The MONITOR · sue of The Monitor covers these important matters and others such as current ICC cases, ... Jelena Pia-Comella Program Director, New York

THIS YEAR HAS provided many compelling reasons to be hopeful for the future of international justice in 2012 and beyond. The wheels of justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC)—an institution so groundbreaking in its ambition that many believed it would never see the light of day—are fully in motion.

The ICC and the Rome Statute (RS) system have indisput-ably become major actors in international peace and se-curity affairs. Wherever widespread violence and crimes against humanity are occurring, the ICC is being invoked by governments, United Nations (UN) institutions and civil society. The Court is demonstrating its ability to be a potent force for both peace and justice around the world.

With the conclusion of its first trial, simultaneous court-room hearings, two new potential cases in Kenya, a sixth in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the first Dar-fur trial on the horizon as well as new investigations in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire, the ICC has never been so busy. One hundred and nineteen states have now joined the Court, reflecting a growing global consensus towards ending impunity through the RS system. Five new ICC states parties in 2011—the most in any given year since 2003—make reaching the goal of two-thirds of UN mem-ber states in the not too distant future ever-more likely.

Yet, the RS system finds itself at a critical juncture. The coming months will see a major changeover in those who will lead the ICC and Assembly of States Parties (ASP) over the next years, as well as crucial decisions to be made regarding the budget of the Court. It is imperative that the advances achieved in the last years are built upon. It is equally essential that those elected to lead the Court are provided with the political support and financial re-sources needed to effectively carry out their duties. In con-crete terms this means, for example, ensuring that affected communities understand the Court’s work or that victims are afforded meaningful participation in court proceed-ings that may impact upon their lives.

In a truly inspiring year when civil society and many states

have stood in solidarity with peoples across the Arab world in their efforts to bring about democratic change, the ASP in December 2011 represents a crucial opportu-nity for states to further demonstrate their commitment to justice by opposing a blinkered vision of “zero-growth” for the ICC and supporting the continued development of the Court in its fight against impunity for the gravest crimes.

A Busy and Crucial Year

The geographical spread of new ICC states parties in 2011—Tunisia, Grenada, the Philippines, Maldives and Cape Verde—is a telling reminder of the universal nature of the

ASP 2011: COALITION CALLS ON STATES TO SECURE ICC’S FUTURE By William R. Pace, Convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court

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MONITORJournal of the COALITION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

An outreach session with affected communities in Bossemptele (Central African Re-public) in September 2011 to raise awareness on the Bemba case, the Court’s third trial. With three ongoing trials, the first Darfur trial on the horizon, two new potential cases in Kenya, a sixth in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as new investigations in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire, the ICC’s caseload is growing. Credit: ICC-CPI

The Rome Statute system finds itself at a critical juncture. The coming months will see a major changeover in those who will lead the ICC and Assembly of States Parties over the next years, as well as crucial decisions to be made regarding the budget of the Court.

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NOTE FROM THE CONVENORTHIS 43RD ISSUE of The Monitor is published at a crucial time for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Rome Statute (RS) system. In December 2011, 119 states parties to the RS will meet at the United Nations headquarters in New York to make major governance decisions for this extraordinary system of justice: the elections of new ICC leadership (including the Assembly of States Parties [ASP] Presi-dent, a new chief prosecutor and six judges), the adoption of the Court’s budget, cooperation with the ICC, amongst many others. The Coali-tion will again participate in the ASP with a large delegation of global civil society representatives and will contribute to discussions through numerous side events and the submission of position papers. This is-sue of The Monitor covers these important matters and others such as current ICC cases, situations and preliminary examinations, as well as the Coalition’s worldwide campaign for the universality of the RS. As the Coalition commences plans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ICC in 2012, we also quietly pay tribute to the lives, the work and pass-ing of Coalition supporters who have made immeasurable contribu-tions to peace and international justice, such as judge Antonio Cassese and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.

William R. Pace, Convenor of the CICC

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MONITORJournal of the COALITION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTIssue 43: November 2011–April 2012Views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the CICC Secretariat, our members or our funders. Articles without a byline have been written by CICC Secretariat staff.

CICC STAFF LIST

William R. Pace Convenor, New York and The HagueJelena Pia-Comella Program Director, New YorkDevon Allison Executive Program Officer, New YorkAmielle Del Rosario Program Assistant, The HagueMeriam Manell Sassi Program Associate, New York

COMMUNICATIONS SECTIONOriane Maillet Head of Communications, The HagueAgustina Bidart Spanish Communications Officer, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaLinda Gueye Senior Communications Officer— Francophone Africa, New York Niall Matthews Communications Assistant, The HaguePeony Trinh Design Manager, New York Dan Verderosa Communications Fellow, New York Frédéric Viennot Website Developer, The Hague

DEVELOPMENT SECTIONGabrielle Mertz Director of Development, New York Laura Baber Development Officer, New YorkKrista Hahn Development Associate, New YorkDaniel Rees Senior Development Officer, New York

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION SECTIONRobert Giordano Finance Director Ama Adjare-Nimako Finance Associate and Office Coordinator, New YorkSpencer Lanning IT Consultant, TexasSamira Mohamed Accounting and Human Resources Associate, New YorkHugo Strikker Administration and Finance Officer, The Hague

LEGAL SECTIONSunil Pal Head of Legal Section, The Hague Matthew Cannock Legal Fellow, The Hague Tobias Hanson Legal Officer, New YorkAlix Vuillemin Grendel Legal Officer, The Hague

REGIONAL SECTIONBrigitte Suhr Director of Regional Programs, Los Angeles Tania Deigni Regional Program Assistant, New YorkAta Hindi Outreach Liaison for MENA/Europe, New YorkStephen Lamony Africa Outreach Liaison/Situations Advisor, New York Michelle Reyes Milk Outreach Liaison for Latin America, Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, New York

FIELD-BASED REGIONAL SECTIONAFRICAFrancis Dako Africa Coordinator, Cotonou, Benin Armel Luhiriri Byamungu Francophone Africa Situations Liaison, DRCASIA/PACIFICEvelyn Serrano Asia and Pacific Regional Coordinator, Manila, Philippines Mae Buenaventura Asia Program Officer, Manila, PhilippinesMarcelina Valderama Office Assistant, Manila, PhilippinesEUROPEVirginie Amato Europe Programme Officer, Brussels, Belgium Kirsten Meersschaert Duchens Europe Coordinator, Brussels, BelgiumAMERICASFrancesca Varda Regional Coordinator for the Americas, Lima, PeruMIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAAbeer Al-Khraisha MENA Regional Advisor, Cairo, EgyptAmal Nassar MENA Program Officer, Amman, Jordan

CICC STEERING COMMITTEEAdaleh Center for Human Rights Studies—Amman, Jordan • Amnesty International Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)—Bangkok, Thailand Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)—Lima, Peru • Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC)—Enugu, Nigeria • Comisión Andina de Juristas (Andean Commission of Jurists)—Lima, Peru • Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH) • Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association—Tbilisi, Georgia • Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINET-Uganda)—Kampala, Uganda • Human Rights Watch Justice Without Frontiers—Beirut, Lebanon • No Peace Without Justice • Parliamentarians for Global Action • The Redress Trust—London, United Kingdom • Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice • World Federalist Movement–Institute for Global Policy

ABOUT USThe Coalition for the International Criminal Court includes 2,500 civil society organizations in 150 different countries working in partnership to strengthen international cooperation with the ICC; ensure that the Court is fair, effective and independent; make justice both visible and universal; and advance stronger national laws that deliver justice to vic-tims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Monitor is the Coalition’s flagship publication. It is distributed worldwide in English, French and Spanish and is available online at www.coalitionfortheicc.org/?mod=monitor

The Coalition encourages readers to submit letters on any of the ar-ticles or issues contained within the issue of The Monitor. Please write to the address below or email [email protected]

c/o WFM-IGP, 708 3rd Ave, 24 flNew York, NY 10017 USAPhone: + 1 212-687-2863 Fax: +1 212-599-1332Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org

Bezuidenhoutseweg 99a, 2594 ACThe Hague, The NetherlandsPhone: +31-70-363-4484Fax: +31-70-364-0259Email: [email protected]

Together for Justice: Civil society in 150 countries advocating for a fair, effective and independent ICC.

THE MONITOR NO. 43 / NOVEMBER 2011 - APRIL 2012

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This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union, as well as other donors. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and should in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union, Irish Aid or any other donor.

CoverAssembly of States Parties 2011: Coalition Calls on States to Secure ICC’s Future

4ICC/ASPIssues at stake in the run-up to the tenth ASP

and beyond

9 Cases and SituationsUpdates on some of the ongoing ICC cases

and situations

12 UN-ICC An overview of recent ICC-related developments at

the UN

13 RegionalCoalition advocacy and developments in Africa,

the Americas, Asia, Europe and MENA

20 International Justice DayAn overview of Coalition celebrations and

activities around 17 July 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

GLOBAL PARTNERSTHE COALITION WORKS in partnership with many individuals and institutions from around the globe in its mission of advancing international justice. One of these partners is Dr. Karl Fossum of New York, who has supported the work of the Coali-tion and other civil society efforts around the world for many years. Dr. Fossum first became involved with global issues at the age of 17, when he joined En Verden, a Norwe-gian organization engaged with peace and international law. As a longtime supporter of WFM-Institute for Global Policy, a founding Steering Committee member of the Coalition, his commitment to core international causes has continued. “I have long been impressed with the work of the Coalition and Bill Pace,” said Dr. Fossum. “The International Criminal Court is so important, it has become central to the peace and justice movement and the Coalition is at the forefront of this movement and is tackling the most pressing issues.”

