Court Watch
the ruse in an effort to try and sell some old cargo planes to the phony FARC men, but ultimately their argument could not overcome the evidence prosecutors presented to the jury, including re- corded conversations, emails, and tapes that had been gathered during the DEA’s sting operation.
Prosecutors also relied on the testimony of the undercover informants. But perhaps most damag- ing to the defense was the testimony of Bout’s former business associate, Andrew Smulian, who told jurors that Bout was fully aware he was deal- ing with a terrorist organization and believed culti- vating a relationship with the FARC could be very lucrative for his business.
On November 2, 2011, after less than two days of deliberations, the jury found Bout guilty on all four counts; sentencing is expected sometime in February 2011. And though appeals are sure to be filed, Bout’s arrest, trial and conviction nonethe- less illustrate the U.S. government’s efforts to find new ways to combat terrorism.
* Submitted by James Foster
Mexican Human Rights Activists Demand ICC Investigation of Calderón Administration
On November 25, 2011, Mexican human rights attorney Netzai Sandoval filed a complaint with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, calling for an investigation of alleged human rights abuses at the hands of the Mexican government. Sandoval names Mexican President Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa as culpable in 470 cases of human rights abuses and complicit in the deaths of thousands of Mexican civilians at the hands of drug cartels since the launch of Calderón’s military campaign against the cartels in 2006.
The ICC was established pursuant to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998, Rome Statute). Sixty states have submitted to the ICC’s jurisdiction, although the United States and
Russia have signed but not ratified the Rome Stat- ute. China and India, notably, have yet to sign on.
A natural successor to the Nuremberg Trials, and existing alongside the International Criminal Tri- bunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, the ICC was developed in large measure due to the efforts of the United Nations’ International Law Commission. The ICC mandate covers four crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. Sitting at The Hague, the ICC complements national criminal jurisdictions, and only takes up cases where member states are unable or unwilling.
The ICC Prosecutor is a special officer of the Court, with authority to initiate investigations without ju- dicial mandate, and subsequently bring charges before the Court.
The Mexico Dilemma
President Calderón took office in late 2006 and immediately undertook the use of military forces to pursue the drug cartels that had for decades plagued Mexico, particularly on its northern bor- der. In the ensuing five years or more, an estimat- ed 40,000 deaths, both collateral and direct, have resulted, with over 11,000 deaths in 2011 alone. In addition to a 260 percent increase in the homicide rate, as stated by a 2011 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report critical of the Calderón Administra- tion, Mexico is plagued by security forces’ “sys- tematic … use (of) torture to obtain forced confes- sions and information about criminal groups. And evidence points to the involvement of soldiers and police in extrajudicial killings and enforced disap- pearances around the country.”
Calling the violence worse than that experienced in Afghanistan or Colombia, Netzai Sandoval calls on the ICC Prosecutor to delve into Calde- rón’s alleged role in the bloodshed. The HRW re- port alleges staggering abuses at the hands of Calderón’s own security forces, including the ex- trajudicial killings of at least 24 people. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission saw a seven-
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 4 » May 2012 13
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