Angry in the Great White North

I wonder if Michael Byers wrote to the ICC demanding that the International Criminal court investigate whether detonating bombs in crowded marketplaces is a war crime as well. Probably not. But then people like Byers hate the military more than they hate the Taliban (assuming he has any negative feelings for the Taliban at all). In any case, the Canadian government and the Canadian military are the villains in this story:

Canada's top soldier says he is paying little attention to reports that two human rights professors have requested The Hague investigate the possibility he has committed war crimes.

Chief of Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Defence Minsiter Gordon O'Connor have both been named in a 14-page letter to the International Criminal Court by Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia and William Schabas, director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway.

The professors claim "possible war crimes" have been committed by Hillier and O'Connor, resulting from the prisoner transfer agreement between Canada and Afghanistan, and have asked the ICC to investigate.

Hey, I'm no lawyer, but this gives rise to some interesting questions. First of all, is it possible for a Canadian to be found guilty by the ICC? What I mean is, by what method are the protections I would enjoy as a Canadian citizen stripped away?

As it turns out, thanks to Pierre Trudeau, I never had any such protection from extraterritorial prosecution reaching inside Canadian borders. According to the Charter, I'm already subject to something called "international law":

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right ...

(g) not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission, it constituted an offence under Canadian or international law or was criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations;

This is frightening. Not only am I subject to Canada's criminal code, as written by my elected members of parliament, but I'm subject to international law. But this is not limited to those treaties signed by the democratically elected Canadian government and ratified by Parliament, and so are extensions of Canadian jurisprudence. It also includes "general principles of law recognized by the community of nations".

Where the hell is that written down?! How can I measure my adherence to the law when the law is some vague thing understood by some vaguely defined group of people somewhere?

But despite the constitutional inability of the Canadian government to protect me, the ICC itself is constrained in when it can become involved. The ICC can only get involved if the a State does not investigate or is unable to investigate the charges. As far as I know, the Canadian court system has not even been approached on the matter of Afghani detainees, so it's far too early for the ICC to decide that Canadian prosecutors were not sufficiently aggressive in an investigation.

Not that it's their business anyway...no wait, I guess it is. Doesn't matter, though. This is just a stunt. It's not like the ICC would render a judgement, and even if it did, it's not like Prime Minister Stephen Harper would consider, even for a moment, handing over a Canadian citizen to that court. Stephen Harper is one of those few Canadians who believes that Canadian sovereignty is something of value, not to be undermined by partisan politics and foreign interference.

The funny thing is that the United States refused to adopt the Rome Statute that created the ICC for fear of subjecting its citizens to politically motivated prosecutions. Guess what? Michael Byers has donated $640 to the NDP beginning late 2005:

• Michael Byers New Democratic Party, Aug. 30, 2006 $300.00
• Michael Byers New Democratic Party, Sep. 2006 Aug. 30, 2006 $200.00
• Michael Byers New Democratic Party, Oct. 12, 2005 $140.00
• Michael Byers New Democratic Party, Dec. 31, 2005 $100.00

You'd almost think that as soon as it became apparent that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives were going to win the election and form a government, Byers started writing out cheques to Canada's socialist party. Amazingly, despite that influx of funds, the Conservatives still managed to win. When the Liberals were in charge and Canadian soldiers were handing over Taliban prisoners, Byers was quiet. But now that the Conservatives are in charge, it's time to change the rules and have Canadian officials appear in chains in front of some foreign tribunal.

Some people would say that suggests a political motivation. But then that would mean the Americans were right about the ICC.