Atrocities, Deterrence, and the Limits of International Justice

Abstract

The natural human tendency to obey authority is compounded by military training, propaganda vilifying members of the opposite community, a belief in the justice of one's cause, and the threat of penalties, including execution, for failure to comply with orders. Supporters of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) routinely urge ratification on deterrence grounds. In Sierra Leone, some of the political leaders most responsible for the appalling atrocities committed by the Revolutionary United Front have been given amnesty and rewarded with positions in a new government, as the price for terminating that country's civil war. Arguments of specific deterrence generally take the form of rational actor calculations. For most offenders, especially low-ranking offenders, the risk of prosecution must appear to be almost the equivalent of losing the war crimes prosecution lottery. Like the International Court of Justice, the ICC may well make important contributions to the clarification and development of international law.

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