UN DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE TO ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS FIVE-WEEK SESSION IN ROME
Press Release
L/2870
UN DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE TO ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS FIVE-WEEK SESSION IN ROME
19980615 President of Italy, UN Secretary-General Urge Action To Defend Victims; Giovanni Conso (Italy) Elected Conference President(Reissued as received from an Information Officer.)
ROME, 15 June -- A five-week diplomatic conference, whose goal is to establish an international criminal court which will try war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, began this morning in Rome.
Addressing the inaugural meeting, the President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, stressed that the proposed court should guarantee the rights of the defendant and of the international community as a whole. The need for justice is everywhere and humankind is waiting for an answer. The Conference does not have an easy task before it, but together the international community will overcome the problems.
Opening the Conference, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a strong and independent international criminal court which can be an instrument of justice and be able to protect the weak. He said there was opportunity to create an institution that could save lives and serve as a bulwark against evil. The Conference should rise to the challenge and give succeeding generations that gift of hope.
The newly elected President of the Conference, Giovanni Conso (Italy), stated that the establishment of an international court will be an unmistakable message to perpetrators that there is no impunity and that no one is above the law. There have been serious attempts to establish such a court but nothing was achieved because of the political climate after the Second World War. Now, however, the international community is closer to achieving that goal and he pledged his commitment to ensure that the Conference was successful.
Welcoming participants, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the organization was happy to support efforts to establish the court as a decisive step forward in the struggle for peace and justice and human rights in conflict situations. He hoped that the session would be fruitful and that the scene would be set
for a new millennium in which human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people were universally respected. In addition to the President, the following were elected this morning as Vice-Presidents: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Gabon, Egypt, United Republic of Tanzania, Japan, Samoa, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Latvia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
Also this morning, Philippe Kirsch (Canada) was elected President of the Committee of the Whole of the Conference and Cherif Bassiouni (Egypt), Chairman of its Drafting Committee.
In other action, the Conference adopted its agenda and rules of procedure.
Also, the following were elected as members of the Conference's Credentials Committee: Argentina, Barbados, Bhutan, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Norway, Russian Federation, United States and Zambia.
At the outset of the meeting the Conference observed a minute of silence for prayer or meditation.
The Conference will meet again at 3 p.m. today to begin its general debate.
(For background information on the Conference, see Press Release L/2867 of 8 June.)
Conference Work Programme
The United Nations Diplomatic Conference to Establish an International Criminal Court met this morning to inaugurate a five-week long session aimed at the creation of a permanent judicial institution with a global jurisdiction to try individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Statement by Secretary-General
SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN: The road that has led to this conference in the Eternal City has been a long one. It has led through some of the darkest moments in human history. But it has also been marked by the determined belief of human beings that their true nature is to be noble and generous. Our own century has seen the invention and use of weapons of mass destruction, and the use of industrial technology to dispose of millions of human beings. Gradually the world has come to realize that relying on each State or army to punish its own transgressors is not enough. When crimes are committed on such a scale, we know that the State lacks either the power or the will to stop them. Too often, indeed, they are part of a systematic State policy, and the worst criminals may be found at the pinnacle of State power.
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Humanity had to wait until the 1990s for a political climate in which the United Nations could once again consider establishing an international criminal court. Events in the former Yugoslavia have added the dreadful euphemism of "ethnic cleansing" to our vocabulary. Perhaps a quarter of a million people died there between 1991 and 1995 -- the great majority of them civilians, guilty only of living on the "wrong" side of a line someone had drawn on a map. And then, in 1994, came the genocide of Rwanda. On my visit there last month, I was able to register at first hand the terrible, irreparable damage that event has done, not only to one small country but to the very idea of an international community. In future, the United Nations and its Member States must summon the will to prevent such a catastrophe from being repeated anywhere in the world. And as part of that effort, we must show clearly that such crimes will not be left unpunished.
Events in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda overtook the slow processes by which the world was considering the creation of a permanent international criminal court. Ad hoc tribunals had to be set up for those two countries, and they are now at work. These tribunals are showing, however imperfectly, that there is such a thing as international criminal justice, and that it can have teeth. But ad hoc tribunals are not enough. People all over the world want to know that humanity can strike back -- that whatever and whenever genocide, war crimes or other such violations are committed, there is a court before which the criminal can be held to account; a court that puts an end to a global culture of impunity; a court where "acting under orders" is no defence; a court where all individuals in a government hierarchy or military chain of command, without exception -- from rulers to private soldiers, must answer for their actions.
