Notices by Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)

UPDATE: The Deputy Director of CAIR, Edward Ahmed Mitchell came on Twitter to respond to complaints and state that the CAIR apologizes and says the awarding was a "vetting oversight."

Mitchell says that the CAIR board plans to meet on Monday to discuss the matter.

As of yet, CAIR itself hasn't formally commented, nor has it revoked the award.

@FediThing to be frank, I know very little about the organization, aside that it's among the prominent Muslim American advocacy orgs. Perhaps they do amazing work. And they have awarded other worthy people on the day. But for an org of their stature, it's extremely disappointing to see them to honour a prolific denier of human suffering in this manner.

For the denialism of suffering in my homeland, I'm sure the organizers wouldn't care. Racism has relegated us to irrelevance.

But I would have thought a prominent Muslim org would show more sensitivity for Syrians, a Muslim majority people.

It seems Palestinian solidarity gives everyone a pass, no matter how foul your transgressions are.

If hating Israel is all that is required with no humanitarian based ethical standards necessary...why not award David Duke? I'm pretty sure he qualifies.

On Friday, the DC based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) just had a gala event honouring their 30th anniversary. There, the org handed out the "Gaza Solidarity Award" to a number of journalists.

Among the awardees, someone infamous (not pictured) for years of mocking Syrian regime atrocity victims, denying/downplaying Russian atrocities in Syria & elsewhere, platforming Tigray genocide denial & a lot more.

Absolutely tone deaf from CAIR. At an event labeled "standing for justice."

@Nochem couldn't have put it better 💯

37 years after this brutal crime against a young Black liberation activist was enabled by the racist apartheid system of the era during its dying days...the ageing accused police officers were actually made by the court to visit the crime scene.

How the tables have turned. Family & friends of Nyoka had lost hope for justice, saying that the Truth & Reconciliation Commission was of no help, because the accused portrayed the act as self defense against Nyoka, who they described as a "terrorist."

Justice delayed but not denied.

Four apartheid era South African police officers have been put on trial for the 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka. One of them, 65 year old Johan Marais, has already pled guilty, and testified that the three others were complicit as well.

37 years later, someone may yet see the inside of a jail for this crime.

From this weekend's edition of the @thecontinent the pan African digital newspaper.

@boud Hi Boud. It's not about Bensouda as a person or as a competent legal professional, but if the establishment is structured in a way that there's hardly maneuvering room (and the ICC is loosely connected to the UN, widely recognized as a broken system with heavy political bias) then placing the most competent professional will do nothing. I can cite as an example, the appointment of Meaza Ashenafi (who had an extremely impressive resume pre 2018) as minister of justice in Ethiopia in 2018.

Don't get me wrong...the Netanyahu & Gallant ICC indictments are an important first measure in acknowledging the calculated mass slaughter of Palestinians, now determined by the UN to be consistent with genocide.

But expectations ought to be realistic. The ICC wields about as much power as a uniformed school crossing guard.

In the end, the threat of "the greatest country in the world," going down in history as a violator of international law might be what justice seekers have to rely on.

-ZZ.

But this was merely a symbolic measure.

Among the African masses...there is the perception (accurate to be frank) that the body lacks objectivity and is politically aligned.

African observers of global political affairs are all aware of how the ICC completely sidestepped Iraq and Afghanistan. The swiftness of arrest warrants for Putin, compared to the dillydallying on warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant...well it's hardly even subtle is it?

It could be with the accusations of anti African bias in mind, that the ICC appointed Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian national, as lead prosecutor for the body. She stayed in the position from 2012-2021.

So this is the problem. The ICC is best designated for dealing with poorer countries like Malawi, who rely on foreign aid into carrying out arrests. These countries can be coerced or bullied into adhering to international law.

The ICC has no mechanism for dealing with violators among the global powers or their backers. This shows how fundamentally flawed the ICC is from its origin.

Knowing this, in the scenario that the United States flouts international law and permits Netanyahu to visit Washington DC again...the ICC would refer the case to the UNSC, where the US is a permanent member with veto power. Yeah that's going to deter them :)

The only possible real deterrence for the United States is the international reputation stain that would come with being referred to as a state that provided a safe haven for war criminals with international arrest warrants.

In Africa, there is a great distrust of the ICC. The consensus among African leaders is that the ICC is a tool weaponized disproportionately against African leaders. On multiple occasions, African Union members have contemplated carrying out a joint mass withdrawal from the body.

The other reason for the loathing of the body: African leaders typically have poor human rights track records. Many know that they are all at risk of indictments, and sticking together makes sense.

What does a referral to the United Nations Security Council do for violators? Nothing. The UNSC is supposed to deliberate and issue sanctions for countries that refuse to honour ICC arrest warrants. But this same UNSC has the likes of China with permanent membership and veto powers. China was a longtime ally of Omar Al Bashir, and kept financing him despite condemnation. The UNSC is well and truly handicapped in situations like this.

A year later, Malawi refused to hold an African Union summit meeting, when the AU insisted that Al Bashir be allowed to attend. It appears that in the year since Al Bashir's first visit to Malawi, western donor states issued threats of consequences to Malawi, a poor country that relies on western humanitarian aid to feed a section of its population. So Al Bashir never returned to Malawi, and the AU summit was relocated to Ethiopia.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/6/9/malawi-cancels-au-summit-over-sudans-bashir

Malawi was given the same treatment in 2011. The ICC was outraged that Al Bashir essentially had the freedom to roam across the African continent, with virtually no repercussions.

During his 2010 trip to Kenya, a Kenyan court ordered Al Bashir to be arrested. But Kenyan authorities dismissed the court order, citing African Union protocol which granted him immunity from prosecution as a sitting head of state.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-16159709

In the case of Uganda and Djibouti, both parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC passed an internal ruling judging that both states failed to uphold international law by refusing to arrest Al Bashir when he visited those countries in 2015 and 2016. This document outlines the "ruling" against Djibouti.

What does the ICC do in the case of violators like Djibouti? Refer the case to the United Nations Security Council.

https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2016_04946.PDF

Angered by the condemnation that came for its decision, South Africa unilaterally decided to withdraw from the ICC. Eventually though, South Africa's robust court system ruled that the withdrawal was unconstitutional, and the withdrawal itself was withdrawn 😁

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39204035

South Africa defended their decision not to arrest Al Bashir in 2015, saying that the ICC's arrest warrant did not override South African law, which secures immunity for sitting heads of state.

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/south-africa-defends-decision-to-ignore-iccs-bashir-arrest-warrant-idUSKBN1791FQ/