Books by Sévane Garibian
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:113693
Este debate en torno a ... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:113693
Este debate en torno a la obra La muerte del verdugo. Reflexiones interdisciplinarias sobre el cadáver de los criminales de masa, dirigida por Sévane Garibian y publicada por la editorial argentina Miño y Dávila (Buenos Aires, 2016), realiza nuevos aportes al análisis de la figura del verdugo y a los desafíos que presentan tanto su muerte como el tratamiento post-mortem de su cuerpo y su legado. A través de una relectura del libro y del estudio de otras trayectorias asociadas al cuerpo y al recuerdo de los criminales de masa desde la sociología, los estudios culturales, la filosofía, la antropología o el derecho, este volumen ofrece una visión multidisciplinaria sobre el valor político, jurídico, social y cultural que estas muertes adquieren en contextos como Argentina, España, México o Chile.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:113695
How far have we come in... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:113695
How far have we come in laying the foundations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity? The co-editors of this symposium conclude that solid groundwork has been laid and hope that the current momentum will be maintained. At the same time, they caution against a ‘rush to conclusion’ as they see room for considerable refinement of many of the proposed provisions as well as the need for a genuine attempt to address the unresolved questions of immunity ratione materiae and amnesty. At this juncture, it is not easy to predict whether a meaningful new draft convention can be presented without further deepening the divide among states about international criminal justice. But it can safely be stated that every additional investment in intellectual energy and time to arrive at the formulation of such a draft is worthy of the effort. The adoption of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity and preferably one that also updates the Genocide Convention would mark another milestone in the evolution of the international criminal justice system.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:104680
The last decade witnes... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:104680
The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, criminals against humanity, genocidaires, dictators or terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes?
Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history and anthropology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural.
Sévane GARIBIAN
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:96837
Que les lecteurs soient ... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:96837
Que les lecteurs soient avertis : le présent ouvrage - c’est sans doute le propre de tout Liber amicorum, et plus encore celui d’un Liber discipulorum - manifeste un évident parti pris en faveur de celui qui en est tout à la fois l’inspirateur et le dédicataire.
Les onze contributeurs de cette Dodécaphonie pénale expriment, à travers ces mélanges, leur reconnaissance à celui qui fut et est pour eux oncle de chair, père spirituel et souvent tout à la fois ami.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:94086
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Re... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:94086
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Restos humanos e Identificación presenta una investigación pionera sobre las prácticas y metodologías utilizadas en la búsqueda y exhumación de cadáveres resultantes de la violencia de masa. Anteriormente ausentes de la discusión sobre las prácticas forenses, los científicos sociales y historiadores confrontan aquí las exhumaciones históricas y contemporáneas con la aplicación del contexto social para crear un diálogo innovador e interdisciplinario. Nunca antes un solo volumen examinó el contexto de las motivaciones y los intereses existentes detrás de estas persecuciones: cada capítulo revela los aspectos políticos, sociales y legales de la violencia de masa y sus secuelas. Este libro sostiene que la aparición de las nuevas tecnologías para facilitar la identificación de los cadáveres ha dado lugar a un "giro forense" normalizando las exhumaciones como un método de ocuparse masivamente de los restos humanos. Sin embargo, ¿se llevan a cabo siempre estas exhumaciones por razones legítimas, y qué podemos aprender sobre las sociedades a partir de la forma en que se ocupan de esta consecuencia de la violencia de masa? Multidisciplinario en su alcance, este libro presenta una selección innovadora de estudios de casos internacionales, incluyendo la identificación de los cadáveres por el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la ex Yugoslavia, el retorno de los restos humanos del Gulag ruso y los sitios de masacres judías del Holocausto, o la búsqueda de los cuerpos de los desaparecidos durante la dictadura militar en Uruguay. Restos humanos e identificación será atractivo para los lectores interesados en la comprensión de esta fase crucial de la secuela de la violencia de masa, incluidos los investigadores de historia, antropología, sociología, ciencia forense, derecho, política y guerra moderna.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously absent from the discussion of forensic practices, social scientists and historians here confront historical and contemporary exhumations with the application of social context to create an innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue. Never before has a single volume examined the context of motivations and interests behind these pursuits, each chapter enlightening the political, social and legal aspects of mass violence and its aftermaths. This book argues that the emergence of new technologies to facilitate the identification of dead bodies has led to a “forensic turn”, normalising exhumations as a method of dealing with human remains en masse. However, are these exhumations always made for legitimate reasons and what can we learn about societies from the way in which they deal with this consequence of mass violence? Multidisciplinary in scope, this book presents a ground-breaking selection of international case studies, including the identification of corpses by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the return of human remains from the Russian Gulag and the sites of Jewish massacres from the Holocaust, or the search for the bodies of those who disappeared under the military dictatorship in Uruguay. Human remains and identification will appeal to readers interested in understanding this crucial phase of mass violence’s aftermath, including researchers in history, anthropology, sociology, forensic science, law, politics and modern warfare.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:88965
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La ... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:88965
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla se inscribe en un decenio marcado por el fallecimiento de numerosos criminales de masa. Ésta sigue a las de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden o Muamar el Gadafi. En todos los casos, las preguntas que abren estas muertes tan singulares son idénticas, aunque se sitúan en contextos diferentes: ¿cuándo y cómo fallecieron esos criminales? ¿Qué hacer con sus restos? ¿Cómo aprehender su herencia, la memoria de su persona y de sus crímenes? A pesar de su carácter crucial y de su actualidad, estas cuestiones hasta el momento no han suscitado sino pocas obras en el campo de las ciencias jurídicas y sociales. Aun observando un interés renovado en la palabra del verdugo como fuente de información, son raros los estudios que se refieren a su suerte una vez muerto. Esta obra intenta precisamente paliar esa carencia. Con la reflexión interdisciplinar iniciada aquí “dialogan” las aportaciones del Derecho, de la Historia, de la Antropología, de la Sociología, de la Literatura y de la Psicología alrededor de tres temáticas principales: las modalidades de la muerte del verdugo, el tratamiento post mortem de su cuerpo y la cuestión de la patrimonialización frente a las exigencias de justicia y reparación. Este volumen pretende entender las cuestiones relacionadas con el deceso de los genocidas, los criminales de guerra, los dictadores, los tiranos o los agentes del terrorismo internacional de los siglos XX y XXI –una muerte jamás anodina aun cuando se trate de fallecimiento natural".
