U.N. Security Council and the Future of the ICC: Some Comments After the Authorization of UNAMID

Darfur has become an allegory for human rights violations and, according to the International Crisis Group [website], the situation has even deteriorated since the signing of a peace agreement in 2006 [click here for full report]. In 2005, the U.N. Security Council had referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Click here for Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005 [pdf, in English]. This year, the ICC issued warrants for the first two suspects; yet, mostly due to the Sudanese government's defiance of the ICC, the execution of those warrants is still in the air. For previous posts on this topic, click here and here.

This week's U.N. Security Council Resolution 1769 [press release and text], which authorizes a joint U.N.-African force (UNAMID) for the Darfur region, could be a first step towards fighting impunity in Darfur. It illustrates that the U.N. is unwilling stand idly by. Maybe the U.N. should also give more attention to prompting the Sudan government to cooperate with the ICC ... Nick Grono and Donald Steinberg of the International Crisis Group have written an interesting article [text, in English] on how the ICC's future may depend upon the involvement of the U.N. Security Council.