There has been a growing pressure in the International
Criminal Court to investigate the human rights abuses in the territory
controlled by the Islamic State or ISIS. The chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda,
stated Wednesday that her office had received reports of “crimes of unspeakable
cruelty.” However, the court has no jurisdiction over Iraq and Syria where the
acts occurred or over the group’s leaders. For an investigation to begin, the
United Nations Security Council would have to ask the court to begin an
investigation since the change in jurisdiction would have to come from outside
the court. Another option would be for Iraq and Syria to accept the court’s
jurisdiction, which won’t happen anytime soon. The office has looked into
several different options to attempt to investigate the crimes by ISIS. There
have been several thousand foreign fighters join ISIS, however, they appear to
be low-ranking and could be investigated by their home courts but not the
international court.
Something
needs to be done about the human rights crimes committed by ISIS. Everything
ISIS has done has been extremely cruel and unusual. The International Criminal
Court needs to make an exception to investigate ISIS before they harm more
innocent people. William Schabas, an international law professor at Middlesex
University in Britain, claims that there is no rule that said that an
organization could not be referred to the court, even if it operated in
countries that were not members. These Islamic militants need to be prosecuted
for what they have done.
Emily Burris
3:00 pm
04/10/15
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/world/middleeast/international-criminal-court-says-isis-is-out-of-its-jurisdiction.html?_r=0
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