Case for Mugabe ICC trial

Case for Mugabe ICC trial

ZIMBABWE despot Robert Mugabe

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By Mark S. Ellis
01/04/04
IF we are sincere in pursuing Saddam Hussein and his fallen regime for abusing their citizens and committing acts of state terror, we must also look honestly at Zimbabwe.
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When atrocities are committed in accordance with state policies that either sanction or turn a blind eye to systematic human rights abuses, those who ultimately authorize such acts must be held accountable. Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, is one of those people.
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The gap continues to widen between international guarantees of human rights for the people of Zimbabwe and the living reality of the abuse they endure. The government's grave attacks against its citizens show an increasingly desperate president undermining human rights and the rule of law in order to maintain power. This systematic oppression of an already impoverished people is being supplemented by a widespread government policy of subverting the press, the judicial system and the economy. The end result is a country in ruin.
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Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate is over 620 percent and climbing. The unemployment rate exceeds 70 percent. The World Health Organization reports that one in four Zimbabweans is HIV positive; 4,000 of them die every week. The country's agricultural output has been so ravaged by the government's policies that Zimbabwe now has the highest number of citizens starving to death in Africa.
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It is time for the UN Security Council to instruct the International Criminal Court (ICC) to initiate a preliminary investigation against Mugabe for crimes against humanity. No single act would more accurately reflect the purpose and importance of the ICC, nor give more hope to the victims of Mugabe's policies that he will not escape justice.
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The ICC was established on July 1, 2002 as the first permanent international court to investigate and try individuals for the most heinous violations of international humanitarian law, including crimes against humanity. These include murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, displacement and other inhumane acts of a similar nature that intentionally cause great suffering. The well-documented and mounting evidence of these crimes committed by Mugabe's government is staggering.
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Mugabe's atrocities are not limited to inflicting egregious pain on individuals. The ICC should be able to hold him accountable also for committing "other inhumane acts" under the statute. This would include the systematic and widespread policy of using food as an economic weapon. Interviews with a number of Zimbabweans reveal a nefarious government policy of manipulating the supply and distribution of international and government food aid. If a Zimbabwean does not possess a registration card from Mugabe's ruling party, then he or she cannot register for this life-sustaining grain.
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There is a general misconception that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over acts committed by Mugabe in Zimbabwe. It is true that the ICC can exercise jurisdiction only over crimes committed after Zimbabwe has ratified the ICC Statute, which it has not done. Mugabe may think that by not ratifying the statute he is immune to the Court's jurisdiction. He is wrong.
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There is an obscure but forceful provision in the ICC Statute that pointedly addresses the situation in Zimbabwe. Article 12(3) states in part that a state which is not yet a party to the statute "may, by declaration lodged with the Registrar, accept the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court with respect to the crime in question." Thus a post-Mugabe government could immediately accept the jurisdiction of the ICC and so sanction a full investigation and indictment of Mugabe for crimes he committed since July 2002.
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Under the ICC Statute, the UN Security Council could already authorize the court to immediately investigate crimes committed by Mugabe. Such an investigation can occur even though Zimbabwe has yet to accept the jurisdiction of the court.
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Such an investigation would give a tremendous boost to the people of Zimbabwe. They would know that although Mugabe can manipulate and evade domestic justice, he cannot do the same under international law. Those who have been victimized would know that Mugabe will be held accountable for his actions.
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A fundamental tenet of the ICC is the repudiation of impunity for those who commit gross violations of international law. Thus the failure to deter these types of violations is not a result of the absence of law, but rather of a failure of political will to curtail these violators. By initiating a preliminary investigation against Mugabe, the UN Security Council and the ICC would send a clear and strong message: Justice is not expendable; there will be no impunity for Robert Mugabe.

Ellis is the President of the International Bar Association
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