Brussels, 29/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - It is through its work that the International Criminal Court will convince wary countries to abide by its statutes, declared its President, Philippe Kirsch on Tuesday, without directly mentioning the USA, the most obvious country affected by this declaration. At the end of the meeting with Commissioner Patten on Tuesday in Brussels, the ICF President underlined that the court was a "purely legal" body and was not political and that it was "going to show" countries that were still not convinced that this was the case.
Commissioner Chris Patten again regretted the attitude of the USA, which had refused to ratify the Convention of Rome and had even, given the decision of President Bush, withdrawn its signature. Patten also criticised the bilateral agreements that the USA attempted to sign with all countries that were party to the Convention of Rome, in order that its nationals were exempt the jurisdiction of the Court. He highlighted the fact that Member States and accession countries but also Romania and Bulgarian, which he specifically mentioned, had to respect the European position on these agreements. Only Romania signed such a bilateral agreement with the USA but did not ratify it, under pressure from the EU, pointed out the Commission. Following difficult debates, the Fifteen reached an agreement a year ago on a common position: they did not rule these agreements out but set certain conditions. Therefore, the derogation could not be accorded to all nationals of the USA but only those that had been "sent" by the authorities. Guarantees will also be needed for those who thus escape from the auspices of the ICC, "the national legal authorities will initiate investigations and if proof is sufficient and appropriate action" (EUROPE 1 October 2002).
The International Criminal court is responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed after its entry into force on 1 July 2002. It also seeks to complete national jurisdiction and will therefore only act when countries themselves are not able or do not wish to investigate or begin judicial proceedings. According to the most recent data provided by the ICC, by 5 September 2003, 92 countries had ratified the Statute of Rome of the International Criminal Court: the 15 Member States of the EU and the accession countries (except the Czech Republic), Bulgaria, Romania and 12 other European countries, 22 African countries, 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 from Asia and the pacific, Canada and Jordan. Philippe Kirsch indicated on Tuesday that around 650 complaints had already been submitted to the Court.