Secretary-General Welcomes the Gambia’s Decision to Rescind Its Withdrawal from Rome Statute of International Criminal Court

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

On 10 February, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Gambia to the United Nations delivered to the Secretary-General notification of the country’s rescission of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  The Gambia had formally notified the Secretary-General of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute on 10 November 2016 — a decision which the Secretary-General deeply regretted.

Over the past two decades, the world has made decisive strides towards building a truly global system of international criminal justice, of which the International Criminal Court is its centrepiece.  The Gambia, like so many other African States, played a major role in the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute and was among its first signatories.

The Secretary-General welcomes that the Gambia will remain a State party to the International Criminal Court’s founding instrument and remains confident that States parties will continue to further strengthen the Court through a constructive dialogue.