Bissau/The Hague:

On 19 and 20 April 2022, on the occasion of the official visit of the President of the International Criminal Court, Judge Piotr Hofmański, to Guinea-Bissau, PGA supported the engagement of the country’s highest authorities with the ICC President and facilitated meetings with members of Parliament to promote their role in the process of ratification of the Rome Statute.

President Hofmański held productive discussions with H.E. Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau; H.E. Cipriano Cassamá, President of the National Assembly and PGA member; H.E. Suzi Barbosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and PGA member, H.E. José Pedro Sambú, President of the Supreme Court of Justice; H.E. Soares Sambú, Deputy Prime Minister; H.E. Teresa Alexandrina da Silva, Minister of Justice; as well as leaders of parliamentary groups convened by the Speaker of Parliament and other PGA members.

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It was a great pleasure to welcome H.E. Piotr Hofmański in my country. I am confident that the fruitful conversation he held with the Government authorities and political leaders will pave the way forward towards the long- overdue ratification of the Rome Statute by Guinea- Bissau. To this end, I call on all my colleagues and authorities in Guinea Bissau to take all necessary steps to proceed towards the ratification, to show our country’s commitment to the rule of law, peace, and security. João Bernardo Vieira, MP, Chair of PGA National group in Guinea-Bissau

During his visit, President Hofmański also met with H.E. Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guinea-Bissau; H.E. Sónia Neto, Head of the European Union delegation in Guinea-Bissau; as well as other members of the diplomatic corps based in Bissau.

Background

Guinea-Bissau signed the Rome Statute on 12 September 2000 but it has not yet ratified it. It is one of the two ECOWAS countries (together with Togo) that have not yet ratified the Rome Statute.

PGA’s work to achieve the ratification of the Rome Statute by Guinea Bissau had been stalled due to the prolonged political and institutional crisis that started when President José Mário Vaz dismissed prime minister Domingos Simões Pereira in August 2015. Despite the constitutional crisis that followed, President Vaz went on to become the first president to complete a full term since the country’s independence in 1974. Afterwards, the political paralysis has continued with a post-electoral crisis between winning candidate Umaro Sissoko Embaló and runner-up Domingos Simões Pereira, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) candidate, who rejected the results of the presidential election held at the end of 2019. The situation was resolved in April 2020 with international recognition of the President Sissoco Embaló by ECOWAS, followed by most States.

Following the stabilization of the situation in the country, PGA has been building a strong Governmental and parliamentary initiative pro-ratification with the new Government and Parliament. In particular, PGA has been working with its long- term member Hon. Suzi Barbosa (former Chair of the PGA Guinea Bissau National Group), who was re-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2020. Hon. Barbosa has played an important role in the process, as she had launched a campaign in 2016-18 to sensitize MPs, Government officials - including the Head of State- and stakeholders on the necessity for justice and durable peace in the country through the ratification of the Rome Statute.

Hon. Barboza attended the PGA CAP-ICC in November 2020 and made a specific commitment to work with PGA on the ratification, to be accompanied by a constitutional revision process that should not be a pre-condition to the ratification, in line with the precedent of Brazil. To this end, PGA prepared a strategic legal memorandum exploring the legal options on overcoming  perceived legal obstacles towards ratifying the Rome Statute. Similar statements of commitments in support of the fight against impunity and ratification of the Rome Statute as a way to commit to the principle of “never again” had been delivered by leading Parliamentarians, including the Speaker of Parliament, at the 2017 PGA Annual Forum on the preventing and countering violent extremism and mass atrocities, and within the framework of a field mission carried out by PGA in Bissau in 2018.

On 09 April 2021, Parliamentarians from Guinea Bissau discussed challenges relating to the ratification of the Rome Statute during a sub-regional hybrid Workshop on the Fight Against Impunity for Mass Atrocities under the Rome Statute of ICC and promotion of the Rule of Law. The Workshop was organized by PGA and its National Group in Nigeria. Dep. Joao Bernardo Vieira, MP (Guinea Bissau), Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed his strong commitment to actively work toward the ratification of the Rome Statute in Guinea Bissau. Dep. Vieira affirmed that the National Assembly of Guinea Bissau stands ready to work toward the ratification of the Rome Statute and its full implementation. Dep. Vieira analysed the example of other Lusophone countries, such as Brazil and Cabo Verde, which have made modest constitutional amendments in parallel to the Rome Statute ratification. He underlined that the prohibition to extradite nationals posed no obstacle to the ratification, given that the ICC did not require the extradition of nationals but their surrender - in full respect with the principle of complementarity, according to which States Parties have the primary duty to investigate and prosecute international crimes. Nevertheless, Dep. Vieira declared that he would work, along with his colleagues, on an amendment proposal to adopt a constitutional revision that could help facilitating the acceptance of the ICC jurisdiction in Guinea Bissau. He welcomed the offer of technical assistance by PGA, which had already provided similar assistance to several countries, including Cape Verde in 2009.