Rwanda: New Book Organizes Decisions of Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia

ICTR/ICTY: Tribunals Set Key Precedent
New Book Organizes Decisions of Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former
Yugoslavia

(New York, February 20, 2004) ­ The international war crimes tribunals
have made precedent-setting decisions on genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity, Human Rights Watch said today in a new comprehensive
book that organizes by topic the decisions of the International Criminal
Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

"The work of the two ad hoc tribunals represents the most significant
effort since Nuremberg to bring perpetrators of the most serious crimes
to justice," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's
International Justice Program.

Although not without shortcomings, the tribunals' work has been
immensely important in holding numerous perpetrators of horrific crimes
accountable and delivering the crucial message that serious crimes will
not go unpunished, Human Rights Watch said.

The new Human Rights Watch book organizes the tribunals' decisions by
topic, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes,
individual criminal responsibility, command responsibility and
sentencing.

"This book makes the important jurisprudence produced by the tribunals
uniquely accessible," said Dicker. "The tribunals' decisions on
genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes will be highly
significant for future efforts to bring accountability for such crimes."

The volume, which is available online (http://hrw.org/reports/2004/ij/),
and in print (http://store.yahoo.com/hrwpubs/2004reports.html), is
oriented to practitioners and staff at new institutions established to
try such crimes-such as the International Criminal Court and the Sierra
Leone Special Court. The book will also serve as a tool for academics,
nongovernmental organizations in the field, and students interested in
international criminal justice, Human Rights Watch said.