World court's big move on Darfur

The International Criminal Court indicted a key Sudanese official and a janjaweed leader Tuesday.

from the February 28, 2007 edition

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"Some people may never be brought to trial," says Anne Heindel, assistant director of war crimes research at American University in Washington. "But restricting their movements has an overall effect, making it harder [for them] to operate."

The inability of the court to travel in Darfur worries some international human rights legal scholars, who say the evidence should be gathered from the site of the war crimes themselves. Others have argued eloquently that charges of genocide should be brought in Darfur.

Yet most experts seem to agree that the ICC should simply proceed with as much professionalism and investigation as possible. "With this submission, the ICC Chief Prosecutor has stood up for the victims of the mass atrocities in Darfur and awakened the hope for justice in the region. He has also warned all parties to the conflict that they will pay a heavy price for any further attacks on civilians," said Maureen Byrnes, executive director of Human Rights First in New York, in a press release Tuesday.

"The first submission should not be the last," Byrnes adds. "The Chief Prosecutor should pursue evidence of criminal responsibility up the chain of command, no matter how high it takes him." The ICC prosecutor will submit his indictment to judges at The Hague court, after which the judges will decide how and whether to conduct a trial.

 

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