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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ENJOYS STRONG
SUPPORT AMONG OAS MEMBER STATES - U.N. EXPERT

Some 26 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) are among the 139 states worldwide that so far have signed the Rome Statute to establish the International Criminal Court (ICC). Eleven OAS states are among the 52 that have ratified the instrument that requires 60 ratifying states before it can come onstream.

This was reported in Washington today by Dr. Roy Lee, a United Nations expert, in an update to the special meeting convened by the OAS' Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs to consider the promotion of and respect for international humanitarian law. He was addressing the specific topic of fulfillment of the OAS General Assembly Resolution 1770 passed last June, on ratification in the [Western] Hemisphere of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court that is to be headquartered at The Hague in The Netherlands.

OAS Secretary General César Gaviria inaugurated the event, stressing the purpose of international humanitarian law in protecting and assisting people affected by armed conflicts while limiting the methods and means of combat to prevent unnecessary suffering or excessive damage.

Brazil's Ambassador to the OAS, Valter Pecly Moreira, presided over the meeting in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs.

Dr. Lee identified the OAS countries that have ratified so far as Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, adding that another 10 to 15 states are preparing to ratify the treaty that is expected to achieve the necessary number of ratifying states in time for it to enter into force by next July—the treaty's fourth anniversary.

Offering five major reasons behind the growing momentum worldwide for the International Court Dr. Lee, who also works for Columbia University in New York, said the ICC proposes to handle only the most heinous crimes—such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity—that the states parties have carefully defined and agreed upon. "The ICC will step in only if the state that has jurisdiction is unwilling or unable to exercise jurisdiction," he explained, noting how the International Court's jurisdiction fits well with national jurisdiction.

"We really need an International Criminal Court to give effect to international law, to stop impunity and to bring justice to the victim," Lee noted, remarking that for centuries numerous laws and rules have been enacted to regulate warfare, prohibit inhumane treatment, protect civilians and ban certain weapons. "But there is no instrument to enforce the law. Violation is commonplace."

He said the ICC will also handle cases of violations involving warlords, rebels and insurgents. "Instead of [states] handling such difficult cases themselves, such cases can be left to the International Criminal Court. Consequently warlords, rebels and insurgents would be subject to international pressure, investigation and prosecution," according to Lee, who noted that the Court will only complement state jurisdiction "where a gap exists."

And another advantage of the proposed Court that the UN expert identified: for the first time in history, "crimes involving sexual and gender violations" have been recognized and codified under the Rome Statute, as "self-standing crimes," and so is the crime of "disappearances," which he said was formulated with the assistance of many OAS member country delegations.

The daylong meeting heard from several experts, including from OAS member states and from the International Committee of the Red Cross. They covered a variety of other issues ranging from the follow-up to the Conference of Government Experts on the Application of International Humanitarian law and Related Inter-American Conventions, held in Costa Rica in March 2001, to implementation of international humanitarian law standards at the national level, in keeping with OAS General Assembly Resolution 1771 adopted last June, and the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

Reference: E-048/02