Book

The need of ICRC's testimony before international criminal juridictions : an imperative for today's war crimes ?

Félix Uwamungu

Ruhengeri : Ruhengeri institute for higher education, September 2013

VIII, 48 p. ; 30 cm

English

Dissertation submitted and presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor's degree in Law, supervised by Dr. F. Bigirimana, faculty of law, Ruhengeri institute for higher education, September 2013. - Bibliography : p. 44-48

This work poses three questions. Why the ICRC does not testify before international criminal juridictions such as the ICC ? Is this privilege so absolute to restrain the ICRC's responsibility to contribute to the repression of war crimes ? What guarantees to ensure the credibility and the safety of the ICRC and of its agents if the Committee decides to provide its testimony ? To the first question, the work proposed a hypothesis that the privilege is legally based to ensure the ICRC's safety, immunity and the security of its agents in accordance with the ICRC's principles of neutrality and confidentiality. To the second question, the work proposed the hypothesis that the principle not to testify is not absolute or untouchable so that the ICRC should sprain it. To the last question, the work proposed a hypothesis that fundamental reforms must be undertaken by the ICRC per se and the international community especially the UN has to create permanent mechanisms for effective protection of humanitarian workers. The analytical method, exegetical method and comparative method lead to the confirmation of these hypotheses. The work urges the ICRC to drop down its historical policy of retaining its evidences that may help to establish the truth in trials that involve humanitarian criminals.