Amendment to the Application and to the Second Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures submitted by the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

'HôTELPRESIDENT GENEUE 0041 22 7384750 P.01

1 /tt

To The Judqes of.the International Court of Justi,ce.
The Peace Palace
Thè Hague
The Netherlands
\
Your Excellencies: i

I. hereby amend;

(1) our Application of 20 March 1993;
(2) Our Second Request for an Indication of Provisio~al Measures
of 27 July 1993;
(3) our outstandinq Request for an immediatè hearinq of the
Second Request by the Court;
(4) our Request Made on Wednesday, 4 August 1993, for an
immediate Order without hearing pursuant to our second Reguest,
in accôrdance with Article 75(1) of the Rules of the
International Court of Justice;
J
by submittinq that in addition to the jurisdictional bases that
have already been set forth in this case, that the Court' s
juri$diction is also qrounded in the CUstomary and Conventional
International Laws of War and International Humanitarian Law,
including but not limited to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949,
their First Aàditional Protocol of 1977, the Hague Regulations
on Land Warfare of 1907, and the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and
Principles. The reasons for the assertion of these additional
ba~o") "Af jurisdiction can be found in the attached Memorandum,
which is hereby incorporated by reference and made an integral
part of this communication..

Respectful.l.y submitted by,

-- '
r~~~+--~~
Professor Fr~ncis A. Boyle
General Aqent for the Republic of Bosnia
il and Herzegov~~a before the International Court
' f-> _;lustice -
_-/.-{)...ugust 1993 '-:,t;

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_i·- ~

The Interrelation Between ·Prohibitions of Genocide and Violations

of the L~w of War, Crimes Against HUmanity and Buman Rights

Genocide involves two" elements: (i) an "intent·to destroy, in

whole or in part, a national, ethnical, ·racial or religious group,
as auch" [G~nocid cenvention, Art. I~], and (2) certain listed

acta·, methode or tactics contained in p.Ïragraphs a-e of Article II

of the Convention (i.e •, {a } killing Iiiembers of the group, (b)
causing seriJUS bbdily or mental har.m tO members of the group, (c)

deliberately inflictins on the group conditions of life calculated
( •::o bring abc-ut its physical destruction in whole or in part, (d)

imposinçr measures intended to prevent birt-hs within the group, or
(e) foDCibly transferring children of the group to another group).

There is simply no doubt that the là..tter acts or tactics, if

committed during an armed conflict, can also constitute war crimes
or "crimes against humanity." Similarly, Bl.lCh acts can constitute

infractions of human rights law as such. Thus, one can often
discover an interrelated prohibition based on several

intei:nat:ional nor:-ms.

For exnmple, while recognizing that its mandate "required"

applica1:ion of Geneva law( i.e., the 19'49 Geneva Conventions and
i1e Protocols thereto) and "'international humanitarian la.w, '" the

( ;· .ommission of .Experts Established Pursuant to Security council
Resolution 780(1992) nonetheless emphasized in its Interim Report
...
of January 1993 "that the applicable rules include the prohibition
of genocide, as codified in the Genocide Convention, as well as

fundamental norms of hurnan .cights law," adding: "While the latter
ha.ve be·en f~mbodied, and elaborated, in tL·eaties to which the

former Yugoslavia was a party, their applicability to the parties

to the vari)us armed conflicts in the t:eqion rn.ay be deemed to
derive from their character as perernpto:r:y norms of international

law.'' Inter-im Report· of the Commission of Experts Established
Pursuant to Sec uri ty Cou neil Resolution 789 (1992), para. 46,

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'
cqntained ill Letter ~ated 9_ Februari 1993- from ;the Secretary-
General Addt·essed to the President of the Security Council, u.N.

Doc. S/25274, Annex, _10 Feb. 199 3 [herèinafter cited as commission

R_eport]. See also id. at para. 39 ("Ot ~~ r't.ern agaremeint~m:Ü
relevant to the armed conflicts in the ter_ritory :of the .former

Yugos la via inc 1ude •• , [the J 'Genoe ide" c~·nven ·ti Thoen C)onuniss ion
also noted "that fundamental rules of human right lw ~ often are
·-
rnaterially Ldentical to rules of th~2 'a- of armed conflict, .,_

addingr "It is therefore possible for· the same ac·t to be a war
crime and a orime against humanity." éô~iss-i Roeport, supra, at

para. 50. More specifically, the co6ission· affirmedt "'Ethnie
cleansing' is contrary to international law .•• Tbose practices
~(
( ·.;onstitute ·::rimes against humanity and can be assimilated to

s pee ific war crimes. Furthe:trnore, s uch acts could also fall wi thin
the meaning of the Genocide Convent~io "n, Commission Report,

supra, at pe.ras. 55-56. Sée also U.N. G,.A, res. 47/121 of 18 Dec.
1992 (ethnie cleansing "is a form of ge.ribcide").

