Rwandan President Paul Kagame is personally invested in making Rwanda a country that is committed to reconciliation, human rights and self-sufficiency. Toward that end, Kagame is seeking to mobilize the most powerful social force in his country—Rwandan pastors—to protect human rights and pursue forgiveness in a country that has much to forgive. In 2005 Kagame partnered with...
In its application for the arrest warrant, the Prosecution argued that the Sudanese government's genocidal intent could be inferred from, inter alia, the slow-death conditions in the IDP camps. As part of that claim, the Prosecution pointed out the numerous ways in which Bashir's regime had hindered international efforts to provide the Darfuris in the IDP camps with humanitarian assistance. One...
Earlier this week, the U.S. became the 66th UN member state to sign on to the Statement of Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity. This is another departure from the Bush-era human rights policy, albeit a symbolic one. And, as Dianne Amann's post at IntlawGrrls implies, it's pretty amazing symbolism. The Statement is the first UN declaration...
The following is a guest post written by Kate Cronin-Furman and Amanda Taub, the brains behind the must-read blog wronging rights. My thanks to them for contributing it. Two weeks ago, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. (We’re sure you all remember; it was kind of a...
I have been traveling throughout the country the past few days meeting with dozens of leaders discussing the past and future of Rwanda. The meetings have been incredibly hopeful and positive and there is an undeniable optimism about the direction of the country. But wherever one goes one cannot escape the long shadow of genocide. It continues...
Alex de Waal criticizes Moreno-Ocampo''s decision to appeal the genocide issue today at his blog Making Sense of Darfur. It's a nasty and remarkably patronizing post. It also exhibits not even a shred of understanding of the Rome Statute or the Prosecution Application. Here is what de Waal writes: I was surprised to learn that the Prosecutor of the ICC is seeking leave...
Michelle at Stop Genocide reminded me of this fantastic riff on empire and genocide from the incomparable Eddie Izzard: Remarkably insightful stuff. Watch it!...
In public, Sudanese government officials have uniformly defended Bashir against the supposed depredations of the ICC. According to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, however, they tell a different story in private: A minister with the president’s National Congress Party, NCP, said that members were left reeling by the announcement of an arrest warrant issued against Bashir by ICC judges...
I am happy to report -- though some readers will no doubt be unhappy to hear -- that the OTP has requested leave to appeal the Pre-Trial Chamber's decision on the genocide charges. The appeal cites my recent post on the majority's misunderstanding of the "reasonable grounds" standard, which is both a tremendous honor and a testament to the ever-increasing...
When we think of prosecuting perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide I would suspect that the work of the ICTR immediately comes to mind. That is unfortunate, because fewer than one percent of all Rwandan genocide trials are conducted by the ICTR. It is the local “gacaca” courts where almost all the prosecutions are held, with the ICTR and...
I want to follow up briefly on Kevin's post earlier re Darfur and responsibility to protect. Being located in Washington and having a think tank connection - Hoover - as well as a law professor job, I serve on various task forces on international law and foreign policy issues. I was one of the experts on the Gingrich-Mitchell task force...
Speaking of what Obama should do about Darfur, The New Republic is currently hosting a fascinating roundtable discussion on precisely that question. Contributors include Alex de Waal, Eric Reeves, my former professor Alan Wolfe, Elizabeth Rubin, and Andrew Natsios. Not surprisingly, I agree with Eric Reeves, who both justifiably calls Darfur a genocide and defends the ICC arrest warrant. Sadly, though,...
