VICTIMS’ AND SURVIVORS’ RIGHTS IN A CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT

In its 21st session in 2019, the ILC recommended the Draft Articles to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) with a view to develop a CAH Convention on the basis of the Draft Articles, by the UNGA or a conference of plenipotentiaries.1 Debates held with states before the Sixth Committee of the UNGA in October 2023, and submissions subsequently issued by states in December 2023 have sho. [...] For instance, the Draft Articles recognise the status of jus cogens of the prohibition of crimes against humanity in the preamble; they depart from the Rome Statute by not defining the notion of ‘gender’ to allow for the continuation of its evolution; they recognise states’ obligation to 5 Draft Article 2; Ljubljana-The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecu. [...] 6 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field; Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea; Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; Geneva Convention relative to th. [...] ● Recognising the pivotal and specific role of victims and survivors in investigations and prosecutions of crimes against humanity In the context of crimes against humanity, victims’ and survivors’ rights have been affirmed and recognised by the Rome Statute, the Statutes of hybrid criminal courts and tribunals, and international jurisprudence.21 They have also been recognised by the Ljubljana-The. [...] 21 ICC Rome Statute; Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea; Internal Rules of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia; Sta- tute of the Extraordinary African Chambers.