Tiina Intelmann Writes About US and ICC

Ambassador Intelmann.  Photo Credit: UN.

By Catherine Mullin

Last week, Tiina Intelmann, the President of the Assembly of States Parties, wrote a blog for Huffington Post about the relationship between the ICC and the United States in the past months. 

Kenya cases: Deputy President, and ICC suspect, Ruto reiterated his commitment to cooperate with the ICC

Deputy President Ruto arrives in the Netherlands for a status conference at The Hague this week.  Photo Credit: The Nation.

By Maryne Rondot

Speaking on Tuesday evening at a Status Conference at the ICC, Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto assured the judges that the he and President Kenyatta will cooperate with the Court as they had always done.

North Korea and the International Criminal Court

Photo Credit: CIA

By Catherine Mullin

Last week President Song acknowledged that the UN Security Council could refer a case in North Korea to the International Criminal Court, allowing the ICC to take up alleged human rights crimes in the country. 

Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert Is Excused and Dissents From Uhru Kenyatta Case

Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert at the Hague.  Photo Credit: justiceinconflict.org

By Catherine Mullin

 

In a document dated April 8, 2013, Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert requested to be excused from the case being brought against Uhru Kenyatta. 

John Kerry's History of Supporting International War Tribunals

Secretary of State John Kerry.  Photo Credit: US Department of State.

By Catherine Mullin

Secretary of State John Kerry has a long history of supporting international war tribunals.  He first expressed his acute awareness about atrocities during war when testifying to Congress concerning his time serving in the Vietnam War.  He continued this effort throughout his service in public office. 

The Ntaganda Case: Background and Updates on the Congolese Warlord

Mr. Bosco Ntaganda at his first hearing at the ICC. Photo Credit: ICC-CPI.

 

By Maryne Rondot and Catherine Mullin

 

On Monday, March 18, 2013, after six years of evading capture, Bosco Ntaganda walked into the US Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda and asked to be turned over to the International Criminal Court.  This came as a surprise to the Embassy, which was not expecting Ntaganda.  Recently Mr. Ntaganda was thought to have been living in luxury in Goma, a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  According to Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende, "Ntaganda had crossed into Rwanda on Saturday with help from the Rwandan army."  Ntaganda stayed at the US Embassy until a team from the ICC arrived in Kigali on the 20^th to assist the US government with "logistical arrangements". He was finally transferred to The Hague on March 22^nd.  The US government thanked the Rwandan, Dutch, and British government for assisting in Ntaganda´s transfer, but the specific nature of the involvement of each government has not been made public. 

Letter to the Editor of the Washington Post

RE: “Why is the International Criminal Court picking only on Africa?” By David Bosco, Op-Ed, March 29. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) approach, in which initial situations are in fact chosen by the Prosecutor and not “the ICC”, follows a set of established phases.  There are currently preliminary examinations occurring in Afghanistan, Georgia, Guinea, Colombia, Honduras, the Republic of Korea and Nigeria. This Prosecutor has not disregarded these situations, but instead is now gathering evidence.  Cases are not chosen indiscriminately, but according to the Court’s strict standards of jurisdiction and admissibility. 

Ambassador Rapp Announces Expansion of War Crimes Rewards Program to Include ICC Suspects

Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Stephen Rapp. Photo Credit: State Department

By Catherine Mullin and Maryne Rondot

This afternoon Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Stephen Rapp, held a press conference to announce the expansion of the War Crimes Rewards Program (WCRP). Ambassador Rapp was accompanied by the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Don Yamamoto. Ambassador Rapp shared the news that Secretary of State, John Kerry, has approved the offer of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest, transfer, and conviction of: the top three leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA): Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen, as well as Sylvestre Mudacumurand, the military commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and the nine fugitives from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) - Felicien Kabuga, Protais Mpiranya, Augustin Bizimana, Fulgence Kayishema, Pheneas Munyarugarama, Aloys Ndimbati, Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Charles Ryandikayo, and Charles Sikubwabo - who continue to elude justice.

The Rewards Program is managed by the Office for Global Criminal Justice (OGCJ). Previously the money in the Program was only approved for information regarding the tribunals in the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Rwanda (ICTR), and Sierra Leone (SCSL). Fourteen payments were made in the past 2 years, bringing all of the 161 people sought in Yugoslavia to justice and all but nine of the 92 sought in Rwanda. As these tribunals draw to a close, the OGCJ, with the help of Rep. Royce (R-CA) and Secretary Kerry, advocated expanding and modernizing the Program so it wouldn’t become obsolete. In January 2013 President Obama signed into law the Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012, S. 2318. This law allows the Secretary of State, after inter agency discussion and informing Congress, to provide monetary compensation for any information that leads to the arrest, transfer, and conviction of any foreign national accused by any foreign tribunal of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Ambassador Rapp reiterated word’s from Secretary Kerry’s blog post in the Huffington Post today about how “impunity is the enemy of peace. Accountability is essential to preventing atrocities from taking place in the future.” He also mentioned the positive stabilizing force the expansion of the Rewards Program would have on both American, and global, security. This expansion directly supports the work of the International Criminal Court, which Ambassador Rapp praised during his remarks. The Court was noted for its assistance in the fight to end impunity and bring the worst criminals to justice, including many on the War Crimes Rewards Program list such as Joseph Kony.