The International criminal
Court has reached its first verdict, just shy of its 10th birthday. The
court has shown itself capable of trying war criminals. But it has a
long way to go before it can be called a universal, swift and reliable
method of bringing them to justice.
The most obvious shortcoming of the ICC is that all its cases, so far, involve Africans. Its first verdict was the conviction of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo for conscripting and using child soldiers.
The ICC is meant to complement, not replace, national courts and temporary tribunals, so we need not insist that it be everywhere, trying every criminal. Even so, the ICC's geographic double standard cannot be ignored. International law is, still, subservient to international politics. The court has stepped in where it has been asked, and so far has been reluctant to poke powerful countries by interfering on their turf. That's a problem that could ultimately undermine the ICC's credibility. But it's still young enough that any prosecution of any war criminal is seen as a historic victory.
The more immediate problem is enforcement. The ICC has issued 20 arrest warrents; 11 suspects are still at large.
One such suspect has been in the news a lot lately: Joseph Kony, whose Lord's Resistance Army has created havoc in Uganda, DR Congo and the Central African Republic since the 1980s. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2005 on 33 counts, including murder, sexual enslavement and the enlisting of child soldiers.
The video campaign "Kony 2012" aims to "make Kony famous," based on the dubious logic that if more people knew about Kony, his arrest would follow. Bringing Kony to face his charges is indeed an important goal, but it will almost certainly involve difficult military operations. The problem with Kony isn't convincing governments they should try to capture him; the problem is actually doing it, with as little loss of life as possible.
There are other suspects on the ICC's list, though, who are not even bothering to hide, who openly thumb their noses at the court.
One is the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. He's wanted on 10 counts, including genocide. It's a serious thing for the court to charge a sitting president, but the crimes in question are extreme. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2009. The African Union openly decided to ignore that warrant. Bashir has travelled outside Sudan several times since the warrant was issued, meeting with politicians in several countries, including Kenya, Chad, China and post-Gadhafi Libya.
It will take more than political will to capture Joseph Kony. But political will is the only thing lacking in the case of Omar al-Bashir
The most obvious shortcoming of the ICC is that all its cases, so far, involve Africans. Its first verdict was the conviction of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo for conscripting and using child soldiers.
The ICC is meant to complement, not replace, national courts and temporary tribunals, so we need not insist that it be everywhere, trying every criminal. Even so, the ICC's geographic double standard cannot be ignored. International law is, still, subservient to international politics. The court has stepped in where it has been asked, and so far has been reluctant to poke powerful countries by interfering on their turf. That's a problem that could ultimately undermine the ICC's credibility. But it's still young enough that any prosecution of any war criminal is seen as a historic victory.
The more immediate problem is enforcement. The ICC has issued 20 arrest warrents; 11 suspects are still at large.
One such suspect has been in the news a lot lately: Joseph Kony, whose Lord's Resistance Army has created havoc in Uganda, DR Congo and the Central African Republic since the 1980s. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2005 on 33 counts, including murder, sexual enslavement and the enlisting of child soldiers.
The video campaign "Kony 2012" aims to "make Kony famous," based on the dubious logic that if more people knew about Kony, his arrest would follow. Bringing Kony to face his charges is indeed an important goal, but it will almost certainly involve difficult military operations. The problem with Kony isn't convincing governments they should try to capture him; the problem is actually doing it, with as little loss of life as possible.
There are other suspects on the ICC's list, though, who are not even bothering to hide, who openly thumb their noses at the court.
One is the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. He's wanted on 10 counts, including genocide. It's a serious thing for the court to charge a sitting president, but the crimes in question are extreme. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2009. The African Union openly decided to ignore that warrant. Bashir has travelled outside Sudan several times since the warrant was issued, meeting with politicians in several countries, including Kenya, Chad, China and post-Gadhafi Libya.
It will take more than political will to capture Joseph Kony. But political will is the only thing lacking in the case of Omar al-Bashir
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