Publisher's Synopsis
The fall of dictatorial regimes and the eruption of destructive civil conflicts around the world have led to calls for holding individuals accountable for human rights atrocities. International law had little to say on this subject from the time of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials 50 years ago until very recently. In this book, Steven Ratner and Jason Abrams offer a comprehensive study of the promise and limitations of international criminal law as a means of enforcing international human rights and humanitarian law. They provide an analysis of the principal crimes under the law of nations, such as genocide and crimes against humanity. They go on to appraise the most important prosecutorial and other mechanisms developed to bring individuals to justice. After applying their conclusions in a detailed case study, the authors offer a series of conclusions on the prospects for accountability.
