M O N I T O R · Diarra, Akua Kuenyehia, Maureen Harding Clark, Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner,...

2003 has been marked by extraordinary events in theest abli shm en t of th e I nt ern at ion al Cr imi nal Cour t(I CC). I n Febru ary, th e Assem bly of St at es Par tieselected t he f irst ch am ber of 18 Ju dges for th e I CC,which includes seven women and eleven men and abal an ced n umb er of j udges f rom di ff erent region sand legal systems. On March 11, these Judges, and ineffect the ICC itself, were inaugurated in a celebratoryyet solemn ceremony in The Hague, the Netherlands.In Apr i l, as a resul t o f i n ten se negot i ati on s an dconsul tation s cond uct ed in cap itals th rough out t hewor ld, t he Assem bly is meet in g again to n omi natean d f o rm al ly elect a Prosecu t o r o f t h e Co u r t .Meanwhile, as 89 governments are working togetherto establish a new system of international justice, theUS, UK and other nations have been engaged in waragainst the Iraqi regime.

I f m y sen se of h ist ory i s cor rect, and t eachin ghistory is what I did for many years, then the little-reco gni zed In augurati on cerem on y an d lan dmarkelecti on of t he first I CC Judges and Prosecu tor wil lhave a m u ch great er im pact i n h i sto ry t han t hecountless invasions of Iraq.

Over the last several months, I have been askedrepeatedl y to ref lect on t h e C oalit io n’s ef for t s t oestabl ish th e ICC. Personall y, t he constant p ressuresof being Convenor of the NGO Coalition - organizingprograms worldwide, raising 2.5 million Euro per yearfor operat in g exp en ses, and t rying to keep up w iththe incredible developments of the ICC - while tryingto coordinate more than a half dozen other projects,have kept me from savoring this historic victory forpeace.

H ow ever , obj ecti vely and si ncerel y, I f eel veryfor t unat e, grat ef ul and deeply h ono red. I h ope al lth ose wh o have been a part of t his great endeavorsh are t his sen se of m omen tou s ach ievem en t, for sofew p eople are able t o par ti cipat e in th e creat ion ofsom et h i n g as rem arkab le as t h e I CC : a n ewin t ern at i o n al o rgan i zat i on ; a n ew syst em ofint ernati onal justi ce; a fun dam en tally st ren gt henedint ernat ional legal order . As wor ld leaders h ave said

so m an y t im es over t h e l ast f i ve y ears, th e I CCprocess and success signals one of the greatest hopesfor peace and the rule of law in the 21st century. Themore intimately involved one has been in the processof t h e Cour t ’s establish ment , t he m ore rem arkabl eand enriching has been the experience.

International affairs experts - many of whom arefriends who have doubted the ICC from the very start- have said to me that "this achievement is somethingthey can never be taken away from the Coalition. Ifyou do nothing else of significance in your life, theCoalition has been part of a great advance in history."And they really mean it. It is a feeling I hope manyof you share.

Of co urse, our successf ul ef for t s t o adop t t h eRo m e St at u t e an d est abli sh th e IC C m ay no t b ew id el y recogn i zed i n ou r l if et i m es. Th ere w il lprobably n ever b e an award-w in ni ng mo vie m ad eabout the founding of this Court. But in history, thisis su ch a great er achievem en t t han an Oscar , Palm ed'Or , o r Wo r ld C up Ch am pi on sh ip . Or f or t h atm at t er , w in n i n g t h e p resi den cy o f a n at i on orbeco m in g a bi l l i on ai re. Fo r as great as t h eseach iev emen t s m ay b e, t h ey are aw ard s f oren tert ai nm ent , at hl eti cs, an d personal success. Bu tt he ICC, w h ich cou ld last for gen erati ons, w ill beviewed as th e Engl ish vi ew t he Magn a Car t a, t h eAmerican s th e adopt ion o f t hei r Con sti tu tion , an dthe founders of the UN the Charter.

While the ICC has had its leading and supportingactors, the Court is truly the achievement of a cast oft hou san ds. Th e I CC w as n ot , l ike so man y o th erhi st or ic ach ievement s, t h e creati on of 'big pow ers.'N o on e o r fi ve o r fi ft y can clai m “ t hey” are t h efounders of the ICC. The Rome Statute is the productof h u n d reds an d t h ou san d s o f ex t rao rdi n aryin di vid uals, an d m ost ly sm all an d m id dle-p ow erstates, combined with the efforts of international andnon-governmental organizations. It was truly a greath on o r , an d an im p o r t an t an d el oq u en tackn o w led gem en t t o N GOs t h at af t er t h e

The ICC MONITORis a publication of the

NGO Coal ition for the ICC

The International Criminal Court

M O N I T O RThe N ewsp ap er of t he NGO Coal i ti on fo r t he Int ernat ional Cr iminal Co ur t

Issue 24 • April 2003

Continued on page 7

A Leap for Humanityby William Pace

These 18 Judges have solemnly undertaken to serve as the first bench of the International Criminal Court. (left-right,bottom-top) Claude Jorda, Mauro Politi, Anita Usacka, Sang-hyun Song, Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, Fatoumata DembeleDiarra, Akua Kuenyehia, Maureen Harding Clark, Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner, Elizabeth Odio Benito, PhilippeKirsch, Gheorghios M. Pikis, Erkki Kourula, Adrian Fulford, Navanethem Pillay, Hans-Peter Kaul, René Blattmann andTuiloma Neroni Slade. Photo Credit: ICC-CPI/Wim Van Cappellen

CI CC p ress br ief in g af ter th e Sp ecialN GO Con vocat ion in Th e H agu e (10March 2003).

… M ore o n t h e U S C am p aign t oUndermine the ICC on pages 4-5

U N Secret ary Gen eral Ko f i An n anaddressed the ICC Inauguration in TheHague (11 March 2003).

In this issue, articles on:- ASP agenda items (Prosecutor, Financial Issues) Pages 3 & 6

- the Division of Common Services Page 6

- Global Meetings on the ICC Pages 7, 10-13

- the Election and Inauguration of Judges Centerspread, 0

- and more

"Despite US opposition, the ICC is hereto st ay – and what ever the US mi ghtclaim against the Court in rhetoric, theCour t will have to prove otherwise inpractice."

Photo Credit: Iris Vetter

Photo Credit: Ana Petrovic

TheInter nationalCriminal Cour tMONITOR

a publication of the NGO Coalition for theInternational Criminal Court

CICC Address: Tel: 1-212-687-2176c/o WFM - IGP Fax: 1-212-599-1332777 UN Plaza, 12th Fl. Email: [email protected] York NY 10017 URL: www.iccnow.orgCICC contact information can be found at:http://www.iccnow.org/contactinfo.html

Secretariat in New York and The HagueWilliam R. Pace Convenor

Tanya Karanasios Program Director

Staci Alziebler Financial Officer

Désiré Assogbavi Information Services Coordinator (French)

Caroline Baudot Legal Research Officer

Sandra Bjegovic Program Assistant

Isaac Flattau Implementation Adviser

Jens Iverson IT Adviser

Rafael Justiniano Office Manager

Grace Ko Development Officer

Cecilia Nilsson Legal Research Officer

Alphonse Deo Outreach LiaisonNkunzimana

Monica Guzman Outreach Liaison

Shantha Rau Information Coordinator; Editor, ICC Monitor

Jennifer Schense Legal Adviser

Joydeep Sengupta Communications/Outreach Associate

Ramin Shahzamani IT Consultant

Adele Waugaman Media Liaison

Regional CoordinationMary Kaboggoza East Africa Coordinator

Jotham Rwamiheto Southern Africa Coordinator

Evelyn Serrano Asia Coordinator

Irune Aguirrezábal Europe Coordinator

Luisa Mascia Assistant to the European Coordinator

Rita Patricio Pr ogram Officer, Europe

José Antonio GuevaraLatin America/Carribean Coordinator

Mariana Information ServicesRodríguez Pareja Coordinator (Spanish)

Hugo Relva Latin America Adviser

CICC Informal Steering Committee:Amnesty InternationalAsociación pro Derechos HumanosEuropean Law Students AssociationFédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’HommeHuman Rights WatchInternational Commission of JuristsLawyers Committee for Human RightsNo Peace Without JusticeParliamentarians for Global ActionRights and DemocracyWomen’s Caucus for Gender JusticeWorld Federalist Movement

Current funding for the Coal i tion for the InternationalCriminal Court is being provided by the John D. &Catherine T. M acArthur Foundation; the Ford Foundation;the Thi rd M il lennium Foundation; the European Union;t he gover nments of Canada, Denmark, Fin land,Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,Portugal, Sweden and Swi tzerland; and from individualdonors and participating NGOs. The viewsexpr essed herein are those of the CICCand can therefore in no way be taken toreflect the official opin ion of the f u n d e r s .

The International Criminal Court MONITOR • April 2003

Contents

The Int ernat ional Crim inal Court (I CC) is thefirst permanent int ern at ion al Cou rt , wit h agl obal mandat e t o i nvestigate an d br ing t oju sti ce in di vid uals w h o co mm it t h e m ostserious violations of intern ation al law , nam elygen ocid e, war cr i m es, an d cr im es again sthumanity. Unlike th e Int ern ation al Court ofJu st ice, w h ose j ur isdict ion is restr i ct ed t oSt at es, t h e I CC h as t he capacit y t o in di ctin dividu als. Th e I CC is com plement ary t onat ional jur isdict ions, and w ill act only w hennation al systems are un abl e or u nw ill in g t ogen ui n ely car ry ou t in v est igat i on s orprosecut ions of such crim es.

Th e jur isdiction of the ICC applies on ly t othose crim es comm itt ed after 1 July 2002, thedate which marks th e en try int o force of theRom e St atut e of th e In t ernati onal Cr imi nalCo ur t . Th e Ro me St at ut e, t h e Co ur t ’sfoundin g treat y, was adopt ed an d opened forsi gn at u re an d rat if i cat io n at t h e Rom e

Di plom at ic Con f eren ce o f Plenip otent iari eson17 July 1998, by a vote of 120 to 7 wit h 21abst ent ions. Dur ing a hist oric ceremon y on11 A pr i l 2 002 , 10 st at es sim u l t an eo uslydeposit ed t h ei r in st ru ment s of ratif icat ion ,crossin g t he t hreshold of t he 60 ratifi cat ionsnecessary f or entry int o force of t he Stat ut e.To dat e, 89 coun tr ies have rat ified t he Rom eSt atut e.

In February 2003, t he first 18 j udges wereelected t o serve on th e ICC, an d were sw orn inat a formal In augurati on Cerem ony hel d on11 M arch 20 03 in Th e H agu e, t h eNet herlands. At t he secon d resumed meet ingof th e Assembly of St at es Part ies, t he Cour t’sgoverning body, t o be held in Apr il 2003, th eAssemb ly is expect ed t o el ect a Prosecut or .Ot her prin cipal officers of th e Court , in cludingth e Registrar, are also expected to be elected inth e comin g mon ths. The Cour t will l ikely befully functional by th e end of 2003.

B a c k g round on the International Criminal Court

"Th e in augurat ion of t he Int ernati onal Cr im inal Court tod ay is ahistoric milestone that brings to fruition the collective efforts of theinternational community to establish a universal framework to endimpunity for the most serious crimes under international law. Thisoccasi on also rep resen t s a reaff irmat ion of ou r comm it men t t ohuman rights, fundamental freedoms and justice.

The importance of the Court in the fight against impunityand in p rev en t i ng gro ss h u man r ig ht s v iol at io n s can n ot b eoverem ph asized. It represent s a signi fican t d evel opment of t h eprinciple of universal jurisdiction for serious international crimes.With the creation of this Court, there will no longer be any placefor offenders to hide. And potential violators will now have to think twice before committing abuses."

- Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Photo Credit:h t t p : / / w w w . u n . o r g / a v / r a d i o / p o r t uguese/2002/oct/021002.html

Assembly Meets to Elect first ICC Prosecutor Page 3

Budget and Finance Issues for the ICC in the Next Year Page 3

US Continues War Against the Court, Despite Little Success Page 4

Ratifications Continue, yet US Threats Pose Challenges in Asia Page 4-5

Colombia and the ICC: Demands for Equal Justice for All Page 5

The New Phase of the ICC Page 6

Making Progress with the Trust Fund for Victims: Nominations for the Board of Directors Page 6

Parliamentarians Around the World Continue Support for ICC Page 7

Election and Inauguration of ICC Judges Centerspread

Historic Elections Result in Representative and Qualified Court Page 10

Globalization of Justice: The ICC on 2003 World Social Forum Agenda Page 10-11

The Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Court Page 11

Implementation and Universal Ratification of the Rome Statute: Key Issues at Global Meetings Page 12-13

Upcoming ICC Events Page 14

Resources on the ICC Page 15

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.iccnow.org/contactinfo.html


Assembly Meets to Elect first ICC Prosecutor

Du r i ng i t s fi n al sessi on s, t h e Preparat oryComm ission spent a considerabl e am ount oftime working to draft an effective budget andfinance system for the International CriminalCour t ( ICC) . By t h e close o f th e Preparat oryCom m ission , i t had d raft ed t h e Fi nan cialRegulations and Rules; the Budget for the FirstFinancial Period of the Court (September 2002– 3 1 Decem ber 2 003) ; and ot h er f in an cialresol ut io n s wh i ch t h e Assem b ly o f St at esPar ties (Assem bly) adop ted at it s first sessi onin September 2002.

NGO m em bers of t he Coalit ion fo r t h eIC C have welcom ed t h e ado pt ion of th esedocum en ts, in par ti cular, t he Budget for th eFi rst Fin an ci al Peri od, wh ich includes broadflexibil it y f or th e I CC to o perate eff ecti velyand to respond to unforeseeable events duringits initial period.

However, the effective implementation ofany budget is of course dependent on havingsuff icient fun ds. On 7 February 2003, at th eclo se of t h e f i rst resu m ed sessio n of t h eAssembly, the President of the Assembly gavea d ist urbi ng repor t regardin g t he st at us o fpaym ent of assessed cont r ibut ions, wh ich , ifnot addressed soon, could threaten the abilityof the Court to perform its functions in 2003.The President reported that 23,959,800 Eurosof t he tot al bu dget of 30,893,500 Euros hadnot been paid by States Parties. The deadlineagreed by th e Assem bly for fu ll paymen t ofassessed con tr ibu ti ons fo r t he first f in an cialperiod was 1 January 2003.

It is l ikely t h at t h e overdue paym ent sresult f ro m St at es Par t ies lack o f preparati ont o en sure th at t h ei r assessed con t ri but io nsco uld be p aid w it h in th e dead li nes. M anystates do not work on the same financial yearas the Court (1 January to 31 December) andare, therefore, now waiting for the beginningof t h ei r n ew f in an ci al year ( f or examp le, anumber of states begin their financial year on1 April) to pay their contributions.

