ABSTRACT
This introductory, background and methodological chapter positions self-writing as the right to write for those who have been denied justice, human rights and humanity itself, i.e. those in the Global South. The chapter addresses the importance of perspectives in international criminal justice and alleges that the point at which narratives are begun is key in determining the course of such narratives. Written from a decolonial perspective, the chapter places the narrative of international criminal justice as one inaugurated in 1492 when the Reconquista was concluded. Specifically, the world system is isolated as the sole organiser of international relations using various world orders. The chapter responds to the question: what is justice from an African perspective? The creation of overseas territories, epistemicides and genocides of the Reconquista created the world system that structures the world today. The main argument of the chapter is that the world system imported its Euro-North American-centric bifurcated conceptualisation, understanding and application of international criminal justice to the colonies. There was/is a different logic for the human, human rights and (in)justice at home (Euro-North American) and another set for ‘other’ in the colonies. This blueprint is the basis on which the ICC was conceptualised, initiated and operates.
