11 January 2011
Today we went to a hearing at the International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace and a hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The ICJ oversees disputes between nations. This particular case was Costa Rica v. Nicaragua. We got to see Costa Rica present its case. They said that Nicaragua had been illegally digging a canal across Costa Rica land. The dredging has already done a lot of damage on the San Juan River. Not only was the territory set by the 1858 treaty of limits, but the dredging also violates the charter of the United Nations and the charter of the Organization of American States. This case is to find whether or not Nicaragua is guilty of the aforementioned allegations and determine the reparation of Nicaragua to Costa Rica if necessary.
Costa Rica is calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Nicaraguan forces, cease construction of the canal, cease the destruction of trees and wetlands, cease dredging and dumping, and cease all other actions that would extend this dispute.
Of course, the first thing I noticed was that out of 16 judges, only two were female, and only 2 were black. In most other international courts, there is a mandate that there must be full gender equality, and representation by many nations. The judges are often very diverse.
We saw a few parts of this case before there was a recess in proceedings. We saw the general overview, the demands of Costa Rica, and a presentation of the geographical and historical context. I actually found this case incredibly intriguing and would like to look into studying state disputes in the future. I won’t bore with the details, but some of the technical legal things and use of treaties and documents were very interesting.
At the ICTY, we were able to view the Stanisic and Zupljanin case before our orientation with a woman from the Registry. We did not see a whole lot, since trials often move very slowly here, but I can say that it was very strange to be so close to these men. We couldn’t see Zupljanin very well from where we were seated, but we could see Stanisic. He looked up a few times and into the gallery, and when he did this, it seemed as if he was looking into your soul, memorizing your face. Every once in a while, he and Zupljanin would lean over and speak to one another and laugh, which was very disorienting and difficult to watch.
During our ICTY orientation, we also had a lot of information thrown at us, some old, some new. The ICTY was the first international tribunal since Nuremberg and Tokyo, and was established in 1993. It can only convict crimes committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia after 1 January 1991 and can only cover individual disputes, not disputes between states. Its responsibility is on individual planning, ordering, instigating, aiding, abetting, and committing atrocities. This is mostly limited to superior command, or the knowledge of or failure to prevent atrocities from being committed. Unlike the ICC, it is a temporary court and trials are expected to wrap up by 2014 unless someone unexpected is found and arrested. Thus far, out of 161 indicted, 124 cases have been completed. There are 37 ongoing trials.
While this may not end impunity, it definitely sends a message that punishment for such crimes is possible. It works to ensure that leaders know that their position is no protection from persecution.
Final note: Prosecutor in the Stanisic and Zupljanin trial was a woman! She was incredibly confident and entirely badass. She may have been balding, but she knew what she was doing. Maybe someday this woman will be up there too. The possibilities are endless…!
-Mac
Wow, that was intense!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are experiencing a lot of amazing things over there!
Keep keeping us updated!
P.S. You are gonna be up there, I have no doubt, and you know this, too.
But I think you are far too fly to be balding. But prosecutor is just your first stop...it's senator...secretary of state...first female president?
Like you said the possibilities are endless
What It’s Like to Chill Out With Whom the Rest of the World Considers As The Most Ruthless Men: Ratko Mladic, Goran Hadzic and Radovan Karadzic (+) Confessions of a Female War Crimes Investigator By Jill Louise Starr NJ USA
ReplyDeletehttps://sites.google.com/site/jillstarrsite/what-it-s-like-to-chill-out-with-whom-the-rest-of-the-world-considers-as-the-most-ruthless-men-in-the-world-ratko-mladic-and-radovan-karadzic-confessions-of-a-female-war-crimes-investigator
Retrospectively, it was all so simple, natural and matter of fact being on a boat restaurant in Belgrade, sitting with, laughing, drinking a two hundred bottle of wine and chatting about war and peace while Ratko Mladic held my hand. Mladic, a man considered the world’s most ruthless war criminal since Adolf Hitler, still at large and currently having a five million dollar bounty on his head for genocide by the international community. Yet there I was with my two best friends at the time, a former Serbian diplomat, his wife, and Ratko Mladic just chilling. There was no security, nothing you’d ordinarily expect in such circumstances. Referring to himself merely as, Sharko; this is the story of it all came about.
Irrefutable Proof ICTY Is Corrupt Court/Irrefutable Proof the Hague Court Cannot Legitimately Prosecute Karadzic Case
ReplyDeletehttp://picasaweb.google.com/lpcyusa
(The Documentary Secret United Nations ICC Meeting Papers Scanned Images)
https://sites.google.com/site/jillstarrsite/irrefutable-proof-icty-is-corrupt-court-irrefutable-proof-the-hague-court-cannot-legitimately-prosecute-karadzic-case/irrefutableproofictyiscorruptcourtirrefutableproofthehaguecourtcannotlegitimatelyprosecutekaradziccase
This legal technicality indicates the Hague must dismiss charges against Dr Karadzic and others awaiting trials in the Hague jail; like it or not.
Unfortunately for the Signatures Of the Rome Statute United Nations member states instituting the ICC & ICTY housed at the Hague, insofar as the, Radovan Karadzic, as with the other Hague cases awaiting trial there, I personally witnessed these United Nations member states having a substantial conversations, and, openly speaking about trading judicial appointments and verdicts for financial funding when I attended the 2001 ICC Preparatory Meetings at the UN in Manhattan making the iCTY and ICC morally incapable trying Radovan Karazdic and others.
I witnessed with my own eyes and ears when attending the 2001 Preparatory Meetings to establish an newly emergent International Criminal Court, the exact caliber of criminal corruption running so very deeply at the Hague, that it was a perfectly viable topic of legitimate conversation in those meetings I attended to debate trading verdicts AND judicial
appointments, for monetary funding.
Jilly wrote:*The rep from Spain became distraught and when her country’s proposal was not taken to well by the chair of the meeting , then Spain argued in a particularly loud and noticably strongly vocal manner, “Spain (my country) strongly believes if we contribute most financial support to the Hague’s highest court, that ought to give us and other countries
feeding it financially MORE direct power over its decisions.”
((((((((((((((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((((((((((( Instead of censoring the country representative from Spain for even bringing up this unjust, illegal and unfair judicial idea of bribery for international judicial verdicts and judicial appointments, all country representatives present in the meeting that day all treated the Spain proposition as a ”totally legitimate topic” discussed and debated it between each other for some time. I was quite shocked! The idea was “let’s discuss it.” "It’s a great topic to discuss."
Some countries agreed with Spain’s propositions while others did not. The point here is, bribery for judicial verdicts and judicial appointments was treated as a totally legitimate topic instead of an illegitimate topic which it is in the meeting that I attended in 2001 that day to establish the ground work for a newly emergent international criminal
court.))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
In particular., since “Spain” was so overtly unafraid in bringing up this topic of trading financial funding the ICC for influence over its future judicial appointments and verdicts in front of every other UN member state present that day at the UN, “Spain” must have already known by previous experience the topic of bribery was “socially acceptable” for
conversation that day. They must have previously spoke about bribing the ICTY and ICC before in meetings; this is my take an international sociological honor student.
SPAIN’s diplomatic gesture of international justice insofar as, Serbia, in all of this is, disgusting morally!SPAIN HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN
“INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.”
I represented the state interests’ of the Former Yugoslavia, in Diplomat Darko Trifunovic’s absence in those meetings and I am proud to undertake this effort on Serbia’s behalf.
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