Originally published on the CGS blog on August 12, 2007.
As I previewed earlier, this morning I moderated a fascinating panel at the ABA meeting on the Legacy of Nuremberg. The panelists were Professor David Crane (former Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Professor Luz Nagel (an expert in Latin America issues generally and Colombia specifically) and Judge Tunheim (U.S. District Court for Minnesota). The three panelists and I covered a broad swath of territory in the international justice sphere ranging from the U.S.-ICC relationship to the rule of law in post conflict societies to the challenges facing the next U.S. President.
David Crane gave a terrific presentation on his time in West Africa and eloquently humanized the issues we were addressing. Luz Nagle gave a detailed and very important presentation about the fact that Colombia has failed to grapple with the massive human rights violations caused by both guerilla forces and government supported paramilitaries. Her presentation was critical because it dealt with a situation that is likely to be the first ICC case outside Africa – she also put it in a global context which was invaluable to the audience. Professor Nagle put in context her three key lessons of Nuremberg (I hope to look at these in a future article). Judge Tunheim really illustrated the challenges facing a justice initiative in a region where the major powers are heavily invested in ensuring a successful political transition.
For me a real high point was when Justice Kennedy asked the panel whether there are real risks that international justice is viewed as western justice in Africa. David Crane answered the question well by discussing the importance of really listening to locals and understanding what they want to see happen. I added on that in Northern Uganda there is clear evidence that what the people want is a little different to what is being reported ? while some groups are suggesting the people do not want justice to get in the way of peace, the reality (as shown by the ICTJ/UB report) is that the people actually do want both ? they want peace AND so called ?western? style justice. I was humbled by the fact that Justice Kennedy attended our panel and engaged in such a thoughtful manner.
Clearly, judging by the very large crowd and the prominent slot afforded to this program, the ABA from the leadership to the members intends to remain engaged in the challenges facing our country and the international community in the area of international justice ? and that can only be a very good thing. I’ll have more to report later but just wanted to provide this update.
