Keywords
International Criminal Court
Rwanda
South Sudan
Individual Criminal Responsibility
How to Cite
Abstract
This article investigates the effectiveness of International Criminal Law in holding political leaders accountable for genocide in the African continent, establishing a comparative analysis between the performance of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the contemporary intervention of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the South Sudan conflict. Through a legal-sociological approach and comparative method, it examines how the principle of complementarity and the legal definition of genocide (Article 6 of the Rome Statute) interact with state sovereignties in fragile post-colonial contexts. The study reveals that while the ICTR succeeded in creating pioneering jurisprudence and convicting high-ranking officials, the current architecture of international justice faces severe obstacles in South Sudan, marked by political resistance and the complexity of applying the penal type of genocide in fragmented civil wars. It is concluded that effective accountability depends not only on supranational judicial mechanisms but on a reform that integrates regional justice systems, such as the proposed African Court of Justice and Human Rights.References
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Copyright (c) 2026 Almir Santos Reis Junior, Grácio Carlos José Muchanga