Such interrelations in normative prohibition have also been
recognized by judicial tribunals. In ;'The Justice· Case," United

States v .. A:.tstoetter et al. , III Trials pf War Crilninals Before

the Nuremberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10,
1946-1949, ::, 979, the Opinion and JU~gemen atfi;r:zn@d; "As the·

prime illuf:tration of a crime aq'ainst humanity •.. wa cite
-~enocid ••' ·whether the crime is collll'n±tted on· religious racial,
'l ....t • 1
,_,.Ll.tJ.calo::- q.ny ether grou-nds · •••. " · In Attorney General of

rsrael v. E:.chmanu, 36 Int·~ _,:;._,ep. '2·77, 287-89, 294-97 (1968)
( Israelr supreme Court 1962), the Supreme Court of . Israel

recognized that the "crime against humanity ••.. may be seen as
extending also to the other three catego.ries(e.g., ''crime against

the Jewish People" which corresponds with "Genocide," which was
1
also sta.ted to be "nothing but the grav-est type of crime aga.inst.
humanity ••• , ' ·· and the catego;ry "war crime"]," and added "it i.s

clear that n1any of the acts included in the one category overlap
those in the ether category [i.e. , crimes against humani ty and war

crimes]" ancl "[a] 11 this goes to show that these categories of

1
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crimes, espe::ially the first three, aré--,."'-inte"tdependentand we may
therefore ••• group them within the proad: cateqory of 'crimes
against humémity'." The Court also tléclarèd that "all acts of

persecution, deportation and murder 1h wh'ich the accused took
part, as we have found in ~4iscussing·_- a:ahst ri. tmés Jewish

pèople [j_.e.1 genocide] anct' crimes agaifi hu:ïnanity 1.are .ipsQ. fac.to
also war cr:.mes ••.. " Id, In Quinn ~-, R.obinson, 783 F.2d 776,

799-801 (9th Cir. 1986), a o.s. ci~ÏJ .oirt also · recognized
these intertelations while addingr "CJtlmes àgainst. humanity, such
as genocide, violate international law ànd cbnstitute an 'abuse of

sovereignty '.••• "'

(
Similarly;- the O.N, General AssQ~h lasydeclared that the
crime of gerocide defined in the 1948 ·êonvention also constitutes

a crime against humanity. U. N. G .A.·. Res. 2391, 23 u. N. GAOR,
supp. (No. lB) 40, u.N. Doc. A/7218 ():,968).- Indeed, the histoty

of the drafting of the Genocide conven~ confrma- the widespread
expectation that genocide is a crime"-, aga,ihst hwilanity and has
legally relevant roots in the Nurembp ersecutions. see, e.g.,

1948-49 Yearbook of the United Natïôns 957 (Government of the
.United Stc1tes reference to NuŒmberq as background),

(Government of Saudi Arabi a propos al fÛ.N. :noe • A/c .618 6 of 27
Nov. 1946J recognizing genocide as crimê against humanity)1 3 U.N.

GAOR, pt • J: (six th Conunittee ) , at 4~~(63rd Meetti.ng , 30 Sept •
•948) (GovernL!lent of the United State=a statement that Nurernbêrg
( ' iecJ.'sion in
- - covers acts of genocide ~committed during, or
connection with war"); i~.~ at 38~- _(67th Meeting, 5 oct.
1948) (Government of Brazil recognition that "genocide collDllitted in

time of war had particular le-qal charaoteristics which had already
been define4j at Nurmberg under the beading of crimes against

humanity."); 3 U.N. GAOR, pt. I (Sixth Conunittee), at 228 (27 Oct ..
1948) (Governrnent of Yugoslavia staternen-è about Nuremberg trial and
background 1:e: genocide); id. at ·184~8~ 8:2nd Meeting, 23 Oct.

1948) (Govetnment of Yugoslavia recognirtion 'that g~nocid related
to instance ::>f Nazidisbursement of a s}l~ va:iority from a certain

part of Yugcslavia in arder to establis:h a German majority there,

Il

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forcing SlaYS to abandon their hornes};}--:'id.at 104 (74-th Meeting,
14 Oct. 194€) (statement of the sovie~t~":- "utniwasruduring the

Nuremberg tJ:ials that the term genoc:îliê was. used· for the first
-.' 'i;;~f:~=~
tinte, in particular in the Bill of ·,mdictment and the reasons
adduced for the sentence, where it~was defined as follows1

extermination of racial and religiog ~rluis in the occupied
terri tories."). .. .

