June 18 - 19, 2009 | The Hague

On 18-19 June 2009, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) held a Strategy Meeting on the Politics of International Criminal Justice in The Hague, hosted by Mr. Coskun Coruz, MP at the Parliament of the Netherlands and by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Twenty-one Parliamentarians from all regions of the world, including situation-related countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Uganda met with experts from Governments, NGOs and International Organisations, including the highest officials of the ICC, to discuss priorities and policy-options relating to the promotion of the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern in general and to the universality and effectiveness of the jurisdictional system created by the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Working day at Dutch Parliament

The first working day, in the Dutch Parliament, was opened by a frank and useful session with ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who discussed with Lawmakers actions and challenges in promoting the fight against impunity while fully respecting the independence of the ICC as a judicial institution and the human rights of all individuals concerned by the perpetration and repetition of atrocities. PGA leading members, such as Dr. Ruth Wijdenbosch, MP of Suriname and Senator Maria Cristina Perceval of Argentina, reiterated the commitment of PGA to support the ICC in maximising the impact of its interventions in conflict, post-conflict and crises situations, with the aim of deterring, or at least reducing the scope of, international crimes. On his part, Hon. Adubango Ali, MP of the DRC affirmed that justice is essential in providing victims with an opportunity for redress as well as in breaking the cycle of violence and impunity that fuels bloody conflicts, as the ones that has shaken the DRC in the last two decades (to read Hon. Adubango's contribution, please click here - French only).

Working day at the International Criminal Court

During the second working at the ICC Premises, President Judge Sang-Hyun Song addressed the parliamentary delegation on behalf of the entire Court and recognised the crucial role played by PGA Members and Parliamentarians in responding with political arguments to the political challenges facing international criminal justice. Judge Song stressed that the ICC, as a purely judicial institution, must refrain from entering the international political arena, and therefore must receive all the political and diplomatic support that may be needed to secure its effective operations and protect the integrity of its impartial mandate.

Actions to be taken

After very intense deliberations, informal exchanges and the attendance of a hearing of the trial Prosecutor v. Lubanga, PGA Members agreed to launch actions and strategies, including country-specific strategies, on the following priorities areas for 2010-11, within the framework of the Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC:

1. Universality of the Rome Statute. More ratifications and accessions in order to:
   • Expand the territorial and personal jurisdiction of the Court,
   • Reduce the negative impact of referrals by the UN Security Council, as these would simply trigger procedures before the Court instead of establishing the jurisdiction of the Court in a non State Party as it was the case of Res. 1593 on Darfur/Sudan
   • Strengthen and further legitimise the ICC as centre-piece of the new permanent system of international criminal justice
   • Expand the representation of legal systems in the ICC, its Assembly of States Parties and the Review Conference of the Rome Statute
2. Implementing legislation, concerning the definitions of crimes and the general principles of international criminal law, as well as procedures to cooperate with the ICC in order to: Ensure that suspect find no safe-haven, witness and victims are protected and allowed to participate in ICC proceedings, and overall that the decisions of the ICC are not subject to the political discretion of National institutions requested to enforce such decisions
   • Apply the principle of complementarity, i.e. permitting the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of international crimes at the National level, as well as ensuring that the rights of victims and of the accused are respected in National systems at least in the same way as they are protected by the Rome Statute
   • Promote the adoption of agreements between States and the Court on the enforcement of ICC sentences: Such an agreement may be integrated in existing or new policies and/or programmes aimed at improving the conditions of the penitentiary system.
3. Promoting national prosecution of international crimes, given that legislation per se may not be sufficient to empower the judiciary and the law enforcement sector to effectively counter impunity and detect the suspected authors of the most serious crimes, this area may entail the support for, inter alia:
   • Administrative measure aimed at training personnel capable to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of genocide, crimes against and war crimes
   • Budgetary measures aimed at strengthening the national judicial mechanisms;
   • New tools developed by international institutions to trace, freeze and seize the assets of criminals (e.g. via a Special Notice to be issued by Interpol similarly to the one already existing in the international counter-terrorism domain - see http://www.interpol.int/Public/NoticesUN/Default.asp )
4. Enhancing cooperation with the ICC, given that legislation per se may not be sufficient to secure effective and unconditioned cooperation under the Rome Statute. This priority area may entail the support for, inter alia:
   • measures on budget and human resources to be given to national agencies in charge of international cooperation and judicial assistance in combating crimes;
   • simplification of procedures and direct cooperation among national and international judicial institutions
5. Enhancing political and diplomatic support for the fight against impunity in general and the ICC in particular, with specific reference to:
   • Reinforcing the role of States and the Assembly of States Parties in implementing, hence supporting and respecting the independent judicial institutions engaged in the fight against impunity,
   • Mainstreaming the fight against impunity in bilateral and multilateral relations, including in the area of development cooperation,
6. Disseminating the Rome Statute at the National and local level
   • Ensuring the inclusion of the Rome Statute in university, military and public service curricula, and of the principles of the rule of law of civic education programmes for all ages,
   • When appropriate, make use of national or trans-national public media to disseminate developments at the ICC, or correct misinformation about the Rome Statute,
7. Strengthening the reparatory or restorative element of international criminal justice, including via the Trust for Fund for Victims of the ICC
8. Contributing and calling on each government to contribute to the Review Conference of the Rome Statute (Kampala, Uganda, May-June 2010), with specific positions on, inter alia
   • On achieving a positive outcome on the negotiations on the crime of aggression,
   • On ensuring the appropriate treatment of the "transitional provision" to opt-out from the ICC jurisdiction on war crimes for seven years contained in Article 124 of the Rome Statute
   • On ensuring high level representation in Kampala, and active involvement in the evaluation ("stocktaking") concerning ratification/accession, implementing legislation, and cooperation with the ICC,
9. Organising the 2010 VI Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law (Parliament of Uganda, May 2010), the largest project of the Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC aimed at fostering all the above objectives and strategies

