Dec 3 2008 8:10pm

Dec 3 2008 8:10pm

The International Criminal Court revisited Posted by Roger Cohen in International, The United States THE HAGUE: Of the many issues that have soured relations between Europe and the United States under the Bush administration, few have been as poisonous as America’s refusal to join the world’s first permanent war crimes court here. The snub has been seen as a symbol of U.S. contempt for the rule of law. Latest column: A court for a new America Leave Comment Your comment is awaiting moderation. Few years after the first Geneva convention “for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field” in 1864, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) proposed establishing World Criminal Court to support and protect humanitarian work. It was refused. Sovereignty of the states was more important than wounded soldiers. Because of such priorities, ICRC on 14. October, 1942 accepted plea of the Swiss president not to report on the „Final Solution.“ Only Margaret Frick Cramer gave priority to preventing genocide. After World War II, Nurnberg was to be followed by World Court. Cold War stopped it. Immediately after the first massacre of patients taken from Vukovar hospital, Croatian government proposed establishment of World Court. It was only after genocide in Rwanda and mass killing in Bosnia that International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia – time, space and people limited, was established. A large number of members of national parliaments and Councila of Europe (me included) proposed again World Court. International Court without US was established in 1999. In 2007 World Court inHague ruled that every state is internationally responsible for genocide - prevention and commitent. This 150 years of missed justice is a greater shame than Dreyfus. So much killing, torture, suffering and shame could have been prevented. But we should remember the beginning as well. The goal was not to study war crimes and punish criminals, but to protect people. For this reason I proposed to have a Red Cross conference after every war in order to evaluate humanitarian practice, collect experrience and improve performance. So much more good could be done. It is a global challenge of goodness. Let’s start. [1] Posted by: Prof. Slobodan Lang, MD — 04 December 2008 1:40 am Leave a comment Name, Location (required) E-Mail (required, will not be published)