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The only way to see justice
Wednesday, March 30th, 2005By Kate Allen
Times Online, UK
3/30/05
TODAY the UN Security Council will finally discuss the findings of the long-awaited inquiry into whether genocide occurred in Darfur, western Sudan. Then it will vote on whether or not to get the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of human rights crimes. This is an historic opportunity for Britain to use the “special relationship” with the United States to persuade the world’s leading sceptic on the ICC that it is the best way to see justice done for the people of Darfur.
It was horrifying last summer to see hundreds of thousands of people streaming out of Darfur, their villages burnt out. Amnesty International interviewed refugees in Chad in early 2003 and reported on massacres and systematic rape. At least 180,000 people died in the conflict or from the resulting disease and malnutrition.
One serious concern is that people around the world see these images and read the reports, and see also that nothing is done to pursue the perpetrators of horrendous humanrights violations. It is easy to conclude that horrors will simply keep happening, as it is the way of the world and there is no justice.
But there is a mechanism for trying the most serious human rights crimes — at the ICC. In having the ICC investigate and bring prosecutions, survivors of atrocities can see justice done and a powerful warning is sent out to those who would commit similar crimes that they will not get away with it.
Britain played a crucial role in bringing the ICC into being in 2002. But Britain has already wobbled in the face of US hostility. Today is the day for Britain to live up to the commitment it made to help to see justice done in Darfur, by making the case for an ICC investigation in Sudan during the UN Security Council meeting.
The Government has already indicated that this is its preferred option. It now needs to ensure that our “special relationship” is a principled one, which encourages our powerful Atlantic ally to support the permanent court where the most serious human rights crimes are tried. If Britain fails to make the case vehemently, and if the US continues to veto attempts to refer cases to the ICC, both nations will be dealt a serious blow to their credibility as supporters of justice.
Kate Allen is director of Amnesty International UK
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