It is not so hard to get people in power to hold trials against their political or military opponents. What is harder, and the reason the ICC was created, is to hold accountable those in power or close to power. Now that he is an ex-president, the ICC could probably do a better job, after learning—hopefully--from its other experiences. The ICC clearly lost its deterrent power when Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto--aided by the Kibaki regime and its own incompetence--run rings around it. But it retains some power to shame accusedperpetrators, which is why Bashir’s current successors are reluctant to hand him over to the ICC.

Source: Standard Digital April 27, 2019 21:00 UTC