Desmond Tutu Has It All Wrong

Desmond Tutu has recently penned a piece in the NYT saying that African leaders are looking for a license to kill. Never mind the over the top James Bond reference, it is pretty clear that Tutu did not spend much time thinking about what he wrote before he sent it off for publication in one of the widely read publications in the world.

These calls must be resisted. The continent has suffered the consequences of unaccountable governance for too long to disown the protections offered by the I.C.C.

It's pretty ironic that the person who authored the "truth and reconciliation" commission in South Africa, which essentially let those who committed crimes against the Azanian people to go without punishment so long as they "told the truth", to be talking about accountability.

Where was the accountability in South Africa? Where was the JUSTICE for the many many many murders of South Africans (and we ain't talkin' about the European colonist or their descendants)?

Now Tutu was correct that there are those who have been using their countries as personal bank accounts and have killed their own citizens in doing so. But that is no excuse for advocating that a foreign body that seems to think it's job is to police Africa keep doing so. Oh right, Tutu believes that because Africans are in the court and have "high up" positions, that it is OK.

Well then Mr. Tutu, if it's supposed to be good for Africa, then why isn't it good enough for the US? See the US has signed to the court but not ratified it. See the US doesn't want to have it's citizens, including it's leadership liable for prosecution under the ICC. It does not want to be held responsible for it's wars of aggression. The criminal acts of its armed services members. The drone warfare. The wars it has provided material support for (which the ICC recently convicted Charles Taylor of doing in Sierra Leone).

If Mr. Tutu wanted to make a real point about the validity of the ICC, he should demand that the world's police nation ratify the court and submit to it's jurisdiction. Until that happens those African leaders, regardless of what they've done are right to say they do not want to be under a court that is clearly stacked against them.