The Coalition is deeply appreciative of the generous support provided by all of its many partners and donors from around the world. In addition to individual supporters like Dr. Fossum, major funding has been provided by the European Union, the Ford Foundation, Humanity United, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open So-ciety Institute and the Sigrid Rausing Trust, as well as by the governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Support from individuals, founda-tions, governments and other institutions is essential to the Coalition’s efforts to end impunity. If you would like more information about how you can support the Coalition, please visit www.coalitionfortheicc.org or contact us at +1.646.465.8527 by phone or at [email protected].

COALITION MEMBERSHIP DRIVE IN AN EFFORT to include an ever-more diverse group of civil society organizations, particularly in underrepresented regions, the Coalition has launched a global membership drive for 2011-2013. Begun in September 2011 with the Mid-dle East and North Africa (MENA), where civil society has played a crucial role in the fight for democracy, justice and accountability, the drive will target each region—Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Americas and the Carib-bean—for one semester over the next two years.

As part of the drive, the Coalition has been contacting its members to request them to identify and recommend poten-tial new Coalition members from among their civil society partners. In addition, the Coalition has reached out directly to organizations whose work in human rights, rule of law, justice, gender and democracy could make them interested in Coali-tion membership.

The Coalition looks forward to expanding its current mem-bership base of over 2,500 NGOs and working with an in-creasingly broad and diverse group of partners in the fu-ture. For more information on the drive or on becoming a member, please contact [email protected].


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ideals enshrined in the RS. That one of the first acts of the interim Tunisian government was to ratify the RS, along with a number of other hu-man rights treaties, illustrates the ever-present desire of all peoples to live in a world in which they have unhampered access to justice and the rule of law. Encouragingly, the implemen-tation of ICC legislation at the national level—a crucial element of the RS system—has also ad-vanced in the past year.

In parallel, the Court’s unique ability to fill the gaps where impunity prevails means that it continues to be asked to do more and more. The past year has witnessed the opening of two new investigations and an increasing number of courtroom hearings. A unanimous vote of the UN Security Council referring the situ-ation in Libya to the Court in February 2011 resulted in the issuance of arrest warrants for key figures in the former Libyan government. In October 2011, ICC judges authorized the opening of an investigation in Côte d’Ivoire, a state that is not party to RS, but whose lead-ers have acknowledged the Court’s jurisdic-tion through a special declaration foreseen in the RS. In September 2011, key hearings took place to decide whether to send to trial two cases against six high profile suspects for their alleged roles in crimes against humanity com-mitted during the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya. Similar hearings to decide whether the case against Callixte Mbarushi-mana—a Rwandan rebel leader active in the DRC—should move to trial offered a glimmer of hope to the thousands of lives shattered by years of unimaginable violence in the DRC’s Kivu provinces.

In August 2011, the closing statements in the Court’s first trial—that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo—were delivered. Judgment is expected soon, but with a possible appeal and/or the opening of reparations proceedings, much work remains to be done. Delays in the Luban-ga proceedings frustrated all participants, not least the victims involved, but much of the work to iron out the difficulties encountered during the course of this trial will undoubtedly serve to improve the expediency of those to follow. The case has done much to highlight the barbar-ity of the crime of using children as soldiers in

armed conflict and the importance of victims’ participation in an international criminal trial.

Turning Point in ICC Leadership

In this context, the December 2011 ICC elections—for six new judges, a new chief prosecutor, an ASP president and vice-pres-ident, and six members of the ASP’s Com-mittee on Budget and Finance—represent a valuable opportunity for states parties to ensure that the Court’s future direction is securely in the hands of highly qualified individuals who will impartially contribute to the ICC’s standing as a permanent and respected international judicial institution over the next years.

The Coalition’s Campaign on ICC Elections, launched in December 2010, has sought to promote the nomination and election of the most highly qualified officials through fair, merit-based and transparent processes; uphold the RS principles of a fair, effective and independent ICC representing all of the world’s regions and major legal systems; and maintain equitable gender representa-tion. To these ends, nominees for the judi-cial elections completed questionnaires on their backgrounds and qualifications, and met with the Coalition to further discuss their suitability as ICC judges. Meanwhile, in November 2011, eminent jurists sitting on the Independent Panel on ICC Judicial Elections—established by the Coalition to provide independent and objective assess-ments of judicial candidates—published a report on whether each candidate fulfilled the qualifications prescribed by Article 36 of the RS. The views of the Panel and its assessments of the judicial candidates are its own and do not reflect those of the Co-alition. The establishment of the Panel has been widely praised by governments and ICC leaders and it is nearly certain that the ASP will adopt a resolution activating an ad-visory committee on nominations.

Also as part of the campaign, the Coalition has been actively monitoring the Search Committee process for the next ICC prosecu-tor. The report of the Committee was issued in late October 2011. All four individuals

commended to the ASP have extensive pros-ecutorial experience in international crimi-nal tribunals during the last 15 years. The Coalition successfully advocated for greater transparency and reporting by the Commit-tee—including on gender and regional statis-tics— as well as encouraging the identifica-tion of potential candidates from all regions. The Coalition also hosted interviews with the four candidates in New York. In addition to the ASP and ICC, observers are already pre-dicting that both initiatives will have im pacts in other treaty organizations.

A Call for Renewed States’ Support

But as the ICC and its caseload continue to grow, and as an increasing number of states join its array, the strong and unwavering sup-port of the international community is essen-tial to ensure that the Court is able to over-come future challenges. As ever, cooperation with the ICC is the solemn responsibility of all states parties, as well as all regional and inter-national organizations. And more than ever, the Court needs states to arrest ICC suspects, to help trace and freeze their assets and to sign witnesses and victims relocation agreements as well as agreements on the enforcement of sentences or interim release. States should seize the opportunity at this ASP session to reiterate their engagement to cooperate in all aspects of the Court’s work and to establish much-needed ASP mechanisms to respond to non-cooperation with the Court.

One of the greatest dangers could be collat-eral damage from the global financial crisis. The best way to achieve cost-savings is for the ASP and ICC to undertake a major effort to reform procedures and regulations, and achieve efficiencies that would make ICC processes shorter, fairer and much more ef-fective. It is, however, crucial that states grant the Court the funding it requires for 2012. The ICC requested states parties to increase its budget by €14.12 million in 2012 in antici-pation of the heightened responsibilities de-scribed above. The budget adopted by states in December 2011 must allow the Court to continue to deliver justice to victims as pre-scribed by the RS and to develop its ability to respond to situations of impunity as they

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arise. This is a key moment in the Court’s development. In the context of the billions spent on military campaigns and the wind-

ing down of several ad-hoc tribunals, states must have the resolve to take the “long-view” of international justice and the ICC, a per-

manent institution of their own creation. In-vesting in justice today means savings tomor-row—both in finances and in lives.

MR. PROSECUTOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE…

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On 2 November 2011, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo held a press conference following his briefing to the UN Security Council on the Court’s investigation in Libya. His nine-year term as the first ICC prosecutor will come to an end in June 2012. Credit: UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

IN JUNE 2012, the nine-year term of office of the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will come to an end. His successor will take on the tough task of overseeing investigations in seven situations, including Ugan-da, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), Darfur (Sudan), Kenya, Libya and Côte D’Ivoire. In addition, the new prosecutor will also take over responsibility for preliminary examinations of eight situations on four continents: Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, the Republic of Ko-rea, Nigeria and Palestine. The caseload of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is also expanding. There were three trials ongoing simultaneously in 2011, while the first trial in the Darfur situation is expected to begin in 2012. Two cases in the Kenya situation and one from the DRC could also move to trial in the near future. With much work still to be done before the end of his term, as well as the necessity for as smooth a transition as possible to his successor, six members of the Coalition for the ICC make recommen-dations to the prosecutor on what he should achieve before leaving office.

As the ICC’s first prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has made important progress in kick-starting the Court’s work. The ICC has a significant workload, but key crimes and perpetrators have at times been bypassed in the ICC’s first investigations, leaving gaps in its delivery of justice. As his term comes to an end, the prosecutor should take stock and put plans in place to fill these gaps, including through recommendations to his succes-sor. In addition, the prosecutor should further his policy of using the preliminary examination period as an opportunity to catalyze domestic tri-als. This is an important policy, but the absence of regular reporting has weakened the ICC’s hand with national authorities. The prosecutor should draw lessons learned to strengthen this policy and issue progress reports on all situations under preliminary examination before leaving office.

—Elizabeth Evenson, senior counsel, international justice program, Human Rights Watch (HRW)

We have followed with particular interest OTP policies and activities on situations under preliminary examination. It is our recommendation that the prosecutor make public his conclusions on these preliminary examinations before leaving office. In 2006, the OTP issued reports con-cluding that the conditions to open investigations under Article 53 (1) of the Rome Statute (RS) had not been met in either Iraq or Venezuela. However, the OTP has not made public its analysis and conclusions on any other situations under preliminary examination. That some of these have lasted for as long as six (Afghanistan) or eight years (Colombia) is of serious concern for victims of serious crimes who do not have access to legal remedy in their home countries. We also believe that the judges of the ICC pre-trial division should be presented with reports on the OTP’s preliminary examinations so that they can make judicial determinations on the situations in accordance with the RS, ever mindful of the rights of victims to have justice delivered within a reasonable timeframe. Such a course of action would also give victims the opportunity to participate in impartial proceedings.

—Mariana Pena, permanent representative to the ICC, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

More than three years have passed since the opening of a preliminary examination by the OTP into the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia in August 2008. Evidence from a wide range of sources indicates that grave crimes occurred during the conflict, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. The OTP has stated that it is currently monitoring national investigations into these crimes in both Georgia and Russia. However, these national investigations have now been ongoing for three years without conclusion. GYLA recommends that the OTP, before the current prosecutor leaves office, publish its findings on the information received from the Georgian and Russian authorities, as we believe that they will lead to the opening of a full investigation by the ICC into the alleged crimes committed during the conflict in 2008.

