The I.C.C. gets it right

According to this article on the Washington Post, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will seek an arrest warrant for current Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. This is the first time the ICC has sought such a warrant on a current head of state.

The development of this story has both excited me and infused me with a great deal of uncertainty; as someone who has followed the events in Darfur over the past four years and shared the outrage over the atrocities being committed in the name of al-Bashir's government, I am truly overjoyed to see that officials in the international community are (finally) going to hold al-Bashir responsible for his actions. At the same time, (assuming the ICC grants the warrant) I wonder how the U.N. is going to address the issue of arresting a current head of state. Certainly, al-Bashir isn't going to simply turn himself in to the ICC, so one assumes that he will have to be caught if and when he leaves the country, or once another ruler is elected. Still, a man who commands the army of an entire nation and countless Janjaweed militia certainly isn't going to go down without a fight. So what recourse has the U.N. left itself with regards to bringing al-Bashir to justice?

It is one thing to issue an arrest warrant for a criminal, it is wholly another to arrest him - especially when that person is a current President. I am really excited (as only a political science - law nerd like myself can be) to see how this whole episode plays out. Al-Bashir's government has promised "grave consequences" and warned that the peace process will be "shattered" if the ICC continues with its pursuit of the warrant, which in all likelihood means more trouble for the already suffering people of Darfur. This, of course, is unfortunate, but if it means a possible end to their suffering at the hands of al-Bashir and the Janjaweed, then perhaps this is the risk they (the ICC and the U.N.) must take.

As the Washington Post points out, "ICC advocates contend that such court actions contribute to peace efforts," and point to the cases of Slobodan Milosevic and former Liberian President Charles Taylor, whose U.N. tribunals "have ultimately contributed to stability" in their respective countries. However what this statement ignores is the fact that these two men were brought to justice only AFTER they were already removed from power. As I stated earlier, the fact that Al-Bashir is still the current President of Sudan makes this case entirely unique, and historic.