Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities in International Law

The book offers an introduction to international law's approaches to holding individuals accountable for human rights atrocities, exploring whether human rights abusers can and should be brought to justice. The authors examine how, in the years since the Nuremberg Trials, states have created international norms holding abusers accountable, tried such people domestically and internationally for their crimes, and established other, non-criminal forms of accountability. These include trials in domestic courts and international tribunals such as the UN's Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals and the International Criminal Court, as well as nonprosecutorial mechanisms including civil suits, truth commissions, and immigration measures. The authors appraise the state of the law and its mechanisms, including analysis of the principal crimes (such as genocide and crimes against humanity) and discuss the opportunities for and challenges to further steps aimed at accountability.