Proposal for an annual high-level meeting in April of the “Group of Friends of the ICC” to highlight the importance of the ICC in relation to accountability, prevention and justice for victims.

Date: April 17, 2014
UN Secretariat building
This event was webcast live via UN Web TV on April 17 at 4pm EST

Prevention of and ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes: the role of the ICC in fulfilling victims’ rights and delivering reparative justice

Background

April is the commemorative month of several genocides, when member states, the UN and civil society remember and honor the victims, as well as discuss ideas and strategies to prevent genocide and other atrocity crimes. Under the leadership of Sweden as the Coordinator of the  “Group of Friends of the ICC”, the group of ICC Member States meeting regularly at the UN, it was decided to organize an annual high level meeting in April to high-light the importance of the ICC in relation to accountability, prevention and justice for victims.  

To add a strong voice of a victim and witness of the atrocities committed in Central African Republic (CAR) to this meeting, the Chair of the PGA National Group in CAR, Hon. Marcel Djimasse, was kindly invited by the Government of Sweden to address this high-level meeting on behalf of all PGA Members living in war-torn territories globally. As a member of parliament from CAR and a politician he had been elected by his constituency to represent the voice of civil society. Since the Coup d’Etat in March 2013 led by the Seleka rebellion, which led to the unconstitutional ousting of democratically elected MPs from the Parliament, Hon. Djimassé and many members of the PGA CAR group have been threatened by the rebels, but have also mobilised to find an outcome to the crisis, which takes into account the vital need to end impunity for the international crimes that have been and are still committed in the country.

This annual meeting, which took place on 17 April at the United Nations, under the title “High Level Annual meeting of the “Group of Friends of the ICC”: Prevention of and Ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes: the role of the ICC in fulfilling victims’ rights and delivering reparative justice” highlighted the three main focus areas of the work of the ICC namely ending impunity, prevention of atrocity crimes and providing justice for victims. The sub-topic of the 2014 meeting is “Victims’ Rights and the need for reparative justice”.