P/RE/22904c-is

In co-operation with the International Progress Organization, the Moroccan publishing house TOP Édition has published the Arabic version of Hans Köchler's book "Global Justice or Global Revenge? International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads." The book was translated by Mohamed Jalid and edited by Hamid Lechhab. It contains a new preface by the author.

In addition to a comprehensive overview of the modus operandi of international criminal courts and critical assessments of the doctrines of universal jurisdiction and of humanitarian intervention (or "responsibility to protect"), the volume also contains reflections on terrorism and the international rule of law, the author's reports on the Lockerbie Trial in the Netherlands and a chronological list of international legal instruments.

Köchler's analyses of the relationship between power politics and international criminal justice have gained new relevance in the light of the referrals, by the United Nations Security Council, of the situations in Sudan and Libya to the International Criminal Court, and in view of the creation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon through the Council's unilateral action.

On the occasion of the publication of the Arabic edition, Prof. Köchler, President of the International Progress Organization, expressed the hope that the social and political upheavals in the Arab world will not be exploited for shortsighted political gains by the region's former colonial powers, and that measures of international criminal justice will not degenerate into actions of mere revenge or political convenience. Commenting on the NATO-led war in Libya, which is based on a legally dubious Security Council resolution, Prof. Köchler stated that criminal prosecutions must never be part of a war agenda. Unfortunately, the practice of the International Criminal Court since its inception (in 2002), with cases only in African countries, has profoundly discredited the project of international criminal justice, the author concluded.

Special lecture meetings and discussions with the author will be held in Morocco later this year. Earlier editions of the book were published in Austria, the United States, Turkey (in Turkish language), and India.