The Hague is not hell, but justice there seems slow

By Agencies and Maseme Machuka

The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened its doors in The Hague on July 1, 2002.

The ICC has since been ratified by more than 108 countries and has the power to try individuals for crimes committed anywhere in the world.

With the defeat of the Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2009, which sought to entrench the Special Tribunal Bill in the Constitution, all indications are that post-election violence castigators could be sent to The Hague.

The Hague’s wheels of justice are slow, as experience has shown.

There are pending warrants of arrest against Lord Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and Sudanese leader El Bashir, but both remain free.

As of October 4, 2007, the Office of the Prosecutor had received 2,889 communications about alleged crimes in at least 139 countries.

Only 4 cases started since 2007

But by last January, the Prosecutor had opened investigations into four situations: Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Darfur.

Several other situations have been subject to "intensive analysis", including Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, CÙte d’Ivoire, Georgia and Kenya.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo reviewed the vast majority of the communications and many were dismissed for being "manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the court."

More often than not, the ICC takes up cases where conventional institutions are considerably eroded to be able to deliver credible justice.

When the court was established by an international conference in Rome, only seven countries voted against it.

They included China, Israel, United States and Iraq.

Former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga’s case became the first to be heard before the ICC.

In 2005, the ICC charged five LRA commanders with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Two have since been killed.

The Prosecutor may open an investigation under three circumstances: When a situation is referred to him by a state party (a country that has ratified the Rome Statute); when a situation is referred to him by the United Nations Security Council acting to address a threat to international peace and security; or when the Pre-Trial Chamber authorises him to open an investigation on the basis of information received from other sources such as individuals or non-governmental organisations.

Detention of the arrested

The arrested are put in detention cells at the court’s headquarters in Netherlands.

The ICC currently has 12 detention cells in a Dutch prison in Scheveningen, The Hague.

Suspects held by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are in the same prison and share some facilities like the fitness room, but have no contact with suspects held by the ICC.

The detention centre houses five suspects: Thomas Lubanga, Germain Katanga, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Jean-Pierre Bemba and former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

Taylor is being tried under the mandate and auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but his trial is being held at the ICC’s facilities in The Hague because of political and security concerns about holding the trial in Freetown.

The ICC registrar is responsible for managing the detention centre.

The rules governing detainment are contained in Chapter 6 of the Regulations of the Court and Chapter 5 of the Regulations of the Registry.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has unrestricted access to the detention centre.

The cells are not anything near what we have here in Kenya for VIPs.

Each individual has his own toilet and washing area.

They have access to a small gym and are offered training with a physical education instructor.

Detainees are provided with meals, but they may also cook for themselves, purchase food from the prison shop, and have ingredients ordered in.

However, Charles Taylor’s lawyers have complained, "the food which is served is completely Eurocentric and not palatable to the African palate".

Source: www.wikipedia.org