The UN Security Council and International Criminal Tribunals: Procedure Matters (Studies in Global Justice Book 20)

The book explains why and how the UN Security Council authorizes international criminal investigations into mass atrocities. In doing so, it tackles head-on the obvious double standards of global justice, where few atrocities get investigated and most slip below the headlines. The book argues that the Council’s decision-making procedure is central to understanding the Council’s decisions. This procedure is broken into three distinct steps, namely the role of diplomats at the Council, the Council’s reliance on third parties and the Council’s resort to precedent. The volume documents that the Council authorized international criminal investigations only into the handful of mass atrocities for which the Council’s deliberations successfully completed each of these three steps. Written for both scholars and practitioners, the book combines insights from the fields of international relations, international law and human rights. Through archival research and interviews with UNSC diplomats who took part in deliberations on atrocities, the volume presents evidence that supports its argument across cases and across time. In doing so, the book avoids the yes/no (or 0 vs 1) tendency of many social science projects, thereby acknowledging that there is no silver bullet to explain the work of the Council’s five permanent and ten elected members. Chris Kaoutzanis's Procedure Matters is a deep dive into how the UN Security Council actually works in dealing with some of the world's worst atrocities. Showing that UN procedure does matter, Kaoutzanis illuminates the limited accountability for international crimes that can be expected from that vital institution. As importantly, he offers a road map for how to use UN legitimating procedures to navigate the power politics of that august body. This is a map no scholar of international institutions and no human rights activist should be without. Michael Doyle, Columbia University This project recognizes what the scholarly literature has generally ignored or deemphasized: the central role of the Security Council in responding to mass atrocity situations. As much as international lawyers would hate to admit it, the legal response to international crimes is initially controlled not by international judges and tribunals, but rather by the Security Council and its geo-political and diplomatic complications. Kaoutzanis has put the sun back at the center of our solar system. Jens David Ohlin, Cornell Law School Preface......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 About the Author......Page 13 Abbreviations......Page 14 List of Maps and Graphs......Page 15 List of Tables......Page 16 Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 17 Government Documents......Page 24 Resolutions......Page 25 Chapter 2: The Facts: Atrocities Investigations and the UN Security Council......Page 26 2.1 The Location of Atrocities......Page 27 2.2 Domestic Judicial Responses to Atrocities......Page 31 2.3 The International Judicial Responses to Atrocities......Page 33 2.4 The UNSC Within International Affairs......Page 36 2.5 How the UNSC Operates......Page 38 2.6 Conclusion......Page 42 Books and Articles......Page 43 Government Documents......Page 44 Chapter 3: The Existing Explanations......Page 45 3.1 Atrocities Investigations Are Sidelined......Page 46 3.1.1.1 Complicity......Page 47 3.1.1.2 War Tactics......Page 48 3.1.1.3 Alliance......Page 49 3.1.1.4 Ideology......Page 51 3.1.2 Limits of the Four Categories......Page 53 3.2 Atrocities Investigations to the Forefront......Page 56 3.2.1.1 The Victorious Category......Page 57 3.2.1.2 The Idealist Category......Page 58 3.2.1.3 The Identity Category......Page 60 3.2.1.4 The Liberal Category......Page 61 3.2.2 Limits of the Four Categories......Page 62 3.3.1 The Legal Literature......Page 65 3.3.2 The Political Science Literature......Page 67 3.4 Conclusion......Page 71 Books and Articles......Page 72 New York Times......Page 75 International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg......Page 76 Resolutions......Page 77 Chapter 4: The Argument: Three Procedural Steps......Page 78 4.1 Existing Limitations......Page 79 4.2 Importance of Procedure......Page 80 4.3 The Significance of the Argument......Page 83 4.4 The Boundaries of the Argument......Page 84 4.5.1 Chapter 5: Three Case Studies on Diplomats Relating to Sierra Leone......Page 88 4.5.2 Chapter 6: Single Case Study on Commission of Inquiry to Burundi......Page 90 4.5.3 Chapter 7: Multiple Case Studies on Role of Precedent......Page 92 4.6 Conclusion......Page 93 Books and Articles......Page 94 International Criminal Court......Page 95 Resolutions......Page 96 Chapter 5: The First Step: Preliminary Steps: The Role of A Patron Diplomat......Page 97 5.1 Three Existing Explanations......Page 99 5.2 Diplomatic Disagreements......Page 102 5.3 The Case Studies......Page 106 5.3.1 Case Study of Disagreement: The UN and Amnesty (at the Lomé Peace Accords)......Page 107 5.3.2 Case Study of Instructions: United States and Atrocities in Sierra Leone (Immediately After the Lomé Peace Accords)......Page 110 5.3.3 Case Study of Discretion: United Kingdom and Foday Sankoh (After the Lomé Peace Accords)......Page 114 5.4 Conclusion......Page 118 Books and Articles......Page 119 Sierra Leonean News (Reporting on Diplomacy relating to Civil War, Available at http://www.sierra-leone.org/Archives/)......Page 121 Resolutions......Page 122 Chapter 6: The Second Step: The Deliberations: The Use of Third-Parties......Page 123 6.1.1 The Role of Power......Page 