Justice in Conflict

The following article was originally posted as an op-ed for the Globe and Mail.

The rubble of a destroyed mausoleum in Timbuktu, Mali (Photo: Joe Penney / Reuters)

The trial of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi at the International Criminal Court represents a number of firsts for global justice. It is the first time that the destruction of cultural sites has been prosecuted as a war crime at the ICC. It is the first time that an Islamic radical has been prosecuted at the ICC. And it is the first time that anyone facing judges in The Hague has pleaded guilty.

The trial of Mr. al-Mahdi, a member of Ansar Dine who accepted responsibility for destroying UNESCO-protected shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, is a significant victory for the still-young court. What is less clear is how this case will resonate around the world, and whether it can deter similar crimes.

The first 15 years of the ICC’s existence have been tumultuous. While the court has managed to prosecute a handful of militants responsible for mass atrocities, it has had its fair share of failures. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been free since becoming the first person charged by the ICC for genocide. Joseph Kony, the notorious leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, continues to wreak havoc in Central Africa, 10 years after being indicted. The trials of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto collapsed as a result of a lethal combination of shoddy case construction by ICC prosecutors and Kenyan political interference. Today, the court faces accusations that it is biased against Africa. It also has a woefully limited budget, especially for an institution tasked with ending impunity for international crimes. The al-Mahdi trial represented an opportunity to break with this litany of controversies.

Mr. al-Mahdi’s surrender to the ICC caught observers by surprise. He had been toiling in a jail in Niger when, following the issuance of a sealed arrest warrant, ICC officials flew to Bamako, got the necessary paperwork signed by government officials, and flew Mr. al-Mahdi to The Hague. Insiders immediately believed that he would plead guilty. He couldn’t hide from his crimes; they were captured on camera. Moreover, he was likely targeted by the ICC in part because he promised to co-operate with prosecutors. Maybe he was motivated to do so by genuine remorse. Or perhaps he preferred the ICC’s prison in Scheveningen over detention in Niger or Mali.

His arrest satisfied two of the ICC’s interests. First, it could efficiently conclude a groundbreaking case without expending many resources. Second, it now has custody over someone who is likely to give investigators evidence of violent crimes committed against human victims. This was particularly important given that the ICC has yet to indict anyone for murder or sexual violence in Mali, despite calls to do so.

That at least two African states – Mali and Niger – co-operated with the ICC is likewise useful in combatting the perception that Africa is somehow “against” the court. So too is the fact that the ICC put a terrorist on trial for war crimes. Most crucially, however, the court tapped into global outrage about the destruction of cultural heritage sites. While the court has no jurisdiction in Syria or Iraq, where Islamic State fighters have wantonly obliterated historic sites, it could do something about the destruction of Timbuktu shrines. In prosecuting Mr. al-Mahdi, the ICC joined with UNESCO to form a new front line against the violent destruction of culture. Continue reading →

In July, Shehzad Charania interviewed James Stewart, the Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Their interview covers Stewart’s journey to the ICC, his thoughts on the Court’s challenges and disappointments to date, and his hopes for the institution’s future. Click here to read Shehzad’s interviews with other key figures at the ICC and the world of international criminal justice.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor James Stewart (right) speaks with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during court proceedings. (Photo: ICC)

Late last month, I went to the International Criminal Court to see Deputy Prosecutor James Stewart.  Stewart was elected by the Assembly of States Parties in November 2012, and took his oath in March 2013.  As he passes the three year point of his nine year mandate, it feels like a good time to take stock as second-in-command in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP).

I begin by asking about Stewart’s journey to the ICC.  “It was not straightforward,” he laughs.  Stewart was a career prosecutor in Canada when by chance he met Richard Goldstone, then the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  Goldstone spoke to a small gathering, and praised the working of Canadians in Rwanda. Stewart was intrigued. “Who were these fellow countrymen doing such interesting work?” he thought. His next encounter in the world of international criminal justice was with Louise Arbour, a fellow Canadian and Goldstone’s successor as Chief Prosecutor. At the time, Arbour was also a Judge at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and Stewart had appeared before her many times. He describes her as his inspiration in the field of international criminal justice. During a social occasion, he asked her whether she needed lawyers at the ICTR. Two months later, he got a call – the ICTR was looking for bilingual prosecutors. Stewart soon found himself in Arusha in the mid-1990s as Senior Trial Attorney.

In 1999, Stewart moved to The Hague to become the first Chief of Prosecutions at the ICTY.  He returned to Canada a few years later, thinking he was home for good. But in 2004, he found himself back at the ICTR, becoming the Chief of Appeals. This was an “extraordinary experience” for Stewart, as he began to build a whole new section from scratch following the decision of the UN Security Council to separate the ICTY and ICTR prosecution offices.  Stewart returned to Canada in 2007, but his biggest challenge was still to come. In 2012, he received an email from a friend alerting him to the role of ICC Deputy Prosecutor under the new Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

But the process of having to go through an election to win the role did not come naturally to Stewart.  “I was completely and utterly lost – I had no idea what to do,” he says candidly. He soon realised he would have to “campaign” for votes, within the diplomatic community in New York, The Hague and Brussels. Although not a national candidate, he is grateful for all the guidance and logistical support offered by Canadian officials as he navigated the minefield of international legal diplomacy for the first time.

Once Stewart was sworn in, work began. His early feelings were positive. “I had the impression that under Fatou Bensouda, the Office of the Prosecutor was embarking upon a great shift in its way of working, and its culture.” He understood he was entering “an institution in flux, looking to redefine itself” after some difficult decisions and results in the courtroom.  Stewart saw gaining the trust of the Judges as one of his very first objectives.  “Without this trust,” he says, “the Prosecution cannot achieve anything.”

One of the reasons why the OTP, by its own admission, required a change in direction was because of the failure of the Kenya cases. In April this year, the Judges vacated the charges in the case against Deputy President William Ruto.  Last year, the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta collapsed.

“Very, very tough” is how Stewart describes the OTP’s experience with the Kenya cases. One of the worst aspects, he says, “was the sense that we had failed those individuals and communities who had no other recourse to justice.” But it was difficult in other ways too.  Stewart is used to the combative nature of the courtroom.  But it was the “diplomatic offensive”, on a number of levels and in a variety of forums, which he had never encountered before. “It brought home how difficult the work can be if you have people determined to undermine you at every turn,” he says. Stewart is keen to emphasise the findings of the majority in the Ruto case, in particular around witness interference and “political meddling”. This was not something the OTP had expected the Judges to say. At the same time, he is clear that the OTP is still learning lessons.  “We have had to go through a process of self-examination,” he says. This has yielded results, according to Stewart. Under a new prosecutorial strategy, the OTP now took more time and care to build their cases, aiming for those most responsible, ensuring trial-readiness as early as possible, and securing diverse forms of evidence. They had also become much more adept at framing requests for information and evidence from States. And they understood much better the importance of developing partnerships and relationships with key actors within Governments in situation countries. Continue reading →