Articles and resources about the International Criminal Court's threat to civil liberties and national autonomy




	We've put together a wide range of news and comment articles about the activities of the International Criminal Court. If you're looking for information in relation to a specific country, choose a dedicated section from the menu on the left. Uhuru Kenyatta's crimes against humanity trial must be stopped, Kenya tells UN Daily Telegraph - 9 May 2013 "In a confidential letter dated May 2nd, Kenya reportedly asked the United Nations Security Council to scrap the international crimes against humanity trials for Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenya: British PM defends Uhuru UK invitation AllAfrica - 9 May 2013 "The British government has defended meetings by its officials with President Uhuru Kenyatta despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court. Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC that he met Uhuru because Kenya was playing a vital role fighting al-Shabaab in Somalia. He said Uhuru had assured him that he was cooperating with the ICC and in Cameron's view, he is "innocent until proved guilty." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mahmood Mamdani criticises the TRC and ICC’s narrow focus BooksLive - 9 May 2013 "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) only dealt with individual violators of human rights in a narrow way, ignoring the issues that led to the violence – and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is doing the same. This is what Mahmood Mamdani, author of Define and Rule, told Shaun de Waal in a recent interview ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenyatta meets Cameron in London IOL News Zambia - 8 May 2013 "London - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces an international trial for crimes against humanity, met Britain's prime minister and foreign minister in London on Tuesday, Downing Street officials said ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICC trial of Kenya's deputy President postponed AllAfrica - 6 May 2013 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) has now postponed the May trial of Deputy President William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UK's Uhuru invite points to policy change Kenya Sunday Nation - 4 May 2013 "UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s invitation to President Uhuru Kenyatta to attend a conference on Somalia is the clearest signal yet of a normalisation of relations between London and Nairobi ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bemba Trial Stalls Due to Absence of Defense Witnesses AllAfrica - 3 May 2013 "Jean-Pierre Bemba's trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has stalled once again, as the defense continues to experience difficulties in getting witnesses to appear before the court ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mahmood Mamdani: Legal Band-Aid not for deep wounds Mail & Guardian - 3 May 2013 "What is common to the TRC and the ICC is that both ignore the issues that led to the violence. But there’s no real way forward unless we take on the issues. I believe we are dealing with cycles of violence and, when it comes to cycles of violence such as go into the making of a civil war, each side has a narrative of victimhood ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICC Judge withdraws from Uhuru, Ruto case Uganda New Vision - 29 April 2013 "A Belgium judge who was one of the judges handling the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has withdrawn. Belgium Judge Van den Wyngaert maintained that the Prosecution failed to properly investigate the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta prior to confirmation ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hague judges issue sharp rebuke to Kenyatta prosecutors SwissInfo - 27 April 2013 "Judges hearing the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court have sharply rebuked prosecutors for failing to disclose evidence that could be used in his defence, but stopped short of restarting the trial ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenya presses UN over Hague cases CapitalFM News - 13 April 2013 "Kenya’s UN Deputy Ambassador Koki Muli Grignon on Thursday told the United Nations General Assembly that the Kenyan cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be referred to courts locally. Speaking in New York, Grignon said Kenyan courts are capable of handling the cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and former Radio presenter Joshua arap Sang ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matsanga cleared over ICC witness meddling CapitalFM News - 13 April 2013 "The International Criminal Court has now terminated investigations against Ugandan peace negotiator David Matsanga over alleged witness tampering. Matsanga was notified of the decision to terminate his case in an email sent to him from The Hague signed by one of the court’s prosecutors, Adesola Adeboyejo .." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uganda lawmakers rally against ICC PressTV - 12 April 2013 "Uganda lawmakers are raising serious questions over what they say is the selective justice and double standards of the international Criminal Court. Many politicians argue that the International Criminal Court has become a vehicle for pursuing neocolonial interests in Africa ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICC a regime change tool - Museveni The Herald - 11 April 2013 "UGANDA President Yoweri Museveni has slammed the abuse of the International Criminal Court by Western nations saying the institution was being used as a regime change tool in Africa ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prove sabotage claims, Kenya tells ICC prosecutor CapitalFM News - 10 April 2013 "The government is demanding that the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution explain how Kenya has failed to cooperate with the court. In a submission to Trial Chamber V, Attorney General Githu Muigai has accused the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) of failing to make formal applications to the court about its allegations that the government of Kenya has refused to cooperate ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ugandan President Museveni praises voters for ‘ignoring ICC’ Saturday Nation - 9 April 2013 "Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Tuesday hit out at The Hague-based court as President Uhuru Kenyatta asked the West not to overstretch international treaties. Mr Museveni, who accused the International Criminal Court of blackmailing Kenyans and whose government presented the first African case to the ICC, claimed the court was being abused by some people for their own agenda ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three more ICC witnesses refuse to testify against Uhuru The Standard - 5 April 2013 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has suffered another setback in her case against President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta. Just three months to the start of Uhuru’s trial on July 11 at The Hague, it is emerging that three prosecution witnesses have refused to testify against him ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenya: Expert wants ICC to drop probe against him AllAfrica - 3 April 2013 "Conflict Resolution Expert David Matsanga has now asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber to compel Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to halt investigations against him. Matsanga said on Wednesday that Bensouda was still probing him over alleged intimidation and exposure of witness allegations yet what he revealed about Witness 4 turned out to be true ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenyatta spokesman says ICC case has no merits because the foundation on which it is built has collapsed Newstime Africa - 3 April 2013 "Uhuru Kenyatta is innocent and the ICC case against him have no merits, because the foundation on which the case is built has collapsed since the pre-trial judge did not confirm the case against the police and the subsequent dropping of charges against another co- defendant, a government spokesperson in Kenya told Newstime Africa earlier this week ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Botswana apologises to Kenya over Kenyatta ICC warning BBC News - 14 March 2013 "Botswana's foreign minister has apologised for saying that Kenya's newly elected president would be banned from the southern African nation if he refuses to co-operate with the ICC. Phandu Skelemani made the apology after Kenya's government accused him of being contemptuous towards Uhuru Kenyatta ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Selective Justice - Crosstalk Russia Today - 14 January 2013 "Is the International Criminal Court unfair and biased? Is it really about geopolitics? The US refuses to sign up as member of the court while proclaiming itself a nation governed by the rule of law. Is this hypocrisy? A vast majority of investigations at the ICC come from Africa – but surely there have been other major crimes committed in other parts of the world. So why aren’t they looked into? CrossTalking with Lawrence Douglas, William Keylor and George Szamuely ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICC's Long Shadow Over Impending Kenyan Elections New African - 8 January 2013 "Two months to Kenya’s next elections in March 2013, foreign diplomats, alarmed that two International Criminal Court “indictees”, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, might become president and vice-president, have started talking down the pair’s chances. But voters are not listening as the pair’s popularity is on the rise ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The collapse of transitional justice by Mladen Ostojic - OpenDemocracy, 7 December 2012 "The ICTY has proved them wrong on all counts. Instead of healing wounds and closing painful chapters, the Tribunal has kept the controversies over the Yugoslav wars burning for almost two decades by now. This calamitous record calls for a reconceptualization of transitional justice and a re-assessment of international tribunals as tools for post-conflict reconstruction." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thinking about the International Criminal Court by Elliott Abrams - Council on Foreign Relations, 10 July 2012 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague delivered a sentence of 14 years yesterday against a Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga. This is not much cause for celebration, for it is the first sentence ever handed down by the ICC–after ten years of work, at a cost of about $100 million a year. The court suffers from a variety of ailments that go beyond being new .. " --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The International Criminal Court and the Arab World by Maryam Jamshidi - OpenDemocracy, 4 July 2012 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) officially began its work ten years ago on July 1, 2002. While it has come to include over 120 member states from around the globe, the Court’s expansive geographical ambit has been less than obvious from its caseload. Until now, the ICC has exercised its jurisdiction in only