It is h op ed t h at wh en t h e Presi d en trepor ts again to t he Assem bly in Ap ril, m oststat es wi ll h ave pai d th eir con tr ibu ti ons byt h en an d t h at St at es Par t ies w i ll t ake al l

p ossib le m easu res t o en su re again st lat epayment in 2004. If, however, by April, thereare st il l a si gn if i can t am ou n t o f overdu econ t r i bu t io n s, t h e Assem bl y sh ou l d t akeurgent measures to address the matter.

Th e C om mit t ee of Bud get and Fi nan ce(CBF), m ade up of 12 expert s of recogni zedstand ing an d exper ien ce i n fin an cial matt ersat t h e i nt ern at ion al level, w il l h ave a veryi m po r t an t ro l e in co n si der i n g t h e d raf tp rep ared b y t h e IC C an d m aki n grecommendations to the Assembly, which willadopt the final budget.

Furthermore, the CBF will have a numbero f i m p or t a n t f i n an cial ov ersi gh t ro les,i n clu d in g ex am in i n g t h e aud i t r epo r tprepared by the external auditor and makingcom ment s t o th e Assem bly. The D irect or ofCommon Services of the ICC has circulated arequest for proposal s f or t he ext ernal audit orand the deadline for submissions closed on 15Feb ruar y 20 03 . Th e ap p oi n t m en t of t h eAuditor will be considered at the April sessionof the Assembly.

Th e act i n g Regi st rar of t h e I C C w i llrepor t edly n eed t o com pl et e th e propo seddraft of the 2004 Budget by mid-May 2003 inorder that it can be translated and submittedt o th e CBF an d al l St at es Par ti es on 20 Ju ne(45 days bef ore t he m eeti ng of t he CBF), asrequired by the Financial Regulations.

The planned election of the Prosecutor onApr il 21-23 m eans th at t here will be l itt le, ifan y , o pp o r t u n it y f or t h e Prosecu t o r –assuming that the Prosecutor is able to take uph is or h er du t ies i mm ediat el y - t o provi desubst ant ive in put to t he p roposed budget . I tis, therefore, essential that sufficient flexibilityand upsurge capacity be included in the 2004Bu dget i n o rd er t h at t h e Prosecu t or cand evel op an d im p l em en t an ef f ect i veprosecut ion st rategy an d overall struct ure f orthe Office of the Prosecutor.

The expectations of States Parties and thein tern at ion al com mun it y f or t he ICC mean st hat t here w ill be signifi can t pressure on t heProsecut or to con duct in vest igati ons in th ef ir st years. St at e ref er ral s an d even a U N

Security Council referral are certainly possible.The 2004 Budget m ust t herefore p rovide forthe possibility of high-level activity of the ICCin 20 04 an d t h e p ro vi si on of ad eq uat ereso urces f o r al l o rgan s o f t h e Co u r t t operf orm ef f ecti vel y in such circu m stan ces,including provisions for systematic work andeven perm an en t f iel d off ices out si de of TheHague.

The CBF is scheduled to be elected at thenext resumed session of the Assembly in Apriland will meet for the first time on 4-8 Augustto consi der t he proposed 2004 Bud get . TheComm itt ee wil l th en submit com ment s an dreco mm en dati ons t o t he Assem bly wh en itmeet s t o discu ss an d ad opt t h e b ud get inSep t em b er 2 003 . Th e C oal it io n f o r t h eIn t ern at io nal Cr im in al Cou r t’s Budget an dFi nance Team w ill b e f ollow in g th e bu dgetprocess and will be issuing its comments andreco mm en dati ons t o t he ICC , th e C BF an dthe Assembly.

Jonat han O’ Donohue i s Legal Advi sor t o t heIn t erna ti ona l Ju st i ce Program of Amnest yInternational in London.

Budget and Finance Issues for the ICC i n the N ext Ye a rby Jonat han O’Donohue

Th e elect i on of t h e Pro secu t or of t h eIn ternatio nal Cr imin al Cour t w ill be one oft h e mo st i m po r t an t d eci si o n s t h at t h eAssembly of States Parties will take in its firstyear . El ect i on o f a h i gh ly q ual i fi ed an dindependent Prosecutor will be crucial to thecredi bilit y, in t egrit y an d ef fecti veness of th eCourt.

It has been rep or ted t h at St at es Par ti eshave agreed inf ormally and on t he basi s ofcon sensus to el ect Mr . Lu is M oreno Ocampoof Argen ti na as Prosecutor of t he I CC at th esecond resum ed sessi on o f t he Assembl y o fStates Parties from April 21-23.

Af t er several mo nt h s o f di scu ssion an dcon sul t at i on am o n g St at es Par t i es, t h eCoalit ion is pleased th at St ates Par ti es wereabl e t o reach a co n sen sus an d giv e t h eirsupport to one individual.

Mr . Lui s M oreno Ocam po, is a law yercurrently specializing in criminal and humanr i gh t s l aw as wel l as cor ru p t io n con t ro lpr ogr ams of l arge o rgan i zat io n s. I n t h e

w int ers of 2002 an d 2003, he w as a vi si tin gprofessor at Harvard Un iversit y an d Stanf ordU n iversit y L aw Sch oo ls resp ect ively . Mr .M oreno Ocamp o helped p rosecut e t he t r ial sagain st t h e mi lit ary jun t a in th e 1980s andthe military responsible for the Falklands war.H e i s al so th e co- fo un der an d Presi dent ofPod er Ci u dad an o , a n on -go vern m en t alo rgan i zat io n p ro mo t i n g ci t i zen ’ sparticipation, and is the President of the LatinAm er i can br an ch o f T ran sp aren cyI n t ern at i o n al, an an t i -co r ru p t io norganizat io n. H is resum e can be f oun d at:http://www.un.org/law/icc/elections/prosecutor/prosecutor_nominations.htm

Aft er th e secon d resumed session o f t heAssem bl y, t h e I CC w il l h ave m o st of i t sof ficials in place. Th e Registrar , th e last highlevel official to be appointed, is expected to beelected by the Judges in May. Among the firstim por tant decision s t hat t he Prosecut or willhave to make is the assessment of the numberof Dep uty Prosecutors he wil l need t o assist

hi m i n carryi ng ou t hi s man dat e, an d t hepeo pl e h e w i l l n om i n at e t o f i l l t h i sposition(s), to be elected by the Assembly.

Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argent ina has beennominated via consensus for the position of ICCProsecutor.

(l-r) Jonathan O’Donohue, John Washburn andM ar i eka Wi erda, al l of w hom h ave b eenmonitoring Financial Issues of the Court, as wellas the inclusion of provisions f or victims andreparations.


http://www.un.org/law/icc/elections/


US Continues War Against the Court, despite l ittle successby Maggie Gard n e r

Wh ile th e U S h as n ever been an exuberan tsupporter of the International Criminal Court,t h e Bu sh Adm i n i st rat i on h as rep lacedPresident Clinton’s cautious engagement withvocal h ostil ity. Cl aim in g t h at th e I CC wi llseek po l it i call y-m o t iv at ed pr osecu t i on sagainst US soldiers, the current administrationis insist in g t hat all US cit izens be exem ptedfrom accountability before the ICC. For ICCsupporters, meeting such a demand would betant am ount to n ullif y ing th e Ro me Statut e’sfundamental premise: the end to impunity foratrocities that "deeply shock the conscience ofhumanity."

On ly one m on th aft er n ullif y ing th e U Ssignature on the Rome Statute and promisingthat it would not "wage war" on the ICC, theBush Administration launched its first salvo init s f igh t to ach ieve f u ll exem pt io n f or U Ssoldiers and of fi cials. In Jun e 2002, th e U Swarn ed ot her U N Secur it y Council membersth at cont in ued US su ppor t of peacekeep ingmissions was cont ingen t on full im punit y ofall U S p eacek eep i n g f o rces f rom IC Cjurisdiction. With the July 1 entry into forceof t h e Ro me St at u t e, t h e US v et oed t h erenewal o f th e Bosn ia peacekeepin g m issi on,threatening to veto all peacekeeping missionsuntil its demands were met, despite the outcryof n ear l y every St at e Par t y d u r i n g t h econ curren t IC C Prep arat ory C om m issio nnegot iat ion s. Secur i ty C oun ci l Resol ut io n14 22 , w h i ch p ro h ib it s t h e IC C f ro minvestigating or prosecuting UN peacekeepersfrom non-States Parties, finally passed with acom prom ise th at l i mit ed t he exemp ti on t oone year.

While th e admin istrat ion w as distancingth e US from th e I CC int ernation ally, t he U SCo ngr ess p assed i n Augu st 2002 it s m ostsignif icant piece of ant i-I CC legisl at ion , th eAmer i can Servicemem bers’ Pro tecti on Act(ASPA). First in t ro duced i n 2000, t h e fi nalversion of ASPA w as sign if icant ly dilut ed bywaivers and exceptions, but its rhetoric is stillfi erce: i t rest r icts U S coop erat ion wi t h t h eIC C; it m akes U S su ppo rt of peacekeepi ngm issi on s largely con t in gen t on ach ievi ngim pun it y fo r all U S p erson nel; and it evengrant s th e Presiden t permi ssi on t o use "anymeans necessary" to free US citizens and alliesf rom I CC cust od y (ear n in g t h e law t h e

nickname "The Hague Invasion Act"). Lu cki ly, t h e waiv ers m ake all of t hese

p ro vi si on s n o n -bi n d in g, bu t t h eadm in istrati on i s usin g t h em as bargain in gch ips to pressure count r ies around t he w orldi nt o con clu din g bi lat eral agreemen t s th atguarantee non-surrender to the ICC of all UScitizens, government employees, and militaryp erso n n el (p ast an d presen t , in cl ud i n gcontractors and non-US nationals). To justifyt h ese im p un i t y agreemen t s, t he U S ci t esAr t i cl e 98(2) of t h e Ro me St at ut e, w h ichackn ow ledges t h at ot h er t reaty ob ligati on scan take precedence over the demands of theICC. However, NGOs and many States Partiesagree t h at Ar t ic le 98(2) i s i nt en ded on ly toco ver sen d in g st at e/recei vi n g st at erel at io nsh ip s, w h i ch i n vol ve in d ivi d ual sof fic ially sen t by on e count ry an d off ici all yreceived by an ot her . Un der ASPA, almost allICC States Parties risk losing their US militaryassistance if they do not conclude a so-called"Ar ti cl e 98 " agreem en t b ef ore 1 Ju ly 2003.The President can waive this requirement foran y cou n t ry i f h e d eems t h e m i l it ar yassist an ce t o b e i n t h e n at i on al secu r i t yi nt erest , b ut th e US governm ent h as b eencaref ul not to p ublic ize t hi s excep tion . (Thef ollow in g coun t ri es are expl ici tl y exem pt edf ro m t his provision : Australia, Egyp t, I srael,Japan , Jordan , Argent i n a, th e Rep ubl ic ofKorea, New Zealan d, Tai wan, and all N ATOmembers.)

Af t er ei gh t mo n t h s of n eg ot i at i on s,however, the US State Department could onlyrepor t t hat 27 coun tr ies h ad con cluded suchbi lat eral im pun it y agreement s wi th t he US,just ten of which involved States Parties to theRome Stat ut e. W it h relati vel y f ew bi lateralagreements, and with the July 1 expiration ofResolution 1422 rapidl y approach ing, th e USgovern m en t can be exp ected t o step up it spressure in both multilateral and bilateral negotiations to achieve a permanent, blanketexemption for all US citizens.

Even as t he July 1 deadlin es draw n ear, I CCproponents still have reason to hope that theposit ion of t he cur ren t U S govern ment wil lno t d ict ate eit h er f ut u re U S p ol icy or t hesuccess of the Court. The reluctance of mostSt at es Par ti es to grant im puni ty to an ent ireci t i zen ry is i t sel f a sig ni f i can t cau se f oropt imism . Dom est ically, US publi c suppo rtfor the ICC has remained strong, with around65% o f t h e p o pu l at io n in f av or o f USrat i fi cat io n even if US sol di ers cou ld f acef r iv ol ou s p rosecut i on s. (Fo r p ol l s, seehttp://www.amicc.org/usinfo/opinion_polls.html)

Most importantly, the Court is becominga real it y, an d i ts su ccesses wi ll chan ge t heterms of th e debate in th e U S. M ost of t hear gum en t s used by I C C cr it i cs in t h e USrevo lve aro un d w orst -case scen ar ios: t heyen visio n a co u r t ru n am u ck, w it hirresponsible judges and prosecutors pursuingpersonal ven dett as again st t he w or ld’s mostpowerful country. Despite US opposition, theICC is here t o st ay – and wh at ever t he USmight claim against the Court in rhetoric, theCourt will have to prove otherwise in practice.

Maggie Gardner is the I CC Program Manager atthe Wor ld Federalist Association, as w ell as theDeputy Coordinat or of the Washington WorkingGroup on the ICC.

Ratifications Continue, yet US Threats Pose Challenges in Asiaby Evelyn Serrano-Balais

Wit h all eyes f ocused on Th e H ague f or t h eInauguration of t he first 18 ICC Judges an d n owon t he elect ion of t he Prosecut or an d oth eressen tial of ficials of t he Cour t, at tent ion shouldbe draw n to t he slow progress in rati ficati onand im pl em ent at io n of t he Ro m e St at u te,part icu lar ly in Asia. Of t he coun tr ies i n t hisregion, w hich comprise almost a quarter of th eworld’s space and populat ion, only 12 count rieshave so f ar ratified t he Rome Stat ute of th e ICC.

The decision by Sout h Korea and Afgh anistanto become par ties to t he Rome St at ut e, despit estron g pressure f ro m th e US, is a signif ican tach ievement , and it is hoped t hat ratificat ionby more Asian states will f ollow. In fact, m anybel ieve th at rat if icat ion by t h e major Asiancountr ies like Japan, China, and In dia will h avean impact on ot hers in th e region – w hat som epro pon en ts h ave dub bed t h e ‘Asi an w ay’.

Ch i na’s rati f icat io n w il l h ave an eff ect onrat ification effor ts in Viet nam and Laos. Nowt hat South Korea h as rat ified, Japan will l ikelyrat ify, especially if Ch ina t akes th e in itiative.In dia’s rat if ication would lead t he way f or oth erSout h and Cen tral Asian count ries.

Already Japan and Ch ina have t aken positivest eps by makin g st at em en ts dur in g t he fin almeeting of the ICC Preparatory Commission inJuly 2002, ann ouncing th eir suppor t f or t heC ou r t an d d ecl ar in g t hei r go vern m en t s’openness to t he process of ratif icat ion. In dia,h ow ever, which vot ed against th e adoption oft he Rom e Stat ute in 1998, m ade a stat ement att he Sept ember ASP meet ing in favor of t he USproposal t o grant immunit y t o its nat ion als andlater signed a bilateral agreement wit h th e USnot to sur ren der US cit izens to the Cour t.

While eff or ts to promot e universal ratification

in Asia continue, the United States has in itiat edan all -o ut cam pai gn n ot on l y to di ssuadecountr ies in t he region from ratification but alsot o p ressu re t hem i n t o si gn in g bi lat eralagreements granti ng absolu te im muni ty fromICC prosecut ion to US n ationals. In f act, on 14November 2002, US U nder Secretary of State forArms Con trol and In ternational Secur ity JohnBolton, wh o is leadin g t he US ef fort to secureth ese bilateral agreem en ts, remarked: "In t henear f ut ure, we will also be holding discussionson t h e issu e w it h several coun t r ies in t heMiddle East an d Sout h Asia." Th at was the firstsignal that t he f ocus was shiftin g out of European d t o ward t h e Asi an regi on . Of t he 27co un t ri es t h at h ave so far sign ed bil ateralimpunity agreemen ts wit h t he U S, 13 are AsianSt at es (accordin g t o UN region al groupin gs) :

I brah am, af ormer chi ldsol di er f romSierra Leon e, ison e of t hesurvivors profiledi n t he Vi ct i msTrust FundCa mpai gn. TheCampaign ai mst o ref ocus U Sdebate on the truepu rp ose of t heI CC : h el pin gvi ctims and thei rc o m m u n i t i e srecover f romatrocities. Photo Credit : Dei rdreBrennan.

Continued on next page

http://www.amicc.org/usinfo/


W hi le t h e I n t ern at i on al Cr im in al Cou rt isseen by man y as an i nst rum en t f or f ight in gimpunity, new challenges emerge as the Courten ters t he ear ly p hases of it s fu n ct io ni ng:electi n g th e Prosecut o r, ap po in t in g ot h erofficers of the Court, and fairly and effectivelycarrying out it s mandat e t o in vesti gat e andprosecute the most heinous crimes committedagainst humankind.

For Colombia, th ere is great int erest t hatt he ICC meet th ese challenges wi th su ccess.C olo m bia rat if i ed t h e Rom e Stat u t e o n 5August 2002, as a result of the support of theCom mi ssi on on Hu man Right s an d t he U NH igh Com mi ssio ner f or H um an Righ ts, andt h e ef f or t s o f n on -go vern m en t alo rgan i zat io n s. H ow ev er , at t h e t i m e o frat i f i cat io n , t h e Presi d en t decl ared it sin tent ion t o invoke Art icl e 124 of th e Rom eStatute, which allows a State to postpone for aper iod of seven years t h e IC C’s jur isdicti onw it h respect to war cr im es all eged to havebeen com mi t ted b y it s nat io nals o r o n i tst er r i t o ry. Su ch a deci si on was m ad e i ncon sul t ati on w it h th e t hen n ew ly -electedPresid en t and w as con sequ en tl y adopt ed bythe new government which began ruling on 7August 2002. How ever, t h is decision to o ptout of t he ICC’s war cr im es jur isdict ion wasnever presented to the Congress for approval,and was revealed t o t he publ ic o ne mon t haft er ratif ication . The cur rent adm ini st rat ionargues th at it main tain s i ts po si tio n on th eground s t hat t h e saf eguard i tsel f con sti tut esan "op en w i nd ow " f or an ev en t u al p eaceprocess.

In Sept ember 2 002, several h um an andso ci al r igh ts N GOs ask ed t h e Presi den t t o

w i t hd raw t h e saf egu ard an d t o al lo w t h eu n co n di ti on al ap pli cat i on of t h e St atu t e.W h i le t h e go vern m en t h ad i n i t ial l yr espo n d ed t h at i t w o ul d n ot ch an ge i t sdecision, the Colombian Foreign Minister hassub seq u en t ly an n ou n ced t h at t h eGovernm ent is considerin g t he possi bility ofw it hd raw ing t he reservati on. H um an ri ght so rgan i zat i on s w il l m on i t o r t h esedevelopments for the benefit of justice for all.

An oth er issue of concern t o Col ombi anN GOs i s U S p ressu re t o si gn b i lat eralagreem ent s grant ing US nation al s im mu nit yf rom I CC prosecut ion . I n August 2002, t heC olom bian governm en t recei ved a proposalf ro m t h e U S, r eq u est in g sign at u re of anagreement providing that US officials, militaryp erson n el an d ot h er n ati on als b e exem ptfrom prosecution by the ICC. The ColombianForeign Min ist er respond ed t hat an existin gagreement , si gn ed in 1962, provides th at USof fic ial s w ho allegedl y comm it cr im es und ert he ICC’s jur isd ict ion in Colombia would besurrendered to the US, not to an internationalcourt. The very existence of this treaty wouldm ak e t h e n ew U S bi l at eral agreem en tunnecessary.

I n Sept em b er 20 02 , t h e Co lo m bi anC om missi on of Jur ist s (CCJ) p resent ed t hePresiden t wit h several argument s as t o wh yt h e p ro po sed US i m pu n i t y agreem en tco n f li ct s w i t h Co lo m bi a’s in t ern at i on alcom mit m en ts and con traven es t he purposeand objective of t he Rome St at ut e. Th e CCJh as d em an ded t h at t h e Co lo m bi angovern men t reject an y su ch agreem ent wi ththe US.

N GOs t hat have advocated f or t he Cour t

wi ll be cl osel y fol low in g t h e governm ent ’sact i on s regardi ng t h e IC C, esp eci all y t hepossi bi lit y of w it hd raw in g t h e Ar t ic le 124safegu ard. Civil societ y will also be watchf ulin ord er t o gu ar an t ee t hat al l t h ose w h ocom m i t w ar cr i mes in C o lo m bi a bepro secu t ed b y t h e I CC , i n t h e case t h atColombia is unwilling or unable to administerjustice for these alleged crimes. This challenge– un iversal p ro secu ti on o f cri min als - alsorequires a strong position by the governmentregardin g t he US request for immu nit y of i tsnati onals. Col ombi a mu st cont in ue i ts fi rman d sin cere com mi tm en t t o t he Cour t , an duphold the integrity of the Rome Statute.

Afgh an i st an , East Ti mo r , I n di a, M arsh al lIslan ds, Micron esia, Nauru , N epal, Palau, Sr iLan ka, Taj ik ist an , Ton ga, Tuv al u an dUzbekistan. Given that most Asian coun tries arest il l grap pl in g w it h t h ei r lo n g h i st ory o fcolon ial rule and repressive regimes an d/or aredependen t on the US for milit ary and econ omicassist an ce, it is n o wond er w hy many of th ecoun tr ies in th e region h ave been vuln erable totarget ed US opposit ion to th e ICC. These eff ortsby t h e Bush Ad min ist rat ion und ermi ne th ein t egr it y of t h e Co ur t an d it s p ot en t ialeffect iveness as an independent body capable oftryi ng an y i n divi du al w h o h as com mi t tedcrimes of international con cern : genocide, warcr im es, cr im es agai nst hu mani ty, and oncedefined, th e crime of aggression .

In one exampl e, t he relevant governm en tagen ci es in th e Ph ili ppin es h ad gi ven t h ei ren do rsemen t f or rat if icat io n of t h e Rom eStat ute as ear ly as 2000. On 28 Decem ber 2000,tw o days befo re th e d eadlin e f or signat ure,Presi dent Est rad a si gned t h e t reat y. Wh enPresident Ar royo took over a few month s lat er,there w ere st il l no objections an d ratifi cat ionwas exp ect ed sh or t l y. H ow ever , af ter t h eSep t em b er 11t h at t acks i n t h e US an d asubsequent seminar on t errorism con ducted byUS war experts, the bill for ratif ication was re-routed from th e Office of the President to th eDefense Min istry, wh ere it was kept on hold.On ly aft er su stai ned pressure b y l ocal I CCadvocates, th e bill was returned t o the Office ofth e Presi den t , w here it st i l l rem ain s.Meanw h ile, Presiden t Ar royo m et w it h U SPresident George W. Bush in Wash ington, andthen t oured th e region urgin g Asian leaders to

sign Bush ’s ant i-t er ror ism pact . Accordin g t othe latest reports, $80 million in military aidh as been prom ised t o Presid ent Ar royo inaddit ion to assuran ces to resolve th e Mu sli min surgen cy in th e south of th e coun try. As aresult of t his strong US pressure, Ph ilippin es isn ot likely to ratif y th e Rome Stat ute soon and isexpected to sign a bilat eral im punity agreementw ith th e US.

While con tinuing th e pace of ratification andblocking bilat eral agreemen ts with the U S arekey element s of t h e I CC camp aign in Asia,N GOs and governments are also rein forcing th ei mpor t an ce of impl em en tati on of t he Rom eSt at ut e. Al t h ou gh C amb od ia, M o n gol ia,Tajikistan and East Timor, th e Republic of Koreaand Afghan istan have completed rat ificati on,except f or M ongolia, non e of th ese coun tr iesh as aggressively advanced in terms of adoptingt he necessary im plemen ting legislat ion. In th ecase of M ongolia, an implementation workshopw as j oi ntly undert aken by key representativeso f bo th governm ent and no n-governm entorgan ization s an d support ed by the CI CC, th eCanadian Govern men t an d th e Open SocietyI n st i t ut e. Th is wo rksh o p p rovi ded t h em o men t u m f or t h e d ev el op m ent of t h ecou n t ry’s im p lem en t in g l egislat io n oncooperat ion an d complementarit y in volving agreat deal of co llabo rat io n am on g var io usgovernment agencies w ith acti ve civil societypartic ipation, a model th at is wor th duplicatingb y o th er cou n tr i es in t he regi on . In ot h ercoun tries, NGOs have begun massive educat ioncampaigns and mobilizat ion of various sect orst o carry ou t ef fecti ve impl ement at ion of th eRom e Stat ute.

Bu il di n g a b road er an d st ron ger I C Cco nsti tuency is essen ti al t o i ncreasin g acti vesu pp or t fo r rat if i cat i on an d st ron gim plement at ion of th e Rom e Statu te w it hinAsia. This wi ll req uire not on ly n at ional an dregional initiat ives t o promote t he ICC, but alsoan international ef fort t o coun ter US pressure t oweaken th is landmark international institut ion .W it h t he on go in g w ar i n I raq , Asia f acesd au n t in g ch all enges ah ead , but t h e m ainch allen ge for ICC advocates is t o put th e ICCo n t h e mai n st ream agen d a i n t h e Asianpeoples’ long search and st ruggle for hum anr ight s, justice an d peace.

Evel yn Serrano-Bal ais is t he CI CC AsiaCoordinator , based in Manila, Philippines.

Afghanist an became the 89t h St at e Party to t heRome Statute, aft er depositing its instrument ofaccession on 10 February 2003. (l-r) Shantha Rau,CICC Secretariat; Salahuddin Rabbani, Counsellor,Afghanistan Mission to the UN; D r. MohammadYunus Bazel, Minister Plenipotentiary, AfghanistanM ission t o t he UN; Tanya Karan asi os, CI CCSecretar iat; and H.E. Ambassador Ravan Farhadi,Permanent Representative of the Afghan Mission tothe UN.

Colombia and the ICC: Demands for Equal Justice for Allby the Colombian Commission of Jurists

Members of civil societ y in Colombia have playedan active role in raising-awareness of the I CC. (l-r)Dr . Alfonso Gómez Mendez, former Prosecut or ofColombia: Dr. Carlos Rodr íguez, Deputy Directorof t he Colombi an Commission of Jur ists; Ms.M arí a L uisa Manot as, Prof essor of Polit icalSciences at Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. Photo Credit : Universi dad Javeriana i n Bogotá.

The International Criminal Court has enteredinto a new phase after the first 18 judges weresworn in at t he I naugu ral Ceremon y held i nTh e Hague, t h e N et her lan ds o n 11 M arch2003. These Judges committed themselves, inpublic, "t o per fo rm th eir dut ies an d exerciset h eir po w ers h o n ou rab ly , f ai t h f ul l y,im p ar t i al ly an d con sci en t i ou sl y, an d t orespect th e conf ident ialit y of i nvest igati onsan d pr osecu t i on s an d t h e secr ecy o fdel i berat i o n s." A t t h at t i m e, t h e Ju dgesdecid ed by con sen su s on t h e Presid en cy:Judge Philippe Kirsch (Canada) is serving nowas Presi den t o f t h e C ou r t , an d A ku aKuenyehia (Ghana) and Elizabeth Odio Benito(Co st a Ri ca) as f i rst an d secon d vi cepresidents, respectively.

With the first bench in place, the Court ist aki n g i t s sh ap e as an i n st r um en t o fin t ernat i on al j ust i ce fo r t he m ost ser io uscr im es comm it ted again st h um an kin d. It isen visaged th at t he Assem bl y of States Part iesto the Rome Statute of the ICC will appoint,by con sen sus, a Prosecut or , in it s secon d

resum ed session , t o be held f rom 2 1 to 2 3April 2003 at the United Nations headquartersin New York. (Currently, the UN is being paidf or it s services t o act as Secret ar iat of t h eAssem bl y o f t h is n ew i n t ern at i on alorganization.)

I n t h e m ean t im e, t h e D i vi si o n o fCom mon Services o f th e Cour t cont in ues toset up t he n ecessary system s and i mplemen tt he requ ired logist ic m easures t o guaran t eet he p roper f unction ing of t he ICC. Amongstsu ch system s, t h e D i visi on is p repar in g a"Tabl eau d e Bord" to ref lect t he qu al it y ofju st ice rendered by t he Cour t an d serve as amanagement tool for measuring the strengthsan d weak n esses o f t h e C ou r t f rom t h eb egin n in g o f i t s w o rk. Th i s syst em o fevaluation , whi ch in clud es reliable legal andjudicial performance indicators, will allow theCo ur t t o ad opt cor rect ive act ion s promp tl yand effectively.

Th e m an agemen t param et ers servin g todesign t he Tableau de Bord are based on t heICC’s mandate as an organisation: • To serve the public;• To provide a judicial process leading to a fairdecision; and• To be a symbolic institution.

W h en serv in g t h e pu bl ic, t h e I CC sh allguarantee access to justice by: => Condu ctin g p roceedin gs an d oth er publicbusiness openly; => Enabling the public to use documentationand archives; => Maintaining the quality of infrastructures;and => Ensuring the quality of information.

When providing a judicial process leading to af air decisi on, t h e IC C sh all guaran tee a f airtrail without undue delay by:

=> C on d uct i n g a pu bl ic t r i al, in f o rm in gconstantly, timely and accurately; and=> Ensuring an independent and accountableCourt.

As a symbolic institution, the Court will:=> Work toward building up public trust andconf iden ce in t he Cou rt at th e in tern at ionallevel;=> C ont r ibut e t o a bet t er percept ion b y t hein t ernat i on al com m un i t y of w h et h er t heCourt is efficient in handling of cases; and=> Render clear and comprehensive decisionsof the Court.

