IJCentral: International Justice Central

The International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Moreno O’campo has proposed a three pronged approach to deal with the perpetrators of the post election violence that rocked Kenya after the announcement of the presidential election results on 30th December 2007.

Speaking at a meeting with Kenya’s Lands Minister James Orengo at the IC C headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, O’campo routed for the creation of special courts to try those who committed the atrocities, as the ICC will deal only with those who bore the greatest responsibility of the violence.

He also added that the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission be used as an avenue to deliver justice through creating an enabling environment for confessions. He said through TJRC, many will seek forgiveness. The TJRC has been the preference of the political class, who are suspected to have been behind the violence.

In July, the Kenyan cabinet resolved to back the TJRC, contrary to agreements between the Kenyan delegation and O’campo that the Kenyan parliament sets up a special tribunal by the end of September 2009.

Orengo is at The Hague on the invitation of the Dutch Government for a human rights conference. Both Orengo and the ICC prosecutor addressed the conference, with the Kenyan lands minister presenting a paper on fighting impunity and peace building. He was part of the mediation team that came up with proposals of the formation of the Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence, which proposed that the Kenyan parliament sets up a special tribunal to try those behind the mayhem, or the ICC takes over.

Currently, Kenyans and the international community await for the outcome of the Special Tribunal Bill that is being fronted by MP Gitobu Imanyara. The bill is currently at the publication stage. Two attempts by the government to set up the special tribunal have hit a brick wall, after the country’s parliament rejected the move.

originally posted @ Zimbabwe Metro

Today, the International Criminal Court held a ceremony to welcome the Republic of Chile as the newest State Party to the Rome Statute. The Statute entered into force for Chile on 1 September 2009, bringing the total number of States Parties to the Rome Statute to 109.

In a symbolic act held at the seat of the Court, the President of the Court, Judge Sang–Hyun Song, congratulated the Ambassador of Chile, H.E. Mr Juan Antonio Martabit whilst presenting him with a special edition of the Rome Statute. President Song welcomed the new State Party member: “Even as Chile sifts through its past, by joining the Rome Statute, it has made clear its commitment to a particular vision of a common human future. It is a future of accountability – a future of justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide”, said President Song.
In response to the President and while thanking him for his gift, Ambassador Martabit said, “I would like to emphasise that, although this achievement is the result of the efforts of many sectors of our society, it is most of all due to the personal interest of our President, Ms Michelle Bachelet, who considered the ratification of the Rome Statute a primary goal of her government.”

The ceremony was held in the presence of the Vice-President of the Assembly of States Parties and Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Mr Jorge Lomónaco. The Vice-President of the ICC, Judge Fatoumata Dembele Diarra, the Prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo, the Registrar, Ms Silvana Arbia, and the judges of the Court also attended the ceremony.

Ambassador Lomónaco paid tribute to the Republic of Chile, remarking on the significant accomplishment of such a ratification in light of the history of Latin American countries in the twentieth century: “I
wish to express my genuine hope that other countries that have yet to join the Rome Statute family will be inspired by Chile’s example and reinforce our common struggle to end impunity”.

Whilst this is the first time that the ICC has organised a ceremony for such an event, it is envisaged that future ceremonies will also be held on the occasion of new States joining the ICC.

Speech of the President of the ICC, Judge Sang-Hyun Song

Speech of the Vice-President of the Assembly of States Parties, the Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Mr Jorge Lomónaco

Speech of the Ambassador of Chile, H.E. Mr Juan Antonio Martabit

Video footage of the ceremony

The big takeaway for me from the trip to Darfur this weekend was that the Special Envoy is facing a communications breakdown.

In a situation like Darfur, where the IDPs in the camps are so networked into the global media and advocacy organizations this messaging problem is no superficial matter - it has a substantive impact on Gration’s work. For example, I would say he spent 85% of his first day in Darfur having to repeat three messages:

1) I never said Sudan should be lifted from state sponsors of terror;

2) I never said sanctions should be lifted from Khartoum;

3) I never said IDPs have to leave the camps now.

And at the end of all that, my sense is that the IDPs still didn’t believe him (in two of the sessions they clapped when he said [ I’m paraphrasing] - I never said IDPs have to leave the camps now and I believe you should only leave the camps voluntarily and when conditions are such that you can do so with your human rights ensured and with dignity. But in one of those same sessions, I had women tell me privately afterwards that they do not accept his apology, do not believe him, and want him to resign.)

