Friday, March 04, 2011



International justice for Gaddafi?

Earlier in the week, the UN Security Council voted to refer the slaughter of protestors in Libya to the International Criminal Court. Today, the ICC's head prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has confirmed that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his sons will be investigated for crimes against humanity.

This is good, but at the same time it points out the weakness in the ICC. International justice should be universal, and not subject to the political veto of the Security Council. Otherwise, it looks like a political weapon, to be used against those who defy the international order, rather than an impartial system of law which applies equally to all.

Imperfect justice is better than no justice at all. But we should keep pushing for real justice as well - justice that applies to Bush and Blair as well as Gaddafi.