Comments on: Thomas Friedman doesn’t know anything about Zimbabwe http://theleoafricanus.com/2008/05/07/thomas-friedman-surprise-doesnt-know-what-hes-talking-about/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:43:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Tim de Swardt http://theleoafricanus.com/2008/05/07/thomas-friedman-surprise-doesnt-know-what-hes-talking-about/#comment-185 Fri, 09 May 2008 03:08:23 +0000 http://leoafricanus.wordpress.com/?p=277#comment-185 Not only is Friedman’s piece flawed as a piece of political analysis, it is factually wrong to boot. Mugabe could never be taken to the International Criminal Court for stealing this election. First, the ICC only deals with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Stealing an election does not fit into any of those categories, as even a cursory glance of the Rome Statute would show. Second, the ICC can only try individuals from states who have ratified the Rome Statute. Zimbabwe has not. Even when states do, only crimes committed after the ratification date count. Third, the ICC is a relatively weak organization at present. Ironically, this is partly because the world’s greatest power has not ratified the Rome Statute itself.

Perhaps instead of recommending America send Mugabe to the ICC, Friedman should recommend the US ratify the Rome Statute.

Additionally, Friedman should note that America did not send Serbia’s leaders to the ICC. For one, it was not the ICC to which they were sent but the ICTY – an international tribunal set up specifically to deal with the Balkans conflict. Additionally, it was the UN who sent them there, not America.

]]> By: Steve http://theleoafricanus.com/2008/05/07/thomas-friedman-surprise-doesnt-know-what-hes-talking-about/#comment-177 Thu, 08 May 2008 08:18:05 +0000 http://leoafricanus.wordpress.com/?p=277#comment-177 The New York times seems rto have been the voice of US imperialism recently!

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