The ICC’s big week

It’s been an eventful, and generally positive few days for the Hague-based International Criminal Court. Yesterday, the prosecutor announced that he was targeting six senior Kenyan officials for the 2007-2008 violence in that country. The announcement was reportedly greeted with calm in Kenya, and several of the individuals targeted have suggested that they will fly ...

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

It's been an eventful, and generally positive few days for the Hague-based International Criminal Court. Yesterday, the prosecutor announced that he was targeting six senior Kenyan officials for the 2007-2008 violence in that country. The announcement was reportedly greeted with calm in Kenya, and several of the individuals targeted have suggested that they will fly to the Hague to face any formal charges. The fragile new court, which has issued a number of unenforced indictments, could soon have a new round of trials and some wind in its sails. The Kenya case is especially significant because it is the first initiated by the prosecutor himself; the other active cases were either referred by states or by the Security Council.

It’s been an eventful, and generally positive few days for the Hague-based International Criminal Court. Yesterday, the prosecutor announced that he was targeting six senior Kenyan officials for the 2007-2008 violence in that country. The announcement was reportedly greeted with calm in Kenya, and several of the individuals targeted have suggested that they will fly to the Hague to face any formal charges. The fragile new court, which has issued a number of unenforced indictments, could soon have a new round of trials and some wind in its sails. The Kenya case is especially significant because it is the first initiated by the prosecutor himself; the other active cases were either referred by states or by the Security Council.

There was also good news from Zambia. Indicted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir had been planning a trip to the ICC member state for a regional summit. The planned visit appeared to be a looming blow to the court’s credibility, which already suffered when Bashir visited other ICC member states without consequence.  At the last minute, however, Bashir canceled the Zambia trip, presumably because the Zambian government got an earful from human rights organizations and perhaps from states supporting the ICC.

The silver lining of the past few days has a significant cloud behind it however. There are continued rumblings that certain African states–including Kenya itself–may withdraw from the ICC and perhaps set up a regional court in its place. This week’s dramatic developments could easily persaude some African leaders that belonging to the court is a risk they can no longer run.  

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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