OUVRAGE : E.A. Ankumah (ed.), The International Criminal Court and Africa: One Decade On

Evelyn A. ANKUMAH

More than ten years ago the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established as a universal court meant to achieve criminal justice worldwide. That goal still stands, but so far the Court has dedicated most of its time and resources to African conflicts in which international crimes have been committed.

While the ICC can be said to contribute to criminal justice in Africa, it cannot be denied that the relationship between the Court and the continent has been troublesome. The ICC has been accused of targeting Africa, and many African states do not seem willing to cooperate with the Court. Debates on Africa and international criminal justice are increasingly politicised.

The authors of this volume all recognise the current problems and criticism. Yet they do not side with populist pessimists who, after just over a decade of ICC experiences, conclude that the Court and international criminal justice are doomed to fail. Rather, the contributors may be regarded as cautious optimists who believe there is a future for international criminal justice, including the ICC. The contributors use their unique specific knowledge, expertise and experiences as the basis for reflections on the current problems and possible paths for improvement, both when it comes to the ICC as such, and its specific relationship with Africa.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Editor’s Note
Preface, Navanethem Pillay
List of Abbreviations
List of Authors

Fighting Impunity: African States and the International Criminal Court
Chris Maina Peter

1. Introduction
2. The International Community and Serious Human Rights Violations
3. The International Criminal Court – Aim and Purpose
4. Africa and the ICC
5. Kenya and the ICC
6. Is the ICC an Instrument of Declining Imperialism?
7. The ICC Replies to Critics
8. Is Opting Out of the Rome Statute the Solution?
9. Withdrawal of the Charges against Uhuru Kenyatta and its Impact on the Work of the ICC
10. Conclusion
Bibliography

The Rome Statute and Universal Human Rights
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng, Alexander Heinze

1. Introduction
2. The History of Universal Human Rights
3. The Heart of the Rome Statute: Article 21(3)
4. Conclusion
Bibliography

Challenging the Culture of Impunity for Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes
Fatou Bensouda

1. Introduction
2. Challenges at the National Level
3. Challenges at the International Level
4. Focusing on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes
5. Challenging the Narrative Internationally
6. Challenging the Narrative Nationally
7. Conclusion
Bibliography

Impunity Through Immunity: The Kenya Situation and the International Criminal Court
Leila Nadya Sadat, Benjamin Cohen

1. Introduction
2. The Kenya Situation’s Referral to the International Criminal Court and Litigation in the Kenyatta and Ruto Cases Regarding the
Obligation of the Accused to Appear before the Court
3. Challenges to Kenyatta’s Trial and the Law on Head of State Immunity
4. Head of State Immunity in International Law
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

Defence Perspectives: State Cooperation and ICC Detention: A Decade Past an Arrest Warrant
Xavier-Jean Keïta  

1. Introduction
2. ‘Detention as an Exception’
3. Interim Release at the ICC
4. Cooperation
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

Towards a Multi-Layered System of International Criminal Justice
Mia Swart

1. Introduction
2. Mutual Dependency and Legitimacy
3. A Package of Cases: Campbell, Fick, and Zimbabwe Torture Docket Case
4. Complementarity and Jurisdiction
5. The Al-Bashir Matter: A Step Backwards
6. Promising Complementarity Initiatives in Uganda and Senegal
7. The African Court of Justice and Human Rights: A Viable Alternative?
8. Conclusion
Bibliography

Complementarity in Practice and ICC Implementing Legislation: Lessons from Uganda
Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya

1. Introduction
2. Background: The History and Origins of the War Crimes Division and the Conflict Propagated by the Lord’s Resistance Army
3. The Creation of the ICD and the Laws Applicable
4. Thomas Kwoyelo: Testing the Waters and the International Crimes Division’s First Case
5. The Challenges of the International Crimes Division (ICD)
6. Challenge of Lack of Capacity
7. Challenges of Office Space
8. Conclusion
Bibliography

Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Implications of the Termination of the Kenyatta Case Before the ICC
George Kegoro

1. Introduction
2. Understanding the Choice of the ICC as Kenya’s Eventual Justice Mechanism
3. Future Prospects of the Kenyatta Case
4. Conclusion
Bibliography

Transforming Legal Concepts and Gender Perceptions
Brigid Inder

1. Introduction
2. Inclusive Justice
3. Indicators of the Common Purpose
4. Looking Ahead
Bibliography

Exploring Eff orts to Resolve the Tension Between the AU and the ICC over the Bashir Saga 
Max du Plessis

1. Introduction
2. The Proclaimed Double Bind
3. A Wanted War Criminal Comes to (and Leaves) Town
4. Resolving the ICC/AU Impasse?
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

When We Don’t Speak the Same Language: The Challenges of Multilingual Justice at the ICC Lorraine
Smith van-Lin

1. Introduction
2. Language and the ICC
3. Multilingualism at the ICC: Challenges and Achievements
4. Language Services at a Cost
5. Defendants’ Right to Language, Translation and Interpretation
6. Victims’ Language Rights
7. Languages and Complementarity
8. Conclusion
Bibliography

The Role of the African Union in International Criminal Justice: Force for Good or Bad?
Godfrey M. Musila

1. Introduction
2. Global Context and Overview of Regional and Sub-Regional Bodies
3. The Role of the AU’s Political and Deliberative Organs
4. The AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the Peace and Security Council
5. Preventive Action and Preventive Diplomacy
6. Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement
7. Humanitarian Intervention and International Criminal Justice
8. The AU and Ad Hoc Courts: The Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal
9. Shaping the Debate on Important Questions in International Criminal Justice
10. Universal Jurisdiction Debate
11. Blowing Hot and Cold? The AU and the International Criminal Court
12. Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
13. The Role of Judicial and Adjudicative Bodies
14. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
15. African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR)
16. African Criminal Court
17. Conclusion: Looking to the Future
Bibliography

