THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, July 17, 2024/ -- Today, 17 July 2024, is the Day of International Criminal Justice, which marks the 26th anniversary of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (www.ICC-CPI.int).
The Rome Statute is the first international treaty of its kind, establishing the International Criminal Court, and aiming to end impunity for perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. 124 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute.
ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane remarked on this occasion: "On the Day of International Criminal Justice, it is important that we remember why the ICC was created and how essential it is that the Court be allowed to carry out its mandate fully, without external pressures. Through our work, we fight impunity for the for the most grievous crimes, and with every case we adjudicate, we take a step closer towards building a more just world. As an independent and impartial judicial body, the ICC plays a crucial role in strengthening the rule of law at the international level."
ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan KC stated: “The mission of my Office and the Court is to vindicate the promise of international humanitarian law that all lives have equal value, and that all those subjected to violations have the right to justice. The progress made in the past years is significant, yet our work is far from complete. My Office is committed to working with all of our partners to deliver more effectively on our mandate and make the protection of the Rome Statute a tangible reality for all."
ICC Registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler remarked: “On the Day of International Criminal Justice, we both mark the steps taken towards developing a more just world, free from impunity for these most egregious crimes, as well as critically reaffirm the need for revitalization of this common commitment to safeguard and protect the independent and impartial mandate of the International Criminal Court and its work in service of justice and victims.”
To mark the day, the ICC President and First-Vice President Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala will participate in several meetings and events at the United Nations headquarters in New York, including the opening of an ICC exhibition "Common Bonds" (http://apo-opa.co/3zI9mel) and a high-level panel discussion hosted by the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. These and other activities marking 17 July seek to strengthen support for and deepen public understanding of the Court, its mandate and processes, and the Rome Statute system as a whole.
Background: Adopted on 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute (http://apo-opa.co/46pzual) is the ICC's founding treaty, ratified by 124 countries. The ICC is the first permanent international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Criminal Court (ICC).
For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: fadi.el-abdallah@icc-cpi.int.
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Thousands of anti-government protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square as Egyptian troops bar pro-Mubarak loyalists from entering. Katharine Jackson reports.
Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on current the situation in North Africa
GENEVA, February 4, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on current the situation in North Africa
Thank you for coming once again. It is unusual for me to hold two press conferences within a week. This is a reflection of the extreme importance I place on what has been going on in North Africa over the past few weeks, and the ramifications for human rights further afield.
First I would like to make a few comments about what is happening in Egypt, before turning to Tunisia and handing over to my high-level team who have just returned from there.
I last spoke to you about Egypt on Tuesday, before vast and peaceful demonstrations and marches were held in Alexandria, Cairo and other cities. The world has been watching as events have unfolded since.
I warned then, and I reiterate again, that governments must listen to their people and put in practise their human rights obligations. Regimes that deprive people of their fundamental rights, that depend on a ruthless security apparatus to impose their will, are bound to fail in the long-term. Stability depends on the development of human rights and democracy.
Tuesday ended on an optimistic note in Egypt. The peaceful demonstrations showed that the chaos, which some were presenting as the only possible alternative to the existing system, was by no means the inevitable outcome.
The violence we all hoped would not happen, did happen on Wednesday when we saw shocking scenes of opposing groups hurling Molotov cocktails, fire bombs and barrages of large stones at each other. Again, there was a noticeable absence of police, and the army failed to separate the two groups, with tragic consequences.
This violence must stop.
Yesterday President Mubarak gaved a television interview in which he said he would like to step down now, but fears the only alternative would be chaos. In the last two days we have seen chaos in central Cairo, and one of the prime drivers of this chaos seems to have been the actions of Egypt's security and intelligence services.
I urge the authorities to make a strong, clear and unequivocal call on the security and intelligence forces that have protected the authoritarian regime in Egypt for the past 30 years, to stop undermining the security of the state they are supposed to serve.
The Prime Minister has apologized for Wednesday's violence. I welcome this public recognition – unique in Egypt's recent history – that the authorities have failed in their duties to protect the people. I urge Egypt to follow through and make the necessary reforms to promote human rights and democracy. There must be an investigation into whether this violence was planned, and if so by whom. This investigation must be undertaken in a transparent and impartial manner.
Over the past two days, we have learned of other extremely disturbing developments, including the physical assaults on, and intimidation and arbitrary detention of, dozens of journalists in what is clearly a blatant attempt to stifle news of what is going on in Egypt.
We have heard of the harassment and arbitrary detention of local and international human rights defenders, including most notably 20 or more people taken yesterday from the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre by military police. Those detained include some of Egypt's leading activists as well as staff of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – two of the most respected international human rights organizations. As of the time I left for this briefing, I understand they had still not been freed from military detention.
