UN SECRETARY-GENERAL'S REPRESENTATIVE URGES ALL-OUT EFFORT TO ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TREATY
Press Release
L/2885
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL'S REPRESENTATIVE URGES ALL-OUT EFFORT TO ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TREATY
19980714 Extended Afternoon Meeting Hears 79 Speakers On Variety of Issues Where Divergence of Views Still Prevail(Reissued as received from an Information Officer.)
ROME, 13 July -- Delegations still insisting on firm national positions were urged this afternoon to make all efforts to achieve consensus in order to ensure the adoption of a treaty establishing an International Criminal Court.
That appeal was made this afternoon by Hans Corell, speaking on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as the Conference's Committee of the Whole continued discussion of the proposal submitted by the officers of the Conference on matters related to jurisdiction and admissibility. (For a summary of the proposal, see Press Release L/2884, issued earlier today.)
Mr. Corell said the Secretary-General was confident that a positive outcome would emerge from the Conference, which began on 15 June and is now in its final week. "However, time is running short", he added, "and unless a solution on major substantive issues emerges very soon, there will be difficulties in putting together all the provisions of the Statute and coordinate them in such a way that the Statute can be ready for adoption later this week".
Noting the "remarkable commitment" of delegations who had been working extremely hard, Mr. Corell said that this commitment was now beginning to stand out in contrast to the very firm positions that some delegations had taken. "Certainly, delegations must have good national reasons for insisting upon their positions in the negotiations. However, this Conference is engaged in an exercise to create an international institution to serve the world at large. This means that national positions must be harmonized in the interest of common objectives. It requires a determined effort to reach consensus."
In a meeting that began at 3 p.m. and adjourned at 10:40 p.m., several of the 79 speakers proposed compromise language or stated compromise positions in response to the Secretary-General's call and a similar call made this morning by the Committee Chairman, Philippe Kirsch (Canada). In that context, it was noted by one speaker that the search for compromise was a political
endeavour which was difficult for lawyers to accomplish due to their concern with the legal aspects of the issues under discussion.
At its extended meeting, the Committee also heard calls for realism to prevail, as opposed to idealism, and for a demonstration of flexibility. Speaking on acceptance of jurisdiction, the representative of Azerbaijan said it had changed its position from automatic jurisdiction of the Court over the core crimes, to what was being referred to as "mixed jurisdiction", which consisted of automatic jurisdiction for genocide and opt-in, as State consent regime, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Another form of flexibility and compromise was the suggestion of new language. In the case of article 6, on exercise of jurisdiction (which mentions referral of situations to the Court by States parties, the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter and the Prosecutor under its power to initiate investigations), there were suggestions to replace the term "Security Council" by the term "principal organs of the United Nations", as that would include the General Assembly.
An area where strong feelings were expressed was the issue of inclusion of the crime of aggression. It was noted that all the members on the Non- Aligned Movement favoured the inclusion of aggression in the Statute, and as they represented a majority in the United Nations, it was wondered why aggression had been excluded from the draft text submitted by the officers of the Conference. As a compromise and due to time constraints the Non-Aligned were prepared to accept further discussion of the issue at a review conference, or in the drafting of a protocol. Another compromise was shown by some supporters of treaty crimes, who suggested that the crimes should be included without any definition. That would cover, among others, the crime of terrorism.
Still another issue on which strong views were expressed was the non- inclusion of nuclear weapons in the list of weapons "which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of international humanitarian law". However, some delegations saw in subparagraph vi of the text "a window" for the inclusion of additional weapons later in that list. That subparagraph refers to "such other weapons or weapons systems as become the subject of comprehensive prohibition, subject to a determination to that effect by the Assembly of States Parties".
Divergent views continued to be expressed on matters related to the role of the Security Council and the role of the Prosecutor, including whether of not to provide the Prosecutor with proprio motu powers. Several speakers who supported a strong and independent prosecutor said the draft Statute already provided sufficient safeguards by means of a pre-trial chamber and there was no need to include others. In that respect, doubts were expressed about
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retaining article 16, on preliminary rulings regarding admissibility, and several calls for its further redrafting were made.
A further area of conflict which emerged in the meeting involves sections C and D of article 5 quater, on war crimes, which refers to armed conflict not of an international character. Some delegations said a new opening paragraph, restricting the scope of application, would exclude conflicts between organized armed groups, such as the Somali militias encountered during the United Nations operation in Somalia. South Africa, speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said "this glaring omission refuses to take cognizance of contemporary experiences in Somalia and Liberia, for example".
The representative of Sierra Leone proposed a change to the introduction to Section D of article 5 quater with the following in the second sentence: "It applies to armed conflicts that take place in a territory of a State when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups."
A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the Committee that acceptance of universal jurisdiction by the Court was a fundamental issue.
The Foreign Minister of Italy, Lamberto Dini, will address the Committee when it meets again at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
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