1. Let’s face facts: In 20 years (and almost $2billion spent), the International Criminal Court has never sustained the atrocity conviction of ANY state official (even lowly) ANYWHERE.Only 5 African rebels.🧵 Thread on #ICC’s 20th anniversary(1 July) & our "#Ukraine moment"⬇️1/15 
2.But the #ICC, which embodies the int’l community’s (uneven) commitment to end impunity, has had a massive impact on global #accountability through its Statute and the norms it promotes, its pressure, its preliminary exams and its protective umbrella.
3.Example- The African Union’s vital role in the trial of ex-Chad dictator #HissèneHabré was intended to ward off more ICC cases against African leaders, by showing Africa could handle its own nytimes.com/2016/02/16/opi…
4.Almost all justice is happening at the level of domestic or “hybrid” courts: Charles Taylor, #HissèneHabré, Alberto #Fujimori, Rios Montt, Mubarak, Blaise Compaoré, now Hashim Thaci, Alpha Condé, perhaps soon #YahyaJammeh of #Gambia
5.#UniversalJurisdiction UJ cases are back on the rise, thanks to the tenacity of victims, creation in Europe of many special “war crimes units”& 3 new Independent Investigative Mechanisms (IIMs) – what ex-US Ambo Stephen Rapp calls a new int’l justice “ecosystem” @Trial #UJAR
6. With access to the ICC blocked, these IIMs now build war-crimes cases on #Syria (IIIM), #ISIS (UNITAD) and #Myanmar (IIMM) and feed them to national prosecutions, mostly in Europe (again). iiim.un.org/iiim-syria-wel…
7. The @ICJ_org & others have now proposed creation of a Standing Independent Investigative Mechanism (SIIM) to build prosecution-ready files for widespread and systematic atrocity crimes, icj.org/global-account… and bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/publi…
8.We now live a “Ukraine moment” in int’l justice. The heartwarmingly massive and rapid mobilization by the ICC and national prosecutors has surpassed any previous response to atrocity by orders of magnitude. france24.com/en/tv-shows/pe…
9. Global commitment to Accountability in Ukraine should be model for other crises in places Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Palestine, and Yemen hrw.org/news/2022/04/2…
10.Kick-starting the ICC into relevance, @KarimKhanQC made 3 welcome visits to Ukraine, opened biggest field office ever (with Dutch staff!) & supports Ukraine prosecutor. But if the OTP is not to be seen as the legal arm of NATO, it must devise equally robust responses elsewhere
11. Hope that the work of the brave Ukrainian prosecutor and her tireless team, the ICC, the efforts of the Ukraine-Lithuania-Poland-Estonia-Latvia-Slovakia #JIT, contribs by UK, France and many, will lead to war-crimes trials for those most responsable for these atrocities
12. In the face of horrendous war crimes by Russia, States make timely and unprecedented $$ & in-kind contributions to #ICC for #Ukraine while other atrocity probes are starved for resources coalitionfortheicc.org/news/20220330/…
13. Even the US is jumping in - wants to help the ICC prosecute Russian war crimes while barring any possibility the ICC could probe US (or Israeli) war crimes.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/1…
14. Double standards weigh down both ICC & national justice: Khan “deprioritizes” Afghan crimes by US & allies, ICC Palestine inquiry drags on, UK/Iraq case dropped. Spain and Belgian UJ laws repealed under US/Israel/China attacks. Germany & France block Rumsfeld UJ case.
15. We applaud justice mobilization around the horrors visited on #Ukraine. But the long-term integrity & global acceptance of the ICC and the international justice ecosystem require that they take on crimes committed by powerful western actors, not just designated enemies. END
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