William Schabas, Unimaginable Atrocities
Justice, Politics, and Rights at the War Crimes Tribunals
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12735596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Oumar Ba (0000-0002-1729-0759, Candid, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 199-200 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of International Criminal Justice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1478-1395 • E-ISSN: 1478-1387 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jicj/mqu087 |
| OpenAlex | W2332662894 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
The Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) defines the four categories of unimaginable atrocities: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. For William Schabas, the word ‘genocide’ has ‘a strange, mysterious effect. For victims, it presents itself as a badge of honour, the only adequate way to describe their suffering or that of their ancestors’.1 Therein lies the notion of the ‘genocide mystique’.2 The distinction drawn between genocide and crimes against humanity holds symbolic significance. Whereas more weighted symbolism is associated with the label of genocide, ‘many victims are deeply disappointed when their own suffering is acknowledged as “mere” crimes against humanity’.3 Some scholars have suggested that these categories should be done away with. For example, David Scheffer proposes folding them into a new category called ‘atrocity crimes’.4 Schabas’ position is that genocide should be ‘nestled within the broader concept of crimes against humanity and reserved exclusively for the clearest cases of intentional extermination of national, ethnic, racial, and religious groups’.5
Crimes against humanity · Criminology · Geneva Conventions · Genocide · Humanity · International humanitarian law · International law · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Statute · War crime · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |