Countries and cases
- Cases
- Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain
- Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein
- Abdullah al-Senussi
- Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb
- Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi
- Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled
- Bahar Idriss Abu Garda
- Bosco Ntaganda
- Callixte Mbarushimana
- Dominic Ongwen
- Germain Katanga
- Jean-Pierre Bemba (Bemba I)
- Jean-Pierre Bemba (Bemba II)
- Joseph Kony et. al.
- Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé
- Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
- Omar al-Bashir
- Saif al-Islam Gadaffi
- Sylvestre Mudacumura
- Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
- Uhuru Kenyatta
- William Ruto and Joshua Sang
- Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud
- Alfred YekatomAnd Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona
- Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli
- Countries
- Africa
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic (I and II)
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo Brazzaville
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Darfur, Sudan
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Americas
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Suriname
- The Bahamas
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Asia-Pacific
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China
- Fiji
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Laos People's Democratic Republic
- Malaysia
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- MyanmarNon-State Party
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Republic of Korea
- Republic of Maldives
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- The Philippines
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Europe
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- The Holy See / Vatican City
- The Netherlands
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Uzbekistan
- MENA
- Africa
A system of justice born of Nazi crimes against humanity
At the end of the Second World War, the Allied powers tried the Nazi leadership for their heinous crimes. Never before had high government and military officials seen such accountability. This was the beginning of the international justice movement we know today.
Yet the onset of the Cold War resulted in little further progress at the international level for over 50 years.
But during this time, advances were being made at the national level. Latin America - Argentina, Brazil and Chile in particular - led the charge in prosecutions of government leaders for mass crimes against political opponents.
In 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall and consequent opening of the international system allowed the United Nations to set up separate, temporary tribunals to prosecute those most responsible for grave violations of human rights in impunity-fueled conflicts in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and East Timor.
Working with a group of progressive ‘like-minded’ states from around the world – mostly smaller and middle powers - a group of civil society organizations from around the world - the Coalition for the International Criminal Court – began advocating for a permanent international criminal court, with power to prosecute anyone, anywhere for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
And it worked.
The International Criminal Court that was never supposed to be
Against all the odds - and opposition of the world’s major powers - the Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 by an overwhelming majority of the world’s countries. 139 countries to be exact. The International Criminal Court came into existence in The Hague four years later.
Independent of the UN and its Security Council, with an independent prosecutor and independent judges, and no immunity for heads of state or high officials, this a Court that was never supposed to happen.
A work in progress
Over 120 countries are part of the Rome Statute system of international justice. The progress from idea to reality has been remarkable. But the story does not end there. Mass killings and war crimes continue all over the globe.
The reach and impact of the ICC and international justice is mostly limited to countries that have opted-in to the Rome Statute system. Most of Europe, Latin America and Africa have joined the ICC, but big gaps remain in the Middle-East-North Africa and in Asia. Major powers such as China, India, Russia and the United States remain outside the system.
Much work remains to be done. Mass killings and war crimes continue all over the globe. Justice is uneven. Political attacks continue to mount at the Court become more effective. The ICC is not perfect. The Court needs to improve its delivery of justice to victims, speed up trials, be more transparent in its decision making, and communicate more effectively to the world.
The road ahead
As the world faces resurgent mass violence and widespread impunity, the success of the ICC and Rome Statute system of international justice is more crucial than ever before.
For victims and communities that have seen their lives destroyed by what are truly horrific crimes, delivering on the promises of “never again” by addressing the past is vital to securing a more peaceful future.
Together, we can break the cycle of these heinous crimes and bring justice to victims the world over.