—Tamar Chugoshvili, chairwoman, Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)


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MR. PROSECUTOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE… (continued from page 5)

In Colombia the right to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity is not guaranteed effectively. Six years after being enacted, the so-called “peace and justice” law has not led to the prosecution of those most responsible for crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC. In addi-tion, the decision of the Colombian government to extradite 16 high-level paramilitaries to the United States on drug-trafficking charges has removed them from the grasp of both the Colombian courts and the ICC. It is clear that the state is neither willing nor able to render justice for ICC crimes at the national level. For this reason, many human rights organizations are asking the prosecutor to ensure the commencement of a formal ICC investigation in Colombia in his final months.

—Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ)

We would like to see the ICC prosecutor, before the end of his term, open investigations into all those who orchestrated the commission of grave crimes in the Central African Republic (CAR) over the past number of years. While the opening of the trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo in November 2010 was a welcome development, it has not gone far enough in addressing prevailing impunity in CAR. Human rights NGOs in CAR have longed called for senior officials in the Patassé government, as well the leaders of the rebel groups Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP), to be brought to justice. Finally, it is difficult for victims to understand the slow pace of proceedings in the Bemba trial. Some victims have already passed away without seeing justice done, while those remaining urge the Court to bring this case to a conclusion as expeditiously as possible.

—Lucille Mzangue and Bruno Gbiegba, Central African Republic Coalition for the ICC (CCPI-RCA)

What do NGOs want from the ICC prosecutor before leaving office? An Apology.1 To: Girl Soldiers; Women in eastern DRC; Victims; Trial Chamber I; Women in Kenya (Kisumu, Kibera, Naivasha); Men of Luo ethnicity; Victims of the Uganda Peoples Defence Force; Victims of the Haskanita attack; The ICC judiciary; Staff of the OTP (past and present); Feminists; States Parties; Journalists; The cinema-going public; Information providers under Article 54 (3)(e); The concept of the presumption of innocence; The global legal community; Academia; The con-cept of impartiality; Staff of the ICC; Drafters of the Rome Statute; Article 42(3); The public; The principle of safety in the workplace; Women’s human rights organisations; The principle of good governance and accountability; the next Chief Prosecutor.

—Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice

1 For information and analysis about the issues referred to above, please see the following publications for further details: Gender Report Card on the International Criminal Court 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (to be published December 2011), Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; Legal Eye on the ICC, 2009-2011, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; Women’s Voices, 2009-2011, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; Making a Statement, Second Edition, February 2010, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; Legal Filings by the Women’s Initia-tives for Gender Justice to the International Criminal Court, 2010, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; Eye on the ICC, 2007-2008, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice.

Note: opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Coalition as a whole.

ICC JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: AN OVERVIEW OF NOMINATIONS

A TOTAL OF 19 nominees were put for-ward by states parties to the Rome Statute (RS) for the December 2011 elections of six new judges to the International Criminal Court (ICC). These judicial positions are pivotal to the Court’s future direction and standing as a respected and credible inter-national judicial institution. The Coalition, as part of its global Campaign on ICC Elec-tions—which called on states to ensure a fair, transparent and merit-based election process—actively promoted the nomina-tions of the most highly qualified candidates to reflect fair gender and geographical rep-

resentation, as well as representation of the world’s principal legal systems.

The RS’s unique system of Minimum Voting Requirements (MVRs), established to pro-mote diversity and representation among ICC judges in order to ensure objectivity and balance in the Court’s decisions, impacted the 2011 judicial elections’ nomination pro-cess. The nomination period had to be ex-tended to allow the Latin American and Ca-ribbean states to nominate four candidates to fulfill the MVR of two judicial positions from that region.

Upon the closing of the nomination period, eight judicial candidates had been nominated from the African Group, two from the Asian Group, two from the Eastern European Group, five from Latin America and the Caribbean Group (GRULAC) and two from Western Eu-ropean Group and Others Group (WEOG). Sixteen of the candidates were nominated under list A (competence in criminal law and procedure) and three under list B (competence in relevant areas of international law).

Meanwhile, there was an MVR for two male candidates to ensure an equitable gender rep-resentation on the ICC bench. However, dis-

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THE COST OF TRYING TO DELIVER INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE ON A SHOE-STRING By Jonathan O’Donohue, legal adviser for Amnesty International’s

International Justice Project and team leader of the Coalition’s Budget and Finance Team

IN THE LAST decade, the new In-ternational Criminal Court (ICC) has weathered attacks from its opponents and emerged as an established part of the international system. However, a new and more serious threat is emerging that could permanently undermine the Court’s effectiveness. Disturbingly, the ICC’s strongest supporters are unwilling to fully fund its work.

Tensions have been building for some years as a group of the highest paying states have sought to limit the Court’s budget to around the €100 million mark. Their demands do not take into account the fact that the Court has not yet reached its full case load and that ICC activities have expanded to new situations such as Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Libya.

The ICC’s request of an additional €14 million for 2012, primarily for the new Libya situation and costs for legal aid—i.e. funding for defense and victims’ legal representation before the Court—arose from a projected increase in judicial ac-tivities and caused a major backlash be-hind the scenes in The Hague that will

play out in the lead up to the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in December 2011.

The risk of arbitrary cuts to the ICC bud-get or, worse still, the prospect of resort-ing to funding core functions through voluntary contributions threatens to set back the work of the Court and frustrate justice for victims.

Demands for “zero-growth” by these governments defy logic and are ex-tremely hypocritical, considering that a number of them were also members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that referred the Libya situation to the ICC in February 2011.

Indeed, €117 million to fund a permanent international criminal court currently dealing with seven situations worldwide appears rather reasonable when one con-siders that in 2011 more than US$560 million was invested in the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yu-goslavia and Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Regrettably, the ICC’s far from convinc-ing role in the budgetary process con-tributes to the erroneous perception that it is “flush with cash,” and that its bud-getary requests are inflated. Ironically, rather than being over-budgeted, the ICC has been severely under-budgeted in some areas in recent years. In hold-ing back from requesting the resources it needs, the Court has repeatedly failed to deliver clearly justified budgetary pro-posals and has consequently underper-formed on some aspects of its work.

In particular, decisions by the ICC’s leadership to absorb new costs without credible explanation have perpetuated states’ theories of over-budgeting. For example, in response to the opening of a new situation in Kenya in 2010, the ICC announced that it would absorb all the

Jonathan O’Donahue delivers Amnesty International’s statement during the General Debate of the 2010 As-sembly of States Parties. Credit: Peter de Groot/CICC

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The failure of the Registry to obtain missing de-tails to process over 1,500 victim applications for the two Kenya cases, to process 470 victim appli-cations in time for the Mbarushimana hearing or those of 27 victims in time for the closing hearings of the Lubanga trial is a clear illustration of the impact of under-resourcing at the ICC. Victims are finally coming forward to engage with the Court, but the Court is not ready or capable to deal with them. If not granted necessary resources, victim participation may become an empty promise

—Carla Ferstman, REDRESS

ICC JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: AN OVERVIEW OF NOMINATIONS

appointment was expressed at the low number of female candidates nomi-nated for these elections, with only two put forward by the Dominican Repub-lic and the Philippines.

“It is surprising only two women were nominated and it remains unclear why so few women were amongst the can-

didates,” noted Brigid Inder, executive director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. “It appears some states did not want to mobilize for an elec-tion this time around due to interests in other United Nations posts even though they had highly experienced women judges interested in running in 2011.”

On 26 October 2011, the Independent Panel on ICC Judicial Elections issued a report on the 19 candidates for judicial elections. The Panel was established by the Coalition to help fulfill the need in the elections process for a fair, independent assessment of whether each nominee fulfills the qualifications prescribed by the RS. The views of the Panel and its assessments of the judicial candidates are its own and do not reflect those of the Coalition.


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costs of the situation (bar €500,000 for wit-ness protection) within its existing resources. Similarly, for the 2012 budget, the Office of the Prosecutor requested €7.2 million to in-vestigate the Libya situation but then indi-cated that if an investigation in Côte D’Ivoire were to be approved, it was planning to ab-sorb any additional costs that may arise.

The ICC’s approach, coupled with the readi-ness of the ASP to cut the Court’s budget re-quest without any real basis, is already having a negative impact. For example, earlier this year at least 470 victims were denied the op-portunity to participate in the confirmation of charges hearing against Callixte Mbarushi-mana because the ICC Victims Participation and Reparation Section (VPRS) could not pro-cess their applications in time. Despite having to facilitate victims’ rights to participate in multiple new situations in recent years, the proposed ICC budget has made no allowance for any VPRS staff increases since 2006. There are genuine fears that the current underfund-ing will bring about even more damaging con-sequences in some areas in 2012.

In September, the ASP’s Committee on Bud-get and Finance (CBF) aptly commented that “the Court is reaching the point where expec-tations on the type and level of activity and

on the level of resources may be diverging.” If this is true, then the vision of the ICC that captured the imagination of the world during and following the Rome Conference in 1998 will never be achieved.

A number of the solutions put forward by the CBF, including resorting to voluntary contri-butions and relying on others to do the ICC’s core work, will only lead to further problems.

