by TellUs
Published on: Jul 1, 2007
Topic:
Type: Short Stories
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=14315
We have seen it repeatedly throughout history, crimes against humanity, and crimes against our earth. Even the architect of Shakespeare, with the written word, would not have been able to articulate the implications of what it would mean to be; desecrated, tortured, mutilated, physically and physiologically raped, brutalised, falsely imprisoned, forced into sexual slavery, stripped of ones fundamental moral entitlements, or simply, exterminated. The 21st Century has witnessed, what appears like an escalation of the mentioned vices. Perhaps, an increased understanding of what Human Rights violations constitute has lead to an increase in reports of its abuse. Thus, creating the illusion that crimes against humanity have amplified. Or, perhaps as a species, we are simply degenerating. Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002, the institution that now exists has been directed towards preventing and punishing crimes of the future. However the limitations of the ICC have been argued by many. In this day and age where terrorism, and drug and human trafficking are of severe distress to the international community, it could be argued that there exists the impending need to increase the Court’s jurisdiction to include the mentioned atrocities. Also, due to the international nature of these offences including the four crimes that the Rome Statue grants the Court jurisdiction over, the Court’s interests would be better served if it was approved to exercise universal jurisdiction. Another matter of concern is the issue of membership to the ICC. The countries that have not signed up to be members of the Court are not obligated to collaborate with it. The crucial point is that many of the crimes that due occur in our presence time, take place or are initiated by the countries that have chosen not to be party to the ICC. To maintain a status quo in the world, any country that is a member of the United Nations in general or a permanent member of the Security Council in particular, should be an automatic member of the International Criminal Court. Hopefully with time and progress, the International Criminal Court will establish itself as the intention of its meaning, to be the court of global justice. Then, the Human Rights movement will be able to gaze into a new dawn as opposed to existing in the twilight. Madifon « return.