Comments on: Justice is Useless if it Destroys Peace http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur/2008/07/18/justice-is-useless-if-it-destroys-peace/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:03:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Khalid AlMubarak http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur/2008/07/18/justice-is-useless-if-it-destroys-peace/#comment-2171 Khalid AlMubarak Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:03:23 +0000 http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur/?p=580#comment-2171 Mr Okuk is right. We have a relevant precedent in Sudan . The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 05 and put an end to a long and devastating civil war. It provided a rare victory for the Bush administration and the West in a Muslim country. The role the USA ,the UK and other "brokers" was crucial in that agreement and it is highly appreciated. What would have happened if a condition was put (before the final signature) to look into human rights violations by either side ? How long would that have taken. What result would it have achieved? Besides, who can prove that the Law is separable from politics ?The legal system encodes the balance of power in society. When the balance shifted in the US President Eisenhower sent federal troops to LIttle Rock to enforce integration.When the establishment in the US and the UK felt threatened by terrorism most of the much cherished civil liberties became redundant. Ocampo's motive is political.The ICC has failed to make progress in 6 years and Ocampo's errors have meant the collapse in June08 of a high profile case which was dismissed because Ocampo did not show the Defence team an important file. He needed shock tactics also because the ILO's administrative tribunal was looking into a case by Christian Palme against the ICC . The Judgement was declared on 9July and was duly overshadowed by the Bashir indictment furore. Mr Palme won his case because of another example of Ocampo's legal standard .He sat on a committee which took a decicision against an appeal submitted by Mr Palme about his dismissal by Ocampo! He also refused to comply with an advice to reinstate M. Palme. Several legal experts interviewed by BBC radio 4's Profile programme(19July) stated that the ICC was headed for trouble if its prosecutor worked without skilled advisors and took cases out of context. Mr Okuk is right. We have a relevant precedent in Sudan . The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 05 and put an end to a long and devastating civil war. It provided a rare victory for the Bush administration and the West in a Muslim country. The role the USA ,the UK and other “brokers” was crucial in that agreement and it is highly appreciated. What would have happened if a condition was put (before the final signature) to look into human rights violations by either side ? How long would that have taken. What result would it have achieved?
Besides, who can prove that the Law is separable from politics ?The legal system encodes the balance of power in society. When the balance shifted in the US President Eisenhower sent federal troops to LIttle Rock to enforce integration.When the establishment in the US and the UK felt threatened by terrorism most of the much cherished civil liberties became redundant.
Ocampo’s motive is political.The ICC has failed to make progress in 6 years and Ocampo’s errors have meant the collapse in June08 of a high profile case which was dismissed because Ocampo did not show the Defence team an important file. He needed shock tactics also because the ILO’s administrative tribunal was looking into a case by Christian Palme against the ICC . The Judgement was declared on 9July and was duly overshadowed by the Bashir indictment furore. Mr Palme won his case because of another example of Ocampo’s legal standard .He sat on a committee which took a decicision against an appeal submitted by Mr Palme about his dismissal by Ocampo! He also refused to comply with an advice to reinstate M. Palme.
Several legal experts interviewed by BBC radio 4’s Profile programme(19July) stated that the ICC was headed for trouble if its prosecutor worked without skilled advisors and took cases out of context.

]]> By: Alesio Clement http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur/2008/07/18/justice-is-useless-if-it-destroys-peace/#comment-2026 Alesio Clement Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:26:18 +0000 http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur/?p=580#comment-2026 Okuk's arguments are faulty in may ways. If it is true that ICC Chief prosecutor has used faulty procedures which in his view are experimental, then why the regime is so worried since Monday 14? It is not even true to claim that Sudan's judicary system is capable to look into cases involving senior people in the NCP regime. In its efforts to tell the ooutside worls is was doing somthings with the crimes against unarmed civilians in Darfur, it mandated Dafa'allah Commission of Iquiry which establhsded evidences that crimes had in fact occurred. The regime never acted on the findning of a commission it established, a proof that the regime has no will to pursue justice for its own citizens. Sudan's judiciary is not independent after the prosent government purged the system ofmm people who did not toe the political line of the Islamist regime. All these and much more are convincing facts that the judiciary in Sudan cannot be trusted to deliver jusice to the best interests of the victims in Darfur, most of whom-over 300,000- are not with us (although Al Bashir claims the total number of those killed are about 9,000). So, ICC is the only credible body that can deliver justice without which peace will remain a mirage as is the case with the CPA. Because justice was skipped in the CPA, we are now witnessing many problems with the implementation of this agreement. Alesio Okuk’s arguments are faulty in may ways. If it is true that ICC Chief prosecutor has used faulty procedures which in his view are experimental, then why the regime is so worried since Monday 14?

It is not even true to claim that Sudan’s judicary system is capable to look into cases involving senior people in the NCP regime. In its efforts to tell the ooutside worls is was doing somthings with the crimes against unarmed civilians in Darfur, it mandated Dafa’allah Commission of Iquiry which establhsded evidences that crimes had in fact occurred. The regime never acted on the findning of a commission it established, a proof that the regime has no will to pursue justice for its own citizens.
Sudan’s judiciary is not independent after the prosent government purged the system ofmm people who did not toe the political line of the Islamist regime. All these and much more are convincing facts that the judiciary in Sudan cannot be trusted to deliver jusice to the best interests of the victims in Darfur, most of whom-over 300,000- are not with us (although Al Bashir claims the total number of those killed are about 9,000).

So, ICC is the only credible body that can deliver justice without which peace will remain a mirage as is the case with the CPA. Because justice was skipped in the CPA, we are now witnessing many problems with the implementation of this agreement.

Alesio

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