Another option being explored, which insists that the UN member states (including non-states parties) share the costs of situations the UNSC refers to the ICC, requires consider-able scrutiny. One hundred and nineteen of the 193 UN member states currently contrib-ute to the ICC budget. The direct or indirect involvement of non-states parties in the ICC budget process could have further potential negative consequences for its work in such situations. Furthermore, such an outcome could preclude the UNSC from making fu-ture referrals to the Court. It is imperative that states parties address all aspects of pro-spective UNSC funding, pitfalls and benefits, before taking any further decisions.

An effective solution must be found that re-stores states parties’ confidence and commit-ment in funding the ICC. A solution which

guarantees the institution’s long-term effi-ciency rather than its low cost.

The Court will undoubtedly grow further in coming years in response to the many situa-tions where impunity still exists for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and it needs to be able to effectively conduct its cases. States pushing for zero-growth have to realize that they will not get the ICC that any of us want by arbitrarily limiting its re-sources or outsourcing its core functions. Similarly, the ICC has to realize that it is damaging its credibility and undermining its mandate by failing to present a convinc-ing budget that both requests the resources it requires and demonstrates its efficiency.

International justice cannot be delivered on a shoe-string.

THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL AND THE ICC: AN AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIPTHE MOMENTOUS SOCIAL and political developments in many parts of the Arab world in 2011 have brought into sharp focus the ambiguity of the relationship between the UNSC and the ICC. The two are, of course, distinctly separate bodies, but the selective use by the UNSC of one of the “trigger-mechanisms” in the Rome Statute—allowing it to refer a situation to the ICC—is testing perceptions of the independence and legitimacy of the Court like never before.

The unanimous adoption of UNSC Resolution 1970 (2011) on Libya can be seen as a prime example of the international community under-taking its responsibility to protect civilians in a situation of armed conflict. The resolution also referred the Libyan situation to the ICC—only the second time the UNSC has referred a situation (the referral in 2005 of Darfur, Sudan being the first)—thereby demonstrating a commitment to seeing perpetrators of grave crimes brought to justice.

However, the failure of the UNSC to refer other situations of ongoing conflict where many equally or worse violent crimes may be occur-ring—for example in Palestine, Sri Lanka, Burma, Syria, Yemen or Bahrain—brings to the fore the central contradictions of the UNSC’s role vis-a-vis the ICC: that its power to refer situations can be a potent tool in favor of justice, but that its political nature allows arguments of selectivity to resonate widely. The ICC, while not involved in the UNSC decisions to refer or not to refer, nonetheless bears the brunt of the inconsistency.

States and the UNSC should clearly communicate to affected communities and the public at large the reasons why one situation is referred by the UNSC to the ICC and not another; not doing so puts the longer-term perceptions of the legitimacy of the Court at stake.

THE COST OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE (continued from page 7)

Outreach is vital in addressing negative perceptions and misconceptions of the ICC and its work among victims and affected communities. Any reduction in outreach activities means reducing the Court’s ability to provide up-to-date and impartial information to those who need it most.

—Joyce Apio, Uganda Coalition for the ICC


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UGANDA: REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRST ICC SITUATION SEVEN YEARS ON

IN 2004, the first investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was opened in Northern Uganda and its first arrest warrants were subsequently issued for five leaders of the Lord’s Re-sistance Army (LRA) rebel group for the alleged commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Three of the five—Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen—remain at large. Meanwhile, proceedings against Raska Lukwiya were terminated following his death and Vincent Otti is also believed to be deceased. The numbers speak for themselves: zero arrests, trials or con-victions seven years on.

In December 2003, the referral of the sit-uation in Northern Uganda to the Court by its government—unable to deal with the LRA problem on its own—prompt-ed great hopes for a concerted effort to bring an end to the decades of violence and impunity in the region. However, the lack of arrests has led many to ques-tion the Court’s ability to deliver justice to the victims of grave crimes in North-ern Uganda. The ICC prosecutor’s case selection has also drawn criticism, with no prosecutions initiated for the actions of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces. Maintaining a dialogue with affected communities on their expectations therefore remains a key challenge for the Court through its outreach team—a team which may even be downsized in 2012 due to ICC budgetary constraints.

With no police force of its own, the ICC relies on states to enforce its ar-rest warrants. The LRA moved its base of operations to remote border areas of neighboring countries such as the Cen-tral African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, enabling ICC suspects to evade capture and the LRA to continue to commit atrocities. Such has been the difficulty in combating the LRA that a regional plan to improve military coordination has been adopted among states affected

by its violence. In 2009, and more re-cently in October 2011, the United States government provided logistical and military sup-port to these re-gional forces.

In parallel, the Ugandan govern-ment has attempt-ed to deal with in-ternational crimes through prosecu-tions at the na-tional level. In this respect, the Inter-national Crimes Division (ICD) of the Ugandan High Court was established in June 2010. With jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, it was envisaged that the ICD would take the lead in comple-menting the ICC’s work in the country. “The ICD is an important step forward for thousands of victims in Northern Uganda as the government is taking ac-tion to try international crimes domes-tically, in line with the Rome Statute principle of complementarity which highlights the primary responsibility of states to try perpetrators of crimes contained in the Statute,” said director of LIRA NGO forum in Uganda, Dan Okello, at the time of the opening of the ICD’s first trial against LRA com-mander Col. Thomas Kwoyelo for al-leged crimes against humanity.

However, on 22 September 2011, the country’s Constitutional Court halted the Kwoyelo trial and held that the de-fendant was entitled to be considered for amnesty for any crimes he may have committed during the Uganda conflict—a decision that brought the vi-ability of the ICD and its ability to bring about an end to impunity in the country into question.

“The Ugandan government should re-voke any amnesty applicable to crimes under international law and not impose amnesties, immunities, statutes of limi-tations and pardons for crimes under in-ternational law,” urged Amnesty Inter-national in a statement released shortly after the decision. “The government should ensure prompt and effective in-vestigation and prosecution of all of the crimes before competent, impartial and independent courts in fair trials [...] and establish effective reparation pro-grammes designed in consultation with victims and civil society.”

Despite the Kwoyelo case’s outcome, some remain hopeful of Uganda’s ability to prosecute grave crimes at the national level. “Much work has gone into estab-lishing a domestic framework for end-ing impunity for international crimes,” said Joyce Freda-Apio, coordinator of the Ugandan Coalition for the ICC. “The de-cision of the Constitutional Court to rule in favor of the defendant in the Kwoyelo case partly stemmed from the failure to make use—in advance of the ICD pro-ceedings—of the article in the Amnesty Act stipulating that the minister of in-ternal affairs can render certain persons ineligible for amnesty. Future cases at the ICD may be able to avoid this unfortu-nate situation arising again.”

In fear of abduction by the LRA, tens of thousands of children flee their villages to town centers to seek safety during the night in Northern Uganda. Credit: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN


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HISTORIC FIRST ICC TRIAL DRAWS TO A CLOSE: CHILD SOLDIER ISSUES REMAIN A CHALLENGE By Bukeni Waruzi, program manager for Africa and the Middle East

at WITNESS and former director and founder of AJEDI-Ka/Projet Enfants Soldats

IN THE DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC)—its eastern region in par-ticular—many children have been recruit-ed and used as child soldiers by all parties in the armed conflicts that have ravaged the country since 1996. These children were first seen as heroes for spilling their blood in bringing Laurent Desire Kabila to power in Kinshasa in 1997, and then as criminals for having been forced to commit crimes that for the most part left them—as well as their communities—se-verely traumatized. Today, many of these

children are considered victims under the Rome Statute of the ICC and the law on the protec-tion of children adopted by the DRC in January 2009.

The gravity of the destruction entailed in the recruitment and use of child soldiers lies not only in the loss of the joys of childhood and education to guns and violence, but also in the permanent stigmatisation and the reduction of the human value of the child, which will undoubtedly continue to affect the offspring of these former child soldiers. No reparation of

any kind can change this.

Reintegration of child soldiers in the DRC, even with financial support, can-not be effective while infrastructural and developmental problems persist in host communities. The issue of reinte-gration should therefore encourage the DRC government to include child sol-diers in its longer-term national devel-opment policies, rather than simply ad-dressing the issue within the framework

of aid projects for the most vulnerable (as exemplified by the failure of several projects carried out by large financial in-stitutions, such as the World Bank).

Child soldiers are present in many con-flict and post-conflict countries. Both girls and boys are constantly used by the parties involved. Some of these same countries are even states parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC). While the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo before the ICC has highlighted the gravity of the recruitment and use of child soldiers and the importance of holding the perpetrators of such crimes to account, states must do their part in ensuring that their national legislation is sufficiently robust on issues of child protection and that the issue of reinte-gration is included in their national de-velopment policies.

The ICC, while pursuing its goal of pre-venting and punishing grave crimes, should establish a new message in af-fected communities throughout the DRC: child soldiers are neither heroes nor criminals, nor are they just victims. They are survivors.

A group of unemployed, homeless ex-child soldiers, in a village outside of Gbadolite, DRC. Many have wives and children and are expected to provide for their family with no regular means of in-come—often picking up odd jobs around town or walking to the fields to help out local farmers. Credit: Warchild UK/Flickr

THE CASE AGAINST THOMAS LUBANGA DYILOTHE HISTORIC FIRST ICC trial against Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo has entered its final stages following the hearing of closing statements on 25 and 26 August 2011. The ICC’s Trial Chamber I will deliberate on the applicable law and on evidence submit-ted during the trial, and is expected to pronounce its decision by the end of 2011.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a national of the DRC, is accused of having committed war crimes, including enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 years into the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo, and using them to participate actively in hostilities in Ituri, a district of the eastern province of the DRC, between September 2002 and August 2003. Lubanga was the first person charged in the DRC situation as well as the Court’s first detainee. He was surrendered and transferred to the Court on 17 March 2006; the trial started on 26 January 2009.

