Intimacies

Katie Kitamura has loosely based the court featured in the story on the International Crimes Court. Kitamura says that she was first inspired with the idea for the novel in 2009 when she heard Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, testify in his defense at the ICC. Captivated by his egomaniacal methods of manipulating language to defend his heinous crimes, Kitamura found herself fascinated by the topic for years. In 2016, she visited the ICC to do further research and sat in on a trial of Laurent Gbagbo from the Ivory Coast. During the trial, her location in the court was on the same level as the interpreters, and Kitamura felt as though she were watching a play or a film. While she was immersed in the action, she simultaneously felt removed from it. Kitamura became fascinated by the interpreters' physically taxing and technically complex work. The interpretive nature of the job requires the interpreters to tolerate an uncomfortable level of intimacy with people who are accused of crimes against humanity. After meeting with an interpreter who shared his experience of developing a rapport with a political leader who was so accused, Kitamura finalized the idea for her story. At the end of the trial, the court acquitted the leader, and although the interpreter believed him to be guilty, he still felt a sense of relief that the leader was free. This feeling of relief deeply troubled the interpreter, who was concerned that he had lost his ethical center and feared that his job was altering his ability to judge right from wrong. This internal conflict became Kitamura’s inspiration for the novel, and the unnamed narrator of Intimacies also encounters similar moral quandaries (Young, Molly. “Katie Kitamura on Her New Book ‘Intimacies.’” Vulture, 12 July 2021).

The Hague, often known as the "International City of Peace and Justice," is a city with both historical and modern significance, acting as a center for international diplomacy and justice administration. The Hague in the Netherlands symbolizes global collaboration and hosts several international organizations and institutions. The Hague rose to worldwide prominence in the late 19th century when it hosted the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899. This conference was a watershed point in diplomatic history as nations came together to debate disarmament, arbitration, and conflict resolution through peaceful means. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an innovative institution designed to settle international conflicts without war, established The Hague's status as a city dedicated to peace.

The Hague is also home to the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 to prosecute persons for the most serious international crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. The ICC functions under the Rome Statute, a 1998 international treaty that took effect on July 1, 2002. The Rome Statute is a watershed moment in international law, outlining a framework for addressing and prosecuting the most serious international crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is intended to operate independently and impartially; it is not a member of the United Nations system but does work closely with the UN. However, not all UN member countries signed the Rome Statue, including the United States, so they cannot be tried in international court. The Court's judges and prosecutors act autonomously, ensuring that justice is served without political interference. The ethos of the court is transparency and accessibility, as reflected in its modern all-glass architecture, and all trial transcripts are available online in the public domain.

The concept of complementarity is one of the ICC's guiding principles and states that the Court acts as a last resort, intervening only when national legal systems are unable or unwilling to prosecute individuals for specified crimes. The ICC encourages national jurisdictions to assume the primary obligation for such prosecutions. The International Criminal Court emphasizes outreach activities to raise knowledge and understanding of its mission and procedures. Furthermore, the Court permits victims to participate in its proceedings, giving them a voice and a role in pursuing justice. The ICC has a worldwide scope beyond specific regional conflicts and can investigate and punish crimes committed anywhere worldwide if the applicable jurisdictional criteria are met. The ICC has experienced numerous obstacles and controversies, including criticism from some countries for perceived bias and claims of political intent. Furthermore, not all nations are signatories to the Rome Statute, which limits the ICC's authority in those areas (“The Court.” International Court of Justice).