An Analysis Of International War Crimes (Hypothetical)

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

The Hague court has jurisdiction to review the case against three Katonia nationals and six Ridgeland nationals under Rome Statute, art. 5(b), 11. The Hague court jurisdiction was based under the Rome Statute, Universal Jurisdiction in International law and the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties, May. 22,1969, art. 53.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

* Whether the victims of Vineland have a role in initiating an investigation or prosecution against the nationals from Katonia and Ridgeland?

* Whether the ICC is authorized to award reparations to the victims of Vineland due to the harm caused by the nationals of Katonia and Ridgeland?

STATEMENTS OF FACTS

This is a case involving a continuous fighting in a place called Vineland, between central government and three ethnic groups from the southern and northern regions. The parties to the conflict signed a peace agreement in order to form a democratic, coalition government whose powered would be shared by all the groups in the country. In January 2002, the Security Counsel authorized UNVINE to deploy 500 military personnel and 600 civilian personnel to Vineland to verify cessation of hostilities, to set up a security zone for civilians and refugees, and to make preparations for the forthcoming elections in the various regions. The Secretary General invited member states to contribute forces, cooperating with equipment for UNVINE and civilian personnel in order to carry out the mandate. The member states of Katonia and Ridgeland committed and deployed soldiers and paratroopers to the UNVINE mission in Vineland.

In June 2002, an insurgent group from the northern region named ANVA broke away from the coalition government due to dissatisfaction over the number of seats in the new government and due to its oil revenue shares from oil deposits in the northern region.

The UN was working on a renewal of its peacekeeping in Bosnialand and Katonia representative warned the Security Council that it would not participate in this or other UN peacekeeping missions unless the Council granted it soldiers immunity from prosecution by the ICC.

The statute of the ICC entered into force between the States Parties to the Statute on July 1, 2002 and empowered the Court to prosecute and punish persons who committed genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in the territory of the States Parties where the competent national courts were either unwilling or unavailable to exercise their jurisdiction. Many States became Parties to the statute, including the state of Vineland, and they have accepted jurisdiction of the Court in accordance with the Statute and in particular the principle of complimentarity.

On the 10th of July of 2002, insurgents attacked UNVINE, killing 10 Katonia soldiers and 15 Ridgeland paratroopers. Katonia and Ridgeland decided to send additional paratroopers to assist their troops, and launched in retaliation, a ten-day aerial bombing of the general area of the attacks. Katonia and Ridgeland's paratroopers cordoned off the surrounding areas and conducted house-to-house raids, detaining approximately 50 men and 20 boys. These detainees were taken to a detention compound where they were observed, in order to determine if they were insurgents among them. Four men were tortured in an isolated area, without civilian witnesses. One of them died, however, the cause of the death was determined to be a heart attack. Several training camps from ANVA were destroyed and many insurgents killed. Thousands of acres of farmland were ruined, as well as large quantities of crops and livestock were destroyed. After Katonia and Ridgeland left the area, many families complained that the paratroopers while conducting the house-to-house searches had stolen personal property.

On July 12, 2002, the Security Counsel adopted resolution 1234(2002), which gives a twelve-month exemption from prosecution by the ICC to Vineland peacekeepers taking part in the UN peacekeeping operations. Part of the resolution reads as follows:

1. "Requests consistent with the provisions of article 16 of the Rome Statute that the ICC, if a case arises involving current or former officials or personnel from a contributing State not a party to the Rome Statute over acts or omissions relating to a United Nations established or authorized operation, shall for a twelve month period starting July 1, 2002, not commence or proceed with investigation or prosecution of any such case, unless the Security Council decide otherwise."

2. "Expresses the intention to renew the request in paragraph 1 under the same conditions each 1 July for further twelve-month period for as long as may be necessary"

Many States believed that the resolution modified article 16 of the Rome Statute and was inconsistent with the Statute.

In order to prevent its soldiers from falling under ICC jurisdiction, Katonia signed what called "Article 98 agreements" with different countries, including Vineland and Ridgeland. In these bilateral agreements, the parties concerned agreed that Katonia's soldiers would not be surrendered to the ICC without Katonia's consent.

On July 20, 2002, Katonia and Ridgeland ordered their paratroopers to bomb ANVA headquarters. Two days later, the Human Rights Monitors and NGO reported that this bombing had destroyed three villages, killing three hundred civilians, including women and children, and injured 550 more.

The same day ANVA captured three Katonia and two Ridgeland pilots. It was believed that these pilots had engaged in the bombing missions that resulted in civilian fatalities. After the bombing ended, four military police officers from Ridgeland were captured and handed over to the ANVA. Several women who accused them of having taken their husband and sons recognized them.

HRM persuaded the ANVA leaders that an ANVA military tribunal should try the captives for the crimes they had committed. Katonia and Ridgeland issued strong warnings to ANVA that they would face further military action if the captives were not release immediately. To de-escalate an explosive situation, the Secretary General of the United Nations sent a special representative to negotiate with ANVA. The representative proposed to try the pilots in a neutral third country or in the ICC at The Hague.

To prevent imminent attack, ANVA accepted to surrender the accused to the ICC at The Hague in October 2003, through the offices of the Secretary General. Neither Katonia