Blog Posts in International Criminal Court
On International Justice Day, Spotlighting the International Criminal Court
July 17 is International Justice Day; it marks the day that delegations from 120 countries, gathered in Rome, voted to adopt the statute to form the International Criminal Court. This year, Enough commemorated the day by hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary, “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court" and lunchtime discussion.
Late in the 20th century, in response to repeated mass atrocities around the world, countries united to form the International Criminal Court, or ICC — the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators (no matter how powerful) of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. “The Reckoning” follows dynamic ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur, challenging the U.N. Security Council to arrest him. Building cases against genocidal criminals presents huge challenges, and the prosecutor has a mandate but no police force. At every turn, he must pressure the international community to muster political will for the cause. Like a deft thriller, “The Reckoning” keeps the audience riveted, in this case with two dramas—the prosecution of unspeakable crimes and the ICC’s fight for efficacy in its nascent years. As this tiny court in The Hague struggles to change the world and forge a new paradigm for justice, innocent victims suffer and wait. Will the prosecutor succeed? Will the world ensure that justice prevails?
The tension between peace and justice features prominently in the film. Even though justice is desirable at all times, the means to its end is not always easy.
The event attracted interns from 12 organizations, including the European Union mission to the United States, Citizens for Global Solutions, the American Bar Association, and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Following the screening, John Prendergast and Omer Ismail of Enough had a conversation with the interns on the future of the ICC and the issue of peace and justice. When asked whether he believed President Bashir would ever be brought to justice, Omer said, “I don’t know if Bashir will be arrested in the next five or 10 years, but deep in my heart I know he will certainly face justice one day.” John said that he believes the United States will continue to cooperate with the ICC but he said he thinks a U.S. move to ratify the Rome Statue is a long way off.
In honor of International Justice Day, the IJCentral Action Network, which is affiliated with Skylight Pictures, the film company that produced “The Reckoning,” launched a video series called Ask the Prosecutor on its website. IJCentral will collect questions, and Chief Prosecutor Ocampo will respond in regular video blogs. The first couple of his replies are posted here and here. Submit your question, and keep an eye out for new videos.
If you’ve never seen the film, or if you have and want to share it, IJCentral and the creators of “The Reckoning” offer some options to facilitate educational screenings. Individuals can purchase the DVD from their educational distributer. For students who arrange for their libraries to purchase "The Reckoning," Skylight Pictures will include an autographed copy of the DVD as a token of appreciation. But in instances where schools are unable to purchase the DVD, producer Paco de Onis recommended that students get in touch with him directly at paco[at]skylightpictures.com.
Bashir's Summer Vacation
President Bashir took a little risk in his first trip since a warrant was issued for his arrest by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide. Previously, he had only been visiting countries that were not signatories to the ICC. This week, he traveled to Chad, which is a signatory. The Chadians decided not to apprehend this particular genocide suspect, despite their obligations under international law. This is unfortunate but simply an expression of Chad's domestic political situation, in which the regime there is looking to improve ties with the Sudan government in order to reduce Sudanese support for Chadian rebels.
This won't be the last time the ICC gets caught up in politics. So we shouldn't be discouraged, but just understand this missed opportunity as a function of the deeply flawed international system as it relates to the promotion of human rights. Speaking of flawed, we need only look at the confused response of the United States to the genocide warrant issued last week for Bashir. In the same week as President Obama was praising the Court, his special envoy for Sudan, General Scott Gration, was expressing concerns about the impact of the warrants on his job.
The lack of imagination is staggering. General Gration does not see that, rather than hindering his work, the ICC warrants provide a point of significant leverage in support of peace in Sudan. First of all, sustainable peace will not come to Sudan without justice, so breaking that cycle of impunity is a prerequisite for progress. Second, if the U.S. and other countries that are ICC signatories (the United States isn't) were more unified and vocal in their support of these arrest warrants in Sudan, this would have a major impact in deterring future human rights abuses. Third, the possibility of a one year conditional deferral of the warrants exists in the ICC charter in the interests of peace, so if Khartoum did all it could to ensure peace in Darfur and the South as well as provided for credible alternative justice mechanisms in Darfur, a deferral of the warrant could be possible.
That is real leverage for peace. President Obama, please note.
N.B.: I had a chance to talk with NPR’s Michele Kelemen about Bashir’s visit to Chad on today’s Morning Edition. Listen here.
Obama On-the-Record on Sudan
This is Obama Unplugged on Sudan. His comments in an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation highlight the divide, which we pointed out yesterday and of which he seems unaware, between his views and those of his special envoy, Scott Gration. The president is clearly supportive, as the U.S. should be, of the ICC's cases in Sudan as a fundamental component of peace with justice.
