The International Criminal Court had a bad year.
South Africa, Burundi and Gambia all took steps to leave the treaty that makes them part of the court. Some fear that the international body that brings justice to leaders who commit war crimes is under significant threat. On this week’s podcast we speak to Kate Cronin-Furman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Cronin-Furman studies mass atrocities and international justice. Her blog Wronging Rights is popular among aid workers for its mix of humor while discussing deadly serious issues. We discuss the International Criminal Court and why it exists in the first place. Cronin-Furman evaluates the current trend to leave the court and what it might mean for its future.
Then the conversation switches gears to her research. Cronin-Furman’s dissertation and ongoing book project are about how countries respond from a justice perspective following mass atrocities. Her research into Sri Lanka, for example, shows how the country did as little as possible to hold itself accountable for killing civilians during its battle with rebels.
Cronin-Furman helps provide a view into how the world deals with mass atrocities and the limits to the current system.
But before the chat, podcast producer Imana Gunawan and Tom Murphy talk about some of the big stories of the past week: Filipinos’ concerns regarding extrajudicial killings in the country; the “Uberization” of domestic work and whether that actually empowers women; and the lasting benefits of kangaroo care for preterm infants.
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