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:88966
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:88966
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La dernière décennie a vu la mort de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Oussama Ben Laden ou Mouammar Kadhafi. Car les génocidaires, criminels de guerre, dictateurs, tyrans ou agents du terrorisme international des XXe et XXIe siècles, meurent aussi. Dans tous les cas, les questions que posent ces disparitions singulières sont identiques, bien que se situant dans des contextes différents : quand et comment ces criminels sont-ils morts ? Que faire de leur dépouille ? Comment appréhender leur héritage, la mémoire de leur personne et de leurs crimes ? Malgré leur caractère crucial et leur actualité, ces questions n’ont pour l’heure suscité que peu de travaux dans le domaine des sciences juridiques et sociales. Si l’on observe un important regain d’intérêt pour la parole du bourreau en tant que source d’information, rares sont les études qui s’attachent au sort de celui-ci, une fois décédé. Cet ouvrage vise précisément à combler ce manque. La réflexion interdisciplinaire engagée ici met en dialogue les apports du droit, de l’histoire, de l’anthropologie, de la sociologie, de la littérature et de la psychologie autour de trois thématiques principales : les modalités de la (mise à) mort du bourreau, le traitement post-mortem de son corps, et la question de la patrimonialisation face aux exigences de justice et de réparation. Ce volume entend ainsi montrer les enjeux entourant la fin des criminels de masse – une mort jamais anodine, même lorsqu’elle est naturelle"
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap. The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:76215
"Beyond the recent and inno... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:76215
"Beyond the recent and innovative studies on what human remains can tell us, and how we can make them speak, we are left with one question: when we commemorate the victims of mass violence, what do we do with their remains? This enquiry is far from rhetorical. It refers paradigmatically to their diverse public uses and their patrimonialisation, as already pursued by studies on history and memory in which interest is thriving. The function of human remains in commemorative practices is multiple, be it memorial, cognitive, probative or cathartic. However, their political function, with its various aspects and frameworks, is also heavily present in the articles that follow"
Sévane Garibian
This special issue – guest edited by Sévane Garibian (University of Geneva) – explores the ways in which human remains are commemorated across a diverse range of political, social and historical contexts. In line with the journal’s interdisciplinary scope, each article provides a unique account of the practices generated by different events from around the globe. Examining the legacy of genocidal violence, Rémi Korman (EHESS-Paris) explores the significance and role of bones in the commemoration of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, while Jean-Marc Dreyfus (University of Manchester) investigates the transfer of victims’ ashes following the Holocaust. Anouche Kunth (University of Poitiers) and Helen Jarvis (Permanent People’s Trubunal) focus on the Armenian and Cambodian genocides, respectively, the former presenting the effects of images on the remembrance and absence of bodies, and the latter depicting the use of artefacts and photographs in private and public ceremonies. Turning to the consequences of political violence, Zahira Araguete-Toribio (Goldsmiths University London) addresses the reburial of victims from the Civil War in contemporary Spain.
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:46692
"A pesar del importante cor... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:46692
"A pesar del importante corpus documental producido en el campo de los Genocide Studies –y paradójicamente cuando se piensa en el modo en que se desarrollaron los estudios sobre el cuerpo–, la cuestión de la suerte del cadáver de las víctimas en las violencias de masa resulta todavía un tema ampliamente inexplorado. El cuerpo ciertamente representa una temática transversal de las Ciencias Sociales. No obstante esto, aun considerado en todos sus estados al hallarse vivo, desaparece casi totalmente de la mirada de los investigadores una vez muerto. Únicamente los arqueólogos y los antropólogos especializados en el campo de lo funerario se venían preocupando por la implicación social, religiosa o política de la cual es objeto el cuerpo muerto en contextos de producción masiva de cadáveres. Este volumen reúne contribuciones de historiadores, juristas y antropólogos que se hicieron la pregunta del por qué los restos humanos y los cadáveres presentes numerosamente constituyen todavía lo impensado, acaso el tabú, de las investigaciones llevadas a cabo acerca de genocidios y violencias extremas. El resultado de esta reflexión colectiva ofrece a la vez un estado del arte en nuestras diferentes disciplinas, y una exposición tanto de los cuestionamientos actuales como de las dificultades reales a aprehender de un tema extremo, aunque necesario."
Élisabeth Anstett, Jean-Marc Dreyfus y Sévane Garibian
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:46691
"Las relaciones entre el or... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:46691
"Las relaciones entre el orden jurídico, los valores que determinan su contenido, y los poderes que se trata de ejercer, parecen revolucionadas cuando se observa el funcionamiento de la comunidad internacional. Desde principios del siglo XX, la tentativa de una minoría de Estados de luchar contra algunas violaciones extremas de los derechos fundamentales de la persona humana lleva mas allá de las fronteras trazadas por la doctrina positivista. Si el mito de un juez « boca de la ley » no sobrevive a la experiencia de Nuremberg, su poder creativo no es incompatible con una visión positivista sensible a las interacciones entre sistemas normativos. Un análisis de las argumentaciones de algunas jurisdicciones, penales internacionales y regionales, constituye una traducción practica de la nueva realidad que el positivismo debe explicar. Los textos de este volumen analizan la complejidad de la relación entre poder, derecho y moral como del impacto, en tal contexto, del trabajo de los jueces".
Sévane Garibian y Alberto Puppo
To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:9126
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"Con... more To download click here : http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:9126
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"Connu de tous, employé dans toutes les disciplines, abondamment utilisé, le concept de crime contre l’humanité n’en reste pas moins un objet obscur. Il peut paraître déroutant en ce qu’il est à la fois simple – il renvoie à des actions qui révoltent la conscience – et complexe, tant sa signification est empreinte d’inconstance.
De nombreux travaux scientifiques témoignent de cette ambivalence, au travers de l’étude de la notion de crime contre l’humanité et de son régime juridique ; des travaux dont l’apport majeur est de répondre au comment. Sévane Garibian propose ici de joindre à ce comment un pourquoi – en d’autres termes, de reconstruire l’histoire du concept à partir des sources primaires et de l’abondante doctrine préexistante en adoptant un nouvel angle de vue. Cette approche inédite exige, au-delà du travail compilatif relatif à la définition à proprement parler du crime et à l’analyse de l’incrimination, de rendre visibles les facteurs juridiques commandant l’évolution du concept. Pour ce faire, l’analyse de l’auteure trouve également appui sur les écrits dédiés, plus généralement, aux questions classiques et incontournables soulevées par l’internationalisation du droit pénal et l’émergence d’un ordre pénal international, indissociable de celle du concept, et d’une actualité sans cesse renouvelée".
Sévane Garibian"
"Numerous scientific works bear witness to the ambivalence of the concept of crime against humanity; works in which the main objective is to respond to the "how". The present study offers to respond to the "why" and to reconstitute the history of the concept through primary sources as well as through the abundant preexisting doctrine, and to look back to the concept’s beginnings while adopting new viewpoints. This original approach requires rendering the legal factors determining the evolution of the concept of crime against humanity visible, demonstrable and explicit. Moreover, the analysis rests on those works devoted, more generally, to age-old questions raised by the internationalization of criminal law and to the emergence of an international criminal legal order, inseparable from that of the concept and from the ever-changing nature of current events".
Sévane Garibian
Papers by Sévane Garibian
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:159918
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:159952
When large numbers of ... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:159952
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing the respect of the deceased and their remains. The Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights Project of the University of Geneva, led by prof. Sévane Garibian, contributed to the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the elaboration of Guiding Principles for the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. The Guiding Principles aim to address the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers for ensuring the respect of dead persons and human remains in such contexts.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:160000
Soon after World War I, ... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:160000
Soon after World War I, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne burries the Armenian question. Nevertheless, the 1915 Allied Declaration, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference's work and the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres are key documents for a better understanding of the emergence of international criminal law. In particular, they constitute a legal basis for major innovations such us: the conceptualization of “crime against humanity”; the recognition of the principle of individual criminal responsibility of leaders; and the attempt to materialize the idea of an international judicial intervention in internal State affairs for the defense of the fundamental rights of human beings.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:155786
So-called fact-finding... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:155786
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:152282
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:151353
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:151353
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
L’année du centenaire du génocide des Arméniens est aussi celle du réexamen (en cours), par la Grande Chambre, du jugement du 17 décembre 2013 de la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) dans l’affaire Doğu Perinçek c. Suisse. C’est l’un des arguments apportés par la CEDH en 2013, désavouant les juridictions pénales suisses dans cette affaire de négationnisme, qui retiendra ici notre attention : celui, problématique, de l’absence de "consensus général" sur le génocide de 1915. Cette contribution vise à mettre en lumière les paradoxes et conséquences d’un tel argumentaire qui appelle notamment une mise en perspective historique – en particulier, un retour sur l’histoire du droit pénal international.
