Human dignity at crossroads: Navigating Eurocentrism in Sharia punishments in Prosecutor v. Al Hassan

In considering the charges brought against Al Hassan, the ICC has been forced to grapple with the question of Islamic criminal law. Following the reasoning of the Prosecution, Trial Chamber X considered Sharia punishments mandated by the Islamic court and implemented by the Islamic police to be evidence of the existence of an organisational policy to commit a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with the aim of denigrating and subjugating the community in Timbuktu. Trial Chamber X also accepted the Prosecutor’s conclusion that applying different forms of Sharia punishments amounted to the crime of torture. Such an expansive view of core international crimes has the potential to send an alienating message to Muslim communities around the world and particularly those countries that apply Sharia criminal law. This paper, using the Third World Approaches to International Law, provides alternative insight which could enrich the legal reasoning and potentially be an eye opener for future investigations and trials by providing an in-depth analysis of the philosophy of crime and punishment in Sharia law and argues for an alternative understanding and representation of Sharia law before the ICC.