• About US
  • Our Work
Monday, December 4, 2023
  • Login
Journalists For Justice (JFJ)
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
Journalists For Justice (JFJ)
No Result
View All Result

Don’t be our enemy, ICC President tells America

byJournalists For Justice
April 3, 2019
in ICC Cases, Opinion
Reading Time: 2 mins read
36
A A

On 11 December 2018, H.E. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) to meet with the President of the Court, Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, and the Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

11
SHARES
122
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

By Millicent Zighe

America has been challenged to stop being an enemy of the International Criminal Court and instead support it.

ICC President Chile Eboe-Osuji appealed to the American leadership to support the court’s efforts to serve justice for victims of war crimes. “The past, the present and the future victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes need her to do so,” said Judge Eboe-Osuji during a meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington DC. His travel to the US comes only a fortnight since US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a visa ban on ICC oficials investigating American and Israeli citizens for war crimes and crimes against humanity. “I am announcing a visa restriction against anyone who participates in investigations of U.S. personnel,” Pompeo said.

Drawing on America’s rich history in advancning international criminal justice, Judge Eboe-Osuji said the US jurists had helped to create and operate international criminal tribunals such as those for Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone.  “There is no escaping the fact that America has, more than most, done much, in our world’s recent history, to further the cause of international criminal justice in a joint effort with other nations”, he said.

RelatedPosts

From injustice to accountability: Human rights organisations fight for Ukraine’s freedom

ICC opens confirmation of charges hearings for Mokom, alleged CAR war criminal

The greatness of small: A story of strategic political advocacy

America was instrumental in establishing the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg and the creation of the ICC through the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998. Although the US signed the treaty, it did not ratify it and subsequently withdrew its signature. The US’s relationship with the court has come into sharp relief after the ICC Prosecutor launched investigations into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan where America has been engaged in a war over the past 20 years. Fears about the possible prosecution of Asmerican soldiers were seen to have provoked a tirade against the ICC by National Security Advisor John Boilton in Spetember 2018, and the recent visa ban.

Judge Eboe-Osuji recalled that US Supreme Court Judge Robert H. Jackson was one of the key players in ensuring that victims of the Nazi regime received justice after the Second World War. “The efforts of Judge Jackson and others were integral in ensuring the smooth sailing of the Nuremberg process and laying the groundwork for the first draft of the ICC Statute decades later,” he added.

Judge Eboe-Osuji also attended the ceremony where former Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Frencz received the 2019 Anne Frank Award, which also gave a Special Recognition Award to the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre.

Related

Share4Tweet3Send
Previous Post

Complete structural changes needed to improve ICC performance

Next Post

I’ll still go to America despite visa ban, says defiant Bensouda

Next Post

I'll still go to America despite visa ban, says defiant Bensouda

Please login to join discussion

Recent Posts

  • 20 years of inaction fail to dampen activists’ hopes for justice and accountability for Liberia war atrocities
  • From injustice to accountability: Human rights organisations fight for Ukraine’s freedom
  • 14 years later, Guinea’s 2009 stadium massacre trial makes significant progress
  • Ukraine sees historic support at UN’s top court
  • Central African Republic: Abdoulaye Hissène caught in Special Criminal Court

Follow us on Twitter

Journalists For Justice (JFJ)

We call out impunity wherever it occurs; we advocate justice for all victims of atrocity crimes; and we work with people of goodwill everywhere who share our values.

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Loading

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers

Copyright © 2019. Journalists for Justice has asserted its right to be recognized as creators and owners of the content here. Reproduction in part or in whole is permitted on condition that JFJ is acknowledged and notified.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In