19 May Garzon Granted Permission to Work at the ICC
19.05.10
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4 Comments
I continue to believe that this is a terrible idea:
Spain’s top judicial panel had suspended Mr Garzon on Friday pending his trial on charges he exceeded his authority by ordering an investigation into mass killings by the forces of former dictator Francisco Franco.
The suspension from his functions as a judge was widely thought in Spain to be an obstacle to a transfer to a foreign court but the judicial panel approved Garzon’s request to spend seven months at The Hague court.
“Legal reasons could not be found to prevent the hiring of the judge as a consultant”, Gabriela Bravo, spokeswoman for the judicial panel told reporters.
If Julian and I agree about something, could we possibly be wrong?
No, you could not be.
I think we’re all still wondering when we will be/ were sucked into a black hole… As this has to be some kind of alternative universe…
I have attended a number of debates where my African friends criticized the ICJ as a neocolonial tool to impose foreign values and standards on local peoples against their will, and my HRW friends insisted that justice is universal and Africa is just the beginning. From this debate about the ICJ’s role and legitimacy, appointing Garzon makes perfect sense: he seems to be one of the few influential Westerners who dare to insist on justice for all victims, regardless of the perpetrators. Here, Garzon is charged with doing so overzealously (not some run of the mill crime), making the political statement of hiring him all the more poignant.
Well, that should have read “ICC” instead of “ICJ” of course, but you get my drift…