UNDP Rep: Robinson made world leaders accountable

OUTGOING President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Arthur NR Robinson, was yesterday hailed as a “colossus” who through the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has ensured that world leaders will be accountable for their actions. This was the glowing tribute paid to Robinson by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Dr Inyang Ebong-Harstrup, when she addressed the launch of a series of commemorative stamps at the Crowne Plaza Hotel to honour Robinson and the inauguration of the ICC.

Dr Ebong-Harstrup observed that during Robinson’s 45 years of public service, he held the nation’s three highest public offices and was “one of the most experienced statesmen in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and the Commonwealth”. She declared: “Within the UN system, his Execellency President Robinson will always be recognised as the acknowledged visionary with his relentless endeavour and championing in the establishment of the ICC. Perhaps because of President Robinson’s collective history in the Caribbean borne out of slavery, injustice and a denial of human rights that he was able to see clearly the need to fight the long hard fight for the establishment of the ICC- now established in the Hague. It is with great pride that we see before us a man from a relatively small island who has walked like Colossus across the stage and put in place a mechanism which will hold all world leaders accountable for their deeds.” The UNDP Representative said Robinson’s persistence in ensuring that the ICC became a reality, more than justified his reputation as the “Comeback Kid From Castara”.

Ebong-Harstrup said for her it was  “a great honour as a historian to meet someone of his stature, who influenced and built upon the faltering steps of Nurenburg to lay in place mechanisms that will define and hold us all accountable in the 21st Century and beyond”. She added that as “a daughter of Africa and the Caribbean, I am very proud that one of our own has made such an outstanding contribution to world governance, world order and world civilisation.” Listing several post-World War Two attrocities Ebong-Harstrup said Robinson, through the creation of the ICC, had initiated a historic response to the “heinous reality” that is genocide.