“I will do my job in court, but without movies that matter, we don’t matter”

By Uros Kovac

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo held a seminar last Friday for law and social science students at the “Movies that Matter” festival in The Hague. He emphasized the importance of spreading the word about the ICC mission, but how effective is the Court in communicating its concept of global justice?

Around one hundred students gathered in The Hague to listen to what Ocampo had to say on the main issues concerning the court: how to navigate between peace and justice; the impact on victims’ lives; and support for national legal initiatives.

The seminar was a part of the “Camera Justitia” programme of the film festival, debate the idea of international retributive justice with young lawyers, social scientists and legal and human rights experts. The indictment of Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir came up early in the discussion, as well as the investigation into Gaddafi and possible crimes against humanity in Libya. The prosecutor seemed amused by the students’ questions, fidgeting playfully in his chair and casually texting on his mobile phone.

But talking to lawyers and experts is easier than communicating with victims and stricken communities. Spreading the word about the first permanent institution designed to deliver justice on a global scale among those most struck by the atrocities is beset with difficulty. Many live in conflict-torn, remote places with little or no access to public media. “My community is humanity, and I cannot reach them. That’s why I need movies. Justice is not for lawyers, justice is for people,” said Ocampo. But very few of those suffering will get to see the flamboyant prosecutor on the silver screen.

Take Northern Uganda, where the infamous rebel leader Joseph Kony, is wanted by the ICC for murder, torture, rape and other atrocities. It is questionable how well-known the ICC is among the victims there. “People in Lira and Saroti (regions in Northern Uganda struck by conflict) want Kony prosecuted, but they have no idea what The Hague is”, an informed source from Northern Uganda studying law in The Netherlands told Radio Netherlands. Prosecuting alleged criminals of this calibre is very difficult in Ugandan national courts, since there is no real judicial mechanism for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Elizabeth Evenson, Senior Counsel at the Human Rights Watch International Justice Program, explains how important it is to reach out to the people affected by the crimes. “Individual victims can participate in the hearings. This cannot be effective if the individuals don’t know about their rights. The court needs to take on good communications, good outreach,” she says.

Outreach and public information is number three on the Court’s priorities list, after investigations and trials, according to its Proposed Programme Budget for 2011. The Outreach Unit is hard up though. “We have to be flexible in using our resources. We are all obliged to do more with less,” says Claudia Perdomo, head of the Outreach Unit.

Our Ugandan source is not entirely convinced of their effectiveness. “I think they have some outreach programmes, usually on the radio, but I’m not aware of it”, she said.

Additionally, the prosecutor does not have his own police force. He has to rely on cooperation from nation states to get arrests. That means that the prosecutor is in the business of selling the idea of international justice instead of imposing it. “Our power is legitimacy”, said Ocampo flirting with the camera in “The Prosecutor”, a documentary about his team in The Hague, also shown at the festival. He boasts that 95 percent of Kenyans want the infamous “Ocampo Six” tried for 2007 post-election violence in The Hague instead of Nairobi. But Kenya challenged the jurisdiction of the ICC and President Mwai Kibaki requested the UN Security Council to postpone the trial for one year.