Goose Bumps

We seem to hear the word “prosecutor” all the time here in the U.S. and our connotation of the word is seldom a positive one. Maybe it’s because names like Johnny Cochran, Kenneth Starr, and Mike Nifong end up on the six o’clock news on a far too frequent basis. But the often controversial reputations of individual prosecutors here in the States aside, being in charge of “putting the bad guys away” is not exactly easy. It’s even more challenging if, say, you’re a prosecutor in your early twenties and your very first case involves trying a group of war criminals for genocide. Or if you can’t picture that, imagine you know who the bad guys are, you have evidence of their crimes, and witnesses are eager to testify, but you don’t have a police force to actually arrest them. That would be like a Law and Order episode ending with the characteristically somber investigators walking away from the suspects they tried so hard to nab because the NYPD doesn’t answer to them. Tough job indeed.

Henry T. King Jr. is both an extraordinary and ordinary American.  He is extraordinary in that at 88 years of age, he is still the embodiment of the kind of fierce idealism that keeps us in humbling awe and admiration. And yet Mr. King is also incredibly ordinary—he is like every American who believes that rule of law, justice, and accountability are not just side issues that come and go with terms in office, but rather a core set of values upon which this country was built. Mr. King reminds all of us that sixty two years after the Nuremberg Trials, Americans still champion justice and accountability. This remarkable man is one of three surviving prosecutors who made history by trying Nazi criminals for the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II. That should get the hair on the back of your neck raised. Get ready for the rest of you.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo must wonder why a country that can boast of its Nuremberg legacy has taken such a bizarre, hyper-sensitive position vis-à-vis the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he’s employed as the Chief Prosecutor. A native Argentinean and the ICC’s first Prosecutor, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo has spent the last five years building cases against the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda, rebel warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two Sudanese suspects accused of perpetuating the Darfur genocide.

And Mr. Moreno-Ocampo remembers, like many international justice (IJ) advocates, a different (yet equally political) era where the U.S. didn’t make undermining the existence and functioning of the first ever international criminal court an actual foreign policy objective. But Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s job is particularly hard—not because it’s a little difficult to gather evidence and interview survivors in four different countries. Or because the ICC is still young and there is too much to do with too little time, money, and staff to do it (notwithstanding their laudable efforts). No, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo faces a far greater challenge that would probably make most prosecutors retire to private practice: he doesn’t have a police force to execute the arrest warrants he issues.

What do I mean, you ask? Put simply, when the ICC’s treaty was negotiated back in 1998, the majority of countries (the U.S. included) decided that giving the ICC a police force would be conceding too much power. Instead, the ICC relies on member states and the international community at large to carry out arrest warrants of the world’s worst criminals. What happens if countries don’t step up or are committing the atrocities themselves? Well, then you get the sickening story of Ahmad Harun, the Sudanese Minister (of Humanitarian Affairs!), strolling through the same Darfur villages that he orders burned and their inhabitants raped, tortured, and killed.

Being an international justice nerd, I always wondered what it would be like if the world’s prosecutors—past and present—came together and said enough. Enough to genocide. Enough to pre-adolescent kids being forced to fight on the front lines as child soldiers. Enough to rampant sexual violence against women in conflict. And enough to time ticking as we all watch and do nothing. This past week, nine remarkable men with the toughest job in the IJ world did just that—they gathered at the First Chautauqua Conference in New York and issued the Chautauqua Declaration. So as to ensure my promise of goose bumps, I’ve taken the liberty of pasting (and bolding) the Declaration below (courtesy of the American Society of International Law(ASIL)).

The Assembled International Prosecutors, both Past and Present

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Hague Rules of 1907;

Remembering the legacy of our Nuremberg colleagues;

Recalling the principles of Nuremberg;

Noting the importance of the rule of law in facing down impunity;

Understanding the need for a family of nations united for peace;

Appreciating that the legal tools are now in place to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility;

Aware of the need to seek justice efficiently and effectively;

Noting that international humanitarian law still remains the cornerstone to controlling international and internal armed conflict;

Recognizing that both truth and justice create sustainable peace;

Highlighting that justice is not an impediment to peace, but in fact is its most certain guarantor;

Now do solemnly declare to the world  

That ending impunity by perpetrators of crimes of concern to the international community is a necessary part of preventing the recurrence of atrocities.  

That it is no longer about whether individuals agree or disagree with the pursuit of justice in political, moral or practical terms; now, it is the law.

That the challenge for States and for the international community is to fulfill the promise of the law they created; to ensure the arrest and surrender of individuals sought; and in that light;

That Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic, Felician Kabuga, Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, Ahmed Harun,  the Sudanese Minister who organized the system of persecution and attacks against the civilians in Darfur, and all others not listed here and are sought by international justice, be arrested and  surrendered to the appropriate court, tribunal or chamber;

That States are reminded of the words of Martin Luther King Jr. that “the arc of moral justice is long but it bends towards justice.”

That the world community take note of the words of Justice Robert H. Jackson at Nuremberg: “We are able to do away with domestic tyranny and violence and aggression by those in power against the rights of their own people only when we make all men answerable to the law.”

You’d have to be made out of stone not to feel the singular weight of this Declaration. It is the culmination of a century of international justice norms, mechanisms, and advocates. It captures the voices of three generations of hope, idealism, and an unwavering commitment to making “Never Again” a reality. True, the Declaration won’t make the Ahmad Haruns of the world appear in a cell in The Hague tomorrow. But something tells me if these nine men have anything to do with it, judgment day for the world’s most violent war criminals is a lot sooner than we think.  

But as remarkable and committed as the prosecutors are, they alone cannot fight and win against the kind of evil that leaves millions of innocent civilians in conflict displaced, starving, or dead. Thousands of miles away from the ICC and other international tribunals, we have to do our part too—it’s September and school isn’t the only thing back in session. The U.S. Congress will resume its legislative activities after the Labor Day weekend, and this fall is bound to be a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill. To that end, here are two quick and easy things you can do to stay informed, push for more constructive IJ policies, and make sure your voice is heard in D.C.:

1. Check out the website(s) of your presidential candidate(s) of choice and see if they support the ICC and core IJ laws such as the Geneva Conventions. If they don’t, send them an email—now is the time to get their attention on issues that matter.

2. Call your Representatives in the House and ask them to support the passage of the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007—a bill that will (finally) allow the U.S. to prosecute those who have committed genocide in other countries and are currently on U.S. soil. Click here for Senator Durbin’s summary of the Act and its implications if passed.

Some of these prosecutors are in their eighties. Some of them have stared into the eyes of the world’s most brutal war criminals. All of them still fight for a world free of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. So should we.

For news articles on the Chautauqua Conference and Declaration as well as Mr. King’s criticism of counterproductive U.S. policies on key IJ issues, check out IJ Wire.