Tag Archives: International Criminal Court

July 7, 2012 · 7:01 pm

Too absolute, too irreversible

On 3 July 2012, United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon today called on Member States which use the death penalty to abolish this practice. Mr. Ban spoke at a panel organized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on ‘Moving away from the death penalty – Lessons from national experiences’ at UN Headquarters in New York.

“The taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict on another, even when backed by legal process,” Mr. Ban said.

Mr. Ban lifted up a number of signs of the growing international movement away from the death penalty.

There are now 74 Parties to the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

More than 150 States have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it.

In 2011, only 20 Member States conducted executions.

In the United States, Illinois and Connecticut became the 16th and 17th states to reject death as a punishment.

Mr. Ban acknowledged that 32 UN Member States retain the death penalty for drug-related offenses. He voiced his concern that “some countries still allow juvenile offenders under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged offence to be sentenced to death and executed.”

But he lifted up international efforts to abolish the death penalty:

  • The United Nations system has long advocated for abolition.
  • The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution “calling for a global moratorium on executions with a view to eventually abolishing the death penalty entirely” in 2007. In the years since, Argentina, Burundi, Gabon, Latvia, Togo and Uzbekistan have abolished the death penalty.
  •  International and hybrid criminal tribunals for Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Rwanda and Sierra Leone do not provide for capital punishment.
  • The International Criminal Court does not provide for capital punishment.
  • The Guidance Note of 2008 on the UN Approach to Rule of Law Assistance (by Mr. Ban) stated that “the UN will not establish or directly participate in any tribunal that allows for capital punishment.”

Mr. Ban closed with an appeal that Member States “do our utmost to put a final end to this practice.”

May it be so.

See you along the Trail.

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March 15, 2012 · 10:24 pm

Study war no more

It is found in the United Nations building, part of the display about the UN’s work on militarism.

Each time I see it,  the picture touches a chord of hope in my heart. My soul sings.

We can lay our weapons down – by the riverside – in the desert – on the street corners – wherever we may be – we can lay our weapons down. And study war no more. And begin the hard work of building a just peace.

Yesterday I toured the UN. And the picture carried even deeper meaning than usual. The International Criminal Court had announced its first verdict ever. In that decision, the court found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty of conscripting, enlisting, and actively using children under the age of 15 in hostilities in the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during 2002 and 2003.

The court’s decision  underscored the picture’s meaning. The picture underscored the court’s decision.

Art and the judicial process intertwining to proclaim hope.

See you along the Trail.

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March 13, 2012 · 12:09 am

Kony 2012 and children in armed conflict

An issue that has drawn lots of attention lately is the Kony2012 video and campaign. My friend and colleague Jessica Hawkinson gathered some resources for the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations that are related to addressing the issue of Kony and the LRA and the larger issue of children in situations of armed conflict.

Millions of viewers have tuned in to the KONY2012 video and campaign, recently released by the organization Invisible Children. The campaign encourages public support for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), who is wanted for trial by the International Criminal Court. Kony is charged for, among other things, the widespread recruitment and use of child soldiers. The campaign also seeks to build support for the disarmament of the LRA and rehabilitation of these child soldiers.

For all of the support the campaign has gained, many key stakeholders have raised questions about the video, noting its failure to adequately address the complexities of the issue. Included below are several resources about the video, the Ugandan conflict and the LRA, and ways that you can help bring an end to the use of children in armed conflict.

Learn more about the LRA and children in situations of armed conflict

How you can help

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A prayer for children in situations of armed conflict
by David Gambrell

Loving God, giver of life,
through your prophets you promised
that a little child would come to lead us
in the paths of everlasting peace.
Help us to follow where you lead
and hasten the coming of the day …
when wars throughout the earth will end …
when neighbors and nations will put down their weapons …
when all children will live in safety and freedom …
when all people will have justice and dignity …
when the wolf and lamb will dwell together
and no one will hurt or destroy in all the earth.
We ask these things through Jesus Christ,
your beloved child, our eternal peace.  Amen.

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