A RACE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND CATASTROPHE? THE ROLE OF MINORITY ISSUES IN THE PREVENTION OF CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract: Minorities are the part of a population that suffer most from conflict and are most likely to become victims of crimes under international law. This is acknowledged by one of the fundamental principles of minority rights law, namely the contribution to peace and stability. Furthermore, the major international legal instruments governing the rights of minorities relate to this objective, by setting out obligations regarding the physical existence of minorities. Additionally, the fact that the crimes as set out in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court do, for a large part, have a minority aspect inherent in them shows that minorities could be the primary beneficiaries from international justice in the future. Minority rights can be used to prevent crimes perpetrated against them in a variety of areas. This can be the case in fields conventionally associated with minority rights such as identity of communities and the education of the general public thereof. Additionally, areas that seem to be at first glance further away from the traditional realm of minority rights, such as the international criminal legal system that sets out deterrence as one of their major objectives, have a lot to gain from taking minority rights into account. International criminal law can serve as active protection of minorities. However, these findings are currently not implemented in the practical work of international criminal justice, in particular in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Tribunal for Rwanda. This is regrettable, since their impact could increase by making use of the concept of international minority rights law as a way of broadening the understanding of crimes committed as to their roots, causes and prevention. Therefore, education and mutual exchange within different societal groups or between different branches of law or legal practitioners are seen as key elements in the struggle against crimes perpetrated against minorities. Emphasis should be laid on the interrelation and connection between the areas of international criminal and international human rights law.