ARTICLE: "Bringing bigwigs to justice: Heads of state, past and present, are increasingly being brought to book for crimes committed while in office," The Economist, 12 January 2008, p. 52.
Another cool beans story, despite our distance from the ICC under Bush (begun under Clinton).
Coolest part:
Just a few years ago, such an event [Liberia's former leader Charles Taylor in the dock in The Hague—you know, just like The Ohio State University!] would have been almost inconceivable. However brutal or corrupt, Africa's leaders used to shield one another from justice for fear that their turn could come next. But the remarkable spread of international justice over the past decade has brought about an equally remarkable change in attitudes toward prosecuting former heads of state, not just in Africa but throughout the world. No fewer than ten former presidents and military dictators are facing legal proceedings for human-rights offences and/or corruption, some in international tribunals, others in their own domestic courts, a few in other countries' courts.
How can America not be in the lead on this emerging rule set that so favors a shrink the Gap strategy? How can this not be a huge lever in our global war on terror?
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