President of the ICC Meets with Members of European Parliament

The European Parliament and its individual members have been at the forefront of multilateral efforts to establish, consolidate and expand the membership of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as in supporting the effective operation of the ICC, as facilitated by the cooperation of State Parties. With the ratification of the Rome Statute by the Czech Republic in July 2009, every Member State of the EU is now a State Party to the ICC.

Consistent with past initiatives, leading members of the PGA Group in the European Parliament, chaired by Ms. Lena Ek (Sweden), invited the President of the ICC, Judge H.-Y. Song for a luncheon debate held on 15 October 2009 on the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Prof. Vittorio Prodi, MEP (Italy) provided the opening remarks to the discussion observing that the Court represents an important force in preventing the most serious crimes and expressed his wish that the President of the ICC be given the opportunity to brief the Human Rights Sub-Committee (and maybe other Committees) on its important work and the challenges it faces.

Mr. Jo Leinen, MEP (Germany), who also moderated the debate, recalled the numerous efforts undertaken within the framework of the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific--European Union (ACP EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly, notably in Kigali in 2007, when he called on all States that have yet to join the Rome Statute to do so as early as possible, and in Ljubljana in 2008, when he launched a plenary debate on mainstreaming justice as an indispensable factor for peace and development.

Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (Nigeria), President of PGA intervened before Judge Song's presentation to reaffirm the commitment of PGA Members around the world to fight impunity and better protect victims of gross human rights abuses, especially in Africa, thus ensuring heightened political support from PGA and other Lawmakers for the ICC as a judicial, independent institution.

The presentation of ICC President Judge Song included a word of gratitude for the many efforts undertaken by the European Parliament in support of the Court, and reported on the progress achieved by the Court's investigations and prosecutions in four situations (DRC, Northern Uganda, Darfur/Sudan and the Central African Rep.), the ongoing judicial proceedings and the preliminary examinations carried by the office of the Prosecutor (Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya and also, shortly, in connection with Guinea). Judge Song emphasized, however, that the ICC is a "Court of last resort" within a broader global system of international criminal justice, which is necessary to address the many situations that are outside the reach and/or jurisdiction of the Court. President Song pointed out therefore the need for continuous work on achieving the still outstanding 83 ratifications to the Statute, on ensuring that cooperation with the International Criminal Court "is routine and not an exercise of extraordinary political will from Member States", and on enhancing the capacity of national jurisdictions to deal with these issues at national level, first and foremost through the adoption of implementing legislation.

President Song requested that Parliamentarians seek to include the ICC in all their relevant external relations around the world, to prompt their national governments to adopt necessary legislation to criminalize ICC crimes and to cooperate with the Court, including the enforcement of sentences and the protection of witnesses and victims, and to be involved in correcting misperceptions and misrepresentations about the reach of the Court, thus defusing anger and scepticism based on ignorance.

A statement by Ms. Elinor Hammarskjöld, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department for International Law, Human Rights and Treaty Law from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union preceded the debate affirming the commitment of both the EU and Sweden to the universality of the Statute, to providing logistical and security support for the investigations of the Court wherever there was an EU presence (such as in Chad). The Swedish EU Presidency recognised the work of civil society and NGOs, including Parliamentarians for Global Action, in the achievements so far in promoting the Rome Statute system.

The debate was initiated by Ms. Ana Gomes (Portugal - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats) indicating the need to mainstream the ICC in Trans-Atlantic relations of the Parliament. For her part Ms. Barbara Lochbihler (Germany-Greens) Chair of the EP Delegation on Relations with Iran and member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, questioned the progress of EU Member States regarding a common position on the crime of aggression at the next Review Conference. Finally, Ms. Heidi Hautala (Finland-Greens), Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, questioned the President on the means necessary to have a meaningful impact on situations outside the jurisdiction of the Court, such as in Chechnya.

The President of the Court addressed these and other questions pointing to certain developments and the understanding and appreciation for the work of the Court among States, including States that are not parties to the Rome Statutes, such as the US. On a question concerning whether the limited budget for the Court was deemed sufficient for its high level mandate, posed by Mr. Jo Leinen, Judge Song stressed that there is need for sustained and continued dialogue between the Court and the European Parliament on this delicate matter for EU (and other) Member States. The explanations of the President were relevant in connection with the following outcomes of the Meeting.

Outcomes of the Meeting:

MEPs and other participants decided to work on the following specific follow up actions to the meeting.

1. Agreement to invite the President of the ICC to addresses the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament in the near future
2. Support for the initiative of Ms. Ana Gomes, MEP, to amend the 2009 European Parliament resolution on Transatlantic Relations (to be discussed in plenary in October), in which the European Parliament would call for the United States to consider joining the ICC and specifically the US Congress to repeal the American Service Members Protection Act (ASPA) of 2002.
3. Agreement to support pro-ICC actions in a number of European initiatives of political and economical dialogue with Third Countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine (European Neighbourhood Plans), and in the Middle East and Asia, while continuing to support the implementation of the ICC clause incorporated in the revised Cotonou Agreement between ACP countries and the EU.

Additional Activities

• On October 15, 2009, the President of PGA, Sen. Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (Nigeria), also addressed the Sub-committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, introduced by Prof. Vittorio Prodi, MEP. Sen. Ewa-Henshaw took the opportunity to welcome the renewed partnership between PGA and EU institutions in support of the universality and effectiveness of the ICC system, while underscoring the positive effect that international criminal justice has had for peace and stability in the West African region, as illustrated by the case of Charles Taylor, surrendered from Nigeria to Liberia, and now at trial within the premises of the ICC in the Hague. Sen. Ewa-Henshaw brought to the attention of the Human Rights Sub Committee the recent atrocities allegedly committed in Guinea, and welcomed the announcement of the ICC Prosecution to open a preliminary investigation on this West African situation. Ms. Heidi Hautala, MEP, Chair of the Sub Committee, welcomed the submission of the PGA President, in particular with respect to the Guinea crisis, which will be in the agenda of the European Parliament in the October plenary in Strasbourg.

• ICC President Judge Song held a series of additional meetings including with the new European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Karel De Gucht.