Luis Moreno-Ocampo

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Luis Moreno-Ocampo (born 1952, Buenos Aires) is the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is thus responsible for following up reports of war crimes and prosecuting defendants. Born in Buenos Aires and a citizen of Argentina, he gained a reputation prosecuting abuses by senior military officials and for his work to combat corruption

1 Legal career
2 International Criminal Court
- 2.1 Initial investigations
- 2.2 The International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq
3 Notes and references
4 External links

[edit] Legal career

A 1978 graduate of University of Buenos Aires Law School, Moreno-Ocampo was a law clerk from 1980 to 1984 to the Argentinian Solicitor General before rising to prominence as the assistant prosecutor of the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons in the 1984-1985 "Military Junta" trial. The trial of nine senior figures, including three former heads of state, of the military dictatorship that ran the country from 1976 to 1983 resulted in five convictions. It was the first prosecution of senior commanders for the mass killing of civilians since the Nuremberg Trials followed the Second World War.

Over the next few years, Moreno-Ocampo established a reputation for his willingness to confront the rich and the powerful of Argentina. In 1986 he was assistant prosecutor in the trial of senior members of the Buenos Aires Police Force, including General Ramon Camps, for gross human rights abuses. He was part of the extradition team that sent General Guillermo Suárez Mason to California, led the prosecution of the leaders of two military rebellions (in 1987 and 1990), and was the Main Prosecutor of the review for the military trial for malpractice against the commanders of the Falklands-Malvinas War.

In 1992, Moreno-Ocampo left his position as Main Prosecutor of the Argentine Federal Court to start a law firm specializing in corruption control, criminal law and human rights law. At the same time he became an Associate Professor of criminal law at the University of Buenos Aires, a position which he continues to hold. He has also been a guest professor at Stanford University and Harvard Law School. As well as his professional duties, he has been highly active in the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, being the former president of its Latin America and Caribbean office and a current member of its global governing board.

[edit] International Criminal Court

Moreno-Ocampo was elected unopposed to the position of ICC Chief Prosecutor in 2003 by a ballot of more than 70 countries and sworn in on 16 June 2003.

[edit] Initial investigations

His initial investigations have concentrated on the abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the formal end of the Second Congo War, the insurgency of the Uganda-based Lord's Resistance Army and the Darfur conflict of western Sudan.

[edit] The International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Main article: The International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq

In March 2003, the United States and its allies, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland invaded Iraq. The UK, Australia, and Poland are all state parties to the Rome Statute which established the ICC and therefore their nationals are liable to prosecution by the court for the violation of any relevant international criminal laws. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC reported in February 2006, that it had received 240 communications in connection with the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 which alleged that various war crimes had been committed.

On 2006-02-09, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in his position as Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, published a letter that he had sent to all those who had communicated with him concerning the above, which set out his conclusions on these matters, following a preliminary investigation of the complaints. He explained in his decision letter, that essentially two sets of complaints were involved. He explained that the Legality of the Invasion was within his competence because crimes against peace have not yet been incorporated into the Rome Statute; and that in the other cases none of them were of sufficient gravity to warrant forwarding to the ICC.^[1]

Around March 2007, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo urged Arab nations, particularly Iraq to sign up to the court in order to allow the prosecution of George W. Bush and Tony Blair for war crimes. [1]