PARTICIPATING PGA MEMBERS

(see Program for full list of participants)

1. Mr. Coskun Coruz, MP [Host of the Meeting] (Netherlands), Speaker on Justice, CDA
2. Sen. Maria Cristina Perceval (Argentina), Convenor, PGA International Law and Human Rights (ILHR) Program; Chair, Defense and National Security Committee, Senate of Argentina
3. Mr. Khalil Al Marzooq, MP (Bahrain), Chair, Legislation Committee, Lower House of Bahrain; PGA Executive Committee
4. Sen. Alain Destexhe (Belgium), PGA Executive Committee
5. Mr. Serge Bokassa, MP (CAR), Foreign Affairs Committee
6. Mr. Jules Tatoloumel, MP (Chad), Chair, Legislation and Legal Affairs Committee
7. Dip. Adubango Ali, MP (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Chair, PGA DRC National Group
8. Mr. MJ Nolan, MP (Ireland), Deputy Convenor, PGA Int. Law & Human Rights Program
9. Mr. Khimlal Devkota, MP (Nepal), Law and Justice Committee, Leader of the Communist Party in the Sansad
10. Mr. Henk Jan Ormel, MP (The Netherlands), Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee (CDA)
11. Ms. Kathleen Ferrier, MP (The Netherlands), Foreign Affairs Committee & PGA Member
12. Mr. Harry van Bommel, MP (The Netherlands), Foreign Affairs Committee (SP)
13. Dr. Peter Omtzig, MP (The Netherlands), Dutch Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe (CDA)
14. Ms. Chantal Gill'ard, MP (The Netherlands), Foreign Affairs Committee (PVDA)
15. Senator Zainab A. Kure (Nigeria) Chair, Economic Planning and Poverty Alleviation Committee
16. Dr. Ruth Wijdenbosch, MP (Suriname) Chair, PGA International Council; Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee
17. Mr. Soedeshchand Jairam, MP (Suriname)
18. Mr. Yasar Yakis, MP (Turkey) Chair, European Integration Committee; former Minister for Foreign Affairs
19. Mr. Stephen Tashobya, MP (Uganda), Chair, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee
20. Mr. Abdu Katuntu, MP (Uganda), Rapporteur of the ICC/Int. Crimes Bill, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
21. Sen. David Coltart (Zimbabwe), Minister of Education, Arts, Culture and Sports (MDC)

For more information contact donat@pgaction.org