Th e "Tabl eau de Bo rd " is o nl y on e of t heseveral safegu ards t hat t he Co urt is adopt ingto guarantee its role within the new trends ofglobalization.


The New Phase of the ICCBy the Press and Public Information Office of the International Criminal Court

Pict ured here, Bruno Cathala, Di rector of t heDivision of Common Services, along with SamMueller, Deputy Director. Photo Credit: ICC-CPI/Wim Van Cappellen

Making Progress with the Trust Fund for Victims: Nominations for the Boardof DirectorsBy Carla Ferstman and Jonathan O’Donohue

Article 79 of the Rome Statute provides for theestablishment of a Trust Fund "for the benefit

of victims of crimes within the jurisdiction oft h e Co u r t , an d o f t h e f am il ies o f suchvictim s." Th e Trust Fund is a n ecessary andintegral component of the Court’s restorativest ru ct u re t h at w il l ensu re reparati on s andassist an ce t o v ict im s o f gen ocid e, cr im esag ain st h um an i t y an d w ar cr i m es. I np ar ti cu lar , t h e Fu nd wi ll be an im po r tan tcomplement t o th e reparation s orders of t heCourt, for example, when perpetrators do nothave sufficient funds to pay such an order.

Th e r esol u t io n relat i n g t o t h eest abl i sh m en t o f t h e T ru st Fun d(PCN I CC/2002 /2 An n ex X II I) establ ish es aBoard of D irect ors w h o sho uld b e of "h ighm oral charact er , i mpar t ialit y and in tegr it yand sh all h ave competence in t he assi st an ceto victims of serious crimes." They shall servevol un tari ly in t h eir in divid ual cap acit y andar e el ect ed f or a t h ree-y ear t erm . Th eAssembly of States Parties elects the Board, "allof whom shall be of a different nationality, ont h e basi s o f eq ui t ab le geo grap h i caldistribution and taking into account the needt o ensure equi table gender dist rib uti on andequitable representation of the principle legalsyst em s of t h e wo r l d. " (PCN I CC /200 2/2 ,

Annex XIV) Th e respo n si bi l it i es of t h e Bo ard of

Direct ors are substant ial – n ot on ly w ill th eyhave t o pl ay an im po rt ant role i n secur i ngvol unt ary cont ribu tion s, t hey are also taskedwit h est abli sh ing and directin g t he act iv it iesan d p ro ject s of t h e T ru st Fu n d an d t h eall o cat io n of t h e p ro per t y an d m on eyavail able t o it, in accord ance wit h crit er ia t obe adopted by the Assembly of States Parties.Th e can did ates f or t he Board of Di rect orsshou ld t heref ore ref lect sp ecial exp er t ise inthese areas.

On ce t he Bo ard memb ers are i n p lace,pr ogress can be m ad e i n d raf t i n g t h emanagement criteria for consideration by theAssem bly and set t in g u p st ru ct ures for t heef f ect ive op erat i on of t h e Fun d. Th is w il lfacilit at e fun draising an d ensure t hat vict imsri gh ts are realized wi th th e shor t est possibledelay.

Carla Ferstman is Legal Director of Redress, andJonat han O’ Donohue i s Legal Advi sor t o t heI nt ern at ion al Just i ce Program of Amnest yInternational in London.

A soldier at Tone Babi, Cambodia, wh olost his legs in a landmine explosion. Photo Credit: UN/DPI Photo# 186410C by P. Sudhakaran.

P r o v i s i o n a lsite of the ICC,known as the"Ark", locat edin The Hague.The bui ldinghouses theDivision ofC o m m o nServi ces, theJ u d g e s ’Chambers, andthe Off ice ofthe Prosecutor,among ot hero f f i c e s .


Parliamentarians Around the World Continue Support for ICCby David Donat-Cattin

Parliamentarians have played a pivotal role int h e est ab l ish m en t o f t h e I n t ern at i on alCr i mi n al C ou r t , as d em on st rat ed b y t h e"Con sult ati ve Assemb ly of Parl iament ar iansfor th e I nt ern at ion al Cr im in al Co ur t ( ICC)"held i n Ot t aw a, Canada on 4-5 No vem ber2002, under t he auspices of Parliament ar iansfor Gl obal Acti on (PGA) an d ho st ed by th eCanadian PGA. The Forum was opened by theHon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs(Canada) an d th e Speakers of th e H ouse ofCo m m on s an d Sen at e of C an ada. Th eEu rop ean C om m i ssi o n (EU ) an d t h egovern men t s of Can ada, Sw ed en an d t h eNet her lands, as well as the Ford Foun dat ion,supported the event.

At t h e m eet in g , abo u t 1 00p ar l i am en t ar ian s f r om 53 co u n t r i esrepresenting all regions of the world discussedt h e mo st recent developm en ts and p en din gissues related to the effective operations of theInternational Criminal Court (ICC), includingt h e n eed to (1) i ncrease th e n um ber of th eStates Parties to the Rome Statute; (2) ensurefull cooperation of States with the Court andt h e en act m en t of com prehen sive nat io nallegislation; and (3) defend the integrity of thel ett er an d sp ir i t o f t h e Rom e St at ut e. Th eresu ltin g Ot tawa Pl an of Acti on provides anoverview on t he d eliberation s, and rei teratest h e clear com mi tm en t of par liam en tar ians,i ncl udin g several Speakers and Presid ent s ofC om m i t t ees, t o up h o ld t h e p r i n cip l e o fequality of all before th e law and t o opposean y di l ut i o n of t h e Rom e St at u t e, be i tthrough bilateral agreements proposed by theU ni ted States in vi olati on o f t he St at ut e o rSecur it y Coun ci l resolu ti ons vio latin g bot hthe Statute and the UN Charter.

Parliament ar ian s f rom n on-St at es Part ies,i n cl ud i n g Al ban i a, Ken ya, an d Ru ssia,r epo r t ed on sig n if i can t dev elo pm en t su n der t aken at th e n at i on al l evel . I n f act ,sh ort ly af ter t he meet ing, Alban ia deposit edi ts in strum en t of rat ificat ion , becomin g th e88th State Party to the Rome Statute.

M Ps from Stat es Par ti es di scu ssed t h ei reffor t s t o pass ICC impl ement ing legislat ion,t h us gen erat ing a ren ew ed com mit m en t i nthis crucial area of law-making. Also, all MPsagreed t hat parliament ar ians have a decisiverole t o play, especiall y as poli tical leadershipi s mo re and more essen t ial wh en a st ron gpower actively opposes the Court. At the closeo f t h e co n f eren ce, p ar l i am en t ar ian su nan im ousl y ad opt ed "th e Ot t awa Plan ofAction on the ICC".

A su bseq u en t regi on al p ar li am ent aryco n f eren ce f or p ar l iam en t ar i an s of t h eC ommo nweal th of In dep en den t States (CIS)w as h eld i n t h e Ru ssi an St at e D u m a i n

Moscow, Russia on 11-12 February 2003, alsoo rgan ized by PGA. Par t i c ip ant s i n clu dedpar liam ent ar ian s from CIS count ri es, Turkey,Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, asw el l as rep resen t at i ves o f i n t ern at io n alo rgani zat ion s, go vern ment al bod ies, N GOsan d academ ic in st i t ut i on s, i n cl ud in g t h eRussian Academy of Sciences.

Th e co n fer en ce agen da cov ered t h efollowing topics: 1) the impact of the ICC oni n t ern at io n al rel at i on s; 2) t h e p o t en t i ali m p act o f t h e I C C o n t h e p ro m ot i on o fhuman rights and the fight against terrorism;3) t he imp act of t he ICC o n n at ion al legalo rd ers an d t h e n ecessi t y t o en actimplementing legislation.

Am o n g t h e m an y pr om i n en tp ar liament ar ians at t he meet in g w as M r. V.Go regl jad , Fi rst D ep ut y Sp eaker of t h eC ou n ci l o f t h e Ru ssi an Federat i o n . H eu nd ersco red h is sup por t for t h e Cou r t: " I nw ar , t h ere are n o vi ct ors, b u t on l y t h evan quish ed. Wit h th e I CC, w e h ave a new

In au gu rat ion in Th e H ague, t he press w ereintroduced to the President of the Court, thePresi den t of t h e Assembly of Stat e Par t ies, aleader of t h e H ost Govern m en t , an d t h eConvenor of the NGO Coalition.

H i st o r i an s w il l w r i t e ab o ut t h ephenom en al 'p ar tn ersh ip' bet ween th e l ike-minded governments, the NGO Coalition andt h e rep resen t at iv es of t h e U N an din t ern at i o n al or gan izat i on s - t h e n ewdiplomacy - th at is at t he heart of t his greatadvan ce in democracy, hum an r ight s, just iceand the rule of law. We acknowledge that the

ch al lenges th at t h e "IC C com m un it y" m ayface in the next ten years may equal or exceedthose of this past decade. While tensions willnaturally arise between the governments, theJudges, the ICC and the NGOs in the comingyears, i t m ust also be recogn ized t h at t h eind ep en dence and i nt egr i ty of th ese act orsh as been an d m u st con t in u e t o befundamental to this collaboration.

W e m ust b ear in m in d t h at t h e Rom eStatute and the Court are responses not to thebest, but to the worst in humanity. One of themost tragic truths in my life during these lastfi ve years, repeat ed b y in t ern at ion al law

experts at almost every conference I attend, isthat if the atrocities in Rwanda, Bosnia, Chileor C am bodi a, w ere t o h ap pen again t oday,alm o st n ot h i n g w ou l d ch an ge. Th e U N ,Secu r i t y Co u n ci l , an d i n t ern at i on alco mm u n it y w ou ld have do n e n o th i n g toprevent the next genocide.

Except, the International Criminal Court.As th ese t er r ible cri mes co nt inu e to t ear

t h e w or l d apar t , I h o pe al l of u s w i llremember the victories and milestones of thisgreat endeavor, not only in 2003, but also thepast decades of h ard work and collaborat ionthat has led to the creation of this Court.

I n m y closi ng comm en ts on at a SpecialCon vo cat i on in h on or o f t h e I CC Jud gesconvened by the Coalition at the Peace Palaceon March 10th, I borrowed a thought from agreat Amercian poet, Robert Frost, who wroteabo ut t h e b ir t h o f h is n at i o n 's greatdemocratic constit uti on . The founders of t heICC, I said, didn't believe in the future, theybelieved the future in.

Bill Pace i s Convenor of the Coalit ion f or th eInternational Criminal Court, a network of over2,000 non-governmental organizations dedicatedto a fair, effective and independent ICC.

The press briefing following theIn augurat ion incl uded t hestat ements by: (l-r ) EdmondWellenstein, Director-Generalof the Dutch Task Force on theICC; Bill Pace, Convenor of theCICC; HRH Prince Zeid Ra’adZeid al-Hussein, President ofthe Assembly of States Parties;and Judge Ph ilippe Kirsch,President of the ICC.Photo Credit: Iris Vetter

Opening panel at "International Criminal Courtand t he Promoti on of t he Rule of Law ," apar li ament ary con ference f or CI S countr ies,organized by Parliamentarians for Global Action,sponsored by the European Commi ssi on andSw edish I nternat ional D evelopment Agency(SIDA), held in Moscow, Russia on 11-12 February2003. ( l-r ) Mr. D mi try Rogozin, MP, RussianFederation; Sen. Raynell Andreychuk, Canada;Hon. Ms. Lubov Sliska, Deputy Speaker of the StateDuma, Russian Federati on; Hon. Mr . ValeryGoregljad, First Deputy Chairperson of the Councilof Federation, Russian Federation; and H.E. Mr .Dimitrios Paraskevopoulos, Ambassador of Greeceto the Russian Federation.Photo Credit : PGA

(l-r ) The Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of ForeignAf fairs, Canada; and The Hon. Kenneth Dzirasah,Deputy Speaker of Ghana and President of PGA, atthe "Parliamentary Assembly for the InternationalCriminal Court and t he Promotion of the Rule ofLaw," held in Ottawa, Canada.Photo Credi t: PGA

Continued from page 1

Parliamentarians continued on page 11

" I s o l emn l y u nd e r t a k e t ha t I w i l l p e r f o r m m y d u t i e s and e x e r c i se m y p o w e r s a s j u d g e o f t hc o n s c i e n t i o u s l y, and t ha t I w i l l r e sp e c t t he c on f i d ent i a l i t y o f i n v e st i g a t i o ns and p r o s e c u t i- So l e m n u n d er t a k i n g , a cc o r d i n g t o Ru l e 5 o f t h e R u l e s o f Pr o c e d u r e a n d E v i d e n c e

Delegates of t he 85 States Par ties t o the Rome Statute casttheir ballots in the historic first election of the ICC judges (3-7 February 2003).

(l-r) HE Arthur N.R. Robinson, President of Trinidad and Tobago,is seated here next to CICC Convenor Bill Pace; HRH Prince ZeidRa’ad Zeid al-H ussein , President of th e Assembly of St atesParties; and Bruno Cathala, Director of the Division of CommonServices; at the Special NGO Convocation in honor of the Judgeson the Occasion of the ICC Inauguration (10 March 2003).

The ICC Judges and other dist inguished guests heard openingremarks f rom sen ior off ici als of th e Di visi on of CommonServices and the Dutch Government, followed by presentationsby representatives of the CICC at the Special NGO Convocationin honor of the Judges (10 March 2003).

View of the Ridder Zaal, or Hall of Knights, where the solemn Inaugural Ceremony took place in TheHague (11 March 2003). Photo Credit: ICC-CPI/Wim Van Cappellen

The 18 Judges of the ICC after being sworn in as the first bench, pictured here with Dr. Jan Peter Balkanende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of theNetherlands; UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; and HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, President of theAssembly of States Parties (11 March 2003). Photo Credit: ICC-CPI/Wim Van Cappellen

Members of the NGO Coalition for the ICC attended the first resumed session ofthe Assembly of States Parties, monitoring the election of the Judges (3-7 February2003).



u d g e o f t he I n t e r na t i o na l C r i m i na l C o u r t ho no u r a b l y , f a i t hf u l l y , i m p a r t i a l l y andd p r o s e c u t i o ns and t he se c r e c y o f d e l i b e r a t i o ns . "

"We fi rm ly beli eve t hat th e electi on o f t h e f irstgeneration of judges is a historic moment and thatt he Co urt wil l be decisive in th e im provement int h e p rot ect io n o f t h e m ost basi c h u man r igh t sworldwide. We will continue to contribute to thismost noble goal with all our efforts."- H.E. I van Simonovic, Ambassador of Croatia to t heUnited Nations (7 February 2003)

"Th e bir t h of th e In t ern at ion al C r im in al Cou r tmarks a shared recognition among members of thei n t ern at i on al co m mu n i t y t h at i n t ern at i on almechanisms can provide a forum for accountabilitywhen the national systems fail, and give new hopef or ju st ice an d l on g- term peace. The Co al it i onshares th e fervent hop e th at th e I CC wil l help tosave future generations from the scourge of war andend impunity." - William Pace, Convenor of the CICC, at t he SpecialN GO C onvocat ion i n hon or of th e Judges on t heOccasion of the ICC Inauguration (10 March 2003)

"Th e In t er n at io n al Cr i m i n al C o ur t is anindepen den t body; it is n eut ral and im par ti al andmust operate according to the highest traditions ofthe Rule of Law. At the same time, it is importantto appreciate th at , in many ways, i t does n ot andin d eed can n o t st an d alo n e. I t is, at on ce,independent and interdependent with many of theoth er in sti tut ion s an d act ors of th e in t ernat ionalcommunity."- Judge Philippe Kirsch, President of the Int ernationalCriminal Court (11 March 2003)

"By the solemn undertaking they have given here inopen cour t, t hese el even men and seven w omen,rep resen ti ng all region s of th e wo rl d and man ydif ferent cul tures and l egal t radit ion s, have madet h em selves t h e em bo di men t o f o ur co ll ect i veconscience.