The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide is also the year of the (on going) revision by the Grand Chamber of the Doğu Perinçek v. Switzerland judgment rendered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on December 17, 2013. We will focus here on one of the arguments set forth by the ECHR in 2013, which disfavors the Swiss criminal jurisdictions in this case of genocide denial: the problematic argument of the absence of a "general consensus" on the 1915 genocide. This contribution aims to shed light on the paradoxes and consequences of such an argument that calls, notably, for a historical perspective – and demands, in particular, that we look back on the history of international criminal law.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:143596
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:143596
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Los llamados procedimientos extrajudiciales de investigación o búsqueda de la verdad se utilizan de manera extensiva, a menudo en forma de mecanismos que funcionan antes (en preparación de), además de, o como una alternativa a la justicia penal, cuando ésta es inaccesible. De hecho, la realidad exige frecuentemente abordar los puntos ciegos de la llamada «lucha contra la impunidad» en relación con los crímenes más graves y actuar a través de medios no procesales y extrajudiciales en situaciones donde la justicia retributiva es insuficiente, ha sido excluida, no se contempla o es impensable. Estas situaciones llevan al desarrollo de otros mecanismos de justicia, como las comisiones de la verdad y/o reconciliación. Así como el trabajo de las autoridades judiciales, la labor de estas comisiones implica el esclarecimiento de las huellas/restos de crímenes y responsabilidades, que permiten la realización y la aplicación efectiva del derecho a la verdad o el derecho a saber. No obstante, estas prácticas extrajudiciales son plurales y polimorfas y usan procedimientos diversos para el establecimiento de los hechos. Esto demuestra la necesidad de nuevos enfoques teóricos. Este articulo aborda la importancia de una perspectiva crítica en el análisis de dichos mecanismos extrajudiciales, así como una serie de preguntas clave, a la luz de una compleja pluralidad que necesita ser entendida.
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:143595
To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:140136
When large numbers of p... more To download click here : https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:140136
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies, their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing respect for the deceased and their remains. In 2018, the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights project of the University of Geneva convened a meeting of experts to discuss the need for developing guidance to guarantee the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. Participants identified the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers in their efforts to ensure respect for dead persons and human remains in humanitarian emergencies, and recommended their development.
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Books by Sévane Garibian
Este debate en torno a la obra La muerte del verdugo. Reflexiones interdisciplinarias sobre el cadáver de los criminales de masa, dirigida por Sévane Garibian y publicada por la editorial argentina Miño y Dávila (Buenos Aires, 2016), realiza nuevos aportes al análisis de la figura del verdugo y a los desafíos que presentan tanto su muerte como el tratamiento post-mortem de su cuerpo y su legado. A través de una relectura del libro y del estudio de otras trayectorias asociadas al cuerpo y al recuerdo de los criminales de masa desde la sociología, los estudios culturales, la filosofía, la antropología o el derecho, este volumen ofrece una visión multidisciplinaria sobre el valor político, jurídico, social y cultural que estas muertes adquieren en contextos como Argentina, España, México o Chile.
How far have we come in laying the foundations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity? The co-editors of this symposium conclude that solid groundwork has been laid and hope that the current momentum will be maintained. At the same time, they caution against a ‘rush to conclusion’ as they see room for considerable refinement of many of the proposed provisions as well as the need for a genuine attempt to address the unresolved questions of immunity ratione materiae and amnesty. At this juncture, it is not easy to predict whether a meaningful new draft convention can be presented without further deepening the divide among states about international criminal justice. But it can safely be stated that every additional investment in intellectual energy and time to arrive at the formulation of such a draft is worthy of the effort. The adoption of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity and preferably one that also updates the Genocide Convention would mark another milestone in the evolution of the international criminal justice system.
The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, criminals against humanity, genocidaires, dictators or terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes?
Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history and anthropology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural.
Sévane GARIBIAN
Que les lecteurs soient avertis : le présent ouvrage - c’est sans doute le propre de tout Liber amicorum, et plus encore celui d’un Liber discipulorum - manifeste un évident parti pris en faveur de celui qui en est tout à la fois l’inspirateur et le dédicataire.
Les onze contributeurs de cette Dodécaphonie pénale expriment, à travers ces mélanges, leur reconnaissance à celui qui fut et est pour eux oncle de chair, père spirituel et souvent tout à la fois ami.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Restos humanos e Identificación presenta una investigación pionera sobre las prácticas y metodologías utilizadas en la búsqueda y exhumación de cadáveres resultantes de la violencia de masa. Anteriormente ausentes de la discusión sobre las prácticas forenses, los científicos sociales y historiadores confrontan aquí las exhumaciones históricas y contemporáneas con la aplicación del contexto social para crear un diálogo innovador e interdisciplinario. Nunca antes un solo volumen examinó el contexto de las motivaciones y los intereses existentes detrás de estas persecuciones: cada capítulo revela los aspectos políticos, sociales y legales de la violencia de masa y sus secuelas. Este libro sostiene que la aparición de las nuevas tecnologías para facilitar la identificación de los cadáveres ha dado lugar a un "giro forense" normalizando las exhumaciones como un método de ocuparse masivamente de los restos humanos. Sin embargo, ¿se llevan a cabo siempre estas exhumaciones por razones legítimas, y qué podemos aprender sobre las sociedades a partir de la forma en que se ocupan de esta consecuencia de la violencia de masa? Multidisciplinario en su alcance, este libro presenta una selección innovadora de estudios de casos internacionales, incluyendo la identificación de los cadáveres por el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la ex Yugoslavia, el retorno de los restos humanos del Gulag ruso y los sitios de masacres judías del Holocausto, o la búsqueda de los cuerpos de los desaparecidos durante la dictadura militar en Uruguay. Restos humanos e identificación será atractivo para los lectores interesados en la comprensión de esta fase crucial de la secuela de la violencia de masa, incluidos los investigadores de historia, antropología, sociología, ciencia forense, derecho, política y guerra moderna.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously absent from the discussion of forensic practices, social scientists and historians here confront historical and contemporary exhumations with the application of social context to create an innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue. Never before has a single volume examined the context of motivations and interests behind these pursuits, each chapter enlightening the political, social and legal aspects of mass violence and its aftermaths. This book argues that the emergence of new technologies to facilitate the identification of dead bodies has led to a “forensic turn”, normalising exhumations as a method of dealing with human remains en masse. However, are these exhumations always made for legitimate reasons and what can we learn about societies from the way in which they deal with this consequence of mass violence? Multidisciplinary in scope, this book presents a ground-breaking selection of international case studies, including the identification of corpses by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the return of human remains from the Russian Gulag and the sites of Jewish massacres from the Holocaust, or the search for the bodies of those who disappeared under the military dictatorship in Uruguay. Human remains and identification will appeal to readers interested in understanding this crucial phase of mass violence’s aftermath, including researchers in history, anthropology, sociology, forensic science, law, politics and modern warfare.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla se inscribe en un decenio marcado por el fallecimiento de numerosos criminales de masa. Ésta sigue a las de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden o Muamar el Gadafi. En todos los casos, las preguntas que abren estas muertes tan singulares son idénticas, aunque se sitúan en contextos diferentes: ¿cuándo y cómo fallecieron esos criminales? ¿Qué hacer con sus restos? ¿Cómo aprehender su herencia, la memoria de su persona y de sus crímenes? A pesar de su carácter crucial y de su actualidad, estas cuestiones hasta el momento no han suscitado sino pocas obras en el campo de las ciencias jurídicas y sociales. Aun observando un interés renovado en la palabra del verdugo como fuente de información, son raros los estudios que se refieren a su suerte una vez muerto. Esta obra intenta precisamente paliar esa carencia. Con la reflexión interdisciplinar iniciada aquí “dialogan” las aportaciones del Derecho, de la Historia, de la Antropología, de la Sociología, de la Literatura y de la Psicología alrededor de tres temáticas principales: las modalidades de la muerte del verdugo, el tratamiento post mortem de su cuerpo y la cuestión de la patrimonialización frente a las exigencias de justicia y reparación. Este volumen pretende entender las cuestiones relacionadas con el deceso de los genocidas, los criminales de guerra, los dictadores, los tiranos o los agentes del terrorismo internacional de los siglos XX y XXI –una muerte jamás anodina aun cuando se trate de fallecimiento natural".
