By Angela Mudukuti There have been many significant developments in the world of international criminal justice recently. Last week the International Criminal Court confirmed charges against Ugandan Dominic Ongwen, recorded a guilty plea from Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi and convicted the former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. The International […]
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Posted inNews/Politics
Impunity vs Immunity: Africa and the ICC
By Netsanet Belay As the International Criminal Court (ICC) opens its Assembly of States Parties — the periodic gathering of all the countries who have ratified the court’s statute — in The Hague, it does so with a bloody nose. The court was yet again met with contempt this month by South Africa’s failure to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Al-Bashir: Thank goodness for the separation of powers
By Angela Mudukuti After approaching the North Gauteng High Court on Saturday, June 13, on an urgent basis the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) managed to secure an interim order preventing President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country pending the finalisation of the matter before court. Yet to everyone’s surprise the South African government allowed […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA foreign policy hits a new low
The astonishing aspect to the diplomatic debacle involving Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is not that this genocidal maniac was allowed to leave South Africa. It was that he was allowed to come here in the first place. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The al-Bashir saga: Questions about the bottom line on SA’s sovereignty
By Jan Hofmeyr One of the more revealing aspects of this week’s fracas involving Omar al-Bashir’s entry and exit from the African Union Summit in Sandton, is the deep insecurity our government has displayed in asserting its own sovereignty. Faced with a choice between adherence to our constitution, abiding to an international convention to which […]
Posted inGeneral
Con Air: African Escape
We open on SA President Jacob Zuma seeing off Sudan President Omar al-Bashir at Air Force Base Waterkloof. They kiss, but in a friendly way. Al Bashir lifts his robe, boards a plane and takes off. Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou and Zwelethu Mthethwa run onto the tarmac. PANAYIOTOU: What about us? ZUMA: No, not you. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Simone Gbagbo: International justice v national justice
By Angela Mudukuti Is justice for egregious international crimes best served at the national domestic level or at the International Criminal Court (ICC)? The March 9 2015 domestic conviction and sentencing of Ivory Coast’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, has raised this and other important questions. Wanted by the ICC for her role in the […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The trouble with international justice
This month marks 10 years since the International Criminal Court first opened its doors at The Hague in Netherlands. The court was created under the Rome Statute to prosecute serious international crimes like war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has 121 member nations, with Guatemala being the latest. With a decade gone since the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ICC: Justice denied to Gaza victims
There was a sense of hope across the world in 1998 when 120 countries signed a treaty that would establish an international court. This court would, among others, follow noble principles to protect citizens from violence and abuse by their own governments, rebels or even foreign nations. The International Criminal Court which was to be […]