Above all, however, this court is for those whomight be victims in the future. If the court lives upt o o ur exp ect at i on s, t h ey w il l n o t b e v ict im s,because would-be violators will be deterred.

Th at is w hy i t i s so i mp or tan t t h at you , th ej ud ges, an d all t h e of f i c ial s of t h e C ou r t ,demon strate in all your act ion s and decision s anun im peach able i nt egr it y an d imp ar t ialit y. I n allyo ur f u n ct io n s - ju d ici al, adm i n ist rat iv e an drep resen tat io nal - you m ust act w it ho ut fear o rfavour, guided and inspired by the provisions of theRome Statute."- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the InaugurationCeremony of the ICC (11 March 2003)

"The Court which we have created, and in which wewi ll in st all jud ges to day, respon ds t o one of t h edarkest parts of our human experience, and yet thisis also a ceremony of hope.

… Th e Rom e St at u t e an d th e I n t er nat i on alCr imin al Cour t are bot h co llecti ve achievem en ts.No sin gle st at e, or grou p of st at es, can claim aspecial rol e in creati ng th em. All members of th ein t ern ati on al co mm un it y, st at es, an d n on -st at eentities alike, have participated, and many continuet o p ar t ic i p at e i n t h e est ab li sh m en t of t h eInternational Criminal Court." - HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, President ofthe Assembly of St at es Par ties of the ICC (11 March2003)

"I t is d if f i cul t t o f i n d w o rd s t o d escr i be t h ei mpor t an ce of th is meet ing wh ich is takin g pl acet od ay. I t marks a most sign if icant st age in t hep ro gress tow ard s t h e ach ievem en t o f ju sti ce an dpeace for all humanity, for people everywhere.

... We're n ot t alkin g abo ut t h e sovereign ty ofn at i o n s o r t h e po w er t h at is p ossessed b yi n di vid ual s, com mu n it i es, or n at ion s. W e aret al ki n g ab o ut p eo pl e an d t h e i mp o r t an ce ofbr in gi ng justi ce and peace to peoples everyw here.They are th e object of our d eliberatio n, as in deedthey have been the object for those of us who havecam paigned fo r decades f or th e establi shm en t ofinternational criminal justice that would reach outto individuals…"- H.E. Arthur N.R. Robinson, President of Trinidad andToba go, from hi s address at t he Speci al N GOConvocation in honor of the Judges on the Occasion ofthe Inauguration of the ICC (10 March 2003)

"I n tern at io n al ju st i ce w il l b e st ren gt h en ed o nM arch 11t h w h en t h e I n t ern ati o nal Cr i m in alCour t’s 18 j udges are sw orn in at The Hague...TheICC will focus its work on the worst atrocities andthose who mastermind them. It will not be a courtthat the US need fear. In fact, the ICC will becomea pow erf ul in st rum en t of j ust ice ad van cin g th eAm er ican co mm i t men t t o t h e rul e o f l aw an dinternational peace and security. Even minimal UScooperation with the ICC would make that happensooner.

These seven wom en and eleven m en represen texcep t io n al ex per i en ce i n cr im i n al an din tern ati onal law. Each of t he nation s t hey comefrom is a friend of the United States and is rated as‘f ree’ by t h e n on -pro fi t organ izat io n Fr eed omHouse."- Ambassador D avid Scheff er, Senior Vice President ofthe Unit ed Nations Association of the United States ofAmer ica (UNA-USA) and former U.S. Ambassador f orWar Crimes Issues (11 March 2003)

"Each step taken toward the creation of the ICC hasbeen remarkable in its novelty and in its promise tom ake o ur w or ld a m ore acco un t ab le, m ore j ustp l ace. We h ave al read y w it n essed so m an ysuccesses along this road: The creation of a ground-breakin g Statut e t hat has already changed t he f aceo f in ternat ion al l aw ; th e com ing t oget her of t heinternational community to give that Statute effectan d mean in g; and , m o st recen t ly , an en t i rel yunprecedented election system that has resulted ina ben ch of qual ified judges represen tin g men an dwomen and every region of the world.

This inauguration is no exception in its import– on March 11, 2003, the most tangible step yet willbe taken t oward t he establishm ent of t he I CC, anembodiment of international law and justice."- Fiona McKay, International Justice Program Director ,Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (11 March 2003)

Photo Credit: ICC-CPI/Wim Van Cappellen

I n an i mp o r t an t st ep t o w ard t h eest abli shm en t of t h e I CC, t h e Assem bl y o fStates Parties elected the first 18 Judges of theCourt at its resumed session from 3-7 February2003.

The following persons were elected toserve on the world’s first permanent criminalco ur t : Mr . Ren é Bl at tm an n (Bol iv ia) ; M s.M au reen H ard in g C lar k ( I rel an d ) ; M s.Fato umata Diar ra (M ali ); Mr . Adr ian Fu lford(U n it ed Kin g do m ); M r . Kar l T. H ud so n -Ph il l i ps (T ri n id ad & Tob ago) ; M r . Cl aud eJord a (Fran ce) ; M r . H an s-Pet er Kau l(Germany); Mr. Philippe Kirsch (Canada); Mr.Erkki Kourula (Finland); Ms. Akua Kuenyehia(Gh an a); M s. Eli zabet h Od io Ben it o (C ost aRica); M r. Gheorghios M. Pikis (Cyprus); Ms.Navanethem Pillay (South Africa); Mr. MauroPo li t i ( I t aly ); M r . Tu il o m a N ero n i Sl ad e(Sam oa) ; M r . San g-hyen Son g (Sou th Korea);M s. Sylvi a St ein er (Brazi l) ; an d M s. An i t aUsacka (Latvia).

Ov er t he course of 3 3 ballo ts, th eelections yielded some surprising results – notl east of w hi ch was t h e elect io n of sevenw omen to t he Cou rt (six in t he f irst rou nd).Th e presence of seven w omen on t h e Cour trep resen t s a d ram at i c i n crease w h encompared to t he oth er int ernati onal judicialinstitutions. (One woman currently serves onthe 15-member International Court of Justice,one on the 16-member International CriminalTribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and threeon t he In t ern at ion al Cr im in al Tr ibu nal f orRwan da. N o w om an i s serv in g on th e 21-member International Tribunal for the Law ofthe Sea.)

Th e el ect i o n s also p rov ed t h eef f ect iv en ess o f t h e m i n im u m vo t i n greq u irem en t s i n t h e ru les of p roced ur e.Opponents of the rules predicted they wouldb e t oo co m p li cat ed an d cu m b erso m e,especial ly wit h th e n eed for t he mand at oryp ro po r t i on o f j ud ges wi t h cr i m i n al l awex per i en ce (L ist A) an d t h o se w i t hi n t ern at i on al law ex per i en ce (L i st B).H ow ever , even af t er t h e m in i mu m vo t in grequirements were no longer in effect after thefirst four rounds, they served as a standard fordelegates to take into account at each phase ofballoting.

Th e m in im um vot in g requi rem en t sf or gend er were at least six wo men and si xmen. The requirements for each region were:Af r ica, 3 ; Asia, 2; East ern Euro pe, 2; Lat inAmerica, 3; and W estern Europe and Oth ers,3. With the exception of Eastern Europe, them i n im u m vo t in g requ i rem en t s f or eachregion were met or exceeded.

Th e p an el of ju dges in cl udes t h reecandi dat es from Af ri ca, t hree f rom Asia, f ourfrom Latin American, one Eastern Europe andseven f rom t he West ern Europe an d Ot hersgroup. Ten jud ges were elected f ro m List Aand eight from List B.

The election s w ere also sign ificant inthat they represented the first time that NGOsplayed such an active part in an internationalju dici al election . Nati onal an d in tern at ion al

NGOs w o rked t o m on i t or t h e pro cess ofnom in atio n at t h e n at io nal level t o ensu reappropriate elections procedures as well as then om i n at i on an d el ect i on o f qu al if i edcan d i dat es, t h ro ugh i n t ervi ew s,qu est i on n ai res an d p ub l ic f o rum s f orcandidates.

At the end of the voting process, thePresi d en t o f t h e Assem bl y dr ew lo t s t odet ermin e th e length of th e judges’ t erms asmandated by the Rome Statute. Judges servingt h ree-y ear t erm s are: Kau l, Ko ur ul a,Kuen yehi a, Slad e, Song, and U sacka. Ju dgesservin g six-year t erms are: Bl at tm an n, Jorda,Kirsch, Pikis, Pillay, and Politi. Judges servingni ne-year t erm s are: Clark, Di ar ra, Fu lf ord,Hudson-Phillips, Odio-Benito and Steiner.

Th e Jud ges w ere formally sw orn int oof fi ce at a sp ecial cerem on y on 11 M arch2003, i n t h e H ague, t he N et h er l an ds af t erwh i ch t he j ud ges elect ed Ju dg e Ph il ip peKi rsch of C an ada as Presiden t, Jud ge AkuaKu en yeh ia of Gh ana as f irst v ice-presi dentand Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito of Costa Ricaas second vice-president.

Pam Spees served as Program Direct or for t heWomen’s Caucus for Gender Justice.


Historic ICC Elections Result in Representative and Qualified Courtby Pam Spees

The Women's Caucus f or Gender Just ice, theProject on Int ernational Cour ts and T ribunal sand the United Methodist Office for the UnitedNati ons sponsored panel di scussions with thewomen judicial candidates for the InternationalCriminal Court. (l-r) Rhonda Copelon, professorof l aw an d di rect or of t he I n ternat i onalWomen’s Human Rights Law Clinic (IWHR) atCUN Y School of Law ; Angela Kin g, Un itedNations Special Advisor on Gender Issues andAdvan cemen t of Women , and I CC Ju dgeMaureen Harding Clark.

(l-r) ICC Judges Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner,Navaneth em Pi llay, and Fat oumat a D embeleDiarra responded to questions from civil societyat a panel held prior to the elections.

Globalization of Justice: The ICC on 2003 World Social Forum Agendaby Jeanne Sulzer

The issue of the International Criminal Court( I C C) w as, f or t h e f irst t i m e, p ut on t h eag en da o f t h e 3rd An n u al Wo r l d So cialForum, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil from 23-28Jan uary 2003. Th is ach ievem en t was a resultof eff ort s l ed by t he Int ernation al Federationf or Hum an Righ ts (FID H) to rai se-awarenessthat "another world is possible" with the ICC,drawing attention to the Court’s relevance tothe other issues discussed at the World SocialForum.

M o re t h a n 20 0, 00 0 peo p le f rom allaround the world – many of whom are trade

un ion rep resen tat ives an d so ci al w orkers -exchanged information and discussed variousissues i ncl ud in g econ om i c gl ob ali zat i on ,racism , in t o l eran ce an d t h e peacef u lresolution of conflicts. Addressing the ICC int h e con t ex t o f t h e W or l d So ci al Fo rumrevealed th e cu rren t paradox th at l ies in t hesimu lt an eou s movement s for t he ext en sion

an d rest r i ct io n of j u st i ce. I t is qu i t eremarkable that, at a time when the world ist ry in g t o san ct i on t h e ol d er f or m s o fi m pu n i t y, ot h ers are bei n g i n ven t ed orreact ivat ed . Gl obal izat io n h as favored t h egro w i n g in t er fer en ce o f eco n o m ic an dfin an cial act ors wh ose activ iti es, p olicies andprograms have a recognized impact on human

r i gh t s, bu t w h oseresp o n si bi li t y u n d erin t ern at i on al l aw is n o tc o r r e s p o n d i n g l yrecognized.

For t h ose reaso n s,FIDH believed a discussionof the impact of economicglo bali zat ion on h um anr i gh t s vi o lat i o n s w asessen t ial t o t h e W or l dSo ci al For um , w h erebypart icipant s could explorepo ssi ble m ech an ism s t o

"Globalization of justice is one of the majorh um an r igh ts achievement s of t he l ast 50years. Th e FID H cal ls on t he 2004 Wor ldSocial Forum in India to make the ICC andthe fight against impunity a cornerstone ofits agenda."- Sidiki Kaba, Presi dent of the Int ernat ionalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Panelists during the "Globalization of Justice" seminar, organized by FIDH. (l-r) Alirio Uribe, President of Colectivo de abogados Colombia and Vice-President of FIDH; Sidiki Kaba, President of FI DH; William Pace, CICCConvenor; Raji Sourani, President of the Palestinian Center for Human Rightsand Vice President of FIDH; and Jeanne Sulzer, Senior Legal Advisor to FIDH.

Continued on next page


f igh t agai n st t h is n ew f o rm o f i m pu ni t y.Organ i zed o n 27 Janu ary 2003 , t h e FI D Hseminar on the "Globalization of Justice" wasatt en ded by m ore th an 400 h um an r i ght sdef en ders from all aro und t he wor ld. I t w asal so a un iqu e opp ort un it y for in ternati onalhuman rights organizations, such as FIDH andAm nest y I nt ernat ional, to express th eir long-st an di ng com mi tm ent t o t he f ight agai nstimpunity and their support for ICC.

As Wi ll i am R. Pace, C on ven o r of t h eCoalition for the ICC who participated in theFI DH sem in ar rem arked, "Th e 3rd W or l dSocial Forum m ade i nt ernation al j ustice an dhuman rights the main social subjects on theagen da. The econ omic pillar is n ot t he onlypillar of globalization and the globalization ofju st ice is, in t h i s resp ect , essen t i al f ordemocracy."

One of the highlights of the seminar wast h e l aun ch o f an ap peal f o r u n iv er salrat ifi cat ion of t he Rom e Statut e o f th e I CC,par t i cu lar f or t h e M id dl e East an d N o r t hAfrican regions. Several delegates to the WorldSocial Forum u rged Arab St at es to ratif y th e

Ro me Statut e and suppor t th e est ablish men tof th is ground -breakin g Co urt , ch arged wit ht h e prosecu ti on of t he most seri ous cr i mescommitted against humankind. While most ofthe Arab States have signed the Rome Statute,only Jordan has ratified the treaty.

