The Czech Republic is set to become the 109th member of the ICC. The lower house of the Czech parliament recently voted 140-6 in favor of ratifying the Rome Statute, which the country signed in 1999. The upper house voted to ratify the Statute in July. Kudos to the Czech Republic!...
With all the attention being paid to the pending genocide charges against Bashir, the media has largely ignored Moreno-Ocampo's recent announcement that he intends to seek an arrest warrant against rebel commanders in Darfur who are believed to be responsible for a vicious attack on AU peacekeepers in 2007: "In a couple of weeks I will present my third case against...
A couple of months ago, I blogged about the possibility that Blackwater would support the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Darfur. That hasn't happened yet, but the company seems to have found another line of work -- fighting pirates off the coast of Somalia: Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms — some with a reputation for being quick on the...
Take five minutes out of your busy day and watch this interview, which would be hysterical if it was a Saturday Night Live send-up of an interview by a conservative newscaster, but is just sad because it's real. Notice how little the interviewer -- who is clearly animatronic and programmed by Powerline and Hugh Hewitt -- knows about "socialism" and...
It appears that there may have been some progress regarding the Prosecutor's ability to disclose the potentially exculpatory information to the defense -- progress that is not reflected in yesterday's decision. According to a recent motion, the Prosecutor has received permission to turn over all of the disputed documents to the Trial Chamber in unredacted form, so that the judges...
The Lubanga fiasco continues. Earlier today, the Appeals Chamber upheld the Trial Chamber's indefinite stay of the proceedings, but refused to order his immediate release, instead remanding the case to the Trial Chamber for further consideration of the issue. I have not had a chance to read the two -- typically lengthy -- decisions in any great detail, but these are...
Hope springs eternal in the Sudan -- at least on the part of the government. Apparently, Khartoum has managed to convince itself that the Pre-Trial Chamber's recent request for additional information concerning the charges against Bashir means that it intends to dismiss those charges: The Sudanese government hailed a decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requesting more...
While I am on the subject of relatively new blogs, I have to confess that I've been remiss in plugging one of my favorites, wronging rights, the product of the brilliant and fiendish minds of Amanda Taub and Kate Cronin-Furman. (For their "self-descriptions," see here.) I stand behind my description of the blog that they have kindly quoted on their...
Anyone interested in genocide issues would do well to check out the (relatively) new Stop Genocide Blog, a solo effort by the mysterious Michelle F. that is part of change.org's blog network. It's wonderfully written and follows Darfur, the DRC, and other situations much more closely than I do here. Check it out!...
That's the situation with the Sudanese government's latest contribution to the "peace" process: The United States, Darfuri rebels and Sudanese opposition parties have greeted a new initiative to solve the Darfur crisis with scepticism and boycotts, while Khartoum, the Arab League and the UN say it’s the region’s best hope. Widespread doubts about the credibility of the process prevail ahead of deliberations...
That's the headline of today's New York Times article about Ali Kushayb, the janjaweed militia leader who has been indicted by the ICC. According to the article, the "[t]he move is widely being interpreted as a way for Sudan to improve its image abroad and attempt to head off the possible genocide prosecution of the country’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir." Honestly,...