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La dernière décennie a vu la mort de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Oussama Ben Laden ou Mouammar Kadhafi. Car les génocidaires, criminels de guerre, dictateurs, tyrans ou agents du terrorisme international des XXe et XXIe siècles, meurent aussi. Dans tous les cas, les questions que posent ces disparitions singulières sont identiques, bien que se situant dans des contextes différents : quand et comment ces criminels sont-ils morts ? Que faire de leur dépouille ? Comment appréhender leur héritage, la mémoire de leur personne et de leurs crimes ? Malgré leur caractère crucial et leur actualité, ces questions n’ont pour l’heure suscité que peu de travaux dans le domaine des sciences juridiques et sociales. Si l’on observe un important regain d’intérêt pour la parole du bourreau en tant que source d’information, rares sont les études qui s’attachent au sort de celui-ci, une fois décédé. Cet ouvrage vise précisément à combler ce manque. La réflexion interdisciplinaire engagée ici met en dialogue les apports du droit, de l’histoire, de l’anthropologie, de la sociologie, de la littérature et de la psychologie autour de trois thématiques principales : les modalités de la (mise à) mort du bourreau, le traitement post-mortem de son corps, et la question de la patrimonialisation face aux exigences de justice et de réparation. Ce volume entend ainsi montrer les enjeux entourant la fin des criminels de masse – une mort jamais anodine, même lorsqu’elle est naturelle"
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap. The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
"Beyond the recent and innovative studies on what human remains can tell us, and how we can make them speak, we are left with one question: when we commemorate the victims of mass violence, what do we do with their remains? This enquiry is far from rhetorical. It refers paradigmatically to their diverse public uses and their patrimonialisation, as already pursued by studies on history and memory in which interest is thriving. The function of human remains in commemorative practices is multiple, be it memorial, cognitive, probative or cathartic. However, their political function, with its various aspects and frameworks, is also heavily present in the articles that follow"
Sévane Garibian
This special issue – guest edited by Sévane Garibian (University of Geneva) – explores the ways in which human remains are commemorated across a diverse range of political, social and historical contexts. In line with the journal’s interdisciplinary scope, each article provides a unique account of the practices generated by different events from around the globe. Examining the legacy of genocidal violence, Rémi Korman (EHESS-Paris) explores the significance and role of bones in the commemoration of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, while Jean-Marc Dreyfus (University of Manchester) investigates the transfer of victims’ ashes following the Holocaust. Anouche Kunth (University of Poitiers) and Helen Jarvis (Permanent People’s Trubunal) focus on the Armenian and Cambodian genocides, respectively, the former presenting the effects of images on the remembrance and absence of bodies, and the latter depicting the use of artefacts and photographs in private and public ceremonies. Turning to the consequences of political violence, Zahira Araguete-Toribio (Goldsmiths University London) addresses the reburial of victims from the Civil War in contemporary Spain.
"A pesar del importante corpus documental producido en el campo de los Genocide Studies –y paradójicamente cuando se piensa en el modo en que se desarrollaron los estudios sobre el cuerpo–, la cuestión de la suerte del cadáver de las víctimas en las violencias de masa resulta todavía un tema ampliamente inexplorado. El cuerpo ciertamente representa una temática transversal de las Ciencias Sociales. No obstante esto, aun considerado en todos sus estados al hallarse vivo, desaparece casi totalmente de la mirada de los investigadores una vez muerto. Únicamente los arqueólogos y los antropólogos especializados en el campo de lo funerario se venían preocupando por la implicación social, religiosa o política de la cual es objeto el cuerpo muerto en contextos de producción masiva de cadáveres. Este volumen reúne contribuciones de historiadores, juristas y antropólogos que se hicieron la pregunta del por qué los restos humanos y los cadáveres presentes numerosamente constituyen todavía lo impensado, acaso el tabú, de las investigaciones llevadas a cabo acerca de genocidios y violencias extremas. El resultado de esta reflexión colectiva ofrece a la vez un estado del arte en nuestras diferentes disciplinas, y una exposición tanto de los cuestionamientos actuales como de las dificultades reales a aprehender de un tema extremo, aunque necesario."
Élisabeth Anstett, Jean-Marc Dreyfus y Sévane Garibian
"Las relaciones entre el orden jurídico, los valores que determinan su contenido, y los poderes que se trata de ejercer, parecen revolucionadas cuando se observa el funcionamiento de la comunidad internacional. Desde principios del siglo XX, la tentativa de una minoría de Estados de luchar contra algunas violaciones extremas de los derechos fundamentales de la persona humana lleva mas allá de las fronteras trazadas por la doctrina positivista. Si el mito de un juez « boca de la ley » no sobrevive a la experiencia de Nuremberg, su poder creativo no es incompatible con una visión positivista sensible a las interacciones entre sistemas normativos. Un análisis de las argumentaciones de algunas jurisdicciones, penales internacionales y regionales, constituye una traducción practica de la nueva realidad que el positivismo debe explicar. Los textos de este volumen analizan la complejidad de la relación entre poder, derecho y moral como del impacto, en tal contexto, del trabajo de los jueces".
Sévane Garibian y Alberto Puppo
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"Connu de tous, employé dans toutes les disciplines, abondamment utilisé, le concept de crime contre l’humanité n’en reste pas moins un objet obscur. Il peut paraître déroutant en ce qu’il est à la fois simple – il renvoie à des actions qui révoltent la conscience – et complexe, tant sa signification est empreinte d’inconstance.
De nombreux travaux scientifiques témoignent de cette ambivalence, au travers de l’étude de la notion de crime contre l’humanité et de son régime juridique ; des travaux dont l’apport majeur est de répondre au comment. Sévane Garibian propose ici de joindre à ce comment un pourquoi – en d’autres termes, de reconstruire l’histoire du concept à partir des sources primaires et de l’abondante doctrine préexistante en adoptant un nouvel angle de vue. Cette approche inédite exige, au-delà du travail compilatif relatif à la définition à proprement parler du crime et à l’analyse de l’incrimination, de rendre visibles les facteurs juridiques commandant l’évolution du concept. Pour ce faire, l’analyse de l’auteure trouve également appui sur les écrits dédiés, plus généralement, aux questions classiques et incontournables soulevées par l’internationalisation du droit pénal et l’émergence d’un ordre pénal international, indissociable de celle du concept, et d’une actualité sans cesse renouvelée".
