The international criminal justice system is neglecting the WANA region

As decade upon decade of conflict and rights violations in the West Asia-North Africa region clock up to shameful levels, it is time for the international criminal justice community to turn their attention to this region and begin to hold the responsible parties accountable.

In the West Asia-North Africa region, large sections of the population face challenges accessing justice.  An examination of the social pressures that have fuelled much of the violent unrest of the Arab Spring uncovers citizens who feel disenfranchised; citizens deprived of the basic rights necessary to lead dignified lives. It’s not that they had something to gain through the uprisings – it’s simply that they had nothing to lose.

Given that many of the conflicts in our region are sparked by grievances relating weak access to justice and institutional accountability, what role will the international criminal justice begin to play in alleviating future suffering in West Asia and North Africa?

Yes, the international justice community has been active in trying to address some of the region’s problems. There have been a number of rulings that are readily applicable to the various conflicts that have occurred in recent years.

In Iraq, for example, where over one million people have lost their lives since the occupation in 2003, there is broad consensus that the 2003 attack on Iraq by US-UK and coalition forces breached international law. Many legal experts have pointed to the violations of the Geneva Convention by the US and UK in their roles as occupying power. Articles 2 and 39 of the UN Charter, to which the allied forces are party, bans the use of force by states except in specific circumstances, and vests the Security Council as the only organisation able to rule on the legality of war.

How, then, can we convince the people of our war-ravaged states to believe in the rule of law when those in power so flagrantly opt in and out of its most basic principles? In the WANA region, only two countries – Jordan and Tunisia – have ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Eleven other countries are signatories, including Israel, yet it’s questionable what tangible difference this makes when it comes to the protection of civilian rights.

The on-going conflict between Israel and Palestine suggests quite little. If we were to apply the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) definition of a Crime of Aggression, or the rulings of the Geneva Convention, to the recent conflict in Gaza, we would find that both the actions of Hamas, through its firing of rockets, and Israel, through its bombardment of innocent civilians,in serious violation of international law.

Of course, it’s important to look at the historical context. In this regard, rulings delivered by the international justice system have also helped us understand the root causes of present day conflicts in the West Bank and Gaza.

Take the example of the occupied territories. Resolution 242 adopted by the UN Security Council clearly declares the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war. Additionally, there have been a number of articles and rulings that prohibit settlement activity on territory that has been occupied by war. These have been issued by a number of institutions, be it the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Economic and Social Council or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).The ICJ also found that the construction of the wall built by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was contrary to international law.

When so much time and energy is devotedby the international media to discussing the conflict in Gaza, why do we not pause for a moment tocall out the illegality of the actions, and the layers of historic illegality that provide their context?

Despite the ingrained limitations of a system that cannot mete out punishments, we must recognise that international law has been effective at stopping serious transgressions to a limited degree.If past events have taught us anything,it’s that rather than being reactive, the international criminal justice community needs to be proactive if they intend on furthering long term human security in the West Asia-North Africa region. It’s about preparing for the expected.

In this region, we have borne witness to too many haphazardand unplanned post-conflict reconstruction processes. We have seen emergency response efforts that are dressed up as sustainable development plans designed to bolster resilience. It’s time that we call out many of these efforts for what they are – emergency responses that are, at best, geared to respond reactively to an unfolding situation.

Take Syria as a case in point. Eventually the conflict will end in Syria and people will return to their homes and communities. We don’t know when this peace will unfold or for that matter what this peace will look like. We just know that it will happen at some point. So why are we not doing more to prepare for it?

There are over 600,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan in addition to over 800,000 in Turkey and over a million in Lebanon.Why are we not learning more about their pre-conflict access to justice, the non-state justice systems, and the land and property rights systems that led to the uprising in the first place?Understanding the root causes that led to the protracted conflict will go a long way to ensuring it doesn’t happen again.

The international criminal justice system cannot afford to just focus on international crimes. Itmust also focus on the criminalities that make a person’s daily life unbearable. Bribery, corruption, the deprivation of people’s right to property, education and safe working conditions – these are all elements of a poisonous equation that, if left unchecked, results in resentment that eventually spills over as bloody conflict. Preventable elements, if only the system was equipped to act now, not just later.

Thankfully, the West Asia-North Africa region has a growing civil society movement. The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ICC) now has almost 200 active member organisations spread across almost every country in the region. The Coalition is strengthening regional efforts by targeting civil society, parliamentarians and governments, and is pushing for an increased number of ratifications and full implementation of the Rome Statute in all countries in the region.

Ensuring, however, that ratification translates into a tangible commitment to uphold the rights of the citizens of the region is altogether different. The international criminal justice system – whether it’s the ICC, the ICJ, the Security Council, or any other organisation with a mandate totake action on international crimes and deter them from being committed in the future – must turn their focus to the countries of the West Asia-North Africa region and start thinking proactively if an end to the region’s suffering is ever to be achieved.