[ad_1]
INEFFICIENT AND UNDERFUNDED
The ICC’s prosecutors haven’t always been bywords for efficiency. To quote from a recent bulletin about Uganda: “The Prosecutor opened an investigation in July 2004. On 1 December 2023, the Prosecutor announced that the investigation phase in the Uganda situation has been concluded.” No Ugandan suspects are in custody.
But this isn’t entirely the ICC’s fault. Like most international institutions nowadays, it’s underfunded.
If there’s a murder down the road in The Hague, 25 Dutch officials might investigate. The ICC might have a couple of investigators for multiple suspected mass atrocities in a huge territory where they cannot safely travel.
It’s up to states to arrest suspects. And only 124 states, most of them peaceable or weak, are members of the ICC. The US, China, Russia and Israel are not.
In theory, the ICC’s indictments could shame countries suspected of atrocities. Unfortunately, there is no “international community” with a shared voice that will put pressure on transgressors.
Friends of Russia, Israel or Hamas can dismiss the ICC as biased. Russian officials threatened to fire missiles at it. Netanyahu, predictably, has called Khan antisemitic. The Guardian newspaper and two Israeli magazines report that Israel has waged a “nine-year ‘war’” against the ICC, including hacking and smearing of court officials.
[ad_2]
Source link