PS531, The International Law of Human Rights
Fall Semester 2004
Study Guide for Week 10
Torture, Genocide, and the International Criminal Court
Reading Assignment
Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, Basic Books, 2002, ch. 13 and Conclusion (electronic reserves)
Power, chapter 5
Websites to check: (please read the two conventions)
Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
International Campaign to End Genocide
Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Student presentations:
Justin Greene
Angela D'haene
Annita Wilborn
Questions to consider in reading Samantha Power's, A Problem from Hell (chapter 13 and Conclusion)
1. What types of crimes qualify as acts of genocide?
2. In what countries have genocidal activities taken place since World War II? Roughly how many casualties have occurred in each of them?
3. What international tribunals have been set up to charge and try those responsible for crimes and war and crimes against humanity?
4. What has accomplished by the international tribunals set up to try those responsible for ethnic cleansing and genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda?
5. In the Conclusion chapter, what explanations does Power consider for the failure of the United States to respond to contemporary acts of genocide? What does she conclude is the real reason?
6. What does Power propose the United States do in the future when genocides arise? Why is in the American interest to respond to them?
Questions to consider in reading Power, chapter 5
1. What human rights violations did Amnesty International allege were committed by the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland?
2. What international human rights treaties did Amnesty International reference in bringing forth its accusations of human rights violations?