Sévane Garibian"
"Numerous scientific works bear witness to the ambivalence of the concept of crime against humanity; works in which the main objective is to respond to the "how". The present study offers to respond to the "why" and to reconstitute the history of the concept through primary sources as well as through the abundant preexisting doctrine, and to look back to the concept’s beginnings while adopting new viewpoints. This original approach requires rendering the legal factors determining the evolution of the concept of crime against humanity visible, demonstrable and explicit. Moreover, the analysis rests on those works devoted, more generally, to age-old questions raised by the internationalization of criminal law and to the emergence of an international criminal legal order, inseparable from that of the concept and from the ever-changing nature of current events".
Sévane Garibian
Papers by Sévane Garibian
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing the respect of the deceased and their remains. The Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights Project of the University of Geneva, led by prof. Sévane Garibian, contributed to the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the elaboration of Guiding Principles for the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. The Guiding Principles aim to address the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers for ensuring the respect of dead persons and human remains in such contexts.
Soon after World War I, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne burries the Armenian question. Nevertheless, the 1915 Allied Declaration, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference's work and the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres are key documents for a better understanding of the emergence of international criminal law. In particular, they constitute a legal basis for major innovations such us: the conceptualization of “crime against humanity”; the recognition of the principle of individual criminal responsibility of leaders; and the attempt to materialize the idea of an international judicial intervention in internal State affairs for the defense of the fundamental rights of human beings.
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
L’année du centenaire du génocide des Arméniens est aussi celle du réexamen (en cours), par la Grande Chambre, du jugement du 17 décembre 2013 de la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) dans l’affaire Doğu Perinçek c. Suisse. C’est l’un des arguments apportés par la CEDH en 2013, désavouant les juridictions pénales suisses dans cette affaire de négationnisme, qui retiendra ici notre attention : celui, problématique, de l’absence de "consensus général" sur le génocide de 1915. Cette contribution vise à mettre en lumière les paradoxes et conséquences d’un tel argumentaire qui appelle notamment une mise en perspective historique – en particulier, un retour sur l’histoire du droit pénal international.
The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide is also the year of the (on going) revision by the Grand Chamber of the Doğu Perinçek v. Switzerland judgment rendered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on December 17, 2013. We will focus here on one of the arguments set forth by the ECHR in 2013, which disfavors the Swiss criminal jurisdictions in this case of genocide denial: the problematic argument of the absence of a "general consensus" on the 1915 genocide. This contribution aims to shed light on the paradoxes and consequences of such an argument that calls, notably, for a historical perspective – and demands, in particular, that we look back on the history of international criminal law.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Los llamados procedimientos extrajudiciales de investigación o búsqueda de la verdad se utilizan de manera extensiva, a menudo en forma de mecanismos que funcionan antes (en preparación de), además de, o como una alternativa a la justicia penal, cuando ésta es inaccesible. De hecho, la realidad exige frecuentemente abordar los puntos ciegos de la llamada «lucha contra la impunidad» en relación con los crímenes más graves y actuar a través de medios no procesales y extrajudiciales en situaciones donde la justicia retributiva es insuficiente, ha sido excluida, no se contempla o es impensable. Estas situaciones llevan al desarrollo de otros mecanismos de justicia, como las comisiones de la verdad y/o reconciliación. Así como el trabajo de las autoridades judiciales, la labor de estas comisiones implica el esclarecimiento de las huellas/restos de crímenes y responsabilidades, que permiten la realización y la aplicación efectiva del derecho a la verdad o el derecho a saber. No obstante, estas prácticas extrajudiciales son plurales y polimorfas y usan procedimientos diversos para el establecimiento de los hechos. Esto demuestra la necesidad de nuevos enfoques teóricos. Este articulo aborda la importancia de una perspectiva crítica en el análisis de dichos mecanismos extrajudiciales, así como una serie de preguntas clave, a la luz de una compleja pluralidad que necesita ser entendida.
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies, their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing respect for the deceased and their remains. In 2018, the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights project of the University of Geneva convened a meeting of experts to discuss the need for developing guidance to guarantee the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. Participants identified the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers in their efforts to ensure respect for dead persons and human remains in humanitarian emergencies, and recommended their development.
Este debate en torno a la obra La muerte del verdugo. Reflexiones interdisciplinarias sobre el cadáver de los criminales de masa, dirigida por Sévane Garibian y publicada por la editorial argentina Miño y Dávila (Buenos Aires, 2016), realiza nuevos aportes al análisis de la figura del verdugo y a los desafíos que presentan tanto su muerte como el tratamiento post-mortem de su cuerpo y su legado. A través de una relectura del libro y del estudio de otras trayectorias asociadas al cuerpo y al recuerdo de los criminales de masa desde la sociología, los estudios culturales, la filosofía, la antropología o el derecho, este volumen ofrece una visión multidisciplinaria sobre el valor político, jurídico, social y cultural que estas muertes adquieren en contextos como Argentina, España, México o Chile.
How far have we come in laying the foundations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity? The co-editors of this symposium conclude that solid groundwork has been laid and hope that the current momentum will be maintained. At the same time, they caution against a ‘rush to conclusion’ as they see room for considerable refinement of many of the proposed provisions as well as the need for a genuine attempt to address the unresolved questions of immunity ratione materiae and amnesty. At this juncture, it is not easy to predict whether a meaningful new draft convention can be presented without further deepening the divide among states about international criminal justice. But it can safely be stated that every additional investment in intellectual energy and time to arrive at the formulation of such a draft is worthy of the effort. The adoption of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity and preferably one that also updates the Genocide Convention would mark another milestone in the evolution of the international criminal justice system.
The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, criminals against humanity, genocidaires, dictators or terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes?
Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history and anthropology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural.
Sévane GARIBIAN
Que les lecteurs soient avertis : le présent ouvrage - c’est sans doute le propre de tout Liber amicorum, et plus encore celui d’un Liber discipulorum - manifeste un évident parti pris en faveur de celui qui en est tout à la fois l’inspirateur et le dédicataire.
