Originally published on the CGS blog on July 23, 2009.
On July 17, International Justice Day, Citizens for Global Solutions and Senator Dodd (D-CT) co-sponsored a panel entitled, “A Seven Year Assessment of the International Criminal Court: Accomplishments, Next Steps, and U.S. Priorities.” A lstanding room only crowd came in to see the Honorable Patricia Wald, Chair of the American Society of International Law task force on the ICC; Tod Lindberg, author of “Means to an End: U.S. Interest in the International Criminal Court;” and Benjamin Ferencz, prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials and Chief Prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen Trial.
The distinguished speakers agreed that the U.S. has a vested interest in supporting the ICC and joining its system, which 110 countries have already done. U.S. credibility is at stake when it does not support the only permanent international court capable of trying individuals for heinous crimes, like the genocide committed under the Sudanese President in Darfur. Because the ICC serves as a complement to existing national courts and does not seek to replace them, the U.S. does not compromise its judicial system by strengthening this important international organ.
The U.S. played a big role in the court’s formation, and many of its principles and ideals are in line with those of the U.S. It is unfortunate that given these circumstances, the U.S. has still not ratified the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that created the ICC. An ICC review conference in scheduled in 2010 to assess the court’s performance and define “crimes of aggression.” It is vital that the U.S. attends these meetings and discussions in preparation for it. Without doing so we will not be able to have our concerns addressed in an appropriate manner and at a time when there is still room for negotiations.
Amongst the valuable information and suggestions provided by our panelists, it was truly inspiring to have someone as experienced as Benjamin Ferencz speaking about the issue, who witnessed the horrors of war first-hand when he fought to bring the Nazi leadership to justice after World War II. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait until more people are exposed to such violence and injustice before the merits of the ICC are fully appreciated.
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