This week, the judges of the ICC authorized a formal investigation of Kenya’s post-election violence, raising the prospect that political leaders from the East African nation might face trial at the court. The Prosecutor asked judges last November to approve an investigation into the 2007-08 violence and whether Kenyan political leaders organized and financed attacks against civilians. In this 5-minute mini-documentary, leading figures in the field of international justice discuss the possibility of an ICC case in Kenya in light of the controversy over the fact that all of the ICC’s current cases are also in Africa.

In August 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Peru published its final report, putting the number of people murdered and disappeared during those years at approximately 69,000. In its report, the Commission made several recommendations, all of which were directed towards achieving reconciliation. What struck me the most was the Commission’s insistence that all of its recommendations had one major prerequisite: the establishment of the truth and the accomplishment of justice. Or, in the Commission’s words: If the establishment of the truth is a pre-condition for reconciliation, justice is at the same time a pre-condition for establishing the truth and a consequence of it.

This principle filters through the Report in its entirety and has guided me in my career ambitions ever since. When I started learning about the International Criminal Court (ICC)…

An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people died under his brutal reign of terror. Justice was never served. 80,000 of the country’s minority, named “bloodsuckers” by the tyrant, were expelled with 90 days to flee their property and possessions. Justice was never served. No, this is not al-Bashir’s Sudan. This is Uganda, and at the helm of hell was military dictator and President Idi Amin, who died in exile on Saudi Arabian soil in 2003. Following his 8 years as ruler of Uganda in the 1970s, Idi Amin spent 24 years unpunished, living seaside in the Kingdom. The rivers of justice ran dry as the former President soaked up the sun for more than two decades.

While the main function of the Security Council is the maintenance of international peace and security, in accordance with Article 24 of the UN Charter, the Council has played an important role with regard to the advancement of international justice. Other than the establishment by the Security Council of ad hoc Tribunals to prosecute crimes against humanity in specific conflict situations such as Rwanda and the former Yugolavia, the establishment of the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, along with the passage of resolution 1595 mandating the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian troops from Lebanon, was a landmark achievement…

Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court—the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The Reckoning follows dynamic ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur. The Reckoning keeps you on the edge of your seat.