The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. the ICC pursues international criminals to the ends of the earth and until the ends of their lives.Some surrender. Some are captured. Some are prosecuted. Some are convicted. Some are imprisoned. Some die in confinement. Carla Del Ponte, former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals, takes the pragmatic view:
We're interested in results. I don't care how they come here as long as I get them.Today, the Serb, Radovan Karadzic, was captured. His boss, Slobodan Milosevic, died in prison. But his buddy, General Ratko Mladic, is still at large.
An arrest warrant against Sudan’s El-Bashir has been sworn out. His Sudanese regime has been accused of complicity in the unfolding crimes against humanity in Darfur, particularly for either arming or failing to punish the militia group which calls itself Janjaweed–roughly translated to mean devils on horse backs.Congolese militia leaders Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo and Thomas Lubanga have also been charged.
The tribunal is going through a period of unparalleled success in getting its hands on indictees, many of whom have been on the run for years. Judge Theodor Meron, president of the tribunal, said in a letter to the UN security council,
This is without doubt the most active and productive period in the life of the tribunal thus far, a period full of challenges, stresses and strains.A year ago the tribunal's wanted list of fugitives ran to 21 men. As of the capture of Karadzic it has shrunk to 10.
It appears that no country is up to investigating, indicting, arresting, trying, convicting, and imprisoning its own nationals as war criminals.
Otherwise, what a wonderful world it would be.
when does Bush get on that list?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it would be nice to see those American criminals on the list. But we like to act as though our shit don't stink.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would see the day when an American president would be named as a potential war criminal. This is all so very depressing.
ReplyDeleteMay have to live with history casting Bush/Cheney into the same group as other war criminals. But you never know.
ReplyDeleteBeach Bum, I figure that by January 2010, Bush should be lookin' like Karadžic! What do you think?
ReplyDeleteVery clever, Food-Blogger. We can hope.
ReplyDeleteYou'll find that there are already some groups in Europe ready to file legal suits before their national tribunals calling for the arrest of Bush as soon as he stands down.
ReplyDeleteWhen Bush is no longer president, it is likely that the media will be advised by these same groups of their desire to convene a "Nuremberg court" to try Bush for war crimes. Don't honestly know if it will prosper though...
But I reckon it's best that Bush should refrain from setting foot in Europe for a wee while to avoid the embarassment of being served an arrest warrant -- he should follow Rumsfeld's lead: stay away or he risks landing in a cubicle in The Hague.
Vigil, I believe that's David Addington, second from the left in that last picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Bob Herbert's column, Madness and Shame, in which he reviews Jane Mayer's, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals. Herbert says Mayer devotes a great deal of space to David Addington, Dick Cheney’s main man and the lead architect of the Bush administration’s legal strategy for the so-called war on terror. No one was further to the right than Addington. Colin Powell is quoted as saying of Addington,
He doesn’t believe in the Constitution.
Mayer wrote:
Very few voters are aware of Mr. Addington’s existence, much less what he stands for. But he was the legal linchpin of the administration’s Marquis de Sade approach to battling terrorism. In the view of Mr. Addington and his acolytes, anything and everything that the president authorized in the fight against terror — regardless of what the Constitution or Congress or the Geneva Conventions might say — was all right. That included torture, rendition, warrantless wiretapping, the suspension of habeas corpus, you name it.
Herbert concludes:
The U.S. shamed itself on George W. Bush’s and Dick Cheney’s watch, and David Addington and others like him were willing to manipulate the law like Silly Putty to give them the legal cover they desired.
Mayer's work is a must read for Americans who wish to reclaim their country.
Hey! Chimp! Karadzic trial will be battle over history, honour.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't you be taking notes?
Hey Coop! Rice Applauds Karadzic Arrest! LMFAO!
ReplyDeleteYou all have sure been busy, and I'm working hard to catch up with all of the great stuff.
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