Palou Loverdos, Jordi. International Justice, Plunder in War, Human Rights and Multinationals. Generalitat de Catalunya. Ministry of Home Affairs, Institutional Relations and Participation. Office for the Promotion of Peace and Human Rights Barcelona. 2010.
Letter of Peace addressed to the UN.
Barcelona.
The study analyses both old and new forms of armed conflict. It examines the different actors involved in wars and their diverse levels of influence, visible and hidden events, and the significant interests involved in violent episodes. It looks at how all of these elements affect individuals and groups, especially indigenous peoples and their inherent human rights. It also explores the response of international systems and looks at the Spanish national justice system along with the potential of these systems to address the new realities of war.
The study highlights developments in international law and the findings relating to crimes perpetrated directly or indirectly by the actors in the region being studied. The developments derive from official documents of the United Nations as well as research underway in the context of current legal proceedings in the Spanish courts examining principles of universal jurisdiction relating to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other related crimes, including pillage, the destruction of property and heritage.
The question will be asked of whether national and international justice systems and the idea of international crimes are useful tools for confronting this reality. Proposals will then be offered for how to make the different answers to these questions more effective in practical situations. Last but not least, ways will be studied to more come up with more effective peacebuilding strategies, either by adapting current perspectives or by offering new routes, in order to transform violent conflicts into peaceful or, as a bare minimum, less harmful ones.
The author focuses his work on the influence of natural resources on armed conflicts. He explores the submerged part of a vast iceberg that such armed conflicts present, with non-state actors often dramatically involved in a complex game of chess. This raises the question as to whether national and international systems of justice and whether today’s concepts of international crimes are appropriate tools to address this new reality. It also considers more effective peace-building strategies in the transformation of violent conflict to peaceful, or less harmful ones.
