M Myoo Myint
4 hours ago near London, England, United Kingdom
Q: What is the Rome Statute?
A: Simply, it is the treaty that created two independent institutions: the International Criminal Court and the Trust Fund for Victims. (Ref: http://www2.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Home)
Q: What is ICC?
A: International Criminal Court (ICC)
The idea of a system of International Criminal Justice re-emerged after the end of the Cold War. However, while negotiations on the ICC Statute were underway at the United Nations, the world was witnessing the commission of heinous crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. In response to these atrocities, the United Nations Security Council established an ad hoc tribunal for each of these situations.
The ICC is an independent body whose mission is to try individuals for crimes within its jurisdiction without the need for a special mandate from the United Nations. On 4 October 2004, the ICC and the United Nations signed an agreement governing their institutional relationship.
The ICC does not replace national criminal justice systems; rather, it complements them. It can investigate and, where warranted, prosecute and try individuals only if the State concerned does not, cannot or is unwilling genuinely to do so. This might occur where proceedings are unduly delayed or are intended to shield individuals from their criminal responsibility. This is known as the principle of complementarily, under which priority is given to national systems. States retain primary responsibility for trying the perpetrators of the most serious of crimes.
The mandate of the Court is to try individuals rather than States, and to hold such persons accountable for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression, when the conditions for the exercise of the Court’s jurisdiction over the latter are fulfilled.
According to the Rome Statute,
“genocide” means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:
1. killing members of the group;
2. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
“Crimes against humanity” include any of the following acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
1. murder;
2. extermination;
3. enslavement;
4. deportation or forcible transfer of population;
5. imprisonment;
6. torture;
7. rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
8. persecution against an identifiable group on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender grounds;
9. enforced disappearance of persons;
10. the crime of apartheid;
11. other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.
“War crimes” include grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict and in conflicts "not of an international character" listed in the Rome Statute, when they are committed as part of a plan or policy or on a large scale. These prohibited acts include:
1. murder;
2. mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
3. taking of hostages;
4. intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population;
5. intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historical monuments or hospitals;
6. pillaging;
7. rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy or any other form of sexual violence;
8. conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities.
The ICC has jurisdiction over "genocide", "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes". The ICC may be able to prosecute terrorist acts only if they fall within these categories.
If the Office of the ICC Prosecutor receives reliable information about crimes involving nationals of a State Party or of a State which has accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC, or about crimes committed in the territory of such a State, and concludes that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation.
Such information can be provided by individuals, intergovernmental or non-governmental organisations, or any other reliable sources. The Prosecutor must, however, obtain the permission of the judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber before initiating an investigation under such circumstances.
The Office of the Prosecutor is currently conducting investigations on crimes allegedly committed in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya and Côte d’Ivoire.
In addition, the Office of the Prosecutor is currently conducting preliminary analysis in eight situations: Afghanistan, Colombia, the Republic of Korea, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Nigeria and Palestine.
The Trust Fund for Victims
The fund advocates for victims and mobilises individuals, institutions with resources, and the goodwill of those in power for the benefit of victims and their communities. It funds or sets up innovative projects to meet victims’ physical, material, or psychological needs. It may also directly undertake activities as and when requested by the Court.
The Trust Fund for Victims can act for the benefit of victims of crimes, regardless of whether there is a conviction by the ICC. It cooperates with the Court to avoid any interference with ongoing legal proceedings.
Ref: http://www2.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Home
— with ခြန္ ဒီးယမ္ and 2 others.
http://www2.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Home
www2.icc-cpi.int
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