Sir, - The struggle for global justice demands a Yes vote on June 7th when the Irish electorate is being asked to ratify the establishment of the International Criminal Court. This will have jurisdiction to indict those guilty of the gravest crimes against humanity.
Victims of state ratified torture and their families throughout the world are demanding an end to amnesties given by states to protect former heads of state and military commanders etc. from being brought to justice for their crimes against humanity.
Relatives of the four American churchwomen murdered in El Salvador in 1980 brought a recent unsuccessful court action against two generals who controlled the army and police forces at the time of their murders and who are now living in Miami. General Pinochet escaped from international justice, but he can never again enjoy the immunity he thought he had.
Khaled Nezzar, former minister of defence of Algeria and ex-general of the Algerian armed forces fled Paris, with the connivance of the French authorities, under the cover of darkness on April 26th last on a special flight hours after civil law suits were filed against him, one by an Algerian family whose son died under torture and two others by ex-prisoners tortured by the Algerian Armed Forces while Nezzar was in power.
A very practical and powerful way of contributing to the advent of a more just global society is to vote Yes to the ratification of the International Criminal Court. - Yours, etc.,
Brendan Butler, Pennock Hill, Swords, Co Dublin.