IL and international institutions insufficient

• Theme 1: humanitarian intervention

  • internationa law in the form of R2P and humanitarian interventions are enforced - protect vulnerable nations
  • Intervention in Kosovo in 1999 has been labelled as the pinnacle of humanitarian intervention, where NATO and the US forces prevented an attempt at ethnic cleansing from serbia
  • Blair set out principles for the state intervention in his chicago speech - " If right-minded nations see human rights abuses on a mass scale and the UN refuses to act, then it is a duty for these nations to act" - concept stems from the R2P introduced by the UN - principle represents the liberal idea that a state has a duty to uphold and protect human rights -> if they fail to do so, there sovereignty is retratcted and others tates have responsibility to step in -> mainly dictated by western nations - US mainly as it acts as a hegemon
• Theme 1 counter: contrary has been illustrated by the decline in intervetion over the past 20 years

  -> Mainly due to catastrophes of intervention in afghanistan, Libya and Iraq -> these intervetions were not only expensive but also cost many lives and were unsuccessful and did not achieve their aim -> iraw war was labelled as the three billion dollar war and is widely frowned upon by the international community -> decline of humanitarian intervention was illustrated by Obama's inaction in syria. Intervention in the civil war in syria was not in americas self-interest and thus he restrained from stepping in -> leading to huge rerugee crisis -> introduces the idea that realists principles of national self interest have returned -> argued that countries are only intervening in the russian invasion of ukraine to prevent the rise of Russia as a bipolar power potentially threatening global security once again
• Theme 2 Courts and tribunals

  International courts and tribunals play a key role in upholding justice and human rights globally. -> Special tribunals (e.g., ICTY, ICTR) set up by UN to try war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. -> Effective punishment & deterrence: ICTY indicted over 120 people, including top leaders. (ICC) created in 2002 as a last resort when national systems fail. -> Jean-Pierre Bemba (Congo) sentenced for war crimes (sexual violence as a weapon). -> Western dominance -> ICC took action after only 5 days of Ukraine invasion. -> ICTY stats: 64 convicted, 12 acquitted, many cases transferred to local courts -> ICTR (Rwanda): 46 convictions, dozens of cases still ongoing. ->ECHR also noted as important in promoting justice.
• Theme 2 AGAINST – Criticisms and Limitations of Courts and TribunalsThese institutions often act inconsistently and reflect Western bias, undermining their legitimacy.

  • Rwandan tribunal only convited hutus, while the Tutsis crimes were never investigated -> serbia too criticsed the tribunal for the former yugoslavia for being biased arguing that they only focued on crimes commited by serbs
  • Selective justice: Only African leaders indicted by ICC → led to AU discouraging cooperation.
  • Western abuses ignored: -> Obama’s drone strikes killed civilians.
  • Guantanamo Bay torture practices unaddressed.
  • 2015 US airstrike on Afghan hospital killing 42 people.
  • Western dominance: ICC seen as tool for political goals rather than consistent justice.
  • Human rights narrative used to justify power, not protect rights.
  • Courts may promote global dominance more than human rights.
• theme 3: The ICC

  • established as a replacement for the special tribunals -> mainly due to the sheer cost of these tribunals -> proceedings accounting for over 10% of the UN's budget -> The ICC was established by the rome statue in 1998 as a court of last resort 0> able to hold proceedings when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so, meaing that it can also put heads of state on trial -> this was the case in 2016 -> Congo VP - Jean pierre Bemba was sentenced for deploying secual violence -> contrast to the special tribunals -> icc keeps involvemnt of the SC to a minimum as under the singapore compromise the uNSC is only allowed to delay prosecution for 12 months -> furthermore the ICC aim is not only prosecute crimes that have already been committed but also to deter future human right abuses
• ICC counter - cricisied for two reasons -> lack of power and used as a political tool of the west -> ICC lacks both credibility and enforcement power, thus drastically decreasing its effectiveness -> rome statute was voted upon -> 120 voted in favour but great powers like USA and russia did not accept the icc jurisdiction nor recognise their authority -> 7-% of the worlds population is outside the jurisdiction of the court which greatly threatens its international credibility in a way which is arguably reminiscnet of the league of nations -> icc depends entirely on memver states to arrest and transfer defendants -> arrest warrant for Omal Al bashir of Sudan was ignored by 19 countries and the case was dropped -> ICC only ever indicted and convicted africans and critics argue its clear institutional bias