Clare Daly on war crimes, the ICC and unequal accountability
Clare Daly condemned the horrific images and stories emerging from Ukraine and other conflict zones, arguing that accountability for war crimes is inconsistent. She criticised the International Criminal Court's limited jurisdiction and said powerful states have undermined the institution.
Overview of remarks
Clare Daly opened by describing the atrocities from Ukraine as truly horrific and linked them to similar suffering in Palestine, Yemen and Afghanistan, calling them evidence of human cruelty and the evils of war.
Named conflicts and victims
She named Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen and Afghanistan as examples of places where images and stories testify to enormous human suffering. The speech emphasised solidarity with victims while stressing the wider problem of impunity for war crimes.
Critique of the ICC and past actions by powerful states
Clare Daly criticised the ICC's limited reach, noting it has indicted 46 people in its 20-year history and observing that all those indictments were African. She pointed to the 2018 incident in which the United States threatened to arrest and sanction ICC judges if they pursued Americans over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Allegations of double standards
Daly warned against selective condemnation, saying it may suit some to denounce Russian war crimes while ignoring alleged American and Israeli ones. She stated that she condemns all war crimes but argued that unequal application undermines justice.
Argument for equal application of international law
The speech concluded with a plea for impartial application of international law, arguing that unless the law applies equally to all countries there can be no true international system of justice for victims of war crimes.
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Thank you, President. There is no doubt about it, the images and stories of the atrocities emerging from Ukraine are truly horrific. They join similar images and stories from the likes of Palestine, from Yemen, from Afghanistan, all a testament to the depths of human cruelty, the enormity of human suffering and to the evils of war. And yet the truth is that accountability for war crimes is the exception, not the rule, especially for powerful states. Because the only truly international system for holding war criminals accountable has been systematically undermined since the day it was created. We even had the obscenity in 2018 of the United States threatening to arrest and sanction ICC judges if they pursued Americans for war crimes in Afghanistan. And the result is that the ICC has a shamefully limited jurisdiction. It has only indicted 46 people in its 20-year history, all of them African. It might suit some people in here to condemn Russian war crimes while ignoring American and Israeli ones. I condemn them all, but unless the law applies equally for all countries, we'll never have an international system of justice for the victims of war crimes. I condemn them all, but if they're not, they're not the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only one who's the only
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