The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands and the official seat of government (although Amsterdam is the actual capital per the Dutch Constitution. The Hague is home to over 150 international (legal) organisations. These include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Here we visited the Internal Criminal Court and sat through one of the confirmation hearings for the Special Court for Sierre Leone on the indictment of former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent judicial body set up to “try those who bear greatest responsibility” for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War. We were not allowed to take pictures inside due to security risks but the interior is impressive. It was very interesting to see the testimony of “insider” witnesses(those who were right there when the killings happened and played a major role in the murders of innocent people upon the orders of their commanders). They sat there giving details like anybody’s neighbor. I remarked to one of our Dutch counterparts that the the witnesses didn’t look like “bad guys” although I knew they were. Her response was….”they are no more bad guys than your US soldiers who follow orders from their commanders…”. Hmmmmm….
Afterwards, we walked the Hague town square and saw some interesting sculptures.
We had lunch at an Old English styled restaurant called “Roots” and were given a briefing of rhe International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia by Christian Chartier, the Senior Information Officer of the International Criminal Court and Michael Karnavas, President of the Executive Committee of the Defence Council of the ICTY.
We also visited The Peace Palace in The Hague which is home to a number of international judicial institutions, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)and the renowned Peace Palace Library. The International Court of Justice is by far the most well known institution in the Peace Palace. The ICJ was created as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations when they both were founded in 1946. The Court has a dual mission: to settle legal disputes submitted to it by UN member states in accordance with international law and to give advice which is referred to by UN organs and agencies.
I find the story of the Peace Palace very interesting:
In the second half of the 19th century, European nations invested heavily in building professional armies and marine fleets. All experimented with the development of newer and faster weapons that could be used on a wider scale.
Against this backdrop, the Russian Tsar Nicolas II took a remarkable initiative. On 24 August 1898, he invited the governments of all major nations to join an international conference on peace and disarmament. According to the Tsar, he thought it would be better for the prosperity and progress of mankind if governments sat down and talked and concluded agreements instead of being divided and hostile towards one another.
Initially, his call met with a great deal of scepticism. After all, Nicolas II was one of the many European rulers who were building up their military power. It was only after President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States reacted positively that the Russian initiative gained momentum.
At Russia’s request, The Hague was chosen as the venue for this first peace conference. The Netherlands had the right profile. Dutch humanists like Erasmus and Grotius had stood at the cradle of international law and the Netherlands had always stayed relatively neutral in European conflicts.
The agenda of the 1899 Peace Conference included proposals like freezing military expenditure, banning the use of submarine torpedoes and the technique of throwing explosive missiles from balloons, as well as stopping the development of new weapons with an increased greater firing power. Last but not least was the idea to use the principles of mediation and arbitration in order to prevent or end future international disputes.
The results of this first World Peace Conference were astounding: a convention with 61 articles for curbing the arms race, the humanisation of the conduct of war and the foundation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
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