Moreove r, the new u.s. Res tatemJnt( Third} of -the Foreign
Relations Law of the United States. ( 19·8 re~o_nies.- that genocide

is a violation of the customary international law of human rights.
Id. at Sect:_on 702 (a),. addi!19 ''genocidê: ·was_.in fact oonsidered a
(
·crime agai:1st hum.ani ty1 in the indt~-t broug-tnt under the

Nuremberg Charter, the principles of ~ich ··were affirmed by the
United Nations General Ass.embly .... " I~• section 702 ~eporters'

Note 3. Al t:hough wri ting be fore the ~nn ••genocide" ··was coined,
Johann Blunt.schli also wrote in 1866 Qat nf.nter-necine wars and
i'·.:.-·
wars of an:1ihilation against nationSf':: or :taces susceptible of

·existence and culture constitute a. ~iolation of the law of
war •••. " _ Bluntschli on the Law · o~: . :r and Nèutrality--A

Translation From His Code of Interri iaw~j 15:, opara. ' a6 -l
(Francis Lieber trans.)( at U.s. A~ T~' .J.G. School, ICL

Library). Bee -also Jordan· J. Paust &~-::AlP b.erB laustein, "War ·
11
crimes JuriEdiction and Due P,_-ess: l·~·.e Bangladesh Experience,
l Variderbil t ·J. ·Transnational Law 1, 2:l- 22 ( 1918) ( "Théré is ample .

evidence of a customary, inhèrited ex:Pèctati6n that genocide was
actually prohibited as a viol,,ation of the customary international

·law of war. "); Louis Henkin, Richard ê\. Pugh, Oscar Schachter &-

:BétDB Smit, International Law 986 (2"_ed. 1987) ("The -Nuremberg
charter appJ ied a customary Jnternatio'ÎÎal law of human rights in

charqinq that Nazi war criminals, inter~~~ ··liia, 'crimes ·a.gainst
humanity 1••,The U. N. Charter codifies: that customary law and

renders applicable to all states at leas:-1: suc~ human rights law as

was invoked at ·Nurembèrg. " ); Telford Tàylor, Final Report to the
Secretal ~tY the Army on the Nuremberg War crimes Trials Onder

Contro1 Couneil Law No, 10, at 655: ( 19i49) ( " 'cr~s against

12
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humanity' • , , , whecomrnittedw;•., these;J::-we,~als •oar; crimes. '")'

id. at ,225( "in the 'Einsatzgruppen c.ii [t~arin'] the Jewish
exterminations ••• itwas chargêd that t~~emarders constituted not

only •war crimes' but also 'crimes agalfffishuinanity.·,"jw
.):_~-,

Even the Government· '~ Y; u· gosiJ ant ·'Montengro(Sé~bia
fonnally admi ts, and is now there ·e o ~~ppe tod· den y, that
;~:r.~ :
"genocide" can be "carried out by the~~·commiss ofonvery serious

~ \'hich are [àlso] in violatl$'h of ·~ hblgation not to
infringe u~;o thn essential human ,),rig~ an," ithat these
·1-:.,:.
certainly Cé1D involve violations of tfiè "Géneva Con'*lentions for
the Protection of Vict~ om sar of 1~* an d the 197? Additional
(
Protocols thereof., .. " · See Case Co~êrn ippliation of the
Convention ·>n the Prevention. and PdWis~t of the Crime of

·Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina ·,~ Y ug.slavia(Serbia and

Montenegro)), Request for the Indicat:ii2fof 'Provisional Meas ures,
I.c.J. 3, 9-·10, para. 9 {emphasis add }'~ Thus, the Part iree~

in agreement. that prohibitions of gen~ide 'he laws of war, and
deprivations of basic human rights are '?-nterielated, especially in

the con text of the arined cqnf 1ic ts "'~' th).fnormer · Yugosla via.
Thus also, the Parties are clearly ·ifb.agreement that such an

in terrela tionship is le'gally .re levant :~.,(ar-d "re ltes" to) "the

interpretation, application or fultltiimen"t!.of thé" Genocide
convention 'Hithin the meaning. of Art~ie IX of the Convention,

lthough they disagree with respect to~tert faatln and specifie
( "'pplications.

Additicnally, this cour ha·~ rig~f récognized that "moral

and humani t.lr ian pr inciples" are the· '·"ba sis"for the Genocide
Convention, that such ''high ideals ...ptpvid .e~he fotindation and

measure _.QL all its provisions," ëihd "that the: principles

underlying t.heConvention are princip wlt~~ are recognized by
civilized r..ations as bindi.ng on â.tates,j even. without any

conven tional obligation. " Reserva tidhs td the ·Convention . on
Genocide (Advisory Opinion), I.c.J. i$, 23.L24 (1951) (emphasis

added) . Tht:.s,humani tarian princ iples ~: tedte, for ex ample, in

1.<.