Les onze contributeurs de cette Dodécaphonie pénale expriment, à travers ces mélanges, leur reconnaissance à celui qui fut et est pour eux oncle de chair, père spirituel et souvent tout à la fois ami.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Restos humanos e Identificación presenta una investigación pionera sobre las prácticas y metodologías utilizadas en la búsqueda y exhumación de cadáveres resultantes de la violencia de masa. Anteriormente ausentes de la discusión sobre las prácticas forenses, los científicos sociales y historiadores confrontan aquí las exhumaciones históricas y contemporáneas con la aplicación del contexto social para crear un diálogo innovador e interdisciplinario. Nunca antes un solo volumen examinó el contexto de las motivaciones y los intereses existentes detrás de estas persecuciones: cada capítulo revela los aspectos políticos, sociales y legales de la violencia de masa y sus secuelas. Este libro sostiene que la aparición de las nuevas tecnologías para facilitar la identificación de los cadáveres ha dado lugar a un "giro forense" normalizando las exhumaciones como un método de ocuparse masivamente de los restos humanos. Sin embargo, ¿se llevan a cabo siempre estas exhumaciones por razones legítimas, y qué podemos aprender sobre las sociedades a partir de la forma en que se ocupan de esta consecuencia de la violencia de masa? Multidisciplinario en su alcance, este libro presenta una selección innovadora de estudios de casos internacionales, incluyendo la identificación de los cadáveres por el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la ex Yugoslavia, el retorno de los restos humanos del Gulag ruso y los sitios de masacres judías del Holocausto, o la búsqueda de los cuerpos de los desaparecidos durante la dictadura militar en Uruguay. Restos humanos e identificación será atractivo para los lectores interesados en la comprensión de esta fase crucial de la secuela de la violencia de masa, incluidos los investigadores de historia, antropología, sociología, ciencia forense, derecho, política y guerra moderna.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously absent from the discussion of forensic practices, social scientists and historians here confront historical and contemporary exhumations with the application of social context to create an innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue. Never before has a single volume examined the context of motivations and interests behind these pursuits, each chapter enlightening the political, social and legal aspects of mass violence and its aftermaths. This book argues that the emergence of new technologies to facilitate the identification of dead bodies has led to a “forensic turn”, normalising exhumations as a method of dealing with human remains en masse. However, are these exhumations always made for legitimate reasons and what can we learn about societies from the way in which they deal with this consequence of mass violence? Multidisciplinary in scope, this book presents a ground-breaking selection of international case studies, including the identification of corpses by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the return of human remains from the Russian Gulag and the sites of Jewish massacres from the Holocaust, or the search for the bodies of those who disappeared under the military dictatorship in Uruguay. Human remains and identification will appeal to readers interested in understanding this crucial phase of mass violence’s aftermath, including researchers in history, anthropology, sociology, forensic science, law, politics and modern warfare.
S. Garibian, E. Anstett, J.M. Dreyfus
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla se inscribe en un decenio marcado por el fallecimiento de numerosos criminales de masa. Ésta sigue a las de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden o Muamar el Gadafi. En todos los casos, las preguntas que abren estas muertes tan singulares son idénticas, aunque se sitúan en contextos diferentes: ¿cuándo y cómo fallecieron esos criminales? ¿Qué hacer con sus restos? ¿Cómo aprehender su herencia, la memoria de su persona y de sus crímenes? A pesar de su carácter crucial y de su actualidad, estas cuestiones hasta el momento no han suscitado sino pocas obras en el campo de las ciencias jurídicas y sociales. Aun observando un interés renovado en la palabra del verdugo como fuente de información, son raros los estudios que se refieren a su suerte una vez muerto. Esta obra intenta precisamente paliar esa carencia. Con la reflexión interdisciplinar iniciada aquí “dialogan” las aportaciones del Derecho, de la Historia, de la Antropología, de la Sociología, de la Literatura y de la Psicología alrededor de tres temáticas principales: las modalidades de la muerte del verdugo, el tratamiento post mortem de su cuerpo y la cuestión de la patrimonialización frente a las exigencias de justicia y reparación. Este volumen pretende entender las cuestiones relacionadas con el deceso de los genocidas, los criminales de guerra, los dictadores, los tiranos o los agentes del terrorismo internacional de los siglos XX y XXI –una muerte jamás anodina aun cuando se trate de fallecimiento natural".
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"La dernière décennie a vu la mort de Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Oussama Ben Laden ou Mouammar Kadhafi. Car les génocidaires, criminels de guerre, dictateurs, tyrans ou agents du terrorisme international des XXe et XXIe siècles, meurent aussi. Dans tous les cas, les questions que posent ces disparitions singulières sont identiques, bien que se situant dans des contextes différents : quand et comment ces criminels sont-ils morts ? Que faire de leur dépouille ? Comment appréhender leur héritage, la mémoire de leur personne et de leurs crimes ? Malgré leur caractère crucial et leur actualité, ces questions n’ont pour l’heure suscité que peu de travaux dans le domaine des sciences juridiques et sociales. Si l’on observe un important regain d’intérêt pour la parole du bourreau en tant que source d’information, rares sont les études qui s’attachent au sort de celui-ci, une fois décédé. Cet ouvrage vise précisément à combler ce manque. La réflexion interdisciplinaire engagée ici met en dialogue les apports du droit, de l’histoire, de l’anthropologie, de la sociologie, de la littérature et de la psychologie autour de trois thématiques principales : les modalités de la (mise à) mort du bourreau, le traitement post-mortem de son corps, et la question de la patrimonialisation face aux exigences de justice et de réparation. Ce volume entend ainsi montrer les enjeux entourant la fin des criminels de masse – une mort jamais anodine, même lorsqu’elle est naturelle"
Sévane Garibian
"The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, perpetrators of genocide, dictators and terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes? Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap. The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history, anthropology, sociology, literature and psychology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural"
Sévane Garibian
"Beyond the recent and innovative studies on what human remains can tell us, and how we can make them speak, we are left with one question: when we commemorate the victims of mass violence, what do we do with their remains? This enquiry is far from rhetorical. It refers paradigmatically to their diverse public uses and their patrimonialisation, as already pursued by studies on history and memory in which interest is thriving. The function of human remains in commemorative practices is multiple, be it memorial, cognitive, probative or cathartic. However, their political function, with its various aspects and frameworks, is also heavily present in the articles that follow"
Sévane Garibian
This special issue – guest edited by Sévane Garibian (University of Geneva) – explores the ways in which human remains are commemorated across a diverse range of political, social and historical contexts. In line with the journal’s interdisciplinary scope, each article provides a unique account of the practices generated by different events from around the globe. Examining the legacy of genocidal violence, Rémi Korman (EHESS-Paris) explores the significance and role of bones in the commemoration of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, while Jean-Marc Dreyfus (University of Manchester) investigates the transfer of victims’ ashes following the Holocaust. Anouche Kunth (University of Poitiers) and Helen Jarvis (Permanent People’s Trubunal) focus on the Armenian and Cambodian genocides, respectively, the former presenting the effects of images on the remembrance and absence of bodies, and the latter depicting the use of artefacts and photographs in private and public ceremonies. Turning to the consequences of political violence, Zahira Araguete-Toribio (Goldsmiths University London) addresses the reburial of victims from the Civil War in contemporary Spain.
"A pesar del importante corpus documental producido en el campo de los Genocide Studies –y paradójicamente cuando se piensa en el modo en que se desarrollaron los estudios sobre el cuerpo–, la cuestión de la suerte del cadáver de las víctimas en las violencias de masa resulta todavía un tema ampliamente inexplorado. El cuerpo ciertamente representa una temática transversal de las Ciencias Sociales. No obstante esto, aun considerado en todos sus estados al hallarse vivo, desaparece casi totalmente de la mirada de los investigadores una vez muerto. Únicamente los arqueólogos y los antropólogos especializados en el campo de lo funerario se venían preocupando por la implicación social, religiosa o política de la cual es objeto el cuerpo muerto en contextos de producción masiva de cadáveres. Este volumen reúne contribuciones de historiadores, juristas y antropólogos que se hicieron la pregunta del por qué los restos humanos y los cadáveres presentes numerosamente constituyen todavía lo impensado, acaso el tabú, de las investigaciones llevadas a cabo acerca de genocidios y violencias extremas. El resultado de esta reflexión colectiva ofrece a la vez un estado del arte en nuestras diferentes disciplinas, y una exposición tanto de los cuestionamientos actuales como de las dificultades reales a aprehender de un tema extremo, aunque necesario."
