WHEN JUSTICE IS THROWN UNDER THE BUS

We put ourselves at the steering wheel of that allegorical bus.
Either justice counts or it doesn't. It would be a simpler world if justice was truthfully a goal of the leaders who claim that it is.

"To put ICC proceedings on hold in Darfur would send a dangerous signal to would-be war criminals that justice is negotiable and the Security Council can be held hostage to their threats."

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

Justice v. politics

By Louise Arbour

Posted September 16, 2008

Source: www.iht.com Listen to Article

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When I announced the indictment of Slobodan Milosevic on May 27, 1999, at the height of the armed conflict between Serbia and NATO troops in Kosovo, many were dismayed.

The conventional wisdom at the time was that the indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where I was chief prosecutor, would make the situation in Kosovo worse. Some said it would likely prove fatal to the prospect of any compromise by Milosevic - that I had killed the chance for peace.

Predictably, Milosevic was contemptuous of the indictment and vowed that he would never face trial in The Hague. The Russian envoy to the Balkans said I had "pulled the rug out from under the negotiating process."

Yet only a week later, Milosevic accepted the terms of a peace agreement and the war ended that month. Eighteen months later, a popular uprising swept Milosevic from office and he arrived in The Hague soon thereafter to face justice.

If the United Nations Security Council had had the authority to stop my indictment, things might have ended differently. And that's precisely the issue now at the center of a storm of controversy at the Security Council. How it is resolved will have serious implications for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for the cause of international justice.

Not long after the ICC prosecutor announced he was seeking an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for orchestrating a genocidal campaign in Darfur, diplomats and political observers predicted the worst. President Bashir denounced the prosecutor's request and rejected the authority of the ICC altogether.

Within days the African Union and Organization of Islamic Conference called on the Security Council to defer the case against Bashir, claiming it thwarted prospects for peace.

They also feared retaliation against peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in Sudan. Nearly half of the Security Council has expressed support for a deferral.

The ICC statute does empower the Security Council to defer the ICC process. But such power was intended to be used extremely rarely, and then only to promote justice, not to prevent it from running its course.

The ICC was founded on the principle that accountability for the world's most serious crimes is a prerequisite for long-term peace and security. It is presumably with that in mind that the Security Council referred to Darfur case to the ICC in the first place in 2005.

The assumption should be, as the Milosevic precedent has illustrated, that judicial and political processes can be allowed to advance simultaneously and independently of each other. The goal should be to preserve the integrity of both the judicial and the political track, and, most important, to avoid the politicization of the court. Justice is a partner to peace, not an impediment to it.

To use a deferral for mere political convenience - or worse, to appease the threats of tyrants - would undermine the fledgling court. There is little hope for the promotion of the rule of law internationally if the most powerful international body makes it subservient to the rule of political expediency.

The past decade has seen tremendous advances in showing abusive leaders that their crimes will have consequences. Since the mid-1990s, for the first time in history, former heads of state have actually been brought to trial for human rights crimes.

To put ICC proceedings on hold in Darfur would send a dangerous signal to would-be war criminals that justice is negotiable and the Security Council can be held hostage to their threats.

The ICC has the ability to bring charges in real time, while conflicts are ongoing. This is not the first time, nor is it the last time, that we will face the question of whether justice interferes with peace. Indeed, these issues will arise more and more frequently. And it will often be very tempting to suspend justice in exchange for promises to end a conflict.

But if the Security Council decides in the coming weeks to interfere with court proceedings, it will vindicate those who believe politics can trump justice. That will undermine the progress the world has made so far in bringing the most powerful human rights abusers to justice for their crimes.

Louise Arbour is the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

from International Herald Tribune
The Global Edition of The New York Times

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In less than two months, we will be electing a new President and a new Congress. This gives us an amazing opportunity to improve U.S. policy on genocide.

Get involved with STAND’s fall advocacy campaign, A Call to Candidates, and let our future representatives and senators know that their constituents care about Darfur! The situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate every day, so the next Congress, the next President, and the student anti-genocide movement need to hit the ground running to stop the ongoing genocide in Sudan. We’re starting right now.

Click here for information on ways that you and your chapter can help make stopping genocide a major campaign issue — ask questions about Darfur policy at Town Hall meetings and other campaign events, rally near campaign headquarters, and write letters to the editors of your local newspapers! To truly make an impact on stopping genocide, we must turn our creative energy and passion into political action. Brainstorm creative ways your chapter can get involved with your Outreach Coordinator.

You can start today by taking action to influence the Presidential candidates. On September 26th and October 2nd, Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of PBS will moderate the presidential and vice-presidential debates. It’s our responsibility to make sure that both moderators ask the candidates about their Darfur policies.

Address handwritten letters to Gwen Ifill and Jim Lehrer at MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 2700 South Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22206. Click here for more information.

We have less than a month to make ourselves heard — these crucial debates cannot ignore genocide.

At this link you may read my letter sent to Jim Lehrer (a modified version was sent to Gwen Ifill as well): ilovemylifebrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/2008/09/question-presidential-and-vp-candidates

PICTURES OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING TO THE VICTIMS OF THE DARFUR GENOCIDE

Source: www.miafarrow.org

Friends:

These pictures are not for children. It is your choice whether to view them or not. They are photographs of some of the victims of the attack on Kalma camp. The photographs are horriffic and very difficult to look at. But I place them here because I feel it should not be easy to turn away. Levels of knowing. Welcome to another level. The images may return in your nightmares, but this is the reality for Darfur's people. The Kalma attack is described in this article I wrote with Eric Reeves, for the Wall St Journal -- click here to read the editorial. Since then, a second camp has been attacked-Zamzam. When will the world DO SOMETHING to stop this???

Again, you will find these images disturbing and beyond human comprehension.

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Below are links found at www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/16/opinion

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