Monday, June 27, 2011

ICC issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi

The international criminal court in Hague, today, issued the arrest warrant for Mo’amar Gaddafi, his son and a few other Libyan officials. This means Gaddafi’s option of seeking sanctuary in another country is, by law and on paper, taken out of the equation as he will be arrested the moment he sets foot outside his secure circle in Tripoli.

The question is how will this be implemented? How can various countries be forced to follow this ruling? Sudan’s tyrant, Omar Al Bashir, also has been on the similar arrest warrant by the ICC, for crimes against humanity. However, the effectiveness of such warrants has come under question when we see the very same Sudanese tyrant attending the ridiculous “conference on terrorism” in Tehran (oh, the irony!) and he is scheduled to visit yet another country known for its abuse of human rights, China.

The Chinese officials, however, wave any inquiry away, merely commenting: “China is not a signatory to the ICC, so is not legally obliged to turn Bashir over”. It comes as no surprise such criminals find allies and sympathizers only in similar states where the government is well known for its infringements and crimes against humanity; the Islamic regime of Iran and China.



Therefore it will be of interest to see how the international community will react and impose the will of the ICC. Or will ICC be shown as just another impotent and increasingly weakening international body like the United Nations, when it comes to the real issues that the people of nations (as opposed to the governments) face.

2 comments:

  1. Love your blog - keep upthe good work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The United States is not a member of the ICC nor has it ratified it. Hmm...

    ReplyDelete