What is the purpose of the International Criminal Court?

Genocide is defined by the tribunal as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing) to come up with the new word, “genocide.”

During World War II the murder of several million people - mainly Jews - by Nazi Germany, and the mistreatment of both civilians and prisoners of war by the Japanese, prompted the Allied powers to prosecute the people they believed to be the perpetrators of these crimes.

Ethnic Cleansing. the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda (ICTR) was established to try crimes committed within a specific time-frame and during a specific conflict.

Insufficient evidence, unclear testimony, unsure witnesses, and the inability to directly link crimes with individuals due to chains of command are all factors that can lead to war criminals walking free, with full grace of the court. Another criticism of war crimes tribunals is that they do not alleviate the underlying causes of the conflict. In fact, tribunals can escalate conflict, especially in a multi-ethnic society.