Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo on way to ICC (International Criminal Court)

[pampango]

Source: BBC

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is on his way to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague after being issued with an arrest warrant. The ICC has been investigating alleged war crimes committed in unrest after last year's disputed elections.

Human rights groups welcomed the arrest warrant, but also cautioned against "victor's justice".

"While the Gbagbo camp fuelled the violence, forces on both sides have been repeatedly implicated in grave crimes," said Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch. "Victims of abuse meted out by forces loyal to President Ouattara deserve to see justice done," she said.

Although the Ivory Coast is not one of the member countries covered by the ICC, it has accepted its jurisdiction.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15946481

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That's good news.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am so pleased to see this.

He is an unmitigated monster.

Now, I have hope for justice for the Ivory Coast.

[Blue_Tires]

4. +1

[classysassy]

2. Only black warmongers go to the Hague

When will Bush and Chaney be served their papers to appear before the bar of justice?Ain't gonna happen.?

[pampango]

3. Ratko Mladic, Goran Hadzic, Ante Gotovina and Radovan Karadzic are white (European) warmongers

who have gone to the Hague.

I suspect that Bush, Cheney, et. al will never be prosecuted because they are Americans.

The closest we will get to a war crimes prosecution might have occurred in Malaysia:

Bush, Blair guilty in Malaysia ‘war crimes trial’

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/22/178611.html

Former U.S. president George W. Bush and British ex-prime minister Tony Blair were Tuesday found guilty at a mock tribunal in Malaysia for committing “crimes against peace” during the Iraq war. The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, part of an initiative by former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad − a fierce critic of the Iraq war − found the former leaders guilty after a four-day hearing.

“The Tribunal deliberated over the case and decided unanimously that the first accused George Bush and second accused Blair have been found guilty of crimes against peace,” the tribunal said in a statement. “Unlawful use of force threatens the world to return to a state of lawlessness. The acts of the accused were unlawful.”

A seven-member panel chaired by former Malaysian Federal Court judge Abdul Kadir Sulaiman presided over the trial, which began last Saturday, and both Bush and Blair were tried in absentia. “The evidence showed that the drums of wars were being beaten long before the invasion. The accused in their own memoirs have admitted their own intention to invade Iraq regardless of international law,” it said.

The verdict is purely symbolic as the tribunal has no enforcement powers. The tribunal is also expected to later hear torture and war crimes charges against seven others, including former U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld and former vice president Dick Cheney.

[hack89]

5. Bush and Cheney will not go to the Hague simply because the ICC has no jurisdiction.

we are not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - the ICC has no jurisdiction.

The Ivory Coast has formally recognized the jurisdiction of the ICC.

[alp227]

6. Laurent Gbagbo faces murder and rape charges

Source: AP

The international criminal court has charged former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo with murder, rape, persecution and inhuman acts, crimes allegedly committed as his backers fought to keep him in power last year.

Gbagbo is the first former head of state taken into custody by the court since it was established in 2002.

"Mr Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf," the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said in a statement. "He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and will be given full rights and the opportunity to defend himself."

Moreno-Ocampo stressed that both sides of the political divide in Ivory Coast committed crimes in the post-election chaos and that his investigation was continuing.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/laurent-gbagbo-charged-ivory-coast