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The discussion is focused on the effectiveness of international justice mechanisms in preventing crimes against humanity in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. Despite efforts by organizations like the ICC, there is still ongoing violence and conflict. The question arises whether these mechanisms are working and what can be done to ensure they are effective. Various conflicts and political developments in the region are highlighted, including Kenya's progress in settling election disputes through its judicial system. The need for international cooperation and examination of the effectiveness of justice mechanisms is emphasized to prevent further violence and promote development in the region. Good afternoon and welcome to this yet another episode of the Dialogue of a Lawyer. And we're going to be looking at the effectiveness of the international justice mechanism in tackling or preventing crimes against humanity in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, of the East African region. I mean, there is a slight background to this, and the background is that in the last, in the past few decades, there have been legal efforts to bring to justice actors that commit, aid, incite or abate crimes against humanity. I mean, the ICC has had both individual actors and sitting heads of states who have either been indicted or prosecuted. However, there seems to be, in the region, ongoing issues around crimes against humanity, political violence, and general civil and violent conflicts. And yet, there have been a number of international aid initiatives in the region, where, for example, they've had tribunals, investigations, ICC interventions, but nevertheless, the violence appears to persist. And so, the question has to be asked, are these mechanisms working? Is there another way? What is missing? And if so, what can be done to ensure that these mechanisms are put in place so that we don't have yet another cycle of such violence, which sadly, in most cases, leads to quite preventable loss of life? And so, this is where we come in with discussion. It admittedly is a very, I understand, a very wide subject, but we are trying to provide a synopsis as to what is a complex issue here. And so, to date, among the many cases the ICC probed, both against individual actors and sitting heads of state, there are some who have been either indicted or prosecuted. But despite this, as I mentioned earlier, there is still persistent conflict in the region and other areas of the world. And so, what can be done? There are glimpses of internal problems in countries such as, for example, Kenya, where, in comparison to other years, such as 2007, for example, where there was, unfortunately, ethnic violence that led to the indictment of specific individuals. But that case was dismissed by the ICC. But in comparison to the more recent elections, such as the most concluded one in 2002, although there were skirmishes at the talent centre, the elections were largely peaceful, and the dispute was settled by the Kenya Supreme Court, which is increasingly becoming impressive. Of course, there are shortcomings, there are various expressions of dissatisfaction from the protagonists, but the Kenyan court seems to be ultimately taking control whenever there are election disputes. And in the most recent one, some of the protesting parties brought the case before it, and I think it was a unanimous decision in terms of the announcements made by the country's electoral commission. So this scenario leads them to question as to whether the international justice mechanisms in the Kuwait region thus far are an effective mechanism in preventing crimes against humanity. And it is arguable that this has neither been effective nor has it been a deterrent in preventing crimes against humanity. And just to give an overview, there have been recent political developments around the world that have shaped international institutions, and the semblance of a world order negotiated or established, since its lawful application as we know it after the Second World War, appears to have been shaken, if not reversed. And the political, socio-economic and regional relationships in Europe have also been reshaped by what is known as Brexit, which refers to the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. And furthermore, there have been other wars right in the centre of Europe, one of which is ongoing. But on the African continent, among other momentous events, there was a coup d'etat in Zimbabwe which toppled a long-standing freedom fighter, who later turned dictator Robert Mugabe. There was an insurrection in Sudan, a civil war in South Sudan, as well as the utopia. And there was also what has been classified as the most violent election by observers, and alleged, apparent, according to papers filed in the ICC and various human rights reports. It was characterised as the most violent election in Uganda, and consequently the various human rights groups such as the Human Rights Watch and the donor country reports themselves point out some of these allegations. And likewise, the war in Congo continues to rage between rebels and militias against the Congo government, whilst tensions mount between Congo and Rwanda, which led to the South African head of state, led by the outgoing, now former president Uhuru Kenyatta, to have sent, authorised sending, peacekeeping forces to the country, that is DRC, Congo's former Zaire and the late Mobutu's so-called Banga. However, despite the above political violence in the region, there appears to be an emerging political and judicial maturity. Interestingly, even with war-torn Congo, which has managed, even war-torn Congo has managed a peaceful transition of sorts, however imperfect. But there has been a transition from Lawrence Cabrera to the current president, unlike in other countries where there are long-standing leaders such as Cameroon, Uganda and Eritrea among others. Similarly, Ethiopia, after over two decades, has been mired in a war that threatens its federal statehood. However, there seems to have been some sort of peace process that appears to be holding, because we don't hear the same level of atrocities and fighting as we had a few months ago, for the most part of the last one or two years. However, in notable contrast, the Kenyan court appears to have demonstrated an exercise of division of defences by overturning an election along with legally rejecting a B-term in the constitution. And this is a distinct trend compared to incumbent in some countries where long-standing leaders cling to power. Whether these relative islands of peaceful transfer of power and judicial restraints in their respective countries have a nexus to the IC proceedings or to the internal institutions is difficult to judge at the present time, but will continue to be examined as the Kenyan judicial system stands the test of time. But what is clear