Mali’s government has formally requested the International Criminal Court to investigate the rampant human-rights abuses in the country’s rebel-controlled north, signaling that it can no longer protect its citizens alone. The international community must step in to protect civilians and bring the perpetrators to justice.
MONTREAL – Last week, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, organized a symposium entitled “Imagine the Unimaginable: Ending Genocide in the Twenty-first Century.” In a poignant and topical keynote address, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscored the international community’s obligation to prevent all forms of atrocity. “Not every mass killing is announced,” she noted, “[but] there are slow-motion conflicts that happen every day.”
Clinton’s message resonates deeply with the current crisis in Mali, whose government recently submitted an official request to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into the rampant human-rights abuses in the country’s rebel-controlled north. The ICC’s lead prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda Bensouda, noted reports of widespread killings, rapes, and torture, as well as conscription of child soldiers.
The Malian government’s move signaled that it can no longer uphold its United Nations-mandated “responsibility to protect” its citizens. In such cases, the international community must step in to protect civilians and bring perpetrators to justice.
MONTREAL – Last week, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, organized a symposium entitled “Imagine the Unimaginable: Ending Genocide in the Twenty-first Century.” In a poignant and topical keynote address, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscored the international community’s obligation to prevent all forms of atrocity. “Not every mass killing is announced,” she noted, “[but] there are slow-motion conflicts that happen every day.”
Clinton’s message resonates deeply with the current crisis in Mali, whose government recently submitted an official request to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into the rampant human-rights abuses in the country’s rebel-controlled north. The ICC’s lead prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda Bensouda, noted reports of widespread killings, rapes, and torture, as well as conscription of child soldiers.
The Malian government’s move signaled that it can no longer uphold its United Nations-mandated “responsibility to protect” its citizens. In such cases, the international community must step in to protect civilians and bring perpetrators to justice.