ESTABLISHING INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WILL BE FITTING WAY TO INAUGURATE NEW MILLENNIUM, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS COURT'S PREPARATORY COMMISSION

16 February 1999

Press Release
SG/SM/6895
L/2908

ESTABLISHING INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WILL BE FITTING WAY TO INAUGURATE NEW MILLENNIUM, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS COURT'S PREPARATORY COMMISSION

19990216 Kofi Annan Says Court Will Put World on Notice that Crimes Against Humanity, Which Disgraced this Century, Will Not Go Unpunished

Following is the statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the opening of the first meeting of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court, in New York today:

On 18 July last year I had the honour to take part in the ceremony held at the Campidoglio, in Rome, to celebrate the adoption of the Statute of the future International Criminal Court.

I said then that the adoption of the Rome Statute was a gift of hope to future generations and a giant step forward in the march towards universal human rights and the rule of law.

The Statute is now deposited with me, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, and is open for signature until 31 December 2000. Seventy-five States have signed it so far, and this month Senegal became the first to ratify it. That is very encouraging but, as you know, we need 60 ratifications before the Statute can come into force. There are also many practical arrangements and points of detail to be settled before the Court actually begins to function.

With that in mind, the Conference which adopted the Statute also decided to establish a Preparatory Commission. The General Assembly asked me to convene it, and to provide it with secretariat services.

The Secretariat is at your service, to help you carry out the vital task before you.

That task requires you to produce a number of documents which will make it possible to put the Court into operation. In particular, you have to

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elaborate clear and unambiguous rules on the practice of the Court, and on the elements of the crimes over which it has jurisdiction.

You must also draw up proposals for a provision on aggression -- the crime which is most profoundly threatening to international order, and whose prevention and deterrence is one of the prime objectives of this Organization,

As you know, some States have expressed reluctance to become parties to the Statute. I believe the Commission can help overcome that reluctance by "discussing ways to enhance the effectiveness and acceptance of the Court", as the General Assembly said in its resolution. This is crucial, because the Court's effectiveness will depend, to a great extent, on the number of States that support it.

I would therefore strongly encourage all States, whether or not they voted for adopting the Statute in Rome, to play an active part in this Commission's work.

Meanwhile, I am delighted to see many non-governmental organizations represented here today. The role of such organizations was decisive in the process leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute.

I am sure they will continue to assist you in the work of creating an effective and universal international criminal jurisdiction.

This is an issue on which there really is such a thing as world public opinion. The world is eager to see the International Criminal Court established as soon as possible. It expects this Commission to work hard and fast.

This century has seen a remarkable development of what lawyers call "substantive law", including the definition of international crimes and principles of international criminal law.

And yet, until now we have had no general, pre-established criminal jurisdiction to enforce that law, and to punish people who commit those crimes. The ad hoc tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo, and more recently those for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, were important steps forward. But only a permanent Court with universal jurisdiction can finally lay to rest the charge that the international community is being selective or applying double standards in deciding which crimes to investigate and punish.

I believe the establishment of such a Court will be a fitting way to inaugurate the new millennium.

It puts the world on notice that crimes against humanity, which have disfigured and disgraced this century, will not go unpunished in the next. And it gives concrete expression to Francis Bacon's famous principle that not even the Sovereign can make "dispunishable" those crimes which are malum in se -- evil in themselves, "as being against the Law of Nature".

The best chance humankind has ever had to end the "culture of impunity" is within our grasp. We must not let it fall. * *** *