The International Criminal Court was formed in 1998  during negotiations in Rome by the United Nations General Assembly. It is based in Hague.  It was established during the Rome negotiations.  Before its formation, there was an increase in cases related to genocide or war crimes worldwide. Hence, the international communities believed that there was a need to have an international court which would hear cases on such crimes that are beyond the local courts.  Since its formation, the ICC has handled many cases. Although some people have been acquitted of the charges, there are others who have been given jail sentences. Meaning, although it faces challenges, the ICC is an essential tool of justice to member states. Therefore, the paper argues that ICC is important it fighting impunity, promoting respect to the rule of law, and enhancing world peace.

Historical and institutional contexts of ICC

Contrary to the common belief regarding the establishment of the ICC, discussions to have a permanent international court started in Paris peace conference. Only thirteen states signed the convention. Also, none of the countries that signed the convention ratified it. Thus, could not be used for trials. During World War II, allied powers joined to form the ad hoc tribunals. They were established for the prosecution of axis power leaders.   The ad hoc tribunals showed that the world needed a permanent and stable justice structure.

Consequently, in 1948, two statutes of the International Law Commission were drafted during the United National General Assembly. However, they could not be implemented because of the instability created by the cold war. After the end of Cold War,  the International Law Commission created a presentation of the draft of the statute to members of the UN General Assembly. It recommended a need for the General Assembly to hold a meeting of member states that would facilitate negotiations regarding the statute of ICC. While the discussions mainly recommended the court for trials of acts of terrorism, with time, it was established that, just like terrorists, political leaders also significantly contributed to genocide, war crimes and acts against humanity.

Furthermore, during the 1980s and 1990s, there was an increase in crimes by people and groups that were deemed untouchable. There was a genocide in Rwanda and conflict in Croatian and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The Un General Assembly created a preparatory committee that would create a consolidated draft on the creation of an international court. Between 1996 and 1998, there was a series of six sessions by the UN Preparatory Committee held in New York. The sessions involved participation my members’ states and at least 200 non-governmental organizations.  At the end of the meeting, one hundred and 20 member states voted for the formation of ICC while twenty-one abstained. Also, countries like China, Iraq, Israel. And Qatar voted against the treaty. Then, the Preparatory committee started negotiations with member states involved complementary documents, privileges, and immunities of the ICC.  On the first July 2002, the Rome Statute entered into force.

The importance of the ICC in fighting Impunity

The ICC is essential in fighting impunity through prosecuting parties involved in the gravest crimes. The Rome Statute provides that ICC should hear cases that are beyond the capability of local courts found within the member states. As of 2014, the ICC had taken fourteen cases involving impunity in Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Libya, and Rwanda.

In DRC, the ICC focussed on crimes that were allegedly committed in Ituri and Sakovu between 2002 and 2003 during a coup in the Central African Republic.  Some of the people tried for the crimes included the former Vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba.  He was accused of rape and other pillage crimes committed by his troops while he was militia commander. The court ruled that he was guilty of the crimes and ordered to serve a jail term of eighteen years.  However, the court decided that it would deduct the eight years Bemba had spent in detention from his sentence.

Also, the ICC contributed to the decrease of impunity in Darfur. In 2003, Non-Arab tribes started violent protests against the Arab government in Khartoum.  During the conflict, at least two million people were displaced, and three hundred thousand people were killed.  Consequently, the ICC ordered that the then president, Bashir, should be charged with committing crimes against humanity.  Later, the ICC prosecutors added at least three accounts of genocide to the case.  His ability to travel was curtailed. Despite the allegations, Bashir focussed his efforts in proving that the ICC is a tool that is being used by western countries for imperialism. He wanted the Sudanese people to believe that the ICC was made of colonialists. After five years of investigation, ICC suspended the Darfur probe citing the inability of ICC’s security council to arrest Bashir and three other people accused of the same crime.

Another case in efforts to stop impunity handled by the ICC involved the son of the former President of Libya, Saif al-Islam. He lived a lavish life in British. However, when the revolution broke out in Libya, He returned to Libya to support the dictatorship regime of Gadaffi.  He gave numerous televised sessions condemning people who were fighting for change.  The ICC detained him after the end of the revolution. His trial began in 2014.  During the same period, he was handed a death sentence by a court in Tripoli. However, he was released from Zintan detention because the ICC failed to follow the due process in trials. Being that the case was ongoing in a Tripoli court while the ICC was detaining him, it means that he was being tried twice which is against the provisions of the ICC.  Nevertheless, his release started processes of reconciliation backed up by the UN-government.

