adminsummation of the kangaroo court’s sham proceedings, but it was an outline that questioned the legitimacy and moral high ground of the powers that are using this court to try certain people of crimes that have since time immemorial been committed by the so-called civilised and democratic world.
His statement did not just reiterate the ICC’s selective and double-faced justice system, but it also revealed the rot that powers the system: rampant corruption, bribery, coercion and intimidation.
Where is the justice when powerful nations like the United States, which is not even a signatory of the Rome Statute, use their financial muscle to ensure that those who cross their path are locked up for good?
The allegations and accusations that Taylor levelled against the ICC and the rich countries that sponsor its activities make us question why at all sentence should be handed down on May 30, before those allegations are investigated by an international but independent judiciary commission.
In the court of public opinion, especially in Africa and other developing countries, Taylor’s accusations are true. Thus sentencing should be based on fairness.
This week also saw the ICC indefinitely suspending Ratko Mladjic’s war crimes trial due to the prosecution’s poor performance. We also question whether the ICC is well capacitated to hold these lengthy trials, or it is nothing but a tool for the rich and powerful countries.
Taylor claimed that witnesses were paid, coerced and in many cases threatened with prosecution if they did not give statements, which lead us to ask whether the evidence they gave was admissible.
Another hard-hitting allegation was the ICC’s targeting of African leaders, a perpetuation of Africa as a “dark continent”, making it look like evil is only manifest on the African continent.
This is a claim that the ICC cannot dispute. How many Africans are at The Hague right now as opposed to accused persons from other continents?
How many African leaders are on the ICC’s wanted list? How many African leaders is the ICC working with to ensure that these “wanted” leaders are arrested and sent to The Hague?
Why only Africa, if the motive is not to use organisations such as the ICC for illegal regime change agendas — the operative term for Africa’s recolonisation?
Evil is evil. There is no lesser evil nor greater evil. Why is the “evil” committed by African leaders greater than that committed by Western leaders?
Western leaders using Nato have in the past decade committed crimes against humanity in a number of countries. Nato forces have killed, maimed and displaced millions of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya other countries, at the instigation of the Nato-member states.
They have also used barbaric systems to interrogate accused persons, but the ICC still thinks that only Africans should be hunted down and sent to The Hague.
When will we see George W Bush, Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, John Howard and some Nato soldiers appearing at the ICC’s Special Courts for Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and others?
But, at the end of it all, we also ask for how long we should continue to complain about the ICC and those behind it without the continent’s leadership taking decisive
steps to confront this problem.
Taylor and other Africans being tried by the ICC show Africa’s vulnerability vis-à-vis powerful nations.
This is a time for reflection as the continent celebrates 49 years of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union, on May 25, 1963.
Our founding fathers were not perfect, for no one is, but they were focused and, they left a strong foundation, which should not see a repeat of slavery and colonialism in whatever form.
It is time that Africa walks its talk — set up its own crimes court, funded by its member states and overseen by African legal experts. The Hague is far removed from African reality and crime victims.
And, Taylor might be incarcerated for the 80 years the prosecution has recommended, but he has not taken it lying down. That was a lesson for Africa that no amount of money and show of force should be used to denigrate and dehumanise you, when those taking that high moral ground are equally guilty of committing crimes against humanity.
Online Reporter