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•1~ ••
the 1949 Gmeva Convention$.·and t.h~reto (Which

constitute :nodern conventional and :~Ùsto tuntairryn law
binding on i:he Parties) as -~11 as ttit·1901.Hague icdnvention(see
.:.-;.,"'":,_' ~
infra) provi:ie and relate to not merely,;,;·t·i·basis~·":'foundation•.

or object an:t purposeof the :Genocide<fâ:nvention,bdt also, in the
werds of this Court, "pro~ n daep:?'tsriate"meas o~ ale its

provisions." At a minimum, each draws .,;..::j,..'!d;'l.\the ether•

As auch, humanitarian princ·iples areÇ~~·l re'egat ll ty (and
relate to} "the interpretation, applicà Ql:fu,iii;nnt" of the
·''·"
Genocide Convention. ···:-···,.
-~-~J.;•
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Breaches of .Humani tar-~a No:tms
Nearly every humanitarian norm has been''·'violated. Bere, we merely
highlight certain o~fenses.
--_·=;-

Rape
In itE Interim Report, .._ the cOlilmission of·:- Experts has

affirmed1 · "Acts 'sueh as rapéy enforced prostitution or
any foan of sexual assault aga~nst women are explicitly
prohibi ted in the relevant treatiéS; in force. ·Superiors who
authori ze or tolerate the cornmissidh of ê'uch acts :or who fail
to take· all practicable measures t:_-prevent or suppress them

are al:;o culpable." Conunission ''Report, supra-, at p. 17,
para. 59. >,.-

The Commission of Experts also noted t~~ rtPe and sexual assault
( have been us ed as part· of· a strategy 6~"ethnie cleà.rising," that

"[t]hose pra.ctices constitute crimes ag~-~, ·hwnanity and can be

assimilated to specifie war crimes," .-"~nd-that "such acts could
also fall wfthin the meaning of ijie Genocide- Convention."

Conunission l:eport, supra, at p. 16, ~a. ~6. The experts. are
~·'~!;.
correct,. and the crimes do fall withfi•;if·~e· Genocide convention
when used as part of such a heinous schame.-

In the 19'19 -list -of cu"''omary wi.:::.~-:•mes prè'Lr•d by the
·Rel?ponsibili ties: Conrrnission of the Pari)f Pe"aëe Conference, "rape"

is listed an crime nll1tlbêr 5. . ''Abductik)n of·. girls and women for

the purpose of- enforced prostitution" ~~ slso listed therein as

·rime nurnbez: 6. Other listed cr :Unes c.ittbe telated to the use of
\.. ,~p ine a systeinatic manner or on a wi4,~sp scalea -ad a tac tic.

such related crimes includét "systélliatic:. terrorism" (no. 1),

"Torture of ci vilians " (no. -c3'), "Inte~ .f n cti:~ili ua dnr s
inhuman c•mditions;, (no. 8_), "Im~~ïtiô of:l :collective
'u.: ...
penal.ties" (n~. 17), and "Indiscrimi n a!s arre~t (so"o 33).
Members of ·:.he Commission, most notabl't'• in~lude "Serbia" (U.S,,

British Emp:_re,' France, Italy, Japan, ~~s;Belgium, Poland,

Roumania, Serbia).

Rape iE also expressly proscribed .:fh Geùli!va làW'o'' Article 27
;:_-_:;::
of the 1949 Geneva Civilian COnvention•"r::exp rrd'i~ssly rape,

and mere o Article 76 (1) of '~roto ~c(o. la,nrdtic l(2) (3) of

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·: ?

II similarly. pro~~ rapè.ibe ;-And nùmerous ether
c•f Geneva law are relevant to the outlawry of rape.

common article 3, para. 1, i".-·d'ng\ subparas. a and. c
; Ge.neva Civilian Convention, ai'l:s. Î6, 31, 32, 33, 147~

1 I, arts. 51 (2), 75 i),_( (2) (ai) (b), ~' (d); P.rotocol II,
13 (1), (2). See also- Theodor Mei6n,, Mpe as a Crime Onder

ational Humanitarian Law,, 87 Am. ·.-J'. int '1 L:. 424 (1993).
are customary, and there ~re numerous other

to or supports for such a 6:hsto:màry prohibition(e.g.,
Ha :JUé Convention No. rv, Annex_, art. - 46) • See, e. g. ,

, supra, at 425-28 r and references êited;

RapE! used as a tactic ·or method of -,6ormnitting wflat amounts to

ide Ls proscribed lndirectly under paraçb;-aphs b. c, and d of
le :rr ·Jf the Génocide Convention.' Fo:t example, rape as a

o~ rrethod of genocide has beert' per{letrated' in a manner
:~eriou bodily or mental- -harm · to metnbers of the

b)-, "[d]eliberately in:flicting on the group
'3 of life calculated to br:ing 1about its physica.l

in whole or in part" (para. t!), ana "[i]mposing
int ended to pre vent birth s wi tlttn the group ..·:('para. d ) .

(

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