of convictions of top generals and politicians under its belt in war crimes trials for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the UN is confident that it has the legal precedents to try Sudanese officials.
However, human rights activists fear that if, as seems likely, top Sudanese officials including the president are indicted for war crimes, Sudan will stop co-operating.
In the case of Bosnia, the UN has used commandos to arrest main suspects and economic threats to persuade key figures, such as Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, to come forward.
But the Security Council is deeply divided and human rights officials fear it lacks the will for the kind of arm-twisting that may be needed to get Sudan to surrender senior leaders.
So, the politicians have certainly been busy. Will the ICC succeed in the teeth of Security Council dithering? We’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile there’s a small point which it’s easy to lose sight of. It creeps in at the bottom of the article:
Another problem for Mr Ocampo’s investigators is that the war in Sudan rumbles on, despite ongoing peace talks.
Ah yes, the war. You can see how it would be a problem for Mr Ocampo’s investigators. Bit of a problem too for the people still being killed and raped, nevermind living under the imminent threat of starvation.
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