HRI: International Criminal Court needs support

Human Rights Watch has said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) 110 member countries should use their annual meeting to strengthen international support for the court’s mission and independence.

The rights agency in a press release called on ICC members to use the annual meeting which will take place in The Hague for nine days beginning November 18, to speak out forcefully on the ICC’s crucial function and to encourage the court to strengthen its own public information activities.

“Increased international cooperation is essential to the success of the court and member countries should bolster these efforts by creating a permanent working group to address such issues as concluding witness relocation and sentence enforcement agreements,” said Human Rights Watch.

In a memorandum sent to governments last week, Human Rights Watch called attention to a number of other issues likely to be under discussion during the meeting.

These include the need to set a policy for court-paid family visits for indigent ICC detainees, make certain that two judges to be elected during the meeting are the most highly qualified candidates, and prepare to elect the next ICC prosecutor.

Human Rights Watch also reiterated the need for court officials to continue to make progress in building an effective, fair, and credible institution.

The agency also said that in reviewing the court’s annual budget at the upcoming meeting, member countries should ensure that the court has the resources it needs in The Hague and through its presence in countries where it is conducting investigations, as well as in key capitals including New York, and Addis Ababa.

The organisation said The ICC has made important progress this year, including the start of its first trial, but the court faces significant challenges.

These challenges includes outstanding arrest warrants in three of the four countries in which it has investigations and efforts to undermine the court by allies of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, who is being sought for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

“The ICC has made mistakes that need to be tackled,” said Elizabeth Evenson, counsel in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch.

Evenson reiterated, “But the ICC’s 110 member countries should step up their efforts to uphold its critical role as a court of last resort and to respond vigorously to the court’s unprincipled opponents.”

“Taking stock of the achievements and shortcomings of international justice at the review conference will help to identify and meet challenges in the years ahead,” Evenson said.

She added that increasing ICC activities and fulfilling higher expectations of justice mean that governments will need to continue to invest in the court.

The ICC prosecutor has opened investigations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic and is looking at number of other situations in Kenya, Colombia, Georgia, Cote d’'Ivoire, Afghanistan, Guinea, and Gaza.

Based on those investigations, 13 arrest warrants and one summons to appear have been issued.

The ICC is the world’s first permanent court mandated to bring to justice perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

The Rome Statute mandates that seven years after the treaty enters into force, the UN secretary-general is to convene a review conference to consider any amendments to the treaty.

At its seventh Assembly of States Parties, in 2008, ICC members agreed to hold the conference in Kampala, Uganda scheduled to begin on May 31, 2010.

Source: CISA