“Laws are like cobwebs;
Where the small flies are caught
and the great break through”
Francis Bacon 1561 – 1626
and the great break through”
Francis Bacon 1561 – 1626
Francis Bacon could be contributing to a 21st century debate if we replaced the words “Laws are” with the modern acronym “The ICC” (International Criminal Court). His assertion that the law only applies strictly to the underdog is prescient.
While weighing the pros and cons of a United Nations Security Council deferral of ICC charges against President Omar H.A. al-Bashir, the Financial Times investigative journalists wrote that a deferral would undermine the position of the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo by delaying his most high-profile case and “could add to criticism that the ICC is used as an instrument of western policy.”
Let us consider the validity of these two reservations.
Firstly: The position of the ICC prosecutor has already been irreparably shaken. The highly respected Joshua Rosenberg, legal advisor of the Daily Telegraph, has called (17 July 08) for Mr. L.M. Ocampo’s resignation in the wake of the sexual harassment case that resulted in the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO holding him personally responsible for a “breach of due process” and awarding the whistle blower whom he dismissed more than £100,000 (paid by the ICC!). Rosenberg wrote 4 articles exposing other examples of Ocampo’s legal incompetence.
Secondly: The prosecutor has transformed himself into an activist, campaigning and taking part in demonstrations with armed groups. He even declared openly that he was involved in a plan to hijack a Sudanese aeroplane. The cop has become the robber! In a way, a very accurate representation of the International Order that chose him as a “front”.
Thirdly: He has insisted on exaggerating numbers of casualties in Darfur in a manner that earned him a rebuke from Doctors without Borders. Its President R. Brauman wrote on 23 July 08: “It is true that during his statement to the UN Security Council on June 5, the prosecutor went so far as to describe the refugee camps as sites where genocide was being perpetrated – which is, strictly speaking, insane.” He described Ocampo’s attitude as “intellectual incontinence” and asked:”Under such circumstances, one can wonder what exactly is the purpose of international law?”
Fourthly: Wikileaks has dealt his credibility (or what little that remained of it) a mortal blow. The Guardian published 18 December 10 the US cables which show that he held discussions with US Embassy officials on 24 March 09 in which he claimed that President al-Bashir stashed $9 billion in a London (Lloyds) Bank. The honest Guardian writer A. Hirsch asked the Bank which denied Ocampo’s claim. In an interview with Julian Marshall for the BBC World Service Radio 18 December 10, L.M. Ocampo changed his claim and said that the money was not in London. When the matter was raised at the British House of Lords, Her Majesty’s Government made the following statement on 2 February 11:
Lord Sassoon: “Lloyd’s Banking Group has conducted their own internal investigation into the claim that President al-Bashir holds accounts with the Group and is confident that the Group does not hold any account for Mr. al-Bashir or any individuals or entities associated with him. The Financial Services Authority has viewed this report and has not raised any further concerns.”
Ocampo should have resigned as a result; but he didn’t.
What about the other objection to the deferral being considered, namely that it will prove that the ICC is an instrument of power politics?
The President of the ICC, Judge Sang-Hyun Song told the European Parliament on 15/10/09: “We are a judicial institution operating in a political world.”
The honourable judge is right. The political world’s balance of power is in the UN Security Council, which has three members who do not recognize the ICC (The USA, Russia, China) out of five members; but the UN Security Council nevertheless empowered the ICC to investigate Sudan’s Darfur crisis, despite the fact that Sudan like the three UNSC members is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC! It is a well-known fact in international law that states are only bound by the treaties they sign.
The almost comical twist is that the USA has passed a law under George Bush to invade the ICC offices if the court dared to try an American citizen!
We thus see the unaccountable, unelected and highly discredited Luis Moreno-Ocampo unleashed to tarnish the reputation of an elected head of State who has shown the statesmanship and wisdom to put an end to a destructive civil war, and simultaneously, transform his country democratically.
Surely, this ICC prosecutor can only thrive in a World Order that is standing on its head. Even Kofi Anan has dared to say that the present World Order needs reform.
It is a World Order in which the laws are only applicable to African underdogs; but never to those who commit the crime of aggression or invade other nations with pretexts like “weapons of Mass Destruction” that are never found.
Finally, A former Israeli ICC official (Nick Kaufman) knows the machinations of the ICC. He told Haaretz Newspaper (28 February 2010) that the Goldstone Report about Israeli crimes in Gaza would not reach the ICC and most importantly he said: “Ocampo’s position is not strong. He has been hit by strong criticism of his performance, as he has failed to convict even one person in the ICC during his tenure. I estimate that his position is unstable.”
We rest our case, knowing that the biased and discredited Ocampo, hanging on the tails of the great powers, will never be caught by the cobwebs of Law, because International law is designed for Africans and others who are seen as weak and fair game.
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