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DRC: Editorial - Bringing Justice to the Heart of Darkness

07 Feb 2006

Please find below excerpts from an editorial published in the Independent (London) by Steve Crawshaw, London director of Human Rights Watch, in which he discusses the hope for justice that the ICC has brought to local communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The article notes that the hope is that those bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes in DRC will be brought to account. A local NGO representative is quoted as stating that "you can't have peace without justice."

Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC (below), which explicitly states that the CICC will not take a position on potential or pending situations before the Court. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Esti T. Tambay
Information and Analysis Officer
Coalition for the International Criminal Court

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The Independent (London), Steve Crawshaw, "Congo: Bringing justice to the heart of darkness" - 7 February 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article343471.ece

"The mineral-rich country has been riven by tribal warfare in which three million died. But now there is hope that war crimes trials will bring those responsible to justice. [...]

There are glimmers of hope on the horizon, despite the renewed violence that continued in eastern Congo in recent weeks. National elections are due in April which could pave the way for long-term peace. The International Criminal Court has made the crimes committed in Congo the subject of its first investigation. Those who bear ultimate responsibility for the killings of Nyakunde and elsewhere may yet face justice. [...]

[Mr Herambo] hopes this and the mass graves can yet yield valuable evidence for investigators: "It is important that [the killers] should be judged and brought to justice so that this can't happen again."

Previously, such hopes might have seemed mere fantasy. No longer, perhaps. The ICC investigation means that everything could change. The court's chief prosecutor has said that, after two years of investigations, the first Congolese arrest warrants will probably be issued soon.

A number of the most feared warlords are already behind bars in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. If the ICC brings charges against them, they are likely to be transferred to the Hague. So far, so almost simple. But the court faces a challenge, in Nyakunde and elsewhere.

The machete-bearing young men and their leaders who came whooping down from the hills into Nyakunde, intent on killing men, women and children, committed criminal acts. But they did not act alone. Those who bear the ultimate responsibility for these and other massacres remain in high places - including in the Congolese government in Kinshasa and senior military commanders in neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.

It remains to be seen whether the court is ready to grasp this crucial nettle, or whether the belief in a putative "stability" will mean those who bear ultimate responsibility for some of Congo's bloodiest crimes remain untouched by the law. There are unhappy precedents for this eagerness to prosecute lesser crimes, while the worst crimes remain unaddressed. Thus, after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, it was initially suggested that the former Serb leader might go on trial in Belgrade on charges of corruption - while the most deadly crimes of his regime would be ignored.

In Congo, those who have argued hardest on behalf of the ICC hope that justice will not pick and choose according to the political comfort zone, but will not hesitate to put those who bear ultimate responsibility for the massacres of recent years in the dock. Joel Bisubu of Justice Plus, a Congolese NGO, which has played a key role in documenting human rights abuses across the region, argues: "People are forced to choose between peace and justice. But you can't have peace without justice. The people who are dead are dead. But if you try to compromise peace for justice, that doesn't help."

At least now there is the chance that justice may be achieved. The massive loss of life at Nyakunde and elsewhere in eastern Congo went almost unremarked by the rest of the world at the time. But prosecution of those responsible could send a message that, finally, the determination to turn a blind eye to evil has changed."

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CICC’s policy on the referral and prosecution of situations before the ICC:

The Coalition for the ICC is not an organ of the Court. The CICC is an independent NGO movement dedicated to the establishment of the International Criminal Court as a fair, effective, and independent international organization. The Coalition will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC and to help coordinate global action to effectively implement the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Coalition will also endeavor to respond to basic queries and to raise awareness about the ICC’s trigger mechanisms and procedures, as they develop. The Coalition as a whole, and its secretariat, do not endorse or promote specific investigations or prosecutions or take a position on situations before the ICC. However, individual CICC members may endorse referrals, provide legal and other support on investigations, or develop partnerships with local and other organizations in the course of their efforts.

Communications to the ICC can be sent to:
ICC
P.O. Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands