NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2 – “The International Criminal Court embodies our collective commitment to fight impunity for the most serious crimes under international law”, 71 States Parties to the Rome Statute said today. Italy joined the statement read by the German Ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen. “By giving our full support to the ICC and promoting its universal membership, we defend the progress we have made together towards an international rules-based order, of which international justice is an indispensable pillar”, the 71 countries said on the occasion of the Court report to the Un General Assembly.
“We reconfirm our unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution”, said the 71 States Parties noting that at the time when the United Nations were created 75 years ago, “the seeds of international criminal justice that later led to the creation of the International Criminal Court were planted. Member States of the United Nations worked hard to establish a permanent international institution to punish the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international concern. The Rome Statute embodies the conviction that such crimes must not go unpunished”.
The ICC, as the world’s first and only permanent international criminal court, is an integral part of the multilateral architecture upholding the rule-of-law, the States Parties said recalling that this “central institution in the fight against impunity and the pursuit of justice, which are essential components of sustainable peace, security and reconciliation” is also “a court of last resort, which anchors a system of justice for serious international crimes rooted in national courts. National authorities have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes. The ICC only steps in when States are unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out national proceedings. (@OnuItalia)
