Courting Conflict? Justice, Peace and the ICC in Africa
The current period is a formative one for the International Criminal Court (ICC). Half
a decade since its statute entered into force, there have recently been a series of key
developments in the Court's operations. These include new investigations and arrest
warrants, preparations for the Court's first trial and the second and third transfers of
ICC suspects into custody in The Hague. Such steps mark the ICC's transition from an
aspiration to an operational reality – one that is wrestling with the practical difficulties
of executing its mandate. The Court's recent activities set important precedents for its
future operations and give tangible indications of the ICC's evolving policies, strategies
and role. Most importantly, they raise the issue of the ICC's impact on the ground and
of the Court's early contribution to the societies it is arguably supposed to be assisting
most directly.
The ICC is a permanent international body, established to prosecute those responsible
for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It has a global mandate but its
activities have concentrated on African countries marked by ongoing violent conflict.
Crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, Darfur
and Central African Republic are the subject of its first investigations and prosecutions.
These societies confront simultaneous needs for sustainable peace, accountability,
institutional reform and the mending of fractured relationships.
The ICC's operations in Africa have encountered significant difficulties. While the work
of the Court has taken concrete shape, so have its challenges. The title of this collection,
Courting Conflict?, alludes to the inherent problems of pursuing justice in the midst of
violence. It also points to the tremendous controversy generated by the ICC's work to
date – not least the charge levelled at the Court that its actions risk prolonging conflict
by jeopardising peace deals.
This collection investigates the politics of the ICC's interventions in Africa.1
Rather than
exploring the progress of the ICC per se, the essays address Africa's encounters with
the Court and the Court's encounters with Africa. The authors avoid treating African
countries simply as a geographical arena for a new international justice body. They
also resist discussing the ICC in legal terms only. Instead, the essays situate debates
about the Court in specific social, cultural and political contexts where contending
local, national and international pressures apply. The contributors address the ICC's
relationships with the governments, non-state groups, national judiciaries and local
populations of the countries where it is active. Coverage of the ICC has often belied
the complexity of these relationships and has either romanticised or demonised the
Court's interventions. These essays take the form of short comment pieces, written
to stir and broaden debate on the ICC but also to help move it beyond the sensational
and oversimplified.
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