Historic monuments and religious buildings per se as victims in the Al Mahdi case at the International Criminal Court (ICC): revisiting victimhood
Historic monuments and religious buildings per se as victims in the Al Mahdi case at the International Criminal Court (ICC): revisiting victimhood
In this paper, we combine anthropological and legal approaches to interrogate the position and status of “victims” during the Al Mahdi case at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Anthropological work on ontology and distributed agency provides a potential model for a broader reading of the category of victim. We then consider the war crime committed and propose an adapted application of international law sources on victimhood in order to develop a new legal-doctrinal approach that considers material objects and heritage as “direct victims” of violence and expands the range of possible “secondary victims” in ICC proceedings. (Al Mahdi, International Criminal Court, victims, historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion).
Joy, Charlotte
0fb29802-c853-43eb-b78f-601e49d9f776
Perez Leon Acevedo, Juan-Pablo
1697f379-0087-43e8-b733-14303d397a56
Joy, Charlotte
0fb29802-c853-43eb-b78f-601e49d9f776
Perez Leon Acevedo, Juan-Pablo
1697f379-0087-43e8-b733-14303d397a56
Joy, Charlotte and Perez Leon Acevedo, Juan-Pablo
(2025)
Historic monuments and religious buildings per se as victims in the Al Mahdi case at the International Criminal Court (ICC): revisiting victimhood.
Journal of African Law.
(In Press)
Abstract
In this paper, we combine anthropological and legal approaches to interrogate the position and status of “victims” during the Al Mahdi case at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Anthropological work on ontology and distributed agency provides a potential model for a broader reading of the category of victim. We then consider the war crime committed and propose an adapted application of international law sources on victimhood in order to develop a new legal-doctrinal approach that considers material objects and heritage as “direct victims” of violence and expands the range of possible “secondary victims” in ICC proceedings. (Al Mahdi, International Criminal Court, victims, historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion).
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Submitted date: 25 March 2025
Accepted/In Press date: 7 August 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 500777
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/500777
ISSN: 0021-8553
PURE UUID: 889d2bfc-167c-4f8b-9f40-9fbd4990eeba
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Date deposited: 13 May 2025 16:41
Last modified: 04 Oct 2025 02:14
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Contributors
Author:
Charlotte Joy
Author:
Juan-Pablo Perez Leon Acevedo
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