UN's
Congo Brigade
Makes It
Subject to
ICC, Outgoing
Legal Counsel
Says; UK
Agrees
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, July
9, updated
below -- As
the UN's
Intervention
Brigade
prepares to
launch in
Eastern Congo,
there is a
legal problem.
The
members of the
Brigade, and
it seems the
entirety of
the MONUSCO
mission, will
become parties
to an armed
conflict,
subject not
only to
international
humanitarian
law but also
to the
jurisdiction
of the
International
Criminal
Court.
In a
question and
answer session
with outgoing
UN Legal
Counsel
Patricia
O'Brien on
Tuesday
afternoon at
which Inner
City Press,
called the
only media
there, asked
O'Brien about
both the Congo
and Haiti, the
representative
of a Troop
Contributing
County in
MONUSCO tried
to distinguish
the Brigade.
He
said the
Brigade and
MONUSCO are
different; he
implied that
to find
otherwise
might even put
UN Development
Program and
other UN
system
activities at
risk of ICC
prosecution.
O'Brien
declined
to directly
answer,
calling it
delicate and
saying that
the
International
Committee of
the Red Cross
has one view
and others,
another. But,
she said,
already
revamped rules
of engagement
and rules for
the treatment
of captured
combatants are
being
prepared.
O'Brien noted
the presence
of the Press
at the
beginning and
end of the
session, and
explicitly
said, "this is
not under
Chatham House"
rules - that
is, it was on
the record.
Two more
articles will
follow.
Mali
and the UN
mission there
also came up,
including that
Mali is under
the
jurisdiction
of the ICC.
While deployed
in the Central
African
Republic,
Chadian
soldiers
engaged in
violations
they never
answered for.
Might things
be different
with MINUSMA?
Watch this
site.
Update:
In part
because of the
Troop
Contributing
Country's
argument about
ICC coverage,
Inner City
Press asked UK
Ambassador
Mark Lyall
Grant, by
Twitter, if it
is the UK's
position that
the ICC has
jurisdiction.
He replied,
by Twitter,
"@innercitypress
Yes. As
situation in
DRC referred
to ICC, any
actions taken
by anyone in
DRC could be
reviewed. IB
not unique in
that."
While the TCC
was arguing
that the
non-Brigade
part of
MONUSCO should
NOT be
covered,
perhaps the
question is
really one of
the whole
mission being
a party to an
armed
conflict. To
be continued.
Watch this
site.
, 