The trial has highlighted the gravity of using child soldiers and has helped to bring the issue into international focus. During the proceed-ings, 10 former child soldiers testified, as did a number of expert witnesses.

The Lubanga trial is also noteworthy as the first instance of victim participation in an international criminal trial, with a total of 123 vic-tims authorized by judges to participate. If Lubanga is convicted of the charges, reparations to victims for harms suffered may be ordered by the ICC judges, which would be a groundbreaking first in international criminal jurisdictions.


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SEEKING JUSTICE IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE By Drissa Traore, first vice-president of the Ivorian

Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CI-CPI)

ON 3 OCTOBER 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) granted autho-rization to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against human-ity allegedly committed in Côte d’Ivoire (CDI) following the presidential elec-tion of 28 November 2010. While this has been a welcome and long-awaited development in the fight against im-punity in CDI, the decision by the ICC prosecutor to restrict the investigation’s time-frame to one that covers crimes committed only on or after 28 Novem-ber 2010 has created a situation whereby the Court could be perceived to be ap-plying selective justice. Although not a state party to the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over events in CDI from 19 September 2002 onwards, owing to a special declaration made by its leaders in 2003. For Ivorian civil society orga-nizations (in particular those engaged in ensuring that the ICC is credible, inde-pendent and contributes to an effective fight against impunity), it is crucial that the ICC prosecutor investigate the entire period of crisis in CDI.

It is well known that violent conflict

has been ever-present in CDI from Sep-tember 2002 through May 2011. Grave crimes—documented by many indepen-dent observers—under the jurisdiction of the ICC have been committed by all sides of the conflict in CDI. Examples include the mass grave of Monoko-Zohi allegedly created by pro-Gbagbo forces in December 2002 and the massacres of Duékoué allegedly committed by pro-Ouattara forces in March 2011.

Prolonged conflict has torn apart the very fabric of society in CDI, and the ICC has in fact come to be seen as a key element in the reestablishment of the rule of law in the country. The crisis was marked in particular by the weak-ening of the national justice system. The impartiality and independence of the judiciary was severely undermined, and with it, its ability to address crimes committed during the civil war as well as those connected to both sides of the disputed elections. Meanwhile, most police officers and magistrates left the north, an area formerly controlled by the New Forces (former rebels), to seek refuge in the southern region of the country. There is consequently an urgent

need for a rapid redeployment of new of-ficials in affected areas of the country in order to rebuild the justice system there. There is also a fear that senior officials in the administration—army, police and gendarmerie considered big fish—could escape from national justice for various reasons, including by benefiting from immunity or by the possible influence that they could have on the process of restoring peace.

In their decision authorizing the open-ing of an investigation in CDI from 28 November 2010, the judges of PTC III also ordered that the prosecutor submit any additional information available to him on potentially relevant crimes com-mitted between 2002 and 2010, creating

a window of opportunity that may al-low the ICC to win over those who now doubt its impartiality.

Ivorian civil society therefore urges the ICC pre-trial chamber to use the infor-mation provided by the prosecutor to extend the timeframe of the investiga-tion. Should this transpire, civil society calls on the prosecutor to investigate and prosecute all those most those responsi-ble for bringing death and destruction to CDI from 2002 onwards, and bring jus-tice to the far too many victims of this conflict. The ruptures between the pro-Ouattara supporters and pro-Gbagbo supporters cannot heal if justice is seen as serving one side or the other.

People at a bus station in Abidjan’s Adjamé District, looking to flee the post-election violence. Credit: Alexis Adélé/IRIN

Prolonged conflict has torn apart the very fabric of society in Côte d’Ivoire, and the ICC has in fact come to be seen as a key element in the reestablishment of the rule of law in the country.


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UNICC

SINCE THE UNITED Nations Secu-rity Council (UNSC) referral of Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in February 2011, the Court’s work has continued to remain high on the agenda of many at the UN headquarters in New York. In addition to the yearly United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the ICC, issues relating to the Court have arisen in various fora, in-cluding in the deliberations of the UNSC on the cases of Syria and Palestine.

ICC Annual Report

On 26 October 2011, ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song presented the Court’s

seventh annual report to the UNGA. Presi-dent Song highlighted key ICC activities and other developments of relevance to UN/ICC relations. He also stressed the impor-tance of close ICC en-gagement with states, the UN and regional and intergovernmen-tal organizations to enhance international cooperation in the fight against impunity, particularly in the ex-

ecution of the Court’s 11 outstanding ar-rest warrants.

66th UNGA

The ICC and the fight against impunity again featured extensively in the 196 ad-dresses made during the General Debate of the 66th UNGA held from 21-27 Sep-tember 2011 on “the role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peace-ful means.” The UNGA, spearheaded by the Netherlands, adopted its yearly resolution on the ICC. The resolution welcomed the report of ICC President Song and called upon all states that have

not yet ratified the Rome Statute to con-sider doing so. The resolution also called upon states to provide cooperation and assistance to the Court in the arrest and surrender of ICC suspects.

Libya

On 4 May and 2 November 2011, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo re-ported to the UNSC on progress made in his investigation regarding the situation in Libya, which he opened on 3 March 2011 following a preliminary examina-tion of available information. This came after UNSC Resolution 1970 (2011), ad-opted on 26 February 2011, referred the situation to his office. As the situation continued to develop on the ground, ICC supporters within the UNSC worked be-hind the scenes to ensure that subsequent resolutions passed on the situation con-tinued to recognise the importance of the Court. In particular UNSC Resolu-tion 2009 (2011), passed on 16 September 2011, contained language reiterating the importance of cooperation with the ICC in Libya. Since the killing of former Liby-an leader Muammar Gaddafi on 20 Octo-ber 2011 the attention of UNSC members has shifted towards securing the arrest of ICC suspects Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi.

DEVELOPMENTS AT THE UN

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (second from right), President of the 66th ses-sion of the General Assembly, and Sang-Hyun Song (third from left), Presi-dent of the International Criminal Court (ICC), meet at UN Headquarters with their delegations on 27 October 2011. Credit: UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

ICC IMPLICATIONS OF PALESTINE UN BID PALESTINE’S APPLICATION to become a UN member at the 66th UNGA in September 2011 holds considerable implications for its involvement with the ICC.

“Upgrading the legal status of Palestine to that of a state that has the support of the international community will allow it to access inter-national justice mechanisms—the ICC in particular—in order to obtain justice for victims,” explained Shawan Jabarin, general director of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization and a Coalition member. “Access to the ICC is essential to end impunity for gross international law violations committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and as deterrent for further violations.” Jabarin added, “The ICC would contribute to reducing the protection gap in which civilians in the OPT currently live and to ensuring that local authorities, both Israeli and Palestinian, conform to international legal standards and refrain from committing violations.”

On 23 September 2011, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented an application for Palestinian membership at the UNSC. Full membership of the UN would afford Palestine greater authority than it currently enjoys with its observer status. Elevation from “nonvoting observer entity” status to that of either “member state” (through the UNSC) or “nonvoting observer state” (through a UNGA resolution) could grant Palestine the statehood required to ratify the Rome Statute and other international treaties.


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UPDATEAFRICA

ALTHOUGH AFRICAN STATES were instrumental in the creation of the Interna-tional Criminal Court (ICC) and 32 of them have ratified the Rome Statute (RS), the Af-rican Union (AU) has continued to assume a negative stance toward the ICC since it is-sued arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010. African civil society is calling on states to support the rights of victims and uphold the rule of law by adhering to their obligations under the RS and under their constitutions in order to en-sure that African leaders and bodies respect human rights and that those responsible for violating these rights are held accountable.

The AU’s influence over its member states has recently been called into question by civil soci-ety in Africa and by some of its members that are also RS states parties. Several states, such as Botswana and South Africa, have stood by their obligations under international criminal

law and have not been particularly pleased with the AU’s decisions on ICC-related mat-ters. But, in the interest of harmony and given the realpolitik that still governs many rela-tions, those opposing such decisions have had to accept the AU’s position.

Civil society in Africa has opposed the “hi-jacking” of the AU leadership by certain heads of state that exert immense influence. In a statement issued by 125 civil society groups across Africa in advance of the June 2011 AU Summit, NGOs called on African states to take clear positions in support of the ICC. “Africa was a major player in creating the ICC,” said Stephen Tumwesigye of Hu-man Rights Network Uganda. “African states should urge the AU to increase—not scale down—support for holding the worst rights abusers to account.”

Recent developments have served to chal-lenge this incongruous situation within the

AU leadership. It has been known for some time now that former Libyan leader Muam-mar Gaddafi held a huge amount of influ-ence over several African states and that economic development and social programs over the years severely compromised the in-dependence of many AU states in governing meetings. “The fall of certain leaders within the AU augurs well for the ICC,” stated the Ivorian Coalition for the ICC. It is indeed ex-pected that Gaddafi’s overthrow will gradu-ally lead to a positive change in the AU’s poli-cies vis-à-vis the ICC.

Gaddafi’s ouster from power has created an opening that should be exploited by civil so-ciety in Africa. Given this context, the Coali-tion will continue its work with civil society groups across the continent and focus on initiating strategies that will help to advance human rights and the Court’s work in Africa, particularly through campaigns, outreach and media actions.

OPPORTUNE TIME FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ADVOCACY AT THE AU

IN RWANDA AND BURUNDI, COMPETING VIEWS ON THE ICCSINCE THE ICC’S creation, Rwandans have generally had only vague ideas about its work. Even some human rights activists seem to be confused regarding the Court’s role in contrast with that of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the govern-ment has not been in any hurry to become an ICC state party. However, since 2010, several conferences and workshops on international justice in Kigali have helped increase awareness amongst human rights defenders.