A Seed for World Peace Growing in Africa: The Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression and the Monsoon of Malabo
Jutta F. Bertram-Nothnagel

1. Introduction
2. Kampala
3. Malabo
4. Malabo and Kampala
Bibliography

The Rights of Victims of Serious Violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law: A Human Rights Perspective
Cécile Aptel

1. Introduction
2. Definition of Victims of Gross Violations of IHRL and Serious Violations of IHL
3. Nature and Sources of Victims’ Rights
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

Boko Haram’s Insurgency in Nigeria: Exploring the Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Pathways
Idayat Hassan, Benson Chinedu Olugbuo

1. Introduction
2. Justice, Peace, Reconciliation and the ‘Interests of Justice’ in the Rome Statute
3. The Niger Delta Conflict vis-à-vis the Northern Nigeria Conflict
4. Nigeria and Resource Control in the Niger Delta
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

Ten Years of International Criminal Court Practice – Trials, Achievements and Tribulations: Is the ICC Today what Africa Expects or Wants?
Akbar Khan

1. Introduction
2. Selectivity of Cases
3. Relationship with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
4. Efficient and Effective Functioning of the Court
5. Cooperation, Complementarity and Universality
6. Conclusion

Universal Jurisdiction, African Perceptions of the International Criminal Court and the New AU Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights
Manuel J. Ventura, Amelia J. Bleeker

1. Introduction
2. Negative African Perceptions of the ICC: The Disconnect between Rhetoric and Reality
3. The Jurisdiction of the African Court under the Protocol
4. The Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction over International Crimes Committed in Africa
5. African Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction
6. Surmounting Obstacles to the African Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction over International Crimes Committed in Africa
7. Conclusion: A Future for Universal Jurisdiction in Africa?
Bibliography

Punishment as Prevention? The International Criminal Court and the Prevention of International Crimes
Kjell Follingstad Anderson

1. Introduction
2. International Crimes and International Criminal Justice
3. The Prevention of International Crimes
4. Conclusion: The ICC and the Prevention of International Crimes
Bibliography

Complementarity and Africa: Tackling International Crimes at the Domestic Level
Angela Mudukuti

1. Introduction
2. International Law and its Place in the South African Legislative Framework
3. The ICC Act
4. The Supreme Court of Appeal Proceedings
5. Constitutional Court Proceedings
6. Concluding Remarks on the Zimbabwe Torture Case
7. The Bashir Case (SALC v. The Minister of Justice and Others)
8. Other Initiatives
9. The Role of Civil Society
10. Conclusion
Bibliography

The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
André Klip

1. Introduction
2. The First African International Criminal Tribunal
3. The Genocide Tribunal
4. Intense Relationship with the Situation State
5. The Successful Tribunal
6. Conclusion
Bibliography

Can there be Justice Without Reparations? Identifying Gaps in Gender Justice
Renifa Madenga

1. Introduction
2. The International Criminal Justice System and the Theory of Reparations
3. What Does Justice Mean to Some of the ICTR Survivor Witnesses I Interviewed?
4. Identifying the Forms of Reparation
5. Reparations and Reconciliation
6. Conclusion
Bibliography

Transitional Justice and the ICC: Lessons from Rwanda
Leo C. Nwoye

1. Introduction
2. Transitional Justice and Legal Pluralism in Rwanda: the Collective Level (ICTR) and the Individual Level (Gacaca)
3. Overview of the ICC’s Prosecutorial Mandate
4. Lessons for the ICC
5. Conclusion
Bibliography

Looking Forward, Anticipating Challenges: Making Sense of Disjunctures in Meanings of Culpability
Kamari Maxine Clarke

1. Introduction
2. Making Sense of the Perpetrator
3. Culpability and the Challenge of Legal Time
4. Foundations for Continuing Crimes in the Kenyan Postcolonial Imagination
5. Command Responsibility, Legal Time, and the Problem of Continuing Crimes
6. Proximity, Intimacy, and Redirecting the Culpability of the Perpetrator
7. Conclusion
Bibliography

Building the Base: Local Accountability for Conflict-Period Sexual Violence
Kim Thuy Seelinger, Julie Freccero

1. Introduction
2. Local Actors: Who They Are and Why They Are Important
3. The Study
4. Accountability Challenges During Recent Conflict
5. Signs of Progress
6. Considerations for Improving Domestic Accountability for Conflict-Period Sexual Violence
7. Conclusion
Bibliography

Safety and Security of Protected Witnesses and Acquitted and Released Persons: Lessons from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Roland Kouassi Amoussouga Géro

1. Introduction
2. The Experience of the ICTR
3. Relocating ICTR Protected Witnesses
4. Relocating Acquitted and Released Persons
5. Lessons Learned from the ICTR
6. Possible Solutions and Way Forward
7. Conclusion
Bibliography

Bridging the Legal Gap: The International Initiative for Opening Negotiations on a Multilateral Treaty for Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition in the Domestic Prosecution of Atrocity Crimes
Anne-Sophie Massa

1. Introduction
2. The Early Days
3. The Main Objectives
4. The Proposed Content
5. Latest Developments and Way Forward
6. Conclusion
Bibliography

Evelyn A. ANKUMAH (ed.), The International Criminal Court and Africa: One Decade On, Cambridge, Intersentia, 2016 (676 pp.)