GENOCIDE, VIOLENT INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICTS IN AFRICA AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: SOME CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
Abstract
This article examines violent internal armed conflicts in Africa within the context of international law, particularly the genocide convention. Africa, the article notes, is home to many cases of internal or intra-state armed conflicts in which heinous and egregious crimes are perpetrated. However, while heinous acts committed in the conflicts are hardly treated as genocide or contested as untrue, the article argues that they truly are, if the notion of genocide is properly understood. It concludes that noncompliance with the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the AU and some African leaders, and the threat of withdrawal by some States from the institution is a tacit support for impunity.  ÂReferences
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