On the 23rd
and the 24th of May 2014, The Netherlands Association for African Studies
(NVAS) together with the Hague University of Applied Sciences (HHS) as well as the
Netherlands School of Human Rights Research (SHRR) hosted the multidisciplinary
conference Africans and Hague Justice: Realities and Perceptions of the
International Criminal Court in Africa, which was held at the University of
Applied Sciences in The Hague. The conference was groundbreaking in that it
reflected the complex and multi-layered perceptions of the International Criminal
Court and Africa from the perspective of various different disciplines and
backgrounds.
Thematic angles
included the ICC’s influence on national politics as well as interstate
relationships in Africa, the position of the African Union in the African
debate on the ICC, the role of ICC bodies such as the African Court and the
socio-cultural impact of the ICC and its compatibility with other international
judicial frameworks.
Keynote addresses were
given by Professor Makau Mutua, Dean of SUNY Buffalo Law School, Professor
Kamari Clarke, Professor of Anthropology and Law at the University of
Pennsylvania, Professor Charles Jalloh, Associate Professor at Florida
International Law School, as well as Dr. Solomon Dersso from the Institute of
Security Studies, in Addis Ababa and last but yet not least, Shamiso Mbizvo from
the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor. Aside from the high quality and lively
presentations given, there were also were a number of side events including an
art exhibition, showcasing cartoons by Creative Court, as well as a number of
bookstalls presenting the latest publications by Eleven Publishers, Brill
Publishers and Intersentia, which had to do with some of the themes of the
conference. There was also wide media coverage of the event by various media
agencies, including the Dutch Newspaper Trouw, which ran an insightful piece on
Court through the lenses of two keynote speakers, Solomon Dersso and Makau
Mutua.
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| Prof. Makau Mutua |
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| Dr. Solomon Dersso |
The conference comes
at a pressing time, where the ICC’s reputation is increasingly becoming compromised
in Africa, given the fact that all ICC prosecutions opened are against
Africans. This has resulted in a perceived loss of legitimacy for the Court from
the viewpoint of many academics and scholars, not only in Africa, but also throughout
the world. The Hague Justice Conference has been one of the first, of hopefully many conferences to come, aiming to exposition the many underlying issues at play regarding the ICC and its impact in Africa over the past decade. Issues alluded to in
the past through media reports and the few academic articles covering topics
such as the ICC’s legitimacy, its relationship with the African Union and
African society in general, have been sparse and often of the time publicly
denied or ‘swept under the carpet’ by some academics and ICC officials alike. But
from the recent discussions at the conference, it has emerged that major
challenges lie in wake of current and future ICC prosecutions. If the Court is to function
optimally, there needs to be open and honest discussion facilitating solutions
to problems identified, to strengthen the Court as
an international justice mechanism.
Hopefully, conferences
following in the same 'ICC vein' will be bold enough to gauge broader views from
multidisciplinary audiences necessary to address crucial criticisms, essential to developing a fair and effective International Criminal Court.
So kudos go out to the
members of the organizing committee, Froukje Krijtenburg, Eefje de Volder, Jos
Walenkamp and (myself) Ingrid Roestenburg-Morgan for bringing this conference
to life and making it a real success J
For more information
on the conference read the views of Cecilia Bailliet, on her Blog IntLawGrrls
available at:
Posted by Ingrid
Roestenburg-Morgan
