Dictator in the Dock - Can the International Criminal Court Follow through?

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Luis Moreno-Ocampo The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has called for the arrest of a sitting head of state: Omar al-Bashir. Sudan's president is charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Not a moment too soon, say Ocampo's supporters: hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their lives in Sudan's Darfur region.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Ban Ki-moon But many diplomats are unhappy, claiming the charges will only hamper efforts to bring peace to the region - which depend on a level of cooperation with the Sudanese government. Even the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has been guarded in his response.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Sceptics say the exhaustive efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Darfur crisis have been undermined. The limited aid and relief that UN forces and NGOs have been providing to refugees on the ground may now be choked off entirely. The humanitarian situation in Darfur looks set to deteriorate.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Omar Hassan Al-Bashir This is also the view of the Arab League, whose members have stated that the indictment of al-Bashir would jeopardize the peace process in Sudan.

Another question is whether a judicial process is an appropriate response to what is ultimately a political failure - a failure attributed above all to the Arab League and the African Union. Sudan does not recognize the International Criminal Court, and has said that it will hand over neither its president nor two previously indicted politicians. This and the absence of an international enforcement agency that can issue an arrest warrant in Sudan mean al-Bashir is unlikely to face trial any time soon. As such the case highlights the central weakness of international law: it is much easier to pronounce on than to enforce.

Tell us your thoughts on the International Criminal Court.

Write to us at: Quadriga@dw-world.de

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Our guests were:

Bildunterschrift: Tom Goeller – a German native - is the Berlin correspondent for the "Washington Times". After studying American History, he embarked on a career in journalism in 1986. Goeller worked for newspapers, such as "Die Welt", and the German public TV network ARD. He specialises in international relations, with a focus on the Middle East.

Mekonnen Mesghena was born in Eritrea and studied Political Science and Journalism. In 1988 he worked as a trainee at the Westdeutschen Rundfunk radio station in Cologne. He went on to work for a number of newspapers. In 1990 he returned to Eritrea where he helped restructure a radio station known as "Voice of the Eritrean Masses". Today he works for the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Berlin where he heads the Department of Immigration and is involved in media policy.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Annette Weber - is a political scientist and member of the Research Division Middle East and Africa at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. She is an expert on Somalia, Sudan and Darfur - focussing on the interconnectedness of conflicts and regional stability in the Horn of Africa. She previously worked as a coordinator for the Ecumenical Network on Central Africa in Berlin, where she looked at the links between diverse relief organizations operating in Africa. From 1999 to 2001, Annette Weber was based in London as Amnesty International's Sudan expert. She also writes about her experiences while travelling in Africa