one particular part of the globe, Africa, raising concerns that its work is guided by political, rather than legal, considerations ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The International Criminal Court is hurting Africa by Courtenay Griffiths QC - Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2012 "Britain's support for the International Criminal Court is wrong and undermines its credibility in African countries ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ICC's many flaws can't simply be glossed over by Toby Cadman - The Guardian, 28 June 2012 "In the eyes of many Africans, the ICC is merely a European-sponsored service delivering 'victors' justice' ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there were global justice, Nato would be in the dock over Libya by Seauman Milne - The Guardian, 15 May 2012 "So long as international law is only used against small or weak states in the developing world, it won't be a system of international justice, but an instrument of power politics and imperial enforcement ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Court Rise, Enter Your Honours! by Dr David Hoile - New African, 1 March 2012 "The ICC's judicial division consists of 18 judges who are elected to the Court by the Assembly of States Parties. They serve 9-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. All judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state. They must be “persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective states for appointment to the highest offices". But some of the judges are appointed because it is a cosy retirement job. Some are washed-up politicians. Some are diplomats, and others are appointed because their governments pay the ICC a lot of money ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Who pays for the ICC? New African - 1 March 2012 "Any examination of the ICC’s budget clearly shows that the Court is umbilically tied financially to the European Union, which provides over 60% of its funding. Prof Mahmood Mamdani has said the ICC is dancing to the “tune” of Western states. Given Africa’s traumatic experience with the very same colonial powers that now in effect direct the ICC, it is an unfortunate case of déjà vu ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Politics of International Law by Courtenay Griffiths QC - New African, 1 March 2012 "I was a newcomer to international criminal law when I was approached to defend Charles Taylor, the former president of the Republic of Liberia in July 2007. My experiences in this field over the subsequent four years, particularly following the US and NATO operations in Libya, have led me to feel that fundamentally one cannot come to the practice, as opposed to the theory, of international criminal law, with the calculating eyes of a lawyer, but rather with the lessons and wisdom of history very much in mind, particularly the history of European and American colonialism ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is the ICC fit for purpose? by Dr David Hoile - New African, 1 March 2012 "The International Criminal Court (ICC) was embraced with enthusiasm by a wide range of people, NGOs, and governments when it came into being on 1 July 2002. Many of those who initially welcomed it were African. Despite an auspicious start, however, the ICC has run into considerable controversy. With hindsight, it can be seen that the Court clearly contained the seeds of its own destruction from the start. It has turned out to be one of the unsavoury manifestations of globalisation with what appears to be an almost exclusive focus on Africa ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ICC, a tool to recolonise Africa New African, 1 March 2012 ""The fact that the ICC has focused so overwhelmingly on African situations prompts questions about why the gaze of international criminal justice falls in some places and on some people and not on others. The Court's focus on Africa has stirred African sensitivities about sovereignty and self-determination - not least because of the continent's history of colonisation and a pattern of decisions made for Africa by outsiders," say Nicholas Waddell and Phil Clark in their seminal work, Courting Conflicts? - Justice, Peace and the ICC in Africa ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- African Union -vs- the ICC New African, 1 March 2012 "On 3 July 2009, the AU resolved not to cooperate with the ICC regarding the indictment of the Sudanese president, Omar Bashir. Below is an abridged version of the AU statement ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Europe, masters behind the ICC New African, 1 March 2012 "The power of the ICC remains with its big four funders: Germany, Britain, France, and Italy. They dominate the Court, they make the running and the decisions: It is their Court, just as to all intents and purposes they dominate the EU ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more in our resource archive >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Watch the full debate here / see photos here --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speech by Dr. John Laughland at the ICCwatch debate: "The International Criminal Court: Best hope for mankind or threat to freedom?" held at the Ideas Space, Storey's Gate, Westminster --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crisis in Darfur: Alex de Waal Explains the History The Hub, 3 September 2008 Click here to watch about us \| resources \| ICC FAQ \| media \| links \| support us \| contact us	Keep up with our latest news and comment by following ICCwatch on Twitter: @ICCwatch

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