Well, my view is that the ICC has put forward an arrest warrant. We think that it is important for the government of Sudan to cooperate with the ICC. We think that it is also important that people are held accountable for the actions that took place in Darfur that resulted in, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of lives being lost.
And so there has to be accountability, there has to be transparency. Obviously we are active in trying to make sure that Sudan is stabilized; that humanitarian aid continues to go in there; that efforts with respect to a referendum and the possibility of Southern Sudan gaining independence under the agreement that was brokered, that that moves forward.
So it is a balance that has to be struck. We want to move forward in a constructive fashion in Sudan, but we also think that there has to be accountability, and so we are fully supportive of the ICC.
In contrast, General Gration feels accountability issues make his job harder and seemed to find the timing of new ICC arrest warrant inconvenient, given that, as he put it, "100 percent" of issues that need to be addressed in Sudan are in Bashir's hands.
Who is in charge of U.S. policy to Sudan? The Deputies haven't met in months, and the policy announced in October seems to be in Deep Freeze. Who will suffer for this? The people of Sudan.
Photo: President Obama and Special Envoy Gration (AP)
Gration Dissatisfied with ICC Ruling against Bashir, Publicly Contradicts White House Line
Since the International Criminal Court’s announcement on Monday of its decision to issue a second arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide, the usual international and Sudanese actors have weighed in on the news.
As expected, members of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party decried the genocide charge, saying the ICC’s decision will undermine peace efforts in Darfur, according to the Sudan Vision. President Bashir himself said of the ICC: “The colonial powers are using judicial organs to undermine unity and to divide the African continent.” Unsurprisingly, the Arab League offered its disapproval of the decision as well.
The White House, too, maintained its position in support of the arrest warrants against Bashir, issuing a statement Tuesday on its commitment to international efforts toward accountability and justice in Darfur:
The United States strongly supports international efforts to bring those responsible for genocide and war crimes in Darfur to justice and believes that there cannot be a lasting peace in Darfur without accountability. We continue to call on the Government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court.
The only unexpected reaction was that of U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration. At a public event in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, Gration—who is the White House point person on the Sudan portfolio—was quoted by the Sudan Tribune as indelicately complaining about how the Court’s decision will make his job more difficult:
The decision by the ICC to accuse Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir of genocide will make my mission more difficult and challenging especially if we realize that resolving the crisis in Darfur and South, issues of oil and combating terrorism at a 100%, we need Bashir.
Though the quote attributed to Gration is not wholly accurate—Enough was also present at the event—it does capture the sentiment the special envoy expressed. Appearing displeased when acknowledging the ICC’s second arrest warrant, Gration then asked the audience to “think about my challenges” and noted that “100 percent” of the issues that needed to be addressed, including Darfur and counterterrorism, are in Bashir’s hands. He said, “How do we exercise influence when we have waning influence?”
Setting aside issues of accountability and justice and debates about justice versus peace, the special envoy’s public statement was, simply put, alarmingly off-message. This divergence of views, between the Obama administration and its appointed special envoy, has made depressingly clear—once again—the degree of divisiveness and lack of coordination among the actors entrusted with implementing U.S. policy on Sudan.
Gration is known for having the view that the U.S. has little to no leverage with the Sudanese government. Ironically, he is making this belief a reality by contributing to the public image of a fractious and incoherent U.S. Sudan strategy, one that diminishes the weight of U.S. rhetoric and weakens the U.S. position vis-à-vis Khartoum. At this critical juncture, with less than six months left before the referendum, that’s the last thing the U.S. should be doing.
Photo: Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration
Sudan Activist Call TODAY
Interested to hear how news of the ICC warrant calling for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is playing out in Sudan? Curious about how activists are responding to this development? Heard about the genocide prevention resolution in Congress and want to know more? Join a call TODAY at 4:30 EST for more background about the ICC in Sudan, specifics about the warrant issued this week, and to find out how to get involved in the latest advocacy efforts. The call features a full line-up of advocates:
- Megan Fleming, Save Darfur Coalition
- Martha Bixby, Save Darfur Coalition
- Omer Ismail, Enough Project
- Katie Jay-Scott and Gabriel Stauring, iAct
- Naama Haviv, Jewish World Watch
- Allyson Neville, Genocide Intervention Network
- Alex Meixner, Save Darfur Coalition
- A.J. Fay, Activist
Conference dial-in number: (712) 432-0075
Participant access code: 236841
Tune in for an informative conversation and get your questions answered.
