[ql06] INTERNATIONAL: MP seeks charges against Mugabe
- From: Sheldon Erentzen <sheldon.erentzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 10:54:53 -0400
This should be interesting in seeing how much bite the ICC and Treaty of
Rome has in prosecuting representatives of countries that didn't sign
the treaty. As we all know, the U.S. didn't sign the treaty so, if
successful, this might set up a precedent that could lead to US citizens
or leaders being charged.
So far, the treaty has been used to prosecute representatives in third
world countries only. It might be seen to reflect a bias in preference
to 1st world/western nations over 3rd world nations. The true test of
it's international nature and it's pursuit of international principles
of equality before the law will be when a European or North American
country is prosecuted.
As taken from today's Globe and Mail
MPs seek charges against Mugabe
By TIMOTHY APPLEBY
In the first test of Canada's three-year-old War Crimes and Crimes
Against Humanity Act, the federal government is examining a draft
indictment accusing Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe of crimes against
humanity.
Co-sponsored by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler and Alliance Party colleague
Keith Martin, the 20-point indictment was drawn up by an international
panel of lawyers this summer and was delivered last week to Foreign
Minister Bill Graham and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon.
"The indictment is very detailed; it's case-specific and fact-specific,"
Mr. Cotler said. "Mr. Mugabe is being accused of crimes against humanity
as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the
civilian population of Zimbabwe."
If Mr. Cauchon signs the indictment, Mr. Mugabe could be detained,
charged and prosecuted any time he steps onto Canadian soil. As well, he
would be subject to an international arrest warrant that could see him
shipped to Canada for trial.
For Mr. Martin, the catalyst in targeting one of Africa's most notorious
dictators was a visit he paid to strife-torn Zimbabwe two years ago,
when he met farm workers whose homes had been torched by members of Mr.
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
"They said to me, and I'll never forget this, 'If you don't help us,
Mugabe is going to kill us by by starving us to death. You are our last
hope.' "
The Canadian legislation runs parallel to the Treaty of Rome and echoes
much of its language. (That treaty created the International Criminal
Court in The Hague.) The ICC came into being in July of last year and is
in doing its first investigation, scrutinizing the slaughter in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Like many other countries, among them the United States, Zimbabwe has
not signed on to the international court and is not subject to its
provisions. A number of Western countries have enacted their own laws to
plug the gap.
The most famous effort was an ultimately unsuccessful bid by a Spanish
judge in 1998 to bring former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to trial.
Numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch and the Council of Churches, have accused Mr. Mugabe
of orchestrating a years-long reign of terror that has killed thousands
and left Zimbabwe's economy in ruins. The UN World Food Program recently
gauged that more than five million citizens need emergency food aid.
Diplomatic pressure has failed entirely, the two MPS contend.
"The Commonwealth is a paper tiger that will not deal with Mugabe in an
effective fashion, and African leaders have proven they will not stand
up against him." said Mr. Martin, who is cautiously hopeful the
government will sign the indictment. The events it covers extend from
1987 to this year.
"Quiet diplomacy won't work because Mugabe's objectives are power and
money, so there's no arena in which to negotiate."
Even if the aging Mr. Mugabe never reaches court in this country, the
shared hope is that an indictment by Canada will encourage other nations
to issue similar indictments, or at a minimum implement tough sanctions
against his ruling clique.
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