Beth S . Lyons - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Beth S . Lyons

ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2010

Beth S. Lyons was Trial Co-Counsel for Aloys Simba in 2004-2005, on the Defence team headed by Le... more Beth S. Lyons was Trial Co-Counsel for Aloys Simba in 2004-2005, on the Defence team headed by Lead Counsel Me. Sadikou Ayo Alao. She is grateful to Me. Alao for discussions on the points in this paper. She is a member of the Bureau for the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and an Alternate Representative for IADL to the U.N. in New York. Simba Decisions and Judgments may be found at the ICTR website, www.ictr.org. The author thanks Nathaniel G. Dutt for his assistance. I. JCE has been held to be part of "committing" under Articles 6(1) and 7 of the Statute of the International Tribunal for Rwanda; see generally Prosecutor v. Milutinovic et al., Case No. IT-99-37-AR72, Decision on Ojdanic Challenge to JCE Jurisdiction (Int'l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia May 21, 2003), Separate Opinion by Judge David Hunt.

Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 21, 2004

Truth commissions have become an almost ubiquitous policy option in the range of accountability m... more Truth commissions have become an almost ubiquitous policy option in the range of accountability mechanisms for human rights violations. In East Timor, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) is only one of multiple processes to deal with human rights violations of a past regime. It co-exists with criminal trials conducted by the Serious Crimes Panel, and an ad hoc Human Rights Court established by Indonesia. The CAVR, established by a United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) Regulation, is an independent state-sanctioned entity whose objective is ‘to promote national reconciliation and healing following the years of political conflict in East Timor, in particular, following the atrocities committed in 1999’ by ‘establishing the truth regarding the commission of human rights violations’. This chapter examines the CAVR, and identifies some of the potential areas of tension which it faces, particularly in its function as an accountability mechanism for human rights violations.

Journal of Genocide Research, Sep 1, 2011

As a defence attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) since 2004, I was ... more As a defence attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) since 2004, I was thrilled to learn about Professor Combs' book. My immediate reaction was that finally a US legal sch...

Monthly Review, Sep 2, 1997

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Jun 1, 1999

The article examines the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRCY as a process f... more The article examines the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRCY as a process for holding businesses accountable for human rights violations. The TRC convened special hearings in Johannesburg in November 1997 on the role of business under apartheid. Based on the evidence, white businesses should have appliedfor amnesty as perpetrators ofhuman rights violations. But this did not happen. The article discusses the achievements and constraints of the business hearings, and examines some of the lessons which can be gleaned from the South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the continuing universal struggle to hold corporations responsible for human rights violations during authoritarian regimes. I Between Trials and Codes of Conduct The concept of holding businesses accountable for human rights violations has become an lUcreasingly accepted notion since World War II. The spectrum of accountability mechanisms has ranged from trials and tribunals, based on both national and international human rights law to, in recent decades, a proliferation of codes of conduct. At one extreme are judicial proceedings, including criminal prosecutions, such as the Nuremberg Tribunal, where convicted defendants are incarcerated, and civil actions for monetary compensation.2 At the other end are the codes of conduct, characterised by voluntary Beth S. Lyons is a public defender in New York City and an Alternate Delegate to the United Nations in New York for the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), a non-governmental organisation, founded in 1946. She interned at the Truth and Reconciliation Cornmission 's Capetown office in late 1996 and worked on the issues of destruction of State documents, and the relationship between amnesty and criminal prosecution. She has also observed some of the Commission's hearings including the business hearings in November 1997 (Johannesburg). She is grateful to the editors of the NQHR, Leonard Cohen, Betsy Hutchings, Lucy Marx, Velile Notshulwana and Dr. Fazel Randera for their comments. The views expressed are solely the author's.

SSRN Electronic Journal

Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when... more Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when he was 8 or 9 years old and trafficked as a child soldier; he made multiple unsuccessful attempts to escape, and finally succeeded in 2015. He turned himself into the International Criminal Court in 2015. Mr. Ongwen’s defence was that he was not responsible for the crimes of the LRA, based on his mental illnesses and duress, stemming from his abduction and subsequent coercion and indoctrination under Joseph Kony within the LRA. In February 2021, Trial Chamber IX convicted Dominic Ongwen of 61 charges and two modes of liability. He was sentenced to 25 years incarceration. My contention is that if the LRA were a predominantly white cult, or if it functioned in a predominantly white/European country, or if the Defence expert psychiatrists from Uganda were white or if the client, Mr. Dominic Ongwen, were white, the Trial Chamber would have reached a different conclusion about the affirmative defences of mental disease and duress and acquitted him. This article critiques the judicial racial and cultural biases in the Ongwen Judgment, as related to the affirmative defence of mental disease or defect. These biases blinded the judges, and prevented them from assessing the evidence in an impartial manner and correctly applying the law. They were a significant factor in the Trial Chamber’s rejection of Mr. Ongwen’s affirmative defences, mental disease or defect and duress. For the ICC to be a respected and legitimate organ of international justice, it must apply the rule of law to all, and ensure fairness in its proceedings. This means, in part, confronting its racial and cultural biases within its structure, as well as within the decisions and judgments which it renders. Keywords: Dominic Ongwen, racial bias, racism, cultural bias, affirmative defence, duress, mental disease, ICC, Lord’s Resistance Army, child soldiers

Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when... more Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when he was 8 or 9 years old and trafficked as a child soldier; he made multiple unsuccessful attempts to escape, and finally succeeded in 2015. He turned himself into the International Criminal Court in 2016. Mr. Ongwen’s defence was that he was not responsible for the crimes of the LRA, based on his mental illnesses and duress, stemming from his abduction and subsequent coercion and indoctrination under Joseph Kony within the LRA. In February 2021, Trial Chamber IX convicted Dominic Ongwen of 61 charges and two modes of liability. He was sentenced to 25 years incarceration.
My contention is that if the LRA were a predominantly white cult, or if it functioned in a predominantly white/European country, or if the Defence expert psychiatrists from Uganda were white or if the client, Mr. Dominic Ongwen, were white, the Trial Chamber would have reached a different conclusion about the affirmative defences of mental disease and duress and acquitted him.
This article critiques the judicial racial and cultural biases in the Ongwen Judgment, as related to the affirmative defence of mental disease or defect. These biases blinded the judges, and prevented them from assessing the evidence in an impartial manner and correctly applying the law. They were a significant factor in the Trial Chamber’s rejection of Mr. Ongwen’s affirmative defences, mental disease or defect and duress.
For the ICC to be a respected and legitimate organ of international justice, it must apply the rule of law to all, and ensure fairness in its proceedings. This means, in part, confronting its racial and cultural biases within its structure, as well as within the decisions and judgments which it renders.

Keywords: Dominic Ongwen, racial bias, racism, cultural bias, affirmative defence, duress, mental disease, ICC, Lord’s Resistance Army, child soldiers

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights

The article examines the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) 1 as a process... more The article examines the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) 1 as a process for holding businesses accountable for human rights violations. The TRC convened special hearings in Johannesburg in November 1997 on the role of business under apartheid. Based on the evidence, white businesses should have applied for amnesty as perpetrators of human rights violations. But this did not happen. The article discusses the achievements and constraints of the business hearings, and examines some of the lessons which can be gleaned from the South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the continuing universal struggle to hold corporations responsible for human rights violations during authoritarian regimes.

Internationalized Criminal Courts, 2004

Journal of Genocide Research, 2011

ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2010

Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 21, 2004

Journal of Genocide Research, Sep 1, 2011

Monthly Review, Sep 2, 1997

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Jun 1, 1999

SSRN Electronic Journal

Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when... more Dominic Ongwen was abducted in 1987 by the Lord’s Resistance Army (‘LRA’) in Northern Uganda when he was 8 or 9 years old and trafficked as a child soldier; he made multiple unsuccessful attempts to escape, and finally succeeded in 2015. He turned himself into the International Criminal Court in 2016. Mr. Ongwen’s defence was that he was not responsible for the crimes of the LRA, based on his mental illnesses and duress, stemming from his abduction and subsequent coercion and indoctrination under Joseph Kony within the LRA. In February 2021, Trial Chamber IX convicted Dominic Ongwen of 61 charges and two modes of liability. He was sentenced to 25 years incarceration.
My contention is that if the LRA were a predominantly white cult, or if it functioned in a predominantly white/European country, or if the Defence expert psychiatrists from Uganda were white or if the client, Mr. Dominic Ongwen, were white, the Trial Chamber would have reached a different conclusion about the affirmative defences of mental disease and duress and acquitted him.
This article critiques the judicial racial and cultural biases in the Ongwen Judgment, as related to the affirmative defence of mental disease or defect. These biases blinded the judges, and prevented them from assessing the evidence in an impartial manner and correctly applying the law. They were a significant factor in the Trial Chamber’s rejection of Mr. Ongwen’s affirmative defences, mental disease or defect and duress.
For the ICC to be a respected and legitimate organ of international justice, it must apply the rule of law to all, and ensure fairness in its proceedings. This means, in part, confronting its racial and cultural biases within its structure, as well as within the decisions and judgments which it renders.

Keywords: Dominic Ongwen, racial bias, racism, cultural bias, affirmative defence, duress, mental disease, ICC, Lord’s Resistance Army, child soldiers

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights

Internationalized Criminal Courts, 2004

Journal of Genocide Research, 2011