Élisabeth Anstett, Jean-Marc Dreyfus y Sévane Garibian
"Las relaciones entre el orden jurídico, los valores que determinan su contenido, y los poderes que se trata de ejercer, parecen revolucionadas cuando se observa el funcionamiento de la comunidad internacional. Desde principios del siglo XX, la tentativa de una minoría de Estados de luchar contra algunas violaciones extremas de los derechos fundamentales de la persona humana lleva mas allá de las fronteras trazadas por la doctrina positivista. Si el mito de un juez « boca de la ley » no sobrevive a la experiencia de Nuremberg, su poder creativo no es incompatible con una visión positivista sensible a las interacciones entre sistemas normativos. Un análisis de las argumentaciones de algunas jurisdicciones, penales internacionales y regionales, constituye una traducción practica de la nueva realidad que el positivismo debe explicar. Los textos de este volumen analizan la complejidad de la relación entre poder, derecho y moral como del impacto, en tal contexto, del trabajo de los jueces".
Sévane Garibian y Alberto Puppo
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
"Connu de tous, employé dans toutes les disciplines, abondamment utilisé, le concept de crime contre l’humanité n’en reste pas moins un objet obscur. Il peut paraître déroutant en ce qu’il est à la fois simple – il renvoie à des actions qui révoltent la conscience – et complexe, tant sa signification est empreinte d’inconstance.
De nombreux travaux scientifiques témoignent de cette ambivalence, au travers de l’étude de la notion de crime contre l’humanité et de son régime juridique ; des travaux dont l’apport majeur est de répondre au comment. Sévane Garibian propose ici de joindre à ce comment un pourquoi – en d’autres termes, de reconstruire l’histoire du concept à partir des sources primaires et de l’abondante doctrine préexistante en adoptant un nouvel angle de vue. Cette approche inédite exige, au-delà du travail compilatif relatif à la définition à proprement parler du crime et à l’analyse de l’incrimination, de rendre visibles les facteurs juridiques commandant l’évolution du concept. Pour ce faire, l’analyse de l’auteure trouve également appui sur les écrits dédiés, plus généralement, aux questions classiques et incontournables soulevées par l’internationalisation du droit pénal et l’émergence d’un ordre pénal international, indissociable de celle du concept, et d’une actualité sans cesse renouvelée".
Sévane Garibian"
"Numerous scientific works bear witness to the ambivalence of the concept of crime against humanity; works in which the main objective is to respond to the "how". The present study offers to respond to the "why" and to reconstitute the history of the concept through primary sources as well as through the abundant preexisting doctrine, and to look back to the concept’s beginnings while adopting new viewpoints. This original approach requires rendering the legal factors determining the evolution of the concept of crime against humanity visible, demonstrable and explicit. Moreover, the analysis rests on those works devoted, more generally, to age-old questions raised by the internationalization of criminal law and to the emergence of an international criminal legal order, inseparable from that of the concept and from the ever-changing nature of current events".
Sévane Garibian
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing the respect of the deceased and their remains. The Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights Project of the University of Geneva, led by prof. Sévane Garibian, contributed to the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the elaboration of Guiding Principles for the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. The Guiding Principles aim to address the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers for ensuring the respect of dead persons and human remains in such contexts.
Soon after World War I, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne burries the Armenian question. Nevertheless, the 1915 Allied Declaration, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference's work and the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres are key documents for a better understanding of the emergence of international criminal law. In particular, they constitute a legal basis for major innovations such us: the conceptualization of “crime against humanity”; the recognition of the principle of individual criminal responsibility of leaders; and the attempt to materialize the idea of an international judicial intervention in internal State affairs for the defense of the fundamental rights of human beings.
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
L’année du centenaire du génocide des Arméniens est aussi celle du réexamen (en cours), par la Grande Chambre, du jugement du 17 décembre 2013 de la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) dans l’affaire Doğu Perinçek c. Suisse. C’est l’un des arguments apportés par la CEDH en 2013, désavouant les juridictions pénales suisses dans cette affaire de négationnisme, qui retiendra ici notre attention : celui, problématique, de l’absence de "consensus général" sur le génocide de 1915. Cette contribution vise à mettre en lumière les paradoxes et conséquences d’un tel argumentaire qui appelle notamment une mise en perspective historique – en particulier, un retour sur l’histoire du droit pénal international.
The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide is also the year of the (on going) revision by the Grand Chamber of the Doğu Perinçek v. Switzerland judgment rendered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on December 17, 2013. We will focus here on one of the arguments set forth by the ECHR in 2013, which disfavors the Swiss criminal jurisdictions in this case of genocide denial: the problematic argument of the absence of a "general consensus" on the 1915 genocide. This contribution aims to shed light on the paradoxes and consequences of such an argument that calls, notably, for a historical perspective – and demands, in particular, that we look back on the history of international criminal law.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
Los llamados procedimientos extrajudiciales de investigación o búsqueda de la verdad se utilizan de manera extensiva, a menudo en forma de mecanismos que funcionan antes (en preparación de), además de, o como una alternativa a la justicia penal, cuando ésta es inaccesible. De hecho, la realidad exige frecuentemente abordar los puntos ciegos de la llamada «lucha contra la impunidad» en relación con los crímenes más graves y actuar a través de medios no procesales y extrajudiciales en situaciones donde la justicia retributiva es insuficiente, ha sido excluida, no se contempla o es impensable. Estas situaciones llevan al desarrollo de otros mecanismos de justicia, como las comisiones de la verdad y/o reconciliación. Así como el trabajo de las autoridades judiciales, la labor de estas comisiones implica el esclarecimiento de las huellas/restos de crímenes y responsabilidades, que permiten la realización y la aplicación efectiva del derecho a la verdad o el derecho a saber. No obstante, estas prácticas extrajudiciales son plurales y polimorfas y usan procedimientos diversos para el establecimiento de los hechos. Esto demuestra la necesidad de nuevos enfoques teóricos. Este articulo aborda la importancia de una perspectiva crítica en el análisis de dichos mecanismos extrajudiciales, así como una serie de preguntas clave, a la luz de una compleja pluralidad que necesita ser entendida.
So-called fact-finding or truth-seeking procedures are widely deployed, often, in the form of mechanisms that function either before (in preparation of), in addition to, or else, as an alternative to criminal justice – when the latter is inaccessible. Indeed, reality often requires to fill the blind spots of the so-called "fight against impunity" for the most serious crimes, and to act through non-prosecutorial and extrajudicial means where retributive justice is insufficient, excluded, uncontemplated or unthinkable. These situations lead to the development of other justice mechanisms, such as truth and/or reconciliation commissions. Like the work of judicial authorities, the endeavour of these commissions involves uncovering the traces / remains of crimes and responsibilities, which allows the realization and effective implementation of the right to the truth or the right to know. Nevertheless, these extrajudicial practices are plural and polymorphous, and they use disparate procedures for the establishment of facts. This testifies to a need for new theoretical approaches. This article addresses the importance of a critical perspective when analysing such extrajudicial mechanisms, as well as a series of key questions, in light of the complex plurality that needs to be apprehended.
