Libya: How U.S. And Moreno Ocampo Destroyed The ICC

Ocampo’s repudiated allegations of mass rapes in Libya is even more troubling given that real mass rapes of women are actually occurring on a daily basis in the Congo. Why pursue phantom rapists in Libya when real ones exist in eastern Congo?

[Black Star News Editorial]
 
First of Two Parts

The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague is an undisguised instrument of Western foreign policy–especially that of the United States.

Ironically, it’s a court whose jurisdiction isn’t even recognized by the United States, which “unsigned” the Rome Statute creating the Court; yet it acts as a kangaroo court for going after perceived enemies and real opponents of the United States.

The ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has no credibility. He recently peddled allegations of mass rapes being used as a weapon by the Libyan army, citing the discovery of Viagra in war zones. The report was practically repudiated by a credible organization, Amnesty International.

It was a very sad display by Ocampo, who actually faced a credible allegation of sexual misconduct himself, from a South African journalist in 2005.

Last week Ocampo’s court, in a political statement, announced arrest warrants for Libya’s Muammar al-Quathafi, his son Saif al-Islam and Intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi. The timing was no coincidence. U.S. support for NATO’s war of aggression on Libya has so dissipated that by the end of the summer it won’t be surprising if Congress forces the Obama administration to abandon this war of choice.

Ocampo wanted to throw a lifeline to the U.S. Administration by diverting the focus with the arrest warrants; shifting the lead story.

The U.S. is now in a presidential election cycle. Unemployment is at 9.1%, job growth is at snail’s pace and the deficit has soared as President Obama averted economic collapse without Republican support. Still, in the U.S., Libya is seen as Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s war. No wonder more than 60% of Americans now oppose the Libya misadventure.

France and Britain, former and again aspiring colonial powers in Africa, know U.S. support will evaporate completely by the end of the summer. Assassination attempts on al-Quathafi have failed. That’s why in desperation Nicolas Sarkozy has been violating United Nations Resolution 1970, which imposed an arms embargo on Libya, by illegally dropping weapons to the NATO-backed insurrectionists. Will the United Nations punish or sanction France for violating the arms ban?

Don’t hold your breath.

At the same time, many African American voters are enraged that President Obama would support the bombardment of an African country on behalf of “rebels” who have embraced a racist philosophy as The Wall Street Journal exposed in a June 21 article. The Journal reports that rebel units in Misrata have been renamed “The Brigade for the Purging of Slaves, Black Skins.” The Journal’s report affirms the overwhelming evidence, readily available on YouTube, that the NATO-backed insurrectionists have been lynching Black Libyans. The Journal reports that one neighborhood in Misrata that was once four-fifths Black has been emptied of its Black population.

Yet this campaign of ethnic cleansing of Black Libyans has not merited condemnation by The State Department or The White House. We don’t expect disapproval from former and aspiring colonial powers France and Britain.

But if Europe can act collectively to violate an African country’s sovereignty and promote a civil war and bombardment that claims African lives, is the African Union obligated to just stand and watch?

Libya is engaged in a Western-backed civil war through NATO. During this war, the U.N. has already reported, crimes have been committed by both combatants–the government army and the NATO-backed fighters based primarily in Benghazi. The ICC has ignored abuses by Benghazi, including beheadings. This is because the ICC, at the behest of the Western powers, is reluctant to expose the criminal disposition that would discredit the insurrectionists.

Most shameful of all is that the now repudiated allegations of mass rapes came from ICC Prosecutor Ocampo himself, given his own record. Ocampo is alleged to have coerced a female reporter in South Africa into having sex on March 28, 2005 during a visit for a conference there.

The journalist reportedly interviewed Ocampo at the Lord Charles Hotel, near Cape Town. Ocampo then reportedly insisted on accompanying her to the beach even though she voiced reluctance. Upon return, the two had drinks, and she reportedly declined to accompany him to his bedroom–whereupon, Ocampo is said to have taken her car keys while still at the bar. The reporter was forced to follow him to his room, where she was reportedly coerced into having intercourse with Ocampo in order to get her car keys back.

The woman subsequently reported the forced-sex to an ICC official. Later, when Ocampo’s Public Information advisor Christian Palme filed a complaint about the incident, he was terminated by Ocampo. Palme took the matter to the International Labor Tribunal and was awarded monetary compensation.

Ocampo’s repudiated allegations of mass rapes in Libya is even more troubling given that real mass rapes of women are actually occurring on a daily basis in the Congo. Why pursue phantom rapists in Libya when real ones exist in eastern Congo?

“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

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