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The Tool Box, Past and Present, of Justice and Reconciliation for Atrocities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

David J. Scheffer*
Affiliation:
United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

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Type
Book Reviews and Notes
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2001

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References

1 This command was the trademark of the aggressive detective Steve McGarrett to his lieutenant Danny “Danno” Williams in the popular television series Hawaii Five-O (1968–80). See Joal, Ryan, Aloha, McGarrett: Actor Jack Lord Dies (Jan. 22, 1998)Google Scholar, at <http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,2416,00.html>.

2 Bass nonetheless offers useful historical insight into the hesitancy of liberal states to push for the creation or functioning of an international war crimes tribunal if prisoners of war remain and a deal for a swap is at stake. But this hesitancy should not be confused with efforts to minimize risks to the safety of soldiers deployed for apprehension purposes. Liberal states can support establishing a tribunal and sustain its work while simultaneously exercising great caution in undertaking apprehension strategies on foreign territory (as shown by NATO’s rules of engagement in Bosnia). The wisdom of such caution is highly debatable, but contrary to what Bass argues, it does not amount to “tokenism.” See infra pp. 973–75.

3 Bass quotes the Allied commission on Leipzig as concluding that “in almost all the [Leipzig] cases the court has given no satisfaction in that certain accused have been acquitted when they should have been condemned, and that even in those cases where the accused have been judged guilty the penalty applied has not been sufficient” (p. 81).

4 The U.S. delegation to the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court (ICC) consistently called for adoption of a definition for the crime of aggression (for prosecution before the ICC) that would focus on a war of aggression as determined, initially, by the UN Security Council. See, e.g., David J. Scheffer, U.S. Dep’t of State, Statement on U.S. Government Intervention on the Crime of Aggression Before the ICC Preparatory Commission Working Group on the Crime of Aggression (Dec. 6, 1999) (on file with AJIL); see also Sean, D. Murphy, Contemporary Practice of the United States, 95 AJIL 400 (2001)Google Scholar (describing U.S. participation in ICC Preparatory Commission deliberations concerning the crime of aggression).

5 One should recall that 211 personnel of the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) (the peacekeeping force initially established in Croatia and then expanded into Bosnia primarily for humanitarian protection work) died in the line of duty. See United Nations Fatalities by Mission and Appointment Type, at <http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/fatalities/fatall.htm> (visited Oct. 15, 2001). Additionally, 8 fatalities among personnel of the UN Mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and 4 among personnel of the UN Preventive Deployment Force in Macedonia, have been recorded. See id. Bass overlooks this point when criticizing liberal states for valuing the lives of their own more than Bosnian lives.

6 Psalms 99:8 (Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha (Oxford University Press/Cambridge University Press, 1989)).