Notion de « population civile » en matière de crime contre l’humanité: L’intérêt et les limites de la jurisprudence de la Cour pénale internationale pour l’Afrique

Abstract

To be characterized as a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, any act referred to in that provision must be committed as part of an attack against any civilian population. This last requirement is included in the legal instruments of the African Union and some African sub-regional organizations, as well as in the statute of the special crimi- nal court which is trying Mr. Hissène Habré. This study reviews the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court on the notion of “civilian population”. This notion is not de- fined by the Court’s legal instruments. The study focuses on the content of this concept in international criminal law in general, its content in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court and legal writings in particular, and the legal sources on which this jurispru- dence is based. The study concludes that ICC jurisprudence is still evolving. It currently suffers from a lack of clarity and failure to provide reasoning for judicial decisions. It is thus too early for African States and organisations to assume that no further action is need- ed; they would be better contributing to its improvement.