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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Crimes against humanity: directing attacks against a civilian population
Author:Eboe-Osuji, Chile
Year:2006
Periodical:African Journal of Legal Studies (ISSN 1708-7384)
Volume:2
Issue:2
Pages:118-129
Language:English
Geographic term:Sierra Leone
Subjects:offences against human rights
international criminal law
international criminal courts
jurisprudence
External link:https://doi.org/10.1163/221097312X13397499736543
Abstract:In international criminal law, to sustain a charge of crimes against humanity, the Prosecution must prove, among other elements, that the perpetrator was involved in an attack directed against a civilian population. In Prosecutor v Fofana and Kondewa, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found that the Prosecution failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the civilian population was the 'primary object' of the attack and acquitted the accused on the counts of murder and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity. The Appeals Chamber accepted this view. However, it reversed Trial Chamber I on the ground that the Prosecution evidence did establish that the civilian population had been the primary, as opposed to incidental, target of the attack. The author suggests that this is an error resulting from the undue jurisprudential preoccupation with the meaning of 'primary' in relation to the notion of attack against a civilian population. Instead, the inquiry should focus on whether the civilian population was 'intentionally' targeted in the attack, notwithstanding that it may not have been the primary object of the attack. He submits that this approach would be consistent with the classic theory of 'mens rea' in criminal law. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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