The Elimination of Political Groups Under International Law and the Constitution of Political Claims

Authors

Farid Samir Benavides-Vanegas, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Abstract

In this Article I will show, first, that there are no grounds to hold that the elimination of political groups can be treated as political genocide under international law, and second, that under the doctrine developed in ICTY Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic there is no need to appeal to that category to obtain the punishment of the perpetrators of crimes against political groups. Nevertheless, I will show that the conceptual structure of crimes against humanity—especially the requirement of being part of a massive of widespread attack—seems to make plausible the question of creating a crime of political genocide. By the end of this Article I hope it will be clear that while theoretically this seems to be an important claim, in actuality current international law provides all the necessary means to punish those responsible for this kind of human rights violation.

Recommended Citation

Benavides-Vanegas, Farid Samir (2003) "The Elimination of Political Groups Under International Law and the Constitution of Political Claims," Florida Journal of International Law: Vol. 15: Iss. 4, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/fjil/vol15/iss4/4