i work with amnesty international as a volunteer country specialist.
been a member for a long time, and a country specialist for almost 20
years. i am not on the inside of the organization; just a helper, so to
speak; but exposed to plenty of human rights actions and issues as a
result. the icc was created by people who despaired over the fact that
there was no effective judicial body to go after criminals outside of
their home countries, except through mechanisms that aimed at
international financial crimes and the like--people like the mafia--but
not those whose internal politics were considered the affair only of
their own countries.
human rights violators, people responsible for genocide, were immune
from prosecution, as long as they ruled or their successors ruled. i.e.,
mostly forever.
over the considerable objections of the united states, which refused to
sign a convention that would hold u.s. violations accountable, the court
was created, and went after ex-yugoslavians and then rwandans. the name
of the court is different, but the principle is the same.
people like idi amin or hissene habre still proved immune, usually
because they could find refuge in locations where the leaders were
reluctant to acknowledge the dominion of a judicial authority outside
their own country, or, in the case of habre, outside their own continent.
before he was president, wade said he would have habre prosecuted. now
he protects him from prosecution.
the reality is that the court will go after some targets, like those
mentioned above, and others like bemba and other congolese, the lra,
militia leaders who rape, and who committed crimes in the drc, but not
bush or cheney.
if there is ever to be a chance that americans or french or other great
power rulers, who collaborated with genocidaires, or committed crimes
like torture, are to be tried, it will come when we succeed in enhancing
the reach of the icc, or of an instrument like it, and generate the
belief among citizens in the global north that they should live up to
their democratic rhetoric, and stop behaving like "barbarians," as
gloria said.
is that impossible? why can't we do it over time. we have to believe
that we can raise children and grandchildren who are willing to take
risks for a more just world than was the case of our own generation.
in the meanwhile, we should denounce the inequality of treatment, and
seek to enhance the court's. to destroy it would be to go backwards
ken
On 7/2/11 5:35 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
>
> The problem with this letter is that it strengthens the hand of President Beshir,
> who sanctioned the displacement and death of millions of Sudanese from Darfur and environs.We recall the
> harassment of the pro- government Janjaweed who raped women and committed numerous type of atrocities
> against the population.
>
> This is one case where we can chew kola nut and walk at the same time. We can condemn the ICC for
> being suspiciously selective, in its failure to identify targeted assassinations, unmanned drones,
> rendition, and so on, as unacceptable conduct, and at the same time condemn Beshir for his
> genocidal atrocities. We cannot give Beshir a free pass.
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
>
> www.africahistory.net
> www.esnips.com/web/GloriaEmeagwali
> emeagwali@ccsu.edu
> ________________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Abdul Bangura [theai@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 7:01 AM
> To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BRAVO TO CHINA FOR NOT ARRESTING PRES. BASHIR
>
> United States of Africa 2017 Project Taskforce
>
>
> 2011 July 1
>
>
> The Hon. Hu Jintao
> President of the People's Republic of China
> c/o Ambassador Zhang Yesui
> Embassy of China
> 3505 International Place, NW
> Washington, DC 20008
>
> Dear President Jintao:
>
> Thank you for not arresting President Bashir during his state visit to China as demanded by the International Criminal Court.
>
> The United States of Africa 2017 Project Taskforce is in agreement with China that the West, of which the ICC is an imperialist tool, must sweep clean its own house first.
>
> Our position is for the US, the UK and the rest of the West to prosecute their own war criminals, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Tony Blair, before telling the Third World to arrest Bashir and others for the ICC.
>
> As much as we do not condone impunity on the part of Third World governments, we categorically reject the West's and the ICC's selective application of the law.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bosire Mosi
> Director of Communications
> USAfrica2017tf.com<http://USAfrica2017tf.com>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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>
>
> Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
> Prof. of History& African Studies
> History Department
> Central Connecticut State University
> New Britain
> CT 06050
> www.africahistory.net
> www.esnips.com/web/GloriaEmeagwali
> emeagwali@ccsu.edu
>
--
kenneth w. harrow
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
east lansing, mi 48824-1036
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu
--
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