All journalists and human rights defenders who were arrested for practicing their professions must be released immediately and unconditionally. The authorities must order their security and intelligence forces to cease this extreme harassment at once.
I also urge the authorities to maintain open communications and internet services, protect media premises, and halt all activities aimed at restricting or manipulating the free flow of information, such as the extraordinary hijacking of Vodaphone's system in order to send propaganda text messages.
Egypt must implement its international human rights obligations and prevent further violence. Protestors must be properly protected, including from each other. The security and intelligence forces must be held accountable. Change is coming to Egypt, as it came to Tunisia, but the violence and bloodshed must stop now.
Governments should listen to their people, and start addressing their human rights deficits immediately. Waiting until unrest actually happens is, as we have seen in Tunisia and are now seeing in Egypt, not only perpetuating systems that to a greater or lesser degree transgress international laws and standards, it is also a classic case of acting too little, too late. We now see there is an intense hunger for human rights in the Middle East and North Africa – and of course in other countries in other regions. Governments who ignore these extremely loud and clear warning signals, are doing so at their own peril.
As in Egypt, human rights are at the heart of the political change that has happened in Tunisia. In Tunisia, people expressed loudly and clearly their appetite for a genuine break with the past and for a new era in their countries. Socio-economic hardship coupled with a denial of human rights and justice were the instigators for the widespread protests in both countries.
My team of senior human rights experts has just returned from visiting Tunisia and the information they received confirmed how integral human rights will be for the construction of the future of this country. They have briefed me on their observations and findings.
I was particularly moved by the words of one man whose 28-year-old son died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest, as he gathered with other young men to protect their neighbourhood from armed militias. Speaking of the death of his son, he told my team that, “there must be sacrifices for there to be change.” His courageous words convey the enormity of the change for ordinary Tunisians and their desire and determination to achieve it despite colossal personal sacrifices and pain. Tunisians are anxious to see the human rights gains of recent weeks reinforced and entrenched in law so that they become a permanent feature of their country.
My team is currently finalizing a written report, based on which I will decide on the best ways in which my Office can provide immediate and more long-term support and assistance to the Tunisian people on a range of human rights issues.
I will now hand over to my team for their direct accounts of what they witnessed in Tunisia over the past week and their impressions.
Source: United Nations - Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Côte d'Ivoire / Human Rights Council debates situation of Human Rights in Côte d'Ivoire
NEW YORK, December 23, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Human Rights Council this morning opened a Special Session on “The situation of human rights in Côte d'Ivoire since the elections on 28 November 2010”.
Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaking on behalf of High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, reiterated the deep concerns of the High Commissioner, regarding the violations of human rights in Côte d'Ivoire. United Nations human rights officers were deployed across the country and were doing their utmost to monitor the situation and provide protection where they could. It had been impossible to investigate all the allegations of serious human rights violations, including reports of mass graves, due to restriction of movement of United Nations personnel. The current restrictions imposed by security forces and youth groups loyal to Mr. Gbagbo, which had hindered the capacity of the United Nations to deliver much-needed services and humanitarian assistance, must be lifted immediately. The Security Council had urged all Ivorian parties to respect the will of the people and the outcome of the election. The human rights violations must cease and the United Nations must be granted unfettered access to the population and perpetrators must be held accountable.
Member States of the Council and Observer States then took the floor. Most expressed their deep concerns about the human rights situation in Côte d'Ivoire, in relation to the results of the 2010 presidential elections, and the violence which had led to loss of lives and property. It was imperative for the Human Rights Council to pronounce itself on the situation in the country and address the issue. The Council could not remain silent when there was growing evidence of massive violations of human rights. States underlined the importance for the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire to implement its protection mandate. States also expressed support for the action of the United Nations and the efforts of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in Côte d'Ivoire.
Speakers further called for an immediate end to violence and expressed concerns at the alarming reports of press harassment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, formation of armed militia groups and extrajudicial killings. Former President Gbagbo's persisting intransigence to the will of the Ivorian electorate threatened to cast the country back into conflict. The presidential elections had been deemed fair and their results must be accepted by all Ivorian parties. It was imperative to uphold the integrity of the electoral process and to restore democracy immediately. The renewing of the mandate of the United Nations' mission in Côte d'Ivoire was indispensable for enabling the United Nations and the international community at large to continue supporting the peace process and monitoring the increasingly alarming human rights situation
World Water Activists Urge the UN General Assembly to Vote for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation
NEW YORK, July 23, 2010/PRNewswire/ --
WHAT: Tele-press Conference
WHEN: Monday, July 26th at 08:00 -4GMT (New York, EST)
HOW: Contact Denise Hughes: Denise@creative-connectors.com, +1-917-549-2621, to R.S.V.P. or arrange an interview. Conference-Call-In- Number: +1-613-234-9374 Code - 973949 followed by the number sign.
