The Keeper: A Human Rights Podcast - Episode 20: Rule of Law Season – Seeking Justice on an International Stage

Episode 20: Rule of Law Season – Seeking Justice on an International Stage

04/23/21 • 32 min

On this season of The Keeper, we’ve heard harrowing first-hand accounts of what happens in a country when its government or leaders choose to disregard the rule of law; freedom, justice and human rights all tend to be casualties. Oftentimes, the oppressors and abusers face few consequences for their actions...but not always. When it comes to the worst of the worst crimes, there is an international instrument for accountability – the International Criminal Court, or the ICC. It is the first and only permanent international court with the legal jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. In this episode, we speak with Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, who recently finished his term as ICC President after serving on the Court for nearly a decade. We cover the origins of the ICC, its complicated and often fraught relationship with the U.S., criticisms of the Court and points of deep controversy over which countries it chooses to investigate – or not investigate – but also Judge Eboe-Osuji’s fundamental belief in the Court’s power to “loosen the grip of tyranny in our time”.

International Criminal Court

Farewell Message of ICC President Chile Eboe-Osuji

Third Annual Lantos Rule of Law Lecture with Judge President Eboe-Osuji

I.C.C. Won’t Investigate China’s Detention of Muslims (New York Times)

The United States Opposes the ICC Investigation into the Palestinian Situation

This season of The Keeper was made possible with the generous support of Ambassador April H. Foley, who served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2006 -2009.
This episode is supported by former Congressman Herb Klein of New Jersey and by Jim Gottstein, author of The Zyprexa Papers.

International Criminal Court

Farewell Message of ICC President Chile Eboe-Osuji

Third Annual Lantos Rule of Law Lecture with Judge President Eboe-Osuji

I.C.C. Won’t Investigate China’s Detention of Muslims (New York Times)

The United States Opposes the ICC Investigation into the Palestinian Situation

Previous Episode

Episode 19: Rule of Law Season – The Real Story of Kagame’s Rwanda

For the fifth episode of our Rule of Law Season, we speak with journalist and author Anjan Sundaram to help us understand what is happening with the rule of law in Rwanda. The country is often held up as a democratic success story in Africa, as it has achieved stability and prosperity over the last 25 years since the horrific genocide of 1994. But Anjan explains that the real story is very different, and he speaks from very personal experience. He moved to Kigali, Rwanda in 2009 and began teaching journalism to Rwandan reporters – and then, one by one, his students began to run into a series of misfortunes that couldn’t have been mere coincidence. Anjan came to realize that he was witnessing the fall of free speech and the rise of President Paul Kagame’s dictatorship in Rwanda. Anjan speaks about the impact of Kagame’s authoritarian regime on the everyday lives of Rwandans, the brazen ways in which he stifles any dissent, and how western countries have actually emboldened Kagame to consolidate his power. He also discusses the Rwandan government’s kidnapping of human rights hero Paul Rusesabagina and the show trial he faces in Kigali, and he explains what it will mean for any critics of President Kagame going forward.

Anjan Sundaram Official Website

“Rwanda’s Rendition of a Hollywood Hero Confirms the Country’s Descent into Dictatorship”, by Anjan Sundaram in Foreign Policy

“I Think I May Die Tonight”, excerpt from Bad News by Anjan Sundaram in Foreign Policy

Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship by Anjan Sundaram

YouTube: Rwanda paid for the flight that led to Paul Rusesabagina arrest – UpFront

The Daily: A Battle for the Soul of Rwanda

A Tribute to Paul Rusesabagina by Congressman Tom Lantos (July 25, 2005)

Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation - #FreeRusesabagina
This season of The Keeper was made possible with the generous support of Ambassador April H. Foley, who served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2006 -2009.
This episode is also supported by four distinguished professors from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law:

Professor John Greabe, Director of the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service.

Professor Albert “Buzz” Scherr, Chair of the International Criminal Law and Justice Program and former Director of the State Department Rule of Law Project in Northern Russia.

Professor Robert E. McDaniel, a former U.S. Federal Prosecutor in Washington, DC, former Head of Legal Affairs for the OSCE in the Republic of Kosovo and now a faculty member in the International Criminal Law and Justice Program.

Judge Arthur Gajarsa, who joined the faculty as Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence after retiring from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Next Episode

Episode 21: Rule of Law Season Finale – 2020 Lantos Prize Laureate Bryan Stevenson on Justice

On the final episode of our 7-part Rule of Law season, we return to the subject of the state of the rule of law right here in America. We hear from our 2020 Lantos Human Rights Prize Laureate Bryan Stevenson, who has been a tireless advocate for applying the rule of law equally and fairly in the United States, regardless of race or economic status, as well as for dealing more honestly and openly with this country’s history of inequality. Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the best-selling book Just Mercy, has spent more than three decades advocating on behalf of incarcerated people who have been wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced. In this episode, we hear his perspective on the difference between law and justice, how America compromises its standing as a human rights leader when it fails to confront its own human rights challenges, why mercy is as fundamental a principle as justice, and more. Listen to this powerful and inspiring conclusion to the Rule of Law season.

Equal Justice Initiative

Just Mercy (best-selling book adapted into a film)

2020 Lantos Human Rights Prize Recipient

Bryan Stevenson: From the courtroom to Hollywood (BookTube)

The Moment to Close America’s Hypocrisy Gap, by Katrina Lantos Swett (Medium)
This season of The Keeper is made possible with the generous support of Ambassador April H. Foley, the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2006-2009.

This episode of The Keeper is proudly brought to you by Shaheen & Gordon – providing full-service legal advocacy across New Hampshire & Maine since 1981. Shaheen & Gordon is dedicated to protecting people’s rights and upholding the Rule of Law.

This final episode of our Rule of Law season is also supported by John & Patricia Broderick.