On: European Court Says CIA Ran Secret Jail in a Polish Forest

[rayiner]

> Prosecutions for war crimes have happened both for winners and losers of wars.

Technically true. But to date the ICC has only ever prosecuted Africans. This can be seen as a continuation of Europe's colonial tendencies to treat African nations as inferior sovereigns.

[mschuster91 → rayiner]

Well, this is easy to answer.

Most major wars since WW2 have been initiated or led by the US, who have not signed the ICC treaties.

Yugoslavia has had its own court, as well as the Khmer stuff and the Spanish regime.

That only leaves African wars to be dealt with.

[curiousgeorge → rayiner]

Milosevic was prosecuted by the ICC and died in jail four months before an almost certain conviction. The Pinochet case predates the ICC, but although the British government intervened to temporarily "halt" his extradition to Spain, the speed of his subsequent exit (he flew back to Santiago within hours) suggests the move was a political one to push things back to Chile, where Pinochet faced subsequent prosecution and died under house arrest.

So some cynicism is certainly deserved, but it is probably more accurate to say that the more political influence someone has, and the more dirt they hold on other countries, the more protracted the entire judicial process becomes.

[rayiner → curiousgeorge]

Milošević was prosecuted at the ICTY, a special-purpose tribunal for Yugoslavia.