Maybe you've heard of
Danica Patrick. She drives cars really fast. Sometimes faster than
the boys. I have eyes for only one beautiful lady, but I'm told
Danica is also pretty easy on the eye; a marketer's dream. Recently
her stardom rose inexorably closer to its zenith as she set a first
by winning pole for the Daytona 500. It's a really big deal, if
you're interested in that type of thing.
A
less well reported
female first was that of the warrant issued by the International
Criminal Court for Simone Gbagbo. This was 'unsealed' - as the
terminology dictates - in November 2012 in pursuit of the former First
Lady of Côte d'Ivoire. Mrs Gbagbo has a case to answer in The
Hague for crimes against humanity, murder, rape, sexual violence,
inhumane acts and persecution.1
As with most people who the ICC have issued warrants for, Mrs Gbagbo
is a long way from making an appearance in the dock.
Criticisms of the
international criminal justice system (ICC, ICTY, ICTR etc) are not
hard to find, or to agree with. High on the list of criticisms is that not enough is happening, and what is happening is not happening quickly enough. Those with cases to answer
seem to be struck down with all manner of illnesses and deteriorating
health associated with old age. A cynic would note that trials being
overtaken by incapacity of the defendant due to old age is hardly
testimony to the wheels of justice clocking up RPM's in Danica
Patrick territory, while a greater cynic may raise a knowing eyebrow
at the curious correllation between feeling under the weather and
having to mount a defence against charges of genocide. Furthermore
the ICC is to a great degree an institution of justice to which a
nation volunteers to be bound to. Some 70% of the world's population
is beyond its reach2.
You'll find the state run by your common-or-garden authoritarian
madman tends not to get involved – nor too do Russia, China or the US. Which of these latter states fall in to both
categories I shall leave to the reader's discretion.
Yes the UN Security
Council can refer cases to the ICC, but realistically this isn't
going to happen to any nation that is an ally of a veto holding member
of the Security Council. Another criticism is that the ICC is
excessively focussed on Africa. Well, with so many avenues closed off
to its investigations, and such a bountiful supply of genocidal
suspects in certain African countries, it would seem that there is a
plausible explanation for the regional imbalance of cases under
review.
Back to Simone Gbagbo. She is currently detained
in Côte d'Ivoire where she faces trial before a national court for a
number of charges – including genocide. The current regime in the
west African state is considering whether to fulfil the warrant and
present her to the ICC. It's not something that they are expected to
do, for she may be the tin-opener for the can of worms.
For all Danica Patrick's profile she has tasted
victory just the once in some 180 races in her IndyCar and NASCAR
career. She has taken her defeats gracefully. The same can't be said
for Mr and Mrs Gbagbo who refused to recognize their defeat in the
2010 Côte d'Ivoire presidential run off, and so triggered five
months of killing, rape and brutal torture resulting in some 3,000
deaths along ethnic and political lines carried out by forces loyal
to the outgoing President Laurent Gbabgo, and also those of the
incoming - and current - President Alassane Ouattara. It has been
documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and a United
Nations mandatated commission of inquiry that both sides committed
war crimes, and likely, crimes against humanity.3
There have been over 150 people charged with
crimes following the post-election killing spree. All of these have
been individuals loyal to the Gbabgo regime4.
No member of Ouattara's forces have been charged, though the reigning
President assures the international community that investigations are
ongoing and that justice will be impartial for crimes committed
during the post-election period. This or course carries all the resonance of a
teenager promising his mother he'll turn off his Playstation "in a
minute" to clean his bedroom.
The cases from the ICC
against the Ouattara
faction are very slow moving. For 3,000 deaths, with two distinct
parties culpable, only two warrants
have been issued - and they both to one side of the conflict: "His &
Hers" matching warrants in fact, to Simone Gbabgo, and her husband, the
former
President Laurent Gbabgo. The (reluctant) ex-President was handed over to The Hague, and this week will sit before the ICC and hear
confirmation of charges. This is not a trial, rather an opportunity
for the prosecution to convince the ICC that there is sufficient
evidence against Laurent Gbabgo to warrant a trial. There have been a
number of false starts to this part of the proceedings due to the
obligatory bout of ill-health which has struck the defendant, but it
does look as if the case will advance in the coming days.
At this point it seems that victor's Justice is
the only justice in town. President Ouattara has handed over his
enemy to the ICC in an attempt to placate the international community
while ensuring he can manage domestic justice in accordance with who
he wishes to prosecute and who he wishes to exonerate. Handing over
Simone Gbabgo would undermine his own legal proceedings, and would
perhaps then shift attention to his own role in the violence. Of
course should it ever come to pass, being a reigning President with
an outstanding warrant from the ICC would not give Ouattara an entry
in the book of firsts alongside his nemesis' wife and Danica Patrick.
President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan beat him to it some four years ago
and still holds on to power as his forces and their proxies continue
to indulge in slaughter in Darfur.
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