Event| “Evolving Justice: Locating the International Criminal Court in the Legal Landscape”
January 19, 2010 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Location: Room 302, Fordham Law School | 140 West 62nd St | New York, NY
Contact: Katherine Hughes, Crowley Fellow | [email protected]
Often the ICC and the ad hoc tribunals, such as those established for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, are conflated. Hamilton will talk about the novel features of the ICC compared to previous efforts at international justice, the challenges that the Court raises to business-as-usual in international relations, and the difficulties this new institution faces in attempting to live up to the ideal those who created the Court envisaged.
More here from the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice.
Sudan| Darfur crimes continue, ICC Prosecutor in briefing to Security Council
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), speaks to reporters following his briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Sudan.
In his briefing to the Security Council on 4 December, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said indiscriminate bombings, rape and other crimes were continuing in Darfur. The Government of Sudan continued to refuse to cooperate with his Office, he added.
From the UN News Centre:
[...] The ICC, which is based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir in March for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, where estimated 300,000 people have died since 2003 due to fighting between Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed.
Soon after the warrant was issued the Government expelled 13 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and revoked the permits of three local groups, dealing a blow to humanitarian efforts in the region.
Briefing the Security Council on the latest developments, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that attacks against civilians in Darfur are continuing. In an incident on 25 November, militia reportedly attacked two villages in North Darfur, where they captured civilians, beat villagers and looted property.
“President Al-Bashir, instead of stopping the crimes, is stopping the information about the crimes,” he told the Council.
“The decisions to expel humanitarian workers and silence others by threats of expulsion, or the attempts at restricting the freedom of movement of UNAMID [joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur] are part and parcel of this policy to reduce the monitoring capacity of the international community.” Read more
ICC| Conclusion of eigth session of Assembly of States Parties
The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded its eighth session on 26 November. Read more
Goldstone report: is Obama continuing the Bush legacy?
From Foreign Policy in Focus:
On October 1, the Obama administration successfully pressured the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva to drop its proposal to recommend that the UN Security Council endorse the findings of the Goldstone Commission report. The report, authored by renowned South African jurist Richard Goldstone, detailed the results of the UNHRC’s fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict. These findings included the recommendation that both Hamas and the Israeli government bring to justice those responsible for war crimes during the three weeks of fighting in late December and early January. If they don’t, the report urges that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for possible prosecution.
The Obama administration has declared — in the words of U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice — that such a recommendation is “basically unacceptable.” It has insisted that any legal remedies be handled by the respected parties internally. Since neither Hamas nor the Israeli government will likely prosecute those responsible for war crimes, the administration’s action will essentially prevent these Palestinian and Israeli war criminals from ever being brought to justice.
Indeed, the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress appear to be continuing the Bush administration’s policy of ignoring and denouncing those who have the temerity to report violations of international humanitarian law by the United States or its allies. [...]
More here.
Child soldiers| Trial as deterrent?
Pierre Holtz, UNICEF CAR
Robert Marquand of the Christian Science Monitor poses a question on the Lubanga trial, still underway at The Hague since it opened nine months ago: “Is an army of child soldiers a war crime?” Read more
Will the Obama team join the ICC?
Chibli Mallat, professor of international law at the Univeristy of Utah, seems optimistic about the Obama team’s approach to international law and justice. Mallat, who is also EU Jean Monnet Chair at Saint Joseph’s University in Lebanon, speculates the new administration is “set to reverse Bush isolationism”.
But just how enthusiastic should we be? While engagement with the international community through such multilateral institutions as the United Nations is likely to be injected with the renewed vigor the U.S. needs to revamp its seriously tarnished image abroad, the U.S. joining the ICC seems a reality yet far away. Read more
UN Defers Decision on Probe into Gaza Conflict
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferre
The UN Human Rights Council decided today to defer action on a draft resolution on the “Goldstone report”. Read more
