By Celeste Little

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda-Though fifteen hundred to two thousand delegates were expected, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda concluded on Friday, welcoming 4600 representatives of states, intergovernmental and nongovernmental agencies.

The conference spanned two weeks and though it covered many issues that were central to the functioning of the ICC, its primary focus was to define the crime of aggression and take stock of the the effect of the statute on international criminal justice.

The conference ended having accomplished the changes it aimed for–amending the Rome Statute, to include the crime of aggression and designating the ICC’s jurisdiction regarding the newly defined crime. The actual exercise of this jurisdiction must be decided on January 1, 2017 by a majority of State Parties.

The court also amended the statute to bring the use of certain poisonous weapons and expanding bullets, asphyxiating or poisonous gases under the jurisdiction of the court as war crimes even when used in a domestic nature, according to the ICC’s closing press release.

In taking stock of the statute, the conference considered the rights of victims to justice, determining that more outreach should be made to those victims and more donations should be made to the Trust Fund for Victims. The ICC put an important focus on states’ relationship with it, noting that in order to achieve justice, complementarity and cooperation from states would be important.

By: Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – The Sudanese government announced on Thursday that it would not continue to engage in peace talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Darfur’s main anti-government group.   Instead, the government is planning on prosecuting JEM leaders, a move which has heightened tensions between the parties in recent days.

Ahmad Hussain Adam, a JEM representative, commented that the group had anticipated the government’s decision.  Although the government signed a framework accord with JEM in February of this year, negotiations collapsed before the two parties could form a final peace agreement.   Despite international pressure to resume peace talks, negotiations are unlikely to restart in the near future as both parties continue to point fingers at each other.

But all hopes for peace are not lost.  Although the government has vowed to take a hard-line stance toward the JEM, the government will be attending a peace conference with another anti-government group, the Liberation and Justice Movement, on June 6^th.  The parties hope to come to a final agreement by the end of June however, many remain skeptical of the parties’ intentions and are concerned that the upcoming negotiations in Doha, Qatar are simply a venue for more political maneuvering.

Despite the government’s optimistic tone, tensions between the government and rebel groups continue to escalate.  The conflict in Darfur is now in its seventh year and has claimed over 300,000 lives according to estimates by the United Nations.  Another 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes and continue to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

U.N. officials grow increasingly worried about the scope of the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan.   Conflict continues to uproot thousands of Sudanese from their homes and starvation and illness remain significant causes of death among civilians.   Many non-governmental organizations have also ceased their aid efforts in recent weeks as a result of continued fighting.   According to the United Nations News Centre, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations John Holmes, after visiting Sudan this past week, remarked that the current circumstances in Sudan have compounded into a “recipe for disaster.”  Although a peace agreement is long overdue many contentious issue must still be resolved before Sudan can start recovering from the effects of this seven year war.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg Businessweek – Sudan Army, Rebel Groups Clash in Western Darfur, UN Says – 31 May, 2010

UN News Centre – UN Relief Chief Sounds Alarm on Darfur’s Dire Humanitarian Situation – 29 May, 2010

Al-Jazeera – Sudan Shelves Peace Talks with JEM – 27 May, 2010

Sudan Tribune – Darfur Peace Talks to Resume in June – 27, May, 2010

By Celeste Little
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda- Monday, May 31 begins a two week conference in Kampala, Uganda to review the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The conference will be attended by representatives of state parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in the Hague, the Netherlands. Fifteen hundred to two thousand delegates are expected to attend.

The Rome Statute is a treaty that established the International Criminal Court, its functions, jurisdiction, and structure in Rome, Italy on July 17, 1998 and was implemented on July 1, 2002. There are 110 states which are party to the statute and  there are 38 states which have signed and not ratified the treaty. The seven countries that voted against the treaty are Iraq, Israel, Libya, China, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.

The ICC is defined by the Rome Statute, as a permanent tribunal to prosecute the most serious international crimes. The statute requires its own review, and in turn a review of the ICC, every seven years and the upcoming conference in Uganda is the first time since 2002 that the statute has been reviewed.

One of the two primary focuses of this year’s conference is to make changes to Article 125 of the statute, which deals with the crime of aggression, it’s definition, and the use of certain weapons to constitute war crimes. The second major focus is stocktaking, where non-governmental organizations and other key parties will discuss the impact of the Rome statute on four pertinent areas–the impact of the Rome Statute system on victims and their communities, cooperation, complementarity and peace and justice.

Currently, the ICC is prosecuting suspected war criminals in several situations. In the situation in Uganda, the top five members of the Lords Resistance are being prosecuted for war crimes. And in it’s prosecution of war criminals related to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the individuals being prosecuted is the alleged founder of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), Thomas Lubanga Dylo, who is being prosecuted for war crimes including “conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities” according to the ICC arrest warrant.

The Sudanese president, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir is being prosecuted for war crimes which amount genocide.  In the Central African Republic, the alleged president and commander-in-chief of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, is being prosecuted for war crimes which include murder, rape, torture, pillaging, and outrages upon personal dignity and crimes against humanity,  including murder, rape, and torture. Furthermore, the situation in Kenya was recently opened for investigation.

Critics have said that the ICC has only prosecuted crimes committed in Africa, which evidences that it is a primarily European court, targeting Africans. The ICC has considered this negative perception in choosing to hold the review conference in Uganda as well as the revue the conference would bring to the country.

The ICC is launching a YouTube series of videos which will cover the review conference, for those who are interested in further education regarding the discussions that will occur during these next two weeks.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America– Uganda Hosts Review of Rome Statute Conference— 30 May 2010

AFP-ICC Seeks More Teeth at Kampala Meet-29 May 2010

Daily Nation-Nation Meets in Kampala to Chart Future of Hague Court-29 May 2010