African Efforts to Close the Impunity Gap

ISS Paper 241: 

Lessons for complementarity from national and regional actions

Max du Plessis, Antoinette Louw & 

Ottilia Maunganidze

The position taken by the African Union towards the ICC creates the impression that African states are resistant to international criminal justice. This paper argues that the reality is quite different. The continent provides many examples of international justice in practice. A review of selected domestic and regional efforts suggests that a richer understanding of the Rome Statute’s ‘complementarity’ scheme is developing – one involving states, regional organisations and civil society working to close the impunity gap. Such actions are giving effect to the notion that while the ICC can provide justice through a few highly publicised trials, for justice to be brought home in any meaningful way, domestic action is essential.  

The publication of this paper was made possible with the support of the Governments of the Netherlands and Norway.

Download the full paper:  http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper241.pdf

Stuck in the mud... dead in the water...

In the last few days I have begun to accept more and more that South Africa is a nation divided... where race used to be the greatest cleavage, class and socio-economic status has comfortably replaced it.. much to the chagrin of those who coined the term way back when we have "redefined" apartheid... So much so that if you are a poor, black African living in one of the biggest shanty towns in the world, best believe your death is meaningless. The "investigation" into your death will be conducted by a novice desk officer and nothing will come of it.. On the other {manicured} hand, if you are a touring foreigner, visiting Africa to experience the glamourisation of poverty, rest assured yours will be the "death of the year"...or at least the week...



Yet... EVERYDAY... every single darn day.. at least one murder is committed in this country... at LEAST... most of the perpetrators never make it to the dock and may kill again... the few who do find themselves in court will mostly be acquitted - usually on a technicality, sometimes because despite clear witness testimony "there just wasn't enough evidence" to convict - and often because prosecuting these poor murderers is "a waste of state resources"... after all the NPA has the murderer of big fat fish like Brett Kebble to deal with! Even in death some animals are more equal than others... *oink*



While my heart and thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased honeymooner, I can't help but think of her as an unwilling martyr, one whose death has in some way got people talking about the rampant violent crime within these borders in which we find ourselves... The media... the vultures that they are, have found a carcass upon which to feast once more.. {The pun, while regrettable is purely intentional}...and we - the public - can {re}start to think about crime in South Africa...



After months of living in a relative state of psychological safety after the South African Police Service (SAPS)'s head honcho released data showing that there was a marked decline in the incidence of violent crime, we were once again reminded that we are in danger... So, please go back to locking your doors {your car, your flat, your office, even the trap door from which words spew every day... lock EVERY door} because WE ARE NOT SAFE.. Were we ever? Seriously. Were we?



It took the hijacking and killing of a Brit for us to be woken up from our self-induced slumber or complacency to realise that crime is real.. it was real BEFORE the honeymooners ventured into Gugulethu and it will continue to be real for minutes, hours, days, months, years to come if we do not commit ourselves to addressing the root cause of our societal malaise.



As bad a series as it is, I can't help but think of "Ghost Whisperer"! With all the restless souls purportedly floating somewhere close to the Ozone layer hoping their killer will be brought to justice, it would explain the growing cancer eating our society up... I'll bet my love-handles PW Botha is smiling his wry crocodile smile right now, rubbing his wrinkled hands somewhere in the doldrums of an imagined hell, thinking "I DID leave a legacy!"...


In the words of my friend Kwezi {duly tagged to avoid plagiarism charges}: "Township blacks you can kill other township blacks fine, but kill a tourist and that will be bad for income and we will set up a tourist desk, and give tourists an escort every time they are going into a dangerous area. fuck that shit."



So? Does anyone else see the elephant in the room? We painted it in rainbow colours in 1994, but we were too fixated with the idea of finally being "democratic" that we neglected to chase the damn mammal out! Trouble with elephants is they need to be constantly fed... I vote we get rid of the damn thing... the stench of its dung is not good for the house in which we live... though it will linger for a few more years, at least it will eventually go... right?

Africa's lab rats and the "miracle" gel...

I watched in utter awe the evening news the other day as some "gynaecologist" who couldn't pronounce Human Immunodeficiency Virus praised the recent "breakthrough" in HIV/AIDS science... While busy failing to focus on the camera and occasionally pouting (I suspect that might be her "pose") she praised scientists for the vaginal gel that - after three years of testing on 889 women in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal - has been found to reduces the rate of infection by just under 50% and also reduces the possibility of getting infected by Herpes... Asked whether this could double as a contraceptive, the online-graduate said "No" (not in just one word though).. she laboriously attempted to convince the South African public tuned into SABC 3 at the time that "this is great news for Africa" and that the women who took part in the study are heroes.. *cough*.. from where I sat most of the women are actually unwitting martyrs, martyrs for a scientific cause that they probably aren't even entirely committed to... No amount of publicity can rid these women of the HIV that is now in their system.. no amount... and for what? So the lovely people of San Francisco can one day have irresponsible unprotected sex with the aid of a gel? I just vomited a little inside...

Now, don't get me wrong, I have NO problem with trying to find a cure for AIDS or doing research to help prevent HIV... I am well aware that all people afflicted by this virus (and later syndrome) suffer immensely and that a cure (or at least a preventive measure) would be wonderful - not only for Africa, but the world. My problem is that African women - mostly uneducated and thus incapable of giving the informed consent requisite even in the most basic of contracts - are being used as lab rats in these scientific studies.. We might celebrate when we hear that it has a 50% success rate and thus lessens our chances of infection, BUT what of the 50% of women who were infected because they were misled into thinking they were using the "miracle" gel? Are they just necessary collateral damage? At what point will we - as Africans - wake the fuck up and just say "No"...


