The recent murders of 147 Christian students in Kenya murdered( for their faith)by Islamist militia Al-Shabaab along with the continuing atrocities attributed to Islamic State in its territory has raised the issue of whether as to whether or not IS( and other groups such as Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and of course Al Qaeda) amount ot more than simple terrorism and are in fact war crimes/crimes against humanity, coming under the jurisdiction of the ICC( International Criminal Court) at The Hague as John Bellinger III, a former legal advisor to the Bush Administration suggested in an op-ed piece the International New York Times( April 3, 2015).
Personally I have my doubts as to whether this a good idea. Firstly the whole attitude of the US and Israel to the ICC is pretty dubious( amounting in effect to "indict everyone else but us") Secondly, the territory ruled/controlled by Islamic State is composed of two countries( Iraq and Syria) who have neither signed or ratified by the ICC Convention, Thirdly, the whole "War On Terror" business is seen(not least in the Middle East/ Muslim world) as an American led campaign not just on violent jihadism but Islam itself. Fourthly it seems likely that at least two Security Council members- yes you've guessed it, China and Russia- will oppose any such move to refer IS to the ICC. Fifthly, the ICC was intended to be "a court of last resort" and there is NO evidence that any one country cannot prosecute and convict violent jihadists on its own (as the UK does) This may seems strange given my previous proposal that the ICC indict President Vladimir Putin on charges of waging aggressive war in Ukraine but I think that unless expressly requested to do so by a signatory state(say Nigeria) the Court should keep its distance from the whole business of violent jihadism!
Anybody think as I do?
Terry
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