Only Fools Who Send Hyenas to Roast Meat for Them: In Search of the Doctrinal Foundations of the Not-So-Ordinary Crime of Patrimonicide

Crimes against humanity are generally considered crimes of such unimaginable horror that they shock the conscience of mankind. The Article challenges the international community to take a mental leap by recognizing that the contemporary version of official corruption is so fundamentally different from its historical antecedents that it deserves to (a) be called a different name: indigenous spoliation or patrimonicide; and (b), to be treated as an extraordinary crime that rises up to the level of a crime against humanity. Towards this end, the Article reviews the basic elements of a crime against humanity identified in various legal instruments, and in the law and practice of the three United Nations' ad hoc criminal tribunals. On the basis of this analysis, the Article then proceeds to demonstrate the link between the constituent elements of a crime against humanity and the new crime of indigenous spoliation.