ICC challenged to seek balance between justice and peace
(From The Japan Times July 22 issue)

要約
正義と安定の両立問われるICC

In a historic move, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide. After years of conflict in Darfur that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, the move would seem to have been obvious, but the decision to bring charges is a bold one that could ultimately threaten the credibility of the ICC.

For some, the question is whether there will be peace or justice in Darfur. For others, the real question is whether sovereign leaders enjoy immunity for their actions, no matter what the consequences.

In his indictment, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Mr. al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy three main ethnic groups in Darfur, the Fur, the Masalit and the Zaghawa. In addition to the tens of thousands killed outright, millions more were subjected to a campaign of "rape, hunger and fear" in refugee camps.

The indictment does not mean that Mr. al-Bashir will be brought before the court. ICC judges have three months to decide whether to issue a warrant for his arrest. Thus far, prosecutors have a perfect record: Judges have signed all 11 warrants requested since the court was inaugurated five years ago.

This case is different, however. Never before has a sitting head of state been brought before an international court. Two previous leaders have been charged and brought to justice — Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, the former head of Serbia, and Mr. Charles Taylor of Liberia — but both were sent to the court after they lost power.

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said he could not ignore the atrocities committed in Darfur. Supporters of human rights will take heart: Every weapon in the fight against genocide and the killing of innocent civilians must be used. His supporters say the charges give the international community additional leverage to deal with the government in Khartoum. Mr. al-Bashir now has incentives to begin real peace negotiations with the rebels after years of stalling and to hand over two other men charged last year with responsibility for mass slaughter in Darfur.

Critics counter that the charges will only force the Sudanese government to hunker down, adopt a siege mentality and could even turn it against the 9,000 members of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force deployed in Darfur. Those fears appear to have been exaggerated: While dismissing the charges as a Western conspiracy to overthrow the government in Sudan, Khartoum said the peacekeepers would not be expelled and it would protect them from reprisals.

The Sudanese government's friends will now take the fight to the U.N. Security Council and try to get it to stay the ICC's hand. While the Security Council asked the court in 2005 to investigate the crisis in Darfur, it can also suspend any ICC action for a year. The Arab League and the African Union are leading that effort.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon provided the official logic behind efforts to block the indictment, arguing that "We must seek to strike the correct balance between the duty of justice and the pursuit of peace." This argument would be a lot more persuasive if the peace efforts to date had been considerably more persuasive. The peace process exists in name only and there is little indication that the peacekeepers have been able to halt the campaign of violence.

For many of Khartoum's supporters, the issue is not the peace process. Rather, they fear that ICC action could set a precedent, and that other heads of state would be held responsible for violations of international laws and norms. The prospect of accountability is their chief concern. That is every reason for the ICC to proceed.

国際刑事裁判所（ICC）の主任検察官が7月14日、スーダンのバシル大統領に対し、大量虐殺の容疑で逮捕状を請求した。西部ダルフール地域の紛争が何十万人もの命を奪っている状況で当然の動きとも言えるが、訴追はICCの信頼性を脅かす可能性もある大胆な決断だ。

ルイス･モレノオカンポ主任検察官は起訴状で、バシル大統領はダルフールの3民族の絶滅を意図した計画を「首謀し実行」、何万人もが殺害され、何百万もの人が難民キャンプで「強姦、飢餓、恐怖」にさらされたと述べた。

大統領の出廷が決まったわけではなく、今後ICC判事が逮捕状を発行するかどうか3ヶ月以内に決定される。

ICCが現職の国家元首の犯罪を追及するのは初めて。

主任検察官がダルフールでの残虐行為を無視できないと述べたことは、人権運動家を奮い立たせる。訴追は反政府勢力との和平交渉や、虐殺で逮捕状が発行された政府高官2名の引き渡しにバシル大統領が応じるきっかけを作る。

訴追反対派は、スーダン政府が国連とアフリカ連合による平和維持部隊を攻撃する可能性を危惧している。

スーダン政府側の国々、特にアフリカ連合とアラブ連盟は、国連安保理に訴追凍結を訴えるだろう。安保理は、ICCの捜査・裁判を1年中断させることもできる。

国連の潘基文事務総長は、安定と正義のバランスのために訴追凍結も必要とするが、平和維持活動が打撃を受けている今、説得力は弱い。

スーダン政府支援者の最大の関心事は、和平プロセスではなく、ICCによる訴追が前例となってほかの現職大統領も国際法違反の責任を問われるのでは、ということ。だからこそICCは訴追を実行すべきなのだ。