When large numbers of people die as a result of humanitarian emergencies, their bodies and remains are often managed with little consideration for their dignity. This may impact the capacity to identify the deceased and prevent them from becoming missing persons. Many of the existing guidelines for managing the dead in emergencies, including those published by the International Police Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are accomplished from a technical point of view, but offer little or no specific guidance on guaranteeing respect for the deceased and their remains. In 2018, the Missing Persons Project of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Right to Truth, Truth(s) through Rights project of the University of Geneva convened a meeting of experts to discuss the need for developing guidance to guarantee the dignified treatment of the dead in humanitarian emergencies. Participants identified the need worldwide for a set of general principles to guide practitioners and decision-makers in their efforts to ensure respect for dead persons and human remains in humanitarian emergencies, and recommended their development.
ENGLISH VERSION FOLLOWS
L’établissement de la Cour pénale internationale apparaît comme une avancée majeure dans la lutte contre l’impunité et la prévention des crimes internationaux les plus graves. Vingt ans après l’entrée en vigueur du Statut de Rome, et malgré son importance, la portée de la double mission de la CPI reste vague, et ce à plusieurs égards. D’abord, le concept d’impunité, bien qu’omniprésent dans les travaux des Nations Unies, dans la jurisprudence de la Cour ou dans la littérature juridique, est ambivalent et indéfini en droit international. Il en va de même s’agissant du concept de prévention. Ensuite, le lien précis entre ces deux objectifs – lutte contre l’impunité / prévention – doit encore être clarifié. La CPI semble adopter une approche restrictive en ne considérant ces objectifs qu’au prisme exclusif de la répression pénale. La Cour se situe, en effet, au cœur du système de lutte contre l’impunité stricto sensu dont elle serait gardienne, lequel détermine la portée de l’objectif de prévention, limité ici à la seule dissuasion pénale. La question que pose cette approche doublement centrée sur la rétribution et la peine est celle de la place des autres mécanismes de justice et de prévention dans le traitement des crimes de masse, ainsi que de leur lien avec la CPI.
The establishment of the International Criminal Court appears as a breakthrough in the fight against impunity for, and the prevention of, the most serious international crimes. Twenty years after the entry into force of the Rome Statute, and despite its importance, the reach of this twofold mission remains unclear in several regards. First, although the concept of impunity is ubiquitous in the United Nations’ work, in the Court’s case law, and the legal literature, it is ambiguous and undefined under international law. The same may be said about the concept of prevention. Moreover, the precise link between these two objectives – fight against impunity and prevention – still needs clarification. The ICC seems to adopt a restrictive approach by considering these objectives through the exclusive prism of criminal prosecution. The Court lays at the heart of a system designed to fight against impunity stricto sensu. This system, which the Court has been entrusted to guard, determines the reach of the objective of prevention, which has been limited so far to the sole deterrence of international crimes. This retributive and sentence-centred approach raises the question of the position that other justice and prevention mechanisms may have in the treatment of mass crimes and their link with the ICC.
La lente et laborieuse mise en œuvre de la justice pénale internationale s’explique par les enjeux juridiques et politiques qu’un tel projet révolutionnaire a dû, et doit encore, contrer. Consacrée en 1998 avec la création de la Cour pénale internationale, première du genre à être permanente, elle n’en demeure pas moins fragile et insuffisante. Un tel constat invite à revisiter l’approche et les attentes portées à cette justice non ordinaire qui ne peut, à elle seule, pacifier le monde.
Este debate en torno a la obra La muerte del verdugo. Reflexiones interdisciplinarias sobre el cadáver de los criminales de masa, dirigida por Sévane Garibian y publicada por la editorial argentina Miño y Dávila (Buenos Aires, 2016), realiza nuevos aportes al análisis de la figura del verdugo y a los desafíos que presentan tanto su muerte como el tratamiento post-mortem de su cuerpo y su legado. A través de una relectura del libro y del estudio de otras trayectorias asociadas al cuerpo y al recuerdo de los criminales de masa desde la sociología, los estudios culturales, la filosofía, la antropología o el derecho, este volumen ofrece una visión multidisciplinaria sobre el valor político, jurídico, social y cultural que estas muertes adquieren en contextos como Argentina, España, México o Chile.
How far have we come in laying the foundations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity? The co-editors of this symposium conclude that solid groundwork has been laid and hope that the current momentum will be maintained. At the same time, they caution against a ‘rush to conclusion’ as they see room for considerable refinement of many of the proposed provisions as well as the need for a genuine attempt to address the unresolved questions of immunity ratione materiae and amnesty. At this juncture, it is not easy to predict whether a meaningful new draft convention can be presented without further deepening the divide among states about international criminal justice. But it can safely be stated that every additional investment in intellectual energy and time to arrive at the formulation of such a draft is worthy of the effort. The adoption of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity and preferably one that also updates the Genocide Convention would mark another milestone in the evolution of the international criminal justice system.
Der hundertste Jahrestag des Armenischen Genozids ist auch das Jahr der Überprüfung, durch die Große Kammer, des Urteils vom 17. Dezember 2013 des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte (EGMR) zum Fall Doğu Perinçek v. Suisse. Wir werden uns hier auf eines der vom EGMR vorgebrachten Argumente, das die Schweizer Rechtsprechung in diesem Fall von Genozidleugnung kritisiert, konzentrieren: das problematische Argument des Fehlens eines „allgemeinen Konsenses“ bezüglich des Armenischen Genozids von 1915. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, Licht auf die Paradoxien und die Konsequenzen eines solchen Arguments zu werfen – ein Argument, das bemerkenswerter Weise eine historische Sichtweise und insbesondere einen Blick auf die Geschichte des Internationalen Strafrechts erfordert.
Sévane GARIBIAN
The last decade witnessed the death of a number of notable war criminals, criminals against humanity, genocidaires, dictators or terrorists, amongst these Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. Though the circumstance of each death may differ greatly, the questions each death raises are the same: when and how did these criminals die? What should one do with their remains? How does one apprehend their legacy, the memory of their persona and their crimes?
Despite being of a timely and crucial nature, these questions have prompted little attention in the field of legal and social sciences to date. While there is a renewed interest in the perpetrator’s discourse as a source of information, studies that refer to his fate once he is dead are rare. This work intends to fill this gap.
The interdisciplinary reflection undertaken here puts in dialogue the contributions of law, history and anthropology, focusing on three main themes: the death of the perpetrator, the post-mortem treatment of his body, and the question of patrimonialization, faced with the demands of justice and reparation. This volume intends to shed light on the issues surrounding the end of mass criminals – a death never banal, even when it is natural.
Sévane GARIBIAN
Talaat Pasha, the chief instigator of the Armenian genocide, died at the hands of an assassin in 1921 in Berlin, where he was living in hiding under a false name. His killer, the survivor and avenger of the genocide, Soghomon Tehlirian, sought to use his own trial as a platform to condemn the acts of the murderer of his people – a murderer who had already been sentenced to death in absentia in his own country by a court martial in Constantinople. This perpetrator now lies in a mausoleum built in memory of the “heroes of the fatherland” on the hill of the Monument of Liberty alongside his erstwhile Minister of War, Enver Pasha, in the very heart of Istanbul. This chapter aims to shed light on the link between the perpetrator’s violent end, the treatment of his remains and the negationist policy which is still in place in Turkey.
Sévane GARIBIAN