Follow in g several present ati ons on th eICC, a roundtable focused on the mechanismsavail ab le to in vesti gate and prosecut e t h eaut h ors of t h e m ost seri ous eco no mi c andso ci al cr im es. Pan eli st s i ncl ud ed Wi ll iamBourd on , law yer an d p resi den t o f Sh erp a;Peter Wei ss, Vi ce President of t he US-basedCen ter fo r C onst it u ti on al Righ t s; an d PaulH o f f man , Ch ai r of t h e I n t ern at i on alC om m i t t ee o f Am n est y I n t ern at io n al.Part icipant s in t he roun dtable acknow ledgedt h at w h i l e, o n t h e o n e h an d , cor po rat ecr im in al accoun t ab ili ty i s ei th er ab sen t orm o vi n g sl o wl y, o n t h e o t h er h an d,i nt ernat io nal cr im in al j ust ice i s gath er in gm oment um – t hrough th e st rengt heni ng ofin t ernatio nal an d nati onal jur isdicti ons, t hecreati on of ad hoc tr ib unals f or th e f ormerYu go sl avia an d Rw an da, an d t h e recen t

est abli sh ment of t h e In t ernati onal Cr imi nalCourt.

Jeanne Sulzer is Sen ior Legal Advisor to t heInternational Justice Program of the InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH).

State Ratification DateNorway 10 September 2002Trinidad &

Tobago 6 February 2003

State Signature DateArgentina 7 October 2002Austria 10 September 2002Belgium 11 September 2002Benin 10 September 2002Costa Rica 16 September 2002Denmark 13 September 2002Ecuador 26 September 2002Finland 10 September 2002France 10 September 2002

Hungary 10 September 2002Iceland 10 September 2002Italy 10 September 2002Luxembourg 10 September 2002Madagascar * 12 September 2002Mali 20 September 2002Mongolia 4 February 2003Namibia 10 September 2002New Zealand 22 October 2002Peru 10 September 2002Portugal 10 December 2003 Senegal 19 September 2002Switzerland 10 September 2002United

Kingdom 10 September 2002

The Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Court

Act ivi sts promoti ng t hat "Another Wor ld isPossible", duri ng the t he 3rd Ann ual WorldSocial Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The Agreement on Pr ivileges an d I mm unit iesof t he Co ur t (API C) w as d raf t ed b y t hePrep arat ory C om m issio n of t h e I C C an dadopted by th e Assem bly of St at es Par ties on 9Sep t em ber 200 2. Th e Agreem ent i s anint ern ation al t reaty open to all States, not onlyt ho se St at es w h ich are par t y to th e Ro meSt atut e. The API C w ill ent er in to force aft er ithas been rat if ied b y t en cou nt r ies. As o f 24February 2003, on ly t wo st at es h ave ratified the

Agreement (n amely Norway and Tr inidad andT o b a g o ) .

The Coalition urges all St at es to sign , ratifyan d implemen t t he Agreemen t at th e earliestpossible opport unit y and th ereby gu arantee th eef fective an d independent function ing of th eCourt . From t he day it begin s investigat ion ofits f irst case, t he Court must be able to rely onSt at es Par t i es t o resp ect i m m un i t y an dprivileges as foreseen in t he Rome Stat ute and

t he API C. Widespread signature an d rat ificat ionof t he Agreem ent on Privileges and Immun itieswill enable the ICC to f unction with in a st rongand reliable f ramework - p rot ectin g of fic ials,st aff , v icti ms, wit n esses and ot her perso nsinvolved in t he w ork of th e Court , as w ell as itsb ui ld in gs an d o t her reso u rces. For m o rein format ion on eff or ts to prom ote si gn at ureand rat if icat io n of th is agreemen t, con tactCecilia Nilsson at: [email protected]

Signatures and Ratifications of the Agreement on the Privilegesand Immunities of the ICC (2 Ratifications, as of 14 April 2003)

tool to strengthen peace." Following this, Mr.D. Rogozin, President of the Foreign RelationsCommittee of the Duma, affirmed that vis-à-vi s t h e I C C t h ere sh o ul d be "n o do ub l est an dard s, an d n o exem pt i on s f or p eace-keepers…Equality of all before the law meansthat no one is more equal than others."

Mr . M. Gr ishankov, Depu ty Chair of th eDu ma Securi ty Comm it tee, t hen an nou ncedthat President Putin had issued instructions tot he Du ma t o im pl em en t t he Ro me St atu t ein t o nati onal law . Fi nally, D r. R. Ko lodkin ,Legal Adv isor o f t h e Ru ssian M in ist ry f orForeign Affairs, stressed the importance of thep resi den t i al d eci si o n t o su bm i t t h e IC Clegislat ion t o Par liam ent . Dr . Kolodkin urgedt hat th e St at es Par t ies to t h e Rome St at ut eshould soon reach more than the 50% of the

U N m em bersh ip , t h us m axi m izi n g U Nsu p po r t f or t h e I CC . At t h e cl o se of t h em eeti ng, part ic ipant s ad opt ed t he "MoscowD eclar at io n o n Rat i f icat i o n an dI mpl em en tati on of th e Rome St at ut e of th eICC in the CIS."

Ef f or t s are b ein g m ad e t o ef fect i velyfollow-up with the Ottawa Plan of Action andM oscow D ecl arat io n , in ord er t o i n creaseglob al su ppo rt f or t h e Co ur t an d un iversalratification and implementation of the RomeSt at ut e. A secon d sessi on of t he Con sul tat iveAssembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC willtake place in September 2003.

David Donat-Cattin is the Senior Program Officerand European Coordinator of the I nternat ionalL aw and H uman Ri ght s Program atParliamentarians for Global Action.

H .E. M r . Jargalsai khan En kh saikhan ,Ambassador Ext raordinary and PlenipotentiaryPermanent Representative of Mongolia, signs theAgreement on the Privileges and Immunities of theInternational Cr iminal Court on 4 February 2003. Photo Credit: UN T reaty Of fi ce

Citizens from aroundt he wor ld, includingf ormer Nu rembergProsecut or BenFerencz, par ticipatedin an "InternationalBeach Operation" onM arch 11 in TheH ague, t odemonstrate globalresist ance to t he USA m e r i c a nS e r v i c e m e m b e r sProt ecti on Act(ASPA), also dubbed"The Ha gueInvasion Act". Ph oto Credi t : A m nestyI n t e r n a t i o n a l

Parliamentarians continued from page 7

* Madagascar is a signatory to the Rome Statute but has not yet ratified the treaty.


Implementation and Universal Ratification of Rome Statute: Key Issues atGlobal Meetings

"The Lesotho Conference on ImplementingLegi sl at i on f o r t he Rome St at u t e o f t heI nt ernat io nal Cr i minal Cou r t ," ho sted byt h e Govern m en t o f L eso t h o w i t h t h ecom pliment s of th e Govern ment of Can ad a;European Union; International Committee fort he Red Cross f or Sout h ern Afr ica an d t h eI n di an Ocean ; Op en Soci et y I n st it u t e;International Centre for Criminal Law Reforman d C r imi n al Just i ce Poli cy; an d N o PeaceWit hout Just ice, h eld in Maseru , Lesoth o on20-24 January. Amon g th e top ics d iscu ssedwere: St ate obligati ons and m echani sms forcooperation with the Court; complementarity;an d approaches for .impl ement ing legislat ion.For m o re i n fo rm at i on , con t act Ei l eenSkinnider at: [email protected]

"Wha t is ju st i ce f or t he D emocra t i cRep u b l i c of Co ng o?" , a co n f er en ce co -organized by ASADH O, Grou pe Lot us, Ligu edes Electeurs and other local groups affiliatedw it h FI D H , h el d i n Ki n shasa, D em ocrat i cRepublic of Con go on 25-28 February 2003.Par tic ipan ts discussed im plem ent at ion of th eRom e Statu te, possible first cases before t h eI CC , an d o t h er l egal i ssu es. Par t ic i pan t ssu bm i t t ed a l ist of recom m en d at io n s t ogovernm ent off ici als. For m ore in formatio n,con t act Jeann e Sulzer at jsulzer@f idh .org orMarceau Sivieude at [email protected]

Semi nar o n I mp l ement at i on of t heRome St at u t e i n Gab on, organ ized by t h eInternational Centre for Criminal Law Reform(I CC LR) an d Cr im in al Just i ce Pol icy, wi t hsu pp or t f rom t h e D epar t m en t of Foreig nAf f air s an d I n t ern at i on al T rade (D FAI T )Can ada, held in Li brevi lle, Gabon , on 10-13March 2003. Key govern ment off ic ial s f romth e M ini st r ies of Justi ce and Foreign Aff ai rs,ju d ges, par li am en t ar i an s an d N GOrep resen t at ives di scussed i mp lem en t at io nstrat egies for Gabo n. Par ti ci pan t s proposedthe creation of a national committee chargedwi th draf ti ng im plement in g l egislat ion . For

m o re in f o rm at io n , con t actRu ssel M ezém é M b a at :r u s s e l _ m e z e m e _ m b a @ y a h o o . f ro r Zéph ér i n L osan g e at :[email protected]

Seminar o n t heC on t r i b u t i o ns o f C i v ilSociety in the Fi ght AgainstImpunity in the Great LakesReg i o n, organ i zed b y t h eH um an Ri gh t s League o f t heGreat Lakes (Ligue d es droit sde la personn e dans la régiond es Gran ds L acs, LD GL ), inco ll abo rat i on w i t h H um anRights Watch, held in Arusha,Tan zan i a f rom 10-14 M arch20 03. Par t ic ip ant s i n cl ud edN GO represen t at ives from Rwan da, Bu ru ndiand D em ocrati c Republ ic of Congo. On e ofthe outcomes of the meeting was a resolution,u rgi n g t h e gov ern m en t s of Rw an da an dBuru n d i t o t ake con cret e act i on s t o wardrat ifi cat ion of t he Ro me St at ut e. Fo r m orei n f orm at i on , co n t act Pascal Kam bal e at :[email protected]

Semi nar o n t he d ra f t I CCI mp lement at ing L egisl at i on f or Senegal,organized by the Ministry of Justice,held inD akar , Sen egal o n 1 9-21 M arch 20 03.Participants, including the Minister of Justicean d several n ati on al ju dges, di scu ssed th eimplementing legislation and adopted a draftw hi ch i ncorporat e i nt o Sen egal ese l aw coreI CC cr im es, provision s on coop erat ion wit ht h e I CC , an d un i versal j ur i sd i ct io n f o rgen ocid e, war cr im es, an d cr im es agai n sth u m an i t y. Th e draf t i s exp ect ed t o bepresent ed to t he Par liament soon. For morei n fo rm ait o n, co n t act M o ham ed Keb e vi ap h on e: + 2 21 64 4 1 60 o r v ia em ai l:[email protected]

M i ssio n o n i mp l ement at i o n i n TheG a m b i a ,organi zed by t he Coali tion for t he

ICC and the Gambian Network for the ICC inBanj ul, Th e Gambi a on 17-2 1 March 2003.Members of t he delegat ion m et w it h severalgov er nm en t o ff i c ial s i n cl u di n g t h e Vi cePresi den t, Att orney Gen eral, Ch ief Just ice ofth e Supreme Cour t , an d t he Speaker of t hePar l i amen t am on g o t h ers, al l o f w h omexpressed t heir suppo rt for th e developmentof st ro n g an d ef f ect i ve im p l em en t in glegi sl at io n. For more in form at io n, con tactI saac Fl at t au at : c i cc12@i ccn ow . org orAlphonse Nkunzimana at: [email protected]

"The I nt ernat ional Cr imi nal Cou r t", aco n feren ce o rgan ized b y Asso ciat io n desDroits de l’Hommes et de l’Univers Carcérale(Association for Human Rights and Prisons) incollaboration wit h t he Coalit ion f or t he I CCin Brazzaville, Congo from 26-28 March 2003.Th e m eeti ng gat h ered NGO represent ati vesand parliamentarians to discuss ratification ofth e Rom e St at ut e. Par t i ci pan t s su bm it t edrecom m en dat io n s t o t h e govern m en t f orspeed y rat if icat io n. Fo r m ore in fo rm at ion ,co n t act M oké Lo am ba at :[email protected]

Members of t he Gambian Net work for th e IC C, alon g wi threpresentatives of the CICC, during a mission on implementation inThe Gambia, held in Banjul from 17-21 March 2003.

" Pu er t o R ic o and t he I nt erna t i o nalCr i mi nal Cour t ", a fo rum organized by RedInternacional de Profesionales del Derecho ofAm n est y I n t ern at i on al Puer t o Ri co, co-spo n so red by t h e Pu er t o Ri can BarAsso ci at i on , t h e C en t ro d e D erech o sH u man o s de la Escu ela de D erech o d e l aU ni versidad I n teram er i cana de Puert o Ricoand th e Adasme Estu dio, h eld in San Juan,Puert o Rico on 21 January 2003. Part icipant sh eard presen tation s on th e Rom e St at ute, anan aly sis o f US op p osi t io n , an d u n iversalj ur i sdi cti on . d iscu ssed t h e im po r t ance ofcodi fyin g viol at io ns of h um an r ight s. As aresult of this and other activities, the LawyersGroup of Am nesty In tern at ional Puert o Ricosub mi tt ed propo sed revision s on th e Pen alCode to the Committee of Legal Affairs of theSenat e, in o rd er t o broaden Pu er t o Rico’ sj u r isdi ct i on over I CC cr i m es. Fo r m o re

in f o rm at i on , co n t act H ug o Rel va at :[email protected]

M issi o n o n i mp l emen t at io n i nUruguay, organized by Amnesty Internationalan d t h e CI CC, con d ucted i n Mo nt evid eo,Ur ugu ay on 25 -27 Febr uar y 2 003 . Th edel egat i on m et w i t h represen t at iv es ofCongress, i ncludi ng members o f t he SenateCo mm i t t ee on Co n st i t ut i o n al an d L egalAf f airs, u rgi n g t h em t o ad op t st r on gim p l em en t i n g l egi sl at io n . Am n est yI n t ern at io n al U ru gu ay d el i vered astat emen t , exp ressin g it s co ncern s f or t hedraft i mp lem en t in g l egi slat io n w h ich h asbeen su bm it ted by t h e Govern men t t o t heCongress. All th e documen ts are available inou r C IC C web si t e at :w ww . i ccn o w .o rg/espan o l/ Fo r m orein f o rm at i on , co n t act H ug o Rel va at :[email protected]

Panelists during the seminar: "Persecución penalnacional de crímenes internacionales desde unaperspecti va comparada" ( "Nati onal cr imi nalprosecut ion of i nt ernat ional cr i mes f rom acomparative perspecti ve") , organized by t heMax-Planck Institute and the Konrad AdenauerFoundati on - Program for Human Ri ght s inSouth America, held in Montevideo, Uruguay on27-28 February 2003. (l- r) Kai Ambos, AlbinEser , and Jan Woischn ik of t he Max-PlanckInstitute.

