POLS 2401 Edition 1 Lecture 20Outline of Previous LectureGlobal Aging Problem I.Rise of an Aging PopulationA. growing at a fast paceII. CausesA. longer life expectancyIII. Declining BirthratesA. birth controlB. women in the workforceIII. Declining Death RatesIV. Policy ResponsesOutline of Current LectureInternational Criminal CourtI.Background II. Basic Facts: The ICCA. independent international organizationB. four main organsIII. Crimes Addressed by the ICCA. GenocideB. War crimesC. Crimes against humanityThe International Criminal Court (ICC)•Background: War Crimes and Other Crimes Against Humanity•Geneva Convention (1899) and Hague Convention (1907): Define laws of wars and violations•World War II: Expansion of the concept of war crimes as result of the Holocaust and other events•London Agreement (1945)–Defined crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity–Est. the International Military Tribunal that would later set up the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Tokyo Tribunal to try German and Japanese war criminals•Convention on Genocide (1948)•1947-54: First Attempts to Set up the ICC•1947: General Assembly asks the International Law Commission (ILC) to study the establishment of a new permanent international court to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity•1949-54: ILC prepares several drafts for an International Criminal Court, but the Cold War and opposition from both the US and USSR render these efforts meaningless•Next Attempt: 1990s•Better international environment: End of the Cold War, higher number of peacekeeping operations, recent cases of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and Yugoslavia•Ad hoc war crime tribunals set up for Yugoslavia (1993) and Rwanda (1994)•UN bodies start to consider proposals for an International Criminal Court, 1989-98•1998: Rome Statue of the ICC is adopted, creating the ICC•July 2002: Statue enters into force (60 states ratify it)•The ICC: Basic Facts•Independent international organization, with the mandate to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished•Located in the Hague, the Netherlands•Four Main Organs:–The Presidency–The Judicial Divisions (3 Chambers, 18 judges)–Office of the Prosecutor (Fatou Bensouda since June 2012)–The Registry•122 countries are now party to the ICC•ICC Member Countries•Crimes Addressed by the ICC•Genocide–Acts committed with an intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group•Crimes against humanity–Acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population (e.g. murder, rape, sexual slavery, apartheid, enforced disappearance, etc.)•War crimes–Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (e.g. murder or severe abuse of the civilianpopulation, torture of prisoners of war, etc.)•Aggression–the planning, preparation, initiation or execution by a person in a leadership position of an act of aggression (as defined by the UN Charter)–An act of aggression = the use of armed force by one State against another State without the justification of self-defense or authorization by the Security Council–Goes into force after 2017 when 2/3 of parties activate jurisdiction; states can opt out•Other Issues•Jurisdiction–Crimes committed by nationals of states that have ratified the ICC statute, and crimes committed on the territory of states that have ratified the ICC statute•National Courts and Complementarity–ICC will not replace national courts. The court will only investigate and prosecute if a state is unwilling or unable to try the case.•Personnel–Government and military officials are not exempt•Initiation of Cases–The UN Security Council or a state refers a case to the ICC–Prosecutor initiates an investigation, with authorization of the Pre-Trial Chamber–Current cases are all in Africa: Darfur/Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Libya, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire–The Prosecutor is examining situations in: Afghanistan, Georgia, Guinea, Columbia, Honduras, Korea and Nigeria.•US Response to the ICC•2002: Policy of disengagement under Bush. US formally announces to the UN its intention not to ratify the ICC treaty and that it is not bound by it•More engaged approach under Obama so far•Main US objections to joining the ICC:–Jurisdiction: Concern that US military will be investigated and tried since any nationality can betried if an atrocity occurs in a state that is party to the ICC–Prosecutor is too powerful: Opens the door for politically motivated prosecutions–Complementarity: ICC decides if a state is will and able to carry out an investigation or trial, which allows for the possibility of overriding national court systems and