Coined by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the term “United Nations” appeared for the first time in the Declaration by United Nations on January 1, 1942. In the Declaration, 26 countries vowed to join forces to fight Germany, Japan and their allies.
In 1944, the main allied countries, victors of World War II (United States, USSR, China, Great Britain), drafted the Charter of the United Nations, which was signed by representatives of 50 countries in 1945 at the San Francisco Conference. These were the first 50 member countries of the United Nations (UN). The Charter established an International Court of Justice to which member States would be free to submit disputes.
After numerous requests made by the UN, France, the United States, the USSR and Great Britain agreed to establish an International Military Tribunal, which would try Nazi war criminals taken prisoner between December 9, 1946, and April 14, 1949, at the Nuremberg trials. In 1948, the member countries of the UN negotiated and signed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Convention contained a definition of the term “genocide,” negotiated and agreed upon by all member countries.
After World War II, it became apparent that international cooperation was needed to fight crimes of genocide. Indeed, several genocides had
already occurred—against the Armenians, the Herero and the Jews— and no international-scale action had been taken to prevent them.
Resistance to these genocides was led by the victim groups, who were assisted, or not, by the inhabitants of the countries in which the
massacres took place. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a non-governmental organization (NGO) created in 1863, tried
to intervene during the Holocaust without any real success.
It was the institution of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide that created the legal framework
for international interventions. It came into force in 1951.
The Genocide can be recognized at different levels, by international authorities and individual States alike.
Justice is one of the most effective instruments for re-establishing, as much as possible, an acceptable situation for victims of genocide.
In fact, victims who have lost all their of rights are not in a position to defend themselves in any way, physically or intellectually. Judicial
redress is moral in that victim status is immediately conferred on the person, and the atrocities that were committed are recognized as such.
When a genocide is officially recognized by a State or the international community through public statements, adoption of national laws or
ratification of international treaties, the crimes perpetrated can no longer be relativized. This often entails identifying a guilty party, which
is something victims need.
Judicial restitution can also be material. For example, Holocaust victims may receive financial compensation (France is a prime example).
Compensation may also be received for movable and immovable property of which the victims were dispossessed.
The right of asylum means that people who are in danger in their country can seek refuge in another country in order to be protected from the illtreatment they have received, or would receive, in their country of origin.
In the 20th century, two world wars led to the exodus of millions of people who were internally displaced or fled to neighbouring countries,
such as civilians fleeing an area before the invasion by an enemy country (like the people of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern
France before the advance of the German armed forces in 1940).
The genocides carried out in the first half of the century, especially that against the Armenians in 1915-1916 and that against the Jews
(Holocaust) from 1933 to 1945, also led to the flight of people directly targeted and stigmatized by totalitarian governments. At the end of
World War II, facing the humanitarian crises associated with population displacements and the large number of refugee camps established to
house the survivors, the United Nations (UN) was created to keep world peace. The UN would go on to adopt concrete measures to assist people
and implement a legal framework for the right of asylum.
The rule of law is a system in which the law is applied equally to everyone—those who govern, and those who are governed. Today, the
rule of law is considered to be the main characteristic of democratic regimes, as opposed to military dictatorships, authoritarianism and
despotism.
The independence of the judiciary is essential because, under the rule of law, justice must be impartial. Justice settles conflicts by respecting the
principle of legality (i.e. the laws) and the principle of equal treatment of people who have recourse to it. In many countries, including Canada,
the principle of legality is ensured by the supremacy of the Constitution, which is the set of rules of law that organize the institutions and govern
society. It is the supreme law, and all laws in the country must conform to it.
DISTINCTION AMONG THE DIFFERENT CRIMES
Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression–what is the difference?
At first glance, these concepts may appear synonymous and applicable to many global conflicts. In order to fully grasp the differences between them, it is important to understand their definitions and the legal grounds upon which they are based.
PROTECTION OF MINORITIES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
PREVENTING DISCRIMINATION AND ENSURING EVERYONE’S RIGHTS
In 1989, the Supreme Court of Canada described discrimination as “a distinction, whether intentional or not but based on grounds relating to personal characteristics of the individual or group, which has the effect of imposing burdens, obligations, or disadvantages on such individual
or group not imposed upon others, or which withholds or limits access to opportunities, benefits, and advantages available to other members of society.” (Canlii, see reference below)