International Criminal Courts

“It has been 50 years since the United Nations first recognized the need to establish an international criminal court, to prosecute crimes such as genocide. In resolution 260 of 9 December 1948, the General Assembly, "Recognizing that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity; and being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required", adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article I of that convention characterizes genocide as "a crime under international law", and article VI provides that persons charged with genocide "shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction . . ." In the same resolution, the General Assembly also invited the International Law Commission "to study the desirability and possibility of establishing an international judicial organ for the trial of persons charged with genocide . . ."On July 1^st 2002 the International Courts were created. The International Criminal courts should not get involved in conflicts concerning other governments unless the government in question does not have the resources to enforce peace, security, and human rights for the people of the battling country. The International Criminal Court is supposed to stop officials from senselessly murdering people in their own countries. As shown they accomplished this in Libya when dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi senselessly murdered thousands of civilians as part of the revolution. The courts got involved with this case setting out warrants for the arrest of Qaddafi and two others right until the death of Quaddafi, yet Rwanda went through similar injustices and were overlooked. Like Libya innocent civilians were getting killed but instead of stepping in the international courts hesitated and over all decided not to intervene claiming time frame issues. If both cases have similar circumstances, if both cases involve some sort of genocide why should one case be favored against the other. Why should the people of Libya be helped but the people of Rwanda be made to suffer. If the courts claim they are there to stop genocide that means they should take either all cases or none at all.  The international criminal courts should honor and enforce rights listed in the U.N’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations was the first ones to say something had to be done to protect human rights. Human rights no matter what organization or countries are enforcing it are still human rights. They are universal. Every human being on this planet has the same rights as any other person. As stated in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”  When talking about rights organizations and different countries do not matter. We are all human therefore this document applies to us all. “Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”  In an effort to establish peace, the International Criminal Courts might ignore the rights of the specific country it is trying to help. When a country seeks out the help of the International Criminal Courts they must agree to the terms and jurisdiction of the courts. Therefore the courts can completely overlook the country’s own laws and rights. With that kind of power the International Criminal Courts might not come to a decision that is best for the country in question. Therefore it is better for the country in question to settle disputes on their own then to give up their own rights. Governments should solve conflicts within their own country without any international involvement to protect the rights of their own citizens. By solving their own problems they do not give power to anyone else. Their own laws and rights are enforced, along with the rights described in the Universal Declaration of Human rights. No outside force can handle a dispute better than the countries own government because they know all the circumstances and are not biased toward any one side.