After the 2007 general election in Kenya, there were violent protests by the followers of Raila Odinga. The latter believed that the polls presidential election had been rigged hence they could not recognize Mwai Kibaki as the president. Consequently, the ICC started prosecuting six allies of Mwai Kibaki, including the current president and deputy vice president. However, in 2016, all the cases had been abandoned because of what the prosecution referred to as dangerous interference with witnesses.

The cases involving the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Libya, and Kenya shows the importance the importance of ICC in ending impunity. All the cases involved thousands of people killed, raped, and displaced under the watch of able leaders. As such, it shows that ICC is vital in creating steady leadership and making leaders accountable for crimes committed under their supervisions or with their support.

Importance of ICC in establishing the Rule of Law

ICC is essential in building the rule of law by ensuring that the member states respect international law.  Being that it is a court, it has the primary responsibility of enhancing the rule of law just like local courts in respective countries.  The rule of law involves international development programs. Through this, the ICC Promotes depoliticization and increases dependence on international law as a point of reference in the implementation of the rule of law.  The importance of ICC in establishing the rule can be presented best using the case of Uganda during the prosecution of the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army from Northern Uganda.  Before the case, there was high defragmentation of the Ugandan Society based on competition for resources between different tribes.  The people from the Northern region believed that they had been marginalized in development projects because most government projects were being implemented in South Uganda.  After Museveni became the President, there was a violent reaction to his leadership by rebel movements made up Acholis who joined to form the Lord’s Resistance Army.  The government launched attacks on the LRM and labeling it as a terrorist group. After the September 11 attacks in USA, 2011, Museveni’s government successfully positioned the LRA as a terrorist group hence the USA added it to the list of terror organizations.  In 2003, the Ugandan government referred to the instability and conflicts created by the LRA to Moreno Ocampo, the then ICC prosecutor.  It was believed that this was Uganda’s attempt to involve the International Community In 2004, the prosecution agreed to open an investigation in Uganda.  Consequently, a warrant of arrest was issued for the leaders of LRA.

Although the ICC later initiated peace talks between the LRA members and representatives from the Ugandan government, its intervention in Uganda showed that ICC’s was crucial in providing notice to future violators of the International law by showing them that, just like the LRA, they had to recognize and obey the provisions of the International Law. The case showed that tension significantly reduced in Uganda after Museveni publicly announced the decision to take the LRA members to ICC.

Similarly, in 2016, during the swearing-in of President Museveni, delegates of the European, Canada and North America walked out in protest against Museveni’s remarks that ICC was made up by a group of useless people.  The delegates walked out because Museveni showed disrespect for International law through his comments and welcoming the participation of Al Bashir whom the court had indicted.  They believed that apart from disrespecting the International Law, Museveni failed to show regard to victims of crimes. Admittedly, it is ironical that the person who sought the intervention of ICC when he could not eliminate LRA would describe the ICC as useless. Nevertheless, the delegates proved that ICC’s role is to promote peace.

Importance of ICC in promoting international peace

Apart from making efforts to eliminate impunity and ensure respect for International Law, the ICC is equally essential in promoting international peace.  The importance is evident based on its intervention in countries like DRC.

War began in 1998 in DRC after a Congolese government was ousted in Kinshasa.  The conflict started as a civil war. Eventually, it turned into an international war between nation-states.  It is believed that at least six neighboring countries participated in the conflict at some point.  Research shows that the conflict-affected at least 5.4 million people. The number constitutes people who were killed, raped, displaced, and physically and mentally tortured. The gravity of the conflict in DRC increased pressure for the perpetrators of the crimes to be prosecuted by the ICC. In 2000, the country became a state party, and in 2004,  it invited the ICC to investigate crimes that were committed under the jurisdiction of the court.

Consequently, leaders like Bosco Ntaganda, Germain Katanga, Lubanga Dyilo, and Mathieu Ngudjolo were made to face charges related to rape, recruiting children into the army, sexual slavery, murder, and other crimes against humanity. As at now, only the case involving Lubanga, Katanga, and Ngudjolo have been concluded by the ICC. In the Lubanga case, the ICC concluded that he was guilty and sentenced him to fourteen years in imprisonment.  In the Katanga case, he was found guilty and sentenced to twelve years in prison.  In the Ngudjolo case, the ICC judges acquitted him of the charges.  The three trials have shown the positive role of ICC interventions in punishing international law offenders, giving victims justice, and restoring peace in conflict regions.

In conclusion, the purpose of the paper was to provide an analysis of the importance of the ICC. As such, the paper has shown that ICC is essential in eliminating impunity, promoting the rule of international law and enabling peace in regions affected by conflicts. ICC was formed as a need to have a single global community court to prosecute people accused of crimes that cannot be heard and judged by local courts. Admittedly, since it was formed, it has faced many challenges including being labeled as a tool for western Imperialism. Nevertheless, it is still vital for peace, respect for the rule of law and punishment of impunity.

 
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