Jethmalani moots international courts

Jethmalani is reported to have told the Prime Minister that it was now imperative for the Government to pursue the setting up of this court the ambit of which would be to specifically deal with cases of transnational terrorism if it was to eventually bring the Pakistani nationals responsible for the recent hijacking to book.

He is also learnt to have apprisedthe Prime Minister that perhaps the only legal option was to apprehend the hijackers and deal with them as per international law. As of now, no other legal mechanism exists in the international fora to deal with such crimes, except extradition treaties between countries.

The Minister8217;s letter comes in the wake of the Government8217;s tacit acceptance that it can do precious little to nab the hijackers, who have been identified as Pakistani nationals and are at present believed to be in that country. Already, the Government8217;s efforts to mount international pressure on Pakistan by urging the United States and other western nations to declare it a terrorist state appears to have backfired. The US has outrightly rejected India8217;s demand for now.

Interestingly, while India had abstained from voting in favour of the court, Pakistan was one of the few countries which had voted against the proposal. The objective of the international criminal court is to make it binding on all member countries of the United Nationsto cooperate with the court in dealing with crimes which involve nationals of different countries.

The court, if and when set up, would have the powers to investigate and try international crimes and cases of genocide. Many countries have voiced objections to the court, saying that it would impinge on their sovereignty.