Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law

318 Pages·2007·2.2 MB·English

by  Mark A. Drumbl

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atrocity, punishment, and international law
In Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law, Mark Drumbl rethinks how per-
petratorsofatrocitycrimesshouldbepunished.Afterfirstreviewingthesentencing
practices of courts and tribunals that censure genocide, crimes against humanity,
andwarcrimes,heconcludesthatthesepracticesfallshortofthegoalsthatinterna-
tionalcriminallawascribestopunishment,inparticularretributionanddeterrence.
Thisraisesthequestionwhetherinternationalprosecutorialandcorrectionalprefer-
encesareaseffectiveaswehope.Drumblarguesthatthepursuitofaccountability
for extraordinary atrocity crimes should not uncritically adopt the methods and
assumptionsofordinaryliberalcriminallaw.Hecallsforfreshthinkingtoconfront
thecollectivenatureofmassatrocityandthedisturbingrealitythatindividualmem-
bership in group-based killings is often not maladaptive or deviant behavior but,
rather, adaptive or conformist behavior. This book deploys a bold, and adventur-
ouslypluralist,interpretationofclassicalnotionsofcosmopolitanismtoadvancethe
frameofinternationalcriminallawtoabroaderconstructionofatrocitylawanda
moremeaningfulunderstandingofjustice.Drumblconcludesbyofferingconcrete
reforms.Heurgescontextualresponsestoatrocitythatwelcomebottom-upperspec-
tives, including restorative, reparative, and reintegrative traditions that may differ
fromtheadversarialWesterncriminaltrial.
MarkA.DrumblistheClassof1975AlumniProfessorattheSchoolofLaw,Wash-
ingtonandLeeUniversity,wherehealsoservesasDirectoroftheTransnationalLaw
Institute.HehasheldvisitingappointmentsatOxfordUniversity(UniversityCol-
lege),TrinityCollegeDublin,VanderbiltUniversity,andtheUniversityofOttawa.In
2005,hisacademicworkreceivedtheAssociationofAmericanLawSchoolsScholarly
PapersPrizeand,in2003,theInternationalAssociationofPenalLaw(U.S.Section)
Best Article Prize. He studied at McGill University (B.A., M.A.), Institut d’e´tudes
politiques,UniversityofToronto(LL.B.),andColumbiaUniversity(LL.M.,J.S.D.).
When he was a graduate student at Columbia Law School in 1998, his work on
Rwanda received the Gitelson/Meyerowitz Human Rights Prize. In 2001, another
ofhispublicationsonRwandawasheraldedas“exemplary”initstreatmentof“the
possibilitiesofthecoexistenceofvictimsandsurvivorswithinthesamesocietyafter
theevent”intheTimesLiterarySupplement.
Dr.Drumblhaslecturedandpublishedextensivelyoninternationallaw,human
rights,andcriminaljustice.HehasworkedintheRwandanprisonsandasdefense
counsel in Rwanda’s genocide trials. He has been an expert on international law
inlitigationintheU.S.federalcourts,hastaughtinavarietyofplaces–including
PakistanandBrazil–and,from1994to1995,servedasjudicialclerktoajusticeof
the Supreme Court of Canada. Drumbl’s legal practice experience also includes
representationoftheCanadianChief-of-DefenseStaffwithregardtotheRoyalCom-
missioninvestigatingmilitarywrongdoingintheUnitedNationsSomaliaMission.
Heisafrequentmediacommentator.
i
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Atrocity, Punishment, and
International Law
mark a. drumbl
Classof1975AlumniProfessor
Director,TransnationalLawInstitute
SchoolofLaw,WashingtonandLeeUniversity
iii
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521870894
© Mark A. Drumbl 2007
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-28505-9 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-10 0-511-28505-1 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-87089-4 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-87089-5 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-69138-3 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-69138-9 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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DedicatedtoVictims,andSurvivors,ofHumanity’sInhumanity
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Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgments page xi
ListofAbbreviations xv
1 ExtraordinaryCrimeandOrdinaryPunishment:
AnOverview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
(i) ExtraordinaryCrime 3
(ii) OrdinaryProcessandPunishment 6
(iii)PunishmentinInternationalandNationalInstitutions 11
(iv) Deconstruction:TheDisconnectbetweenAspirationsof
PunishmentandRealitiesofSentence 15
(v) ...andReconstitution 18
(vi) Conclusion 21
2 ConformityandDeviance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
(i) PerpetratorsandBeneficiaries 25
(ii) Conformity,Transgression,andtheGroup 29
(iii)PosttraumaticLiberalismDisorder 35
(iv) Victims 41
(v) Conclusion:LawonBorrowedStilts 44
3 PunishmentofInternationalCrimesinInternational
CriminalTribunals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
(i) PositiveLawFrameworksofContemporary
Institutions 50
(ii) SentencingPractice 55
(iii)PenologicalJustificationandImplementation:
TheJurisprudence 59
a. WhyPunish? 60
b. WhatFactorstoConsiderinPunishing? 63
(iv) Conclusion 66
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viii Contents
4 PunishmentofInternationalCrimesinNationalandLocal
CriminalJusticeInstitutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
(i) Rwanda 71
a. NationalCourtsinRwanda,IncludingSpecialized
Chambers 73
b. ForeignNationalorMilitaryCourts 83
c. Gacaca 85
(ii) FormerYugoslavia 99
a. PositiveLawFrameworks 99
b. CourtsinBosniaandHerzegovina 105
c. CourtsinSerbia 106
d. CourtsinCroatia 107
e. ForeignCourts 109
(iii)WorldWarII 110
a. ImmediateAftermathoftheWar 112
b. Fromthe1960sOnward 115
(iv) Conclusion 121
5 LegalMimicry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
(i) TransplantsandLegalGeologies 125
(ii) ExternalizationofJustice 127
(iii)DemocraticDeficits 133
(iv) Referrals 138
(v) Complementarity 141
(vi) Conclusion 147
6 QuestforPurpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
(i) Retribution 150
a. Selectivity 151
b. SeverityofSanctionandDiscretionof
SentencingJudges 154
(1) OverwhelmingGravityoftheCrimes 155
(2) TreatmentofHigh-LevelOffenders 157
(3) VariabilityinSentencing 161
c. PleaBargaining 163
(ii) Deterrence 169
(iii)Expressivism 173
a. SelectiveTruths 176
b. InterruptedPerformances 177
c. ManagementStrategies 178
d. PleadingOut 179
(iv) Conclusion 180