Why in news?
The Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was recentlypronounced guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity (CAH) by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
What is the story behind?
- These convictions are related to the 2002-03 ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
- After a 2006 indictment by the Hague court, it took seven more years for him to surrender and months more before the trial could start.
- The conviction follows the ICC’s 2012 sentencing of Thomas Lubanga, the first to be pronounced guilty pertaining to atrocities in the Congo.
What are some other recentcases?
- In 2014, the ICC chargedthe Kenyan Presidentof crimes against humanity, relating to the death of hundreds in the 2007 post-election ethnic violence.
- This rulingconvicted the former Vice Presidentof DRCin 2016 and handed an 18-year sentence.
- In2019, former President of Ivory Coast was acquitted of crimes against humanity.
What are the challenges for ICC?
- ManyAfrican countries feel that they are being selectively targeted.
- The ICC facesa strong resistance to prosecute thewar crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Some countries like Burundi, the Philippines arequitting the ICC.
- The surge of nationalism around the world is achallenge toenforce accountability transcending domestic and regional borders.
- The refusal of major states to bring themselves under the court’s jurisdiction has dampened the hope to ensure that serious atrocities committed by elected representatives do not go unpunished.
Source: The Hindu
Quick Facts
International Criminal Court (ICC)
- ICC is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal. It is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
- Headquarter: The Hague, Netherlands.
- It has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity (CAH), crime of aggression and war crimes.
- It complements the existing national judicial systems and so it can only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met.
- States which become party to the Rome Statute becomes member of ICC.
- The co-operation of the non-party states with ICC is of voluntary nature.
- But when a case is referred by the UNSCto the ICC, all UN member states are obliged to cooperate, since its decisions are binding for all of them.
- India is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
