October 13, 2016 | New York/The Hague/Strasbourg

On 12 October 2016, thanks to the leadership of PGA 2016 Board Member Sen. Destexhe (Belgium), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution titled “Co-operation with the International Criminal Court: Towards a Concrete and Expanded Commitment”, which reaffirms the strong support of the Council of Europe for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the universal ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC, while calling for upholding the Court`s integrity and legitimacy. Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) welcomes this significant contribution, which provides a strong basis for ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute and the Kampala Amendments by those States parties to the Council of Europe that not have done so and, in such way contribute to the fight against impunity in the years to come. This step taken by the PACE offers a blueprint for PGA´s actions in 2017-2018 to promote universality and the effectiveness of the Rome Statute system against impunity in the Council of Europe member States, including Ukraine.

The report, presented by Sen. Alain Destexhe (Belgium), Chair of PGA International Council and of PACE Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee, reflects the main outcomes of a PACE Committee hearing with Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, ICC President, and Dr. David Donat Cattin, PGA Secretary General, held in Rome in May 2016. In addition, PGA contributed through experts’ submissions to the drafting of the Report and the Resolution, in particular regarding the statistics contained in the report regarding countries that have ratified and/or implemented the Rome Statute, the Kampala Amendments and the APIC. The report is consistent with PACE Resolution 1644 (2009) on “Co-operation with the International Criminal Court and its universality” through which the Assembly reiterated “its belief that the universal ratification of the Rome Statute and its effective implementation into domestic systems, as well as close cooperation by States parties and other States in providing practical and judicial assistance to the ICC, are of key importance for the fight against impunity.”

The Assembly urges the Council of Europe member States and observer States and Assembly observer States, which have not done so yet, to ratify, without further delay, the Rome Statute and Kampala Amendments in order to achieve universal jurisdiction of the Court. This is an essential step to avoid an uneven application of the principles and norms of international criminal law and a limitation in the Court’s functioning, as the Court may not be not able -due to lack of jurisdiction- to act on situations where mass atrocities take place. Further, the Assembly equally stresses the importance of adopting effective national legislation to fully implement the crimes and general principles of the Rome Statute into States` domestic criminal law systems in order to set up the necessary framework at the national level to fight against impunity for international crimes.

The Assembly also highlights the importance of the States’ cooperation with the ICC in investigating and prosecuting crimes within its jurisdiction. In this regard, the Assembly calls upon the member States of the Council of Europe that have not done so yet to establish in their national legislation the mechanism to efficiently cooperate with the ICC as well as to sign voluntary cooperation agreements with the ICC. In addition, in order to facilitate Court’s operations and enable its officials to conduct investigations efficiently, the Assembly appeals to the Council of Europe member States to ratify the Agreement the Privileges and Immunities of the ICC (APIC).

In the amendments adopted unanimously on 12 October 2016, the Assembly members, in line with the principle of complementarity, call on member States to prosecute those responsible for the ongoing genocide against Yazidis, Christians and other religious minorities, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria and in Iraq.

At the international level, the Assembly appeals to the ICC Prosecutor to assume her jurisdiction and initiate preliminary examinations into crimes committed by ISIS/Daesh foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, who are citizens of ICC State Parties, and also calls on member States and observer States who are members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to table a resolution to the UNSC which would ensure the effective prosecution of perpetrators of the crimes.

The essential role of civil society- in particular PGA - in promoting the universal jurisdiction of the ICC and defending its independence, has been emphasised throughout the resolution. The Assembly expressed particular gratitude to PGA for its engagement and encouraged States to collaborate with PGA in order to advance the process of ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute, Kampala Amendments and APIC which are crucial for enabling the ICC to fulfil effectively its mandate to fight against impunity.

The Assembly concludes the resolution by reiterating that States Parties to the Rome Statute should ensure sufficient funding to the ICC and defend and respect its judicial independence. In this respect, the Assembly encourages the States to demand the United Nations Security Council to provide greater support to the Court, both in financial and political terms, and to follow up on cases of non-cooperation.

Selected Statements:

I am very pleased that the Assembly adopted my resolution, which illustrates that the principles of international justice are closely intertwined with the core values of the Council of Europe- democracy, rule of law and human rights. I believe that the resolution will serve as an inspiration for the Council of Europe Member States, observer States and Assembly observer States, to proceed with the ratification and implementation of the relevant legal instruments. The importance of achieving the universal ratification of the Rome Statute cannot be overstated – it is the essential element in advancing the global fight to end impunity for mass atrocities and war crimes which account for the most severe human rights and humanitarian law violations. Sen. Alain Destexhe, MP (Belgium),
PGA International Council Chair

I strongly welcome the adoption of the resolution, which demonstrates the commitment of Council of Europe Member States towards strengthening and promoting international justice. I am convinced that this resolution can provide important guidance for future steps to strengthen the Rome Statute system. In this regard, I call upon all States to reaffirm their commitment to the ICC by following the recommendations and appeals presented in the resolution. Ms. Barbara Lochbihler, MEP European Parliament (Germany),
Convenor of PGA International Law & Human Rights Program, PGA Member

The adoption of this resolution represents a significant accomplishment as it calls for the unified stand of the Council of Europe Member States in supporting human rights and the fight against impunity worldwide. I am hopeful that my country will be soon in a position to ratify and implement the Rome Statute and Kampala Amendments to demonstrate our strong commitment to Rule of Law and objectives and principles of the international criminal justice by eliminating the 3 years waiting period to ratify the Rome Statute after the amendment of the Constitution. I believe that this resolution, which has been agreed upon amongst the Parliamentary Assembly members and recognises the ‘sui generis’ character of the transitional provision of Constitution postponing ratification, will serve as a significant step towards that direction. Ms. Svitlana Zalischuk, MP (Ukraine),
PGA Member

Background:

PGA members have contributed to 77 over 124 ratifications or accessions to the Rome Statute as of today. PGA is a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).