potection of the right of minority existence in the light of punishing acts of genocide in international judicial jurisprudence

the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide was adopted by the un general assembly in december 1948. in former yugoslavia and rwanda occurred many heinous crimes and majority ruling powers tried to destroy molem and totsi minority groups. the un security council established the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia (icty) and rwanda (ictr). the un security council considers that punishing perpetrators is a step to restore international peace and security. i try to show developments of contemporary international law on the protection of minorities by analyzing the practice of ad hoc courts in finding actus reus and mens rea in particular.