For the rather biased story, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10691353

No Black in the Rainbow

I not so recently got a job in Pretoria… after I received my acceptance letter I squealed a bit called my sister to celebrate and together we jumped around like the primates from which we evolved… as we were catching our breath my sister asked me how I’d “survive” in Pretoria with all the racism there. I told her that I didn’t think whatever racism remained in the country’s capital could be extreme… I would soon learn that there’s no "black" in the rainbow… not yet anyway… and on closer inspection you’ll find that there’s not much brown or "white" either…

Every place I find myself in teaches me a new lesson about life and even more about the sociological bubble I grew up in. While, it would be unfair to over-generalize and say that Pretoria is a racist city… Allow me to be unfair at this juncture. The irony of Pretoria’s racism is that it is juxtaposed with the internationalization of the country. Pretoria, as the country’s capital is a hub of international activity… that is how I found myself seeking employment here in the first place. The non-believer in me told me that people who allege racism are those who perpetrate it and so I reasoned that because I wasn’t racist I wouldn’t experience it… twisted logic I know, but I tend to try to rationalize irrational behaviour… suffice it to say, I was wrong.

My article is likely to only make people more aware of the “racism” – latent or otherwise – in the beautiful jacaranda tree-lined capital city… and in effect it might actually perpetuate the vicious cycle that South African society is failing to extricate itself from… BUT maybe, and only maybe, this heightened awareness will allow people to reevaluate their own relations with their friends, coworkers and Jack and Jill on the street… only maybe.

I have always said that racism is an external manifestation of your own internal self-loathing and/or feelings of inadequacy. My sentiments have not changed because the racism I have suffered has mostly come from people who don’t know me, people who attempt to measure my successes and failures within a split second at the till at my local supermarket and decide there and then that I am either not worthy of their services or grab hold of their bags because, the flying spaghetti monster forbid, I might just try to snatch their handbag and run home… aaah well.

In writing this note, I had one person in mind… a seemingly friendly girl who told me that I could not live with her because “[she’s] not sure her friends would be comfortable with [her] living with ‘a person like [me]’” (her words not mine). Unfortunate as it is that Miranda had no idea what ‘a person like me’ is other than that I have a high level of melanin, she got her way… I changed house…

So, here I am… trying with great difficulty to put a little black spot on the rainbow that is South Africa… but maybe the whole notion of a rainbow is inherently flawed… given that it makes it so patently clear that we are all not one “colour”… I’ll take an amorphous mélange of colour any day… or some whiskey… on the rocks… shaken, not stirred.

The "other" is a state of mind

And the headlines read: "16000 people internally displaced in a week, 34 reported dead... when will it ever end?"

Its sad that our world is cluttered with degenerate human beings who, despite millions of years of evolution, still fail to accept that the "other" does not really exist. What cowardice it is to attack someone because of (mis)perceived differences. The problem of xenophobia is particularly riling because more often than not it manifests itself in violence..

It amazes me that one can discriminate against another because they hail from across an imaginary line. People forget that we are all one and the same despite some differences in external physical appearance, concentrations of melanin, language.. Even if we were "different", whatever happened to loving thy neighbour as you love thyself? Is it so hard to express positive emotion? Must we continue to seek success by hurting others?

Xenophobia and all other forms of hatred towards people we perceive as the "other" only show how much we reject our own adequacy. As if by killing off those you "fear" are taking away your resources (resources which you claim entitlement to.. whether or not you really are entitled to them is another issue altogether) you'll suddenly become better... solve the problem. Hate is a cancer,that cannot be "cured" by cutting off the undesirable bits.

And yet, we sit and watch as South African across the country assault and murder foreigners... Did South African people not recently celebrate and ululate at the demise (or perceived demise) of apartheid? Did it "just" happen? It was through the actions of a vast majority of people - most of whom were foreigners - that South Africa became "free". Through the actions of people who believed that even when the worst seems to be upon us, something CAN be done. Harbouring the exiled freedom "fighters" is but one of many ways through which foreigners aided the South African "revolution"... Were it not for the same foreigners being attacked today, "freedom" would not exist in South Africa (well, not for most people anyway...)

The sad thing is while groups are sprouting across facebook condemning the attacks, very little is actually being done... mostly, I suppose because of the negative attitudes that pervade our society today...

I have heard suggestions that the perpetrators of this xenophobic violence should be killed. Quelle horreur! So, these people want to KILL the people who are attacking foreigners. To what end? To perpetuate the cycle of violence?
The xenophobics are clearly in the wrong, but killing people off because you think they are wrong is exactly what the xenophobics wished dead are doing!

On the other hand there are those people who argue that, even though xenophobia is a problem, nothing can really be done. I am appalled by such defeatist attitudes! There IS something that can be done. IMHO only someone who sees some justification to the violence would suggest that nothing can be done.

Earlier someone said to me that all these drives for marches are a waste of time and an elitist way of dealing with xenophobia. I can only say that its unfortunate that such ignorance can exist at varsity level. Marches are an effective way... clearly this person was not aware of the school children of Soweto, who on June 16, 1976 marched in protest of the apartheid regime, or the women who marched to the Union building in 1956 to protest pass laws. If they were they wouldn't have made such a statement.. Indeed, it was through marches such as these that the tide of change began to rise...

Yes,society thinks what they are doing is appalling but what are WE doing about it? By sitting back and doing nothing are we not part of the problem? Issues such as these should be debated in the public domain, protests should be held and those who have, through their xenophobic violence, harmed others (psychologically, physically, emotionally or otherwise) should be brought to book...