WHO: Maude Barlow is the founder of the Blue Planet Project, Chair of the Board of Food & Water Watch, and Chair of The Council of Canadians. She was the Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. Her book, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, argues that the water crisis - together with climate change - poses one of the gravest threats to humanity.
Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader. Director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, and Ecology, she is the author of Water Wars: Pollution, Profit. In Water Wars, she analyzes the historical erosion of communal water rights and exposes the destruction of the earth and the disenfranchisement of the world's poor. She also reveals how many of the most significant conflicts of our time are fought over water.
Pablo Solón Romero is Ambassador of Bolivia to the United Nations. Previously, he was Bolivia's Ambassador for issues concerning Integration and Trade. He was the Secretary of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) during Bolivia's Presidency of that institution and served as President Evo Morales's delegate in the Strategic Reflection Committee for South American Integration (2006). Ambassador Solón has been a social activist and worked for several years on human rights issues.
Background
On July 28, for the first time the UN General Assembly will debate and vote on an historic resolution supporting the right to "safe, clean, drinking water and sanitation" that was presented on June 17 by Pablo Solón, the Bolivian Ambassador to the UN, and co-sponsored by at least 30 countries. This resolution would redress the omission of water as a human right from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The U.S., UK and Canada are standing against the resolution and influencing others to their position, threatening to divide the world body along North-South lines. Expressing concern, Maude Barlow says, "The U.S., Canada, and some European countries are throwing in every wrench they can to stop this process, even as their own citizens enjoy these rights, they shamelessly deny these rights to others. They're using procedural excuses to block an issue of life and death and showing no respect or compassion for those suffering terribly from lack of water and sanitation."
Why a UN resolution?
Water is essential to life. Everyday 4,000 children die from water-related illness. The United Nations estimates that nearly 1.2 billion people live without clean water and 2.6 billion without proper sanitation.
Passing this resolution is the first step the international community can take towards water sustainability. It will focus attention on the fundamental importance of water and sanitation. The resolution will also lay the legal groundwork for a fair system of distribution, and begin a larger process to clarify the state's role to ensure clean, affordable water to all. Future legal instruments could also protect water rights for the earth and address the urgent need to reclaim polluted waters and end destructive practices of the world's water sources.
Water must be paramount in realizing the Millennium Development Goals, and at the Climate Change Convention and Rio +20. In the International Herald Tribune, Mikhail Gorbachev said, "Expanding access to water and sanitation will open many other development bottlenecks...As population growth and climate change increase the pressure for adequate water and food, water will increasingly become a security issue."
Without water's recognition as a human right, decision-making over policy will continue to shift from the UN and governments toward institutions that favor private water companies and the commodification of water. In the face of a worsening global water crisis, UN member states must affirm whether water is a human right, or a commodity.
"Life requires access to clean water; to deny the right to water is to deny the right to life," says Maude Barlow, "We must seize this moment to enact solid legislation and action at national and international levels - starting with the U.N. vote on Wednesday."
Tell the G20 to Create Financial Transparency Join 100,000 voices to fight poverty, protect human rights, and demand transparency. Developing countries are currently losing US$1 trillion dollars annually - 10 times the amount they receive in foreign aid. We can change this. Tell the G20 - the world's economic leaders - to create transparency in the international financial system.
Please, sign the petition below. G20 Transparency Petition
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services… --Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Research shows that developing countries are losing $1 trillion every year due to crime, government corruption, and tax evasion. These illicit monetary outflows are roughly ten times the amount of aid money going into developing countries for poverty alleviation and economic development.
The loss of money from poor economies that would otherwise go to provide health services, infrastructure, and other critical needs exacerbates poverty and leads to the deaths of millions of people. The annual loss of hundreds of billions of dollars from the world’s poorest and most vulnerable economies constitutes one of the most pressing human rights issues of the new decade.
The key to tackling this problem is transparency in the global financial system. After these stolen or otherwise ill-gotten gains exit their country of origin they vanish into an opaque financial system comprised of tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions. The most effective deterrent to criminals, corrupt officials, and tax evaders is to create a global financial system where illicit money cannot hide. When the world’s 20 largest economies – the G20 – meet in Toronto on June 26-27, 2010 they will have an unprecedented opportunity to institute changes to create a transparent global financial system that is open, accountable, fair and beneficial for all.