The whole world will be watching this Conference, and expecting concrete results. I do not underestimate the difficulties that you have to overcome. The work of the preparatory committees has shown what a complex issue that is, and how many conflicting principles and interests have to be reconciled.
Some small States fear giving pretexts for more powerful ones to set aside their sovereignty. Others worry that the pursuit of justice may sometimes interfere with the vital work of making peace. But the overriding interest must be that of the victims, and of the international community as a whole. I trust you will not flinch from creating a court strong and independent enough to carry out its task. It must be an instrument of justice, not expediency. It must be able to protect the weak against the strong.
We have before us an opportunity to take a monumental step in the name of human rights and the rule of law. We have an opportunity to create an institution that can save lives and serve as a bulwark against evil. So let us rise to this challenge. Let us give succeeding generations this gift of hope. They will not forgive us if we fail.
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Statement by President of Italy
OSCAR LUIGI SCALFARO, President of Italy: Italy is honoured to host this Conference. A launching platform for this Conference is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. That international instrument is a formal declaration based on an acknowledgement that mankind should have these rights. Any person deprived of human rights becomes "a thing", "an object", and is treated as such.
The Italian Constitution, adopted following the struggle for freedom and against fascism, states that the Government recognizes the rights of its citizens. The State acknowledges that man comes before the State, and his rights cannot be violated. It is not sufficient to have this principle in writing before the international community; these rights must be implemented. How many violations of human rights there have been? There must be universally recognized guarantees for the respect of human rights.
"Each one of us must be accountable for violations of human rights." The Italian Republic guarantees the protection of human rights against violations. Those who are victims of ethnic cleansing, violations of the right to life, minors who are abused both by working conditions and sexually -- the international community cannot fail to acknowledge the need to protect these people. There is need for a "super-body" that will perform such a function.
In the past ad hoc tribunals were set up with judges that were the expression of one party: the winner. Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have been established, but they are ad hoc only, created after the crimes have been committed. Criminal law must always precede these crimes. Everyone should know in advance what penalties will be involved if a crime is committed. This is a prerequisite for an international court.
The extent to which an appeal must be brought should be understood as a way to show that a judge is not infallible. The procedures should guarantee the rights of the defendant and of the international community as a whole. The rights of a State to judge its own citizens is part of the sovereignty of that State. The need for justice is everywhere and humankind is waiting for an answer. The Conference does not have an easy task before it, but together the international community will overcome the problems.
Statement by President of Conference
GIOVANNI CONSO (Italy), President of the Conference: Following the end of the cold war and flourishing of new democracies, a new era for mankind began. There were hopes, but the results were disappointing. On the contrary, war and civil strife have occurred, as in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. As we meet here, violence is still being committed. The Conference
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must prove that the world cannot stand aside. Decisive measures are needed to bring those atrocities to an end.
The establishment of an international court will be an unmistakable message to perpetrators that there is no impunity and no one is above the law. There have been serious attempts to establish such a court, but nothing was achieved because of the political climate after the Second World War. But efforts continued and now we are closer to achieving it.
The court must be universal and independent to try the most serious crimes. There is need to look into the smallest details to make sure there is no selective justice, but when crimes are committed they will be punished. The Preparatory Committee for the Conference has performed excellent work over a period of two years, as has its Chairman, Adriaan Bos (Netherlands), who is unable to be present here today. I pledge my commitment to ensure that the Conference will be successful.
Statement by FAO Director-General
JACQUES DIOUF, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): FAO is happy to lend its support in your efforts to establish a permanent International Criminal Court as a decisive step forward in the struggle for peace and justice and human rights in conflict situations in today's world. The road to Rome has been a long one, but I trust that your journey here and your work over the next few weeks will be fruitful and set the scene for a new millennium in which human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people are universally respected.
For the FAO it is a pleasant duty to respond to the request by the Secretary-General and the Italian Government to place its facilities at your disposal and to offer you all the support it can to ensure that your negotiations are crowned with success.
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