In short, while it was vital for him to come to Darfur now and try to correct this, it will take much more than one short stop at a few locations around El Fasher for the IDPs to rebuild any sense of trust in him.

After the trip I went back and read over Gration’s testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He is right that he never said he thought Sudan should be removed from the State Sponsors of Terror list. But it’s also true that he didn’t say they shouldn’t be removed from it. He didn’t say that sanctions should be removed from Khartoum specifically - but he did talk about needing to reconsider the approach to sanctions in order to assist people in the south and Darfur. On the topic of returns, he never said people should be forced to return. What he talked about was ensuring “displaced people, persons, can return to homes when they want to and where they want to.” I wonder if part of this problem is due to the fact that a man who has spent the majority of his career in the Air force has been put into this environment where not only everything he says, but also everything he does not say, is scrutinized to the -enth degree.

This trip gave the IDPs a chance to vent their anger, but Gration telling them that he did not actually say what they think he said is not enough because they are now too skeptical of him to absorb his efforts at clarification. There is a huge disconnect between him and the IDPs that needs to be fixed. This is especially the case if he wants to pursue his laudable approach of putting civil society at the front and center of any solution - a place they have never been over the course of the past 6 years of Darfur policy.

http://bechamilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/img_28301-300x225.jpg
Women weaving baskets at Abu Shok

I wonder if the way forward might involve assigning him a Deputy to manage relations with the IDPs. His job is plenty large enough that you could assign him ten additional people and they would all have work to keep them busy 24/7.  Not only is he dealing with Darfur, but also North-South, the proxy war between Chad and Sudan, the role of neighbors like Egypt and Libya - and that’s even before you get onto the elections and the referendum. Something along the lines of assigning a Deputy to go and spend the bulk of his or her time on the ground in Darfur could be the kind of circuit breaker that is helpful at this point . . .

U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration has been uncharacteristically quiet this week since he returned from his latest trip to Sudan, which included stops in the South, Darfur, and Khartoum, among others. No word yet on his blog or in official State Department releases about how the trip went.

We are particularly interested to hear about the special envoy’s visit with displaced people living in camps in the Darfur region, since General Gration has tended to downplay the humanitarian challenges in the region. Those suggestions were, naturally, not well received among Darfur’s displaced population.

The full story about the visit should be coming out later this week. In the meantime, author Bec Hamilton, who accompanied Special Envoy Gration on the trip, spoke to Public Radio International about the meetings in the camps. Bec, who is writing a book about U.S. policy toward Sudan and the role of the advocacy community, attended the meetings in Abu Shouk and Zam Zam camps as “a fly on the wall to see the special envoy in action,” and she had some interesting insights to share with PRI. Sounds like Special Envoy Gration had to spend a significant amount of time (Bec estimates 85 percent of the first of two days) doing damage control.

Listen to Bec’s interview here.

originally posted @ Enough Project

An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people died under his brutal reign of terror. Justice was never served. 80,000 of the country’s minority, named “bloodsuckers” by the tyrant, were expelled with 90 days to flee their property and possessions. Justice was never served. No, this is not al-Bashir’s Sudan. This is Uganda, and at the helm of hell was military dictator and President Idi Amin, who died in exile on Saudi Arabian soil in 2003. Following his 8 years as ruler of Uganda in the 1970s, Idi Amin spent 24 years unpunished, living seaside in the Kingdom. The rivers of justice ran dry as the former President soaked up the sun for more than two decades.

Back then, a system of justice that was unrestrained by geographical borders was merely an armchair exercise in intellectual idealism. Today, that very system is now permanent, global, and on the front lines of the justice business, gradually giving a resounding voice to the victims of the world’s gravest crimes. Much of the conversation surrounding international criminal justice focuses on the capacity, credibility, and complexity of the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, the system of international criminal justice depends on a much larger framework of international institutions, nation states, non-governmental organizations, regional courts, international law enforcement bodies, and new entities working toward the control of violence, the promotion of lasting security, and the manifestation of justice for the world’s gravest crimes.

We simply cannot let this newly minted system of accountability slip through the cracks of politics as usual or skepticism and doubt. If we do, the moral stride of humanity will have taken one step back, rather than two steps forward. And while this new global system of justice cannot call Idi Amin to account for the litany of crimes he committed, including the expulsion of my mother and father from Uganda in 1972, the mere presence and pursuit of this international structure is touching the lives of many millions of people around the world affected by those engaged in truly heinous crimes.

