national implementation (within the realm of the domestic law of the States) of the
regulations of International Humanitarian Law.66
95.
The grave violations of International Humanitarian Law (which are also grave
violations of human rights), enshrined in the four Conventions of Geneva and the I
Additional Protocol (supra) have also been felt in the Statute of Rome of 1998 of the
International Criminal Court;67 its Article 8, upon identifying the elements of war
crimes, for example, includes a broader list (than that of the four Conventions of
Geneva) of the mentioned grave violations.68 The concept of said grave violations of
International Humanitarian Law (and of human rights) perpetrated in domestic or
non-international armed conflicts.
96.
This reveals another situation amid the complexity of contemporary armed
conflicts (domestic or non-international, as well as international): in case of grave
violations of Humanitarian International Law (or the rights of the human being),69
contemporary International Criminal Law must be applied. The complexities of the
situations of armed conflicts (domestic or international) are clear, and they reveal the
pressing need for protection of all the victims, and to provide reparation to all of
them, that is, - the victims of terrorist acts perpetrated both by mere individuals
(including clandestine or non-identified agents) as well as by the State itself. In said
circumstances, they are all bound by the obligations of International Humanitarian
Law and International Criminal Law.
97.
In the past, retributive justice and restorative justice have been dealt with in a
parallel and compartmentalized manner. However, in recent years, there seems to be
a new tendency, reflected in recent progress in International Criminal Law (as of the
adoption of the Statute of Rome of 1998), to stop opposing70 retributive justice
.
Cf., v.g., M. Bothe, P. Macalister-Smith y Th. Kurzidem (eds.), National
Implementation of International Humanitarian Law, Dordrecht, Nijhoff, 1990, pp. 1273; [Several Authors,] La Aplicación Nacional del Derecho Internacional Humanitario
y de las Convenciones Interamericanas Relacionadas (Actas de la Conferencia de San
José de Costa Rica de 2001), San José de Costa Rica, CICR/OEA, 2002, pp. 19-170;
K. Drzewicki, "National Legislation as a Measure for Implementation of International
Humanitarian Law", in Implementation of International Humanitarian Law / Mise-enoeuvre du Droit international humanitaire (eds. F. Kalshoven y Y. Sandoz et alii),
Dordrecht, Nijhoff, 1989, pp. 109-131; M. Bothe, "The Role of National Law in the
Implementation of International Humanitarian Law", in Études et essais sur le droit
international humanitaire et sur les principes de la Croix-Rouge en l'honneur de Jean
Pictet (ed. Christophe Swinarski), Genève/La Haye, CICR/Nijhoff, 1984, pp. 301-312.
66
.
67
Cf., v.g., its Article 7, on crimes against humanity.
.
Cf., in this regard, v.g., Y. Ternon, op. cit. supra n. (45), pp. 52 and 56-57; R.
Provost, International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Cambridge, University
Press, 2005 [reprint], p. 106; L. Hannikainen, "Developments of Jus Cogens in
International Law in the Post `Cold War' Years, in Particular in Human Rights Law", in
Theory and Practice of Contemporary International Law - Essays in Honour of Prof. L.
Alexidze on the 80th Birthday Anniversary, Tbilisi, Inovatia, 2007, pp. 44 and 49. And,
for a substantial comment, cf. K. Dörmann, L. Doswald-Beck y R. Kolb, Elements of
War Crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - Sources and
Commentary, Cambridge, University Press, 2003, pp. 1-498.
68
.
69
That constitute acts of genocide, crimes of war, or crimes against humanity.
.
Cf., v.g., T.G. Phelps, Shattered Voices, Philadelphia, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Press, 2004, p. 30; Ch.L. Griswold, Forgiveness - A Philosophical Exploration,
70