According to a prominent Rwandan civil society member, “the ICC is not well known in Rwanda while much of the population is well-informed about the ICTR because of the important media coverage of ICTR proceedings by Rwandan media.” An official of the Rwandan Office of the General Prosecutor expressed doubt regarding the ICC’s “impartial” character as a body fighting impunity only in the “third world.” He concluded that the Rwandan judiciary is able to investigate and prosecute all allegations of grave crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that have occurred in Rwanda or involve its nationals abroad.

In Burundi, key civil society actors have expressed concerns over the systematic arrests and murders of members of the opposition party— the National Liberation Front, FNL-Agathon Rwassa—and have called on the ICC prosecutor to launch an investigation into those murders.

An official at the Burundian Ministry of Justice noted that although Burundi has been involved in the international justice process since it ratified the RS in 2004, and understands the Statute’s role in the global fight against impunity, “the social and political context in Bu-rundi is in favor of a truth and reconciliation commission in order to reconcile all Burundian communities and to obtain the truth on past violations.”

Byamungu Armel Luhiriri, the Coalition’s Africa situations liaison, conducted an eight-day mission to Rwanda and Burundi in July 2011 to meet with civil society, government officials and the media to discuss these countries’ attitudes and progress on justice and the ICC. In Rwanda, he urged officials and civil society to commit to working toward Rwanda’s ratification of the RS, as one important layer of protection in the fight against impunity. In Burundi, he urged government officials to move more quickly to fully implement the RS and civil society to strengthen their coordination to better advocate for these important advancements and to make the work of the ICC more visible.


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INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST IMPUNITY IN GUATEMALA Strengthening the National Judicial System

THE FOLLOWING IS an excerpt from an interview conducted with Thomas Pastor, reg-istrar of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comision Internacio-nal Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala), or CICIG, published in the Coalition’s Latin Ameri-ca/Caribbean (LAC) Newsletter, LAC al Dia.

The International Commission Against Im-punity in Guatemala (CICIG), a joint cre-ation of the Guatemalan government and the United Nations, was established to support the Guatemalan state in the fight against ille-gal security groups and clandestine security organizations known by their Spanish acro-nym CIACS.

The CIACS were created during the inter-nal armed conflict in Guatemala and were criminal illegal structures that included the participation, or at least acquiescence, of state actors. Despite a specific commitment included in the peace agreement upon the ending of the conflict, these groups were not dismantled. They were instead consolidated into organized crime that operated with im-punity in conjunction with state agents.

The CICIG has delivered important contri-butions to the strengthening of the judicial system and the rule of law in Guatemala. It plays a role in providing support for penal in-vestigations, and is mandated to intervene as a special prosecutor in cases against CIACS members—collaborating with, rather than replacing, the Public Ministry (the police and the judicial body responsible for investigations and criminal prosecutions). Since its creation, the CICIG has received more than 2,000 com-plaints and opened 100 investigations—of which half have been processed and approxi-mately 20 have resulted in convictions.

The CICIG has spearheaded the introduc-tion of important legal and institutional reforms aimed at promoting the adoption of strategies to advance criminal policy in Guatemala. As well as expediting investiga-tions and prosecutions of CIACS members, it has provided important technical support to the Public Ministry and strengthened, in particular, the specialized human rights and organized crime prosecutor offices. With a view to establishing a more independent ju-

dicial branch in Guatemala, the Commission has produced important thematic reports on issues related to criminality and other prob-lems that affect the exercise of judicial func-tions, among others.

Given the lessons learned from the CICIG ex-perience, proposals have been forwarded to establish a similar institution with jurisdic-tion in El Salvador and Honduras, the aim being the establishment of uniform standards across the region in the fight against impunity. However, before proceeding with a project of this nature, careful consideration—as well as a good understanding of these countries—is required. El Salvador and Honduras may face challenges akin to those in Guatemala, but they also have differences. A thorough analysis of their judicial systems is therefore necessary in order to determine compatibil-ity with an international commission such as the CICIG. Its establishment also needs to be weighed against the likelihood of successful implementation of legal and political reforms at the national level in order to determine whether such a project is feasible.

NICARAGUA: CENIDH USES MEDIA ADVOCACY TO PRESS FOR RATIFICATIONUSING THE MEDIA advocacy potential of the Coalition’s Universal Ratification Campaign (URC), which featured Nicaragua and El Salvador as its September focus countries, the Centro Nicaraguense de Derechos Humanos (CENIDH) organized a press conference and a series of bilateral meetings with Nicaraguan presidential candidates in an effort to ensure that Rome Statute (RS) ratification is raised as part of the electoral campaign.

In meetings held with CENIDH president Vilma Nuñez and Coalition Coordinator for the Americas Francesca Varda, presidential candidates Arnoldo Aleman of the Partido Liberal Nacionalista (PLN) and Fabio Gadea of the Partido Liberal Independiente (PLI) rec-ognized the importance of the RS in promoting accountability and fighting against impunity.

Nicaragua has maintained a tepid stance on the ICC. Together with the United States, it is the only Organization of American States’ member to include a reservation to the annual resolution on the promotion of the ICC. While the government adopted a new penal code in 2008 that includes most ICC crimes and other key provisions, such as removing the statute of limitations for these crimes, the govern-ment’s statements regarding support for the RS have been limited and concrete plans to ratify remain unclear.

Given the recent media interest in international crimes resulting from the release of a documentary on impunity related to the 1984 mas-sacre of La Penca, and questions on whether the government would consider providing asylum to former Libyan leader Muammar Gad-dafi, CENIDH also produced a radio vignette calling on the government to ratify the RS without further delay. It was widely circulated on two of the most important stations in the country.


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THIS YEAR THE Asia-Pacific region has made significant advances in fighting impu-nity. Maldives and the Philippines acceded to and ratified the Rome Statute (RS) on 21 Sep-tember 2011 and 30 August 2011 respectively. Meanwhile, Vanuatu and Malaysia are final-izing their official accession instruments. Af-ter more than 11 years of collective advocacy efforts from civil society, governments, par-liamentarians and the International Crimi-nal Court (ICC), the region is increasingly recognizing the RS as a crucial mechanism for justice and accountability.

ICC President Sang Hyun Song’s visit to Asia from 5-13 March 2011 effectively encouraged the Philippines and Maldives to complete their ratification processes and further inspired countries such as Malaysia, Vanuatu and Bru-nei Darussalam to consider ratifying the RS. Having experienced colonization, repressive regimes and conflict, the people of Asia hold a strong desire to be part of an international community that respects the rule of law and human rights, which has motivated many NGOs in the region to join in the call on gov-ernments to be part of the ICC. Countries that

have experienced significant conflict—Cam-bodia, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the Philippines and Maldives—have been the first to recognize the Court’s role in fighting impunity for the grav-est crimes, particularly as they can intimately relate to the sufferings of victims and the soci-etal effects of such crimes.

Obstacles to ratification in the region were often manifold, leading to slower progress in certain countries. In some areas internal conflicts and various other dynamics hin-

REFLECTING ON ICC STATUTE ADVANCES IN ASIA

THE PHILIPPINES: LONG-AWAITED RATIFICATION BECOMES REALITY

> CONTINUED ON P. 18

AFTER MORE THAN 11 years of civil society campaigning, the Philippines ratified the RS of the ICC on 30 August 2011, be-coming the first of the five founding member states of the Asso-ciation for Southeast Asian Nations to join the Court.

Although the Philippines participated in the 1998 Rome Con-ference and signed the RS on 28 December 2000, ratification re-mained elusive for years. Over time, the different departments within the Philippines executive branch approved the ratifica-tion. However, obtaining the endorsement of the Department of National Defense (DND) proved to be a particular challenge. In an effort to address concerns, civil society participated in a num-ber of meetings and seminars with DND officials over the years. On 6 May 2011, after finally receiving the DND’s support, Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III submitted the instrument of ratification to the Philippine senate, which voted 17-1 in favor on 23 August 2011.

“This ratification is a high point for all those who have worked tirelessly to get to this stage of our long struggle to give justice to victims and to end impunity in the Philippines,” said Evelyn Balais-Serrano, a driving force in the campaign for ICC ratification in the Philip-pines and the Coalition’s coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region. “It is a reaffirmation of every Filipino’s desire to hold perpetrators ac-countable for human rights violations.”

The impact of civil society initiatives and partnerships with various sectors within the government, legislators, security sector, media, international community, academia, women’s and human rights advocates, parliamentarians and other groups was crucial in gaining consensus towards support for the ICC and for international justice.

In particular, the Philippine Coalition for the ICC consistently pursued the campaign through lobbying, dialogues with the security sector, education activities, special events and even the filing of a mandamus case to get the executive to send the ratification papers to the Senate. A visit from ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song in March 2011 also helped catalyze the final ratification steps, prompting President Aquino to transmit the RS to the senate for approval.

On 25 August 2011, the Philippines nominated Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago as its candidate for the 2011 ICC judicial elections, taking full advantage of its rights as a state party to the RS.

Civil society celebrates the Philippines joining the ICC as the 117th state party to the Rome Statute. Credit: PCICC


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UPDATEEUROPE

THE ARRESTS OF Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžić in May and July 2011, respec-tively, ended one of the longest manhunts in modern international criminal justice. Serbia’s handover of these individuals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the for-mer Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a culmination of a decades-long effort to bring to justice those responsible for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and brought to a close one of the worst chapters in Europe’s recent history.

Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb military lead-er, is allegedly responsible for having com-mitted genocide and war crimes during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Hadžić, the former leader of the breakaway Croatian Serb Re-public, has been charged with 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity al-legedly committed in Croatia in 1991–93.