The Consultative Conference on International Criminal Justice could not come at a more critical moment on the continuum of ending impunity and global cooperation in addressing mass atrocities. Convened by the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University and sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, members of the Steering Committee also include the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and the International Center for Transitional Justice. The 3-day conference hosted at the United Nations Headquarters September 9-11 is bringing together 150 high-level participants including the world’s international justice experts, diplomats, scholars, jurists, and civil society actors to openly consult and better align strategies for the next three years. Landmark in nature, this is the first effort of its kind to strengthen the global system of international criminal justice.

Currently, there are four active investigations before the ICC, each with outstanding arrest warrants: Uganda; the Democratic Republic of Congo; Darfur, Sudan; and the Central African Republic. In addition, the Court also has several situations under analysis, including Colombia, Afghanistan, Georgia, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire. Entrenched within these investigations, discussions and debates run the threads of local justice versus international justice, enforcement politics and State obligations, perceived biases towards the African continent, and last but not least, the complex relationship between the humanitarian community and the International Criminal Court.

With a number of outstanding arrest warrants and many more countries on the cusp of becoming active ICC investigations, the system of international criminal justice is at a crossroads and in need of stronger alignment amongst its actors. The time is now to understand and continue building a synergistic system that guides the agendas of many towards common goals.

At this defining moment, The Consultative Conference on International Criminal Justice aims to address these issues from the multitude of angles through which international criminal justice is perceived, strengthened, and dependent upon. Presenters include the Prosecutor, Registrar, and President of the International Criminal Court; Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (‘94-‘96); Ambassadors of Mexico, Kenya and Tanzania to the United Nations; Commissioners of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights; Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; President and CEO of Save the Children; President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia; and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Minister of Justice, among many others.

Crediting Canada with saving their lives, my parents had faith that such forced resettlement from Uganda would ultimately bear its fruit one day. “This was a blessing in disguise,” my father said, examining the last 37 years. Others were not so lucky.

Back then, we could rationalize injustice and inaction by the international community because we lacked a common framework, permanent global institutions, and other enabling tools to save the world’s most vulnerable populations. Today, these ideas are being put into practice, testing the will of humanity to fight for justice. Let us not fail this test, for if we fail, this article will be reprinted with only a handful of words changed—the main one, of course, would be replacing the name of President Idi Amin with President Omar al-Bashir. With the Arab League in support of the Sudanese president, not even the exile haven of choice would change.

originally from the Huffington Post

10 September 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed the continued support of the United Nations for the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he said has become the “centrepiece” of the global criminal justice system since it came into existence only several years ago.
“The establishment of the International Criminal Court was a landmark in the efforts of the international community to enforce the applicability of international humanitarian law, and to advance the cause of justice and the rule of law on a universal scale,” Mr. Ban said in a message to the Consultative Conference on International Criminal Justice.

The ICC is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and is based on a treaty known as the Rome Statue. To date, 100 States are party to the Statute, which has nearly 140 signatories.

The efforts by the UN to further the causes of peace, development and human rights are closely connected to the work of the ICC, Mr. Ban noted, adding that the world body stands ready to do all that is needed to “facilitate the Court’s noble and important mission.”

In the message, delivered by UN Legal Counsel Patricia O’Brien, the Secretary-General pointed out the increased support for the idea that justice must be an essential part of post-conflict strategies to ensure a sustainable peace.

This could take the form of international accountability mechanisms, boosting national accountability methods, and setting up possible non-judicial forums such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, he said.

Since the Rome Statue entered into force in 2002, Mr. Ban said, “the activities of the Court and its Prosecutor have had a discernible effect on potential perpetrators of international crimes.”

Currently, four situations – the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and the Darfur region of Sudan – are under investigation by the ICC Prosecutor.

originally from UN News Center

Congratulations to the organizers of the Consultative Conference on International Criminal Court, which has just begun at the UN.  A glance at the agenda for the next 2 days, and the impressive gamut of presenters that will speak on the panels, is an indication that the CCICJ promises to be a landmark event in the annals of international justice.  The speech delivered last night by Open Society Institute President Aryeh Neier was a timely reminder that the international justice system has made great progress while facing great travails - the speech was a marvelous synthesis of the past 2 decades of development of the international justice system, and we will soon be posting it on this site.  Now at the conference all the participants will be discussing and debating the next phase of international justice system, starting with a presentation by Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo outlining his plan for the final 3 years of his 9-year term at the International Criminal Court. The 5 primary objectives are to improve the quality of prosecutions; to continue 7 ongoing investigations and conduct up to four new investigations and start another investigation at any time, with a focus on financial investigations; to conduct up to 10 preliminary examinations in current or new situations, including 6 already made public; continue to improve cooperation with States and relevant actors to execute arrest warrants issued by the Court; maximize the OTP’s contribution to the fight against impunity and the prevention of future crimes.  Stay tuned for updates!

