What War Crimes Can the International Criminal Court (Icc) Prosecute
Foreign Affairs questioned Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017 about criticism of the court. A summons to appear may be issued if the Pre-Trial Chamber is satisfied that the person will appear in the courtroom and may contain sufficient conditions to ensure his or her appearance. Each State party must adopt laws determining how it will fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute. These laws regulate, for example, the technical details of cooperation between the State and the Court and define the crimes covered by the Rome Statute. These laws are often referred to as implementing laws. Proceedings were completed in all six cases concerning the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2012, the court convicted Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 into the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) and acquitted Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. In 2014, the ICC convicted Germain Katanga of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and sexual slavery. In 2019, Bosco Ntaganda was sentenced to 30 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 18 cases. Another accused from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Callixte Mbarushimana, was released from pre-trial detention by the ICC after the Pre-Trial Chamber refused to confirm the charges against him. The DRC`s last accused, Sylvestre Mudacumura, remains at large.
The General Assembly of the United Nations may authorize additional resources for cases referred to the Tribunal by the Security Council. Some Governments and transnational organizations also offer voluntary contributions. Under Barack Obama`s administration, U.S. opposition to the ICC has morphed into “positive engagement,” though no effort has been made to ratify the Rome Statute. [20] Donald Trump`s current administration is far more hostile to the court, threatening ICC judges and court staff with prosecution and financial sanctions, and imposing visa bans in response to investigations against U.S. citizens in connection with alleged U.S. crimes and atrocities in Afghanistan. The threat included sanctions against each of the more than 120 countries that have ratified the Court of Cooperation in the process. [21] Following the imposition of sanctions on 11. In June 2020, by the Trump administration, the court called the sanctions an “attack on the interests of victims of atrocities” and an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law.” The United Nations also regretted the impact the sanctions could have on ongoing trials and investigations, saying their independence must be protected. [22] [23] The International Criminal Court (ICC)[2] is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands.
The ICC is the first and only permanent international court empowered to prosecute individuals for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. It is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and can therefore only exercise its jurisdiction if national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute offenders. The ICC has no universal territorial jurisdiction and can only investigate and prosecute crimes committed in member states, crimes committed by nationals of member states, or crimes committed in situations referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council. The ICC should complement, not replace, national criminal justice systems; it prosecutes only when States are unwilling or unable to do so.
