On 17 July 2017 there were strong indications that the US
States Department was planning to either close the Office of Global Criminal
Justice (GCJ) entirely, or to reassign its staff and responsibilities to the
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (the Bureau). There is no official
statement yet, but the reassignment of Todd Buchwald, acting head, makes its
impending close appear very likely. The purpose of this blog post is to explain
why the closure of an independent GCJ matters to those interested in the International
Criminal Court and the values it upholds. The GCJ has been the office
responsible for the official US relations with the International Criminal Court
(ICC).
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| Todd Buchwald, Acting Head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice US State Department Photo |
The principles enunciated by the GCJ has its origins in a
fundamental shift in US foreign policy during the Carter Administration. Carter’s
election symbolized a move was away from acknowledging human rights, to
actively pursuing the cause. In 1977, his inauguration speech explicitly stated
“Because we are free, we can never been indifferent to the fate of freedom
elsewhere.” Twenty years later, this commitment led Madeleine Albright to
create the Office of War Crimes Issues (now GCJ) within the States Department.
The GCJ has been in operation twenty years, and its achievements
have been great in dealing with atrocities around the world.
- Continued campaigning to ensure foreign Governments do not extend diplomatic invitations to Sudanese officials that are wanted by the ICC, including incumbent President Al-Bashir;
- Negotiations and fund-raising to assist the creation of the AU-Senegalese Court;
- Continued technical support to the government and people of Colombia in their transitional justice process;
- Obtained and released 30,000 Caesar photos from Syria, exposing the recent atrocities committed under the current Bashar al-Assad regime;
- Assisted the State Department in assisting the African Union to set up a hybrid court to prosecute international crimes within Africa;
- Provided active support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia;- Seconded staff to the European Union’s Special Investigative Task Force;
- Drawn attention to the ongoing conflict in Burundi, including assisting the Atrocity Prevent Board’s mission in the region; and
- Raising American and global awareness of the Yazidi genocide in Iraq, perpetrated by the international terror group IS.
Beyond its commitment for accountability and against
impunity, the GCJ also runs an active War Crimes Rewards Program. This has been
in operation since 15 January 2013, and offers up to $5million USD to
individuals who provide information regarding designated defendants who have
been charged with the commission of international crimes. This program has been
effective, in securing fugitives subject to arrest warrants from the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International
Tribunal for Rwanda. More recently, the Program has assisted in detaining
Dominic Ongwen, Ladislas Ntaganzwq and Jean Bosco Ntaganda; Ongwen and Ntaganda
being ICC defendants. The program is currently seeking information to aid the
capture of other perpetrators such as Joseph Kony.
The importance of the GCJ is evident from these achievements.
The GCJ is a continued demonstration to the world that the United States is
committed to ending impunity and bringing those responsible for grave
atrocities to justice. Although the functions of the GCJ may remain when the
Office is subsumed under the Bureau; there is a reasonable concern that its
integration may come at the cost of a specific focus on war crimes and
international justice. The values of the Bureau are to promote freedom,
democracy and protect human rights. Although a focus on international criminal
law may be inferred by the nature of the Bureau’s objectives, issues of
criminal justice are unlikely to be at the forefront. The consequences may be
that the US may appear to have backed away from its commitment to end impunity,
and international criminals may conclude that they will not be held accountable
for their crimes.
Written by Ally L. Pettitt
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