The justice conundrum : Africa's turbulent relationship with the ICC

Abstract

This article/blog is a response to the article 'Judicialization of Peace' in the Harvard International Law Journal Vol 59(2).The Colombia transitional peace model, as described in the article, offers an interesting prism through which to view the ICC's involvement in African conflicts which, hitherto, has served mainly to antagonize African leaders and achieved little in the way of transitional justice. This response looks critically at the role of the Office of the Prosecutor under both Luis Moreno Ocampo and Fatou Bensouda ; examines some of the flaws in the Kenyatta/Ruto prosecution; and asks whether the 'shadow effect' of the ICC (pace the article) could help mediate meaningful peace moves on a continent whose institutions, in the main, are far less robust than Colombia's. It also posits a philosophical gulf between African concepts of 'human rights', rooted in tribe and ethnic community, and the ICC's application of (Enlightenment) principles of individual liberties.