18TH SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES TO THE ROME STATUTE
Day 1 (2 December 2019)
Name of the Event: The Future of International Criminal Justice and Africa: Strengthening the Role of the International Criminal Court in the African Region (Side Event co-hosted by Sierra Leone and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC))
Overview by: Signe Wolf Børm, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL
Main Highlights:
This side event focused on the necessity of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to provide victim protection.
It was furthermore deemed necessary to widen the scope of the ICC in the sense that it should consider inter state cooperation in the adjudication of international crimes, considering Part 9 of the Rome Statute.
Summary of the Event:
The representative of Sierra Leone opened the side event by welcoming the African Union (AU) states representatives. 33 States Parties to the Rome Statute are African, making it the largest geographical group. In light of the discussions on reforming the ICC, it was underlined that the considerations of the AU are interesting considering the wide scale representation it has, and in particular considering the large amount of ICC cases in the AU, a large number of civil society organisations, but also victims which the court aims to protect. The AU transitional justice policy’s purpose is achieving sustainable peace, justice, reconciliation, social cohesion, and healing of the victims of masatoricities. These matters impact the manner in which conversations around the ICC are held. The AU states were urged to consider the future perspective of the ICC and how it could be improved.
The panelists proceeded to reflect upon experiences within their countries and based on this provided recommendations on what to improve within the framework of the ICC.
First, the ambassador of Sierra Leone Michael, Imran Kanu, gave a speech in which he pointed out a multitude of relevant and interesting things. Firstly, he stated that the clouds were clearing, pointing out that the dialogue between the AU and the ICC has improved. He furthermore pointed out that engagement should be taken further than purely to the Hague to ensure the proper functioning of the ICC and secure the internationalism of the institution.
Next, the representative from Côte d'Ivoire highlighted it was deemed necessary to improve the outreach strategy, which should be carried out not only by the civil society organizations but also by the states through training and capacity building. He further mentioned that it is necessary that victims are at the center of the ICC, as well as it being necessary to improve investigations.
Hereafter a representative from the victim support initiative in Uganda reflected on experiences from Uganda. The main point to be drawn from this speech was that one of the future strengths of the ICC might be that future ICC cases are dealt with under national law. It was further highlighted that outreach should have a greater involvement at the trial stage.
Lambert Nigarura representing Burundi spoke next, pointing out that, the protection of witnesses and victims has not been a strong point of the ICC. Lambert furthermore pointed out Burundi’s withdrawal from the ICC and its bilateral agreements with other countries, as well as the country rebuilding its relationship with France.
Hereafter the Lybian situation was considered and the participants were asked, “why is the ICC not investigating the situation in Libya ́ ́. The representative furthermore pointed out that the ICC has an unclear victim protection.
At the very end the representative of South Africa presented his arguments which particularly concerned the likely impact of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute. It was stated that the status concerning the possible withdrawal now is that an act has to be approved by the South Afriacan people to make the withdrawal valid. It was pointed out that regardless of whether South Africa remains in the ICC or not, they will continue contributing towards dialogue and be involved with the ICC. The representative also addressed the international arrest warrant that had been issued against former president Al-Bashir, which means that he should have been arrested while he was in South Africa, as also established by the high court and the supreme court. The representative of South Africa lastly pointed out that it, based on Part 9 of the Rome Statute, hopes states will be able to work together to effectively carry out their mandates and to secure the proper prosecution of international crime, as this has not been made use of yet despite it being provided for under the Rome Statute.