UN calls for global war crime co-operation

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for greater global support for war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Court, saying that it acted as a deterrent against atrocities in times of conflict. Ban was speaking at a conference reviewing the work of the tribunal that became operational in 2002.

Reuters

“In this new age of accountability, those who commit the worst of human crimes will be held responsible,” he said. “Whether they are rank-and-file foot soldiers or military commanders, whether they are lowly civil servants following orders or top political leaders, they will be held accountable.”

The court has spearheaded efforts to punish genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, issuing the world's first war crimes warrant for a sitting leader, Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, over atrocities in Darfur.

The ICC has faced obstacles, including a lack of co-operation in arresting suspects and the refusal of the United States, Russia and China to join the court, but Washington has in recent years co-operated with its investigations, particularly over Darfur.

More than 100 countries have signed on to the court, whose creation was urged by small states seeking ways to prosecute the worst war crimes when their own legal systems were unable to do so.

One of the most contentious issues at the conference is an extension of the court's jurisdiction to the crime of aggression - essentially criminalising the starting of a war of aggression.

French Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights François Zimeray told RFI that the ICC’s reputation is improving in Africa.

“I was very pleased to hear that the African malaise of ICC doesn’t exist any more,” he said. “There is African support for ICC and the club of heads of states packing around Beshir is something that will soon belong to the past.”