Grounds for divorce ? MSF and the international criminal court
Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier
In 1998 MSF decided to support the creation of the International Criminal Court. Whether as victims or witnesses, it seemed obvious that we should participate in this initiative in the name of the protection of populations and the construction of a ‘more just international public order'. 10 years later MSF stated that it ‘would not cooperate and would not transmit any information to the ICC'. The organisation needs to keep its distance from the ICC, as from any other political body.
How can we explain this change of position? Is it Justice or MSF that has broken its promises? What is our position regarding the arrest warrant issued in March 2009 against the President of Sudan and the consequent retaliation against NGOs working in Darfur? Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier looks back at the relations between MSF and judicial proceedings, the theme of a publication in the Cahier du Crash series in 2007 by Fabien Dubuet.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Legal testimony, an extension of humanitarian advocacy
3. MSF's reaction to the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia
4. Testimony of a an MSF volunteer at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
5. Why and how not to testify ?
6. The turning point of the ICC
7. MSF's position in 2004
8. The question of individual testimony
9. How does the ICC impact MSF's public communication policy?
10. Testimony and punishment
11. NGOs, Human Rights organisations and the ICC/ Comment by Kate McIntosh, MSF Holland
12. The difference between being a direct eye witness and passing on second-hand information/ Rony Brauman
13. Remain silent or testify ?
14. What are the confusions about relations between MSF and the ICC ?
15. MSF : perpetually evolving policies
16. MSF : the weak link on the international stage ?
17. Fight against impunity or punishment ?
To cite this content :
Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier, “Grounds for divorce ? MSF and the international criminal court”, 8 avril 2009, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/grounds-divorce-msf-and-international-criminal-court
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Gabrielle Klein
Cahier
Legal or humanitarian testimony ? History of MFS’s interactions with investigations and judicial proceedings
04/27/2007The document analyses and describes the different initiatives, experiences and positions that MSF has had with regard to international investigations and judicial proceedings.
Past events
Conference
MSF and Humanitarian Negotiations for Access in the DRC
06/28/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMConference and debate, June 28th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30 (Paris time), MSF (salle du premier, 14-34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
Conference
All Who Fall
05/17/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMConference and debate, May 17th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30 (Paris time), MSF (14-34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
Conference
How to improve access to care and aid for people living with a handicap in a humanitarian context?
04/07/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMA screening of the film "Agir contre l’exclusion" followed by a debate, April 7th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30, MSF and online. The debate was translated simultaneously into sign language and English.
Conference
Reconstructing Lives
02/17/2022 - 05:30 PM 07:30 PMThe members of the Crash team were happy to welcome you all to an online conference-debate with anthropologist Vanja Kovačič, on Thursday 17th of February, at 6:30PM. The conference was in English and simultaneously translated into French. The author introduced her recently-published book "Reconstructing lives Victims of war in the Middle East and Médecins Sans Frontières" (Manchester University Press, translated in French and Arabic.)
Conference
Another approach to well-being at work
12/09/2021 - 05:30 PM 07:30 PMThe members of the Crash were very happy to welcome you all to this new conference-debate with occupational psychologists Yves Clot and Jean-Yves Bonnefond, two of the authors of “Le prix du travail bien fait – La coopération conflictuelle dans les organisations” (Paris, La Découverte, 2021 ; co-written with Antoine Bonnemain and Mylène Zittoun).
msf
Conference
Book launch event - Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie
11/17/2021 - 05:30 PM 07:30 PMWe were very happy to welcome two authors of the book: sociologist (CNRS) and Crash scientific committee member Claudine Vidal, and Jean-Hervé Bradol, doctor, former President of the French section of MSF and current director studies at the Crash, for the launching event of the newly-published book “Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie” (Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris 2021). The event was hosted by Rony Brauman.