The arrests happened as ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz was preparing to deliver his report to the United Nations Security Coun-cil on the Serbian government’s lack of coop-eration with the court, and at a time when a number of European Union (EU) member states had vowed that Serbian accession to the

EU would not advance without the arrests of the two fugitives. Indeed, Brammertz’s unfa-vorable assessment would have had a signifi-cant impact on Serbia’s EU accession bid, as full cooperation with the tribunal was an es-sential condition for it advancing.

In addition, at the time of Mladic’s arrest, Euro-pean Council President Herman van Rompuy commended Serbian President Boris Tadić for his “work aimed at realizing Serbia’s European perspective,” calling it a turning point for Ser-bia, the region and international justice.

Although Serbia may have handed Mladic and Hadžić over in the interest of EU acces-sion rather than justice per se, this is no less a victory for justice. Essentially, these arrests send a clear message to perpetrators of the

most serious crimes: impunity will not pre-vail. As such, they were not just a victory for the victims of the alleged crimes but also for the concept of international justice at large.

Like the ICTY, the International Criminal Court (ICC) relies on states’ cooperation for the execution of arrest warrants. The success of the EU’s conditionality of cooperation with the ICTY speaks to the effectiveness of European influence, which can be extended to encourage ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute and robust cooperation with the ICC.

If the prospect of advancing relations with the EU—whether via accession, development aid or improved trade—can serve as an exter-nal incentive for internal reforms, it should be held out at every opportunity. Similarly, if other states and regional and international organizations were to apply consistent col-lective political and diplomatic pressure on non-cooperative governments, outstanding ICC warrants could be fully executed and more perpetrators brought to justice. To-gether, the international community has sev-eral bargaining tools at its disposal to effect change—it should not hesitate to use them in the interest of justice.

THE BARGAINING TOOLS OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

EU REVISES ICC INSTRUMENTS; NOW TIME FOR IMPLEMENTATIONIN 2011, THE EU progressed in fulfilling its pledges from the 2010 Review Conference. Having committed to updating the instruments related to the ICC, the EU undertook a revision of the Common Position on the ICC and its accompanying Action Plan.

In March, the Council of the EU adopted a “Decision on the International Criminal Court,” replacing the 2003 Common Position which had guided activities on the ICC over the past decade. The decision aims to advance universal support for the RS, preserve the independence and effective functioning of the ICC and support cooperation and complementarity.

Finalized in July, the revised “Action Plan to follow up the Decision” contains several new elements, including concrete measures on the is-sues of cooperation and complementarity, such as avoiding non-essential contact with individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants, developing a complementarity toolkit and supporting training for judges and prosecutors.

More responsibility is put on member states to ensure that ICC-related actions at the national level are undertaken in a coherent and coordinated manner, while the EU’s External Action Service is tasked with mainstreaming the ICC and the fight against impunity in the EU’s foreign policy. The service will also mobilize expertise, including that of NGOs, to provide information and assistance on ICC is-sues. This will hopefully lead to more consistency throughout the EU regarding cooperation, complementarity and support for the Court.

These revisions represent a reaffirmation of the EU’s commitment and support of international justice and the RS system. The effective implementation of these instruments will be crucial for the goal of ending impunity and providing recourse to justice for the victims of mass human rights violations.

Alleged war criminals, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. Credit: Wikimedia Commons


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THE PAST MONTHS have been marked by unprecedented change in the Arab world. Protests occurring through-out the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have had immense political im-pact and have resulted in the ousting of the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, and the removal of Muammar Gaddafi from his seat of power in Libya. Demonstrations suppressed by violence are continuing in some areas, including Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Furthermore, calls for democ-racy and reform are sweeping the region. Democracy, transparency, social justice, the rule of law and respect for human rights are the main demands of the people.

In some countries, the Arab Spring has re-sulted in the adoption of international hu-man rights standards and increased respect for the rule of law. Tunisia ratified the Rome Statute (RS) on 24 June 2011, becoming the first state party in North Africa and the fourth from within the Arab League states.

In Egypt, the foreign minister during the transition period explicitly said that Egypt would work on joining the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC) and other agreements on human rights. Libya was referred to the ICC by UN Security Coun-cil Resolution 1970 (2011), which was ad-opted unanimously. On 16 May 2011, ICC arrest warrants were issued for Muam-mar Gaddafi, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi.

Demonstrations are sweeping all parts of Syria and violence in no small measure has erupted as a result. On 23 August, the UN Human Rights Council held an emergency session on Syria. It was de-cided with the approval of 33 member states to form an investigative committee on allegations of crimes against human-ity carried out by the Syrian government against its citizens. The Council also con-demned the widespread violations carried out against protestors by security forces in the country.

Although Qatar was among the seven states that voted against the adoption of the RS at the 1998 Rome Conference, it has recently expressed some interest in the ICC. Qatar hosted the Regional Conference on the ICC in the Middle East in Doha on 24-25 May 2011. It also signed an agreement with the ICC on 19 June 2011, according to which Doha will be the ICC regional seat of in-formation, training and qualifying of Arab counsel to work for the ICC—a move that will not only benefit the ICC, but arguably strengthen national capacity. In addition, on 26 May 2011, a new campaign, “Calling Arab Lawyers,” was launched by the ICC at the University of Qatar, which seeks to increase the number of Arabic-speaking lawyers on the ICC’s list of counsel.

“The time has come for our countries to join the international community in the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes, and to make the strongest commit-ment for justice and redress for victims of grave atrocities,” stated Souhayr Belhassen, president of the International Federation for Human Rights, in a press statement.

Supporting ratification of the RS is a cor-nerstone objective to ensuring a truly global membership at the ICC. The Coalition will continue to closely follow all developments in the MENA region and encourage govern-ments and civil society to work toward in-creased acceptance of the RS.

WINDS OF CHANGE IN THE ARAB WORLD

CIVIL SOCIETY DENOUNCES SITUATION IN SYRIAA NUMBER OF Coalition members have expressed serious concerns regarding the sit-uation in Syria. Middle Eastern civil society organizations have independently and col-lectively condemned the arbitrary arrest, tor-ture and killing of peaceful Syrian protesters, lawyers and journalists as flagrant violations of international human rights conventions.

Expressing grave concern for Syrian defiance of its obligations under the International Cov-enant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Human Rights Council and Article 12 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (UNGA Resolution 53/144), and for the quasi-permanent state of emergency in Syria since 1963, civil society is demanding the launch of credible and impartial investigations of the Syrian government, fair and competent trials and a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution including a referral of Syria’s alleged crimes against humanity to the ICC.

On 30 March 2011, the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies released a statement by 333 NGOs from 12 Arab countries de-nouncing the use of excessive force by the Syrian government and abuse of martial law, and requesting the abolition of special courts and the modification of Syrian law to inter-national standards.

“What is happening in Syria amounts to crimes against humanity,” said Asem Raba-ba, from the Adaleh Center for Human Rights Studies. “We are calling on the Secu-rity Council to make a decision to refer the leaders of the Syrian regime to the Interna-tional Criminal Court.”

Further, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies called for a UN Human Rights Coun-cil Special Session on 23 August 2011, which, when held, formed an investigative committee for allegations against the Syrian government.

A number of Syrian civil society organiza-tions also called on South Africa, Brazil and India as rising powers to support a UNSC resolution.

Women demonstrate in front of a court-house in Benghazi, Libya. Credit: Gratiane De Moustier/IRIN


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ICC STATUTE ADVANCES IN ASIA (continued from page 15)

dered the development of the rule of law. Many governments were concerned with los-ing national sovereignty and the possibility of being tried before the ICC for past and pres-ent crimes, regardless of existing immunities granted by national laws. In this regard, the issuance of ICC arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir increased the fears of governments that they could be charged before the Court, cementing their earlier reservations. Some assumed a “wait and see” approach while trying to assess the Court’s performance and considering how they can benefit from its work.

In addition, certain small developing coun-tries recognized their limited time and re-sources to grasp and fully implement the RS, or effectively participate in the Court’s functioning. Language has also been an is-sue; since few in the region speak French or

English—the Court’s working languages—all texts must be translated. Another impedi-ment besides the lack of or poor capacity has been the past political pressure by the United States (US) under bilateral immunity agree-ments to refrain from ratifying the treaty; however, given the recent change in approach by the US government towards the ICC, states are less restricted than they might have been under the previous US administration when it comes to the RS.

Now, as before, given some governments’ unwillingness to ratify the RS, the burden of pushing for ratification and implementation has rested with an able and willing civil so-ciety, supported by the broader international community. With the success of civil society initiatives in pushing for the establishment of human rights mechanisms in the region—such as the Association for Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Governmental Com-mission on Human Rights and the Commis-sion on Women and Children—as well as the increased support for commissions of inquiry into the situations in Burma and Sri Lanka, the Asia-Pacific region has advanced toward greater respect for the rule of law and human rights. In addition, the prospect of the adop-tion of an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, coupled with ongoing lobbying by civil society groups to establish human rights mechanisms in ASEAN’s South Asian counterpart—the South Asia Association for Regional Coopera-tion—means governments will face increasing pressure to fulfill their obligations.

With nine states parties from Asia and seven from the Pacific, the region remains under-represented at the ICC. However, the momen-tum created by recent ratifications has greatly increased the prospects of more to follow.