is that the ICC, United Nations and other global institutions, such as special tribunals, which have shaped international cooperation among nations, are facing multiple stress tests. And in the already volatile Great Lakes region, such a situation creates a vacuum which could aggravate or generate police violence, including crimes against humanity. Hence the need to determine, interrogate and examine in detail the effectiveness of international justice mechanisms against crimes against humanity in the region. But obviously in this sort of setting it requires an in-depth analysis, perhaps with other analysts from the region. But for the purpose of this discussion we are just basically going over the initial synopsis of the current situation in the country. As I mentioned, the Great Lakes have faced numerous conflicts over the last five decades, stretching back to the Idi Amin days of Uganda, who dislodged the Tanzanian army with the help of Ugandan exiles. And although the ICC was not instituted by then, many lives were lost in the 1980s. Conflicts in Uganda around the genocide in the 1990s, Somalia, Congo, Burundi, Turkey, Sudan and now sadly South Sudan. Kenya has also faced internal and external conflicts with Somalia. Eritrea, Ethiopia and the region have been engaged in conflicts that have displaced thousands and cost thousands of lives. It is therefore evident that this region remains volatile, ripe for war and internal conflict, which consequently behoves analysis, scrutiny, examination by all those who are interested in the region, who have stake in the region, who are friends of the region, who are sons and daughters of the region, to ensure that immediately this phenomenon of conflict, violent conflict, stops. The cycle is stopped and is not repeated again and again in a peaceful manner. Whether that requires involvement of international law, partners or a combination of local solutions, is something that needs to be explored and cemented properly. As you know, without that, there is little or no hope for economic development, the realization of the potential, the fruitful extraction of the human resources, not just the human resources but the natural resources that are prevalent, that exist in that part of the world, which sadly to date have not been adequately utilized as it could be for the benefit of the region as a whole. And the whole world, because today we live in a globalized economy where, for example, the mining of cobalt in Congo is essential for China's production of mobile phones, which are used all over the world and are essential for almost every aspect of day-to-day existence. So there is a sense of urgency which is punctuated by recent discoveries, as I mentioned, of even vast natural resources in the region, but with little or no meaningful democratic transitions in place in some of the countries in the region. And as we know from history, not just from history but other areas such as in the Middle East, where there are potential natural resources or oil reserves, there tend to be conflicts. And sadly or sometimes conflicts are almost inevitable. And furthermore, the region has a direct nexus to the stability of the entire continent, which is faced with insurgent terrorist networks in countries like Mali, North Nigeria, Chad and others. And furthermore, the humanitarian challenges of displacing populations, hunger and disease are inevitable where such violence erupts, as we see the humanitarian flood of refugees and populations in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and now increasingly in Iran. And we see how sadly it plays out in the Mediterranean. And just this weekend, many people, scores of people, lost their lives, which was where people's remains were discovered on the coasts and beaches of Italy over the weekend, which is a tragedy that is arguably potentially avoidable. But all these issues have to have a direct impact on international security, migration and peace. Therefore, it's really important to understand, assess and examine the current international justice mechanisms to prevent further violent conflict and crimes in the region. Thus far, the international justice system that has been applied in this region to date needs to be subjected to rigorous review, audit and examination to make a contribution which could prevent further crimes against humanity in a region, as I stated, that is already experiencing political violence with insecurity and associated with darkness among other causes. And to better understand that, there are potentially a few questions that need to be framed and responded to and among those are, well, what are crimes against humanity in the context of international law? What are the historic causes of crimes against humanity in the region? What are the legal functions, power, jurisdiction of the special tribunals, ICC and the UN Security Council? What is the record to date by these entities or mechanisms in preventing crimes against humanity in the region? And what is the role of politics per se or diplomacy as an embedded tool of prosecutors to focus on a long-term peace building rather than justice? And how effective to date are the actions or steps taken by international justice institutions in preventing current and future crimes against humanity? And lastly, which is the whole point of the exercise, is what proposals for reform are suggested to prevent or mitigate the likelihood of crimes against humanity in the region? And so those, whilst those key questions are triangulated and information is brought together, then hopefully that could provide either foundation or contribution or even viable solutions to this conundrum of the cycle of the political violence and crimes against humanity in the region. But as things stand, it is arguable that the current international justice mechanisms are not only ineffective but are negligible in preventing crimes against humanity. And we need to really focus on this question and try to make a contribution to minimising those causes. But as more things, this is probably an issue that will be fully answered in the distance of time. But any contribution here can assist policymakers, lawyers, international community to determine the most effective mechanisms to prevent crimes against humanity and political violence in the region. But this contribution hopefully will secure a foundation to either existing scholarship or in the future. But as I mentioned earlier, legal and democratic outcomes are generally best started and looked at with the luxury and hindsight that time allows. But nevertheless, one has to make a start. And this is one of the discussions that we've opened up. And so that is, in a nutshell, what we can sort of look at today. And we will come back to the issue. But for now, there we shall leave it. And we'll speak again next time. Thank you and speak to you soon. And this is from the LEAD Council, Diary of a Lawyer. Thank you. Bye. Speak to you soon.