Although our beloved Intern Chris has left, things that make us say “W…T…F…?!” will always be with us. This week’s top pick:
Pills made from dead babies. Embrace the nausea.
As it turns out, the answer to “WTF?” is “corpse medicine” and apparently it’s been around for a while. If you’re not currently trying to eat your lunch, check out this article on the subject from the Smithsonian.com. (h/t @ryanbriggs)
Hey all. It is with great sadness that I write this post, my “retirement” post. Over the past few years I have had a great time doing “WTF Friday,” working with Amanda and Kate, and interacting with our readers. I have learned so much and had a really great time. Thank you to our readers for your support and criticism. I hope to pop back in every once in a while so you guys will probably continue to hear from me whether you like it or not. Thanks again!
It has been quite a week. More than 500 people have downloaded the Beyond #Kony2012 book, which greatly exceeded my modest expectations for the first few days of its release.
One of the great things about Leanpub, the online publishing platform I am using, is that I am able to add new content after publication, and send automatic updates to those who have already purchased the book.
I’m happy to announce that I am taking full advantage of that feature, and that there are now two new chapters in the book!. Mark Kersten, who blogs at Justice In Conflict, has written an informative account of the Juba Peace Talks. And Hawa Allan, a talented writer and lawyer who is currently teaching at Columbia Law School, has contributed a thoughtful essay comparing the online responses to the Kony 2012 campaign and the Trayvon Martin shooting. They are awesome, and if you don’t read them, you will be missing out.
Download the book here. Come on, you know you want to…
Over the last month, I edited an e-book about the critical response to the Kony 2012 campaign. I’m pleased to announce that Beyond #Kony2012: Atrocity, Awareness, and Activism in the Internet Age is out now! Download it here.
Check out the awesome list of contributors: Adam Branch, Daniel Kalinaki, Ayesha Nibbe, Alex Little, Patrick Wegner, Jina Moore, Glenna Gordon, Bec Hamilton, Laura Seay, Alanna Shaikh, TMS Ruge, Sam Menefee-Libey – and Kate and me.
What are you waiting for? Go download it!
“Others recount being warned by white neighbors not to slaughter animals for festive occasions, or being mistaken for a prostitute simply for having drinks in a bar full of white patrons.” Wow. #capetowndoessoundawesome.
“Give freedom to children around the world through the stats of your favorite baseball players. For example, you can pledge $1 every time Matt Holliday hits a home run, or you can give $5 for every game your favorite team wins.” Pressure’s on guys. I know it’s early in the season but you better start playing well or these humans are gonna get trafficked all summer long.
“Not only President Chavez but certainly his supporters and certainly the people handling his political campaign are taking full advantage of [his illness]. And I think it would be crazy for them not to do so.” Yea, that’s what would be crazy.
Yesterday’s internets were full of the news that Congolese President Joseph Kabila has finally stated publicly that Bosco Ntaganda should be arrested and tried for war crimes.
Ntaganda’s continued freedom, and prominent position as a general in the Congolese national army (FARDC), has been a thorn in the side of international justice advocates who want him to face trial on a 2006 ICC warrant. -Particularly for ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has repeatedly called on the Congolese government and/or MONUSCO to arrest Ntaganda and surrender him to the ICC. However, regional actors have been reluctant to act on these demands due to their belief that Ntaganda’s cooperation is crucial to ensuring (relative) stability in the Kivus.
A statement by Kabila that Ntaganda should stand trial is therefore big news. Events over the last couple of weeks have suggested that Ntaganda’s grip on power may be slipping. If regional powers (specifically, the Rwandan government) no longer think his cooperation is necessary for peace in the Kivus, then he may indeed be vulnerable to arrest. However, as Jason Stearns points out, it’s not clear what Kabila actually said. Although Western media are reporting it as a call for Ntaganda’s immediate capture, it may simply have been a statement that he “could be arrested by Congolese officials when the moment is right.”
Whether or not Ntaganda ends up in the dock, these developments have set off a new round of the perennial peace vs. justice debate. For advocates of justice, Ntaganda’s ability to live freely among the victims of CNDP atrocities is a clear case of unacceptable impunity. For those on the other side of the debate, his freedom is simply the price of preventing future atrocities.
A number of people, concerned about the risk of violence in the Kivus if Ntaganda gets nabbed, have asked what options the Prosecutor has for suspending the warrant. The answer is: none.
Unsurprisingly, the architecture of the international criminal law system skews heavily towards Team Justice in the peace vs. justice debate. Although the Rome Statue builds in some prosecutorial discretion regarding decisions about what cases to pursue – specifically, Article 53 allows the Prosecutor to decline to proceed with an investigation “there are substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice” – once a warrant is issued the Prosecutor has no ability to defer to political considerations. There are, however, two other legal mechanisms that can delay or prevent an ICC prosecution once a warrant has been issued. (And, of course, the political mechanism of everybody just looking the other way and not arresting the guy.)
