Foreword

• Author: Louise Arbour
• Profession: President and CEO of International Crisis Group
• Pages: 13-15

Foreword

International

criminal

prosecutions,

be

they

in

the

various

ad

hoc

inter



national

criminal

tribunals

or

the

International

Criminal

Court,

have

become

a

permanent

feature

of

international

law.

They

express

the

public

and

collective

opprobrium

of

most

peoples

and

states

against

those

acts

—

such

as

genocide,

war

crimes,

crimes

against

humanity,

and

torture

—

that

threaten

our

collective

peace

and

security.

That

be



ing

the

case,

it

is

sometimes

easy

to

forget

that

international

crimes

also

have

a

private

face;

that

of

the

survivors

and

the

victims.

At

inter



national

law,

the

criminal

prohibitions

of

genocide

and

torture

are

consubstantial

with

the

corresponding

human

right

to

life

and

the

right

to

be

free

from

torture.

Yet

survivors,

victims,

and

their

fam



ilies

are

typically

relegated

to

the

margins

of

the

public

processes

of

international

criminal

accountability.

This

is

where

the

development

of

transnational

human

rights

litigation

proves

so

compelling.

Human

rights

are

meaningless

if

they

cannot

be

claimed

and

en



forced.

In

many

countries,

national

courts

are

playing

an

increasingly

important

role

in

interpreting

and

applying

international

norms

pro



tecting

the

population,

frequently

with

life-saving

impact,

as

part

of

the

overarching

international

legal

and

social

mobilization

for

human

rights

accountability

and

the

global

fight

against

impunity.

Indeed,

the