Africa

The Americas

As the ICC moves closer to having all officials in place and taking its first cases, governments, NGO representatives, lawyers and members of themedia organized conferences around the world to develop strategies for ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute, as well as to discussissues related to the adminstration of the Court. Meetings were held in countries in all regions, illustrating the importance placed on universalacceptance of the ICC.











"I nternat ional Sympo sium on Major I ssueson Int ernat i onal Cr i minal C our t ", j o i n t l yorgani zed b y t he H on g Kon g-b ased AsianLegal Reso urce C en ter of t he Asi an Hu manRigh t s Co mm issi on , t h e C oalit i on fo r t h eInternational Criminal Court's East Asia office

an d t h e Beij in g-based Research C en t er o fCriminal Jurisprudence of Renmin University,and co-hosted by H ain an University an d th eSouthwest University of Political Science andLaw, held in Hainan City, People's Republic ofC h i na (PRC ) f rom 10 -13 Feb ruary 200 3.

A pp ro xi m at ely 80 o f Ch i n a's f o rem ostcr im in al law exp er t s and sch ol ars, j ud ges,p ro secu t ors, Fo reig n Af f airs an d Ju st i ceMinistry officials and law students as well as an umber of in tern at ional exper ts gath ered f ort h e f irst ever in t ern ati onal semi nar on t h eI CC h eld in C hin a. Discussion s focused o nv ar i ou s i ssues i n cl u di n g: t h e I C C'sj uri sdict ion ; th e im plicat ions of th e I CC onCh in a; and t h e Un it ed Stat es' cam paign forb ilateral i mp un ity agreement s. Part ic ipan tsreach ed a consensus th at Chi na sh ould joi nthe ICC and take an active role to help ensuret h at t he I CC att ain s it s ful l po ten ti al . Th eparticipants also proposed to endorse China'saccession to t he Nati onal Peo ple's Con gressf o r i t s co n si derat i o n du r i n g i t s co m in gassembly meeting this year. As a result of them eet i ng, p art i ci pant s p lan t o u n der take am o re co m preh en siv e st u dy o f t h ei m p li cat i on s o f accessi on f o r C h in a'ssovereign ty. For more inf ormat ion , con t actM s. Ev ely n Bal ais-Ser ran o at :ci cccasia@i ccn o w .o rgo r M r . San j eew aLiyanage at: [email protected]

A press conference was recently held in Manila, the Philippines, to launch a petition for mandamus tobe sent to the Philippine Supreme Court, urging the Executive Secretary and the Secretary of ForeignAffairs to immediately transmit the Rome Statute to the Senate for ratification. (l-r) Marwill Llasus,one of the petitioners; Evelyn Serrano-Balais, CICC Asia Coordinator; Prof. Harry Roque, University ofthe Philippines; Congresswoman Etta Rosales, who is also co-chair of the Philippine Coalition for theICC; and Niza Concepcion, Forum Asia.

"Est ab l i shi ng t he I C C, " a co n f eren ceorgan ized by t he I nt ernation al Cr imin al LawNet w ork, in coop erat io n w it h t he Sci en ceAl li an ce, I n t er n at io n al Associ at io n o fPro secu t ors, t h e I n t ern at i on al Cr im i n alDefense At t orn ey Associ at ion , Salzbu rg LawSchool and Columbia Law School, held in TheHague, Netherlands on 18-20 December 2002.Th is m eet in g brou ght t ogeth er acad em ics,policymakers, N GOs, and l egal p rof ession alst o discuss a ran ge of t op ics i n clu di ng: t h ein d ep en den ce o f t h e I C C; ch al len gesconfronting the Assembly of States Parties; theresponsibilities of judges, the Prosecutor, andlaw yers; l esson s l earn ed f rom t h e ad h o ctr ibu nals; pre-t r ial investigati ons; and penalen f orcem ent . For m ore in fo rmat ion , vi sit :http://www.icln.net

I nt er nat io na l C r i m inal Co u r t andPromotion of the Rule of Law- Conferencef or M emb ers o f t he C ommonweal t h ofI nd ep end ent St at es (CI S) , org an i zed byParliamentarians for Global Action and hostedby th e Dum a o f t he Ru ssian Federat io n, i nMoscow , Russia on 11-12 February 2003. For

m ore inf ormation , read t h e ar t icle by D avidD on at -Cat t in on page 7, o r emai l h im [email protected]

The I nt ernat ional C r imi nal Bar – I CB(Barreau Pen alI n t ern at i o n al - BPI )h eld i ts f irst Gen eralAssem bl y in Ber l i n ,Germ an y o n 21-2 3M arch 20 03 .Par t ic ipan ts i nclu dedo ver 40 0 m em b ersf ro m o ver 5 0cou n t r ies, in clu d in gbar an d law societ ies,i n d e p e n d e n tassoci at i on s ofco un sels an d N GOsin terested in th e IC C.The Assembly adoptedan I C B-BPICo nst i tu t ion , elect edi ts f irst Cou n ci l, an dap p rov ed a C od e ofCo nd uct f or Co un sel

for subm issi on t o t he Registrar of t he Court .For m o re in f o rm at io n , co n t act Ken n et hGallant at: [email protected]

North Africa/Middle East

W orkshop on the I CC, designed for l awyerso f t h e Bar Associat io n of Jo rdan , h eld inA mm an , Jo rd an o n 4 -5 M arch 20 03 .Par t ic ip an t s, w ho i n cl uded l aw prof essors,j udges an d lawyers, d iscussed provisi ons oft h e Rom e St at u t e, t h e p r in ci p le ofcom pl em en t ari t y, t he cr i me of aggressi on ,referral mechanisms to the Court, cooperationw it h th e C our t , an d vi ct im s ri ght s, amon g

o t h er issu es. Par t i c ip an t s ad o pt edrecomm en dati ons, u rgi ng al l Arab St ates torat ify th e Rom e St at ute as wel l as par ti cipatein t h e discussion of th e cr im e of aggression.For more information, contact Roula Khalifehat: [email protected]

Conf erence on t he I CC, enti tl ed "I sraeland the International Criminal Court", heldat the Inter Disiplinary Center (IDC), held in

H er zl i ya, I srael o n 1 3 M arch 2 00 3.Par t i c ip an t s h ear d p resen t at i o n s f ro mgovernment representatives and academics onth e i mp or tan ce of t h e I CC, d esp it e I srael’scon cern s regardin g rati ficat ion of t he Rom eSt at ut e. Par t icpant s discu ssed th eir co mmo nin t erest i n m on i t or in g t h e Co u r t ’sdevelop men t. For m ore inf orm at ion, cont actUri Katzman at: [email protected]

Asia

Europe/CIS

( l-r ) Prof. Roy Lee of Columbi a Un iversit y, Espen Nakstad from theEuropean Law St udent s Associat ion (ELSA) and Jari nde Temmin ckTuinstra, a PhD student from the University of Amsterdam, during the ICCsimulation exercise held dur ing the International Criminal Law Network(ICLN) Annual Conference in The Hague, on 18-20 December 2002.

At a recent workshop on theI CC i n Amman, Jorda n,part icipants discussed howthe Rome Statut e appli es t oJordan, the first Arab countryt o j oin t h e IC C. ( l- r ) Mr .Asem Rab aba, M s. RoulaKha li f eh, M s. RehamH ora ni , Mr . M ohammadAl rash dan, M s. AmalM aayt a, and Mr. Sal ahKasem.


http://www.icln.net






UPCOMINGICC EVENTS

25 April Coll oqui um on th e I CC: "In ternati onal Jur isdictio ns", organi zed by Avocat s Sans Fro nt ières (Lawyers wi th outBorders). Sorèze, France.For more information, contact Mr. Eric Mari via telephone: +33 (0)5 34 31 17 83 or fax: +33(0)5 34 31 17 84

TBD Asian I CC M issi on t o Pakist an, organ ized b y FORU M -ASIA. Local an d i nt ernat ion al exp er t s wi ll m eet wi thgovernment off icials to di scuss i ssues relat ed t o rat ificat ion of th e Rom e Statut e.For more in formati on, con tactEvelyn Serrano at: [email protected]

TBD First Afghan National Conference on the ICC, organized by the Afghan Professional Alliance for Minority Rights andsupported by FORUM-ASIA. Kabul, Afghanistan.For more information, email Evelyn Serrano at: [email protected]

1-2 May The Canadian Highway to the International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead to Rome, a conference jointly organizedby th e Canadian In stit ut e fo r t he Adm ini st rat ion of Just ice (CI AJ) and t he Facult y of Law of t he U ni versit é deMontréal. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For further details on the program and the registration to the conference, visit:http://www.ciaj-icaj.ca or http://www.droit.umontreal.ca/419

7-8 May "Segundo Taller Centroamericano sobre la CPI" ("Second Central American workshop on the ICC"), organized byCoalición Salvadoréa por la CPI (Salvadorean Coalition for the ICC) and CICC. San Salvador, El Salvador. For moreinformation, please, contact Danilo Flores at: [email protected]

9-11 May "I CC: Im plem en tati on in Cent ral and East ern Eu rope", a regi onal con feren ce organ ized by t he Coal ition for anIn tern at ional Cri min al Cour t (CICC),t he In tern at ional Crim inal Law Society (I CLS), t he German Foundation forIn t ernati onal Legal Cooperat ion ( IRZ) and th e Cent re for Legal Resources (CRJ). Bucharest , Romania. Fo r m orein fo rm atio n, con tact Ri ta Patr ício at : cicceurope2@i ccn ow .org or M ath ias Neun er at n eu [email protected] or visit :http://www.icls.de/

27 May - 13 June Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, an intensive three-week program of courses on a range of topics(taught in English and Spanish), hosted by the American University Washington College of Law. Washington, DC,United Stat es. For more i nf orm at ion , telep hon e +1-202-274-4070, em ai l: hracad em [email protected] er ican .edu o r visit :http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/hracademy/

TBD Strategy Meeting on the International Criminal Court: Protecting the integrity of the Rome Statute, organized byPar liament arians f or Global Actio n, h ost ed b y t he Par liament of Greece. Athens, Greece. For mo re inf orm at ion ,contact David Donat-Cattin at: [email protected]

16-20 June "I nt ernat ional Cri minal Law in Practice", a train ing course organ ized by th e In tern at ional Cr imi nal Law Network(ICLN). The Hague, the Netherlands. For more information, email: [email protected] or visit: www.icln.net

16-21 June "Víctor Car los García M oren o" Mo ot C our t , organ ized by th e L at in Amer ican Coun cil of In t ern ati on al an dCo m p arat i ve Law Sch o la rs (C OLAD I C M EX I C O). M exi co C it y, Mexico. Fo r m o re i n f orm at i on , em ai [email protected] or visit http://www.coladicmx.org

16-25 June In ternatio nal Cri min al Co urt Trai nin g Co urse, organized by t he U niversit y of N ott in gh am Hum an Righ ts LawCentre. Nottingham, United Kingdom.For more information, visit: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/hrlc/ or contactGail Evans of the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre, via mail: Law & Social Sciences Building,University Park, Nottingham NG72RD; via telephone: +44 115 846 6310; or via email: [email protected]

1 July One year anniversary of entry into force of the Rome Statute

3-5 July "From Government to Governance? The Growing Impact of Non-State Actors on the International and EuropeanLegal System," Th e H agu e Join t Co nf erence on Con tem porary I ssu es of In t ernat ion al Law , organ ized by t heAmerican Societ y of I nt ernat ional Law (ASIL), N et her lan ds Organ izat ion f or I nt ern at ion al Right s (Neder land seVeren igi ng voor In tern at ion aal Rech t, N VIR) , St ich tin g Th e H ague Joi nt Conferences on In tern at ion al Law , an dTMC Asser Instituut (Institute for Private and Public International Law, International Commercial Arbitration andEuropean Law, Th e H ague) . The Hague, The Net herlands. For m ore in formati on, con t act Mar ian Barendrecht at :[email protected]

17 July World Day for International Justice

17 July Ir ish Cent re for Hum an Right s Sum mer Course on th e I nt ernation al C rim inal Cour t . Galway, Ireland. For m oredetails, visit: http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/summer_schools.htm

27 July - 9 August "Human Rights: Issue Linkages and the New Human Rights Agenda," a workshop organized by the Academic Councilon the United Nations System (ACUNS) and the American Society of International Law (ASIL), to be held at YaleU ni versit y. N ew H aven , Connecticut, Unit ed Stat es. For m ore in f orm at ion , em ail: acun [email protected] or visit :http://www.yale.edu/acuns

4-8 August Meeting of the Budget Committee of the Asembly of States Parties, at UN headquarters. New York, United States.For more information, email [email protected] or visit: http://www.icc.int/

8-12 September Second Session of the Assembly of States Parties, at UN headquarters. New York, United States. For more information,email [email protected] or visit: http://www.icc.int/

May

June

July

Aug

April

Tentative Schedule

Sep

For more information on ICC conferences and meetings, visit the CICC website at:http://www.iccnow.org/conferencesmeetings.html



http://www.ciaj-icaj.ca

http://www.droit.umontreal.ca/419


http://www.icls.de/

http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/hracademy/




http://www.coladicmx.org

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/hrlc/



http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/summer_schools.htm

http://www.yale.edu/acuns


http://www.icc.int/


http://www.icc.int/

http://www.iccnow.org/conferencesmeetings.html


Resources on the ICC

"International Criminal Evidence" is a 2003 publication written by Judge Richard May, Presiding Judge of the UN International Criminal Tribunalfor the Former Yugoslavia and Marieke Wierda, a former Associate Legal Officer at the ICTY. This title offers an in-depth analysis of the law ofevi dence b ef ore i n tern at io nal cr im in al t r ibu nal s, an d add resses t opi cs su ch as ad mi ssibi lit y; h earsay; evid en ce, an d ot h er p ro cedu ralconsiderations.

"I nt ernat io nal C ri mi n al Pract ice," edit ed by Joh n R. W D . Jon es an d ot h ers, p rovid esinformation on the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International CriminalTribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, andth e East T imo r Special Panel. I t i s schedu led t o be released in May 2003, by Transn atio nalPublishers.

