TEHRAN - A professor from the University of Amsterdam says the great powers are not responsive to the International Criminal Court for their crimes against humanity and these are just weak states which have to be held accountable to the body.

“None of these major powers want to be held accountable, so only weak states are held to the accountability of the ICC,” Ugur Umit Ungor tells the Tehran Times.

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: What were the reasons for an increase in genocide in the 20th century?

A: This is a really big question I can't answer in a few lines. First, I don't think there's more violence in the 20th century than before, but the 20th century is notorious for having a) technological means that we didn't have before, such as train systems to concentrate people, poisonous gas to gas people in death camps, or nuclear bombs to wipe out entire cities, and b) ideological innovations such as the extreme ideologies that killed most people in the 20th century, especially extreme left (Communism) and extreme right (Fascism, Nazism, extreme nationalism). The combination of these two factors produces lots of violence.

Q: Genocide is one of the serious criminal cases which has been investigated by the International Criminal Court. Has the court been successful to seriously address serious criminal cases like genocide?

A: The ICC is still weak because not all countries fully cooperate with it. National sovereignty is still a major force, and they are quite understaffed in responding to major crises like Syria or Central African Republic.

Q: Why do political interests still shape the course of investigations into many criminal acts such as genocide?

A: Well, because we live in an imperfect world where states pursue their political interests, and the UN Security Council permanent 5 members don't want prosecution for themselves, or their client states. One example is France's role in the Rwandan genocide, another example is the Bush administration's illegal war on and occupation of Iraq, and another example is Russia's support for the Assad regime. None of these major powers want to be held accountable, so only weak states are held to the accountability of the ICC, like Kenya, or Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Q: Destruction and damage to environment has been announced as a crime against humanity. What is the significance of this approval?

A: Environmental destruction and human destruction seem to be closely related. Think of indigenous peoples in the Amazon, or the fight for water in Sudan, or the relationship between resource conflicts in Eastern DRC. We are realizing more and more that human coexistence is under pressure in the coming decades and centuries, and man-made climate change is part of the problem.

VP/PA