126 6.1.2 The Role of Legitimacy......Page 127 6.1.3 Clash Between Power and Legitimacy......Page 128 6.2 Third-Party to Avoid Clash......Page 133 6.3 The Alternative Explanations......Page 135 6.4.1 Leading Up to the Commission of Inquiry......Page 137 6.4.2 Commission on Inquiry as a Safeguard for the UNSC......Page 141 6.5 Conclusion......Page 147 Books and Articles......Page 149 Amnesty International......Page 150 Reports......Page 151 Resolutions......Page 152 Chapter 7: The Third Step: Issuance of the Decision: The Use of Precedent......Page 153 7.1 Precedent at the UNSC......Page 154 7.2 Three Existing Explanations......Page 156 7.2.1 Present Issue......Page 157 7.2.2 The Interested Parties......Page 158 7.2.3 The Decision-Making Process......Page 159 7.3 Precedent in Decision-Makers’ Bargaining......Page 160 7.4 Comparing All Explanations......Page 163 7.5.1 UNSC Deliberations on Rwanda: 1994......Page 165 7.5.2 UNSC Deliberations on Sierra Leone: 2000......Page 168 7.5.3 UNSC Deliberations on Darfur: 2005......Page 171 7.5.4 UNSC Deliberations on Libya: 2011......Page 175 7.5.5 UNSC Deliberations on Syria: 2014......Page 178 7.6 Discussion......Page 180 7.6.1 Consistency......Page 181 7.6.2 Reliance......Page 182 7.6.3 Decision-Making......Page 183 7.6.4 Bargaining......Page 185 7.7 Conclusion......Page 187 Books and Articles......Page 188 Various News Sources......Page 190 Reports......Page 191 Resolutions......Page 192 Chapter 8: Conclusion......Page 194 8.1 Summary of the Argument......Page 195 8.2 The UNSC’s Referral of Darfur to the ICC......Page 197 8.3 Theoretical Implications......Page 200 8.4 Policy Implications......Page 203 8.5 Conclusion......Page 205 Books and Articles......Page 206 Records of United Nations Security Council Meetings......Page 207 Resolutions......Page 208 Index......Page 209 The book explains why and how the UN Security Council authorizes international criminal investigations into mass atrocities. In doing so, it tackles head-on the obvious double standards of global justice, where few atrocities get investigated and most slip below the headlines. The book argues that the Councils decision-making procedure is central to understanding the Councils decisions. This procedure is broken into three distinct steps, namely the role of diplomats at the Council, the Councils reliance on third parties and the Councils resort to precedent. The volume documents that the Council authorized international criminal investigations only into the handful of mass atrocities for which the Councils deliberations successfully completed each of these three steps. Written for both scholars and practitioners, the book combines insights from the fields of international relations, international law and human rights. Through archival research and interviews with UNSC diplomats who took part in deliberations on atrocities, the volume presents evidence that supports its argument across cases and across time. In doing so, the book avoids the yes/no (or 0 vs 1) tendency of many social science projects, thereby acknowledging that there is no silver bullet to explain the work of the Councils five permanent and ten elected members. Chris Kaoutzanis's Procedure Matters is a deep dive into how the UN Security Council actually works in dealing with some of the world's worst atrocities. Showing that UN procedure does matter, Kaoutzanis illuminates the limited accountability for international crimes that can be expected from that vital institution. As importantly, he offers a road map for how to use UN legitimating procedures to navigate the power politics of that august body. This is a map no scholar of international institutions and no human rights activist should be without. Michael Doyle, Columbia University This project recognizes what the scholarly liter ature has generally ignored or deemphasized: the central role of the Security Council in responding to mass atrocity situations. As much as international lawyers would hate to admit it, the legal response to international crimes is initially controlled not by international judges and tribunals, but rather by the Security Council and its geo-political and diplomatic complications. Kaoutzanis has put the sun back at the center of our solar system. Jens David Ohlin, Cornell Law School La 4e de couverture indique : "The book explains why and how the UN Security Council authorizes international criminal investigations into mass atrocities. In doing so, it tackles head-on the obvious double standards of global justice, where few atrocities get investigated and most slip below the headlines. The book argues that the Council's decision-making procedure is central to understanding the Council's decisions. This procedure is broken into three distinct steps, namely the role of diplomats at the Council, the Council's reliance on third parties and the Council's resort to precedent. The volume documents that the Council authorized international criminal investigations only into the handful of mass atrocities for which the Council's deliberations successfully completed each of these three steps. Written for both scholars and practitioners, the book combines insights from the fields of international relations, international law and human rights. Through archival research and interviews with UNSC diplomats who took part in deliberations on atrocities, the volume presents evidence that supports its argument across cases and across time. In doing so, the book avoids the yes/no (or 0 vs 1) tendency of many social science projects, thereby acknowledging that there is no silver bullet to explain the work of the Council's five permanent and ten elected members."