La justice belge face au génocide rwandais : la symbolique de la compétence universelle en question (Belgian Justice facing the Rwandan Genocide: the Symbolism of Universal Jurisdiction in Question)

Abstract

En 2001 eut lieu &agrave; Bruxelles, en Belgique, un proc&egrave;s d&rsquo;Assises au terme duquel quatre citoyens rwandais furent condamn&eacute;s pour crimes de guerre commis dans le cadre du g&eacute;nocide qui s&rsquo;est d&eacute;roul&eacute; au Rwanda en 1994. Instruit sur la base d&rsquo;une loi de &laquo;comp&eacute;tence universelle&raquo; de 1993 - loi qui sera r&eacute;vis&eacute;e ult&eacute;rieurement en 1999 puis en 2003 -, ce proc&egrave;s sera l&rsquo;occasion de soulever divers enjeux &eacute;thiques et politiques li&eacute;s au principe d&rsquo;une justice d&eacute;territorialis&eacute;e. Symbole d&rsquo;une justice cosmopolite fond&eacute;e sur la d&eacute;fense de valeurs universelles pour les uns, traduction d&rsquo;un n&eacute;ocolonialisme masqu&eacute; derri&egrave;re la promotion des droits de l&rsquo;homme pour les autres, le proc&egrave;s de Bruxelles montrera toutes les ambigu&iuml;t&eacute;s de la justice p&eacute;nale internationale. De m&ecirc;me, il sera l&rsquo;occasion de souligner l&rsquo;importance de la dimension symbolique de la justice p&eacute;nale. In 2001, in Brussels, Belgium, a trial of Assises was held, in which four Rwandan citizens were sentenced for war crimes committed during the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. They were investigated on the basis of the law of universal jurisdiction of 1993 - a law that would be revised later in 1999 and then in 2003 - this trial was an opportunity to raise various ethical and political issues related to the principle of deterritorialized justice. A symbol of a cosmopolitan justice based on the defense of universal values for some, a translation of a masked neocolonialism behind the promotion of human rights for others, the Brussels trial showed all the ambiguities of international criminal justice. Similarly, it is an opportunity to highlight the importance of the symbolic dimension of criminal justice.En 2001, se celebr&oacute; un juicio penal en Bruselas (B&eacute;lgica), al t&eacute;rmino del cual cuatro ciudadanos ruandeses fueron sentenciados por cr&iacute;menes cometidos durante el genocidio de Ruanda de 1994. Se les investig&oacute; en base al principio de Jurisdicci&oacute;n Universal de 1993 &ndash;ley que ser&iacute;a revisada despu&eacute;s, en 1999 y tambi&eacute;n en 2003. Ese proceso dar&aacute; la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre varios temas &eacute;ticos y pol&iacute;ticos relacionados con el principio de justicia extraterritorial. S&iacute;mbolo de justicia cosmopolita basada en la defensa de los valores universales, para algunos, traslaci&oacute;n del colonialismo enmascarado tras la defensa de los derechos humanos, para otros, el juicio de Bruselas expuso todas las ambig&uuml;edades de la justicia penal internacional, pero tambi&eacute;n permite destacar la importancia de la dimensi&oacute;n simb&oacute;lica de la justicia penal. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3103077</a