Courting Kenyan opinion

The International Criminal Court is launching a major public relations offensive in Kenya as its investigation of that country’s recent violence gears up. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has distributed 200,000 copies of a publication, titled ‘Understanding the ICC’, in Kenya… The booklet, which is circulated with one of the most popular newspapers in ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The International Criminal Court is launching a major public relations offensive in Kenya as its investigation of that country's recent violence gears up.

The International Criminal Court is launching a major public relations offensive in Kenya as its investigation of that country’s recent violence gears up.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has distributed 200,000 copies of a publication, titled ‘Understanding the ICC’, in Kenya… The booklet, which is circulated with one of the most popular newspapers in the country, explains the court’s mandate, structure and mode of operations.

Previous international tribunals, including those for the Balkans and Rwanda, were often criticized for not explaining themselves adequately to the people most affected by their work. The ICC has made a conscious effort to avoid that mistake. But the continuing hostility between a number of African governments and the court suggests that pamphlets aren’t going to be enough: many Africans need to be convinced that the court has eyes for other parts of the world as well.  

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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