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https://theconversation.com/20-years-on-the-international-criminal-court-is-doing-more-good-than-its-critics-claim-186382>
"When the International Criminal Court began operating 20 years ago this month,
its existence reflected a unique historical and political epoch. Buoyed by the
successful creation of war-crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and
Rwanda, delegates to the conference in Rome that created the court were
optimistic for the future of international law.
They believed the new post–cold war political order could be underpinned by
widely observed international laws and a form of global justice that wasn’t
decided by powerful states.
Remarkably, all the countries of South America and large numbers of African
states signed the Rome Statute establishing the ICC. They did this knowing they
were likely to be the focus of its investigations, but encouraged by the hope
that justice would extend to the powerful global north. Crucially, the UN
Security Council was not given a monopoly on referring cases to the court.
Once the ICC became operational, however, this optimism quickly dissipated. The
court took until 2006 to start its first trial and a further six years to
announce its first conviction. Indeed, in its 20 years of operation, with a
total budget of nearly €1.5 billion (A$2.2 billion), it has made only ten
convictions and four acquittals.
Over that period, African countries became increasing disaffected with the
court, not only accusing it of “hunting Africans” but also expressing
frustration at its inability and lack of will to hold the United States and
other major powers to account."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
