The International Criminal Court in The Hague has plenty of critics, both among those states who have yet to commit themselves to its jurisdiction fearing a loss of legal sovereignty, and those who say that the court's work is disproportionately focused on Africa.
One can see the merit in both points of view, though the one rather answers the other.
Why, if you're a big and powerful country, willingly submit yourself to a higher authority when you're complicit in, or condone, the crimes in question?
Why have the ICC's only three cases to date, along with most of its ongoing investigations, dealt with war crimes in Africa?
The Jean-Pierre Bemba case, if successful, offers at least the prospect of impact beyond the African continent.
The prosecution seeks to define legally the responsibility a military commander has for the actions of his troops, whether he has ordered those actions or not.
It seeks to place the onus on him to reign in h
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