By Rob Vreeken
(Original Article in Dutch)De Volkskrant
June 8, 2001
William Pace, a professional activist, has the impression that the Netherlands does not realize how quickly the court will come into existence.
Holland runs the risk of real embarrassment. Much faster than expected, possibly within a year, the ICC could start its business. The court will be housed in The Hague but the Dutch government isn't making sufficient preparations. Pace speaks of a political disaster.
When the 120 countries agreed on the statute of the court in Rome in 1998, the actual birth of the court seemed a long time away. That the statute was agreed upon at all was an amazement to many. Pace, president of the coalition of NGOs which played a crucial role in the establishment of the court, says that many expected the necessary ratifications by 60 countries to take up to ten or fifteen years. But the ratifications are streaming in. 139 countries signed the statute and 32 actually ratified thus far. Pace thinks that the 60 ratifications could be in within nine to fifteen months. Two months later the court would have to open its doors. Possibly already in June 2002.
The American activist fears that the doors will not be open on time, for which the host country would have to be blamed. The same country which much prized this court to come to the 'world's legal capital', i.e. The Hague. "We don't understand why the efforts of the Dutch are so minimalist," says Pace. "There is no definitive decision about the location for the court to be built. There is no indication of some temporary location ...
Pace notes that many countries don't realize how fast the court will come into existence, nor its monumental importance. "It is one of the big steps of history, maybe as important as the establishment of the UN after the war. The court embodies an historical development towards international law, away from war and impunity." Pace is concerned that this realization doesn't seem to be prevalent in Holland at the moment, while the Netherlands was one of the major players in the establishment of the court from 1995 through 1998. Adriaan Bos, a Dutch foreign affairs official, even chaired the process. But since Bos fell ill, The Hague seems to have become lackadaisical. That is why Pace is in The Hague this week to talk to parliamentarians, officials and the media.
Pace: "We are on a ship. In the distance we see icebergs. With only one year before we can be sure to hit those icebergs, there is nobody who says - I have control over this ship."
The disaster scenario of Pace is as follows. The court will be formally established and immediately countries will want the prosecutor to deal with potential cases, such as conflicts in the Middle East. But nobody in The Hague will even be able to publicly react, or answer questions about the procedures. Opponents of the court such as the Republicans in the US would revel in such an embarrassment.
The first months will be spent on issues such as the appointment of judges and prosecutors, a time consuming business. If such a politically sensitive procedure is being dealt with while the court is organizationally still in a shambles, says Pace, the court will immediately lose some of its credibility. Something similar happened with the Yugoslav tribunal at its start.
Pace: "I don't understand why the Netherlands doesn't seem to make full use of the expertise of the Yugoslav and Rwandan tribunals. Ex-judges and ex-prosecutors of these courts are very willing to help. But they have to be asked.
Also the architecture worries him. "The building ought to be a major architectural statement about the development of law. But with little time left it could be another glass square with a prison attached to it. "You would expect a national committee to prepare for the court, consisting of politicians, architects .. but this is not the case. This three years of the adoption of the state, I don't understand ..."
Another matter that surprises the American activist is that the Netherlands has not yet ratified. Pace expect that at the UN racism conference in Durban, some five new ratifications will be made public, and a few more later at the UN children's summit. If the Netherlands isn't one of these, it runs the risk of not being one of the 60. "It would be extremely embarassing if the host country has not ratified if the court starts its work." blockquote>
