islam was practiced with larger freedom. However, the governance of most of these states was with the autocratic leaders who had grown under the influence of communism. Therefore, it was but natural for them to soon impose religious restrictions. This close tussle in almost all these newly raised states, led to emergence of some radical groups. Over the years, the influence of such groups has spread to the extent of posing a threat to the stabilit...