Linda Kinstler of The New York Times Magazine recently published an in-depth look at the current debate over the term “genocide” and its use in describing both historic and ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Myanmar, and elsewhere. Professor Leila Sadat, James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law, and the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative here at WashU Law are both featured in the story.
In the piece, Professor Sadat, who served as the Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor from 2013-2023, offered her perspective on the United Nations’ (UN) Genocide Convention in 1948, which made genocide a crime under international law. She remarked that, while the adoption of the convention was a momentous achievement, the law “sat on a shelf for 50 years,” as it had been completely untested in court until the 1998 conviction of Jean-Paul Akayesu by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for crimes he committed during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
Kinstler proceeds to identify several possible solutions that have emerged in recent years to close the loopholes left by the Genocide Convention, including the adoption of a treaty introduced by the United Nations International Law Commission and inspired by the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative.
The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative was launched in 2008 by Professor Sadat. Directed by Professor Sadat in partnership with an international Steering Committee comprised of some of the world’s leading scholars and practioners of international criminal law, the Initiative, generously funded by Washington University Law Alum Steven “Cash” Nickerson, identified a need for a global convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. The initiative convened more than 250 scholars in its development of a model draft treaty, the Proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, that was published in 9 languages and is available on the Harris Institute’s website.
Inspired by the Initiative’s work, the U.N. International Law Commission developed a set of draft articles on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity which were published in 2019, and which have been the subject of debate in the General Assembly’s Legal (Sixth) Committee since that time. This year the Sixth Committee is meeting to “take a decision” with respect to the Commission’s recommendation that the draft articles become the basis of a new international treaty. At a meeting attended by Professor Sadat and a team of Washington University Law students, states debated a “zero-draft” resolution tabled by Mexico, the Gambia, and a group of core states that proposes holding the conference to adopt the treaty in 2026. As at this writing, 92 states have sponsored a revised version of this draft, including the United States, and more continue to join.
In the next few weeks, the Sixth Committee will finish its debate, and a resolution advancing the treaty to formal negotiations will hopefully be forthcoming. If approved, the treaty will fill a critical legal gap and deliver justice to innocent people worldwide who are currently excluded from the Genocide Convention.
We are grateful for the continued efforts of Professor Sadat’s proud stewardship of this worthy cause.
