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The ICC Begins To Bite “The wheels of God grind slow, but they grind exceeding small”, it says in the Bible. The same idea applies to the International Criminal Court. It has started very slowly, investigating those accused of war crimes and genocide; it has been very long-winded in the processes of Investigation and of trial. But slowly the vilest criminals on the globe are being called to account. Ituri is a Congolese province rich in minerals where ethnic cleansing has killed thousands of civilians. German Katanga, aged 29, has now been arrested and flown to the court in the Hague. He will join Thomas Lubanga, already charged with six counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity. They were of the Lendu tribe. It is alleged that in order to gain control of Ituri’s riches they thought it was necessary to murder thousands of the Hema tribe, using child soldiers where necessary and raping virtually all Hema women they encountered. The murder of nine Bangladeshi U.N. peacekeepers was the final act which led to their arrest. Uganda has allegedly given support to their forces. Those tempted to use violence and genocide in an effort to get rich should halt before it is too late. The chances of the I.C.C. forcing them to pay for their crimes are getting ever more likely. The cells in the Hague are filling up.
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