Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 52 (2020)
Crime as Cognitive Constraint
As for incitement of other Rome Statute crimes, such as crimes
against humanity, there is no equivalent crime. Under the Rome
Statute, speakers can be prosecuted for speech as a form of contributory
liability to the main crimes against humanity charge. 129 In the ICC’s
Ruto and Sang case, for instance, Sang was charged for contributing to
the commission of crimes against humanity instead of being charged for
a crime of incitement to commit crimes against humanity. 130 In the
ICTY and ICTR, hate speech was prosecuted as a constitutive act of
persecution in conjunction with other persecutory acts, but to date it
is not settled whether hate speech by itself can constitute persecution.
131
In the ICTR’s Nahimana case, Judge Theodor Meron registered a
strong dissent to the inclusion of hate speech as one of the bases for
Nahimana’s conviction. 132 Citing US cases such as Brandenburg v.
Ohio, Judge Meron opined that “every idea is an incitement” 133 and
statements short of “direct threat of violence or an incitement to
commit imminent lawless action” are not criminal”. 134 If anything, these
disagreements signal the rugged terrain of speech prosecution under
international law. 135
B.
Legal responsibility for direct and public incitement to commit
genocide
1.
State responsibility
The Genocide Convention clearly defined the role of state and
natural person in regulating genocide – states have a duty to prevent
129. Rome Statute, supra note 6, art. 25(3)(d).
130. The Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang, ICC01/09-01/11, Majority Opinion (April 5, 2016) [hereinafter Ruto and
Sang].
131. See Richard Ashby Wilson & Matthew Gillet, The Hartford Guidelines
on Speech Crimes in International Criminal Law, HUMAN RIGHTS
INSTITUTE 48–60.
132. The Prosecutor v. Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and
Hassan Ngeze, ICTR 99-52-T, Judgement and Sentence (Dec. 3, 2003)
133. Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, Hassan Ngeze v. The
Prosecutor, Case No. ICTR-99-52-A, Partly Dissenting Opinion of Judge
Meron ¶ 16 (Nov. 28, 2007) (citing Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 673
(1925) (Holmes, J., dissenting)).
134. Id. ¶ 4. See also Jenny Domino, Market Failure? Re-examining the
Metaphor of the Marketplace of Ideas in the Philippines, STRATBASE ADR
INSTITUTE (2019), https://adrinstitute.org/2019/06/04/adri-occasionalpaper-market-failure-re-examining-the-metaphor-of-the-marketplace-ofideas-in-the-philippines/ (noting the global influence of the metaphor of
the marketplace of ideas, including in incitement jurisprudence of
international criminal courts).
135. See INCITEMENT ON TRIAL, supra note 128.
166