Despite supporting a brutal rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda is about to take a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Few countries dare challenge the Security Council the way Rwanda does; even fewer get away with it. Yet on Tuesday, despite backing an abusive rebel group that has attacked U.N. peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda will take a two-year seat on the council.
Catherine Ashton's mandate is to provide leadership on foreign policy and human rights. She has failed, however, to ensure a collective EU voice for bringing the crimes in Syria before the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 10 December, as the EU receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, EU foreign ministers meeting back in Brussels should decide to move beyond vague references to “accountability” for crimes in Syria and make clear that they support a UN Security Council referral of the situation to the ICC.
To limit the violations by both sides and ensure justice for victims, South Africa and other key members of the international community should support the referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court.
In war-torn Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, bakeries are the only places where one can see crowds of people. Most of the time, residents stay inside, hiding from the artillery and aerial attacks that, over the last month, have become a daily routine. But acute shortages of bread in opposition-controlled areas force them out of their houses at the crack of dawn or late at night – whenever a bakery finally gets supplies and opens.
In the course of three days in late August, I travelled from Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg, Germany, where an international military tribunal tried 21 top Nazi leaders in 1945-46, to Courtroom 2 at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Courtroom 2 is the site of proceedings against Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the four others accused of masterminding the attacks on 11 September 2001. The contrast could not be more stark.
The new Malawi government took an important step in June when it indicated it could not host the African Union summit if it meant welcoming President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to its territory, given that he is an International Criminal Court suspect for crimes committed in Darfur. This is a key acknowledgment of the court’s work 10 years into its existence and takes a firm stand at a time when many Africans are criticizing the court for what is seen as an anti-Africa bias in its attempts to bring to trial government leaders and others allegedly responsible for the gravest crimes — genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
In reality, at this point, the one court that could prosecute war crimes by all sides – as well as the well-documented crimes against humanity committed by government forces during the past year – is the international criminal court.
The European Union has long professed its unwavering commitment to fighting impunity and pursuing international justice. It has backed this claim by portraying itself as the staunchest supporter of the International Criminal Court. In relation to Syria, however, the EU has in both respects failed to practise what it preaches, For, faced with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria that show no signs of abating, Europe's commitment to justice has proved at best tepid and inconsistent.
Twenty-one years after his overthrow and flight to Senegal, the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré may finally face trial for brutality against his own people. On Tuesday, July 24, four days after the world court in The Hague ruled that Senegal must bring Habré to justice, Senegal and the African Union agreed on a plan for a special court to try Habré. Senegal's new president, Macky Sall, says he wants proceedings to begin later this year.
Despite supporting a brutal rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda is about to take a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Few countries dare challenge the Security Council the way Rwanda does; even fewer get away with it. Yet on Tuesday, despite backing an abusive rebel group that has attacked U.N. peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda will take a two-year seat on the council.
To limit the violations by both sides and ensure justice for victims, South Africa and other key members of the international community should support the referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court.
In the course of three days in late August, I travelled from Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg, Germany, where an international military tribunal tried 21 top Nazi leaders in 1945-46, to Courtroom 2 at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Courtroom 2 is the site of proceedings against Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the four others accused of masterminding the attacks on 11 September 2001. The contrast could not be more stark.
Twenty-one years after his overthrow and flight to Senegal, the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré may finally face trial for brutality against his own people. On Tuesday, July 24, four days after the world court in The Hague ruled that Senegal must bring Habré to justice, Senegal and the African Union agreed on a plan for a special court to try Habré. Senegal's new president, Macky Sall, says he wants proceedings to begin later this year.