The International Criminal Court began its work in 2002, having been granted the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC began its first trial in January 2009. Since then, the Court has investigated war crimes in numerous countries, including Uganda, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Georgia. The ICC remains controversial, seen by some non-Western countries as an exercise in Western imperialism, while the United States, which is not an ICC member, criticises what it sees as the Court’s lack of sufficient checks and balances on prosecutors and judges.
With its seat in The Hague, Radio Netherlands has covered developments at the ICC extensively over the years, as well as the crimes the Court has dealt with.
Producer: Michele Ernsting
Broadcast: May 22, 2005
The Speakers include:
- ICC President Philippe Kirsch
- Christine Chung, senior trial attorney
- ICC Registrar Shamim Razavi
- Roelof Haveman, programme director of the Grotius Centre at Leiden University