Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

Steven R. Ratner is Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He was previously the Albert Sidney Burleson Professor in Law at the University of Texas School of Law (Austin) and an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. State Department. Jason S. Abrams is a consultant to the United Nations. He has served as Legal Officer, Policy Coordination Officer and Consultant to the United Nations. His work has included private international matters involving UN Headquarters and Peacekeeping Missions, landmines, and management reform initiatives. Earlier in his career, Mr. Abrams was an Attorney-Adviser for the U.S. Department of State. James L. Bischoff is an Attourney-Advisor in the Office of the Legal Advisor of the United Nations Department of State. He previously worked as an Associate Legal Officer at the ICTY and served on the Secretariat of the standing committee charged with proposing amendments to the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

PART I: SUBSTANTIVE LAW ; 1. Individual Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: Historical and Legal Underpinnings ; 2. Genocide and the Imperfections of Codification ; 3. Crimes Against Humanity and the Inexactitude of Custom ; 4. War Crimes and the Limitations of Accountability for Acts in Armed Conflict ; 5. Other Abuses Incurring Individual Responsibility under International Law ; 6. Expanding and Contracting Culpability: Complicity, Defenses, and Other Barriers to Criminality ; PART II: MECHANISMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY ; 7. Mechanisms for Accountability: Framing the Issues ; 8. The Forum of First Resort: National Tribunals ; 9. The Progeny of Nuremberg: International Criminal Tribunals ; 10. Non-Prosecutorial Options: Investigatory Comissions, Civil Suits, Immigration Measures, and Lustration ; 11. Developing the Case: Comments on Evidence and Judicial Assistance ; PART III: A CASE STUDY: THE ATTROCITIES OF THE KHMER ROUGE ; 12. The Khmer Rouge Rule over Cambodia: A Historical Overview ; 13. Applying the Law ; 14. Engaging the Mechanisms ; PART IV: CONCLUSIONS ; 15. Striving for Justice: The Prospects for Individual Accountability ; Appendices