Human Rights and the ICC

What constitutes crimes against humanity? Which body decides who is guilty of crimes against humanity and human rights violations?  The only International body founded to determine and try war crimes or crimes against humanity is supposedly the ICC (International Criminal Court). Another victim (dare I say African) targeted by the ICC is Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, allegedly wanted for genocide and war crimes against his own people. While there is no doubt that there have been a few African heads of state guilty of similar crimes, e.g. DRC’s Thomas Lubanga, Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo, Libya’s Seif Islam Gadaffi, and numerous others, much less is said about other leaders around the world, specifically from the West, who have committed similar crimes and worse, but with no consequences for their actions.

Wars by western countries against countries like Afganistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen has killed thousands of innocent victims, including women, children and the elderly.  There have been endless examples of atrocities committed by these military invasions, but no action is taken against the perpetrators. The wars in Libya, Yemen and Syria are illegal, and as such makes the violence against the country’s inhabitants a case for war crimes. The illegal drone attacks by the US military in Pakistan has also caused untold suffering of Pakistani families, yet the ICC and the UN turns a blind eye to these atrocities. The constant Israeli blockade and attacks on the people of Gaza and Lebanon is a classic case, but the Israeli government persists in their behaviour with scant regard or respect for humanity or the sovereignty of the people of Palestine. The attacks by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the poorest nation in the world, Yemen, is a totally illegal invasion, and unspeakable atrocities are committed by these governments on the people of Yemen, yet the ICC and the UN pretends there is nothing untoward in this flagrant abuse of international law. The illegal war by NATO on the Libyan people has killed thousands and displaced close to a million others, and no uproar from the UN or the ICC.

Western leaders like George W Bush (Dubya), Tony Blair, Barrack Obama, David Cameron and several others are continually declaring war on weaker nations with flimsy excuses for their invasions, yet nothing or no-one can touch them for the war crimes they brought upon the nations they invaded.  The AU (although they are just another elitist club with the same agenda as the G7) is correct in alleging the ICC is more Africa focussed when it came to the prosecution of war crimes.  And they have every reason to conclude this, given that the 8 cases the ICC is busy investigating is all from African countries. From an ICC point of view, International law must be applied to some but others are exempt from the same prosecutorial processes. In this case, all third world countries are fair game to be tried for war crimes, and Western or first world nations and their leaders are exempt. For once I agree with the ANC when they claimed that the ICC is no longer the useful legal entity for which it was intended!