Toward that end, we call on the G20 leaders to:
• • Recognize the link between illicit outflows of capital from developing countries, absorption of those resources by tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions, and the adverse impact those flows have on poverty alleviation and economic development.
• • Call on the Financial Action Task Force to amend its recommendations 33, 34, and VIII to provide that the beneficial ownership of all companies, trusts, foundations and charities be made a matter of public record.
• • Instruct the International Accounting Standards Board to recommend that all multinational corporations report their income and taxes paid on a country by country basis.”
GFI recently launched the G20 Transparency campaign to enable people around the world to take action on the problem of illicit financial flows. To sign the G20 transparency petition, which will be presented at the G20 meetings in June, go to www.G20Transparency.com or visit www.GFIP.org.
Mr. President, Do Not Let Obama's Dream Die in Your Hands
Dear President Barack Obama,
On the eve of your visit to China, we urge you to take a firm stand on human rights issues to reaffirm to the world the core values of the United States of America and its dedication to those values.
Dear Mr. President, you challenged Americans to enact a change, and Americans have responded and sent you to the White House to be the catalyst of change. You took the message of change to Europe, and Europeans have responded and reengaged with the leader of the free world.
We now challenge you: Will you bring change to the US policy toward China, a policy of economic engagement that has tainted our nation's image for the past twenty years, or will you maintain the status quo?
The United States' engagement with China originally donned a pretext of helping to improve China's human rights. Over time, however, its true motive and consequence has emerged: with the passing of one so-called opportunity after another to improve human rights in China, including the granting of PNTR to China, the admission of China into the WTO, and the Beijing Olympics, more and more Chinese people have fallen victim to the Chinese regime's human rights abuses. As such, this policy has turned into our nation's worst example of hypocrisy, and the complete lack of acknowledgement of and accountability for its failure also makes it our worst example of irresponsible politics.
At the same time the US has been losing its moral standing. The former Soviet bloc was far more powerful then than China is now, and it took thirty-eight years for the Berlin Wall to fall. The US was never weak or vulnerable during the Cold War, and was a source of inspiration and hope for people in Eastern Europe. Now the US is not only increasingly timid about mentioning human rights to China, it is on its knees supplicating China to buy its debt. Internationally, the US has helped to fund the Chinese regime to become a new anti-human rights ringleader and has to face it on multiple continents. Domestically, we are suffering the consequences of our own deeds: We ignored China's suppression of workers' unions, and we lose our jobs to China's slave laborers who work under unsafe conditions; we ignore China's persecution of Christians and Falun Gong practitioners who merely want their right to conscience, and we receive unconscionable toxic products from China.
Most alarmingly, we are losing sight of our real national interest - our American values. Had Abraham Lincoln not been so dedicated to the founding principles of America, had he instead carried on a policy of economic engagement with the South, rationalizing that the profit would somehow trickle down in the form of greater freedom for the slaves, that would be equivalent to today's China policy, and there would be no President Obama. Today, our founding principles and values have eroded to the point where we have accepted a China policy based on greed rather than principle for the past twenty years.
Mr. President, in those twenty years how many of China's Obamas have been locked up and lynched in jail? How many of China's Obamas have been exiled to the US and cannot go back home to pursue their dreams? Over the globe, how many Obamas have suffered under various regimes that remain in power only because of the support of the Chinese regime?
Mr. President, we take it to heart when you claim Lincoln as your role model, so we ask you to carry on Abraham Lincoln's legacy to give people in China and around the world the opportunity to see their Obama's dream to come true.
Please do not let Obama's dream die in your hands.
~ From The Conscience Foundation Contact: 619-280-3112 chinavisit@consciencefoundation.org
Chief Abdul-Ganiyu "Gani" Oyesola Fawehinmi, (22 April 1938 - 05 September 2009)
Honorable Gani Fawehinmi was the conscience of Nigeria and there will never be another Gani Fawehinmi again. He and the late Afro beat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti were the most outspoken Nigerian human rights activists of the 20th century. As Fela used his music as the instrument and vehicle for the social and political emancipation of the poor masses, Gani used his law to fight for justice and liberty in Nigeria.
For decades Gani risked life to defend the defenseless poor and powerless people of Nigeria and was imprisoned dozens of times for his protests against military dictatorship and injustice. Gani was a fearless and incorruptible prisoner of conscience. Gani was a great man and would be remembered as one of the greatest civil rights leaders of our time.
Nigerians Report hereby proposes that we should have a special day to be celebrated as a Gani Fawehinmi Day in Nigeria.