UNITED NATIONS — The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Wednesday he is collecting information on possible war crimes by NATO forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Luis Moreno Ocampo said he is also conducting preliminary inquiries on possible war crimes in Georgia, Colombia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Ocampo told a briefing on the emerging international criminal justice system that he plans to open four new investigations in the next three years, but he refused to disclose any details.

The International Criminal Court, which began operating in 2002, is the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal. Afghanistan is one of the 110 countries that have ratified the Rome treaty which created the tribunal and are therefore legally bound by its provisions.

Under the treaty, the court can step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Ocampo said it has been “very difficult” to collect precise information about some of the alleged crimes, but his office has benefited from reports produced by non-governmental organizations who “arrived before us and provided information to us.”

He said he has requested information from human rights groups and groups inside Afghanistan as well as the Afghan government – and would be “very open” to information from foreign governments.

Taliban fighters have been accused of many brutal killings. There have also been some accusations of U.S. forces in Afghanistan using excessive force and torturing prisoners.

He confirmed that allegations involved both the Taliban and NATO forces.

The Clinton administration signed the Rome Treaty establishing the court, but the Bush administration rescinded the U.S. signature, arguing that the court could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecution of American troops.

Asked whether any NATO soldier is now a potential target of the court if he or she commits a war crime in a country under the court’s jurisdiction, he replied that NATO’s legal adviser was at the court’s headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands last week discussing this issue.

In the training NATO is doing, Ocampo said, it is explaining to colonels that in the future they could end up before the court if they commit atrocities.

“That is the most important (thing) because these massive atrocities are planned. So if those who are planning know they will be prosecuted, they will do something different,” he said.

reposted from the Huffington Post

U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan retired Maj. General Scott Gration briefed bloggers at a round table Friday claiming there was overall “agreement on the overall broad framework on what we call incentives and pressures.” Asked about the SudanNow campaign he said “if anybody wants to come and help us, come on down.”

He also said he did not rule out meeting with Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. “I’ve not met with Bashir, nor do I have plans to meet with him. But I’m not ruling it out if we have to do it to move the process forward., Gration told bloggers.

Gration claimed “the president is totally behind me and is very interested.”

Enough Project Co-founder John Prendergast told ForeignPolicy.com:

[I]f the U.S. collapsed under the weight of perceived expediency and sold its moral authority for some belief that meeting the big man, the strong man, would actually be dispositive in moving the peace process forward, I think it would be a tragic mistake. It would undermine what leverage the United States has, which is rooted in part in moral authority and in part in its advocacy for those victims and survivors of the wars in Southern Sudan and Darfur.”

[We believe that U.S. policy, implemented by Gration, is] heading into dangerous territory in both Darfur and in the North-South process…[On the North-South issue,] a dangerous mistake that’s being made is to allow the U.S. government to be part of a process that includes the [ruling] National Congress Party, [Southern] SPLM, and United States talking about renegotiating elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This allows us to be perceived as willing to renegotiate certains things that have already been agreed upon…instead of renegotiating things that are hard, we need to demand strict implementation [of the peace process] and work to build a multilateral coalition that is willing to impose consequences for non-implemention.”

For more reports on the Gration briefing go here.

originally posted @ Enough Project

Inspectors of the International Criminal Court will begin monitoring Colombia’s Armed Forces in November, commander Freddy Padilla announced on Tuesday. The security forces have been criticized for the alleged extrajudicial killings of more than 1,500 civilians.

According to newspaper El Espectador, the presence of inspectors will “ratify the transparency and legitimacy of the actions of the Armed Forces.”

Padilla told the newspaper that members of the country’s army and police are calm about the international supervision as their actions are “aimed at safeguarding the security and confidence of the Colombians within a framework of respect for human rights.”

The Armed Forces chief warned the FARC to fear the arrival of the international inspectors as their crimes will become more visible to the international community.

According to Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, more than a 1,000 soldiers and policemen are suspected of extrajudicial killings. The country’s intelligence agency DAS is also being investigated for the alleged illegal wiretapping of government officials.

originally posted @ Colombia Reports