THE eleventh Session of the Assembly of States Parties has begun and more than 500 high-level officials attended a ceremony held on Wednesday in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Ridderzaal (The Knights Hall) in The Hague, (Netherlands), in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands.
ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song who declared the Session open said: "As we embark on the ICC's second decade, let us celebrate our achievements and be prepared for the many challenges ahead of us. We all have different roles, mandates and backgrounds, but we have the same goal. Impunity for atrocity crimes must end. Accountability must prevail. Always and everywhere. To succeed, we must remain determined and united.
"ICC's activities are having an enormous impact, not just on individuals prosecuted before the Court, but on the tens of thousands of direct victims, millions of people in the affected communities and societies, and indeed several billion people under the legal protection of the Rome Statute system", he added.
The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002.
The Session which began on Wednesday and would end on November 22 at the World Forum Convention Centre in The Hague would among others include the election of the Deputy Prosecutor, elect advisory committee on the nomination of judges, make recommendations concerning the election of the Court's Registrar, make amendments to the Rome Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence,
The Session, according to Pierluigi Brillante, an official in charge of information at the court yesterday, would also evolve new strategies to strengthen cooperation among states, review conference follow-up:
(a) Complementarity;
(b) Peace and justice; and
(c) The impact of the Rome Statute system on victims and affected communities.
In the annotated list of items included in the provisional agenda made available to The Guardian yesterday, the Session would among others ensure that according to article 112, paragraph 8, of the Rome Statute, "A State Party which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions towards the costs of the Court shall have no vote in the Assembly and in the Bureau if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years."
At its fourth session, the Assembly took note of the report of the Bureau on the arrears of States Parties3 and the recommendations therein and invited the Bureau to report back to the fifth session of the Assembly on the status of arrears, including on suggestions, if necessary, of measures to promote the timely, full and unconditional payment of assessed contributions and advances towards the costs of the Court.
Furthermore, the Assembly decided that requests for exemption under article 112, paragraph 8, of the Rome Statute, should be submitted by States Parties to the Secretariat of the Assembly at least one month before the session of the Committee on Budget and Finance ("the Committee"), so as to facilitate the Committee's review of the requests and that the Committee should advise the Assembly before the Assembly decided on any requests for exemption under article 112, paragraph 8, of the Rome Statute.
At its fifth session, the Assembly renewed the appeal to States Parties in arrears to settle their accounts with the Court as soon as possible. In this connection, the Assembly adopted resolution ICC-ASP/5/Res.3 containing recommendations setting out a specific
procedure for requesting exemptions from the loss of voting rights5 and decided that the Bureau should review on a regular basis the status of payments received throughout the financial year of the Court and consider additional measures to promote payments by States
Parties, as appropriate.
"The ICC is indispensable in the prevention of crimes, the protection of people and the prosecution of perpetrators", stated Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands Frans Timmermans. He also stressed the important role given to victims before the ICC and stated that "the Dutch government considers it crucial that victims receive support in building new lives after the traumas they have experienced". On this occasion, Minister Timmermans announced that the Netherlands is donating half a million euros to the Trust Fund for Victims.
"The ICC changed the fundamental structure of international relations in a way that few international organisations have ever done. The 121 States Parties to the Statute have agreed that no one is above the law and allowed to enjoy impunity if committing international crimes. The era of impunity is gradually coming to an end", stated President of the Assembly of States Parties H.E. Tiina Intelmann during the ceremony, reminding the States Parties that "the Court will not make it without constant day-to-day State Party support and cooperation".
Meanwhile, Senegal's President Macky Sall has held talks with ICC President Sang-Hyun Song, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and other high-level officials of the Court in The Hague where he pledged his country's continued support for the court.
Judge Song, according to Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit at the international court, thanked the Senegalese leader for his country's longstanding cooperation and support, both operational and political, to the Court.
"As the first State to ratify the Rome Statute , Senegal holds a special place in the ICC's history", said ICC President.
"The ICC looks forward to working with Senegal and all other States Parties in the next decades to achieve our ultimate goal in ending impunity", Song said.
Responding, Sall said: "The creation of the Court is a remarkable improvement of the international community in the fight against impunity and for compliance with universal values that underlie our humanity".
He also pledged that his country would continue to support the Court in any way it can.
Sall's visit to the ICC, Abdallah noted, " reflects a strong relationship based on the shared values of the fight against impunity and the importance of justice for the progress of societies."
The visit took place in the context of the opening on the same day of the 11th Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC
