The Christian Science Monitor posted an interesting story regarding the Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association which is currently going on this week in Madrid. It raises the growing discontent of African states towards the International Criminal Court. At present, all four of the active situations being prosecuted by the court concern African conflicts: […]
The United States should not join the International Criminal Court (ICC), as it “lacks prudent safeguards against political manipulation, possesses sweeping authority without accountability … and violates national sovereignty” says the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy research institute. The ICC was officially established in 2002 as a forum to prosecute serious international crimes–war crimes, […]
Anyone interested in understanding the history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and prosecuting war crimes should take a look at the new documentary “The Reckoning.” This film can currently be viewed on-line here [Warning: contains extremely graphic scenes of violence]. The movie explains the court’s history, its foundations in international criminal law that began […]
On July 14, the prosecution wrapped up its case against Thomas Lubanga, the first ever accused brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Lubanga, the alleged leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), and its military wing the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération de Congo (FPLC), has been charged with enlisting and conscripting child soldiers between […]
Charles Taylor testified Tuesday before the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone for the first time, calling the charges against him bogus. Taylor served as president of Liberia during the 1991-2002 civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. Taylor allied with the leader of the Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh, operating in Sierra Leone to hijack […]
Mourners gathered in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica to honor the victims and mark the anniversary of the bloodiest massacres during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. War crimes fugitive Gen. Ratko Mladic led his troops in July 1995 into the U.N. safe-haven of Srebrenica and “stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and […]
The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended last week that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf should be banned from government for 30 years for her previous support of former President Charles Taylor. Taylor is currently on trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone for his role in the civil war there, where tens […]
An African Union summit will bring African heads of state together tomorrow in Libya; in anticipation 8 human rights organizations yesterday called on the AU to ensure that Senegal prosecutes former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré for crimes against humanity and torture. Habré, dubbed the “African Pinochet”, ruled Chad from 1982 until 1990; a Truth Commission […]