LATEST RATIFICATIONS BY REGION

AFRICARome StatuteRatifications/Accessions: 32 Most Recent: Cape Verde (10 October 2011)

APICRatifications/Accessions: 12Most Recent: Gabon (20 September 2010)

AMERICASRome StatuteRatifications/Accessions: 27 Most Recent: Grenada (19 May 2011)

APICRatifications/Accessions: 15 Most Recent: Chile (26 September 2011)

MIDDLE EAST/

NORTH AFRICA

ASIA/PACIFICRome StatuteRatifications/Accessions: 16 Most Recent: Maldives (21 September 2011)

APICRatifications/Accessions: 2 Most Recent: Republic of Korea (18 October 2006)

EUROPERome StatuteRatifications/Accessions: 42 Most Recent: Republic of Moldova (12 October 2010)

APICRatifications/Accessions: 38 Most Recent: Malta (21 September 2011)

In 2011, there have been positive developments regarding ratification of the Rome Statute (RS) and the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the ICC (APIC) in the Americas, Africa, Middle-East North Africa, Asia and Europe regions. Five new ICC states parties in 2011—Tunisia, Grena-da, the Philippines, Maldives and Cape Verde—was the highest number of ratifications reached in any given year since 2003. Vanuatu and Malaysia advanced in their internal processes to ratify the RS and the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Chile and Malta ratified the APIC. Each development rep-resents an important step in ending impunity for the most serious international crimes. The Coalition continues to work actively with its members worldwide to engage in advocacy efforts with governments and parliaments and outreach to the media to ensure universal acceptance of the ICC.

UPCOMING UNIVERSAL RATIFICATION CAMPAIGN TARGETS

Rome StatuteRatifications/ Accessions: 2 Most Recent:

Tunisia (24 June 2011)

APICRatifications/ Accessions: 1Most Recent:

Tunisia (29 June 2011)

December: Rwanda, South Sudan • January: Pacific Islands, Bahrain, Morocco • February: Libya, Togo March: Kazakhstan, Monaco, Côte d’Ivoire • April: Bahamas, Jamaica • May: Egypt, Guatemala • June: Mauritania, Turkey

July: Indonesia, Kuwait, Ukraine • August: Nepal • September: Brunei-Darussalam, Kyrgyzstan • October: Singapore


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Côte D’Ivoire—On 3 October 2011, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges authorized the opening of an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Côte d’Ivoire. On 10 September 2011, the Côte d’Ivoire Coalition for the ICC (CI-CPI) initiated a three month project called “Hearing and Collection Testi-monials from Abidjan District Victims.” The project will collect tes-timonies from victims throughout the district and will involve local authorities and NGOs in a public awareness campaign.

Cape Verde—On 10 October 2011, Cape Verde deposited its in-strument of ratification of the Rome Statute (RS) at UN Head-quarters, the final step in the ratification process and the culmina-tion of many years of Coalition advocacy efforts and facilitation.

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European Parliament—On 12 July 2011, the European Parliament (EP) For-eign Affairs Committee (AFET) and Human Rights subcommittee held a hearing on “EU Support for the ICC: Facing Challenges and Overcoming Dif-ficulties.” The panel, composed of former German justice minister and mem-ber of PGA Herta Däubler-Gmelin, ICC Vice President Hans-Peter Kaul, and representatives of Africa Legal Aid, Human Rights Watch and the Coalition’s Secretariat was followed by a discussion with officials from the European Ex-ternal Action Service, the EU Presidency and the EP.

Malta—On 21 September 2011, the government of Malta acceded to the APIC of the ICC. All EU members have now joined the RS and the APIC.

San Marino—On 26 September 2011, San Marino became the first coun-try to ratify the amendment to Article 8 of the RS, under which the use of chemical weapons and expanding bullets in conflicts not of an international character constitute war crimes.

Cooperation—In April and May 2011, Finland and Serbia’s agreements on the enforcement of ICC sentences came into force.

EUROPE

Yemen—Following a visit to Yemen in September 2011, the UN OHCHR called for immediate action to protect civilians, respect the right to peaceful demon-stration and to address the “deteriorating humanitarian situation in the coun-try.” Meanwhile, the Amman Center for Human Rights called for those respon-sible for crimes against civilians to be brought to the ICC.

Tunisia—On 19-23 September 2011, a regional training seminar on the ICC was held in Tunis by the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of For-eign Affairs, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the ICC. Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs representatives, judges, law-yers, academics and civil society—including the Coalition—from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon exchanged analysis of ICC principles, regulations and current operations.

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA

Chile—On 26 September 2011, Chile became the 16th state in the re-gion to accede to the Agreement of Privileges and Immunities (APIC).

Colombia—On 28-29 July 2011, Avocats sans Frontières-Canada hosted a meeting in Bogota for regional international justice ex-perts to harness support for the establishment of an academic ex-perts’ network in the Americas which would support the effective implementation of the complementarity principle and share les-sons learned in the investigation and prosecution of grave crimes.

El Salvador, Panama and the Dominican Republic—In Sep-tember a Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) delegation of members of parliament from Belgium, Chile and the Dominican Republic visited El Salvador, Panama and the Dominican Repub-lic to mobilize political support for the ratification and imple-mentation of the RS and the Kampala amendments in the region.

AMERICAS

Sri Lanka—On 28 September 2011, the UN Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) urged the government of Sri Lanka “to ensure there is a genuine accountability process to address the serious violations believed to have been committed during the last months of the war in Sri Lanka.” The government-formed “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” is cur-rently investigating crimes allegedly committed by both govern-ment and rebel forces during that time. However, several human rights groups have opposed the body for reportedly not being on par with international human rights inquiry standards. Previously, the Sri Lankan government had rejected the experts’ panel on Sri Lanka appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Vanuatu—The South Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu also made strides this year in its domestic process towards Rome Statute ratification with the passage in August 2011 of a law that man-dates national courts to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Rome Statute—On 30 August and 21 September 2011 respectively, the Philippines and Maldives joined the Rome Statute of the ICC.

ASIA/PACIFIC

REGIONALHIGHLIGHTS

On 26 September 2011, the Coalition’s Advisory Board met in New York (USA) to discuss issues central to the global justice movement. The Board tackled key topics related to international justice, including upcoming ICC elections. Mem-bers also discussed how the Board could help address other pressing chal-lenges facing the ICC and the Rome Statute system, and noted the need for support from civil society, governments, intergovernmental entities and other institutions. Chaired by former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan and composed of eminent individuals from a range of sectors, the Ad-visory Board seeks to raise the profile of peace and justice issues. Credit: CICC

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ON 17 JULY 2011, the world celebrated International Justice Day (IJD) in honor of the adoption of the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, the Rome Statute (RS). IJD is a reminder for all states and organizations committed to justice to ensure continued support for the RS system and international justice.

Coalition members worldwide celebrated IJD in solidarity with victims of grave crimes by holding awareness-raising events such as film screenings, workshops and press briefings, as well as issuing press releases in support of human rights and the rule of law, and the RS and the ICC in particular. In New York, the Coalition held a special panel discussion on “The ICC and the Protection of Civilians” at the United Nations, in addition to a live online Q&A with William R. Pace, convenor of the Coalition. In The Hague, a special flag-raising ceremony was held by the ICC to commemorate the occasion.

In Africa, the Ugandan Coalition for the ICC held a press briefing and partnered with several Coalition members to hold a stakeholders’ dialogue on international criminal justice. Other Coalition members, including the Ivorian Coalition for the ICC, the Democratic Republic of Congo National Coalition for the ICC and the Central African Republic Coalition for the ICC held events and issued me-dia releases.

In the Americas, the Dominican Coalition for the ICC called on the Dominican Republic to implement the RS within do-mestic legislation and the Salvadoran Coalition for the ICC launched a publication containing the final recommenda-tions approved during the Coalition’s June 2011 Americas Regional Strategy Meeting. Numerous Coalition members held screenings of documentary films, including The Reck-oning and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields.

In Asia, the Indonesian Civil Society Network for the ICC and the Nepal Coalition for the ICC advocated for RS ratifi-

cation in their countries. The Philippine Coalition for the ICC co-hosted a screening of The Reckoning and a forum on ratification in the Philippines. A conference on international criminal law was held in China. Afghanistan Watch, Odhikar, the Malaysian Bar and FOHRID Human Rights and Democratic Forum also issued press releases commemorating IJD.

In Europe, Moldovan, Georgian and Turkish national coalitions for the ICC issued statements on the merits of the RS system and the Mol-dovan Coalition held a media training session on the ICC. In the Middle East and North Africa, the Iraqi National Commission for the ICC called on Iraq to join the ICC. The Jordanian Coalition for the ICC hosted an event for its members and issued a media statement. The Alge-rian League of Human Rights also issued a release celebrating IJD.

These global actions demonstrate the ongoing commitment by civil society around the world to seeing through the commitments made in Rome in 1998 to fight for the end of impunity by holding perpetrators of grave crimes accountable.

For more information, visit the ICC’s IJD Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InternationalCriminalJusticeDay or the Coalition’s website at: http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/?mod=rome

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE DAY: STANDING IN SOLIDARITY

COALITION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTwww.coalitionfortheicc.org

Credit (from top-right, clockwise): 1. The American NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC) hosted a rally in honor of IJD in NY in 2010. Credit: AMICC; 2. On 16 July 2011, the ICC Uganda Outreach team facilitated a 2-hour radio program to provide information on IJD and the ICC. Credit: ICC-CPI; 3. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, president of the Assembly of States Parties, speaks at the Coalition-sponsored IJD panel at UN headquarters in New York with Coalition Convenor William R. Pace sitting to his left. Credit: CICC; 4. Flag raising ceremony in honor of IJD at the seat of the Court in The Hague © ICC-CPI; 5. Street action: Civil society in Nepal continues to actively call for ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC. Credit: Bimal C. Sharma/INSEC

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The MONITOR · sue of The Monitor covers these important matters and others such as current ICC cases, ... Jelena Pia-Comella Program Director, New York