War crimes court faces questions over bias, efficiency [program]

After wars in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda killed nearly a million civilians, 120 nations came together to create what we know as the International Criminal Court. The goal: to prosecute those responsible for future genocides, crimes against humanity and other terrible war crimes.

But 13 years after it was created, the ICC has seen its share of controversy. Some African leaders are threatening to withdraw from the court for what they see as its unfair focus on prosecuting African cases. Others question the usefulness of a court that has convicted just two people in 13 years.

On this edition of Global Journalist, we discuss the controversies surrounding a court set up to prosecute the world's worst criminals.

Joining the program are:

• John Dugard, a professor of law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and a UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
• Maxine Kamari Clarke, a professor of international and global studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.
• Beth Van Schaack, a visiting professor in human rights at Stanford Law School and a former deputy to the U.S. ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues.
• Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, an East Africa researcher at Amnesty International.

Note this episode of Global Journalist is audio-only.