多国欲退出国际刑事法院 经费成问题

Withdrawals² from International Criminal Court Raise Questions 多国欲退出国际刑事法院 经费成问题

Recent withdrawals from the International Criminal Court have raised questions about the court’s future.

Russia announced its withdrawal¹ in the middle of November. Earlier, three African nations said they planned to leave.

Observers expect difficult times for the court in the weeks to come. More nations will likely be leaving.

Alex Whiting is a law professor at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He once supervised investigations³ and legal action against suspects for the International Criminal Court. He expects the court to survive.

“I think there will be some difficulties, but that the court is not going to collapse,” Whiting told VOA. He said one reason is the court’s special power to bring action against the world’s worst kinds of crimes.

The Court of Last Resort

The International Criminal Court was founded in 2002. It is based in The Netherlands. It is considered the court of last resort – the place where criminal charges are brought after all other legal efforts have failed.

Its aim is to bring to justice people responsible for horrible crimes when their own countries are unwilling⁴ or unable to take action. The court investigates and tries cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The most important criminal case yet is against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. He is accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He remains⁵ in office.

The Sudanese leader has visited other countries in violation⁶ of an international ban on his travel. He was able to avoid arrest during visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

The court is currently trying Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of the Ivory Coast. He faces charges related to thousands of murders and rapes⁷ while he was in power.

Guilty of War Crimes

Among those jailed by the court was former Congolese vice⁹ president Jean-Pierre Bemba. He was found guilty of war crimes.

In another case, the court ruled against Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, an Islamist rebel, for his part in the 2012 violence in Mali. He admitted guilt⁸ to destroying Muslim holy places in the historic city of Timbuktu.

Darryl Robinson is an expert on international law at Queens University Law School in Kingston, Canada. He said the court has done a lot in its short 14-year history.

But there are many serious problems in the world, Robinson said. As a result, the court faces demands to do more.

“On one hand, the International Criminal Court has been active in far more situations than I think anyone would have predicted in its short history,” Robinson said. “But on the other hand, there are so many situations in the world that are clamoring for attention.”

Russia, like the United States, has not accepted the treaty setting up the court’s right to exercise power. Therefore, neither country falls under its authority.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country’s withdrawal from the court earlier this month. His announcement came after the court’s chief prosecutor¹⁰ said that Russia’s takeover of Crimea amounted to an “ongoing state of occupation.”

There have also been calls for the court to investigate suspected war crimes by Russian forces protecting the government in Syria.

Russia’s foreign ministry¹¹ said the court is not living up to its responsibility to be even-handed.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he might follow Russia out of the International Criminal Court. His comment came after the court warned Duterte over reports of the killing¹² of thousands of people as part of his war on illegal drugs.

Three African Nations Withdraw

Before Russia announced its withdrawal, three African countries -- Burundi, South Africa and Gambia -- announced plans to withdraw from the court. Officials from the three countries said the court unfairly targets African leaders.

All those convicted by the court have been Africans. South Africa says it was pressured to arrest and surrender the Sudanese president to the court when he visited the country last year.

Whiting of Harvard University said it is regrettable a large percentage of the court’s cases relate to African countries. But he said court officials argue that they are targeting the world’s most serious cases of government-led abuse.

The court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said she is disappointed at “any act that may undermine” the court’s authority to hold people responsible for horrible crimes. She called for more discussions with leaders of Burundi, South Africa and Gambia.

Bensouda also said the court would put more importance on crimes against children.

“It is unforgivable that children are assaulted, violated, murdered,” she said.

Such crimes should trouble all good people, she said.

Words in This Story

clamor - v. a loud or strong demand for something

authority - n. the power to give orders or make decisions

disappoint - v. to make someone unhappy by not being as good as expected or by not doing something that was hoped for or expected

undermine - v. to make someone or something weaker or less effective

assault - v. the crime of trying or threatening to hurt someone physically¹³

convicted – n. to be tried and found guilty of something

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

3 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

8 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。