Kenya plunged into a dark episode of violence following the controversial presidential election of 2007. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recently announced its investigation into issues of complementarity, peace, justice, victims, and affected communities in the country.
The legacy of systematic human rights violations committed during violent conflict and repressive rule can reach well into the new order. Transitional justice can help societies address the past through prosecutions, truthseeking, reparations for victims and institutional reform. Justice in this sense includes and goes beyond criminal justice, encompassing broader notions of accountability and redress.
The ICC is the most significant international development of our time in the fight against impunity. Since July 1, 2002, when it entered into force, the Rome Statute system has profoundly changed responses to international crimes. The Review Conference is a landmark opportunity to assess the workings of the Statute and the Court, and will be held from May 31 to June 11, 2010 in Kampala, Uganda.
Transitions focuses on victims and the ICC review conference. David Tolbert, ICTJ President, discusses the ICC and review of the Rome Statute.
In August 2006 the United Nations Security Council mandated the establishment of the Serious Crimes Investigation Team (SCIT) as an extension of the previous “serious crimes” process, under the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). Early in 2008, the team began assisting the country’s Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) with investigations into outstanding cases of serious human rights violations committed in 1999.
In August 2006 the Security Council created the UN Serious Crimes Investigation Team, as an extension of the previous investigation under the UN Integrated Mission Timor-Leste.
Transitions focuses on The International Criminal Court and complementarity. ICTJ's Mirna Adjami and Michael Reed discuss legal frameworks in Colombia and the DRC.
The situation in Uganda presented a challenging first case for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The origins of the conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government are complex, and many people in the north resent the government for failing to protect them from the LRA.
Few conflicts have garnered as much attention as the recent one in Darfur. Widespread atrocities reported by several organizations including an International Commission of Investigation compelled the United Nations (UN) Security Council to refer the situation in the western region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2005.
Although in force only recently, the Rome Statute has changed many of the assumptions of earlier peace versus justice debates, at least for States Parties.