The first is the Article 16 Security Council deferral procedure, which can delay an ICC prosecution for renewable 1 year periods. The implication of situating this mechanism within the Council’s Chapter VII powers is that it applies only when a prosecution represents a threat to the peace.
The second is the preemption of ICC prosecution by a domestic trial, which I’ve explained previously. (This one actually underscores how little power the Prosecutor has to defer to politics after the issuance of warrants. In the case of Saif al-Gaddafi, we’ve seen Moreno-Ocampo support Libya’s new government’s efforts to preempt the ICC prosecution, only to get slapped down by the Pre-Trial Chamber.)
Either of these mechanisms could potentially be utilized in the Ntaganda case, however, it’s not clear that they would actually help with the peace vs. justice conundrum.
The Security Council deferral mechanism only delays the process; it doesn’t lift the warrant, so whatever incentives a looming threat of prosecution creates to retain the ability to spoil peace would persist. And preempting ICC jurisdiction through a domestic proceeding would require the Congolese authorities to try Ntaganda under conditions that meet international fair trial standards (i.e. no indefinite detention, no secretive military tribunal). Such a process is therefore likely to be at least as disruptive to the peace as an ICC prosecution.
Given the other choices on the table, the selection (so far) of the “let him wander around Goma, profiting off of everything in sight” option starts to look a bit more understandable…
Big news, guys: The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) just declared independence from Mali.
If you’ve been following events in Mali recently, you know that the coup on March 21st was carried out by soldiers unhappy with the way President Amadou Touré’s government was handling the MNLA insurgency. The coup was a huge disappointment for fans of democracy, because Mali was a frequently cited rare success story of democratic consolidation in the region. (Although maybe it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.)
With the military distracted with coup-ing, the MNLA has taken the opportunity to advance south and capture territory. Today’s declaration of independence follows the accomplishment of their territorial goals within Mali and notes that the “Independent State of Azawad” will respect the borders of neighboring states.
That’s not enough to get neighboring states to agree to respect Azawad’s borders in turn, though. Under international law (specifically, the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States), qualifying for statehood requires four things: (1) a permanent population; (2) a defined territory; (3) a government; and (4) the capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
Although the Convention specifies that once a political entity meets these four criteria, they should be recognized by the international community as a state, in practice, this isn’t really how it works. Somaliland, for instance, declared its independence from Somalia in 1992, but remains unrecognized despite a permanent population, clearly demarcated territorial boundaries, a functioning multi-party democracy, and extensive diplomatic contacts with other states. The reality is that recognition doesn’t follow satisfaction of the criteria for statehood; it is one of the criteria for statehood.
So this is bad news for the aspiring state of Azawad. The early responses have rejected the declaration of independence, and, given the commitment of African governments to border stability, this is unlikely to change. Meanwhile, the MNLA may face another challenge to their control of Azawad from al Qaeda-supported Islamist rebels Ansar Dine. Stay tuned…
*Map from Political Geography Now
This is kind of the perfect set-up. Nick Cage hasn’t done a prison movie since 1997, and I think we all know how well that went.
“An exhibition of guns as art now in Mexico is making its way from Mexico to the United States, where many of the weapons presumably originated.” I think the ATF just set those guns free because they loved them so much, hoping that they would come back one day, thus reciprocating the love.
I kind of feel like I’m gonna jinx this if I talk about it.
My internets today are full of the news that Oxfam has launched a “Big Bra Hunt” encouraging British ladies to donate their unwanted underthings to the tragically brassiere-less women of Africa.
I realize today is April 2nd not 1st, but I have to assume this is a clever prank, because surely Oxfam is not positioning itself to compete with Knickers 4 Africa and Bras Without Borders for the “ickiest SWEDOW ever” (that’s “stuff we don’t want”) prize. Right?
Hattip: TMS Ruge’s twitter feed, among others.
There’s a fascinating BBC News Magazine piece today about young Afghan girls who live as boys.
According to the article, there is a longstanding tradition wherein Afghan parents disguise a daughter as a son, either to avoid the social censure of having no male children, or to enable the child to work outside the home. When the girls reach maturity, they are expected to switch their gender identification and live as women.
Although some of the young women interviewed for the article approvingly cite the benefits of having had the opportunity to enjoy male freedoms, it’s clear that the transition back to gender conformity can be rough. In what has to be the most fascinating sentence I’ve read all month, a 20 year old woman named Elaha makes clear her reluctance to resume a traditional female identity:
“If my parents force me to get married, I will compensate for the sorrows of Afghan women and beat my husband so badly that he will take me to court every day.”
My favorite part is the offhand reference to courts as the appropriate venue for addressing domestic violence, but wow, what a loaded statement.
