Recommended Citation
Brendan Saslow,
Public Enemy: The Public Element of Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide,
48 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L.
417
(2016)
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol48/iss1/20
Abstract
Direct and public incitement to commit genocide has been an international crime since the 1940s. The public element plays a role in each international incitement case, yet many scholars consider it straightforward and unworthy of attention. This article seeks to analyze jurisprudence, primarily developed at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, on how to determine whether inciting to commit genocide is public. This element is most problematic in cases involving speech through broadcast media such as television and radio. Moreover if ICTR case law informs future international criminal proceedings it may be an issue in a future genocide that involves the Internet and social media. This Article ultimately concludes with several suggestions on how factors for finding whether speech is public or private should evolve in order to account for modern forms of communication.