"Rule of Pow er or Ru le of L aw " (200 2) i s a p ubli cat ion of t he In st it ut e of Energy an dEn vironm en tal Research and Lawyers’ Com mit tee on Nuclear Po licy. I t exami nes t he Un itedStates’ recent record of undermining multilateral treaty regimes on such topics as weapons, globalwarmi ng, an d in t ern ati on al just ice, in cl udi ng an an alysis of t he US posi t ion t owards t h eInternational Criminal Court. For more information, visit www.ieer.org/pubs/#ruleoflaw

"St at ut e of th e In t ernatio nal Cri min al Co urt an d Related In st rument s: Legislat ive H isto ry1994-2000" is a new work by Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni. This book will be available in April2003, published by Transnational Publishers.

Additional resources include:1. Bartov, Omer, Grossman, Atina, and Nolan, Mary. "Crimes of War: Guilt and Denial in the Twentieth Century."New York: New Press, 2002. ISBN 1565846540. 2. Broomhall, Bruce. "International criminal justice and the International Criminal Court : between state consentand the rule of law." Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2002. 3. Cigar, Norman L., and Paul Williams. "Indictment at the Hague: the Milosevic Regime and Crimes of the BalkanWars." New York: New York University Press, 2002. 4. Ellis, Mark S. "The I nt ernation al Cr imin al Cour t and i ts impli cat ions for domest ic law and nati onal CapacityBuilding." 15 Florida Journal of International Law 2002: 215-242.5. Gómez, Colmer. "El Tribunal Penal Internacional: Investigación y acusación" (The International Criminal Court:Investigations and Prosecutions). Valencia: Tirant Lo Blanch, 2003.6. Knoo ps, Geer t-Jan G. J., and Alexan der Knoo ps Geer t-Jan. "Surren deri ng to I nt ern at ion al Cri min al Cour ts:Co nt em porary Pract ice and Pro cedures ( In t ern at ion al an d Com parat ive Cr imi nal Law Ser ies). " Transn ati onalPublishers, 2002. 7. Oterm in , Jorge Perez. "I nt roduccion a la Cor te Pen a I nt ernaci onal: Estat uto d e Rom a" (I nt roductio n t o th eInternational Criminal Court: The Rome Statute). Montevideo: Amalio M. Fernandez, 2002.8. Roggemann, Herwig, and Sarcevic, Petar. "National security and international criminal justice." The Hague; NewYork : Kluwer Law International, 2002. 9. Sands, Philippe. "From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice." Cambridge University Press, February 2003.ISBN: 0521829917.10. Sluiter, Goran. "International Criminal Adjudication and the Collection of Evidence: Obligations of States." Antwerp: Intersentia, 2002.

"W ar Cr im es and Just ice" (2 002) by H oward Ball i s a research gui de con cern in g th e h ist ory an d cur ren t st at e ofint ern at ion al law . It includ es a chron ology of signi fican t t reati es, biograp hies of in fl uen t ial figures, t ext s of t he GenevaCon ven t ion s and t h e st atu t es establ ish in g i nt ernat ion al t ri bun als, a direct ory of go vern men tal an d n on go vern men talorganizations, listings of print and nonprint research materials, as well two interpretive essays.

"The World Court in Action", by Howard N. Meyer, was published in 2002. This book is centered on the InternationalCour t of Justice ( ICJ) , but also discu sses t he In tern at ional Cr imi nal Cour t (I CC). Specifically, t he aut hor dist inguish es th epurposes of the two tribunals and then draws on historical comparisons to link the two bodies. He argues that the ICJ and theICC have a common problem, namely resistance in Washington to the international rule of law, especially when it comes toauthority surrounding the use of force.

Th e I n d ep en d en t St u d en t C oal it i o n f or t h e I C C h ascompletely redesigned their website (http://www.isc-icc.org/).New sections include updates on ISC-ICC education projects,and ISC-ICC delegations to the Assembly of States Parties.

The In t ern at ion al Cri mi nal Cour t hasred esi gn ed an d great ly exp an d ed it sofficial website, available in English andFren ch at h t t p : / / w w w . i c c - c p i . i n t /T h i snew w eb si te in cl udes in form at io n onorgan s of th e Cour t, job oppor tun it ies,vi ct i m s i ssues, w i t n ess p ro t ect io n ,ref er ral s to t h e Co ur t , an d u pco min gevents.

The Victims Trust Fund Campaign is a collaborative effort of dozens of U.S. n on -prof it organ izat io ns, in order to rai se aw aren ess o f an dcontributions for the Victims Trust Fund within the US. For more details,visit http://www.victimstrustfund.org

http://www.isc-icc.org/

http://www.victimstrustfund.org

For More Inform a t i o nPlease return this form t o: C I C C c/ o W FM, 777 UN Plaza, 12th Floor New York, NY 10017, USA fax : +1 212 599 1332

Name & Title (please print legibly ) Organization

Address City State Postal Code Country

Phone / Fax e-mail

o My organization would like to be a participating organization of the NGOCoalition for an ICC as described in “To Join the Coalition”.o Please keep me / my organization informed about progress on the ICCnegotiations.

States R a t i f i c a t i o n / A c c e s s i o n ( a )P a r t i e s D a t eA f g h a n i s t a n10 February 2003Albania 31 Jan uary 2003Andor ra 30 Apr i l 2001Ant igua &

B a r b u d a 18 Ju ne 2001Argent in a 8 February 2001Austral i a 1 Ju ly 2002A u s t r i a 28 December 2000B a r b a d o s 10 December 2002B e l g i u m 28 Ju ne 2000B e l i z e 5 Apr i l 2 000B e n i n 22 Jan uary 2002Bol iv ia 27 Ju ne 2002Bosn ia & Herzegov i na

11 Apr i l 2002B o t s w a n a 8 Sept em ber 2000B r a z i l 20 Ju ne 2002Bul gar ia 11 Apr i l 2002Cambodi a 11 Apr i l 2002Central Af. R.3 Oc t ober 2001C a n a d a 7 Ju ly 2000Colo mbia 5 August 2002Cost a Rica 7 Ju ne 2001C r o a t i a 21 May 2001Cyprus 7 March 2002 D.R.of Congo11 Apr i l 2002D e n m a r k 21 Ju ne 2001Dj ibout i 5 November 2002D o m i n i c a ( a )12 February 2001East Timor(a)6 Sept em ber 2002Ecu ado r 5 February 2002 E s t o n i a 30 Jan uary 2002F i j i 29 November 1999F i n l a n d 29 December 2000F r a n c e 9 Ju ne 2000G a b o n 20 Sept em ber 200 0Gambi a 28 Ju ne 2002G e r m a n y 11 December 2000G h a n a 20 December 1999Greece 15 May 2002Hon duras 1 Ju ly 2002Hu ngary 30 November 2001 I c e l a n d 25 May 2000Ireland 11 Apr i l 2002 I t a l y 26 Ju ly 1999J o r d a n 11 Apr i l 2002L a t v i a 28 Ju ne 2002L e s o t h o 6 Sept em ber 2000Liechtenstein2 O ct ober 2001Luxembourg8 Sept em ber 2000

Macedon ia, F Y R 6 M arch 2002

M a l i 16 August 2000Malawi 19 Sept ember 2002Malt a 29 No vemb er 2002Marshal l

I s l a n d s 7 December 2000Maur i ti us 5 M arch 2002Mo ngoli a 11 Apr i l 2002 Nami bia 25 June 2002N a u r u 12 No vemb er 2001Netherlands17 July 2001New Zealand7 Sept ember 2000Ni ger 11 Apr i l 2002N i g e r i a 27 Sept ember 2001N o r w a y 16 February 2000P a n a m a 21 M arch 2002 P a r a g u a y 14 M ay 2001Peru 10 No vemb er 2001P o l a n d 12 No vemb er 2001Por t ugal 5 February 2002R. of Korea 13 No vemb er 2002R o m a n i a 11 Apr i l 2002Sam oa 16 Sept ember 2002San Mar in o 13 M ay 1999Sen egal 2 February 1999 Sier ra Leo ne15 Sept ember 2000Slovaki a 11 Apr i l 2002 Sloven ia 31 December 2001South Africa 27 No vemb er 2000S p a i n 24 O ct ober 2000St. Vincent & theG r e n a d i n e s ( a )3 December 2002S w e d e n 28 June 2001Swit zer land 12 O ct ober 2001T a j i k i s t a n 5 M ay 2000Tanzan ia 20 August 2002Tr in id ad &

T o b a g o 6 Apr i l 1999 Uganda 14 June 2002U. Ki ngdom 4 O ct ober 2001Uruguay 28 June 2002V e n e z u e l a 7 June 2000Yu goslavi a 6 Sept ember 2001Zambi a 13 No vemb er 2002

S i g n a t u r e s Sign at ure D at eAlger i a 28 December 2000 A n g o l a 7 O ct ober 1998Armen ia 1 O ct ober 1999Bahamas 29 December 2000B a h r a i n 11 December 2000

B a n g l a d e s h16 Sep tember 1999Burkina Faso30 N ovem ber 1998 Bu rund i 13 Jan uary 1999 Cameroon 17 July 1 998 Cape Verde 28 D ecemb er 2000 C h a d 20 O ct ober 1999Ch ile 11 Sep tember 1998 C o m o r o s 22 Sep tember 2000Congo (Braz.)17 July 1 998 Cote d'Ivoire30 N ovem ber 1998 Czech R. 13 Apr i l 1999Dominican R. 8 Sept ember 2000Egypt 26 D ecemb er 2000Er it r ea 7 O ct ober 1998 G eorgia 18 July 1 998 G uin ea 8 Sept ember 2000 G u i n e a - B i s s a u12 Sep tember 2000 G uyan a 28 D ecemb er 2000 H ai ti 26 Feb ru ary 1999 I r an 31 D ecemb er 2000I s r a e l 31 D ecemb er 2000J a m a i c a 8 Sept ember 2000K e n y a 11 August 1999Kuwait 8 Sept ember 2000 Kyrgyzstan 8 D ecemb er 1998 Li ber ia 17 July 1 998 Li th uani a 10 D ecemb er 1998 M adagascar 18 July 1 998 M e x i c o 7 Sept ember 2000M onaco 18 July 1 998 M orocco 8 Sept ember 2000 Mozambique28 D ecemb er 2000 O man 20 D ecemb er 2000 Ph i l i ppi nes 28 D ecemb er 2000R.of Moldova 8 Sept ember 2000 Russian Fed.13 Sep tember 2000Sao Tome et

P r i n c i p e 28 D ecemb er 2000 S e y c h e l l e s 28 D ecemb er 2000 Solom on Is. 3 D ecemb er 1998 St. Luc ia 27 August 1999Sudan 8 Sept ember 2000 Syri a 29 N ovem ber 2000T h a i l a n d 2 O ct ober 2000 U k r a i n e 20 Jan uary 2000U. Arab E. 27 N ovem ber 2000U S A 31 D ecemb er 2000U z b e k i s t a n29 D ecemb er 2000Yem en 28 D ecemb er 2000 Zi mbabwe 17 July 1 998

Stat es Pa rt i es and Si gnato r i es to t he Rome Tr e a t y89 Rat i fi cati ons/ Accessions and 13 9 Signato r ies as of 14 Apr i l 2 003

The Coalit ion f or the I ntern ation al Cr imin al Cou rtwelcomes new NGO members. Our current membershipbase is a global network of over 2,000 NGOs representingevery region of the world, working on a diverse range ofthemes and issues. Membership is free, and ensures yourremaining abreast of the ICC campaign, allows access t othe resources within regional and national n et works, ICC-related meetings at th e nat ional or international level,proposed ICC implementation legislation and more.

Organ izat ions wishing to become members of theNGO Coalition for the ICC must agree to the following:

(1) to support and protect t he integrit y of th e Rom eStatute of the ICC; (2) be involved in ensuring the ICCwill be fair, effective and independent; (3) make an activecommit ment t o world-w ide ratification of th e Rom eStatute of the ICC; and (4) make an active commitmentt o th e adopt io n of comp reh en sive n at io nalimplementing legislation. To join t he Coalition, or toreceive more information in the future, please fill out th eform below and ret urn it to the CICC Secretariat. You canalso visit: http://www.iccnow.org/gettinginvolved/b e c o m e a m e m b e r . h t m l

Non-govern mental organizations (NGOs) havebeen involved at every st age in every aspect of thein t ern at ion al ef for t to en sure t he prom ptestablishment of a fair , effective and independentCourt. More than 95% of all NGOs involved inthe ICC campaign carry out their work under theumbrella of the NGO Coalition for the ICC. TheCoalition currently has over 2000 NGO membersin over 150 countries, and suppor ts their effort sthrough regional coordinators and liaisons basedall over the world. The role of the NGO Coalit ionis t o represent, facilitate and coordinate t he workof its worldwide membership, while serving as theprimary information resource on the ICC and aliaison betw een governm en ts, I nt ernation alCr im in al Co ur t of fic ials, in ternat ion alorgan izat ion s, acad em ics an d ci vi l so ciet ymembers.

Th e multi-track approach of t he Coalitioninvolves: raisin g awaren ess of the ICC and theRome Statute at the n ational, regional and globallevel; facilitating NGO in volvement and capacit ybuild ing in t he I CC process; prom otin g t heuniversal acceptance and ratification of the RomeStatute, including the adoption of comprehensivenational implementing legislation; and expandingand strengthening the Coalition's global network.To achieve these goals, some of our activ itiesi n c l u d e :• Facilitating the exchange of documentationan d informat ion concernin g the ICC (via ourwebsite and email groups) to foster discussion anddebate on substantive issues.• Providin g legal advice and research to t heInternational Criminal Court.• Facilitating meetings between the Coalitionand representat ives of governments, ICC officials,UN officials, academics and others involved in theICC process.• Con venin g sect oral caucuses (Wom en's,Children's, Faith, Peace, Universal Jurisdiction,and Vict ims') , nat ion al an d regional n etworks,and issue working groups.• Promot ing awareness of the ICC at relevantpublic and professional international conferences,includin g meetings of the Assembly of St atesParties and the elections of the Court’s officials.• Pro ducing t h e I CC M oni to r q uart er l ynewspaper, ICC Update monthly bulletins, mediaadvisories, press releases and papers on variousi s s u e s .• Faci lit at in g t he presence o f Co ali ti onmembers in the Hague.

About the NGOCoalition for the ICC

To Subscribe to the Email List

To Join the Coalition

If you are interested in keeping abreast of day-to-daydevelopment s pertainin g to the ICC, you are invited tosubscr ibe to the ICC email l ist. To subscribe, please senda blank email to:

i c c - i n f o - s u b s c r i b e @ y a h o o g r o u p s . c o m

To Contribute to the Coalition

I f you are i nt erested in m akin g a tax-d edu ct ibl econt ribution t o the Coalit ion , please make the checkpayable to the CICC and send it to: NGO Coalition for the ICC, c/o WFM, 777 UN Plaza,12th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA

NGO Coalition for theInter nationalCriminal Cour tc/o WFM, 777 UN PlazaNew York, NY 10017 USAPhone: 1 212-687-2176 Fax: 1 212-599-1332Email: [email protected] Address: http://www.iccnow.org


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