By Alessandro Speciale
Vatican Insider
September 21, 2011
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/pedofilia-pedophilia-8225/
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| The International Criminal Court at The Hague |
Whoever works in the Vatican or in the Church and knows something about the cases of abuse against minors or about their cover up, please come forward and tell what you know to The Hague’s ICC judge: the appeal launched this afternoon in Rome by the members of the SNAP association (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) who fell victim to acts of paedophilia in the Church, was one of disobedience and condemnation.
The appeal was made in the wake of the charges laid against the Pope and past and present Vatican leaders, of “crimes aginst humanity.” The appeal was presented to the International Criminal Court at The Hague by SNAP and the American NGO Center for Constitutional Rights.
During their “European tour”, which ended in Rome, representatives from both organisations presented their causes to the media and the public of major European cities.
“Hundreds of current and past Vatican employees have information regarding the sexual abuse perpetrated against children, SNAP’s Peter Isely explained. Silence equates to complicity. The time has come for the Church’s employees at every level, to examine their conscience and share what they know about these crimes and cover-ups.
The two associations also responded to the doubts raised by numerous of lawyers and commentators, as to the likelihood of their case actually being taken on by the Court and to the doubts of those who have discarded their appeal as a mere attempt to gain publicity.
Pam Spees of the Center for Constitutional Rights explained that the Court at The Hague is only competent to hear cases regarding rape, sexual violence and torture when these constitute crimes against humanity.
The fact that the Holy See is not a signatory of the Treaty of Rome which established the Court, and that Benedict XVI is no longer a German citizen but has an exclusively Vatican citizenship, does not rule out the possibility of an inquiry being held into the matter, because the court “can proceed, on the basis of each victim’s nationality or on a territorial basis,” that is, depending on the Country where the crime was committed.
Furthermore, Spees pointed out that the Court’s statute also exercises the principle of “superior responsibility” in cases where individuals do not do enough to prevent a crime, or attempt to cover up crimes committed by their subordnates.
“Many of the objections to our appeal, which we have read in recent days, he added, have already been taken into consideration and are accounted for in the 22 thousand pages of documentation gathered during the preparatory work carried out over the course of one year, in support of our case.
According to SNAP’s president, Barbara Blaine, the goal of the complaint lodged before the Court at The Hague, is to “shock Vatican leaders into changing their politics” which consist in “concealment and cover-up” of abuse, and to stop them “expecting us to bring new cases like this to light.”
Blaine is convinced that “is Jesus were on thsi Earth today, he would take the victims’ side and would ask for the reforms we are asking for.” Even though the Church today “considers us its enemies, she added, one day it will realise we are in fact a gift.”
The reforms the association is asking for include the removal of bishops who have concealed abuses; the obligatory handover to judicial authorities, of all documentation that dioceses and the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have gathered over the decades on paedophile priests; and an end to the protection and hospitality offered to priests against whom credible accusations of sexual molestation have been made.
One of the cases presented to the International Criminal Court, is that of Megan Peterson, a 21 year old American girl who suffered abuse during the ‘90s, by Father Joseph Jeypaul, an Indian priest who returned to India and is still working with minors today, as he is responsible for the Catholic schools in his diocese. “I am hurt, Peterson said, at the thought that he could still be raping children today.”
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