The International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC), established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal, has been called the missing link in the international legal system. The International Court of Justice atThe Hague handles only cases between States, not individuals. Without an international criminal court for dealing with individual responsibility as an enforcement mechanism, acts of genocide and egregious violations of human rights often go unpunished. In the last 50 years, there have been many instances of crimes against humanity and war crimes for which no individuals have been held accountable. In Cambodia in the 1970s, an estimated 2 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge. In armed conflicts in Mozambique, Liberia, El Salvador and other countries, there has been tremendous loss of civilian life, including horrifying numbers of unarmed women and children. Massacres of civilians continue in Algeria and the Great Lakes region of Africa. In situations such as those involving ethnic conflict, violence begets further violence; one slaughter is the parent of the next. The guarantee that at least some perpetrators of war crimes or genocide may be brought to justice acts as a deterrent and enhances the possibility of bringing a conflict to an end. Two ad hoc international criminal tribunals, one for the former Yugoslavia and another for Rwanda, were created in this decade with the hope of hastening the end of the violence and preventing its recurrence. Nations agree that criminals should normally be brought to justice by national institutions. But in times of conflict, whether internal or international, such national institutions are often either unwilling or unable to act. Governments often lack the political will to prosecute their own citizens or high-level officials. Most perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout history have gone unpunished. Effective deterrence is a primary objective of those working at the international criminal court. Once it is clear that the international community will no longer tolerate such monstrous acts without assigning responsibility and meting out appropriate punishment – to heads of State and commanding officers as well as to the lowest soldiers in the field or militia recruits – it is hoped that those who would incite a genocide; embark on a campaign of ethnic cleansing; murder, rape and brutalise civilians caught in an armed conflict; or use children for barbarous medical experiments will no longer find willing helpers.